STRIKE COMMANDO 2 (1988) Blu-ray
Director: Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn)
Severin Films

Michael Ransom strikes back in Bruno Mattei's STRIKE COMMANDO 2, on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Upon learning of the murder of his former commanding officer and mentor Major Vic Jenkins (Richard Harris, A MAN CALLED HORSE), ex-Strike Commando officer Michael Ransom (Brent Huff, GWENDOLINE) starts suffering nightmares of his traumatic experiences in Vietnam. When his former comrade Ruby (Anthony East, THE SISTERHOOD) reveals that Jenkins' death was faked and that he is being held by CIA agent Peter Roeg (Paul Holmes, DROP DEAD FRED), Ransom rushes to the rescue, unknowingly leading a team of kidnappers to Jenkins' safe house. When Roeg receives a videotape in which Jenkins reveals that he has been captured by drug lord Huan To (Vic Diaz, WONDER WOMEN) and that he will be turned over to the KGB unless a payment of ten million dollars in diamonds is made, Roeg sends Ransom into the jungle with the jewels to bring Jenkins back dead or alive. Unfortunately, everyone he encounters seems to know he has the diamonds, including Nazi-esque KGB agent Kramet (Mel Davidson, ROBOWAR) and tough tavern owner Rosanna (Mary Stavin, OPEN HOUSE) who demands a cut of the loot when her establishment is blown up in a fight between Ransom and sword-swinging ninjas. Ransom is unsure whether he can trust Rosanna but he also knows that he will be killed immediately if he strolls into Huan To's camp with the diamonds; however, this is just one in a string of double crosses and betrayals as Ransom walks directly into danger.

An in-name-only sequel to STRIKE COMMANDO containing no continuity with the first film, the slicker STRIKE COMMANDO 2 does not even try to take itself seriously, drawing as much on RAMBO as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and even ROMANCING THE STONE (as observed in the Video Junkie blurb on the back cover). Unfortunately, a game Huff and Stavin just do not have the chemistry, Harrison is just phoning it in, and the action set-pieces are not on the same scale as the Hollywood models – in spite of the enthusiasm of the Filipino stuntmen and stunt coordinators Massimo Vanni (AFTER DEATH) and Ottaviano dell'Acqua (ZOMBIE) – and at worst are sluggishly edited by Mattei himself to a droning score by Stefano Mainetti (which incorporates "The Sound of Fear" from ZOMBI 3 and one of the songs he penned for KARATE WARRIOR 2). While it is more "wild" than the first film, it still pales next to the other Mattei/Claudio Fragasso Filipino sci-fi and horror entries.

Unreleased theatrically or on video in the United States, STRIKE COMMANDO 2 comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer from a 2K scan of the original camera negative. Although this looks more like a later Mattei/Fragasso film with brighter, more saturated colors and lens diffusion on the sunny exterior scenes, it generally looks better than the first film apart from some night exteriors where the actors are well-exposed but some of the shadows can a tad flat. Like the first film, Severin includes the theatrical cut (90:18) and a previously-unseen extended cut (96:08). Also, as with the first film, the cut material is not crucial to the plot. The first bit is a two minute sequence of Ransom infiltrating Huan To's fortress and killing a couple guards – the theatrical cut transitions from Ransom arranging to rendezvous with Rosanna to him stalking Huan To's henchman (dell'Acqua) – a two minute sequence in the middle of Ransom and Jenkins' trek through the jungle in which Ransom thinks they are being watched from the trees, and a one-and-a-half minute bit of captured Ransom being cajoled into revealing the location of the diamonds. The first bit is at least entertaining but the other two bits feel extraneous.

The disc also includes two interviews. In "Guerrilla Zone" (16:42), screenwriter Fragasso recalls the success of the first film and their desire with a sequel for better production values and name actors. He recalls that Mattei directed the technical side due to the language barrier while he worked with the actors, getting out-drunk by Harris, describing Huff as an "adorable, sweet guy," noting the enthusiasm of Filipino stuntmen, and how he worked with the actors for the sakes of story continuity while Mattei felt that anything could be fixed in the editing room. In "Michael Ransom Strikes Back" (14:29), actor Huff noted after the success of Just Jaeckin's GWENDOLINE that he got plenty of offers to work in various foreign productions that allowed him to travel around the world, and that his then-girlfriend Candice Daly was appearing in AFTER DEATH which was being shot by Fragasso during the nights using some locations and the same equipment as STRIKE COMMANDO (he and Daly appeared together in Mattei's COP GAME). He also recalls his admiration of Harris, having fun working with Stavin – whose then boyfriend and HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH co-star William Shockley (SHOWGIRLS) later wrote some screenplays that Huff directed – working on stunts with Vanni and dell'Acqua, and getting sick from the contaminated water of a swimming pool during a fight scene that did not make the final cut. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (2:40). (Eric Cotenas)

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