The Wild Team

In the 1980s, the films of the Italian Cinecitta film industry were becoming increasingly poor. This also applies to this mercenary film by Umberto Lenzi (1931-2017), which belongs to the popular genre of macaroni and kombat films. At least an illustrious cast was secured for filming in the Dominican Republic. And this time, it's not about World War II or the Vietnam War, but about a military dictatorship in Latin America.

Although the politician Cordura has been expelled from his homeland of Manioc by the military dictatorship, he is preparing to return home. Just then, his young son is kidnapped by military henchmen. A five-man mercenary squad (Antonio Sabato, Ivan Rassimov, Werner Pochath, Sal Borgese, and Julia Kent) sets out into the jungle to rescue the kidnapped boy. It goes without saying that this will be more difficult than expected. The plot, at least, is consistently unraveled without any major surprises.

This film is certainly only recommended for die-hard fans of Italian cinema. Thanks to the involvement of the West German LISA FILM, three German-speaking actors are also involved: Julia Kent, Werner POCHATH, and Manfred SEIPOLD as the military antagonist. Julia Kent, who appears here under her real name Juliane FÜRSICH, at least offers a few surprises as the clever explosives expert.

Veteran Italian divos like Antonio SABATO (1943-2021) and Ivan RASSIMOV (1938-2003) merely recite the obligatory program.

Never one to ignore a trend, Italian director Umberto Lenzi has a crack at the jungle warfare/action genre as popularised by US hits like Rambo, Commando and Missing In Action, giving us this cheap and cheesy piece of instantly forgettable nonsense about a team of hard-as-nails mercenaries hired by a mining company to rescue the kidnapped son of a deposed South American president.

A mish-mash of ideas borrowed from the aforementioned American movies, Lenzi's film is unremarkable guff from start to finish, a repetitive succession of lame jungle encounters between the fearless soldiers-for-hire and numerous heavily armed goons. Expect the endless 'ratatatat' of machine gun fire, lots of explosions, a dreadful hang-gliding scene (the team's very ordinary equipment supposedly made of special material capable of avoiding detection by radar), random encounters with jungle critters, hilarious dubbing (the son of the president has a particularly irritating voice), much macho posturing from the mercs, and a gratuitous shot of explosives expert Sybil (Julia Kent) bending over in hot-pants, but nowhere near as much gore as one might hope for in a film by the man who gave us Cannibal Ferox.

A good assemble cast of B-movie stars including Antonio Sabato (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Ricardo Montalban!), the ever creepy Werner Pochath and Ivan Rassimov star in this sadly flat 'action' flick in which a group of highly trained mercenaries undertake a dangerous mission (yawn) to rescue a kidnapped boy from some guerrillas somewhere in South America.

Boring throughout with poorly executed action scenes, bland characterisations and a particularly sloppy and childish feel to it, this film has very little to recommend it.

Certainly one of director Umberto Lenzi's lesser efforts, this one is best left on the shelf. Oh, and did I mention the horrific 'humming' soundtrack over the end credits?.....*shudder*

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.