All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

*ONE BIG SPOILER*Gee, isn't the plot like Speed-2? Hasn't this done before a lot of times? That feeling came to mind before and after watching this low budget flick.You believe a secret agent gets authorisation to transmit through a radio with his son back home, when no-one else gets an opportunity to communicate with the ship? Don't you see the consequences of this possibility, miles ahead?It's the obvious low budget characteristic that annoyed me in the beginning of the movie. People talking about who they are and what they are going to do (Something like: "as a 10 year-experienced secret agent I wil blablabla") instead of stories building up, are indications of a weak plot.An agent that saves a ship from exploding by driving a bomb away a mile or so is praised to have saved everyone. Need I say more? Okay, the broken relationships, struggles between colleagues and family also had to be included to please the female audience. For males: just dumb explosions and gunstuff. The dvdbox-cover fooled me, don't make the same mistake! (Attack on the queen, also with the title Counterstrike, makes one think again)

The movie is weak and contrived but this lady shines! Not only is Rachel Blakely gorgeous to look at as Brittany Cooper but she's quite a wonderful actress and sometimes, this critic feels, overlooked. Hope to see her again in better material and, hopefully, with someone like Will Snow, her co-star in THE LOST WORLD television show.It's also interesting to see a great many unknown and known Australian actors in the cast which may be familiar if you ever watched HERCULES, XENA. BEASTMASTER or even THE LOST WORLD and TALES OF THE SOUTH SEAS. I think spotting the talent in COUNTERSTRIKE was even more fun than the actual movie!

It seems that the main criticisms of TV action films are that they are predictable and made on lower budgets than theatrical releases. These criticisms are moot since you can always count on the good guys to win and one shouldn't expect big screen budgets on television movies. One must view the piece knowing these facts going in. This movie totally succeeded in providing enjoyable, escapist, action viewing. You could tell from the opening scenes that this would be a cut above the rest. It was the best original movie I've seen on TBS. If I had to find an area of criticism it would be to the director and teleplay for a couple of scenes that could have been deleted and a couple that needed some extra development. Now, the most enjoyable part of all was the super performance by Rob Estes as ATF agent Thomas Kellogg. Estes is a fine actor and he brought charisma and style to the role. Athletic and nimble he made the action scenes look easy. He was totally convincing. Joe Lando was fine as the older brother and there was a believable sibling dynamic between the two. The U.S. submarine crew also was very good and deserves mention. A very watchable and enjoyable film loaded with action. Hey TBS, how about some further adventures with the Kellogg brothers? Really enjoyed Estes and the film very much.

This was billed as "Counter Strike" and it more than likely will be called that as the title on the IMDB is similar to a Sinatra film of quite a few years ago called "Assalt of a Queen".Anyway this is quite a good action film, there are some nifty Kung Fu bits in it, the story line is also good not to convaluted, and the fact that 99% of the actors are little known makes it better, if you see a "star" running round you loose a bit because you know who it is...#Steven Segal did it better in "Under Seige"...but l thought it was an ok film and recommend it... Marks out of 10.....7 Zorro