Armed Response (1986)

One of Tanaka's underlings has stolen a rare statuette that he had planned to use as a peace offering between the local Yakusa and Chinese Tong. He hires two private investigators to ... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Olen Ray

Writers:

T.L. Lankford (screenplay), Paul Hertzberg (from a story by)

Stars:

David Carradine, Lee Van Cleef, Mako

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Carradine	...	Jim Roth
Lee Van Cleef	...	Burt Roth
Mako	...	Akira Tanaka
Lois Hamilton	...	Sara Roth
Ross Hagen	...	Cory Thorton
Brent Huff	...	Tommy Roth
Laurene Landon	...	Deborah
Dick Miller	...	Steve
Burr DeBenning	...	Lt. Sanderson (as Burr De Benning)
Michael Berryman	...	F.C.
David Goss	...	Clay Roth
Dah-ve Chodan	...	Lauren Roth (as Dah've Seigler)
Conan Lee	...	Kon Ozu
Sam Hiona	...	Jackie Hong
Bob Hevelone	...	Nate (as Bob Hevilon)

Storyline

One of Tanaka's underlings has stolen a rare statuette that he had planned to use as a peace offering between the local Yakusa and Chinese Tong. He hires two private investigators to exchange ransom money to recover the statuette, but the trade goes down bad and Clay Roth is killed. This angers Roth's brothers and father, all combat veterans, and they go after the people responsible.

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Plot Keywords:

murder of brother | bound and gagged | child gagged | hostage | child kidnapping | 

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Taglines:

Father and son seek revenge in a violent world of ruthless criminals.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jade Jungle

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,368,912

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinetel Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song that plays during the scene where Tanaka and his gang get together and have a talk with his friend Jackie Hong (played by Sam Hiona), in an Exotic Bar, where Michelle Bauer's Dancer character dances, is "Love Is Just A Heart-Beat", performed by Jeannie Cunningham.

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Goofs

The getaway car that F.C. takes is a mid '80s Ford LTD sedan, yet it changes to a late '70s model when he is chased by the police.

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Quotes

Deborah Silverstein: You guys packin'?
Cory Thorton: This ain't my dick I'm playing with.
Deborah Silverstein: Too bad.

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Alternate Versions

This title was released uncut in the UK in 2001 after previous BBFC cuts to remove an ear-clap.

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Connections

Referenced in Best of the Worst: Our VHS Collection (2019)

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Soundtracks

EMILY
Written by Jace Smith
Performed by Jace Smith (as 'Jace')
Produced by Derick Nakamoto

User Reviews

A Fred Olen Ray movie with an actual budget behind it this time.

It's amazing. This is actually a Fred Olen Ray movie that had a budget. Normally his movies look like they got made with a shoestring budget and are also too often completely unwatchable, mainly because of that. I don't know who ever decided to give Fred Olen Ray some big money to work with this time and I also really don't understand why. It's not like his movies ever brought in any big money or have a good reputation. But you know what, the fact that this movie had some money behind it actually also makes it a somewhat decent watch at times. It makes you wonder if perhaps Ed Wood also wouldn't have been capable of making some decent movies if he was given some more money to work with.

But still Fred Olen Ray managed to mess things up. First off all, the build up of the movie takes way too long. I think this is because Fred Olen Ray is accustomed to and familiar with this storytelling approach. When you have a $0 budget to work with normally you have to become creative with your storytelling and stretch your story out as far and for as long as possible, without actually doing or showing something. But this is simply not the sort of approach you want from a straight-forward, tough, action-flick.

But also the story in itself is pretty bad and formulaic but told even worse by director Fred Olen Ray. It has plenty of silly and bad moments in it. I mean, those Vietnam flashbacks were all kind of awkward and didn't really add anything good to the story. I understand why it's all in there but it feels so out of place and totally unnecessary.

A reason why people still probably want to see this movie is because of its cast. It has David Carradine, Lee Van Cleef, Mako and Michael Berryman. What more could you want from a movie? I must say that without their star power this movie would had probably a way worse and more ridicules movie to watch. I had never actually seen Lee Van Cleef at such an 'old' age. You probably wont even recognize him the first time you see him in this, he looks like a real genuine, balding, gray, grandpa, even though he was only in his early 60's at the time. He also died only a couple of years after this movie. Some people just age fast I guess.

One thing that Fred Olen Ray also doesn't know to handle is its action. Most of the sequences really aren't shot too well and the editing also helps to make it look clumsily at times.

This movie at times has some hints of a good and entertaining, silly '80's action flick in it but Fred Olen Ray still managed to downgrade this movie overall to a below average one. I still like to say his name a lot though, Fred Olen Ray, Fred Olen Ray, Fred Olen Ray!

4/10

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