TACTICAL FORCE

Tactical Force (2011)
Directed by: Adamo P. Cultraro
Written by: Adamo P. Cultraro
Starring: Michael Jai White, Michael Shanks, Steve Austin

FILM

Tactical Force

STARRING

Steve Austin, Michael Jai White, Michael Shanks,

DIRECTOR

Adamo P. Cultraro

RATING

15

RUNNING TIME

85 Minutes

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgPl1d-Iahc[/youtube]

What’s It All About

A training exercise for the LAPD SWAT Team goes terribly wrong when they find themselves pitted against two rival gangs while trapped in an abandoned Hangar, armed with nothing but blanks.

The Hughes Verdict

I have seen plenty of critics put their noses up to films like Tactical Force, but while  I can see the many faults within this film and also at the dumb levels it goes to, I for one and so can’t many others ignore the fact how well these films do in the straight to DVD market.  Tactical Force itself contains two mega stars of the market and that alone is why this film will do ever so well in sales much to the disgust of those who expect something better for film fans.  Steve Austin and Michael Jai White lead the top billing for this action film that does exactly what it says on the tin, offering 85 minutes of pure action that will thrill the junkies looking for a cheap thrill.  Yes its daft but its enjoyable and that is why myself and millions of others grab these titles when released on a Monday Morning!

The biggest shock for me is seeing Austin’s name above Jai White who lets face it is the bigger star.  White has delivered some really good films of late including the quite bonkers Black Dynamite and also directed the rather brilliant and much better than its originals Never Back Down 2, but when watching this film you can see why his name is slipped to second place.  This film is all about Austin which is not bad thing considering some of the decent films the former WWE star has done over the past two years.

Austin plays Tate, the hard man of a tactical team who shoot first then ask questions.   After botching a hostage situation in a market, the team are forced to undergo retraining much to their disgust.  The team are sent to a training course which contains an ill judged scene of the film trying to be funny and its only when the team hit a warehouse with rubber bullets that the film really kicks in.  Like all the typical “wrong place at the wrong time” situation, the empty “warehouse?” as in fact got two rival gangs inside- Italians and Russians who are having a rival dispute in which this tactical team have just walked into.  Realising the police force have no real bullets, the two gangs team up to take down the unwanted guests and its here the film kicks into top gear.

I could complain about the unwitty dialogue that makes you more frown than smile, one piece of banter sums it all up when a bad guy asks a bad girl (sorry was not paying attention to the names) asks her,

“Got any Italian in you?”

No.”

“Want some?”

Which probably tells you that the script was written by a 15 year old, but again these films are not about the Oscar written script!  This is about action and yes the film does deliver in that score.  Austin again shows he is more than capable of being a DVD Superstar for the next few years, taking over the mantle of Van Damme and Segal who with respect are not the force they were, and Austin at the moment is leading the way even though he lacks the guile to move from this market to the big screen.

The only disappointment is the waste of Jai White who is sidelined through out the running time which will frustrate the fans.  White here is more of a comical sidekick and he is probably paying for his star turn in Black Dynamite because he may be seen now as a comedy action star when in truth he really is better when he is kicking some ass.  To see him stand back and watch Austin do all the work is mightily annoying and it lowers the quality because lets face it, it would have been much better to see he and Austin side by side, than watching him sit back and admire his partner’s handy skills.

Mixed martial artist Keith Jardine is the token bad guy who has the “big fight” at the end of the movie with Austin which will again thrill fans everywhere, and while this is not exactly a Face/Off or even a Ronin, its a film aimed for a certain fan base who will find nothing but pure adulation joy and to those hard faced critics I will ask the question, “what is wrong with that?”

FOR FANS  OF THESE FILMS                              Rating:

FOR THE NON FANS                                            1 out of 5

[pt-filmtitle]Tactical Force[/pt-filmtitle]