My review was written in November 1986 after watching the movie on Mogul video cassette.
Occasionally life mirrors film art (e.g., "The China Syndrome"), but "Days of Hell" is an unusual surprise among the dross of B-action pictures. Routine Italian pic was made 18 months ago, but is right on the money with plot elements seemingly torn from today's headlines. Its domestic release is direct to the home video stores.
Conrad Nichols, again stars for his "Rush" and "Rage" director Tonino Ricci (who uses the pseudonym Anthony Richmond, not the British helmer-lenser by that name) as a commando sent with a four-man team to Afghanistan by American General Smith (Stelio Candelli, who uses pseudonym Steve Eliot). Far-fetched plot has the Russian ambassador asking Gen. Smith to have the U. S. clean up a problem that is vexing to both superpowers: two journalists in Afghanistan, Huntzer and his beautiful oriental daughter Samantha (Kiwako Harada), hae evidence of Russians using nerve gas and chemical weapons against the Afghans. Both Russia and the U. S. agree that the journalists must be silenced before they contact Amnesty International; the U. S. is involved because of evidence of its own chemical weapons experiments in North Dakota which already were violently covered up by the authorities.
Williams and his men enter Afghanistan through Iran, bringing spare parts for Iranian fighter planes in exchange for safe passage. Their skirmishes with Russian troops and warring locals go so smoothly that WIlliams figures they're being set up, changing their plans they succeed in rescuing Samantha (her father has died from the nerve gas) and her Afghan pal Amin (Lawrence Richmond, presumably the director's son), and escape to Pakistan where they're granted political asylum. Samantha dies of her own nerve gas exposure but in a happy ending Amin flies off with the four soldiers of fortune in their stolen Russian helicopter for new adventures.
Picture conforms with the tradition of Italian actioners (dating back to the often politica Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s) of siding with Third World interests against the dastardly superpowers. With all the jingoistic films being made today, it's refreshing to see the U. S. getting its lumps along with the Russkies, while the heroes are either daring soldiers of fortune not tied to U. S. government policy or stalwart freedom fighters of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Most of the characters, regardless of nationality, are played by Italians, adding to the parallel world nature of the whole affair.
Tech credits for the action scenes are fine with okay English dubbing. Pic manages to steal some thunder from Sylverster Stallone; lead Nichols is one of the many Rambo imitations on the market and "Rambo III" is supposed to also concern a mission to Afghanistan.
Occasionally life mirrors film art (e.g., "The China Syndrome"), but "Days of Hell" is an unusual surprise among the dross of B-action pictures. Routine Italian pic was made 18 months ago, but is right on the money with plot elements seemingly torn from today's headlines. Its domestic release is direct to the home video stores.
Conrad Nichols, again stars for his "Rush" and "Rage" director Tonino Ricci (who uses the pseudonym Anthony Richmond, not the British helmer-lenser by that name) as a commando sent with a four-man team to Afghanistan by American General Smith (Stelio Candelli, who uses pseudonym Steve Eliot). Far-fetched plot has the Russian ambassador asking Gen. Smith to have the U. S. clean up a problem that is vexing to both superpowers: two journalists in Afghanistan, Huntzer and his beautiful oriental daughter Samantha (Kiwako Harada), hae evidence of Russians using nerve gas and chemical weapons against the Afghans. Both Russia and the U. S. agree that the journalists must be silenced before they contact Amnesty International; the U. S. is involved because of evidence of its own chemical weapons experiments in North Dakota which already were violently covered up by the authorities.
Williams and his men enter Afghanistan through Iran, bringing spare parts for Iranian fighter planes in exchange for safe passage. Their skirmishes with Russian troops and warring locals go so smoothly that WIlliams figures they're being set up, changing their plans they succeed in rescuing Samantha (her father has died from the nerve gas) and her Afghan pal Amin (Lawrence Richmond, presumably the director's son), and escape to Pakistan where they're granted political asylum. Samantha dies of her own nerve gas exposure but in a happy ending Amin flies off with the four soldiers of fortune in their stolen Russian helicopter for new adventures.
Picture conforms with the tradition of Italian actioners (dating back to the often politica Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s) of siding with Third World interests against the dastardly superpowers. With all the jingoistic films being made today, it's refreshing to see the U. S. getting its lumps along with the Russkies, while the heroes are either daring soldiers of fortune not tied to U. S. government policy or stalwart freedom fighters of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Most of the characters, regardless of nationality, are played by Italians, adding to the parallel world nature of the whole affair.
Tech credits for the action scenes are fine with okay English dubbing. Pic manages to steal some thunder from Sylverster Stallone; lead Nichols is one of the many Rambo imitations on the market and "Rambo III" is supposed to also concern a mission to Afghanistan.