Review: 'Strike Commando 2' on Blu-ray is a Step Above its Predecessor

The thing about Italian exploitation is that when the genre strikes gold at the box office, the filmmakers tend to come up with any reason to make a sequel. A sequel in the purest sense, too, which means bigger action, explosions, budget, and, yes, stuntman craziness. But when films like "Strike Commando 2" needed to hit theaters and the VHS market as soon as possible before people forget about its predecessor's small impact, the creative minds behind these projects tend to be even more egregious in their imitations of big blockbuster films.

Case in point is "Strike Commando 2," a bewildering knock-off that apes directly from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" among other big Hollywood blockbusters and Vietnam war films. But that isn't to say the imitation isn't without its specific, harebrained pleasures. There are big car chases, even bigger shootouts, crazed dialogue, and, in a weird masterstroke, action sequences that were filmed with actors going half speed, then the sequences were sped up in post-production. These kind of, well, Italian exploitation grace notes all add up to something a bit more worthwhile than the first "Strike Commando."

Severin Films brings "Strike Commando 2" to Blu-ray, featuring a new 2K scan from the original camera negative. The presentation across the board is excellent, although the lush Philippines shooting locations give way to cheap-looking sets that definitely don't benefit from an uptick in video quality. Severin gives this rip-off an incredible release, complete with interviews with actor Brent Huff and co-director Claudio Fragasso that are sure to please fans of Italian cinema.

Sgt. Michael Ransom, this time played by actor Brent Huff ("Gwendoline"), is up against terrorists once again when his friend, Maj. Vic Jenkins (Richard Harris), is kidnapped. Michael and tough-gal bar-owner Rosanna (Mary Stavin) must team up to get the major back safe and put a stop to the heroin smugglers who abducted him.

There's a terrific car chase sequence smack dab in the middle of "Strike Commando 2" that actually kind of shocked me at how competently done it is. Naturally, it's very much an imitation of a bigger and better film, but the talents of all the stuntmen working on the film are very much on display here. Brent Huff is a much more engaging action star than the first film's Reb Brown, and you can see that as he jumps all over the places while doling out one-liners.

The interview with Claudio Fragasso is, once again, terrific in its insight into the production of not only the film, but also Italian exploitation in general. He was the English intermediary for director Bruno Mattei and many of the cast members, which strikes me as a bit of a triumph considering the language barrier on set. The interview with Brent Huff is also fun, as the actor has the ability to poke fun at the trash he starred in, especially since those productions paid for his trips to exotic locales. If you're interested at all in the kind of exploitation that thrived on the home video market, you could do a lot worse than "Strike Commando 2."

"Strike Commando 2" is now available on Blu-ray from Severin Films.