When Gabrielle Prescott (Hansen), daughter of rich white man Jameson Prescott (Brandt) is kidnapped by the National Liberation Front leader Vinh Moc (Tagawa) and held for ransom, Jameson enlists Major Howard Tolliver (Dudikoff) to rescue her. Thinking he can't do it alone, he enlists a ragtag team of prisoners, and together, they are the titular "Soldier Boyz" (even though one of them is female). They all travel to Vietnam and must train together - and they don't always get along. Will the Soldier Boyz be victorious? Dudikoff puts in his usual good performance amidst the usual classic clichés, such as the exploding guard towers. Imagine a Nam Angels-type situation with a bearded Dudikoff for part of the time. Add in some of The Walking Dead and there you have it. While this movie is a low-budget actioner with a "Z" in "Boyz" instead of an "S" (S's are just not cool. Z's are much cooler, clearly), this movie is actually well-made. Tagawa is fitting as the ruthless, evil leader, something he's surely familiar with playing. You basically care about the characters - are they a youth group or prisoners - or a youth group of prisoners? Don't forget, the donation of ten million dollars to their youth group is "non-negotiable"! The movie is fast paced, with some good action sequences. Tolliver has a bad attitude because his family was gunned down (shown in flashback and never mentioned again). During the extensive training, all the Soldier Boyz try to fight Tolliver and naturally they all lose. Probably because they're not as awesome.
The ending is a bit abrupt, but that's fairly common for these Direct To Video/Cable outings. There's something here for Dudikoff fans.
Watch out for the video game in 1997! (Yes, there is actually a Soldier Boyz game for your PC).
For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
The ending is a bit abrupt, but that's fairly common for these Direct To Video/Cable outings. There's something here for Dudikoff fans.
Watch out for the video game in 1997! (Yes, there is actually a Soldier Boyz game for your PC).
For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com