Tornado: A Missão Continua

War is hell, and fighting in a war already lost is even worse. Gian Carlo Prete finds out the hard way that loyalty can be misplaced in this surprisingly serious Italian jungle actioner.

We're in Vietnam, right at the end of the war. The US is withdrawing everywhere but Captain Antonio Marsina still insists his men go out on patrol, resulting in many casualties and loyal Sargeant Maggio (Prete) mulling over his purpose in the war. After a particularly nasty firefight Maggio doubles back to help a stricken soldier, but finds out how expendable he is when his Captain orders the choppers to leave without him. One gruelling journey down river, Maggio returns with the wounded soldier alive.

Marsina isn't taking the criticism from Maggio to well, however, and threatens to court martial the Sergeant. Maggio is popular amongst his men, and the appearance of journalist Luciano Pigozzi makes things a little more different for the CO. Pigozzi is very much anti-war by this point, and keeps annoying the Captain with questions about why he keeps sending his men out. You know that wounded soldier Maggio brought back? He was going to be an Olympic star, has just lost a leg, and has now committed suicide, an action that pushes Maggio over the edge...

Margheriti plays all this fairly legit. There are no indestructible Arnie types wiping out half of South-East Asia. The US has already lost the war, the troops are demoralized and spend their time getting wasted (in both the boozy variety and the booby trap variety), everyone wants to go home except Captain Marsina, and Maggio begins to lose his faith in the army and act out, which leads to a chase into enemy territory, and various violent showdowns.

Maggio's character might be a Green Beret, but he certainly spends his time getting a severe kicking from the NVA and the Viet Cong. There's still plenty of action to be going on with, but both Prete and especially Pigozzi convey their feelings well. This might be one of Pigozzi's best roles in fact. The old actor here certainly show that his sympathies lie with the soldiers, and he's rooting for Maggio all the way. Mike Monty shows up as another burned out officer, further highlighting that by this point in the war, people like Marsina are few and far between.