The premise sounds promising enough. Two ex-military commandos, Rod Cann (Grant Page) and Steve Hall (John Hargreaves) are recruited by Culpepper (Noel Ferrier) of the Australian Secret Service for a clandestine mission in the Phillipines. They will have to burgle a safe which is located in a factory complex which is protected by elasborate security including about a hundred armed guards.
The movie doesn’t quite come off. To appreciate it one thing you do have to understand is that Trenchard-Smith wanted to make a very lighthearted movie aimed at a family audience, with some non-violent thrills and some comedy. He was aiming for a G rating, which he got.
The problem is that it therefore ends up being very innocuous and non-violent. It’s explained early on that after their experiences in Vietnam Rod and Steve will accept the mission as long as no killing is involved. As a result it’s very much wholesome entertainment.
The problem is that there’s really nothing very much at stake. Had the heroes been breaking into the factory complex to rescue hostages or a kidnapped scientist the movie would have had more bite but the censors might have considered it to be too scary for kids and it might have missed out on that G rating. The objective is just documents implicating a crooked businessman so there’s no sense of urgency, no sense of lives at stake. If the mission fails it will be mildly annoying for the Australian Government but no big deal.
There are no plot twists, no betrayals, no double-crosses.
It does start with a genuinely excellent chase sequence involving a customised dune buggy and a couple of bank robbers and this is the highlight of the movie.
We then see Rod and Steve do a few movie stunts but they’re movie stunts so we know that nobody is going to get hurt.
And we get a lot of unnecessary dialogue scenes. It seems to take forever for the actual plot to kick in.
The G rating also means that there is no nudity. Not even girls in bikinis. We see Steve with his wife but their interactions are so chaste they might as well be brother and sister. Rod romances Culpepper’s secretary but again it’s all very chaste.
While Rod and Steve are off on the mission Culpepper invites himself to Steve’s house where Steve’s wife is home alone. He claims he wants to play chess with her. We expect something to happen. Maybe a clumsy attempt at seduction, maybe a revelation about the real nature of the mission. What actually happens is that they play chess. Sadly that anticlimax sums up the movie. There just aren’t any plot twists at all.
And although there are some very good action sequences we never really get a sense of danger.
And we never get to see the movie’s villain, which might have livened things up.
The acting is competent but with such a bland script there are no opportunities for anyone to shine. Even Noel Ferrier (who could overact outrageously and delightfully when given the chance) is very restrained.
This was a very low budget movie so the factory complex in the Phillipines just looks like a factory. There wasn’t the money to make it look like the lair of a super-villain.
Deathcheaters has some good stunts but it falls flat and it’s easy to understand why it flopped at the box office.
Umbrella’s Blu-Ray release looks great and there are plenty of extras.
We then see Rod and Steve do a few movie stunts but they’re movie stunts so we know that nobody is going to get hurt.
And we get a lot of unnecessary dialogue scenes. It seems to take forever for the actual plot to kick in.
The G rating also means that there is no nudity. Not even girls in bikinis. We see Steve with his wife but their interactions are so chaste they might as well be brother and sister. Rod romances Culpepper’s secretary but again it’s all very chaste.
While Rod and Steve are off on the mission Culpepper invites himself to Steve’s house where Steve’s wife is home alone. He claims he wants to play chess with her. We expect something to happen. Maybe a clumsy attempt at seduction, maybe a revelation about the real nature of the mission. What actually happens is that they play chess. Sadly that anticlimax sums up the movie. There just aren’t any plot twists at all.
And although there are some very good action sequences we never really get a sense of danger.
And we never get to see the movie’s villain, which might have livened things up.
The acting is competent but with such a bland script there are no opportunities for anyone to shine. Even Noel Ferrier (who could overact outrageously and delightfully when given the chance) is very restrained.
This was a very low budget movie so the factory complex in the Phillipines just looks like a factory. There wasn’t the money to make it look like the lair of a super-villain.
Deathcheaters has some good stunts but it falls flat and it’s easy to understand why it flopped at the box office.
Umbrella’s Blu-Ray release looks great and there are plenty of extras.
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