They should've kept this one in the can.
After reading a bit of trivia about this movie, I knew this wasn't going to be good. First of all, it's a DTV sequel for a movie franchise that wasn't so hot to begin with. Second, it was made in 1999 but wasn't released in the U.S. until 2002. You know a film can't be very good if it was shoved into a can for three years. Third, one of the 'hooks' to draw people in is that it stars Chuck Norris' son and Robert Mitchum's grandson. Fourth, the alleged elite commandos in this one are members of the 'International Peacekeeping Force', an obvious facsimile of the UN Peacekeepers, an organization infamous for both its inaction and lack of authority. Given all of that, I wasn't expecting Platoon, but with some luck maybe there would be a few decent scenes of stuff getting blown up and/or the bad guys gettin' their shit ruined.
Things look slightly promising as the film opens with John Rhys-Davies watching TV in what looks like a secret hideout cave. Admittedly, that doesn't get the adrenaline flowing but I enjoy Rhys-Davies. His credit reads 'John Rhys-Davies as Ivan', so I guess for that year he was portraying Russians rather than Arabs. We see Ivan laughing to himself as he flips through the channels, which show an old cartoon, then a dancing lady, then an old Western dubbed in Arabic. I suppose he'll be a bad guy in this film, since only bad guys laugh while alone.
He switches over to the news, which is in English. A reporter states that the (fictional) kingdom of Bandar has just successfully test-detonated a nuclear weapon while we watch some thirty-year old stock-footage of a nuclear blast. The newsman then says that this has gotten Bandar's little neighbor (also fictional) Ayazad understandably worried, as those two nations, while both Islamic, don't get along terribly well.
The news reporter, much as they are prone to do in real life, goes on to impose his own personal opinion, that this nuke test is a bad thing and will only deteriorate international relations. Ivan channels Mister T as he grimly states, "I beg to differ… fool!" Now I know Ivan must be a bad guy, 'fool' being a favorite word of villains of all stripes.
Now we see four peacekeeper soldiers riding in a jeep with an Arab man acting as their tracker. They pass by some young local boy, about ten years old or so who I guess is the son of the tracker, as they greet each other then exchange some sort of knowing look. The soldiers drive down some trail through the barren rocky desert until they come across a group of at least five Arab men arguing with each other over a camel which has either collapsed or is dead.
Instead of sending the Arab tracker over to ask the men to move the camel, two of the soldiers get out and walk right up to the five Arab men. The soldiers let their rifles just hang off their backs; even at ease, armed soldiers would have at least one hand on their weapon, or at least the strap on it, wouldn't they? Plus, these peacekeepers must be patrolling this area due to the threat of some sort of violence so it would only make sense to act a bit more guarded, wouldn't it? Ah, what do I know; I'm no elite International Peacekeeper.
Unsurprisingly, this is a trap for the soldiers and their tracker as the Arab men pull out assault rifles and make quick work of things. Some time passes, then we see a little snake crawling around the shot-up jeep. One mortally wounded soldier sits inside along with the tracker, who is also badly hurt. They blab sentimentally for a few seconds, then get blown up by a rocket, as some mean-looking guy watches from a ridge. Whether he was the guy who ordered the attack or was just a guy who hates sappy dialogue I'm not yet certain.
Now we cut to the International Peacekeeper HQ, where I'm sure they're making plans to make someone pay, or maybe just send some more guys out to roam around and watch stuff. The leader of our heroes, Captain James, is introduced. Captain James is played by kickboxing champion Gary Daniels, who may also be in the running for cheesy movie champion as well, given his resume. Nonetheless, Daniels is a competent-enough actor who is easily the best of the group of soldiers who make up the rest of the cast.
The Captain gets briefed on the patrol that went missing and eventually gets introduced to the unit specially selected for him to lead on a search/rescue operation. One of his men is Sergeant Morton (Mike Norris), who has had problems in the past with Captain James; Sergeant Morton is one of those loose cannon hothead types of soldiers, you know, the perfect person to be specially selected for a strictly non-engagement type of mission. A supply officer briefs Morton about the equipment for the mission and asks if Morton needs anything else. Morton replies, "Just warm targets". Apparently, Morton slept through the mission briefing. Beyond that, I wonder if Morton understood what he was getting into when he joined the UN, er, International Peacekeepers. Morton greets the Captain with disdain the instant they meet and they argue for a couple of minutes about nothing, really. We also meet Sergeant Nichols (Bentley Mitchum), who is there to say and do things that no one else is busy saying or doing, a dull sort of everyman.
The Captain then meets Youssef, the tracker assigned to the unit. I became instantly afraid that Youssef would be the inevitable unfunny comic relief character (as most films of this genre feel the need to include one), but they thankfully kept that junk to a minimum. Youssef is played by Ze'ev Revach, a well-known character actor in Israel, and a good one, if not a good script-chooser (maybe he owes producer Yoram Globus some money).
Poor Dad was vaporized; luckily, his asbestos headwrap survived.
You will learn to hate this man.
I bet what he's watching is better than what I'm watching.
Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen. Don't laugh.
Later on, the tracker's son or whatever shows up at the burnt wreckage. The damage is so charred that not even the bodies can be identified. Laughably, the grieving boy picks up the bright, clean headwrap his father was wearing; its just a bit torn but not burned at all!
