Invasion Force (1990) User Reviews

Serviceable Saturday Afternoon Actioner With A Twist

[Steve_Nyland · 5/10 · 21 October 2006]

Huh ... this film has an interesting premise, and while it never really gels to create any kind of a lasting impression beyond the sight of Richard Lynch being blown into a billion pieces by a movie prop explosion it's still kind of cool: The cast and crew of a low-budget action film find themselves pitted against an actual commando force hell bent on taking control of a small town. After a moronic, laugh inducing opening section with a blond haired beefy chested Rambo clone single handedly wiping out an entire enemy army -- which it turns out is part of the movie the crew is filming -- the movie settles down into a behind the scenes intrigue drama with the cast/crew of the film going about their trade, trying to have sex with the leading lady, drinking beer, arguing about details of their film, and generally wasting time after the film's lead actor walks off the set.

Next thing you know, crazy Richard Lynch and a somewhat bizarrely costumed regiment of North Vietnamese looking commandos parachutes into the public part outside Mobile, Alabama used for the film location, and find the movie crew and their film prop guns, tanks and plastic explosives standing between them & the town they are plotting to overrun. Not sure what to make of it, the commandos engage the film crew in a series of predictable and rather unimaginatively staged guerrilla warfare battles with the pyrotechnics crew rigging ingenious explosions with their packets of Semtex, the cast shooting back with their rifle blanks, and the lead actress turned female Rambo turning out to be quite the cool little head under fire.

I switched on the spoiler disgronifier to try and not ruin the interesting conclusion of the film where Richard Lynch is blown up in a manner mimicking the opening "film within a film" segment's conclusion, because as it turns out the whole "movie within a movie" premise is -- SURPRISE!! -- a movie within a movie itself: The final revelation is the camera panning back to reveal a 2nd film crew and cast "wrapping" after completing the final scene within their own film. Huh! So what we have here really is perhaps the most pretentious stupid lame-brained action film of the late 80s/early 90s, with atrocious acting (aside from Mr. Lynch, who's professionalism somewhat redeems the movie's indulgences), wooden direction, unconvincing special effects, boring stock music, and idiotic plotting ... all of which are actually kind of the point. It's an ambitious attempt at manipulation posing as just another dumb action movie, which is an examination of dumb action movies themselves. Is it well made? Not really, but then again most of these things are just as pointless & uninspiring, and by having the film within a film within a film premise the director and script writer seem to be giving themselves a pass for making a movie that wasn't supposed to be very good in the first place.

And if you can stick with it you'll be rewarded to some of the most amusing closing credits ever tacked onto a film: Donuts by Krispy Kreme, Pizza by Giulio's Pizzas, Construction Equipment by Home Depot, and individual credits for the suppliers of the commando weapons & SWAT team accouterments used in the film within the film. Gotta give propz where it is due, and I will admit that those pizzas consumed on screen looked pretty darn convincing.

5/10

It's blue-collar, homespun filmmaking all the way and therein lies the charm.

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 15 May 2018]

A film crew - an AIP film crew, no less - is shooting their latest action movie in the woods around Mobile, Alabama. Sure, there are some of the typical squabbles that go on, but jokes are being told and pranks are being played in the crew's off hours, so all seems to be going as normal. That is until a paramilitary organization led by Michael Cooper (Lynch) parachutes into the area with his goons. This INVASION FORCE plans to take over a city (presumably Mobile) as part of their dastardly plans. They take the director, Ben Adams (Cox) hostage and begin shooting people with machine guns. The film crew only has their prop guns, explosions, and tanks to fend them off, so they're going to have to use their wits to foil the plans of the baddies. Thankfully, Joni Marshall (Cline), the lead actress, and Douglas Harter (presumably playing himself), the weapons expert, have some tricks up their sleeves. In this battle of film crew versus the bad guys, who will come out victorious? And will there be a final twist to this AIP movie-within-an-AIP movie?

A lone, shirtless meathead stalks the forest. He begins shooting two machine guns at the same time and blowing up various huts. It's a promising start. Soon enough, the director calls cut and lead star Troy (Fralick) whines that the aforementioned Joni stepped on his foot. What AIP mastermind and writer/director David A. Prior seems to be implying is that these action stars might not be so tough after all. Prior goes on to postulate what might happen if one of his small film crews, who normally are so expert in rigging up explosions and providing actors with ammunition, came up against the real thing in real life. How would they handle it? Interestingly, this same ground was covered in Contra Conspiracy (1990) that same year. It would be an interesting double feature of low-budget meta mayhem.

While certainly not a behind-the-scenes documentary of AIP, Invasion Force might be as close as you'll get. The movie takes the time to show everyone in the crew, from the chef on down, interacting with each other. AIP mainstays like Doug Harter and Sean Holton (as Joey) are engaging and very likable. The director, Ben, bears a strong resemblance to - and should have been played by - Brian Benben. Coincidence? There's a crew member who looks exactly like Andy Richter who has to help fight the baddies as well. Lower-tier fan favorite and Frank Zagarino competitor David "Shark" Fralick has some fantastic outfits and is well cast as the musclebound hero. While most of the men in the movie have mullets, we think the bandanna he wears is to cover up his thinning hair in the front of his head. But it's just a theory. Of course, Richard Lynch is the "Lynch-pin" that holds it all together. (Heh heh). But it's true.

Could Invasion Force be one ego trip for Prior and his band of AIP stalwarts? The idea that they could fight against a paramilitary group with real guns and ammo in real firefights? Maybe, maybe not, but it's a good idea for an 83-minute direct-to-video action movie. Even still, Prior and the gang managed to fashion something modest, yet entertaining, on a rock-bottom budget, which is impressive. Imagine Red Dawn (1984) meets Invasion USA (1985) meets Mankillers (1987). And they even thank the Piggly Wiggly, among other chain stores like Krispy Kreme and Home Depot, in the closing credits. It's blue-collar, homespun filmmaking all the way and therein lies the charm.

A movie that will make you wish you'd never watched it

[kolchak25 · 27 January 2002]

This is one of those movies that when the closing scene rolls around, you will say "What?! You've got to be kidding!!" It is that lame. The acting is pretty bad across the board, except for Richard Lynch, who always does a good job and was the main reason I decided to watch this movie.

A film crew is on location shooting a movie when a military group parachutes into the area. In order to convince us that they have actually parachuted, we see some men fall onto the ground from a standing position, then get up and start gathering their parachutes - hooooboy.

The lead actress is in the woods at night with her boyfriend when he is killed by the invading force of soldiers. She manages to escape from the soldiers, and even to knock one of them out and steal his gun. The soldiers are wearing what appears to be world war I helmets, which makes it odd that hitting them on the head with a stick could render them unconscious. However, once she knocks out the soldier, she climbs a tree and roosts there until the next day.

There are huge jumps in logic, and ridiculous plot holes. None of the characters are particularly likeable, and the actor playing the director has a Bronson "Cousin Balki" Pinchot haircut, which makes it hard to take him seriously, besides the fact that he's not much of an actor.

Fans of Mystery Science Theatre may enjoy seeing the guy who played the dead blonde teenager from Soultaker, playing the muscle bound lead actor in the "film" within this movie.

Fun Stuff

[Zantara Xenophobe · 6/10 · 5 May 2003]

This review contains some SPOILERS.

I didn't expect a whole lot going into this movie. An AIP movie usually doesn't rank very high with me. And David A. Prior isn't usually a good director. However, upon watching this, I was quite pleased. Prior, by adding some fun elements, has made a very pleasing action movie that, while it won't impress anyone used to big budget features, might be worth watching for fans of B movies. The plot would have been just like any old action movie except that it focuses on group of people making---what else?---a low budget action movie. The first scene shows a sequence for this movie, only Prior cleverly doesn't let us in on this fact for a couple of minutes when an actress suddenly ruins the whole scene by complaining to the director. The director, despite being under pressure to finish his war movie by a jerk producer, calls it a day, and we get introduced to all the characters that help make a B movie. It's funny, and I couldn't help but think this neat idea reflected much of what really goes on in the production of a B movie. I'm sure Prior wrote a lot of himself in the character of the director, and the rest of the characters most likely reflect real people Prior has worked with, too. I would love to know just who the producer reflects!

As fun as a movie based solely on these people might be, an element of action is introduced. The crew happens to be shooting their picture not far from the campgrounds of a team of foreign soldiers who have been snuck into the country by a greedy, high-ranking American military officer (Richard Lynch) in preparation for an internal attack. When the film crew discover this, they know they must act before the soldiers carry out their plans to wipe all of them out or else risk exposure. But all the film crew has to work with are their own cheap special effects. The way they go about tricking the soldiers is, like the concept, pretty clever. Sure, it's not very believable, but the tone of the movie is set up early on as being only half-serious, so a little bit of leeway can be allowed as long as Prior doesn't go too far with silliness, and I don't think that he ever does here.

Unlike most of Prior's AIP productions, `Invasion Force' actually has a star in its cast in Richard Lynch (once again playing his trademark corrupt army officer) and I think the film benefits greatly from it. But what really makes me enjoy this film is one crucial element: the characters of our heroes. All of them are funny and likeable in my opinion, from the director, to the special effects guys, to the actress, to the cook (Douglas Harter, quite amusing). No, it's not great particularly because of the limited budget for the gun fighting, but I'd watch it again before I saw most of the stuff Hollywood churns out today. My favorite thing about this movie, though, is the really neat way Prior ends the film, with a shot of Prior sitting behind the camera and calling it a wrap. Then the shot widens to expose everyone that worked on the film, leaving their posts to celebrate and shake hands. It is also funny to see Prior signal the guy shooting this scene to stop rolling; the cameraman doesn't upon command, and Prior had to repeat his `cut' signal before the fade out into the credits occurs. It's a great way to end the movie, something that will probably never be replicated. Bravo, to all involved. Zantara's score: 6 out of 10.

"You Point At It, I'll Blow It Up!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 19 May 2021]

Director David A. Prior's INVASION FORCE takes us into the secret world of moviemaking, which is apparently done in one, long take. No edits or reshoots required!

A film crew is making a big action movie, and are behind schedule. Unbeknownst to them, a nearby paramilitary group is preparing for an operation. Obviously, these two groups must meet, so, that night the soldiers parachute in, and the untold terror begins. These are no ordinary soldiers! They're out to kill the entire production crew!

Luckily, as is common knowledge, actors and their production staff are superior guerilla fighters. No hardened army in the world stands a chance against Hollywood professionals! Led by Joni Marshall (Renee Cline), our heroes must use their wits to stay alive.

While this whole mess is absurd beyond all comprehension, it's still fun to watch. Why? Mostly because Ms. Cline's character is smart. And far more resourceful than the dumba$$es that these movies usually contain.

Worth checking out if you're not in the mood for anything even remotely serious or mentally taxing.

Co-stars the wonderful Richard Lynch in another of his dastardly roles...