Counterforce (1988)

Counterforce (1988)- * *

Directed by: Jose Antonio De Lama

Starring: Jorge Rivero, Andrew Stevens, Isaac Hayes, George Kennedy, Hugo Stiglitz, Simon Andreu, Susana Dosamantes, Louis Jourdan, Kevin Bernhardt, and Robert Forster

Somewhere in a foreign land, The Dictator (Forster) is causing trouble. No real surprise there, unless you consider the fact that he's known only as "The Dictator". Even the news reports about him call him that. Because there's a pro-democracy politician named Kassar (Jourdan) who opposes The Dictator, the U.S. sends in the COUNTERFORCE to protect him because he now has a target on his back.

Counterforce, who have their own, specially-branded hats and jackets so you know it's them, is an elite squad of soldiers who are the best of the best. They consist of Colby (Kennedy), their leader, Nash (Stevens), the spiritual guy who likes zen and meditation, Ballard (Hayes), the muscle, Harris (Rivero), who leads the men in the field, and Sutherland (Bernhardt), who everyone calls "flyboy" because he likes planes. Will the Counterforce protect Kassar and put an end to the reign of terror of The Dictator?

If you like the A-Team, you'll probably like Counterforce. It's very, very A-Team-esque. The whole movie plays out like a feature-length version of the show. Each member of Counterforce corresponds to an A-Team character. Instead of Mr. T, they got Isaac Hayes. Instead of George Peppard, they got George Kennedy. Of course, for the characters of Face and Howling Mad Murdock, they got Jorge Rivero and Andrew Stevens. And Kevin Bernhardt. Even the shooting, car stunts and blow-ups seem heavily inspired by a certain 80's TV show. And it's not Mama's Family. 

Now that that's out of the way, we can talk about the main reason why anyone would go out of their way to see Counterforce: the cast. It's an impressive lineup of B-Movie favorites and regulars. You get Robert Forster as an out-of-control Arab dictator, complete with an indefinable accent and a proclivity towards wearing capes over his normal clothes. There's Jorge Rivero, who last starred in director De La Loma's Killing Machine (1984), AKA Goma-2. He's very no-nonsense this time around, and his ability to load a pistol one-handed is very impressive.

Andrew Stevens and Isaac Hayes are the original odd couple and provide most of the humor in the film. George Kennedy, as usual, holds things together. At this point in his career, Kevin Bernhardt was on the ascendancy, as Counterforce was sandwiched in between Kick Or Die (1987) and Midnight Warrior (1989). Whether those qualify as video store classics is debatable, but it seems Bernhardt was everywhere in the late 80's. 

As if all that wasn't enough, familiar faces such as Louis Jourdan, Simon Andreu, and Hugo Stiglitz round out the cast, which was truly international. The only real female cast member, Susana Dosamantes, was a mainstay in Mexican movies and TV but is probably best known for being in Rio Lobo (1970) with John Wayne. 

While there are a handful of cool bits and some nice, mild humor, it's all very standard. It's an El Presidente slog by any other name. Yes, the scene in the gym where the Counterforce are all lifting weights, except for Andrew Stevens, who is meditating, is a highlight, but it's all so middle of the road. 

Counterforce is by no means a failure, or even unpleasant to watch, but nothing about it stands out enough for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Distant Justice (1992)

Distant Justice (1992)- * * *

Directed by: Toru Murakawa

Starring: Bunta Sugawara, Yoko Nogiwa, Eric Lutes, George Kennedy, Sakura Sugawara, John Fiore, and David Carradine

Inspector Rio Yuki (Sugawara) travels from Japan to Boston to not just take in the sights, but to visit with his old buddy Tom Bradfield (Kennedy), now a police chief. When Yuki’s wife Hiroko (Nogiwa) and his daughter Sakura (Sugawara – Bunta’s real-life daughter?) go off sightseeing while Tom and Rio reminisce about the old days, trouble finds them. 

As they are wont to do, they begin taking photos during their trip. Unfortunately, they inadvertently snap a drug deal going on in the background. It turns out these aren’t just your run-of-the-mill drug fiends – a line (no pun intended) of corruption leads all the way to aspiring senator Joe Foley (Carradine).

After bad things happen to his family members, Rio is raging for real revenge. Bradfield can’t officially help him, so Rio goes rogue. Fellow cop Charlie Givens (Lutes) is there to help, but Rio, in essence, goes it alone. Will main baddie Roy Pennola (Lovelett) stand in his way? Because Rio comes from Japan, will Boston-area baddies feel a new kind of justice? Perhaps…DISTANT JUSTICE?

While it seems to have been written off as a Death Wish knockoff, Distant Justice has its own charm and isn’t any more or less Death Wish-y than many other revenge movies that came in Bronson’s wake. We love revenge movies here at Comeuppance Reviews and like to see them in any form they come in. This one just happens to have a man with an extremely thick Japanese accent as the main protagonist. C’est la vie. 

Distant Justice seems to be Toei Corporation’s attempt to make inroads into the American video market of the day. It features a mixture of Japanese and American actors and technical crew, much like the later (and far worse) Double Deception (2001). We don’t know if Toei thought Bunta Sugawara, who was a big name back home, could somehow translate into being an American star, but – intentionally or not – everything he says is gold. His voice alone is extremely entertaining. 

He makes Gerald Okamura and Mako sound like Alistair Cooke. His accent is so heavy he even sounds like Schwarzenegger at times. Maybe Arnie was the model Toei was trying to emulate of a foreign star with limited English proficiency penetrating our American shores. But Sugawara’s effort, earnestness, and intensity are much appreciated and helped the movie a lot. 

Another commendable thing about Distant Justice is how it completely avoids the Collision Course-esque “he likes hot dogs and he likes sushi” clichés. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of humorous moments throughout the film, however. For a revenge tale featuring shooting, blow-ups, beat-ups, and even rapes, overall the movie is pretty funny. Case in point we have Sergeant Largent (Fiore). Could he be related to Hardcase and Fist’s Warden Borden? We may never know.

Now, it’s not without its faults, mainly in the plotting and pacing departments. You have to wait over an hour to get to David Carradine, and even at that there’s minimal Carradine. But what Carradine you get is good Carradine. 

There isn’t a main, evil villain we as the audience keep checking in with throughout the film. We never visit with Roy as he shouts racial slurs about Rio and admonishes his underlings to make “no more mistakes!” – had there been a strong, central baddie the movie would have had more zest. And there’s an intro with some guys holding up a restaurant and then leaving the Yuki family stranded by the side of the road that really doesn’t need to be there. But fan favorite George Kennedy seems to be having fun, and the outing as a whole is just off-kilter enough to warrant at least one viewing.

Distant Justice is far from perfect, but it’s a pretty unique entry in the revenge film canon. Fans of the genre, George Kennedy, David Carradine, and Bunta Sugawara (if there are any out there in the English-speaking world) are encouraged to check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Savage Dawn (1985)

Savage Dawn (1985)- * *

Directed by: Simon Nuchtern

Starring: Lance Henriksen, Karen Black, George Kennedy, Claudia Udy, Leo Gordon, William Forsythe, Mickey Jones, and Richard Lynch












Ben Stryker (Henriksen) is a former soldier who rolls in on his motorcycle into the dusty ol’ Western town of Agua Dulce. He’s a man of few words, and lets his short spiky blonde hair do the talking. Or, failing that, he’s pretty handy in a fight. He goes to see his wheelchair-bound buddy Tick (Kennedy), and his son (?) Danny, and reconnects with his old girlfriend Katie (Udy). But breaking up all the fond camaraderie is the notorious Savages biker gang. 

They come to the quiet town and start raising all sorts of hell. Led by Pigiron (Forsythe) and Zero (Jones), their growing presence in the town is pushing the residents to the breaking point. Even the local bar-mistress, Rachel (Black) has taken up with Pigiron, and no one, from the Sheriff (Gordon) to Rev. Romano (Lynch) can do anything about it. That’s when Stryker is pushed to do what he does best: Stryke. Will he drive the Savages out of town forever?

The first thing you’ll notice about Savage Dawn is the amazing cast. Lance Henriksen is very good as the sly Stryker (who’s also a byker) - another in a long line of men named Stryker or Striker that we’ve seen over the years. He makes a nice addition to the Stryker family. And because he co-stars with William Forsythe and the movie is about bikers, this can be considered as a sort of precursor to Stone Cold (1991). But here they’re at odds, in Stone Cold they’re buddies. But this is like a dry run for that, and in our opinion Stone Cold is the better movie. 

Karen Black was in Hostage (1987) with Wings Hauser, who was...Striker. Coincidence? George Kennedy put in a sympathetic performance as Tick, and fan favorite Richard Lynch is on board as the creepy reverend. Claudia Udy of Nightforce (1987) and To the Death (1993) gets into a catfight with Karen Black, and Mickey Jones plays Zero, as opposed to Wash Pot. We think he only plays dudes with nicknames. Lockdown (1990)’s Elizabeth Kaitan has a small role, as does, supposedly, Sam Kinison (?) and with all this star-power, you can’t go wrong...right?

As we’ve mentioned too many times before, we invented the phrase “Lone Tiger Syndrome” to describe the incidences when you get suckered into watching a movie because there are a lot of names you like or recognize in the cast, but then the movie itself is not that great, and you realize that having a lot of talented actors on board doesn’t mean the writing and directing is good. Too often the scales are tipped too far in one direction. We believe that is the case with Savage Dawn - a movie with a lot of filler that doesn’t live up to its potential. Which is a real shame, because it was SO CLOSE to being a winner: Henriksen is cool as the renegade “good biker” with all the great lines, George Kennedy has a rocket launcher, and there’s even some surprise Punchfighting, but here are the problems...

The movie is too long and too slowly paced, which might be more tolerable if it didn’t primarily take place in one location. It seems the majority of the film takes place in basically a backyard. The choppy editing doesn’t really help matters, and, to add insult to injury, Claudia Udy has a very unflattering hairstyle. 

All this movie would have needed is a snappier running time, and more Stryker mowing down baddies. Then we’d really have something. But the movie is bloated and sabotages itself at almost every turn. But at one point there is a fruit-cart fistfight, as opposed to a fruit cart car chase, so that’s something different. And stunt genius John Stewart of Action USA fame is here as “Blood” and behind the scenes as stunt coordinator. Plus the score is by Pino Donaggio, but somehow all these elements never work together to make a forceful statement.

As for the Image DVD, it’s an obvious “needle-drop” job (for those that don’t know, at least in the world of CD’s, fans use that term to mean when companies don’t go back to the master tapes, don’t remaster anything, or do anything technical to improve matters, they literally just “drop the needle” on the original vinyl and then release that as a “finished” product - too often that is done in the world of DVD as well) - it’s basically a rip of the VHS, complete with tracking lines. Luckily, we don’t care, we’re die-hard VHS watchers, but others out there might take issue with that. It’s also highly unusual for a company like Image to release something like that. What happened?

In the end, despite some worthwhile moments, Savage Dawn is a disappointing missed opportunity.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Hired To Kill (1990)

Hired To Kill (1990)- * * *

Directed by: Nico Mastorakis

Starring: Brian Thompson, Oliver Reed, Jose Ferrer, and George Kennedy






 Big thanks to frequent reader Venom for giving us a copy!





No one can say Frank Ryan (Thompson) isn’t awesome. As a badass mercenary, he plays by his own rules. But when Thomas (Kennedy) approaches the hulking brute with a new assignment, at first he’s wary. He must travel to the small country of Cypra and rescue a political prisoner named Rallis (Ferrer). But in order to do this, he must pretend to be a gay fashion designer and have a retinue of seven fashion models. Did you think there would be another way to get that job done? This initially chaps Ryan’s hide, as he’s an ultra-macho warrior who “doesn’t like working with women”. But these aren’t ordinary women, they’re all specially trained in the fighting arts. 

The only real obstacle standing in their way is the president of Cypra, one Michael Bartos (Reed) and his goons. Will Ryan and his lethal ladies be able to extract the prisoner and complete their mission? Find out today…

It was nice to see fan-favorite Brian Thompson as the main hero for once. He usually plays the baddie, and he deserves a starring role like this. He gets a great intro to his character, doing something to a ringing phone that we’ve all fantasized about doing at one time or another. 

But that’s about it for character development for Frank Ryan, all we need to know is that he’s a grizzled, tanktop-wearing, musclebound belligerent jackass/hero. But how could Thompson be a villain this time around, when the great Oliver Reed fills the role with aplomb? Sure, Reed’s absurd, bushy mustache makes him look like a cross between David Crosby and a walrus, but it’s all part of the fun. Hired to Kill isn’t that dissimilar from another “Oliver Reed hitting the skids” movie, Rage to Kill (1988). Maybe he demanded only to be in “…to Kill” movies to cap off his career.

Jose Ferrer doesn’t do that much, and George Kennedy wears some cool glasses. You’ve got to hand it to director Mastorakis. He can usually corral together a bunch of B-stars like this and create a product perfect for the VHS market of the day. Kennedy also worked with Mastorakis on Nightmare at Noon (1988), as you may remember. Essentially, Hired to Kill is a non-South America-set El Presidente movie, and of course Ryan has to assemble a team, and naturally there’s a training sequence. But those time-honored classic items are filled with babes. The scenario is reminiscent of Hell Squad (1986), but just call it the “Fem-spendables”.

So while there are plenty of talky bits in the middle, it all comes to a nice, Red Scorpion (1988)-like climax (Thompson even resembles Dolph at times), and there is some classic un-PC dialogue. Plus he sits down while shirtlessly shooting a machine gun and wearing sunglasses. Usually it’s some maniac standing and screaming while doing that. Thompson adds some casual cool to his murderous rage.

Featuring the song “Do It For the Money” by Thomas Marolda, which is very similar to Deion Sanders’ “Must Be the Money” of a few years later (could it be that “Neon Deion” is a fan of this movie?) Hired to Kill does get a little dull at times, but the stars, especially Thompson, and the eye candy, keep it afloat.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, The Video Vacuum and Ninja Dixon!

The Delta Force (1986)

The Delta Force (1986)- * * *

Directed by: Menahem Golan

Starring: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Shelley Winters, Robert Forster, Martin Balsam, George Kennedy, Joey Bishop, Hanna Schygulla, and Bo Svenson 










When a group of evil terrorists (is there any other kind?) led by Abdul Rafai (the interestingly-cast Forster), hijack an airplane and start making demands, there’s only one group of men that can stop the madness...The Delta Force! And who is the elite of the elite, there is no question: American Superdude Major Scott McCoy (Norris) who will get the job done with his bare hands if necessary. He came out of retirement just to kill bad guys and rescue hostages. Those baddies better watch out.

This was a huge hit for Cannon and really put them on the map. The stellar cast is literally all-star, and the two hour-plus running time must accommodate that. But that gives the movie a big, Hollywood feel.  The first half of the movie is surprisingly powerful and intense. It tries to put a human face on the victims of terror, and the old guard of Hollywood actors such as Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters and Joey Bishop help to convey this, as do George Kennedy in another role as a priest, and an actress most people know from the films of Fassbinder, Hanna Schygulla. Bo Svenson shows up as the pilot, and he’s always nice to see.

Then the Delta Force shows up, led by Lee Marvin, and featuring not just Chuck, but the underrated Steve James, and Robert Vaughn as a General. The action begins in earnest about halfway through the movie and it doesn’t disappoint, especially Chuck’s motorcycle with missile launchers built in. This thing is possibly the most awesome thing ever. Chuck will stop at nothing to find and kill all the terrorists involved, and maybe a few who weren’t involved. Some of the Chuck stuff is amusing, and the fruit cart chases and shooting help that.

Luckily, the movie is written and directed in a way that all makes sense, even if it is a bit on the long side, and director Golan tried to do pretty much the same thing but on a smaller scale with Deadly Heroes. But that movie really ramps up the silliness factor.

For a drama (1st half) and action extravaganza (2nd half) that’s a bit more well-known, The Delta Force fits the bill very well, and the plot is still very relevant today.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up by our buddies at Ruthless Reviews! 

Hangfire (1991)

Hangfire (1991)-*

Directed by: Peter Maris

Starring: Jan Michael-Vincent, Brad Davis, Lee De Broux, Kim Delaney, Yaphet Kotto, George Kennedy, Ken Foree, Lyle Alzado, James Tolkan, and Lou Ferrigno












Kuttner (De Broux) is an inmate at the New Mexico State Penitentiary. At his parole hearing, he is determined by the board, including by psychologist Maria Slayton (Delaney), to be an extremely dangerous psychopath.  During a freak accident involving a poison gas cloud that is a really stupid pretext for a prison escape, Kuttner, along with his eyepatchioed right-hand man, uncannily enough named “Patch” (Tolkan), kidnap a bunch of people  - one of which is Maria - and take an entire Western-style town hostage. 

Maria’s husband, Isaac “Ike” Slayton (Davis), who is a Vietnam vet and also a town sheriff,  teams up with his buddy Billy (Foree) to take down the baddies. But the National Guard is called in, and their leader is the hard-headed Lt. Col. Johnson (Vincent), who doesn’t approve of Ike and Billy’s methods. Who will prevail: Johnson, the local cops (headed up by Yaphet Kotto who is insultingly only credited as “Police Lieutenant”), or the bad guys?

In 1981, The Rolling Stones released their song, “Hangfire”. Most people would agree that by that point in their career, they were past their prime. So it seems fitting that this movie under review today would have the same moniker as a less-than-fresh source. Hangfire - the movie - is a shameful waste of an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime cast. You might think, looking at the cast list, that you can’t lose. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that you definitely can. 

We’ve been burned before by movies with awesome casts that turned out to be not so awesome. The least punishing example being Lone Tiger (1999), the most punishing being Detour (1998). It’s truly a case of “too many cooks spoiling the broth”. Don’t be fooled by the stellar cast. It only makes you wonder: “Why would they all agree to this?”

The talent of pretty much everyone in the cast is completely wasted in this cliche-ridden (in a bad way), lackluster, unfun, overly-serious slog. George Kennedy has a throwaway role as a prison warden. Nothing is done with it. Same with Kotto as the cop. Kim Delaney says almost no dialogue in the movie. JMV inexplicably smokes a pipe, which, sadly enough was a movie highlight. You usually don’t see the gruff, beret-ed, uniformed commander lighting up his meerschaum. 

And here’s the ultimate waste: Lou Ferrigno and Lyle Alzado as prison buddies Smitty and Albert (respectively). They almost could have carried an entire movie on their own, but their scenes together are pointless and incredibly dumb. Along with JMV’s pipe, Alzado’s mullet is the only other bright spot in this otherwise lifeless movie.

The problem is, this movie is not well-written, and thanks to an almost total lack of character development, you really don’t care about what happens. Any one or two of the characters should have had time spent by the filmmakers on fleshing them out. But Maris splits the difference and spends no time on any. That’s the danger of a super-cast. Hangfire is so paint-by-numbers, and so painful to sit through, we coined a new term, “pain-by-numbers”. 

Did we mention the similarities to the also-awful Fear (1988), the dank, dark lighting, and the annoying musical stings? A few humorous crossbow shots and Brad Davis prancing around in zebra makeup (presumably to hide from the bad guys?) isn’t enough to save this dud.

But what’s really insulting to the audience are the unspeakably horrendous gun muzzle flashes. Here’s where it gets to “Sci-Fi channel original movie” territory, with crudely-superimposed “flashes” that aren’t even laughably bad, they’re just bad. Muzzle flashes are one of the joys of action movies, and Maris duly crosses that off his “I made this suck” checklist. Perhaps fortunately, it’s not like these crimes against muzzle flashes ruin an otherwise good movie. 

In this case there’s nothing to ruin. So structurally it’s no harm no foul. Visually it’s just foul. This is the fourth Peter Maris movie we’ve seen to date (though we’re not planning on seeing any more) - the others being Terror Squad (1988) - which featured fan favorite Chuck Connors - Ministry Of Vengeance (1989), and Diplomatic Immunity (1991). Let’s put it this way: we’d trade this whole cast for one Chuck Connors.

The excellent cast is just a distraction - even a misdirection in true grifter style - to the fact that Hangfire is a movie you must avoid.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Nightmare At Noon (1988)

Nightmare At Noon (1988)-* *1\2


Directed by: Nico Mastorakis

Starring: Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, Kimberley Beck, Brion James, and George Kennedy












When a mysterious man simply known as "The Albino" (James) decides the best place to try an experiment putting toxins in the water supply is the small town of Canyonland, Utah, all hell breaks loose. Normally-friendly citizens wig out, get extremely violent, and bleed green blood. All this is unbeknownst to entertainment lawyer Ken Griffiths (Wings) and his wife Cheri (Beck), who are traveling through the town in their RV. They stop to pick up the loner Reilly (Hopkins) and when they see the chaos in Canyonland, they decide to fight back. Aiding them is Sheriff Hanks (Kennedy). Will our heroes be able to put an end to the insanity?

The first thing you'll notice about Nightmare at Noon is its killer cast. It's pretty much a B-movie dream come true. However, we weren't totally convinced that it was being used to its full potential. Wings' personality should have shone through more, Kennedy is barely involved, and there isn't a lot of meat to Hopkins' laconic tough-guy. Neal Wheeler as Charley, the first victim, is reminiscent of the notorious cover for the Super Nintendo game "Phalanx". Brion James says literally nothing, but is somewhat intriguing as the main villain (backed up by his goons labeled APE, or, the "Agency for the Protection of the Environment"). He mainly looks through binoculars for most of his screen time. If you've ever wanted to know what it would be like if Johnny or Edgar Winter created small-town zombies in a Western setting that spew Nickelodeon-style Gak, here you go.

What director Mastorakis seemed to be aiming for is evident right in the title. "Nightmare" representing the horror aspect of the film, seemingly influenced by I Drink Your Blood (1970) and The Crazies (1973), as well as any number of zombie films, and "At Noon", representing the Western movie aspect. In fact, the characters even pass a movie marquee showing that High Noon (1952) is playing, and the final chase is taken from innumerable Western films.

A hybrid of this type is a worthy idea, but honestly it needed more blood, gore and nudity to rise to the level of an exploitation classic. It does have plenty of action movie-style thrills such as car blow-ups, stunts and much shooting, but it's hard to say if it all exactly fits. A lot of the elements were there, but not all. It's clear here that the golden 80's were ending, and the less-edgy 90's was on the horizon.
 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Ministry Of Vengeance (1989)

Ministry Of Vengeance (1989)-* *

Directed by: Peter Maris

Starring: John Schneider, James Tolkan, Robert Miano, Apollonia, Ned Beatty, Meg Register, George Kennedy, and a Special Appearance by: Yaphet Kotto












John Schneider, of the legendary Cocaine Wars (1985), here plays David Miller, A Vietnam Vet that became a priest after he left the service. He has plenty of flashbacks about the horrors he saw in 'Nam and, naturally, he is a man of peace and nonviolence. At a Rome airport, a gang of super-evil terrorists open fire on the crowd. The leader of the terrorists is Ali Aboud (Miano). He personally kills Miller's wife Gail (Register) and his young son Kim (Joey Peters). This shakes Miller's faith, and, after consulting with his fellow priest and confidante, Rev. Hughes (Kennedy), he decides to take a break from Priest-ing and goes on an obsessive quest to find Aboud.

He reconnects with his old 'Nam buddy Col. Freeman (Tolkan), now a tough-as-nails drill sergeant. Freeman agrees to help Miller, but first puts him through his paces once again and re-trains him for combat. Now trained and teamed up, Miller discovers Aboud is hiding out in Lebanon, so the two men go there. There, Miller meets Rev. Bloor (Beatty), a kindly Priest in a little church, and Zarah (Apollonia). Now closer to exacting his revenge on Aboud and his men than ever before, will he be able to do it - or will a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top prevent it from happening?

One of the best things about Ministry of Vengeance is the top-notch cast. Everyone here puts in a quality performance - First off, we forgot to mention Yaphet Kotto as the bureaucrat Whiteside - whose "special appearance" is a glorified cameo. His talent deserved more. Miano is scummy and evil as Aboud, Beatty is quirky as Bloor, Kennedy is dependable as the kindly priest, Tolkan seems to be having fun as the R. Lee Ermey-style army guy, and Schneider is once again great as Miller. Miller is having a crisis between faith and reality, which seems to be the main crux of the film. What happens in real life - murder, slaughter and terror - somehow seems overpowering and blots out Miller's peace-loving idealism, which is a nice thought but just isn't functional in the real world. Only one type of ministry is real - the Ministry of Vengeance!

Now, while philosophically, the movie is on solid, interesting ground, and the cast of players is equally solid, the only problem here is that it can't really sustain its intensity over its entire running time. There really should have been a lot more hard-hitting vengeance in the final stages of the film, but the middle section drags, and it never truly recovered from that slack.

But Ministry of Vengeance is a quality, theatrically-released product. While everything seems in place, it could have used just a bit more edge for our tastes.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett