Firehawk has Kove as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam who takes his men on a mission into the jungle, only to have the helicopter malfunction, forcing it to make an emergency landing. It's the sloggiest of the jungle slogs when they're stranded, but the problem is, we also have Kove as the hero, which means he may be up to no good. As his men slog through the jungle, hoping to be rescued, fractures and fissures form, tensions brew, and there's a fear that a traitor may be in their midst. Or maybe they're just losing their minds at being stuck in this Philippine jungle slog. Either way, will someone figure out what the score is before too many people die?
For a 90-minute movie, this feels a bit longer than that, and I think that has to do with not only the slog aspect, but the fact that we've added the stranded element. Anyone who's been in a car far from home that has a flat tire or breaks down, or has been waiting at the airport for a plane that's been delayed indefinitely, knows the sense of dread, helplessness, and boredom that you feel, and that I couldn't help feeling when I watched this. There were plenty of shootouts and scenes of Kove chomping a cigar that attempted to mitigate that, but it just felt too flat tire-y. This isn't horrible by any stretch, there are a lot worse ways you could spend 90 minutes, but I think if you were looking for a bad movie night flick among friends, you may end up with people going to their phones if you choose this one.
With his addition to the second season of Cobra Kai, there's been a bit of a resurgence in interest in Martin Kove, which I think is fantastic. By the same token, this late 80s/early 90s incarnation of him is much more enjoyable for me. This is him as the DTVC Hall of Famer/pillar of the video store that he is, chewing cigars and scenery, vests with no shirts underneath, not sure if we can trust him and not sure if we care. Talking about the feeling you get when you're stranded due to a flat tire or something, Kove is both the person you'd love to be stranded with, and the person that you start to not trust because his decisions start to look bad, which makes the feeling of helplessness that much stronger. I think it may have even been what Santiago was going for, but the problem is, is it something we'd really enjoy experiencing?
Speaking of Santiago, we're finally hitting ten films for him, which for a Hall of Fame director is big. After Albert Pyun, he's currently the only director in the Hall of Fame strictly as a director, and Pyun is in the 40 Club, so we need more Santiago on the site for sure. Whether it's Vietnam in the Philippines, or post-apocalyptic actioner, Santiago has a slew of fun ones from the mid-80s to the mid-90s that I've barely scratched the surface on, it's just a matter of us getting there, so hopefully we'll start soon. One thing about this, is you can see how much in his element Santiago is in the jungle slog. There's a sense that he and Corman had an understanding that when Corman gave him a script and a budget, Santiago knew where he was headed. On the other hand, Santiago does these a bit differently from the Italian directors who handled them. He comes from a different tradition of film making, which makes these a unique addition to the usual Vietnam in the Philippines and post-apocalyptic films from this era, and something I enjoy as a change of pace.
Roger Corman is the third Hall of Famer involved in this, though he's uncredited as executive producer. He has over 400 production credits on IMDb, the most recent of which is 2019's Abduction, a Scott Adkins film I still haven't reviewed. When you think of DTV and B-movie producers, the conversation starts with him. You can look at Golan and Globus, Pepin and Mehri, and Lloyd Kaufman, but it's like if you add all of their stuff together it almost matches Corman's output. Beyond the great stuff that he had with Santiago, he's also responsible for the Bloodfist and Death Race films, plus was the subject of a great documentary on his failed Fantastic Four film, which we've covered here. We wouldn't have the DTV world we have now if it wasn't for him, so we owe him a lot. Here's to you Mr. Corman, you're one of the best.
Finally, Captain America himself, Matt Salinger is back, as the racist member of Kove's platoon. I was trying to remember if we'd seen Salinger play a heel before, and I couldn't think of it, maybe in one of the Seagal films he did. In the paragraph above we were discussing the Corman Fantastic Four that never was, but we have Salinger here who was in the Pyun Captain America that actually was. This was Salinger's follow-up to Cap, so it's interesting how he goes from the greatest American hero in one film to a racist wearing a Confederate flag bandana in the next; but also how he goes from one DTVC Hall of Fame director in Pyun to another in Santiago in the next. If you go to his IMDb page, he uses his Captain America still for his profile pic, which I think is fantastic. The way that Disney and Marvel have tried to act like those great earlier films never existed is an abomination, and I like that people are resisting that.
All right, since we're talking about another movie, it's time to wrap this up. You can currently stream this free on YouTube. I think that's the way to go, but be warned, even for free, it's pretty jungle sloggy. Still there's some fun Kove as well, so if you're pining for some while we're waiting for the next season of Cobra Kai, this might do the trick.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106914
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