Well I'm going to start this review with a little rant, so please forgive me; The fact that this film has not (at the time of writing) received a decent DVD release is frankly baffling at best and criminal at worst, not least of all considering much of the inept dross that has happily found its loathsome way onto disc and subsequently sits joyously on the rental shelves waiting to lure in the unwary.
Simply put, this is a forgotten classic. Now of course I could of labelled it as many have, a classic of the revenge/vigilante sub genre however, I believe that to do so would be to severely undermine this film and I do not say this as an insult to the aforementioned genres, rather, this in reality is so much more than an exploitative revenge fest. In fact, the revenge angle doesn't even kick in until about half way though the films running time; Up until this point we have an absolutely fascinating and superb character study (thanks to the acting skills of William Devane and a young Tommy Lee Jones) of the post psychological effects suffered by the protagonist/s after years of confinement and torture in a Vietnamese POW camp. In one particularly moving scene, Devane explains how himself and his fellow prisoners referred to their pre-confinement days as when they were 'alive'. In essence even coming home to loved ones, these men can never be the same again after the suffering they have endured, effectively now 'dead' inside.
As previously mentioned however, there is a revenge sub plot at work in the latter half, instigated after Devane's character is viciously beaten and mutilated (in a particularly wince inducing scene!) and his wife and young son murdered. Matters culminate in a superbly executed final shootout wherein our hero, teaming up with his fellow former POW who has nothing else to lose, take out those responsible......and revenge is truly sweet.
As said previously, this is a criminally little known film which deserves a much wider audience - a factor which could be so easily remedied by a decent DVD release. As it is, at least we B-movie fans can cherish it....invariably on cheapo DVD-R's!!!!
Simply put, this is a forgotten classic. Now of course I could of labelled it as many have, a classic of the revenge/vigilante sub genre however, I believe that to do so would be to severely undermine this film and I do not say this as an insult to the aforementioned genres, rather, this in reality is so much more than an exploitative revenge fest. In fact, the revenge angle doesn't even kick in until about half way though the films running time; Up until this point we have an absolutely fascinating and superb character study (thanks to the acting skills of William Devane and a young Tommy Lee Jones) of the post psychological effects suffered by the protagonist/s after years of confinement and torture in a Vietnamese POW camp. In one particularly moving scene, Devane explains how himself and his fellow prisoners referred to their pre-confinement days as when they were 'alive'. In essence even coming home to loved ones, these men can never be the same again after the suffering they have endured, effectively now 'dead' inside.
As previously mentioned however, there is a revenge sub plot at work in the latter half, instigated after Devane's character is viciously beaten and mutilated (in a particularly wince inducing scene!) and his wife and young son murdered. Matters culminate in a superbly executed final shootout wherein our hero, teaming up with his fellow former POW who has nothing else to lose, take out those responsible......and revenge is truly sweet.
As said previously, this is a criminally little known film which deserves a much wider audience - a factor which could be so easily remedied by a decent DVD release. As it is, at least we B-movie fans can cherish it....invariably on cheapo DVD-R's!!!!