The Zebra Force (1976) User Reviews

It don't matter if you're black or white

[Chase_Witherspoon · 5/10 · 9 February 2012]

A group of Vietnam veterans, fiercely loyal to their lieutenant (horribly disfigured as a result of a land mine explosion) agree to perform a series of audacious hits on mob-controlled gambling operations to ostensibly rid the town of their influence and protect society's youth from the spectre of drugs. But their raids also net hundreds of thousands of dollars in tainted cash, leading Mafia Don (Caruso) to enlist the aid of his Mr Fix-it Carmine Longo (Lane) to rectify the problem.

You've probably read that the vets disguise themselves and while it's certainly a novelty, the "transformations" are unintentionally comedic (watch for the interrogation scene near the end of the movie). Puerile dialogue and atrocious cinematography (or perhaps the editing) don't do any favours, but I enjoyed the characterisations, and the cast has some talent. Lanky Mike Lane from "The Harder They Fall" is imposing, Stafford Morgan as the crooked cop, and Rockne Tarkington as the tough-talking downtown pusher, all make an impression in spite of the script they deliver.

A jazzy soul soundtrack, slow-motion stunts, car chases and a twist ending keep things entertaining and overall, while it's routinely panned by the armchair critics, you could do a lot worse than this gangster flick dressed in a blaxploitation wardrobe. Often confused with its sequel "Codename Zebra" starring James Mitchum made in 1987, while the latter is more technically proficient, the sheer quirkiness and 70's infused texture of "Zebra Force" is superior in entertainment value.

Bad 80s action flick

[hplus · 4/10 · 6 April 2007]

This is one of those films where a bunch of stunt men get together write a script to glue together a portfolio of mediocre action stunts. Tons of explosions, gunfire, and bodies flying everywhere. This is a film about some Vietnam veterans who became vigilantes to make a fortune stealing from the mafia. Though it is played like they are heroes for society, they come off more like petty thieves pulling a 'big job'. This is a gangster/action film, containing a series of gangster/action clichés which probably won't satisfy exploitation fans. It has some moments, like some hard nose dialogue, some interesting shots, and a stupid scene where two gangsters get baked in a sauna. Not trashy, just sub-par.

Tell Charlie he ain't talking' to no watermelon man

[JohnSeal · 5/10 · 3 January 2009]

Here's a trash classic in need of the deluxe DVD treatment. Chuck Morrell plays scarred Viet Nam War vet Lieutenant Dietrich, whose loyal soldiers have followed him into civilian life and have joined him in a vigilante effort to get all the dope off the LA streets. Their unique technique: disguise themselves as African-Americans and start a war between the Mafia dons who import the smack, and the ghetto blacks who peddle it for them! From the initial scene of the Zebra Force (geddit--they're white AND black!) pulling off their 'black' masks, to the jaw-dropping finale, this is one of the most enjoyable '70s action flicks you've never heard of. Featuring a very groovy score, IMDb indicates Zebra Force was shot in a 2.35:1 OAR, and judging from the amount of panning, scanning, and 'chop shots' in evidence, that's correct. Let's hope we get a correctly letterboxed DVD at some point--but even in academy ratio, it's a fun way to waste 90 minutes.

Taking on The Outfit

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 9 September 2016]

Makeup has a great deal to do with this story, so much so that it could have been given Oscar consideration. You won't even know how much until the very end of the film

Having said that The Zebra Force is one incredibly dumb action adventure film where a group of Vietnam veterans who were an elite unit have taken to ripping off the Mafia, known here as 'The Outfit'. They've done this in such a way that the blame is being placed on a local group of black gangsters whom The Outfit considers are getting too uppity. A nice little gang war erupts before the truth is known and most of the cast is killed.

The Zebra Force seems very much to be influenced by Sam Peckinpah and his work. A few slow motion violence ballets are in this film, but believe this ain't Peckinpah.

Makeup great, the rest of it you can have.

One of the Best Timmy Brown Movies (which isn't saying much)!

[Hitchcoc · 2/10 · 17 November 2006]

This is nothing more that an excuse for a bunch of scenes of slaughter. It has virtually no plot or motivation. The characters are stereotypical and really questionable actors. Their reason for doing what they do wouldn't stand up under any scrutiny. It's the Zebra force against the Mafia. I don't know why because it's never clear. If they are both basically evil, why don't the just stay away from each other. There's virtually no conversation and when it happens it is senseless and pointless. The old running back, Timmy Brown, is in it. So is the Sinatra kid. It's a monumental waste of time. There isn't even the "bad movie" syndrome at work here.

original but bad movie

[johnc2141 · 1/10 · 13 June 2009]

I really love bad movies,when they are so bad they're fun but really zebra force(aka;code name zebra)is really bad,the acting is really below par and i think its really a racist premise,OK these ex military white guys disguise themselves as black men and hit the mafia,take their money and kill them.this would never work on the sopranos.the mafia in this movie is portrayed as dolts.and no its no comedy.the leader of the zebra force is a disfigured and one armed army commander. and then there's a surprise twist at the end.look for frank Sinatra Jr in a small part,hey he needed the bread.and character actor of bad movies; George buck flower,OK this is about 85 minutes of my life I'm not getting back.zebra force really should've been on the video 50 worst movies of all time,at least plan 9 from outer space is bad but fun,as for 70's schlock zebra force is the bottom of the barrel.hokey,bad acted and just plain bad.

Zdarsky's movie debut

[Cristi_Ciopron · 4/10 · 18 November 2009]

When I was a kid, the genre to which CNZ belongs was called 'commando' or 'superaction—violence'. And it might prove a bit more interesting to discuss genres than to discuss this one movie. Yet a word or two have to be said, as this is Robert Z'Dar's first role.

Zdarsky, 34 yrs in his first movie performance, was just embarking on a career of bizarre and unique Z features; you should see at least another 7 of his movies.

He was a Palance for the '80s Z movies. I can confess, with a straight face, being something of a Zdarsky _completist. And if u ain't, u ain't. Using electronic music, the '80s thrillers could be quite suspenseful; and Zdarsky was a part of that mind—bending suspense.

CODE NAME ZEBRA, a silly action movie or _actioner, like you have seen so many if you grew up in the '80s, like you should have, might have been a flick for the guys but is on the other hand an almost unique and perhaps even deliberate specimen of nasty acting coming both from the Mafiosi (Carmine, Charlie and the others) and the quasi—vigilantes; some men who fought in Vietnam now join together to form a band of almost vigilantes.

As you wouldn't have believed, they're ingeniously disguised, by wearing amazingly efficient masks, as Afro—American citizens; but then again, the movie's insulting to the army by the atmosphere of idiocy that identifies the reunions of these former soldiers.

CNZ is poor in action, a couple of scenes with derisory effects; most of the movie is people sitting, talking, planning, doing grimaces, but I would lie if I wouldn't admit that I have watched the whole movie avidly. Too much of a '80s _actioners fan.

Tasteless fun

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 19 August 2022]

Oh man, this movie.

Lt. Claymore (Clay Tanner) had his face scarred, lost his voice - he has a robot-sounding one now - and his right arm lost thanks to Vietnam, but now that he's back in the U. S., he's gathered his old Army friends to either get rich quick or clean up the neighborhood or both - he makes them flush heroin down the crapper and says, We're not in this to hurt society but to rid society of some of its scum and of course we reap the profit." - by having them wear masks that make people believe they're black when they're white and rob the mob.

Yes, this is the plot of the movie.

To make it even stranger, the masks are really just black actors playing the role and then when the mission ends, they take off the mask and are white actors.

Then, a mob boss named Salvatore (Anthony Caruso) hires Carmine Longo (Mike Lane) from Detroit and teams him with his best assassin Charlie DiSantis (Richard X. Slattery) to take out the Zebra Force, which is as problematic a name - and movie - as you can get.

Writer, director and producer Joe Tornatore did acting and stunts before this movie, choosing it as his debut. He also made a sequel in 1987, Code Name Zebra, and also was behind Grotesque, one of the oddest horror movies I've ever seen.

Somehow, RC Cola paid to have their product all over this film. I can only imagine how they felt when they watched it. I'd like to imagine a packed screening room full of soda pop executives and their families just stunned into absolute madness.

Here's a different kind of action movie!

[emm · 7/10 · 12 October 1998]

Even though this late-night action flick has aged, it still has what many of today's multi-budget movies are lacking in: ORIGINALITY! Don't expect good guy heroes in "The Zebra Force" because this definitely is not your typical action film. Instead, this is a first-person anti-hero show that knows no limits. Watching the soldiers in black masks terrorize the innocent is rather deteriorating, but that's part of the fun. Overall, the real show stealers are the gang's leader with a deformed face who communicates via mini walkie-talkies, plus an unexpected finale. If you can live with obscure '70s trashies like this one, then I can't blame you for that!

What a Tasty Treat

[shark-43 · 8/10 · 3 March 2007]

This film was a nice surprise - we were gathering DVDs for our usual bad cinema night and I rented a DVD that had Frank Sinatra, Jr. and one of Robert Mitchum's offspring in it as commandos or whatnot but even though the disc read CODE NAME: ZEBRA and had the same director - the movie ZEBRA FORCE came on - obviously NOT filmed in 1984 like CODE NAME but looking so 70's and grainy and waaaay low budget but get this - the plot actually has clever things in it and a nice twist at the end. The acting goes from hilariously bad (we called two actors Gestures & Point cuz that is what these two hacks did with every line reading - one would gesture and the other would point) to a couple of good performances. The violence and action was either staged horribly or shockingly good. In fact there is one stunt where a guy goes out a high window and he falls, lands on his back in a swimming pool - impressive and dangerous. Lots of great 70's "jive" dialogue and mobsters v.s. black activists v.s. viet nam vets (and yes, one of the crazed vet leaders is horribly scarred and crazy). We enjoyed mocking the film's faults and enjoying many of it's merits. ZEBRA ROCKS!!!

The Zebra, the most dangerous animal known to man!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 11 February 2019]

A few of the user comments submitted here are, in fact, written for the belated 1987 sequel. You can't blame anyone for the confusion, because the sequel's official title "Code Name Zebra" is also an alternate title for the original and both films are incredibly obscure. Haven't seen the 80s sequel yet myself, but if it's as unpretentiously entertaining and action-packed as this one, I will most certainly track it down! "The Zebra Force" is a crazed exploitation flick made by, and targeted at, macho males. The only women here are ravishing looking extras, like guests at a casino or girls by the pool, and they are not opening their mouths to speak, only to shriek. Writer/director Joe Tornatore may not care too much for women, he certainly does know how to make a remarkable entrance! The film opens with an exhilarating heist on an illegal mafia casino, where several gangsters and guests are killed by a well-trained and organized 8-headed group of black guys in blue overalls. The mob's senior leadership immediately sends for professional "caretaker" Carmine Longo to find the assailants, but it's not so easy. For you see, the black guys are really disguised white guys! They are buddies who served together in Vietnam and still loyally follow their lieutenant who worked out a plan for all of them to get filthy rich via three big hits against the mafia. Let the mob look for black gangsters and declare gang wars; - they'll never find the black-and-white "Zebras". The Lieutenant is, by the way, one of the most remarkable characters in 70s exploitation history! Following a landmine accident in 'Nam, he only has one arm, a horridly disfigured face and he talks via a throat-cancer device. "The Zebra Force" guarantees a raw and gritty 70s atmosphere, complete with wild car chases and brutal executions. The final showdown between mobsters and veterans is already grotesquely violent, and then still Joe Tornatore foresees a totally out-of-the-blue but fantastic end-twist! If you like 70s smut, you must watch "The Zebra Force", period!

A Zebra by any other name....

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 25 February 2017]

There seems to be a lot of confusion between this film from 1976 and another made later in 1987 as both films get called 'The Zebra Force' or 'Code Name-Zebra'. On IMDb itself the wrong poster is given to this film. Both films were directed by Joe Tornatore. The 1987 film is the sequel to the 1976 film with the character Carmine Longo appearing in both. The version I saw called itself 'Code Name-Zebra'.

This film is about war veterans donning disguises and taking on the Mafia and breaking up their operations, mainly by killing people. The mob boss with an impressive mustache brings in an enforcer from Detroit, Carmine Longo with an even more impressive mustache, to deal with the situation. So there is talk followed by action followed by talk etc. You could probably write the script yourself though the final scene did surprise me.

The film stock is grainy and the action uses slow motion too much and the acting itself is stilted and amateur but for some reason I found it rather charming. A good print in the original format would be worth seeing even if only to enjoy/cringe at those 1970's fashions.

A hokey, but entertaining actioner

[abbazabakyleman-98834 · 7/10 · 9 October 2019]

Yes, it's another typical shoot em'up '70s action opus, but it actually is pretty entertaining given the production values of this film. Essentially, it's about a diverse group of Vietnam veterans who go up against the mafia and a group of crooked cops. Plenty of violence, average acting, and some amazing stunt work. The only minor quibble I have with the film is how the marketing people behind this movie had the nerve to compare the film's climatic car chase to The French Connection. It doesn't even come close. Oh, well. It was the '70s, after all.

"...we're going to hurt them bad, but we will have it good."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 5 October 2012]

You know, I'd like to see some film maker tackle this story today because it might really turn out to be pretty good. There were some really cool elements here that resulted in a neat twist ending that I saw coming in only the last five minutes, but even then, I didn't think the Lieutenant would turn out to be the black guy.

But oh man, is this totally mired in the Seventies with the cars, clothes and hair styles. I have to admit, I'm guilty of wearing some of those dated fashions back in the day and can see how ridiculous I must have looked back then. But only from today's perspective seeing how everyone else dressed the same way.

Well this flick had an interesting premise, as a group of ex-Viet Nam vets battles the local drug kingpins by posing as black gang bangers and ripping them off, thereby creating animosity with a rival black gang. Making things more interesting is a police detective with connections to the Mafia who's forced to broker a drug deal with the boys in the hood. Thinking he's pulled one off for the police force, Sergeant Stangman (Stafford Morgan) is taken out by a Mafia sniper, at which point all hell breaks loose.

It's all pretty typical Seventies TV movie hokum, with the cheesiness in just the right amounts. You've got your car chases and shoot 'em ups, and the obligatory guy who gets shot and falls through an upper story window into a swimming pool. Still, there's the germ of a good idea here, and done right, I think it could be made to look original even today.