Programmed to Kill

OK, you have seen Universal Soldier with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. A real macho film.

This film came out five years earlier, and feature a female in the lead role - Golden Globe winner Sandahl Bergman (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja).

It's a mostly forgettable movie, but it is interesting in the fact that it is really timely right now. Bergman plays a Middle Eastern terrorist who is captured and turn against her friends after some nifty programming like the Universal Soldiers. But, as you may suspect, something goes wrong and she goes after those that cyborg-ed her.

I really only tuned into it because the initial action took place in Crete, and I couldn't resist that. Heck, I might have been there playing in a softball tournament when they were filming.

Still-timely plot involving a female Middle Eastern terrorist who is caught and re-programmed to go after her former comrades ... all well and good, until the programming goes awry. Straightforward, simple plotting, the action is never allowed to lapse, AND ... this will never happen again ... NO political grandstanding on who is right and wrong in the Middle East situation. Suitably unpretentious production and very workmanlike acting all around, and Sandahl Bergman turns in a rather unnerving performance as Samira, the death machine; the only other actress this good in such a role at the time was Claire Wren in "Steel and Lace," another movie which will appeal to those who like this one. This movie cries out for a remake, maybe with Michelle Rodriguez, though it won't happen; a DVD release of this one would be better.

This film starts on the island of Crete, where a group of Lebanese terrorists led by a man named "Hassim" (Arnon Zadok) and his girlfriend "Samira" (Sandahl Bergman) kill several innocent people before kidnapping two American children and taking them to an unknown location just outside Beirut. Once informed of the terrorist demands, a senior CIA advisor named "Harry Carlson" (Paul Kent) suggests sending a former operative named "Eric Matthews" (Robert Ginty) to rescue the children and eliminate those responsible. It's during this time that we learn that Eric is nursing a personal grudge against Hassim. After the mission is completed and the children are rescued, Eric is somewhat disappointed because Hassim managed to escape. Not only that, but Samira is also seriously wounded during the firefight and cannot tell Eric where Hassim might have gone. What Eric doesn't know, however, is that the CIA has other plans for Samira, which include turning her into a cyborg killing machine and sending her out to kill Hassim and as many other terrorists as she finds. Unfortunately, during this process, she somehow overrides her programming and sets out to kill everyone in the CIA as well--including Eric and his entire family. I won't reveal more, but just say that this movie came out during a time when cybernetic films were quite popular, with "Terminator" and "Robocop" probably being the most well-known. Sadly, this film isn't nearly as good as either of them, mainly due to poor character development and cheap action scenes. Frankly, although Sandahl Bergman performed adequately, I can't say the same about Robert Ginty--or anyone else, for that matter. In short, this was a dull, low-budget, paint-by-numbers production, and I have rated it accordingly.

Just a note for convenience that this movie is alternately titled, "The Retaliator" on several online databases...just apparently not IMDB. Nor did it show up under searches on "retaliator" on IMDB as of the date of this "review".

"The Retaliator" / "Programmed To Kill" would probably have been better if it had focused more on Sandahl Bergman's nearly unstoppable robot / killing machine and less on Robert Ginty's CIA agent / mercenary. In the pantheon of 1980's action stars, Ginty ranks pretty low. He just doesn't have much charisma. His family troubles in this movie are dull, and his reckless character is not very likable (at one point, he even blows up a jeep full of American security guards just doing their job - trying to protect the government facility that he had just infiltrated!). Bergman is a good pick for the part of a female killing machine, but the script barely even gives her any speaking lines, and the budget doesn't allow for much in the way of special effects and extra powers. Some fine stunts, but too many of the action scenes are filmed in near-darkness. Pretty forgettable, all in all. *1/2 out of 4.