Just bought myself a copy of "The Retrievers". First of all I must say that the trailer for this schlock is by far more entertaining - but that seems to be the case with many B-grade actioners. The plot isn't half that bad and maybe in hands of some real filmmaker, it could have actually worked. Now the only reason to watch this reasonably forgotten gem is it's undeniable cheese -value. Action scenes are slow but frequent so you don't have to press the fast forward in your remote all of the time.
There is one guy, whose name I didn't catch, who posses some martial arts skills. His kicks are fast and quite flashy - especially when he's fighting the hero in the end. This is mostly because Max Thayer doesn't manage to be even a bit believable in his action scenes. His kicks are knee -high and I've seen more impressive punches thrown by 5 -year old boys.
Acting is total garbage and I was expecting gratuitous nudity. There is none. Well, there was one female character who's supposed to be some kind of literary agent - I suppose. She looks like a contemporary adult film star and is having a bubble bath for no obvious reason in the middle of the film.
This balances on the level of "being just plain bad" and "being just SO plain bad that it's actually good". I'd be hard pressed to go through it again, but it's a good addition to your 80's STV - action movie collection.
PLUS Katey Sagal (aka. Peggy Bundy) sings the song over closing credits. Well, you have to start somewhere... I also noticed director Rowdy ("Road House", "Striking Distance")Herrington's name in the credits. I believe it was in the grip -department or something.
Avoid if you like to actually enjoy your movies. Get it if you have a soft spot for geriatric Kung-Fu and painfully bad acting.
