American Hunter

Chris Mitchum returns once more in another Indonesian action outing here.

This time the plot concerns our man's tenacious hunt for a secret microfilm which is initially in the possession of none other than our old friend Peter 'The Stabilizer' O'Brian (here playing a bit of a greedy no gooder!) However, another rather sinister group headed by kickboxing legend Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace and IFD films favourite Mike Abbott are also desperate to lay their evil paws on said microfilm.

Well, you can probably guess and needless to say; plenty of action ensues including a plethora of shoot outs, car chases, big explosions, some cool martial arts (Wallace getting to show off his lightning fast foot skills!) and stunts aplenty (it's especially great to see the ever durable Mitchum performing a great many of his own stunts - A true performer indeed!)

Yes, this is typically entertaining stuff from the ever dependable Arizal. Well worth checking out!

GUY: "You should thank me."

GIRL: "Thanks."

GUY: "I don't need your thanks."

This and many other scintilating passages of top quality dialogue can be heard in 1989's American Hunter. Spiritually it's in the same league of ineptness as Samurai Cop, although the fights here are way more adeptly choreographed. Ultimately it's not as funny or charming as S.C. and it gets a little generic 80s action-esque in places, but there are more than enough scenes of ridiculous macho overload and awkward one-liners to justify a viewing. In fact the first 30 minutes or so are insanely good fun - it starts off with a guy driving a jeep through a boardroom meeting - but it doesn't quite keep it up despite the non-stop pacing.

A shirtless Robert Mitchum felt the sting of a lash across his bare back in the 1951 "His Kind of Woman." Now son Chris feels the sting of at least seven lashes across his bare back in this sloppy but lively made-in-Indonesia actioner. Thus the Mitchums qualify as one of filmdom's father-son victims-of-whipping combinations on the silver screen. (John Wayne was whipped in "The Conqueror" and son Ethan felt the lash in "Man Hunt." Errol Flynn was whipped in "Against All Flags" and son Sean received similar treatment in "Son of Captain Blood.") After his whipping, the shirtless Chris Mitchum then suffers electric shocks administered through a metal collar around his neck, but Chuck Norris underwent a similar torture in "Braddock: Missing in Action 3" some two years previously and Norris's torture scene was much superior. The rest of "American Hunter" is the usual mish-mash of action scenes which divert for the moment but which, like the lashes given to Chris Mitchum's back, don't leave any mark.

Okay, so I watched this last night and I think I may have found my film of the year for 2006. Seriously, I can't think of anything else that will be more entertaining than this. Lots of people run around to try and secure some microfilm, which we are never told what it contains! It is literally shoot out after shoot out, chase after chase, huge explosion after huge explosion. The amazing thing is seeing Chris Mitchum do quite a bit of his own stunt work. Plus you have incredible support from guys like Bill "Super Foot" Wallace, Mike Abbott (looking like a cute Robert Z'Dar) and RAMBU himself Peter O'Brian as a wimp (!) named Tom Selick (say it out loud). This should come as no shock to anyone who has seen Azrial's earlier films like THE STABILIZER and FEROCIOUS FEMALE FREEDOM FIGHTERS.