The Annihilators (1985) User Reviews

Good for what it is

[carapjuc · 5/10 · 21 July 2005]

I think this movie was hilarious simply because of how serious it was. from the heavy-handed acting to the comedically badly choreographed fight scenes, to the outlandish scenario to the completely unrealistic portrayal of city gang violence, this movie made me and my friends laugh our butts off. when Roy Boy shouts "YOU MOTHERRSSSS!!!" we couldn't stop laughing. the front of the box features a team of steroidal, rambo-type Vietnam soldiers wielding flamethrowers and assault rifles, and yet there is only maybe 5 minutes of Vietnam scenes in the movie. not to mention i never witnessed any real annihilation. maybe some destruction, a few murders, some depravity, but no annihilation. no sir. I'm not calling this a good movie. just an unintentionally hilarious time capsule of C-moviedom from the 80's. if you can find it, for god's sakes buy it. it's a good time.

Street justice - Hell yes!!!

[HaemovoreRex · 6/10 · 27 March 2008]

One of a fairly long line of generic vigilante action flicks to emerge post Death Wish, this as with most of the others of its ilk, proves to be highly satisfying stuff. The plot which is virtually identical to the earlier and slightly superior Kill Squad, has a group of Nam veterans setting out to avenge the death of one of their friends and cleaning up the streets of the vicious gangs that are terrorising the neighbourhood.

The villains, led by a delightfully OTT Paul Koslo, are all wonderful 80's stereotypes of street thugs and crooks (ah, they just don't make cinematic scum like they used to!)

One thing's for sure; you'll be guaranteed left cheering as each one of the main antagonists in this bite the dust in style at the hands of our heroes. Hell, it's almost enough to make one want to form a posse and kick some criminal butt!

Complete annihilation...

[Hellraiserdisciple · 4/10 · 17 August 2010]

After a former brother-in-arms from Vietnam is killed by a gang of thugs his former platoon leader is recruited to clean up the streets. He summons the rest of the squad and the game is on.

The story is simple and has been done several times before. There is a relatively short first part that takes place in Vietnam to establish the relationship between the soldiers. I really wish they had spent another ten minutes building on this to give the rest of the film a deeper emotional impact. Sure this is a 80s vigilante film, but that doesn't mean we can't have characters we really care about. Does it? The vigilante force also teaches the neighborhood how they can defend themselves in a montage. And who doesn't enjoy a good montage? This montage is mediocre, but that's okay. The Annihilators could easily have been mistaken for the A-Team. They aren't that professional and they are slightly more violent. Other than that they are just the same. In fact there is at least on A-Team episode exactly like this film. One of the highlights in this film is the gang leader. He looks like a shabby Kurt Russell and when he wears that wonderful pink t-shirt you won't exactly tremble with fear. The guy has balls though. At one point he walks around in the middle of the street with a flamethrower yelling that he wants his drugs back. NOW! It's hilarious stuff! How he became a gang leader is anyone's guess. He isn't a very good leader and his minions are even less capable of anything. They are crappy stereotypes, which I suppose is only what one can expect from a movie like this. On the positive side, this only adds to the overall cheese factor.

Now the thing that really annoyed me about The Annihilators is the title. It's called THE ANNIHILATORS! The definition of annihilate in the Oxford dictionary is; to destroy completely. Our vigilante squad frequently just hurt the gang members. Only towards the end do we see a somewhat steady rise in bodies. However, they are still merely shot. At least director Charles E. Sellier Jr. could have had the decency to give us some Peckinpah or Woo style shootings. And even then I doubt they could have called themselves The Annihilators with pride. Now had they taken out the scumbags with rocket launchers, claymore mines or such, the whole affair would have looked a lot different!

I could go on about all the things The Annihilators isn't, but that would be unfair to it. For all its faults The Annihilators provide some entertainment, mostly in the cheese department. Grab some recreational drugs, a pizza and watch with friends.

Made me cry... really

[krayzp · 20 February 2004]

To the people who have seen this hilarious movie, try and imagine in what state of mental exhaustion and/or depression I was, when I actually shed a tear in the scene where the leader of the vigilantes tells the alcoholic one he still trusts him to watch his back. I also cried when the cripple died.

Don't worry for me, my life is now back on track.

Roy Boy is coming to get you!!!

[misfitgirl · 4/10 · 7 February 2005]

Pretty awful but watchable and entertaining. It's the same old story (if you've lived through the 80s). Vietnam vets fight together as buddies against injustice back in the States. A-Team meets Death Wish, my favorite!

Time goes on, the soldiers go home, and years later a friend is in trouble. No, wait -- in fact, the friend is dead and it is his dad that's in trouble. Our first hero, Joey, is killed by an exceedingly horrifying (super pointy) meat tenderizer as he tries to defend his father's small store from the local "protection" gang despite being wheelchair bound from the war. Desperate for help, the father talks to Sarge, the leader of Joey's old unit from Vietnam, when Sarge shows up for the funeral.

Well, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the old gang saddles up for the city. You can pretty much imagine most of the rest of the movie.

The one thing that drove me crazy is that Sarge keeps haranguing his men about planning, and about how they're really good at what they do when they plan ahead. But Joey wouldn't have been put in a wheelchair by a gunshot in Vietnam in the first place if the unit hadn't been messing around! Then when things are going really well in the city as they battle the gangs, they do it again. For no reason at all, they completely bypass their plan and try to nail the gang without everyone being present. Phh!!!! I raise my hands in disgust. Foolishness!

There is also a suspicious moment when all present members of the unit make sure to try out the heroin they snatch from the gang to make sure it's real. EVERY single one of them. Hmm....

What are you going to do? Keep watching, I guess. The movie isn't too horrible to watch, but it IS a tease. There are all these climactic moments when nothing actually winds up happening. The most dramatic things that happen are those at the beginning of the movie -- the explosives in Vietnam, Joey's death battle, and the gang brutally kicking an innocent teddy bear aside (poor Teddy!).

I guess my main beef with this movie is that I feel let down by it. Even the confusing subplots with "mystery helpers" and their bizarrely cross-purpose motives wasn't enough to save it at the end. But someday maybe it'll all come right and they'll make a sequel. Ha ha ha ha!!!

Becky Harris Singlehandedly Keeps This From Being Total Crap!

[justasinger159 · 2/10 · 25 February 2009]

Becky Harris plays the female shopper whose misfortune it is to be in the store at the wrong time and obviously ONLY purpose to be in this film is to supply a reason to wear out remote controls! Miss Harris seems to me to be in her fifties or older when she first comes on the scene. Once the red haired thug is done with her it becomes apparent that this is no AARP queen. If these are not some of the finest assets ever displayed on celluloid, I want someone to clue me in. Absolutely breathtaking in my opinion and I literally wore out my VHS copy capturing her charms. I would like to know if this movie is available on DVD.

The rest of this movie really is not worthy of mention. I was hoping to see something fairly convincing and intelligent, however I was disappointed on both counts. God Bless Becky Harris!

More 80s upstanding citizens vs. those evil gang punks

[ofumalow · 5/10 · 2 July 2019]

This is one more uninspired 80s "We're gonna drive the punks outta this town if it kills us!" crime drama in the mode of "Class of 1984," the "Death Wish" sequels, and so forth. Many of those films have significant camp value, but despite some other posters here claiming this one is a riot, it's more a watchable C-grade mediocrity than anything memorable.

It's good to see Gerrit Graham top-billed for a change, although really he's not a primary figure among the four Vietnam vets who ride into an anonymous inner city to avenge a buddy killed by members of the gang that's terrorizing the whole neighborhood, and his character makes an early exit. There's not a lot of spark or magnetism among the other good guys, though I guess at this point seeing Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs of "Welcome Back Kotter" play a poker-faced tough guy was a novelty. The bad guys (the usual only-in-movies multiracial crew of overgrown delinquents, this time without any actual "punk" styling) aren't particularly flamboyant or memorable by the standards of this subgenre, though they do briefly pull a "Dirty Harry" on a schoolbus in the last 15 minutes.

I'm not sure why this was the last feature Charles Sellier directed (among three in two years, including the cult horror "Silent Night, Deadly Night"), except he was a successful producer before and was a successful producer afterward, so maybe he just found sticking to that role easier. Anyway, you've seen better films of this type, and you've seen worse.

Poorly contrived mush.....with hilarious results!!!

[dennisvenhuis · 7/10 · 4 December 2006]

When my friends and I began our journey to rent the worst movies available at every video store in town back in the mid-'80s, we never thought to rent this one. The box cover implied that it was a post-apocalyptic survival movie of some sort, and, not being fans of that genre, we avoided it. Luckily, my mother actually brought this doozy home one weekend when the video store ran out of copies of 'Commando' (a pile of dung in its own right, but I was 15 at the time). For whatever reason, she assumed 'The Annihilators' would be an acceptable substitute for the evening. Our original disappointment soon turned into glee, and eventually, uncontrollable laughter as we plodded through this monumentally horrid train-wreck of a movie.

I will not get too much into the plot, as other posters have given a pretty decent overview of the film's premise. As stated, it's your basic revenge action flick : A group of Vietnam vets re-unite to avenge the death of one of their comrades at the hands of some sadistic Atlanta gang members. That's the plot in a nutshell. However, despite this overdone formula, this movie stands out among others of the genre -- it's absolutely freaking hysterical. The movie does contain some violence and foul language -- typical for the genre-- but somehow it almost has the feel of an after-school special or Sunday night movie of the week. Mixed with the violence and drug use is this almost sickening feel-good aura to the movie that actually tries to make the viewer believe ' if good people stick together, we can conquer all the bad in the world...' or some such rubbish...

What really makes this film a steaming pile of hilarity are the acting and the dialogue. Over-ridden with clichéd 'feel-good' speeches and over-the-top bad guy badness, 'The Annihilators can't seem to decide if it wants to be a hard-ass action flick or a nice family film about people bonding together to overcome a common obstacle.. It fails quite miserably at both, but makes for a unique, laughably rotten film in the process.

Even though several actors in the movie are recognizable from appearances in other films and television shows, the real 'star' of this stinker would have to be Paul Koslo as head bad guy RoyBoy Jagger. His hammy performance alone is worth sitting through the 87 minutes. From his spikey, madcap lions-mane hairdo, his over-expressive face (I swear his nostrils flare in a few scenes) to the obnoxious way he spews the horrendous dialogue he was given, Koslo is definitely the film's largest source of entertainment. He even manages to be funny during the final rooftop fight scene -- after getting kicked in the chest, he stumbles backward, puts his hand to his chest and wails like an alley cat..... and I laughed till it hurt.

Although 'The Annihilators' is cruddy in almost every way imaginable, it is certainly funnier than half of the so-called comedies put out by the American movie factories, and I definitely recommend it to fans of un-intentional humor.

2 out of 10 for fans of actual movies

7 out of 10 for afficionados of garbage

Great poster!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 11 June 2021]

You know, I've wanted to watch this movie because the dude on the cover has a facemask on and is carrying a crossbow. That never really happens in the movie, but at least it's entertaining.

At the end of the Vietnam War, the soldiers known as The Annihilators - Sgt. Bill Ecker (Christopher Stone, The Howling), Garrett Floyd (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), Ray Track (Gerrit Graham!), Woody (Andy Wood) and Joe (Dennis Redfield) - undertake their final mission, during which Joe is critically injured saving his friends.

Years later, Joe works at his father's Atlanta convenience store, which is under attack by a street gang led by Roy Boy Jagger (Paul Koslo) and his gang The Rollers, which ends up costing him his life. His father then begs Bill to teach the neighborhood how to fight back, which pretty much consists of the guys ineffectually shooting at the gang members and neither side being really able to hit one another, all while trying to stay away from the cops.

Known as Action Force in Europe, this movie would have been much better if I just watched the poster and got high. Well, I learned my lesson, The Annihilators.

Charles E. Sellier Jr. Directed this. Yes - the producer of so many of my favorite Sunn Classics films! It was his last time directing after a career that included Encounter with Disaster; Silent Night, Deadly Night and Snowballing. He also created The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.

This movie was made at the same time as Invasion U. S. A. And shared the same stunt team, who worked on this movie during the day and with Chuck Norris at night.

Agreeable 80s trash.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 27 April 2020]

A quartet of men who were buddies during their time in 'Nam reunite in the 80s to avenge a fallen comrade, and clean up the streets of Atlanta. Currently, gangs are running amok, and it's up to our team of heroes to eradicate this criminal scum. The main baddie is a swaggering yet aged punk named Roy Boy Jagger (Paul Koslo, "The Omega Man"), while our title Annihilators are played by the likes of Christopher Stone ("The Howling"), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs ('Welcome Back, Kotter'), Gerrit Graham ("Used Cars"), and Andy Wood ("Rambo: First Blood Part II").

This oddball cast (also including Dennis Redfield ("Dead & Buried") and Jim Antonio ("Outbreak")) ensures this slight but amusing urban action flick some sort of cult status. It fits quite comfortably into that "vigilantes vs. gangs" genre that was popular in the 80s. ("Death Wish 3" and William Lustigs' "Vigilante" being other notable examples.) It is pretty cheesy, amateurish, and laughable at times, but it still manages to push some buttons, complete with some effectively brutal violence and shots of ladies' breasts.

The actors are fun to watch, with the ever-amusing Graham in fine form as a guy who kisses the accounting profession goodbye in order to kick some gang members' posteriors. Stone is the cool-headed leader of the group, while Wood is established as a weak link given that he's descended into alcoholism. But this viewer would suggest that you watch this one basically for the late, great character actor Koslo, who sports an awesome hairdo, and threatens citizens while stalking the streets with flamethrower in hand. Roy Boy Jagger is simply a priceless character name.

You've likely seen all this before, but there's still fun to be had here provided that you don't take "The Annihilators" seriously at all.

Six out of 10.

An Annihilation Of Brain Cells

[videorama-759-859391 · 3/10 · 14 February 2019]

Another lame brained movie of the 80's, which again, well, makes you appreciate the 80's. The movie, very low on smarts, again brings the war home in quite a well made and entertaining actioner pic, where a few scenes, resemble ones out of a few other 80's movies. This one, again, revenge formula, which a draws little on the sick air of the Exterminator, has a team of vets, bringing the justice, the chief honcho of this gang in Atlanta, after their crippled mate, who of course, refused to pay any more protection-. Sound familiar? 80's, He's killed in a sickening style, where we're denied, and thankful, to be spared the graphics. Paul Koslo rocks as this totally repugnant villain. Fancy him showing up in this? Jim Antonio is the other strong performance, and there are a other good ones too. You won't see much blood, funnily enough in this R pic, but the vet characters are fun, especially the drunk, while again, the always dependable Gerrit Graham plays the joker of the squad. There are such ludicrous moments, which will have you laughing, but what The Annihilators does, is entertain. It is a kind of cool movi, but the stupidity factor, something I underestimated, as just having watched it again, after a many year absence, is what lets it down. Awesome, striking movie poster too.

Required Viewing for every 16 year old male

[AspiringMovieCritic · 10/10 · 9 April 2001]

What can I say about the Annhilators. From the fine film editing (overlooked at the Oscars in my opinion) to the first rate in your face acting. The Annhilators is high caliber pure 80's cheesefest. This is one of the few movies that I've seen in which every single scene has an unintentionally funny scene. I could go on quoting and quoting, but it's really up to you and your friends to rip this puppy apart. 10 years after first viewing you still won't forget this movie.

A few chuckles here and there .....

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 2 May 2020]

Worth a look if you accept the limitations of fast filmed exploitation nonsense. It's a Vietnam buddy revenge plot to payback Paul Koslo and his street gang. The first part is a Vietnam set up, and is about what you might expect. When one of the ex soldiers is tortured and shot by Koslo and his thugs, his comrades come to deal with his killers. What follows is some inane dialog, hundreds of rounds ricocheting everywhere, and really nothing more than typical mayhem. Yet, there is a certain unexplainable viewing fixation mostly because of the rapidly spiraling out of control script. You get the expected explosions and car wrecks, and I suppose beyond that the best surprise is no surprise. - MERK

More than half in, I was still not seeing light.

[barryfoxworth · 1/10 · 20 May 2023]

I love a good science fiction movie and since I like Natalie Portman and love movies with creatures, I decided this would be a perfect movie to watch on a Friday night! Watching the trailer, first, it looked like a wonderful sci-fi movie,full of creatures and lots of special effects! The movie started slow. I had to keep ff the movie just to grasp what was going on! More than half way through I was still wondering where it was going. I reluctantly watched to the end, only to get upset for wasting 2 hours of my time when I could have been watching "The Age of Adaline" for the 10th time. Now there's a movie!

Overwhelming silliness!

[tarbosh22000 · 29 August 2011]

Starting off in the jungles of Vietnam, we are introduced to a "band of brothers" consisting of Bill Eckert (Stone), Garrett (LHJ), Ray (Graham), Joe (Redfield), and Woody (Wood). After some shooting and explosions confirming that these guys are an elite fighting unit, the text on the screen then informs us: ATLANTA NOW. It seems the town of South Point, Georgia is now a depressing slum. Rival gangs control the town and keep it in a grip of fear. They shake down what local businesses are left for protection money. The gangs The Turks and The Scorpions are bad, but for pure evil, no one beats Roy Boy Jagger and The Rollers. (It has yet to be verified if they opened for John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band on one of their tours).

When, in the midst of an armed robbery, said Rollers kill Joe, Bill rallies the old unit back together to clean up the streets of South Point. They use their military techniques and camaraderie to not just expel the gangs, but bring hope back to the community. By that, they obviously mean teaching elderly men and confused waitresses martial arts. Will these heroes defeat Roy Boy and get revenge for their fallen comrade? The Annihilators (great title) is pure 80's fun from start to finish. It is enjoyable the whole time - this is the type of movie that's best experienced with a group of friends who are in a good mood. (If you're not, it will put you in one). The movie seems to be attempting a marriage of two successful action movie sub-genres: the Vietnam shoot-em-up and the urban revenge thriller. The results are humorous. The whole "reunite the old Vietnam war crew to get revenge" was seen in the also-hilarious Kill Squad. What is it about this plot that allows for such laughs? The movie tends toward optimism - only in the 80's could the message of "believe in your dreams" be tied so closely with flamethrowers and shooting people in the face without a hint of irony. You gotta love it.

Gerrit Graham plays the comic relief jokester, LHJ, in a pretty early role, gets the best Karate moves in the film, along with a memorable neck-snap. Naturally, the heroes are fighting a panoply of middle-aged punks. In the 80's, it seemed to become a ne'er-do-well later in life was more accepted. The whole "store owners fighting back" angle was a lot of fun and had a Bums feel. Paul Koslo as Roy Boy is very impressive. He's a sort of demented Patrick Swayze that goes far off the rails. His performance is inspired and worth seeing.

On the technical side, the opening credits all have a gunshot noise that gets you into the spirit quickly, the music is great in its own way, and the newspaper reads "Vigilantes In South Point". The box art is very cool, if not entirely representative of the movie itself. There's no "Annihilator" in the movie that wears a Jason mask, and they mistakenly call the antagonist Roy Boy Jessup. Apparently both the artist and the writer were allowed to just make stuff up. Keep in mind this is a New World tape (Corman for those who don't know).

Overwhelming silliness ensues - in the best possible way - when you put on The Annihilators. Recommended.

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Incredibly stupid movie

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 9 December 2022]

One of the dumbest Vietnam Vets come to revenge their friends death movies ever made. Honestly... truly some of the dullest, dumbest, most poorly shot actions scenes ever. While Paul Koslo, who I've liked since I first saw him in The Omega Man, played a good villain, the vets were all bland and forgettable. The 'action' scenes are some of the worst ever filmed. Guys are constantly held at gunpoint, bad guys constantly take hostages. No one has a sniper rifle? Vietnam vets? The opening scene, where the bad guys assault a woman exists solely to show her breasts and a little gore. It seems like neither side wants to win in this loser of a movie.

Great stupid Action Flic from the 80ies

[mengels-845-984419 · 9/10 · 10 August 2017]

Come on guys just 18 people reviewing this great funny movie ? This is a real great B Movie Gem from the 80ies. 1985 to be precise. The Actors are just the ones you expect... (not too bad) and the villains are sooooo bad :) you know what I mean. The movie is fun to watch and you always know what to expect... and that's why it is so funny. Great Dialogues and funny 80ie Action.You will have a great fun evening watching this mind numbing trash. Of course people with an artistic flavor please do NOT watch this stupid little flick. All others YEEEESSS :) Have fun

The funniest action flick of the '80s!

[Blitz-5 · 10/10 · 22 January 1999]

This is one of those movies that has the big apocalyptic background with 3 or 4 dudes sitting in the fore front with there machine guns at bay posing with arms the size of tree trunks. But of course this is only the cover art for the box and it just happens to be a painting. What you really get when you open up the box and stick it in the VCR is a cheesey unintended comedy! A friend and myself have even set up a web site for this movie due to its humurous content we felt we had to. One of my favorite lines from this movie: "These punks are finally doing something that you police should have been doing a long time ago... killing each other off!". WOOHOO! wasn't that a funny. You gotta hand it to Bob Summers (the composer) for making one of the most sterile/period scores that ever graced an optical strip or video for that matter. A timeless movie for the ill in the head. BUY IT & LAUGH!

Should have been sleazier

[udar55 · 13 July 2011]

After their wheelchair bound brother in arms Joe is killed by a gang in Atlanta, Vietnam vets Bill (Christopher Stone), Ray (Gerrit Graham), Garrett (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and Woody (Andy Wood) come to the city to teach the citizens how to stand up for themselves. Their main adversary is Roy Boy (Paul Koslo), who is working on a big heroin deal and tries to keep the local kids on his payroll. Our four Vietnam vigilantes also have to contend with Lt. Hawkins (Jim Antonio), who wants things done by the book. This is a serviceable entry in the citizen vigilante sub-genre. The problem is that there are so many classics in that field that this could never really compare. Director Charles Sellier had just come off of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT so it is surprising this isn't sleazier. The main characters are lazily outlined (we barely know each of their specialties a la THE A-TEAM) and we get a really amusing training montage for the citizens that lasts about a minute. There is also a really bungled mystery regarding a fifth member called "Holdout Harry." Still, I was never bored and the film did provide a few laughs (especially the random school bus hostage taking during the finale).

Hilariously Inept Slice of Mid-'80's Tripe

[Milpool · 5 November 1999]

The Annihilators has got to be one of the most inept films I have ever seen. Filled to the brim with everything a bad action flick could ask for, this "film" seems to have the worst of everything going for it. From the dull, mindless plot surrounding a couple of Vietnam vets who decide to take up arms against a street gang (really original) to the "film's" ending, which comprises something like ten minutes of shooting where nobody gets shot, this flick will have you laughing out loud. Of all the films in my collection, this one shall never leave. Pricelessly stupid!

Eighties vigilante crap

[searchanddestroy-1 · 28 March 2024]

There were batches of such craps during the eighties, more or less DEATH WISH descendants but without any shade, predictable at the most. The scene in the grocery store, with the hoodlums killing the war vet in the wheel chair, this scene is brutal, gritty, for me the most worth seeing sequence. However, it remains an agreeable time waster if you have really nothing else to do. I regret to have wasted my time with this forgettable flick; I also regret the late seventies vigilante movies such as the William Lustig or Lewis Teague's programmers. Only for die hard fans for this kind of junk, also old timers and certainly not the new generations.