City Commando (1985)

City Commando: Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.. With Jim Antonio, Sid Conrad, Gerrit Graham, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Upon his return from Vietnam, an ex-soldier finds his neighborhood has deteriorated badly, and is being terrorized by a vicious street gang. He calls some of his GI buddies, and together they hatch a plan to get rid of the gang.

“A quartet of men who were buddies during their time in u0026#39;Nam reunite in the 80s to avenge a fallen comrade, and clean up the streets of Atlanta. Currently, gangs are running amok, and itu0026#39;s up to our team of heroes to eradicate this criminal scum. The main baddie is a swaggering yet aged punk named Roy Boy Jagger (Paul Koslo, u0026quot;The Omega Manu0026quot;), while our title Annihilators are played by the likes of Christopher Stone (u0026quot;The Howlingu0026quot;), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (u0026#39;Welcome Back, Kotteru0026#39;), Gerrit Graham (u0026quot;Used Carsu0026quot;), and Andy Wood (u0026quot;Rambo: First Blood Part IIu0026quot;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis oddball cast (also including Dennis Redfield (u0026quot;Dead u0026amp; Buriedu0026quot;) and Jim Antonio (u0026quot;Outbreaku0026quot;)) ensures this slight but amusing urban action flick some sort of cult status. It fits quite comfortably into that u0026quot;vigilantes vs. gangsu0026quot; genre that was popular in the 80s. (u0026quot;Death Wish 3u0026quot; and William Lustigsu0026#39; u0026quot;Vigilanteu0026quot; being other notable examples.) It is pretty cheesy, amateurish, and laughable at times, but it still manages to push some buttons, complete with some effectively brutal violence and shots of ladiesu0026#39; breasts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe actors are fun to watch, with the ever-amusing Graham in fine form as a guy who kisses the accounting profession goodbye in order to kick some gang membersu0026#39; posteriors. Stone is the cool-headed leader of the group, while Wood is established as a weak link given that heu0026#39;s descended into alcoholism. But this viewer would suggest that you watch this one basically for the late, great character actor Koslo, who sports an awesome hairdo, and threatens citizens while stalking the streets with flamethrower in hand. Roy Boy Jagger is simply a priceless character name.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYouu0026#39;ve likely seen all this before, but thereu0026#39;s still fun to be had here provided that you donu0026#39;t take u0026quot;The Annihilatorsu0026quot; seriously at all.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSix out of 10.”