So much average

Purely Joyful Movie!

From my favorite movies..

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This movie was actually photographed in New Zealand and certainly contains some spectacular action footage (which cost the lives of no less than three of the crew), but alas this aspect is somewhat mitigated by some of the worst acting ever seen and heard in a mainstream motion picture. Admittedly, George Peppard hams it up rather amusingly, but the rest of the players were obviously not aware of this Joker in the deck. My thought is that the director left them all to their own devices. In fact, overall they behave as a group of rank amateurs. Some of them even indulge in all sorts of irritating eye-rolling and mouth-gurgling mannerisms. True, the script with its juvenile plotting, its amateurish dialogue and its pasteboard characterizations is no help. To add to her woes, Lesley Ann Warren is very unattractively photographed and costumed. On the other hand, Vincent Monton's photography of the New Zealand backgrounds is both outstanding and utterly breathtaking.

Scruffy rough'n'tumble helicopter pilot Barney (a likable turn by Ken Wahl), his boozy and crotchety hunter buddy Gibbie (delightfully played with deliciously hammy gusto by Donald Pleasence), and Gibbie's feisty daughter Sally (a fine Lesley Ann Warren) venture into the scenic New Zealand wilderness in search of the Yankee Zephyr, a downed American World War II Navy cargo plane containing valuable medals and $50 million dollars worth of gold bullion. Meanwhile, snooty, yet ruthless businessman Theo Brown (nicely essayed to the suavely slimy hilt by George Peppard) and his pernicious flunkies also try to get their wicked hands on the booty. Director David Hemmings, working from a witty, eventful and blithely silly script by Everett De Roche, relates the lively story at a constant snappy pace, maintains an engagingly breezy and lighthearted tone throughout, and stages the exciting action set pieces with a substantial amount of skill and flair (a thrilling boat chase rates as the definite heart-racing highlight). Moreover, the enthusiastic cast have a field day with their colorful roles: Wahl, Warren and Pleasence make for appealing protagonists, Peppard has a ball as the fey villain, and Bruno Lawrence does well as Brown's equally no-count partner Baker. Brian May's spirited score hits the stirring spot. Vincent Monton's sumptuous widescreen cinematography offers plenty of lovely shots of the exquisitely lush and verdant New Zealand countryside. The movie's overall amiable sensibility and infectiously giddy sense of good-natured goofy humor add considerably to the film's cheerfully inane charm. A neat little flick.

This is a nice campy little film that the whole family might enjoy IF you can find a copy anywhere. However there are many unrealistic "shoot em up" scenes, which may leave the young to think that gunplay has no consequences. I won't describe the plot as given elsewhere.There are two great helicopter chase scenes in the film (reminiscent of "the Gauntlet") that really show off some of the backcountry beauty of New Zealand that frankly, you would not be able to see without a helicopter.There are also many later scenes of "expert maneuvers" in helicopter, such as "quickstop-pedalturn-reverse heading", a "hammerhead pushover" or two, "sidewall dismount", and "confined spaces settling". The pilotage is excellent.The film also shows some of the wild ruggedness of New Zealand's South Island, where(at the time the film was made at least in 1981) the only paved roads are in larger towns and cities, and the country thoroughfares are primarily just "metal" (gravel roads) though always well maintained. And yes, the peaks really are that jagged. No special effects.Donald Pleasance, as a happy go lucky over the hill sot, plays his character to perfection. He makes numerous muttering quips similar to the humorous mutterings you hear in the vintage "a.a.p." Popeye cartoons. Unfortunately, many of these mutterings in RFYZ are unintelligible without multiple rewinds and equalizing to hear what is said. A bit frustrating, as there are probably a few lost jokes in there.George Peppard's accent is a very forced upper class snotty, which conforms to his portrayed character adequately.Ken Wahl and Lesley Ann Warren's characters play well off of each other to establish a typical independent rugged male vs. coddled entitled wenging female dynamic that would be "toxic" if not for nuances of a smoldering mutual sexual interest. There is one very brief fully clothed and appearing to have been intentionally directed "doggie style" movement between Wahl and Warren masked in a "struggling to escape" context that adds a subliminal mild eroticism to the play, but will go right over the heads of the kiddies. (Though may well spark Mom and Dad's fantasies once the kiddies have gone to sleep . . . .) There are no overt sexual references in the film that the kiddies would understand, however there is a brief "wet slip" scene which does faintly reveal the nature of LAW's upper "endowments".Shooting violence is significant, including use of assault weapons, but amazingly through the expenditures of hundreds of rounds of ammo, nobody ever gets hurt(hooray for Hollywood), nor is their accompanying gore.Conversational and expletive profanity (all but the F word and genital synonyms) are typical for middle class language, and would likely only be offensive to "devout" types, though may be inappropriate to guarded "inculcation" of pre-teens. Overall a fun "adventure" type film that all can enjoy as long as the young'uns are thoroughly coached or cognizant that in real life all the gunplay would really end up with lot's of dead people. And a must see for anyone interested in the wilds of New Zealand that could otherwise not be seen, or any student of rotor-wing aviation. Though all shots are exterior, so accurate control inputs are not shown. Choppers used are Hughes 269, Hughes 500C and Bell 206.

I thought that the boat chase was exceptional, all of the scenery and locations were terrific. i believe that their should have been a sequel to this movie, or a lead in. This movie is a great tribute to the adventure writers of our time. The story is a bit slow at first but picks up in the typical movie manner. I believe that it could have been brightened by a deeper subject matter. i enjoyed all of the movie from start to finish and would like to see more of these brought to the screen for everyone's enjoyment. I truly was pleased with the action that takes place in this movie and would like to know more about the vehicles that were used, such as: i would like to know what type of boats were being used.