This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Well, here we have a typical "exploding huts" film, which starts off with a bunch of 'Nam veterans living casual lives. When in a bar, they see a POW returning from Vietnam camp through diplomatic efforts, 10 years after the war has ended. The bunch then proceeds to team up and return to Vietnam to rescue all the the American prisoners of war. Mind, all of this happens within a day or two (!). They then arrive somewhere in Indochina, near Vietnam (although the street scenes feature the "Jeepney", traditional Philippine public transport vehicle). According to their "well-thought out plan" they acquire weapons provided by a priest, and head out into the jungle, where, like someone else pointed out, Vietnamese army continues to patrol the woodlands despite war ending years ago. Dozens of killed extras later, the team manages to infiltrate deep into enemy territory, where they finally find a POW camp. While examining the place in order to make a plan on how to seize the place, one of the "commandos" just starts blasting away, and others follow. scores of Vietnamese soldiers burst out of the huts through one door, only to be mowed down by one guy. The camp is free. POWs in blue uniforms "visibly distrustful and worried" try to get a grasp of the situation while one of the heroic bunch yells at them that they're free, and that they need to get aboard the truck - something very odd happens at this moment - 8 POWs jump on the truck, while 3 are still standing near the prison building, staring quietly. They don't move, nobody persuades them to come, nobody mentions them. The truck drives away, and they are left there without a second thought (!). A couple of shootings here and there, including a Vietnamese woman, victim of Napalm bombings killing one of the heroic bunch out of vengeance, we come to the second mystery - When two Vietnamese helicopters (which are in fact American Huey choppers) begin assault on the empty village that Americans sought refuge in, POWs and the heroic bunch escape before all the huts explode - but, without a reason or explanation, two of the POWs are never to be seen again. It all goes downhill from here. The remaining 6 POWs are being killed at an alarming rate, up until only one, which has an injured knee, remains.The finale is ridiculous, not because of silly shoot-outs, but I'll leave you to see that for yourselves;)

A group of disgruntled Vietnam vets, led by Mike (Wayne), Roger (Connelly) and James (Steiner) decide to go back to 'Nam and find, then free, missing POW's. Once "in country", they get their guns and ammo from Father Lenoir (Pleasence) , a priest willing to help the "five men against all", to quote the Italian title of the film. Once loaded up with their supplies, it's like the war never ended, as Viet Cong soldiers battle them every step of the way to protect their camps, seemingly unaware that there had been a ten-year break in the action. Naturally, the discovery of the POW's leads to a government conspiracy that goes all the way to the top - and is the gruff Colonel Mortimer (Mitchell) involved? Will the men free the hostages and make it back home? And if they do, what then? Operation Nam (or Cobra Mission) is a standard jungle action/drama you've seen before, but it does have its moments, as well as a cast familiar to anyone who loves Italian exploitation films. Besides familiar faces Steiner, Connelly, and Luciano Pigozzi (AKA Alan Collins), we also have cameos by Enzo G. Castellari and Ennio Girolami, and the whole affair was directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (the infamous "Larry Ludman") without much panache. He's a better producer than director, most people would agree.While the idea of moody, misfit Vietnam vets adjusting to a changed society is a fascinating idea for a film, these ideas are only touched upon in the first half. The second half is the mindless shooting, guard tower-falling, hut-exploding, grenade-throwing , bar-fighting action expected of this type of film. It would have been nice if the psychology and emotion of the men was explored more, but perhaps I'm asking too much of a churn-'em-out genre film such as this.In the plus column we have the fact that the film was made pre-political correctness, a character plays Pole Position on his Atari 2600, and one character insults another by calling him, and I quote, a "Suckfish". Speaking of awesome dialogue, we also get an interesting glimpse into the future: right before one of the protagonists throws a grenade at a baddie, he says "You've got mail". This comment, which precedes AOL by many years, must have served as an inspiration to that company. Not to mention inspiring the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan crapfest, as that was a "bomb" as well! Ha! In the minus column we have the silly, Southern yokel-y dubbing for John Steiner's character, and some overall malaise. But John Wayne's son is in it! Anybody? Anybody? If you liked American Commandos (1985), you'll also probably like this film, as it has a similar concept and execution, but this is not a prime example of Italian action.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Three old army buddies are brought together again at the wedding of one of them. Going out for a drink afterward the men go to look up an commanding officer to talk over old times. The officer was drummed out of the military for insisting that there were still soldiers in Viet Nam. The buddies needing something to believe in head to Southeast Asia and with the hep of a radical french priest, head off to rescue the Americans still being held. Good exploitation film echos Uncommon Valor and Rambo 2 keeps moving fast enough that the silliness of it all falls by the wayside. The action is good enough that you end up wanting to know what happens. Definitely a film to watch when you want mindless action while you curl up on the couch. Between 6 and 7

Perhaps the main appeal in watching De Angelis's films (for me) is in coming in with low expectations and every now and then being surprised by how well some of the elements work. COBRA MISSION is a weird example because it features an excellent cast of B-movie stalwarts and even some cameos by Enzo G. Castellari, Luciano Pigozzi, Gordon Mitchell, and possibly Dardano Sacchetti. Francesco De Masi composed a moving, yet jarring and unmemorable orchestral score for the film but it is seldom used in favor of stock music from De Masi's previous films with De Angelis (a good call maybe, but distracting).There's lots of action and explosions but most of the time it's ruined by veteran producer Fabrizio De Angelis's budget-minded approach to filmmaking. At times the film is edited and shot in a very hands-off and lazy fashion. For some reason De Angelis likes to end his scenes with something exploding, but unlike in THUNDER WARRIOR uses his slow motion really infrequently. Some of the non-slow-mo explosions don't look very dramatic at all, and it seems like an incredible waste considering how much De Angelis must have dished out on the transportation and production costs associated with making the Philippines look like Vietnam.Maybe the most surprising aspect of the film is its fairly well-done downbeat ending. Christopher Connelly does some pretty hilarious scenery chewing, but in the end the audience really does feel sympathy for Ethan Wayne as the soldier that got left behind. The final shot of Wayne kneeling in the field while the camera pulls away from him to reveal a huge army of advancing Vietnamese soldiers surrounding him is one of the best and most memorable shots I've seen in a low-budget action movie.As is the case with DEADLY IMPACT, THUNDER WARRIOR, and THE MANHUNT, it's a mid-80's De Angelis film which I know is bad, but for some reason I just love watching it over and over.