"Three Men On the Wrong Side of the Law 
Doing the Right Thing"

"The Coolest Team in the South Beach
Is About To Turn Up the Heat"

"No Mission Is Too Impossible"

"It Takes Action To Kill Crime"

• The Official Site & Trailer - Click Here

Review:

After what feels like an eternity, 'The Librarians' now graces our DVD players... but was it worth the wait? Well I guess you'll have to read on to find out! 

Now adopting the somewhat clichéd title of 'Strike Force', which lacks all the uniqueness that 'The Librarians' had, this new name will look right at home in the bargain bins of Walmart (not to mention that Richard Gere already starred in a movie with the same name), and after following this movie's rocky-road to release for the past couple of years, I wasn't sure what to expect, though the film's higher-profile cast-list was at least some reassurance that it might not be pish.

Anyway, regardless of the movie's title, here's what's goin' down; a gang of for-hire vigilantes who specialize in retrieving kidnap victims, are hired to rescue the grand-daughter of a high-rise employer, who went missing down in Miami. Comprised of the kick-boxing Toshko (Daniel), smooth-talking gun-slinger G-Man (Amaury Nolasco) and group leader Simon (William Forsythe), these dudes ensure they kick tons of ass and take no prisoners, whilst keeping their cool the entire time. Once down in Miami, they discover that dozens of girls have been going missing recently and they soon realize they have a lot more on their hands than just one missing runaway. This leads them into the seedy underworld of arch-criminal Marcos (Andrew Divoff), who when not hangin' out popping caps in people's asses, enjoys spending his time selling off slaves and torturing teenage girls - so credit to him for putting effort into being a villain... not enough bad-guys make the effort in movies these days.

From the moment this movie opens, we're treated to some explosive action... that unfortunately looks more artificial than Keanu Reeves' acting career. The stunt work and fire-fights sadly leave more to be desired than a wood sandwich, whilst guys who look like they simply strolled-in off the streets in exchange for food & shelter, pretend to shoot each other with all the combat skills of a sack of rubber chickens. Meanwhile, poor G-Man is ruthlessly caught in a stock-footage loop until the scene reaches its thoroughly unclimactic conclusion. Thankfully however, once we progress past this scene, the movie kicks into gear with a bit more class and professionalism than this opening sequence would have you believe. As a special bonus, new Bernhardt-regular Dennis Lavelle of 'Bloodsport 4' and 'Special Forces' fame even makes a cameo... and gets his badly-acting buddy's brains splattered all over his face, not bad for a four second scene! Around five minutes later, Simon uses classic action-star delivery to drop the movie's original-title into the script, "We're the Librarians!". This would have sounded really cool... had they not changed its name; now I can only assume that they're ruthlessly-violent connoisseurs of fine literature. 

After two minutes of viewing, it's sadly clear that this isn't a Daniel Bernhardt picture, it's a William Forsythe movie and Daniel doesn't get nearly as much screen-time as us Bernholics are screaming out for. But bearing that in mind, I'll carry on with my review.

One thing that instantly struck me with this movie was how completely out-of-time it felt, if I hadn't already known the release date, I'd have sworn that was made in 1993! Such is the style, the characters, the costumes, the music... everything just oozes that nostalgic early-90s feel that's been missing in made-for-video action movies for almost ten years now. The music is a prime culprit in this, composed by John Pratt of glam-metal band Firefly, every fight scene is fueled with wailing lead guitar and fist-pumping riffs... it made a big impression on me, not only cos I love 80's glam-metal, but simply because I miss action soundtracks of this kind; so props to the crew for choosing such a oldskool approach.

Now to the important part: Daniel Bernhardt... and unfortunately, Daniel does not get given a lot to do. He has a few lines, but nothing to really give Toshko much of an identity... he gets to battle Matthias Hues (ironically named 'Ciro') in a Bloodsport-style no-holds-barred pit-fight, but it didn't seem to add a lot to the movie, just kinda felt like it was written in to give Daniel something to do and someone's ass to kick. Which is cool though, especially since I laid down my hard-earned cash in the first-place to watch him kick people's asses, and I've been known to get aggressive when I don't get my fix of generic henchman falling to the iron hand! He gets to frag loads of goons with a sniper-rifle, so I can't argue with that, but not enough people get turned into human Play-doh. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I just feel that if you're gonna cast Daniel Bernhardt in an action movie, you gotta let the man strut his stuff and break some faces! Interestingly, it was actually kinda weird seeing him act on American soil again... but wonderfully refreshing; the scenery was great, not a Kremlin in sight! 

As for Forsythe's lead-character, well you'll be pleased to know that although he robs Daniel of most of the precious screen-time, he's still pretty damn cool; cocky, smooth, a patronizing ass... everything you could want in a vigilante! Portraying his character with a tacky Gary Busey attitude, he throws out some less-than-awesome one-liners that are hardly of an A-class pedigree, but he does so with such gaudy smug charm that the lines actually work in a tongue-in-cheek way. Hell, the exchanges in the bar even provided me with a warm dirty chuckle. Even if it was just to myself. And I know my friends and family will be ashamed of me for having done so. But he gets to pop Baywatch-babe Erika Eleniak with very little effort on his part, complete with an enormously large slice of cinematic-Edam... leaving me very impressed with his incredible gigolo-magnetism. It must be that bathrobe!

Burt Reynolds turns in a cameo as the mysterious 'Irish', though you won't find the Bandit's name anywhere on any official credits since this role was simply done as a friendly favor to Mike Kirton and William Forsythe. He turns in a respectable performance as a rich, powerful fountain-of-knowledge who helps Simon pursue who he needs to. It's a fun cameo that doesn't cause much impact on the movie as a whole, but is a pleasant addition.

Generally the movie's brainless entertainment, with a fairly rocking soundtrack, likeable lead characters and a humorously camp script... but its overshadowing weakness is the directing. Inexperienced director Mike Kirton (who worked on the stunts on 'Bloodsport 4'), sadly can't make the action very involving. There's far too many close-ups during the fist-fights, with almost every punch and kick taking place off the bottom of the screen - but for those of you with a strange fascination for watching heads nodding and shoulders bobbing, this is your lucky day. Meanwhile during the shoot-outs, there's too many actors simply hanging around on set not being involved with the action appropriately, whilst the camera work never makes this action develop. This is especially true in the finale, when I didn't even realize the movie was ending; it just washes over you in one huge chunk of muffled bullets & subdued explosions until suddenly the credits rolled... it almost seems like the movie hadn't been completed and they simply tacked on the ending at the last second.

After all, not even the music hinted that it was coming to an end. Although the soundtrack is likeable (to me at least, I have terribly out-dated taste in what's cool), it isn't set to the movie's progression at all well... it's too loud in some scenes and above-all, it doesn't help push the action forwards - a big part of the disappointment in the way the movie ended. The band was still wailing away like they were onstage at Castle Donnington with two encores to go, whilst the movie had other plans and had already ejected itself from the DVD player, switched off the telly and relaxed into a soothing aromatic bubble-bath!

The directing is really what let this movie down. That and the severe lack of Daniel Bernhardt. Any movie lacking in Daniel Bernhardt-screen time gets severely frowned upon in my books. That's probably why I hate most movies I watch. Daniel may not have been in the starring role, but at least this didn't star Keanu Reeves... and William Forsythe is entertaining as always. If you can get past the weak direction, then there's a decent little story on offer here with some fun moments, but the action leaves a lot to be desired and too many scenes look artificial (such as the aforementioned opening and any scenes in the night club). So to sum this all up in one line - this was indeed entertaining, but in it's not without its fair share of faults, so be prepared and don't expect a masterpiece (though with a title like 'Strike Force', I don't know how you ever could in the first place!).