# Strike Commando

Strike Commando is a 1987 Vietnam war action film directed by Bruno Mattei and starring Reb Brown, Christopher Connelly and Alex Vitale.
A sequel, Strike Commando II (Trappola diabolica), was released in 1988 and stars Brent Huff as Sgt. Michael Ransom.

## Plot

Sgt. Michael Ransom and his team of "Strike Commandos" sneak into a Vietnamese base, planning to lay explosives. Colonel Radek and Ransom's major watch from a nearby vantage point. During the operation, a sentry catches and kills a commando, raising the alarm. Radek, who is in charge of the mission, demands that the explosives be set off as the commandos are still retreating. The ensuing explosion kills a soldier, and Ransom is blown into a river.
Ransom is found unconscious by a village boy who nurses him back to health. The boy's village used to be a church, until the Viet Cong kept attacking. Ransom soon learns that there is a Soviet presence in Vietnam. He agrees to take the village people to safety in an unknown location. As they come across a decomposed dead soldier with a radio, Ransom calls his home base and tells Radek that he is alive and where he could be picked up. However, he also says that the Strike team demands justice and that he will strike vengeance. Ransom's major sends a helicopter to retrieve Ransom.
The next day, the group runs into resistance while trying to cross a river; a patrol boat and a group of VCs attack them. Aided by Le Due, a retired French soldier who lived in the village, Ransom destroys the boat and the VCs.
The group continues their retreat out of the jungle. A Soviet soldier eventually catches and kills Le Due. Ransom finds the corpse and a Soviet patch symbol, torn from the soldiers' uniform. While the Soviets look for the village people, Ransom kills them off one by one. Ransom soon discovers, however, that there are too many and he must retreat. Ransom commands the helicopter to retreat to base, but his major manages to talk him into getting picked up. Ransom later volunteers to go back and take pictures of the base so that there will be proof of Soviet presence in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, Ransom discovers that the village people have been slaughtered and finds the name of the Soviet soldier, Jakoda. Ransom mugs a VC, who mentions where to find Jakoda. Ransom, enraged, fires at the village with a stolen machine gun. Jakoda finds Ransom and talks him into surrendering by holding a civilian hostage. Ransom's superiors discover that there are Soviets in there. The Soviets start torturing Ransom. After spending months in a cell with a corpse, Ransom pretends to break and agrees to make a demoralizing radio broadcast. He eventually gets the best of the Soviets and kills them. Ransom takes Jakoda's girlfriend Olga hostage and kills some soldiers using her as bait. During the fight, Ransom radios Radek to bring another chopper. When Ransom and Olga reach the pick-up point, she attempts to kill him. The helicopter flies by, kills Olga and almost kills Ransom. Ransom kills one of the gunmen and the helicopter retreats.
After blowing up an army boat, Ransom comes back to the shore, where Jakoda challenges him to a fight. Ransom wins and propels Jakoda into a waterfall.
Ransom then returns to base and, enraged, fires at Radek's office. However, Radek is not there.
After going AWOL, Radek becomes an importer/exporter in Manila. At the building where Radek works, Ransom lays a 2-minute grenade on the ash tray on the front desk. The front desk lady alerts everyone in the building. Meanwhile, Ransom roams the halls and mows down all the men inside. He then kills Radek with a grenade.
Outside, Ransom finds Jakoda, who has got a pair of metal teeth from their last fight. In the ensuing battle, Ransom puts a grenade in Jakoda's mouth. Jakoda explodes, leaving only his metal teeth behind.

## Cast

* Reb Brown as Michael Ransom
* Christopher Connelly as Colonel Radek
* Alex Vitale as Jakoda, The Main Antagonist of The Film
* Mike Monty as Major Harriman
* Luciano Pigozzi Le Due
* Louise Kamsteeg as Olga
* James Gaines as Radek's Soldier
* Edison Navarro as Lao
* Karen Lopez as Cho-Li

## Release

Strike Commando was distributed in October 1987 in the United States with a 102 minute running time. The film received a token theatrical release in Kansas City ahead of its home video release in the United States.
In 2021, the film was released on Blu-ray in the United States, along with its sequel, Strike Commando 2. It was distributed by Severin Films.

## Reception

The film was reviewed by a critic credited as "Lor." in Variety who reviewed the International Video Entertainment video cassette. "Lor." described the film as a "run-of-the-mill Italian war picture imitating Rambo." "Lor." went on to discuss "dumb dialog" and that the film was "at least a reel or two overlong, film has an idiotic, padded coda set about 15 years later in Manila." The review went on to note that "Some okay minor action scenes do not disguise the face the film lacks the large-scale set pieces that have become de rigueur for Vietnam war pics."