Final Mission (1984)

Too much of everything

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

"Armed with an MG-82---It will take an Army to stop him!" Who can resist another story about a guy who comes back from Vietnam and gets revenge on some bad guys? NOT US! "Final Mission" is trying to ride the coattails of the contemporary classic "First Blood". There are many similarities but "Mission" has its own charm.Vince Deacon (Young) is fighting in the jungle of Laos. It turns out his former buddy Slater, is a traitor working with the VC. After an unnecessary but surprisingly welcome decapitation, we are brought into present day L.A., where Deacon is a tough guy working for the LAPD SWAT team. He breaks up a kidnapping dispatching "Ogre" with ease. He gets suspended for excessive force by classic Irish Captain, Captain O'Riley.Deacon goes on a vacation with his wife and son (who has a bowl haircut) to Pinesville, a rural fishing area. The family is cavorting around and having a grand ole time, then tragedy strikes. A boat explosion kills Deacon's wife and son. Now Deacon is roaring through the small town and trying to get answers and bloody revenge. The sheriff in Pinesville, who resembles Bocephus-era Hank Williams Jr. is a corrupt yokel and his deputy "Moose" is no better. Slater lives on a ranch in town and the local police which may or may not include his brother are all against Vince. But Vince has two tricks up his sleeve, one is his partner Isaac who comes to his aid and the other is breaks into a weapon store and steals a gigantic machine gun. Which is apparently called an MG-82. Most small town gun stores have an MG-82 and unlimited ammo right behind the glass.What ensues is a barrage of gun-shooting, grenade-throwing violent assault and it goes so out of hand the Army has to step in to stop one man. It's the actual army vs. the steadily-going-insane one man army. Luckily, Vince is the woods just like in "First Blood". Will the war ever be over for Deacon? Find out today! One of the best parts of the movie is the theme song to "Final Mission" called "Always on my mind" by Steve Butler. Not to be confused with the Willie Nelson song of the same name. This is a rockin' tune in the A.O.R. vein of Foreigner and Rainbow. The filmmakers know they have a hit song on their hands because they play it at least four times.Accept this "Mission" and watch this classic tonight! Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com

Ah - 1980's B-movies, you just can't beat 'em!They possess a peculiar certain style and cheesy charm that is sadly completely lacking in modern movies of the same nature. Straight off the bat, just check out the rock soundtrack in this film for starters - you already know that this is going to be a great ride from the very opening riff!Then we come to all the clichés that seemingly by contractual obligation MUST be present in all films of this ilk of the time.....a warehouse shootout complete with stereotypical crooks who launch tirades of expletives at the surrounding law enforcement officers, a scene set in a seedy strip joint complete with a lingering shot of the dancer taking off her bra, our heroes family getting slaughtered by the bad guys, our hero tossing in his police badge etc etc etc - it's all here!The film is completely unapologetic in its utilisation of such clichés and in addition it merrily rips off scene after scene from movies it is copied from. But who cares when a movie is this much fun!The plot? Well compendiously we first meet our hero in 'Nam in 1972 as he beats seven shades of sh- ahem, excrement out of a traitorous comrade who has joined ranks with the VC. Fast forward to the present day (well the 1980's anyway) and our man is now a tough as nails police officer who sorts things out the good old fashioned way i.e he kills the criminals with extreme prejudice!Not everyone is impressed with such forceful methods however and a local gang of hoodlums decide to teach our boy a lesson which involves breaking into his house one night to presumably murder him and his family......bad move, for our hero slaughters all of the miscreant scum bags bar one who runs back to his boss to ask for help.And who is the crooks boss? Why it's none other than the traitorous toe rag from the pre-credits sequence!To cut a short story shorter, the boss (a typically sadistic 1980's movie psycho villain) manages to blow up our hero's family thus prompting our man to swear an oath of revenge which he resolves to carry out in true Charles Bronson style.But what an anti climatic revenge it proves to be! Our hero simply grabs a big machine gun out of a store window and blows his nemesis off of a roof top in an amazingly lacklustre scene (someone should alert health and safety about leaving fully loaded guns where the public can get hold of them!)Was that it? Well as it happens no that's not the end, for the film suddenly takes a different direction....it just so happens that the dead villains brother was the local towns sheriff who now swears an oath of revenge himself!This prompts him to assemble a rabble of Rednecks to hunt our man down like a wild animal! Yes folks we're in First blood territory now as our misunderstood hero is now forced to employ all of his Vietnam learnt skills in order to survive (including in one bizarre scene presumably lifted from Dr Dolittle, our man hypnotising a dog!!!!!)Of course a bunch of hillbillies are no match for a decorated Green Beret and he makes short work of the fools thus necessitating the sheriff to next call out the National Guard!Matters further escalate out of control with all the stress causing our hero to have a mental breakdown of sorts and subsequently believing that he is back in the war!Lots of shooting and grenade throwing ensue with casualties aplenty for the ill prepared soldiers.What can I say? The movie is certainly no masterpiece and it's as derivative as hell but frankly as I said earlier, who cares - it's tremendously entertaining in a 'so bad it's good' type way.The final shot has our boy, now perilously short on ammo, screaming like a maniac whilst opening fire against overwhelming odds just before that cheesy rock track kicks back in and the picture freeze frames - genius!!!For fans of cheesy 1980's action movies, this is a must see!

Final Mission (1984) is one of those cheesy, no budget First Blood rip-offs. Unlike the other Rambo wannabes, this movie's great. The director has no shame, he blatantly copies scene-for-scene and shot-for-shot from First Blood. Others may see this as a rip-off, I see it as a funny, horribly acted, badly written and cheesy as hell action picture. There are many scenes from this movie that still boggle my mind. Even today I still wonder if a Gun shop would have an M-60 machine gun (with a full cartridge box) in a storefront window display or is it really sanitary to use a dirty knife to pop out a bullet? I highly recommend this movie, it plays like a comedy instead of a serious action/revenge film. A word of advice, stay away from open motor boats. They always seem to explode in these type of movie.Highly recommended.A (for the cheese factor) F (as a straight movie)

Of all the "First Blood" ripoffs that hit the screen in the eighties this filipino-made movie is clearly one of the better ones. Acting is pretty lousy (with the notable exception of Kaz Garas as the sheriff) but the movie has its good moments.