Jungleground (1995)

Jungleground (1995)- * *1\2

Directed by: Don Allan

Starring: Roddy Piper, Torri Higginson, JR Bourne, Jeff Wood, and Rogue Johnston









Lt. Jake Cornell (Roddy) is a Canadian cop who is somewhat on the edge, but he gets pushed to his limits when he must survive in a ruthless, lawless urban center of the Great White North called Jungleground. The gang that controls Jungleground are a bunch of Norse mythology-inspired baddies called the “Ragnarockers” or just “Rockers” for short. Members include Thor (Wood) and Loki (Johnston), but the leader is of course Odin (Bourne). When Odin kidnaps Jake’s girlfriend Sammy (Higginson of Airborne (1998) fame) - just as he was about to propose to her, no less - he proposes to Cornell that if he can survive the night in Jungleground, he will free Sammy. So Jake must use all his survival instincts to fight through a night fraught with all sorts of obstacles. Will he make it?

Jungleground, not to be confused with Thunderground (1989), is a decent Roddy outing. Some of the most entertaining aspects of the movie are just how 90’s it is, and just how Canadian it is. Sure, Roddy is charming as usual, but how can he compete with Boy Meets World-style hair, rollerblades and high-waisted jeans? Marry that to the Canadian DTV vibe we’ve all seen many times before, and you get the general sense about the proceedings. 

This was back in the day when all Roddy had to do was flash his million-dollar smile and wear a pre-Trenchcoat Mafia trenchcoat, and you had half the movie right there. One of the flaws of the movie is that Roddy didn’t get a cool intro to his character. You’re just kind of thrown in - there should have been an action scene or at least a scene where his Chief was screaming at him because of his rogue ways. But ultimately Roddy carries the movie, so it all smooths out later.

It has all the cliches we know and love, some of which include yelling while shooting a machine gun, and the prerequisite torture. There are plenty of chases, shootouts and blow-ups, not to mention Roddy executing some classic wrestling-style moves on the baddies, so all the right ingredients are there. 

But as is often the case, the movie starts to lose steam before the climax. More than likely that’s because this is a DTV version of The Ultimate Warrior (1975), The Warriors (1979), Escape From New York (1981), or any other movie where someone has to survive/escape through a treacherous urban environment. There’s not much more to the movie than that, but do we really need any more? But to the movie’s credit, characters do say the word “Jungleground” a lot...it’s not just a movie title, it’s the name of the place - and a way of life.

While Back In Action (1993) and Tough and Deadly (1995) remain our favorite Roddy’s that we’ve seen to date, Jungleground is not bad and is probably a one-time watch.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC

Airborne (1998)

Airborne (1998)-* *

Directed by: Julian Grant

Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Kim Coates, Colm Feore, Torri Higginson, Philip Akin, and Sean Bean










"Pray It Doesn't Land..."








Bill McNeil (Guttenberg) is the head of a Special Ops team known as “Mach 1”. His compatriots are Sara Gemmel (Higginson) and Romeo Cortez (Akin). There’s an evil canister with an evil virus that a lot of evil people want to do evil things with. Head of said evildoers is the ominously-named Dave Toombs (Bean). When certain people end up dead, McNeil thinks it may be an inside job. So he goes on the run with Gemmel to get to the truth. Also Colm Feore and Kim Coates are on board.

Airborne is an unintentional (?) laugh riot. One of the main things that makes it funny is not just the presence of Steve Guttenberg, but his gruff, overly-serious performance. Obviously trying to shed his Police Academy “Mahoney” image, The Gute opts for an unshaven, laconic, cliche-action-hero style. Just check out the way he does a simple task like answer the phone. The phone rings. There is a pregnant pause as Gute takes the phone off the receiver. There is another pregnant pause before he speaks. Then, in a low, portentous, drawn-out tone, and speaking as if his throat is filled with gravel, he simply says, “Yeah”. While it may seem like nothing, this scene brought the house down with laughs. So that’s a microcosm of what to expect in Airborne, the movie that takes itself wildly seriously, even though it’s a shot-in-Canada, cliche-ridden turkey with bad sound, low production values and CGI airplanes.

In fact, while there is low-key, “smoldering” (harsher minds might say “emotionless”) acting by just about everyone involved, the movie could have used more Sean Bean. He is a bright spot in this dour production, and Kim Coates also tries to inject any energy he can, but it’s to no avail. You’d think the power team of Steve Guttenberg facing off against Sean Bean is the match-up the world has been waiting for - and it clearly is - but somehow Airborne doesn’t capitalize on this meeting.

And while Gute’s co-star Higginson resembles a DTV Sigourney Weaver, it’s hard for her to compete with his slow-motion, “cool” walking and other “cool” activities like putting on/taking off sunglasses. In fact, the importance he places on this action predates David Caruso and CSI Miami.

Plus you know it’s the 90’s because of the high-waisted jeans and unnecessary, Tarantino-esque cultural references. Also Sean Bean has an intimidating bad-guy mullet. But the Mach 1 team wears some impressive outfits: helmets that look like they are from the 80’s Laser Tag competitor Photon, and head-to-toe spandex. There’s one disturbing scene in particular where Guttenberg’s spandex pants don’t leave much to the imagination and...yecccchhh.

So while wags might say this is just another stupid, brainless ripoff of The Rock (1996) that is so riddled with cliches it can’t possibly add anything new to the genre, we say it’s the most dramatic retelling of the story of how that teacher invented his own cold medication yet put to film.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty