BY DOUG OSWALD
Michael
Dudikoff leads a military-themed double feature in “Platoon Leader†and
“Soldier Boyz,†released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The first is a standard
“Rio Bravo†knock off taking place during the Vietnam War. A recent West Point
graduate arrives in Vietnam and is assigned to command and defend a jungle
outpost. “Soldier Boyz†is the story of a former Marine working with inner city
youths who are serving time and are recruited to join him on a mission to free
an aid worker held hostage by a Vietnamese warlord. “Platoon Leader†is a
standard military action drama, while “Soldier Boyz†is a rescue tale which
takes place several decades after the end of the Vietnam War. While both movies
are set primarily in Vietnam and they both feature Dudikoff, that’s about as
far as the similarities go.
“Platoon
Leader†is reminiscent of other Vietnam War movies from the same era like “Go
Tell the Spartans†(1978), “The Odd Angry Shot†(1979) and “The Siege of
Firebase Gloria†(1989) which was in production around the same time as
“Platoon Leader, but released three months later. They all borrow plot elements
from “Rio Bravo†and its many remakes like John Carpenter’s “Assault on
Precinct 13.†While the story is familiar, most of the faces are new. Michael
Dudikoff was cast as a B movie action star throughout the 80s and continues to
feature in B movie fare to this day. In “Platoon Leader†he’s a fresh West
Point graduate, Lieutenant Jeff Knight. Deployed to the jungles of Binh Dinh
province, Vietnam, Knight has his textbook battle strategies in hand. The men
view the new lieutenant with skepticism as is the familiar trope in this
situation. The men are seasoned veterans and Knight is the guy likely to get
them all killed. After a routine jungle patrol, Knight is wounded in the
ensuing battle and sent to an Army hospital. His return to the outpost is
enough to gain the respect from his men who thought they’d seen the last of
him. There’s a funny scene when he returns to find his belongings in his
quarters are being pillaged by his men.
The
men of the platoon include Robert F. Lyons as Sergeant Michael McNamara, the
seasoned veteran and enlisted leader who wants to get everyone home alive.
Michael DeLorenzo is Raymond Bacera and Jesse Dabsn is Joshua Parker, two of
the junior enlisted members of the platoon. Rick Fitts is Sergeant Robert Hayes,
a man possibly about to go over the edge. A welcome familiar face to the movie
is character actor William Smith as Major Flynn, Knight’s commanding officer.
Based
on the book by James R. McDonough and directed by Aaron Norris, the youngest
brother of Chuck Norris. The younger Norris directed his brother in several
movies and in a handful of “Walker Texas Ranger†episodes. He also worked with
Chuck in other capacities such as stunt coordinator and producer. A Vietnam War
Army veteran, he brings a knowing edge to “Platoon Leader.†Filmed on location
in South Africa, the country is a pretty good stand in for Vietnam.
“Soldier
Boyz†is an entirely different type of action film and is a knockoff of “The
Dirty Dozen†and a play on the title “Boyz in the Hood.†Rather than “men on an
impossible mission,†it’s more like, “children on an improbable mission.†The basic
premise of “Soldier Boyz†is absurd: six street wise inner city boys and one
girl serving time in a California juvenile detention center are recruited by a
former Marine and Vietnam veteran to lead a rescue of an aid worker who has
been taken hostage in Vietnam. Disneyland with guns for these boyz in the
jungle.
Michael
Dudikoff is the former Marine and Vietnam veteran, Major Howard Toliver, who
now works in the juvenile detention center as a counselor. A former Marine general
sporting an eye patch and black beret along with a wealthy business man,
recruit Toliver for a mission to rescue the wealthy man’s daughter, a United
Nations relief worker, who is being held hostage after the aircraft she’s a
passenger on crash lands and she’s taken to a prison camp run by a vicious red
beret-wearing military war lord. Toliver is asked to form a team and he comes
up with the idea to use juvenile prisoners. If they survive, they’ll receive a
presidential pardon and $10 million will be donated to the California Youth Services.
Chained together on the flight to Vietnam, they receive an all-too-brief basic
training which takes place in one day after landing where they learn the basic skills
necessary to fight and kill the bad guys as well as how to rescue the relief worker.
They learn to work together as a team, sort of, and one wonders why these streetwise
youths don’t simply run off. It’s never explained how the juvenile system would
allow such a venture. Nor is it explained how they made it through the jungles
of Vietnam on a commando mission with next to no military training. Ah, the joys
of suspending disbelief. At least the action finale destruction of the prison
camp is well-staged with plenty of explosions.
Directed
by Louis Morneau, probably best known for the 1997 sci-fi time travel movie,
“Retroactive†and the 1999 thriller, “Made Men;†with a screenplay by Darryl
Quarles, the movie does an okay job blending genres. Filmed on location in the
Philippines, the movie features a few familiar faces. Hank Brandt is Jameson
Prescott, the wealthy father of the kidnapped aid worker. He is recognizable
from his decades of work on television. Retro movie fans will recognize Don
Stroud as General Gaton who recruits Toliver. He appeared as tough guys in too
many movies to list here. Character actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is the other
face you will recognize and he plays the warlord Vinh Moc. Nicole Hansen is the
kidnapped relief worker Gabrielle Prescott.
The
soldier boyz of the title are played by a half dozen up-and-coming actors who
continue to be busy in the movie industry to this day. Tyrin Turner is Butts, Jacqueline
Obradors is Vasquez, David Barry is Gray Lamb, Channon Roe is Brophy, Demetrius
Navarro is Lopez and Cedrick Terrell is Michael “Monster†Greer. They portray
all the urban stereotypes we are familiar with from countless movies and television
series including “Boyz in the Hood†from 1991. I wish I could say this isn’t a
bad movie, but I’d be lying. It has its moments during the final rescue, but it
required too much suspending of disbelief for me and I felt nothing for any of
the characters.
Released
by Canon in October 1988, “Platoon Leader†clocks in at 97 minutes. “Soldier
Boyz†is a 1995 production (it may have been released direct to video) and runs
90 minutes. That’s just over three hours of entertainment on one disc. That’s
assuming you enjoy B movies and can suspend serious disbelief during the second
feature. The Blu-ray sounds and looks terrific. The only extras on the disc are
subtitles and a multitude of trailers for these and several Michael Dudikoff
and Aaron Norris action movies.
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