Wanted: Dead Or Alive (1986)

Wanted: Dead Or Alive (1986)-* *1\2

Directed by: Gary Sherman

Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gene Simmons, Mel Harris, and Robert Guillaume











Nick Randall (Hauer) is an ex-CIA agent and bounty hunter. He is asked to track down an extremely dangerous and ruthless terrorist, Malak Al-Rahim (Simmons), who has been killing lots of people and only planning to do more damage. Randall will stop at nothing to track down Al-Rahim, especially after an attempt on his life kills some people Randall cares about. Will Randall succeed?

As you can see from the brief plot description above, the storyline here is pretty cut-and-dry, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the movie should have been shorter, and with Rutger killing more goons. That would have livened things up. But as it stands, Wanted: Dead or Alive has some good 80’s atmosphere and un-PC moments. So that’s a good thing, and they tried to give Nick Randall a bit more character development than usual, which is also good.  He gets plenty of snappy lines and loves the harmonica, which mirrors on the soundtrack. He even has what may be the first car GPS seen on a movie screen.

It was also nice to see Gene Simmons looking slick, and while he himself is Jewish, he plays an Islamic terrorist. The terror aspect of the film is still relevant, but this movie has too much padding and needed more action. Interestingly, in the movie theater scene, they are playing the movie “Rambo” - and while there are many Rambo references in many other 80’s and 90’s action movies, the filmmakers here should have known there was no such movie by that title at that time.

Naturally, it all ends in a classic Steam Factory shootout. So while WDOA has some good moments, the movie should have been tightened up and had some edge added to it. It’s not bad at all, but it’s not very memorable either.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Counter Measures (1985)

Counter Measures (1985)-* *

Directed by: Gerban Ceth

Starring: Monte Markham














Skycrane is a fleet of helicopters that go around Australia solving the types of problems that only helicopters can solve. When there are fires, Skycrane breaks out the heli’s with the large buckets that can release water on command, and when the wheelchair-bound Albert gets challenged to a race and he accidentally falls off a cliff, Skycrane hoists him to safety. The leader of this high-flying operation is Gus (Markham), an American. His sidekick is the comic-relief Ralph. But their greatest challenge comes when James Price, an evil land developer, and Johnson, a man who loves nothing more than deer poaching, start causing trouble in the Outback. Will these helicopters twirl their way to justice?

Counter Measures, not to be confused with the Michael Dudikoff outing with the same name, was made for Australian TV in the mid-80’s. Inexplicably, it was released in the U.S. on the great label Paragon, when they were still doing big-boxes and before they converted to their classic style with the movie title on one side of the spine, and some dots on the other. There are even spots for commercial breaks with light-hearted musical stings where you really want to say, “We’ll be right back”.

Not much really goes on - Counter Measures isn’t the most pulse-pounding action you ever saw, but it’s charming and certainly not bad. This is almost the type of movie they might play in school in the 80’s on a rainy day. It definitely would help if you’re into helicopters. While everything heli is certainly brought to the forefront, this is a long way from Blue Thunder (1983). But then again, it’s not really supposed to be. It’s everything you’d think a TV movie of this type, from this time and place, would be. It certainly paved the way for such items as Airwolf. Without Counter Measures, surely there would be no Stringfellow Hawk.

As far as the actors, Monte Markham is solid, but the guy who plays James steals the movie. But while Counter Measures is pleasant, if a bit bland and slow, the two best things about the movie are the beautiful Australian locations, and the music by Tony Baker. He puts in a nice synth/keyboard score with an appropriate and memorable theme. It seems to be largely based on fellow Aussies Jigsaw and their song “Sky High”, which makes sense . That song is also the main theme for Brian Trenchard-Smith’s The Man From Hong Kong (1975).

So for a Sunday afternoon time killer with some mild 80’s flair, Counter Measures is an inoffensive way to fit the bill.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty