Angkor: Cambodia Express (1982)

Takes itself way too seriously

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Alternately downbeat and depressing, this is an addition to the cycle of low budget Italian films of the 1980s in which the makers unwisely decided to display the true horror of warfare by making their war films gritty and unrelenting, with little joy or happiness in them - others notably include the Vietnam epic COBRA MISSION. As such, the viewing experience is rarely a pleasurable one, and the obscure ANGKOR: CAMBODIA EXPRESS reaches new lows of depressing realism with its depictions of sadistic torture, man's inhumanity to man, genocide and all round death and destruction. Shot in Thailand with a mostly Asian supporting cast, this is dark and dreary stuff, one of those jungle-set films where all the action happens at night, so watching and trying to stay afloat of it all is one hell of a tough job.Journalist Andrew Cameron begins the film trying to free his Asian girlfriend from a Cambodian prison camp and failing miserably. Attempting to flee the country with evidence of the army's inhumanity - a friend caught the extermination of a village on camera - he is captured and taken to prison, where he endures all manner of unpleasant tortures and sees his eyeless friend get a nail through his hand. Eventually Cameron signs a deal and escapes, but returns to the border with a plan: to break into the camp, rescue his girlfriend, and escape. Somewhat unwisely, his plan is to act as a soldier for crazy renegade Colonel MacArthur (namely Christopher George in yet another Colonel Kurtz impression) and storm the place using stealth tactics. Of course, it all goes horrifically wrong.ANGKOR: CAMBODIA EXPRESS begins with the brutal beating and death of a number of innocent people and ends with the tragic death of a leading character. In a film bookended by death, the main ingredient is also death, nearly everybody dies, although the heroic gun-down-a-dozen-bad-guys footage is kept to a minimum. There are a hundred words I could use to describe this production but sweaty, bloody, oppressive and dirty are probably the best. There are almost no redeeming features, other than a couple of neat performances from two veteran performers. The first is Christopher George (PIECES), surprisingly ruthless as the totally demented Colonel MacArthur; the second is an old and tired-looking Woody Strode, playing a soldier named 'Woody', who commits suicide in graphic fashion - it's that kind of film. Nobody lead Robert Walker Jr is utterly forgettable, although to be fair he isn't given the greatest of roles and does take one hell of a beating before the credits roll.The UK version, which I discovered at an old flea market, has been renamed as BROTHERS IN ARMS, to make it sound more appealing to a mainstream audience I suppose. I was surprised to find the print in widescreen (a very rare occurrence, especially in the early '80s), but sadly a whole section of film about halfway through is repeated, making for a weird viewing experience. Not sure if this is a universal problem but I'm not totally surprised; I'm probably the first person to have bothered watching this film and notice the error. Okay, so the film does try for and achieve something different, and realism is strong throughout, but this kind of movie can be nobody's idea of entertainment and it loses points because of that.

Robert Walker does a generally convincing job (except for some exaggerated "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"s), Christopher George hams it up as a sadistic military nut, Woody Strode livens up every scene he's in as his more sensible boot camp trainer, and Nancy Kwan (the reason I wanted to see this film in the first place) receives fourth billing for about three (pointless) minutes of screen time! The film is alternately dull and unpleasant, sometimes both; all the sides (Cambodians, Vietnamese, Americans) are mostly equally repellent, cold-blooded killers, and the ending is a complete downer. Your best bet would probably be to watch the scenes with Woody Strode, who at least brings some gravity to his character, and skip everything else. *1/2 out of 4.

This is an awful film. As said before, if you just read the plot then you could maybe think this is going to be alright. That is because the plot alone isn't the worst. The idea of a journalist returning to Cambodia to save the love of his life from the deadly Pol Pot regime would surely make an entertaining film? Angkor: Cambodia Express is living proof that a film needs a hell of a lot more than a good plot. The acting in this "film" could well be the worst I have ever seen. This is not made better by the director trying to recreate scenes that could have been seen on GOOD films such as Apocalypse now. (A scene with a poor family being attacked by Vietnamese soldures seems very familiar). But even something as shocking as this plays no strings on the watchers emotions, as the actors are so unbelievable. It leaves you feeling very hollow. The reason I have given this 3 out of 10, instead of 1 is for the following reasons: MacArthur actually acts well, moments remind me of average acting (but this could be that the rest is so bad it just seems alright.) the soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani again is good, and as I said the story line it self could be worse. But by no means does this make up for Angkor: Cambodia Express . I would stay away from this film, unless you are very into the history or vintage 80s war films.PS, it should be noted that my version of this film is called "Brothers in arms" for some reason. Oh and the person that gave Robert Walker Jr a chance to act should never work in films again.

American journalist Andrew Cameron (Robert Walker, Jr.), unable to take his Asian lover when he flees Kampuchea before the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s, returns after three years, determined to remove her from her still embattled nation. Believing that he will find assistance for his idealistic mission, Andrew is disappointed although not deterred in his endeavours to locate a guide who will lead him to the village of his languishing love. Andrew joins a group of partisans led by an American Viet Nam veteran (Christopher George) who doublecrosses him, forcing him to look elsewhere to obtain aid for his planned rescue. Shot in Thailand, the work is not directed very well and utilizes an unseasoned Thai crew, and yet some scenes are potent, thanks to creative camerawork and some focussed acting by the international cast. The storyline is not without interest but unfortunately is somewhat incoherent, flashbacks merging with the present in unclear fashion. Additional difficulty results from erratic sound dubbing, looping and mixing, aggravated by long stretches of Thai and Khmer dialogue, at times dubbed, with a lack of explanatory subtitles heightening continuity flaws within the scenario as most viewers will not be able to adequately comprehend what is occurring. This partly Italian funded production benefits from a rather overheated but appropriate score composed by Stelvio Cipriani, while local stunt performers follow well the directions of stunt coordinator Benito Stefanelli. A goodly portion of the dialogue is cliched as presented, and emphasis upon violence abounds, but the work is nicely paced and full of energy. It is perhaps this intensity that, despite being too often at the service of incomprehensible plot elements, raises this generally below standard production up a notch, including its ending that avoids the familiar.