bkoganbing British action star Lewis Collins stars in this action/adventure film about another group of mercenaries sent in to eliminate a drug lord in Southeast Asia. The problem is that they are working for a rival just as they were in Code Name: Wild Geese which starred Collins and Lee Van Cleef.Van Cleef is at his sardonic best in this film as the one who puts together the mercenary team. There's also a CIA involvement in this. Spymaster Donald Pleasence puts a ringer into Collins's mercenaries with instructions to get a floppy disc to him or destroy it. It contains the names of all kinds big players in the international drug trade.Nothing special here, fans of Van Cleef and Pleasence get to see both of them ham it up a bit. And if you saw Code Name: Wild Geese or the orginal Wild Geese the same general plot outline is followed.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Der Commander" or "The Commander" is a West German / Italian co-production from 1988 (almost 30 years old) and this one runs for 105 minutes. According to IMDb, it is a German-language film in the original, but I am not too sure about this. Yes the title is German, but the actors who play the main characters are not, so they have been dubbed for sure. Also it is part of as trilogy and the previous film (despite having German titles) are no German-language films either according to IMDb. Anyway, the cast is pretty good here. The title character is played by Lewis Collins and I cannot say I know who that is, but other than him Donald Pleasence from James Bond and Lee Van Cleef (star of epic western films) have lots of screen time too. For the latter, it was one of the final performances of his life and career and he has aged considerably compared to other films you may have seen him in. The director is Antonio Margheriti and the trio who wrote this are also 2 Italians and one German. The latter is Arne Elsholtz, who died recently, and looking at other films from him, this was certainly a very different genre compared to what he usually did. It is a military film that takes place in Asia, so you basically know what to expect. For male audiences, they included one hot female solider, an Asian actually. The story is pretty generic for a military film and sadly, I was not really impressed by the acting or the plot here. Then again, I may be a bit biased as military films are rarely my preferred choice. That's why I give this one a thumbs down. Only worth checking out for the biggest fans of the genre.

MARIO GAUCI Around Christmas I had watched COMMANDO LEOPARD (1985), a passable low-brow German-Italian war flick; that film was the middle part of a trilogy and, back then, I had expressed a wish to check out the remaining two entries – CODENAME: WILDGEESE (1984) and THE COMMANDER (1988). I now happened upon the latter, but the result was even less rewarding! Lewis Collins is once again the hero and, as ever, producer Erwin C. Dietrich manages to assemble a fair line-up of actors in support: Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Manfred Lehmann and John Steiner (both from COMMANDO LEOPARD), Paul Muller (as Van Cleef’s smart butler!) and Brett Halsey.The convoluted plot involves an Asian dictator, a consignment of drugs and an all-important incriminating “floppy disk” (but which looks more like a CD!). The band of gung-ho mercenaries this time around also includes a native girl but, with much of the action being relegated to the second half, it’s mostly by-the-numbers stuff – until the explosive climax (which only Collins and Lehmann survive…though one member had expired early on from the bite of a cobra!). However, there’s a nice twist at the end regarding the characters of Van Cleef (fitted with a silly pirate-like earring throughout!) and Pleasence (alternating between hysteria and sarcasm and, finally, campily turning up as a tourist-photographer) – as they prove exact opposites to what they’d been played up to be!

gridoon OK, this is confusing. In 1984, the Italian director Anthony Dawson (AKA Antonio Margheriti) made "Codename:Wildgeese", an action film about a commando squad that goes to Southeast Asia to attack a drug lord's stronghold. It starred Lewis Collins, Lee Van Cleef, Klaus Kinski and Ernest Borgnine. In 1988, he made "The Commander", an action film about a commando squad that goes to Southeast Asia to attack a drug lord's stronghold. It starred Collins and Van Cleef again, but no Kinski and Borgnine this time; in their place, there was Donald Pleasence. To further confuse matters, the version of "The Commander" I saw was actually titled "Commando:Wildgeese"! It took me about 10 minutes to realize that I wasn't watching the 1984 film! Anyway, all you need to remember is that "The Commander" / "Commando:Wildgeese" is a low-grade action film, to be avoided at all costs. A low point in the careers of Van Cleef and Pleasence; all the others involved never had much of a career to begin with. The only character who piqued my interest was a beautiful female fighter, but she didn't get to do much. (*)