Warhead

David Janssen was an excellent actor in "The Fugitive" (TV Series). He also starred in another very good film called "Birds of Prey" (1973). His other films are not that good. This "Warhead" (1977) is one of his worst. Karin Dor was a beautiful and convincing actress. But, she too, is lost in this uninspired production, of unlimited boredom.

Originally, "Warhead" was a television movie called "Prisoner in the Middle" (1974). It was somehow released in some theaters in 1977 as "Warhead".

When the movie began, I could quickly tell it was a movie made on the cheap. For example, a CIA operative (David Janssen) is about to parachute into the desert...and they cut away and suddenly he's on the ground gathering up his parachute. Moments later, a school bus is attacked in the desert...and they show they about to attack and then it cuts to the bus suddenly lying on its side...having been blasted. But you see no blast....it's as if the warning "Scene missing here" should be emblazoned across the screen!

The plot involves Palestinians, Israeli soldiers and a lone CIA operative (Janssen) all scrambling to retrieve a lost US Air Force nuke accidentally dropped in the Jordanian desert(???). Why the USA would only send one guy is confusing, that's for sure! The nuke ends up changing hands repeatedly.

So is it any good? Not really. The acting is passable but the film itself lacks energy and interesting characters...and a decent budget. Overall, it just really looks cheap...incredibly cheap! And, it is also not especially entertaining...which is odd considering the subject matter.

This is a film about the nearest, knowledgeable nuclear warhead expert (Janssen), on vacation in the Middle East, where such a bomb is accidentally parachuted. It doesn't detonate when it lands in the Syrian desert, slightly north of the border with Israel. Janssen is procured to deactivate it. A radical Arab group interrupts Janssen's mission and claims the weapon as theirs. But a force in pursuit of the Arabs adds further intrigue to the mix. Has Janssen been rescued or simply captured by another faction? Initially he's regarded suspiciously by the Arab-hunters. But, eventually, the contingent's leader - dying from wounds - declares that Janssen shall be his successor. With nothing great - but nothing really bad, either - the vote of 5 seemed appropriate for this.

With the world at odds with itself, our newest danger arrives when some new country acquires the Atomic Bomb. Isreal and the Arabs are enemies making the world less stable than before. In this movie called " Warhead " the United States loses one of it's Neclear weapons in the deserts of Syria. Frantic to retrieve it, or at the very least, locate it, the U.S. sends in a Neclear expert to locate and disarm the weapon. It's bad enough, that our hero Tony Stevens (David Janssen) must find the weapon with the help of the Isreali military, but his plans are compromised when he is captured by the Arabs first. The story, originally written by Patrick Foulk, becomes a high tense drama when audience members are along for what may be an atomic accident triggered by waring nations. The movie has a good plot, but the acting leaves much to be desired. Director John O'Connor allows the action to guide the movie, but the actors seem stiff and cardboard like. Were it not for the excellence of David Jannsen, the whole thing might be relegated to 'B' pictures. As it is, the film becomes a dramatic statement which asks what would happen if two belligerent nation both possess the nuclear deterrent. ***

Though this movie was made nearly 30 years ago, its main theme is still very relevant with the current Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. With the current threat of nuclear warfare in that region, the scenario in this movie could become a reality though we hope that will not happen. What made this movie especially delightful to me was the background music cues. For those of us who are "Rat Patrol" TV series fans, you will quickly recognize that the music used in this movie were taken from the recorded music cues from "The Rat Patrol", music composed by the outstanding TV composer Dominic Frontiere, even though his name is not credited in the end credits. Overall a good movie with plenty of action.