Between the brilliant The Terminator and (for me) some of his most entertaining movies (The Running Man, Red Heat, Total Recall) Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in this typical 80's action film where he plays a former FBI agent tasked with infiltrating a Chicago crime syndicate and tracking down an informer responsible for the deaths of many law enforcement officers. Despite the unimaginative plot and, at times excruciatingly clunky dialogue this is nevertheless an effective vehicle for Arnie to display his physical prowess and developing acting skills.
There's a good number of action scenes and they're mostly centered around total havoc and maximum destruction; Arnie blows up an entire chemical plant to fake his own death, drives a tow-truck through a building, has an epic nightclub shootout, demolishes a construction site There's even a five-minute scene of Arnie just cocking, locking, and loading a suitcase full of guns before his final Archer-style rampage. The rest of the film is fairly by-the-numbers; old guys in suits being corrupt, comically inept Chicago mobsters who couldn't whack a whack-a-mole, let alone a bozo wiseguy.
The acting? It's decent. Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger which means that Schwarzenegger isn't Anthony Hopkins. In terms of acting, Schwarzenegger isn't even Thelma Hopkins. But, here, he's ably upheld by his supporting cast, the most recognizable of whom are Darren McGavin, Murphy Brown's Joe Regalbuto, and the ever untrustworthy Robert Davi. Kathryn Harrold is so-so as the love interest (and, mind you, she's not the wife), actually shining for a moment in a restaurant scene with Arnold as she takes him to task for his lack of amorousness. A classic from Arnold's early days.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
There's a good number of action scenes and they're mostly centered around total havoc and maximum destruction; Arnie blows up an entire chemical plant to fake his own death, drives a tow-truck through a building, has an epic nightclub shootout, demolishes a construction site There's even a five-minute scene of Arnie just cocking, locking, and loading a suitcase full of guns before his final Archer-style rampage. The rest of the film is fairly by-the-numbers; old guys in suits being corrupt, comically inept Chicago mobsters who couldn't whack a whack-a-mole, let alone a bozo wiseguy.
The acting? It's decent. Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger which means that Schwarzenegger isn't Anthony Hopkins. In terms of acting, Schwarzenegger isn't even Thelma Hopkins. But, here, he's ably upheld by his supporting cast, the most recognizable of whom are Darren McGavin, Murphy Brown's Joe Regalbuto, and the ever untrustworthy Robert Davi. Kathryn Harrold is so-so as the love interest (and, mind you, she's not the wife), actually shining for a moment in a restaurant scene with Arnold as she takes him to task for his lack of amorousness. A classic from Arnold's early days.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10.