Thunder (1983)

Thunder (1983)- * * *

Directed by: Fabrizio De Angelis

Starring: Mark Gregory, Raimund Harmstorf, Paolo Malco, and Bo Svenson

"Thunder will never die!!!"-Kid Running Away

Thunder (Gregory) is a mild-mannered Native American minding his own business and just trying to live his life in Page, Arizona. That is, until a crew of construction workers attempt to bulldoze an ancient Navajo burial site. He goes to the local police station, but Sheriff Bill Cook (Svenson) is no help, and his crew of angry, racist deputies, led by Barry Henson (Harmstorf) only seem to want to harass and torment Thunder. 

After yet another gang of redneck attackers assaults Thunder, he finally snaps – into action, that is. Armed with a bow and arrow, a bazooka, and several bits of stolen construction equipment, Thunder gets in touch with his warrior roots and goes to war with the entire town! Luckily, on his side is the local DJ, who sends out encouraging messages, and a reporter named Brian Sherman (Malco) also gets behind Thunder’s mission. What will be left in the wreckage after THUNDER rolls in?

Here we have the first entry in the Thunder trilogy, all of which are directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (as Larry Ludman of course), and starring Mark Gregory, AKA Marco Di Gregorio. As has been noted before, Thunder is very closely modeled after First Blood (1982), down to the veritable re-creation of certain scenes. That doesn’t detract from its appeal, however. In fact, it only adds to it. Thunder boasts some fantastic location scenery, fights, car chases, and blow-ups. It’s all set to a typically-great Francesco De Masi score and has some familiar B-Movie names we all know and love (though, to be fair, there should have been just a bit more Bo Svenson). 

We really don’t want to repeat what we said in our reviews for the other Thunder movies, especially part two, because much of that could apply here as well. A lot of the same stuff happens in all three movies in the trilogy. For example, the local redneck population call Thunder a barrage of racial slurs, including “redskin” many, many times. The fact that Thunder is played by Marco Di Gregorio, who was born in Rome and is about as Native American as Pope John Paul II, is very amusing. 

The grandfather in the Thunder family steals the movie, or maybe it’s just his dubbing. But we really enjoyed every scene this elderly gentleman was in, and the final third is a satisfying destruction spree you can’t help but love. If you really do love it, you can watch it two more times in the sequels. Everything catches fire (literally) when Thunder hits his Breaking Point – not unlike Bo Svenson himself in the 1976 film of that name. 

Thunder is B-Movie action fun as only the Italians can serve it up. It was perfect for the video stores of the day (even if, let’s be fair, the minimal plot of the deputies chasing Thunder for almost the entire running time does wear a bit thin after a while). But it all ends on an encouraging note with a memorable final line. As an example of classic Rambosploitation, it’s hard to do much better than Thunder.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

SAS: San Salvador (1983)

SAS: San Salvador (1983)- *1\2

Directed by: Raoul Coutard

Starring: Miles O'Keefe, Raimund Harmstorf, Dagmar  Lassander, Sybil Danning, and Anton Diffring 









In the small South American country of San Salvador, a beloved archbishop is violently murdered. This sets off an already-volatile situation with the citizens and there are riots in the streets. The culprit is found to be arch-villain Enrico Chacon (Harmstorf) and naturally there’s only one man who can stop him: Malko Linge (O’Keeffe). 

Malko lives in a castle of his own (not to be confused with Coffin Joe of course), and apparently takes on assignments from the CIA in order to keep up his Austrian castle, which is in dire need of repair. His girlfriend Countess Alexandra (Danning) doesn’t seem to mind. So Malko goes to San Salvador and meets up with his contact Peter (Diffring) but seems to be distracted by wooing the ladies, including Maria Luisa (Lassander). Malko is going to have to get to fighting the baddies sooner or later, but will he complete his mission?

While it does open promisingly with a cool credits sequence, SAS is really just one in a long line of El Presidente/South America slogs we’ve seen over the years. When you look at how much time has gone by as you’re watching the movie and see only about 20 minutes or so has elapsed, it feels more onerous than usual. This is because it doesn’t feel like 20 minutes of its own movie, it feels like it was just added on to Cocaine Wars (1985), Overthrow (1987), Merchants of War (1989), McBain (1991), and so many others of this ilk. The minutes just seem added on to one long movie. And the distinct lack of action really hurts this one.

The cast is interesting, but unfortunately they can’t make the proceedings all that interesting: minor fan favorite O’Keeffe has some snappy outfits and closely resembles a statue. Malko is clearly the ultimate chick magnet, and it must be his way of exiting a building that makes him such a hit with the ladies (this one particular building exit is a movie highlight. You’ll know it when or if you see it). 

Sybil Danning is barely in the movie but she does get one of the best lines, “are you still playing samurai for the CIA?” - since this was at the beginning of the movie, we were hopeful the idea of a CIA samurai would come to fruition. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Dagmar Lassander, among other European people, play South Americans of Latin descent. Of course that includes Raimund Harmstorf of Thunder Warrior 2 (1987) and The Viking Sagas (1995) fame as Enrico Chacon, not to be confused with acclaimed Cat Stevens album Mona Bone Jakon, as the evil baddie and nemesis of Malko.

Interestingly, SAS was one of the few movies directed by Raoul Coutard, the famous cinematographer who was instrumental in the French New Wave movement, having worked with Godard on classics like Breathless (1960) and Band of Outsiders (1964). But by 1983, he was reduced to focusing his lens on Miles O’Keeffe in a Speedo. Of all people, you’d think Coutard would know the importance of action and pacing, but the pace is indeed slow and instead of solid action material, he fills the time with the standard moments of civil unrest, disco scenes and what you might call video store nudity.

Released by Vestron here in the U.S. and featuring the song La Colegiala by Son Caribe, you’ll be sendin’ out an SOS if you attempt to watch SAS.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Thunder Warrior 2 (1987)

Thunder Warrior 2 (1987)- * * *

Directed by: Fabrizio DeAngelis

Starring: Mark Gregory, Raimund Harmstorf, and Bo Svenson












Yavapai County, Arizona, is a dusty ol’ hamlet inhabited by a lot of Native Americans. A Police Deputy named Rusty (Harmstorf) is an angry, corrupt racist who is working with drug-dealing biker gangs when he’s not verbally abusing the local Indian population. So he really doesn’t approve when Thunder (Gregory), a big, muscular, and incorruptible local Indian joins the police force. 

Now caught between Thunder and Sheriff Roger (Svenson), Rusty plants some drugs in Thunder’s locker at the police station. Thunder then undergoes some brutal hardships at the local prison, biding his time until he can get out and take revenge on those who wronged him. Rusty and his cronies better prepare for the oncoming THUNDER STORM!

In the grand tradition of “persecuted Indians on the run but with some revenge” movies such as Johnny Firecloud (1975) and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) comes Thunder Warrior 2 - or, to make things a bit more simple, just take First Blood (1982) and make Rambo an Indian.

The fact that there are THREE Thunder Warrior movies is a testament to the video store era, when stores clamored for product to fill its shelves, and Italian companies (and so many others) were more than happy to oblige. Shot in the American west by a team of Italians, led by Fabrizio DeAngelis (under his normal pseudonym Larry Ludman), It has that certain Italian feel we all know and love. Maybe it’s the dubbing, maybe it’s hiring Mark Gregory - Trash himself - as an American Indian, or maybe some other indefinable quality, but a work like Thunder Warrior 2 could only have come from those mad Italian geniuses.

They get very impressive scenery on film, maybe it’s the outsider’s view of America. We can’t be sure it’s an in-joke, but at one point a character says to Thunder, “This ain’t no place for trash like you!” - could that be a reference video junkies at the time (and today) are meant to recognize? 

Also in the noteworthy dialogue department, Rusty is blatantly called “The most corrupt in Arizona”! Well at least he isn’t trying to hide it. Raimund Harmstorf, who plays Rusty, was an actor the Italians used often when they needed a blonde, blue-eyed guy for a change. He was a shoe-in to play the evil racist. Maybe it’s his name, “Rusty”, but in this movie at least, he has a certain Chuck Norris-esque quality.

Thunder Warrior 2 has a good amount of action scenes, and most of them, including the stunts and car chases/crashes, are in slow motion. This predating Hard Target (1993) by many years. 

Plus who can forget the heart-stopping “Thunder on a rope” sequence? And like how many people, when they’re about to get revenge, put on a special “revenge outfit” (the best example being Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs in Quietfire), Thunder goes full-on Indian regalia before he breaks out the bow and arrow with missile-tipped arrows! Granted, they look a lot like lipstick tubes, but so what?  Plus, other characters just casually call this hulking brute “Thunder”, as in, “hey Thunder, what’s goin’ on?” - his name is THUNDER, okay? THUNDER. Show the proper amount of awe.

Released by TransWorld in one of their standard big-boxes (you gotta love the original retail price of $79.95 printed on the sleeve), Thunder Warrior 2 was the middle half of a Thunder sandwich (also a great name for this movie) and we think you pretty much know what to expect.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum!