Jungleground (1995)

Absolutely Fantastic

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Lt. Jake Cornell (Roddy) is a Canadian cop who is somewhat on the edge, but he gets pushed to his limits when he must survive in a ruthless, lawless urban center of the Great White North called Jungleground. The gang that controls Jungleground are a bunch of Norse mythology-inspired baddies called the "Ragnarockers" or just "Rockers" for short. Members include Thor (Wood) and Loki (Johnston), but the leader is of course Odin (Bourne). When Odin kidnaps Jake's girlfriend Sammy (Higginson of Airborne (1998) fame) - just as he was about to propose to her, no less - he proposes to Cornell that if he can survive the night in Jungleground, he will free Sammy. So Jake must use all his survival instincts to fight through a night fraught with all sorts of obstacles. Will he make it? Jungleground, not to be confused with Thunderground (1989), is a decent Roddy outing. Some of the most entertaining aspects of the movie are just how 90's it is, and just how Canadian it is. Sure, Roddy is charming as usual, but how can he compete with Boy Meets World-style hair, rollerblades and high-waisted jeans? Marry that to the Canadian DTV vibe we've all seen many times before, and you get the general sense about the proceedings. This was back in the day when all Roddy had to do was flash his million-dollar smile and wear a pre-Trenchcoat Mafia trenchcoat, and you had half the movie right there. One of the flaws of the movie is that Roddy didn't get a cool intro to his character. You're just kind of thrown in - there should have been an action scene or at least a scene where his Chief was screaming at him because of his rogue ways. But ultimately Roddy carries the movie, so it all smooths out later.It has all the clichés we know and love, some of which include yelling while shooting a machine gun, and the prerequisite torture. There are plenty of chases, shootouts and blow-ups, not to mention Roddy executing some classic wrestling-style moves on the baddies, so all the right ingredients are there. But as is often the case, the movie starts to lose steam before the climax. More than likely that's because this is a DTV version of The Ultimate Warrior (1975), The Warriors (1979), Escape From New York (1981), or any other movie where someone has to survive/escape through a treacherous urban environment. There's not much more to the movie than that, but do we really need any more? But to the movie's credit, characters do say the word "Jungleground" a lot...it's not just a movie title, it's the name of the place - and a way of life.While Back In Action (1993) and Tough and Deadly (1995) remain our favorite Roddy's that we've seen to date, Jungleground is not bad and is probably a one-time watch.

For what it was,this film wasnt too bad at all.If you keep in mind the budget and such,and dont have a problem with B-Movies,and dont laugh at every flaw,like most majority does,then your gonna enjoy this.If you enjoy straight to video low budget action flicks,this is recommended.Piper does very good in this,and the fight scenes are definetly par above the horrible "Marked Man",the film piper did prior to this one.Not quite as good as "Tough And Deadly" or "Back In Action",but definetly one of pipers better performances in the action genre.

Roddy Piper does good action scenes and bone crunching maneuvers, but not all his films turn out that great. But this one is fun and exciting. It isnt however up there with They Live, but Jungleground is a good way to kill time watching an action flick.

Roddy Piper tries too hard in this one note action piece. Basically a rip off of every other run for your life through a futuristic wasteland. Watch Escape from New York, The Ultimate Warrior, or the Road Warrior instead.