Cobra (1986)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Sorry, this movie sucks

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Sylvester Stallone's Cobra(he didn't direct it but such was his clout and influence you might as well consider it his film) is an intentionally hilarious action movie which was ripped apart by critics upon release but the passage of time has somehow made it endearing, and now the film is constantly listed in the list of cult movies. Stallone plays a Dirty Harry-esque tough cop who talks in punches and one liners. His job is to safeguard a woman who was privy to a murder against a bunch of axe wielding maniacs- who happen to be the unnamed bad guys. The film is basic action set piece after another, the kind the 80s excelled in. If you're in the mood for some bad 80s movie you cannot go wrong with Cobra.

Cobra has had the reputation of being a Dirty Harry rip-off, and in many ways it is. However, this is still an entertaining action movie that doesn't deserve the flack it received. I agree that the movie is imperfect and it does look dated, but nonetheless it is a fun movie. Director George P. Cosmatos, who is most famous for directing Rambo First Blood Part II and Tombstone, directs, and he knows how to make effective mindless movies that are fun. I really enjoyed this film, and though it's a clichéd affair, it's quite good in its own right. If you love 1980's action films that are low budget, this is a perfect film to enjoy. The performances are decent at best, but the action is what keeps you involved. The plot does suffer, but what do you expect from a low budget action feature? This is meant to be a popcorn flick, nothing more, and it succeeds at it very well. There were better films than Cobra during the 80's, especially the bigger productions such as Die Hard, but if you enjoy these films, then give it a shot. I found Cobra to be a flawed film with an average script, but it delivered in its action content, and if you're an action film fan, that's all that matters. I thought that Sylvester Stallone's performance was pretty good considering that this is such an overlooked film. He has had better roles, but in Cobra he's perfect for the part and it's hard to imagine someone else in the role. Like I said, this is a good movie that is flawed, but it more than makes up for the lacking material with its tense action. The film is cheesy at times, but it's what makes it all enjoyable.

If you watch this movie expecting realism, you will find yourself throwing your hands up more than once at stuff that is absurd. But if you look at it as a live action comic book with some music video thrown in, it's not bad entertainment. The action, suspense, atmosphere and style is pretty well done within that context. I probably won't watch it again any time soon, but I don't regret watching it.

"Cobra" is certainly one of the lesser '80s action flicks. It doesn't have all that much action, and isn't thrilling enough to be called a thriller. It's tiresome and uneventful.Despite having two actors from the greatest action movie ever made, "Dirty Harry" - the Hispanic partner playing another Hispanic partner, though he does absolutely nothing but inevitably get hurt, and the legendary Andrew Robinson, who played the best villain in motion picture history in that film, but plays the typical namby pamby bleeding heart liberal cop who doesn't like the hero's ridiculous excesses in this one - "Cobra" is more a spiritual successor to "Death Wish". It depicts crime as a faceless curse made of people of every persuasion, black, white, Hispanic, male, female; even one is a policewoman. As "Cobra" himself says, "you're the disease, and I'm the cure."There is no point trying to reason with or understand the individual criminal, because they don't exist. There are no sociological causes for crime - the traditional left wing scapegoats are gone: you can't blame race because they're every colour, you can't blame gender because there are female ones too, you can't blame poverty because some are professionals. They're also all barking mad. A potential point of interest for the movie might have been showing more of the criminals' reason for being, this "New World" that they beguilingly hint at, and why they are often pictured in groups, banging two axes together.But no. We don't see anywhere near enough of them. It's annoying the way they are so obviously kept in the dark to service the movie's right wing agenda. The bad guys are the only thing this movie has going for it - Brian Thompson makes a great bad guy - but we barely get to see him or them. Crime has no cause: it's a "disease", remember?Aside from that the action scenes are negligible. There's a boring car chase and some shoot outs that have obviously had the violence toned down: we see guys fall as if shot but without any gunshot wounds to speak of.There is also no sex or nudity; it's so sanitized it's like a Chuck Norris movie without martial arts.Stallone also looks as small in this one as I can remember seeing him. I wonder if he laid off the roids around this time.