Movie Review: Special Ops

Special Ops a.k.a. Disarmed 

Starring:  A.J. Draven, Steven Bauer, Finola Hughes, Rez Cortez, Matthew Alan, Matt Boren, John Milton Branton, Robert Bell, Michael Bruggink, Erin Christine Buckley, Luke Edwards, Marie Lanoy, Stephanie Lemelin, Leon Miguel, Jude Moore, Chicoy Romualdez, David Stanford, Caleb Thorne, Miguel Vasquez, Tom Shell, Roger Ray Erojo 

Director: Tom Shell 

In-Motion Pictures, USA, 2010. 

This movie can be found in Fuel Injected Films 20 Movie Collection by Mill Creek Entertainment. 

Somewhere in Philippines US Marine Captain Kyle Fierson (A.J. Draven) wakes on a beach after a battle. Earlier Dr. Alan Kaitan (John Milton Branton) was developing nanotechnological nuclear power generator chip and he was interviewed by reporter Yates (Robert Bell). Business-woman Lilian Carlyle (Finola Hughes) does not like it because her businesses suffer. She sends mercenaries to take care of the problem. The plan involves kidnapping Dr. Kaitan by Abu Sayyaf terrorist leader Bin Malik (Miguel Vasquez) and then killing Kaitan during the rescue operation. Disposable team includes Captain Fierson. 

Captain Kyle Fierson

Lilian Carlyle

During the operation the team is ambushed. The instantly forgettable team-mates are killed and only Fierson stays alive. Then he faints on the beach. Back to present day, Lilian calls Caine (Steven Bauer) to clean up the mess and kill the witnesses. Kaitan's lab assistant Nita (Marie Lanoy) survived also so both Caine and Fierson try to find him. Nita has the chip the doctor was developing. Daco (Rez Cortez) gives Fierson a lift to the headquarters of mob boss Tomagan (Leon Miguel) who may know where Nita is. Duped by Uncle Sam and chased by mercenaries and terrorists, Fierson and Daco team up to save Nita and the chip. Usual action film stuff follows. 

Caine

Daco and Fierson team up

Fierson fights

The action is not all bad although the first half looks quite terrible. The story improves slightly when Daco comes along and there are also some hints of buddy action comedy. A.J. Draven has black belt in Krav Maga, so he does some decent hand-to-hand combat. The movie suffers from uneven audio quality and terrible mixing. It is hard to hear what the actors are saying! Also the cinematography is very uneven, some scenes look nice for a low budget action film but some scenes look terribly amateurish. With some polishing this could have been a lot better and maybe risen to the level of Steven Seagal's recent films. As a special note there is some bonkers Fox News parody: Wolf News ticker displays news such as "Rush Limbaugh considered for sainthood" and "George W. Bush to be executed." 

Daco's cousin

Wolf News

Rating: Bad