Total Force (1996)

You won't be disappointed!

Really Surprised!

Fresh and Exciting

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This rating of seven stars is completely out of line with the rest of the reviews, but I'll explain why: This film is not a triple A title, and it should not be viewed as such. It is, however, a very blunt and daring bottom end B-movie, featuring the most 'iconic' 90's elements - international terrorists, cyber warfare, government conspiracy, plenty of 'action girls' (featuring nudity), poorly choreographed fighting scenes, - you probably get the picture. It's all spiced up by very 'original' camera techniques - sudden zooms, tilting to the left and to the right, rapid angle changes, mixing in military stock footage to spice up the 'tension', and some funky visual tricks. All in all this is a rather fun movie with decent pacing, but only for those seeking these kinds of b-action flicks.

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*So bad it's actually good? Well, no. Plot, acting, camera, lighting, they're all on an abominable level. Did I say plot? It's a bit too much credit for this movie, which reminds me of the cartoons I drew when I was 10 years old. I didn't have a plot, just kept drawing until I reached a dead-end, then made up an ending just to be done.Nonetheless, the "plot" in short: An evil scientist creates a device that controls humans. With a press of the button, the subject will explode.A special forces team called "Total Force" must seek out and destroy the scientist and his lab. Later on in the film they are supported by terrorist Jack O'Hara, played by Frank Stallone. 'Comic relief' is provided by a corrupt senator, whose character is not at all funny.Add to that recycled Navy footage and you've got a movie so bad not even enough people have seen it to be placed at the bottom 100 here at the IMDB, where it belongs.

This movie wasn't the best I've seen, but it certainly was not the worst (Armstrong was MUCH worse). The basic plot was interesting and somewhat plausible. Corrupt (not mad) scientist Dr. Edmund Wellington (Lynch) has created a device that will cause people to become highly aggressive and kill others. A perfect plan when you're talking about soldiers during wartime. This device makes them the ultimate killing machine. And the added bonus? The soldiers will self destruct afterwards. But something goes wrong with the self destruction part and the military, whom Wellington has been courting to buy his weapon, get cold feet. Then they decide to pull funding and scrub the project which causes Wellington to retaliate. Add to this mix Frank Stallone and his crew who are trying to stop the project from finishing and you've got the basic plot of ANY `direct-to-video' flick.The camera work IS jerky and causes one to wonder what is really happening as you can't keep track of the action. That directorial move was a bad one. The acting wasn't bad, even Stallone was `okay', but the overall plot was a pretty thin one. The director, I think, was counting on the action sequences to make up for the lack of plot but as I said earlier, the camera movements made those action sequences difficult to watch. It should be noted however that some comic relief was offered with the role of Senator Williams, played by Lynch's younger brother Barry. The senator was basically a horny `good old boy' who was after everything in a skirt. His scenes with his brother were pretty amusing too. Best line? Wellington to Williams when Williams says that he needs to `go over the figures' (in the proposal) again. He is actually wolfishly eyeing one of the babes in the movie when he says this and Wellington replies, `Oh, talk to her. She's got a firm GRASP on the situation!' One wonders how many jokes the brothers got out of that one at the next family gathering. :)

An unbelievably bad, amateur quality action/adventure film shot at the docks and warehouses of Long Beach, CA. Be sure to take some dramamine before watching this one, because the jerky camera style of filming is taken to new extremes. Standard terrorist / mad scientist / corrupt government officials (including the President) plot. Watch for the incredibly inappropriate use of NASA and Desert Storm stock footage. This film approaches Ed Wood in ineptness. Richard Lynch - your career is over.