The Final Alliance (1990)

Good movie but grossly overrated

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Will Colton (The Hoff) is a man who swears by his awesome hat, beard stubble, mullet, tight jeans, cowboy boots and jacket. He also has a pet puma named Felix. He returns to his old hometown of Goldcrest, and begins fixing up his old homestead. However, that does not sit well with the local biker gang, called The Vipers. Through their forceful intimidation tactics and a frightened populace (of only 3000 people), The Vipers run Goldcrest. It's also because the leader of the gang, an albino named Ghost (Saxon) has a corrupt relationship with the Sheriff, Whistler (Hopkins). So it's up to Will Colton to clean up this town, with the help of new love Carrie (Moore). As if that wasn't enough, an event in Colton's past drives him to get revenge on The Vipers. Will he succeed? Hasselhoff should have been in more movies like this. It plays to all of his strengths. He even runs in slow motion at one point. The Final Alliance is a lot of fun, though it's nothing, plotwise, you haven't seen before. The "stranger comes to town and cleans up said town" has been around since time immemorial and if you've seen Walking Tall: The Payback, Nowhere To Run, Street Corner Justice, Radical Jack, Fire Down Below, among many other possible examples, you'll know what we're talking about. It's all very David Heavener-esque (let's not forget to add Outlaw Force to the list), but somehow, someway, The Hoff makes it work.Casting John Saxon, a man of Italian descent, as an albino was certainly an interesting choice. The role seemed tailor-made for Richard Lynch, but perhaps he wasn't available. Saxon's ghoulish appearance adds something to the overall feeling. Bo Hopkins also puts in an inspired performance (read: insane) and he yells most of his lines. It's truly a pleasure to watch Saxon, Hopkins and Hasselhoff in this outing. It doesn't get much better than The Hoff as a former mercenary with a proficiency in booby traps.There are the time-honored stand-bys such as the abandoned warehouse fight and barfight, and the fact that this movie is from 1990 and shot in a foreign country is evident pretty much all the time. Prime examples include plenty of stonewashed denim, Hoff's first nemesis is a dude in a Manowar half-shirt, the town has a combination general store/video store (complete with posters for The Untouchables, among others), graffiti on the walls says "Dead People Are Cool" (???) and the word "Tobacco" is spelled incorrectly on another sign in the small town, which feels very much like a Western set. And of course, the sax on the soundtrack.Director DiLeo has fashioned an entertaining, if incredibly undemanding romp that's not to be taken too seriously. While we're not exactly sure what "the final alliance" refers to in the saga of Will Colton, you'll be pretty much guaranteed a night of silly fun if you can find this VHS.

The back of the box did not lie- "an adventure that mixes justice with revenge for explosive results" -BOOM! I just watched this hidden gem of a movie. Hasselhoff stars as Will Colton, an ex-marine who returns to his hometown in Texas. A gang of weapons dealing biker creeps killed Hasselhoff's family years back and he is back for revenge. He gets help from a local lady who has also been terrorized by these thugs. The gang includes the police chief, played by Bo Hopkins, which gives the movie some redneck credibility to the rural Texas setting. Actually, I would guess that this film is Italian or South African. The dubbing involved is of the 80's Italian style. Also it stars John Saxon, who is in a lot of the Italian action movies of this time. Also, it has an Italian director. One thing is for sure, it was not made in Texas. But anyways, this movie has some very good action sequences, a good cast, and an unintentionally hilarious script. Hasselhoff has some great conversations with his pet cougar that are awesomely cheesy. And John Saxon as the leader of the pack seems kind of embarrassed to be wearing such a lame looking wig, but he puts together a menacing portrayal of creepiness. There is a some good motorcycle violence, a cougar, a short love scene featuring Jeannie Moore, a load of European synthesizers futile mimicking honkytonk boogie music, and an Albino Motorcycle . If you happen upon this thing, give it a try. This is a lost classic.

There are movies you love because of how good you think they are, and there are movies SOME people love because of how bad they are. I have to put my two cents in here for this film being so bad it's good. Trust me, it's HORRIBLE. But on certain levels, like on an Ed Wood level, it's great. The plot is half baked and the acting plummets below the level of EVERYONE in Star Wars Phantom Menace. If you happen to be one of those people who doesn't understand why Hasselhoff gets raked over most of his work, then it is very likely you will love this movie. Not to be missed is John Saxon's performance as an albino gang leader. If the producers of this film didn't have their tongues in their cheeks while this film was produced then I say they are masters of schlock. Otherwise, "Final Alliance" rates among the top adolescent wish-fulfillment wet dream films of all time. Hasselhoff and his pet puma- that says it all.

I love movies about motorcycle gangs like Mad Max, Stonecold or Beyond the Law / Fixing the Shadow. There is something really evil and scary about motorcycle gangs and it's for sure, that hero always has to walk trough the hell when he fights them. Final Alliance is not as good as Mad Max a Co., but it isn't so bad. It starts with 5 motorcycles and pretty cheap fight scenes, but soon it gets better. There is a lot of explosions, one pretty cool action scene (bikers attack Hasselhoff's farm, but he planted many mines around), funny dialogues and acting. If you expect Schindler's List, you will be disappointed, if you expect funny B actioner, you won't. I missed only some rape scene, but you know, gentleman Mitch Buchanan is on board, so I wasn't surprised, there isn't any.