Shocktroop (1988) User Reviews

REALLY DREADFUL.

[rsoonsa · 1/10 · 20 November 2003]

As this cartoonish movie opens, we watch as an American Delta Force team has somehow filed into Moscow for the sole purpose of destroying a new Soviet secret weapon, but those silly old Russians are provoked by the attempt and kill all but for, naturally, the team leader, Frank White, played by the director J. Christian Ingvordsen (as John Christian). The targeted weapon is a helicopter gunship regulated by an advanced computer stolen from the U.S. that will, when fully functional, be a welcome addition for those Soviet forces struggling in Afghanistan. Of course White refuses to give out during interrogation and is moved to a gulag from which he tunnels with a companion who has been sent by the C.I.A. to kill him, and scampers off to Afghanistan, where he and a scattering of mujahideen then battle against the Soviet Army, represented by a helicopter and two tanks (models), and so forth, ad nauseam. For the allocated budget, Ingvordsen is intemperately ambitious, as tangibles are not available for that all that he envisions, yet even if they were, the script is consistently nonsensical, with each scene seemingly more inane than its predecessor, the importance of some form of credibility mounting due to its absence. As an actor Ingvordsen is a Johnny One Note, although to be fair, during one scene he nearly changes his expression, and he is fittingly matched against Lyle Alzado, for some reason cast as a Spetsnaz general, at which he is unendurable, whereas Danny Aiello must contend with his part as C.I.A. director, seemingly acting in another film, probably his ardent wish. Tiresome predictability throughout is unfortunate in a rare work possessing some measure of a positive view towards a Muslim culture, but most often moot as the non-stop invasive music (one hesitates to call it a score) drowns out much of the dialogue, consistent with the picture's other post-production sound failings such as poor synching, dubbing, et alia. In addition, there is too much footage in this release, calling for proper editing, although Ingvordsen and his main cameraman, Steven Kaman, effectively utilize long shots, notwithstanding Eastern Canada's absence from the list of locations resembling Afghanistan; Kaman, incidentally (as Sven Nuvo) provides the most interesting acting turn as a Spetsnaz officer, despite the cast's inconsistent comprehension of what his rank might be. As is generally the case, the stunt men are very capable, albeit they have poor leadership, but since the same personnel, in varying uniforms, appear repeatedly, there is difficulty in accepting that individuals can die quite so often. Amid all of the carnage which predominates here, Ingvordsen, who co-scripts, finds time to insert a love match between the robotic White and a French nurse, but this makes no less sense than the director's simplistic view of the Afghan war, or his indetermination relative to the spoken languages used - sometimes subtitled, at other times merely a good deal of untranslatable babble in unrecognizable tongues, eventually settling upon the use of American idiomatic English.

Don't waste your time.

[claudemercure · 1/10 · 6 April 2007]

Video box describes main character as a "one-man fighting machine". Do I really need to get into the plot? By 1989, that was already a laughable cliché.

As far as terrible movies go, this one isn't much fun. (There is one good moment. Someone says, "There are many Russian tanks coming." Cut to a shot of 2 tanks.) The pretentiously lengthy opening credits sequence is a tip-off of what to expect: a long, dull action movie. The low budget leads to glaring continuity mistakes and rampant use of stock footage. Of course, the dialogue and acting suck, the action scenes are ridiculously inept, and the script is riddled with gigantic holes in logic and padded with unnecessary scenes (the main character is given a forced shower for no apparent reason at one point). It veers from confusion to blatant exposition. And Aiello gets the pricelessly anti-climactic line, "If anything leaks from this office, I will personally KICK ASS!" Sven Nuvo gives a performance so bad, you wonder if it's supposed to be a joke.

The ending is laughably limp. Then the hero walks off into the sunset... right down the centre line of a highway.

Movies like this are supposed to barely last 90 minutes, but this one tortures you for two hours!