Strike Commando

Strike Commando is the first full-fledged Mattei trash flick from the prolific – in terms of both quantity and camp –  collaboration of Fragasso-Drudi-Mattei-Gaudenzi, a quartet of trash fantasists and shameless plagiarists of Hollywood hits. The broad field of juvenile war fantasy, reeking of Rambo II, first spread out before video-rental store customers and the filmmakers managed managed to milk it for five more movies. The amount of naïveté, absolute frames and overwrought acting in Strike Commando is reminiscent of the unattainable pinnacle of delirious playing at soldiers, Deadly Prey, though in comparison with the Prior brothers, the Italian shysters had a significantly bigger budget. However, that budget was swallowed up by explosions of straw huts and archival footage of helicopters, so it fortunately couldn’t be put into the acting qualities or the sophistication of the screenplay, which is fascinating with its almost brilliant simplicity and straightforwardness. (19.03.2023)