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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : Eric Karson
Tom Skerritt (Poltergeist III)
Lisa Eichhorn (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Anthony Zerbe (The Matrix Revolutions)
Richard Roundtree (Maniac Cop)
Supplied By : Fox Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : January. 30, 2012
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| PLOT The only female soldier in a military experiment designed to simulate POW torture conditions falls victim to the commanding officer--who justifies his insidious actions upon her as a training technique. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW In OPPOSING FORCE, Lieutenant Casey is one among a group of volunteer soldiers who take part in what they initially believe to be an escape and evasion training course. The team, lead by Major Logan, is dropped deep within the jungle alone with a mission. The mission consists of the solders being confronted with real life war situations and their objective is to successfully reach a "safe zone". When they do successfully reach the desired area however, signs that something is up take shape, when a group of soldiers kidnap them and transport them to a nearby camp, over seen by the hard-nosed Captain Becker and Stafford. Becker has changed the exercise to that of a Prisoner of War simulation, unbeknownst to the soldiers, however things get out of hand when Becker and Stafford resort to grueling torturous tactics, tactics that the team of soldiers did not sign up to endure. In the midst of the exercise, Casey, the only female of the group is especial targeted by the men, who not only torture her, but shockingly rape the military woman as well. Eventually, fed up with Becker's rule, Casey, along with Logan lead the way as those who remain, try to fight back, Although when requesting this film for review, the title, OPPOSING FORCE didn't exactly ring a bell with me. But it was upon researching the film, I finally realized that this was a film that I remember seeing years ago on one of the cable movie channels. So when sitting done to review this, it was actually a joy to see this again. Shot in the Philippines, OPPOSING FORCE is obviously one of those films of the 80s that was shot for cheap in the matter of days. Not unlike many of the films released by CANNON FILMS, This ORION release, OPPOSING FORCE features a really thin plot, but it offers just enough to provide for an entertaining feature. I really enjoy film, because although low in budget, I personally felt that it was high in it's suspense, and even some of the scenes are very realistic(especially those involving Lt. Casey). And although it may be difficult to keep in line with all of the names of the characters, the film does a decent enough job in getting us acquainted with them. Characters such as Casey, as well as Logan are the types of characters that an audience can get behind in these kinds of action flicks. For a film so thinly plotted, it must rely on interesting characters above all, and in my opinion, on the end, it succeeded. While there are not a ton of fiery explosions, ala RAMBO, there are some, as well as a few other memorable moments(i'll always remember the forced strip down scene, followed by the baths of water and powder, for some reason, and of course the scene which rape is implied). My primary reason for remembering seeing OPPOSING FORCE on TV was that it features veteran actor, Tom Skerritt. To me, Tom Skerritt, is pretty awesome, not to mention, very versatile. Throughout his career, he has played a multitude of different roles, and has done so on many budgets. Here in OPPOSING FORCE he is again really likable as the "hero" type. Along with him is Lisa Eichhorn, who essentially is the film's real hero. As "Casey", Eichhorn presents to us a woman who is brave but also vulnerable. Through out the film, we get the sense that Casey can "carry her own" , but as she is mistreated by her higher-ups, we still actually feel for her on a realistic level. Also are effective are the pair of "bad guys", who are prominent in the film. First off we have Anthony Zerbe as the ruthless "Becker, the leader in command. Here, Zerbe is also believable, and sometimes chillingly. While I agree that some of the torture scenes could've benefited from bring more intense, Zerbe still manages to conjure up a villain that is quite imposing. As Becker's right hand man is Richard Rountree as Stafford. I am used to seeing Rountree in the SHAFT and MANIAC COP, roles in which he was sort of the good guy. But in OPPOSING FORCE, he is quite the opposite, and he does it quite well. I feel as though Rountree and Zerbe made for onr villainous team. Overall, the film did not call for any kind of great acting, however the acting featured here is not too bad. In the end, OPPOSING FORCE, to me, is just a fun film. There is nothing too new, and nothing too spectacular about it. It has the kind of action that, for anyone who grew up in the '80s, is very familiar, thus making this an easy one to enjoy. |
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| GORE
METER 3/10 Some gunshot wounds and a few scrapes. |
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MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 The film features your typical action and adventure scoring. | ||||
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM OPPOSING FORCE, which is sometimes referred to as HELL CAMP is just mindless fun. It doesn't require much thinking when watching this film. As I said, the script is simple, but what it does offer up is a fun time. If you happen to enjoy the Philippine based productions of the '70s and '80s, or if you are a fan of low budget action, then OPPOSING FORCE would be ideal for you. And for those who already enjoy the film, this particular release presents the film via a very nice transfer. OPPOSING FORCE, as well as many other films in the MGM Limited Edition Collection are available at Amazon.com. |
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