Opposing Force

This film, i think i've seen it twice, is actually a really entertaining movie. Your really feel the hatred for Commendant Becker, and the suffering of the in-training POW's.

Tom Skerritt is good as always, he must be one of the best low budget actors there is.

Well worth seeing.

They had the makings of a good movie here. A group of soldiers are taken out to a jungle camp for a rigorous P.O.W. survival course, but instead of a "controlled" experiment, they begin to suspect that the camp's commander has gone "over the edge" and is turning the experiment into a deadly reality. However, the premise is muddled by adding a female soldier to the mix, a choice which seems gimmicky and which throws off-balance the rest of the plot. (Ironically, the female angle is probably what "sold" the idea to the studio.) Some viewers may enjoy the male-bondage scenes but it's sad to read that the actor who plays Ripkin and is memorably shown tied bare-chested to a X-shaped cross committed suicide in 2001. Anthony Zerbe, America's answer to Frank Thring, is unimaginatively cast as the villain. And yes, the movie seriously weakens in the last 10 minutes.

Nice action movie including thrills , chills , high body-count and spectacular fights . A team of air force soldiers (Tom Skerritt, Robert Wightman, John Considine, among others) , including a female (Lisa Eichhorn) for the first time, carry out a training assignment . Their mission is to avoid being captured by the 'enemy' . They parachute onto an island in the Philippines, only to find that the commandant will stop at nothing to try and break his trainees. The group parachutes onto a remote island, where their objective is to reach the safety zone before the "opposing force" captures them . Everything does not go as expected, and the training mission turns into the real thing. But things go wrong when the commandant (Anthony Zerbe) of an air force camp simulates prisoner-of-war conditions for realist training , but he goes too far , creating too real torture situations . He preys on the only female in the experiment , submitting her to strong humiliation.

A decent film with thrills , chills , violence , nudism , tortures and lots of action. Adventure and action movie shot in Philippines Islands with colorful cinematography by Michael Jones and thrilling musical score by Marc Donahue composed in the Eighties style by means of synthesizer . Concerning a group of military personnel who have signed up for the air force's elite Reconnassaince/Escape program resulting in fateful consequences when the commanding officer goes insane . In spite of its violence , and adding some wholly as well as corny moments , in this an acceptable yarn there are some impressive combats and rousing confrontations . Main cast are pretty well , such as Tom Skerritt, Lisa Eichhorn , along with secondaries as Anthony Zerbe who gives the best acting as ruthless , brutal villain commandant at the hell camp , Richard Roundtree , Robert Wightman, John Considine and George Cheung.

Directed with flair-play enough by Eric Karson , an expert on thrillers and action movies . His debut theatrical feature film was in 1980 with "The Octagon" stars Chuck Norris and Black Eagle (1988) with Jean Claude Van Damme and Sho Kosugi . Subsequently, he directed "Opposing Force (1986) " and "Angel Town" . Equally , he produced "Nemesis" and "Lionheart" with Van Damme in one of his best vehicles . Action addicts will give this one a passing grade , all others need not apply . If you're a Tom Skerritt fan , you'll appeal this movie , that's why it contains action enough and violence for enthusiastic of war movies.

Zerbe scares the sh*t out of me again! Seriously, this guy plays menacing like few can. Not just a mindless hunter type of fear...his villains are cunning, his gaze unsettles and his smile sends shivers down your spine. This movie makes me cringe with his sadistic portrayal of Becker. A man who convinces himself that his actions toward the female prisoner are for her own good. He justifies everything he does to her and never seems to realize that he is doing these things because he wants to. That is frightening to watch.

Roundtree's character is disappointing. Too weak for a big man like him to play. He is, in essence, the Nazi, just following orders even though he knows they are wrong. By the time he wakes up to his cowardice, it is too late. But in the same vein as Zerbe's character, the tormentors have rationalized their actions, and as history shows us, this seems to be how these things play out. People under control, looking weak, held by people in authority who start abusing their power over them. I've seen the Iraq example given several times, or Gitmo. It is a fair comparison...so is the Nazi model.

A group of soldiers, including one woman, go on a training exercise on an island where they are hunted down and captured by sadistic Anthony Zerbe and his troops. Things get out of control and Zerbe subjects his prisoners to abuse and torture. What starts out as a decent idea for a military action-thriller turns into an exploitation flick that isn't much fun. Tom Skerritt is the only one of the good guys with any kind of personality, though he does little with it. Lisa Eichhorn is dull as dishwater. Richard Roundtree is wasted. Anthony Zerbe's performance is the whole show. If this had been made by Cannon, perhaps it would have been a little more fun. Still, it's watchable throughout. I was never bored. Ending sucks, though.