Cobra Force (1988) Poster

(1988)

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5/10
Its amateurish ways are enough to entertain you more than a lot of professionally-made products.
tarbosh2200017 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In Africa, an evil group of commies wants to, and we quote, "force Gamba to break international relations with Anzala." What does this mean exactly? Well, from what we can tell, Gamba and Anzala are two fictional African nations. When the dastardly Comrade Cornel dispatches his two best (or should we say worst) commies, Courac (Radebe), and the Cuban Gomez, to kidnap the ambassador to Gamba's daughter, things get real. True South African Hero Captain Holmes (Calder) is tasked to rescue Mr. Masada's daughter and restore order in the area. To do this, he takes some prisoners who are on death row with him on this supposed suicide mission. If they succeed, their sentences will be commuted to "life with special privileges". Still seems kind of harsh, but that's the way the Angolans roll, apparently. These men, Gronsky, Manny, and Baby Face, are up to the task, but they find an abandoned young boy along the way and they take him with them. Will the COBRA FORCE release the ultimate deadly strike?

Cobra Force has a lot of what you might call "third-world charm". Sure, they might not have had access to A-list actors, top-notch technical equipment, or powerful Hollywood resources. But they didn't care. They made their movie anyway, and God bless them for that. This homemade, homespun feel comes across mostly in the editing. It's almost Godfrey Ho-esque at times: there are the sections that are edited (relatively) normally, and then there are the other, seemingly unrelated parts that look like Vince Offer got a hold of the film and went hog wild with his Slap Chop. Or possibly his Graty. Or maybe both. To top it all off, there are some "my first editing machine"-style transitions that are the next best thing to star-wipes.

There is some classic repeated footage, and every time text is on the screen, something funny happens. For example, the words "KGB - Angola" stays on the screen for a comically long amount of time, the movie is brought to us by a company called Afrovision, and the title Cobra Force is in quotes. Sorry, "Cobra Force". As for the action, there are a lot of shootings and chasings, and in the unrelated parts some people crash through windows. It's all set to a pretty funky score by Tony Rudner and you have to appreciate the effort that went into all of it. However, things slow down considerably after the second half, where our heroes do a LOT of walking across the savannah. At a certain point everything stops and it becomes walk, walk, walk for an extended period of time. It's pretty uneven, but that's all part of the Cobra Force experience.

Featuring an extremely catchy (and somewhat strange) end-credits song which mentions the words Cobra Force in its lyrics (we always appreciate movie songs where the title is included), Cobra Force is an example of what filmmakers off the beaten track - WAY off the beaten track - in other countries can do if they have a bit of ingenuity and want to make an action movie. Its amateurish ways are enough to entertain you more than a lot of professionally-made products. We say give it a chance.
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1/10
Quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen
Karl Aksel10 December 2001
In fact, it's so bad, it's good. Well, it has it's own entertainment value, anyway. This movie is a catastrophe, and a spectacular one at that. The acting, the fx, the camera, the sound... anything you can think of, really. In that respect, it's a true gem, a keeper. If you come across it, don't miss the chance to see it!

I was a bit undecided whether I should give Cobra Force a 1 or a 10, but since this film is only unintentionally funny, I'm compelled to give it a 1. But hey, I'd see it again!

Best viewed with friends.
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2/10
So atrocious it is somewhat funny
ove-helleren10 July 2005
I have this film on videotape and I sometimes annoy friends who visit me by making them watch it. To be honest, the first half of the film is in fact quite amusing due to its low production value and completely dysfunctional storyline, but it becomes somewhat aggravating to watch the latter half when these redeeming qualities get old.

The locations mostly looks like they are inside the producers mansion, and I highly doubt any of the actors have any formal training. I never really got the plot, but I think some dudes from prison are brought out to fight 3 or 4 evil communist coming from a neighboring country. Their plan I think is to kidnap the daughter of someone important. And this will supposedly create huge diplomatic problems.

There is one or two scenes of nudity (one with breasts shot in slow motion) and some of the commando-training scenes looks like infomercials with some cheesy synthesizer music in the background.

I do not encourage to spend money on this, but please catch it if it runs on TV.
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1/10
One of the worst films of all time
Goreripper18 December 2001
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** One of the joys of working all-night shifts is that very occasionally you stumble across a gem of a film squashed in between the late night news and Anthony Robbins telemall ads. This was not one of those times. "Cobra Force" is an unspeakably bad film that almost defies you to like it in some mind-achingly sadistic way. Quite how any living person would get themselves mixed up in such a godawful mess as this South African waste of celluloid is almost beyond comprehension. Shot on budget-quality stock so it looks ten years older than it is, this incomprehensible action film appears to start out as a crime-buster film and ends up as a bizarre commando flick with condemned ex-vets pursuing a hostage-taking terrorist across the savannah and culminating in the most inane and badly staged shoot out in cinematic history. For the sake of a plot, a KGB operative attempts to stir up a localised war in two African states by assigning a bewildered looking terrorist the task of kidnapping the daughter of an ambassador. In the meantime, there's some kind of war on crime going on with with car chases, executions and people getting blown away willy-nilly. Shots from small-bore handguns send people flying through doors, walls, windows and off balconies. People get set on fire, smashed up in cars and brutalsied for no apparent reason. Whether this is supposed to serve as some kind of sub-plot or not can not be determined. It looks like the producers (if, in fact, there were any) just stuck two different movies together and hoped no one would notice. Don't even mention the acting. As the terrorist drags off his hostage, without so much as a struggle, she whines "Let go, you beast!" Seriously. Two guys masquerading as cops pull over three Asian guys in a truck laden with chickens for no obvious reason at all. A fight breaks out (the Asian guys use martial arts, of course) and everyone gets killed except for one guy who reappears throughout, murdering people. Who he is and what his motivation is, even what he has to do with the plot, is never revealed. As the commandos chase their dangerous quarry across the South African plains, they meet a small boy. Of course, as any good commando squad made up of pardoned criminals would do, they promptly take him with them. And of course, at last, the commando leader catches up with the terrorist, still dragging the hostage behind by the wrist and they face off on a suspension bridge. The only other commando left, who couldn't even shoot straight with a well aimed pistol earlier on, kills the baddie with a machine gun fired from the hip. From a hundred metres away. Without hitting anyone or anything else. It's hard to fathom just why this film exists, unless it's an example of just how bad a film can be. "Cobra Force" is so bad it isn't even deplorable. Even those who enjoy bad films will hate this. I was actually glad when Anthony Robbins came on, and that's saying something.
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1/10
Low budget, low standard action
BJN15 November 2001
I've no doubts that militaristic enthusiasts enjoy this movie, but it got lousy actors, directors and camera people. It looks very amateurish. The film is made in South Africa in 1987 which makes it colored(no pun intended) with racist hints here and there. It's no doubt the whites are the heroes in this movie. It can be compared to The Octagon with Chuck Norris. Yes, IT IS that bad.
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10/10
Walking the path to nowhere
arnebv23 March 2006
I saw it first time some few years ago and since I've seen it several times, and I must say, it the most spectacular crap movie I've ever seen!

The story is pretty dumb, but some of the most fascinating thing is all the walking. Did some math to it, and found that 23% of the movie is walking in some kind (crossing savannah etc..)

Second thing is the movie clips from other movies that has nothing to do with anything, but are in fact better produced than the actual movie..

Its a study in how-not-to. You just have to see this one!

Preferable together with some good friends and some ethanol
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10/10
Greatest Low Budget South African Movie!
jimmaggas12 July 2001
Cobra Force is the greatest low budget South African movie I have ever seen! Ross Calder and Sydney Radebe give their greatest performance. It is about communist insurgents (Radebe and his men)which cross the Angola border and kidnap the ambassador's daughter to break diplomatic relations with South Africa. South Africa send its top anti terrorist group (Calder and his men)to stop them.
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10/10
Please watch this with friends
bilderberganton3 July 2022
I don't know where to start, this is the worst action film in history, I can't explain how much I loved it. If you loved Samurai Cop this is the film for you, it's actually better and worse at the same time. The slow motion bare breasts scene is almost Oscar worthy and the plot is like some Tom Clancy stuff(not really). If you watch this with some friends and get high as a kite I guarantee you a night you will talk about for years. Please watch!
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10/10
Greatest Low Budget South African Movie!
comradcorner10 June 2002
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILERS Cobra Force is the greatest low budget South African movie I have ever seen! Ross Calder and Sydney Radebe give their greatest performance.

The story takes part in the final years of communist Russia. It is a fully communism vs democracy battle in which communist insurgents (Radebe and his men)which cross the Angola border and kidnap Gambia's ambassador's daughter (in South Africa) to break diplomatic relations with South Africa. South Africa sends its top anti terrorist group, the Cobra Force, (Calder and his men) to stop them.

After Captain Holmes (Ross Calder) rounds up his old soldiers from jail, they set to get Courac (Radebe) and save relations with Gambia. After many mishaps he finally meets up with Courac in an amazing final sequence, full of action, machine guns, grenades and explosions. Holmes has a 1 to 1 with Courac and manages to kill him with a bit of help with Simpson, his top Soldier.

Extremely hard to get a copy of it, but if u can good luck to you.

10 out of 10
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