Armed Response (1986)

A Masterpiece!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Here's your typical B grade, run around action pic that does deliver, in action, only it has good actors in it, or wastes good actors. It is, I dare say an interesting pic with some real heartless and nasty baddies, male or female. Two brothers, and his father, Lee Van Cleef, of all people, the most wasted star here, are all combat veterans, who avenge the death of their other family member, the third brother who got into some shady dealings with these really bad people, led by Tanaka (Asian icon-Mako) The late brother was also double crossed by a partner (Hagen) who at the end, Carradine gives a double meaning to the term surface. We're off to a great start when one of Tanaka's guys apologizes for dishonouring him, by cutting off one of his fingers, which the that tall bald headed goof Michael Berryman picks up, smiling at it. There are some unintentionally moronic lines I just found funny, or as if in "You've heard this all or saw it all before in many other pics, it's mundane". Some funny moments occur in that torture scene, where the second brother openly defends his family honour, stating how all of them were proud to be vets. The torture scene too which includes a mysterious middle aged Asian woman, we don't know anything about (there's always a mysterious figure in these scenes you never see again, it's eerie, as never more here) assisting in a some poison needle torture, where soon the brother count is down to one. It's then up to man (Van Cleef) and son (Carradine) to avenge the dead. I really liked Carradine in this who as an actor, led a very private life and had closeted publicity. Here his character, Jim, has violent 'Nam' flashbacks that trigger momentary anger if provoked, as displayed in one early scene of family gathering, a nice touch as in the family bit, which you get to know too, a bit more later. Armed Response has pretty much what you expect, though I do say, I enjoyed it more I thought an I would, which as an action pic, does pack a punch, but again it falls into that so so mundane, or moronic type, ala Chuck Norris territory. No surprise too, Corman great, Dick Miller shows up in this.

Anytime a film delivers what it promises, it gets at least a 5 rating from me, and "Armed Response" gives you exactly what you would expect from a low budget action movie. The weak points would be , numerous explosions and gratuitous car crashes, a paper thin plot, finally a shootout in Chinatown with grenades and automatic weapons that goes totally unnoticed by anyone. The strongest point is the fun of seeing David Caradine, Lee Van Cleef, and Michael Berrymen together, and they do not disappoint. Another plus is the musical score, which seems to fit perfectly. Top that off with some lively one liners and you have an entertaining action film. - MERK

David Carradine and Lee Van Cleef star as father and son cops who join forces to avenge the murder of their sons/brothers at the hand of the triads who are after a priceless artifact that the hapless family has gotten their hands on. Brent Huff is the ill faded brother who keeps the family proud by being tortured and not caving in. Also is Lois Hamilton the wife of Carradine who also is kidnapped with her and Carradine's daughter in this plot heavy but generally enjoyable guilty pleasure. I haven't seen many movies from Fred Olen Ray but I figure this has to be one of his better features, this one is alone worth watching for the cast. Which include David Carradine, Lee Van Cleef, Mako(As the head mobster) and Michael"Hills Have Eyes" Berryman who are always fun to watch in anything. The movie is fairly predictable and Carradine is obviously a tad too old to jump in and kick ass but Armed Response gives of the unpretentious vibe that makes the response of of general acceptance from the audience.* * out of 4-(Fair)

"Armed Response" is one of Fred Olen Ray's earliest directorial efforts, and it also less schlocky than some of his other ones, closer to an actual legitimate action film (it's hard to believe he would make a film as unbelievably bad as "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" only two years later). It has a fairly complicated plot, which would be hard to summarize in a single paragraph, and a cast that's a B-movie fan's dream (where else could you find Lee Van Cleef and Michael Berryman together?), though it must be noted that David Carradine is particularly awful in this movie. (**1/2)