The Last Hunter (1980)

Wonderful Movie

Perfect cast and a good story

Awesome Movie

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

David Warbeck ("The Beyond") stars as Captain Morris, an officer in Vietnam who agrees to head behind enemy lines to destroy a radio tower that has been broadcasting anti-American propaganda. A couple of people join him on his journey, including a weary photojournalist (Tisa Farrow, "Zombi 2") and a small commando squad, including Sergeant George Washington (Tony King, "Report to the Commissioner") and a soldier named Carlos (Bobby Rhodes, "Demons").Directed with verve by Antonio Margheriti, whose career spanned a few decades and many efforts in different genres, "The Last Hunter" offers interesting material and deserves some respect for at least attempting to look at the horror and futility of war. It gives us a portrait of men in the military who are doing their best to cope and to amuse themselves. While not carrying the same dramatic weight as something like "The Deer Hunter" or "Apocalypse Now", it has its potent moments, especially towards the end when Morris is imprisoned and attacked by river rats. Its action scenes are certainly first rate - there's lots of gunfire, plenty of explosions, and some very enjoyable gore that's sure to turn off more squeamish viewers. On-location shooting in the Philippines also adds a substantial amount of atmosphere, even though "The Last Hunter" mostly takes place in the daytime.It can boast a trio of charismatic performances from Warbeck, King, and Rhodes, and Farrow offers an engaging presence as a civilian who's a fairly tough cookie. Other familiar faces in the cast include Margie Newton ("Hell of the Living Dead"), John Steiner ("Tenebre"), actor / stuntman Massimo Vanni ("Zombi 3"), and Luciano Pigozzi ("Yor: The Hunter from the Future").More than mere exploitation, "The Last Hunter" both begins and ends effectively, ultimately leaving us with a sinking feeling in our guts.Seven out of 10.

The Last Hunter (1980) *** (out of 4)Set during the Vietnam War, Captain Morris (David Warbeck) agrees to go on a secret mission behind enemy lines where he meets up with some other soldiers and a photographer (Tisa Farrow). The group heads deep into the jungle where they face the enemy as well as some of their own who are just as bad as the Vietnamese.Antonio Margheriti's THE LAST HUNTER is an entertaining rip-off of countless American Vietnam movies that were being pumped out by Hollywood. This one borrows from several of them but it seems the biggest influence on this film was THE DEER HUNTER. If you're a fan of Italian cinema then you'll certainly want to check this one out as there's plenty of wild, over-the-top action as well as plenty of sleaze, which is exactly what you'd expect from a film like this.As you should expect, Margheriti does a very good job with the material as I'm sure they were working on a very small budget yet the film looks very professional and features some great action sequences. The highlight of the film is an insane shoot out in an American compound as the soldiers get a bit too relaxed and come under attack. This sequence features a lot of shooting, explosions and of course blood. Speaking of blood, if you like gore then you'll get plenty of that here with some rather insane moments of violence including an eye wound that would make Lucio Fulci proud.The film also benefits from a nice cast to help keep you entertained. Warbeck is as fun as you'd expect him to be as he does a very good job in the lead role. He's such a fun actor that he can hold your attention throughout the running time. Farrow does a surprising nude scene here and she too is fun to watch. Obviously the two of them would appear in separate films by Fulci so it was fun getting to see them here. Former football star Tony King is also a lot of fun here as is Bobby Rhodes and John Steiner.THE LAST HUNTER isn't a film that's meant to be taken serious. I'd argue that its ending is the weakest thing about the picture but if you're a fan of action, gore and Italian craziness then it's certainly worth watching.

A terrible movie, worth watching principally on the basis of how NOT to do it. The whole show, from beginning to end has the feel of a spaghetti western, but is based on a Vietnam special forces operation and the outdoor scenes look like they were shot in somewhere like the Philippines, as the extras don't actually look Vietnamese at all! There is a main man and a girl who gets dragged along for the ride, token black men and an evil enemy too, not to mention the somewhat mad American officer that conjures up memories of Apocalypse now, but in a very cheap way. It is in the league of Hammer house of horror, but no where near as amusing because it completely lacks originality. The best scenes are in the whore house at the beginning, after which is becomes somewhat daft, as an American Captain goes gallivanting about in the jungle in search of a secret radio station that he has to destroy, armed with nothing more than a colt 45 and his receding hair line (I wonder if he was soon to go bald, in which case he would have looked better). As for the chick; just an old boiler, that looked completely out of place in almost every scene. My favourite moments had to be when the squad finds itself in a system of caves occupied by American soldiers that were being attacked by the Viet Cong, as it features hospital quarters with fresh sheets on the beds and neatly stored supplies throughout what is a very clean system of tunnels, when in reality having lived in the same tunnels for a number of weeks things would be getting rather rancid by the time the action heroes chanced upon this encampment. Absurdity at its best!

I had the privelige to see this awesome movie on a huge screen in 1997, it was shown at a festival as a tribute to the late David Warbeck.The opening sequence is truly stunning, a slow-burning scene in a brothel ends in huge explosions and sees Warbeck as an action hero in a white singlet years before Bruce Willis.John Steiner once again shows his prowess as his squad is picked-off, leaving only Warbeck and the larger-breasted of the Farrow species (Tisa), to escape tiger-cages and discover the identity of a traitorous broadcaster.Don't miss the final shot of Warbeck against the war-torn sunset, left to his fate in the jungle. It's a real kick in the guts, with the same power of seeing Martin Sheen rising from a swamp.The one problem the movie really has is that the identity of the mysterious traitor is quite ridiculous, but not enough to grind things to a halt.All in all, one to put at the top of your "must-get" list, right above beer, pizza and peanuts.