The Wild Team

On the tropical island of Manioca, during a MardiGras-like festival, the child of the former president is kidnapped by the thugs of a communistic dictator. A large corporation in Miami finances an expedition to recover the child, and thus hopes to put the democratic nominee back in power. To this end, they send four mercenaries into the jungle, all of whom are masters of warfare. However, while the four mercenaries are fighting their way through the green inferno, new developments are occurring back in Miami. It seems that the corporation has changed its stance, and is now trying to work out a deal with the communistic dictator. This is sadly one of Umberto Lenzi's most neglected films--and for no good reason at all. Perhaps the lack of distribution has contributed to the obscurity of this gem; but, for all serious fans, it remains to be rediscovered. This film is not remarkable insofar as it is extraordinary, but that it so keenly represents the ending of an era. Never again will we see the likes of Antonio Sabato, Ivan Rassimov, Werner Pochath, and Franco Fantasia, all teaming up together in one great film such as this. Besides being well-directed, this movie is augmented by a very nice soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani, as well as a surpise appearance by Andrea Aureli. Of course, it has its drawbacks as well. For instance, Ivan Rassimov's character is killed off much too soon (the same fate he suffered in Ruggero Deodato's "Atlantis Interceptors"). However, this movie contains some genuinely wonderful scenes that recall all the glory of Lenzi's earlier films. Highly recommended!

What happens when you mix THE WILD GEESE + "The A Team" + Uncommon Valor, but then mix in a bunch of Eurocult actors (including Antonio Sabato in one of his last meaningful roles), and add a touch of scifi? You get WILD TEAM.

Generally this film is pretty trashy and low quality, especially in the writing department and of obviously low budget. However, Umberto Lenzi skillfully directs the film well enough to inject it with enough energy to keep things moving. The cast of recognizable faces plays to each one's strengths (Werner Pochath as the creepy guy, Ivan Rassimov the stern know-it-all, Antonio Sabato as a smarmy leader, and Sal Borgese as the goofball). The odd woman out is Julia Fursich (Kent) who looks very angry and uncomfortable most of the film, which adds a layer of humor to the experience.

There's plenty of pyrotechnics and lackluster action on display; enough to make Bruno Mattei, Ignazio Dolce, or Antonio Margheriti blush. It's all handled pretty cheaply with no blood squibs or creativity to any of the deaths, but moves along at a quick enough pace that you won't care too much.

Much like CROSS MISSION of a year later, this action film features a hilariously out-of-place sci fi touch in the form of a group of psychics (!), including Gabriella Giorgelli (!!), used to locate the film's MacGuffin, and are able to somehow tap into a powerful supercomputer for more accuracy (!!!). There's also a pretty good Stelvio Cipriani score on display, certainly a cut above most mercenary movies of the period. He certainly brings in a lot of cues inspired by his earlier work on THE GREAT ALLIGATOR and TOUGH TO KILL, which certainly beat this movie to the punch of Italian WILD GEESE knockoffs shot in the Dominican Republic. They weren't quite done though, as the film THE LAST MATCH, a few years later, would go on to squeeze what little juice was left in the genre.

All in all a serviceable time waster.

This film is often disregarded, but for undemanding fans of Italo exploiters this is a very pleasant diversion for ninety odd minutes.

Set in an imaginary South American republic, Thunder Squad churns out all the old clichés of the action genre, but the project is handled with style and verve that many a young wannabe could learn quite a bit from. If there is a complaint, it is in the lead casting of Antonio Sabato. One can only surmise how different it would have been with say David Warbeck or Fabio Testi.

So, for a wicked little romp taking in Kidnapping, jungle fighting, double cross, and shady Government dealings check this one out.

Viva Lenzi

I watched this Umberto Lenzi 1985 action/jungle adventure last night. Its plot resembles the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle COMMANDO from the same year (Italians ripping off popular cinema...nah!) with a young child being kidnapped by mercenaries. Of course, the Italians one up the Terminator by including 5 commandos led by the always reliable Antonio Sabato. After an initially slow half hour set up, THUNDER SQUAD really picks up with the group trekking through the jungle and shoot up lots of stuff. Lenzi throws in a bit of social commentary regarding genocide and political machination but never dwells on it if he feels a good explosion can take the viewer back into the land of the Thunder Squad. Familiar faces Werner Pochath and Ivan Rassimov pop up as two members of the elite squad. This was release in the US on video as WILD TEAM.

If there's one thing in life you usually shouldn't question, it's the brutal character of an Italian mid-80's action flick. There was a truckload of them overflowing the more hidden shelves of raunchy video stores back in the late 80's and they pretty much all looked similar. They had deliciously appealing VHS cover art, complete with heavily muscled and testosterone bursting males firing off big machine guns, and provocative taglines like "Shoot first, ask questions … never" or "They Shoot 'em all up!". On the backside of these VHS boxes, there were several more enticing stills depicting pure mayhem and carnage. The good thing about these images is that they're 100% reliable! These movies truly are a non-stop spitfire of extreme action, gratuitous mega- explosions, muscle showcasing and horrible macho dialogs. "The Wild Team" is Umberto Lenzi's contribution to the popular trend, but it actually was a bit of a disappointment. Especially in comparison with other contemporary jungle mayhem highlights (like Bruno Mattei's "Strike Commando", Antonio Margheriti's "Commando Leopard" or – most of all – Ruggero Deodato's awesome "Cut and Run"), "The Wild Team" is rather tame and unmemorable. The plot contains all the required ingredients and clichés to guarantee pure entertainment, but the film simply lacks the essential panache! The cast is stupendous (Antonio Sabato, Ivan Rassimov and Werner Pochath!) and the body count is tremendous, but the adrenalin and kicks aren't bursting from the screen like supposed to. When the son of the popular President of Manioca, a small Southern American island, gets kidnapped by the henchmen of the communist dictator who took over the power. They threaten to kill the boy if the President would even just consider to take up his former position again. A multinational in Florida supports the President – because he guarantees free access to the country's profitable silver mines – and hires a quintet of rough mercenaries to go on a rescue mission. The search and rescuing of the boy goes rather fluently, if you don't take into account a shamelessly overlong para-sailing sequence, and after about 45 minutes you wonder what'll happen next because everything looks solved. But then, of course, Lenzi begins with all the dire but inevitable sub plots including treason, corruption, self-sacrifice and getting saved from the jungle by an annoying 12-year-old. There's nothing exceptional or remotely remarkable about the jungle action sequences and it's never a good sign when even the shootout sequences start to look boring after a while. Stelvio Cipriani's score is undoubtedly the best thing to mention here, but unfortunately the music doesn't suit the tone and subject matter of the film. His best scores are for mysterious and sleazy horror films or gialli, like "What have they done to our Daughters", not brainless action flicks.