Bullet Points: The Firing Line
Going through the Bulletproof Action archives, I realized it had been far too long since we had a Reb Brown themed post here on the site.
And best I could tell we have never had a post featuring a mustachioed Reb Brown in the near nine years the site has been operating… until now! Allow me to share with you this review of 1988’s The Firing Line…
- Top Flight Military Advisor: Reb Brown plays Captain Mark Hardin. Hardin is somewhere in Central America providing his services to a government dealing with a rebel problem. When we first see Hardin he is flying a helicopter and shooting rockets as air support for an operation that is looking to flush out the rebel leader, Daniel Rodriguez (Mike Monty, Blood Debts) so he can stand trial for his treasonous acts against the government. The operation is a success, Rodriguez. Major Milton Green commends Hardin for his assistance and tells he’s free to head back to town, he and Col. Nunez will take things from there. So Hardin heads back and moments later Nunez kills Daniel Rodriguez.
- Guy Goes Into a Bar: Hardin returns to the hotel that he has been calling home while in Central America, but before he goes up to his room he stops off at the bar to have a celebratory drink. At the bar, Hardin can’t help spot a beautiful woman sitting alone at a table by the window… he buys her drink and she motions for him to join her. The woman is Sandra Spencer (Shannon Tweed, Steele Justice). Sandra is a traveling saleswoman, there to hawk her sports equipment… I am guessing she is pretty low on the sales team totem pole to draw this assignment. Hardin and Sandra really hit it off and make plans for later that evening, but as they are leaving the bar a reporter confronts Hardin… asking him what he knows about the death of Daniel Rodriguez… Hardin is flabbergasted, the last he saw of Rodriguez he was alive and in custody… Hardin tells Sandra not to worry about any of this, then he goes to get to the bottom of it.
- The Fugitive: Hardin confronts Major Green and Col. Nunez and quickly realizes he was used by the government to help them assassinate Rodriguez, which pisses him off. How pissed off is Hardin? Well, Nunez laughs it all off, Nunez ends up dead. Hardin is taken prisoner and tortured (one of the lamest torture scenes I have ever witnessed)… Green believes he may have been a double agent all along, they even ask him about Sandra… he tells them to leave her a lone since she has nothing to do with anything. So it is no surprise when Hardin manages to escape captivity, he makes his way back to the hotel assuming Sandra might be in danger. And Hardin was right, arriving just in the nick of time as Sandra was on her knees being questioned at gun point as to the whereabouts of Hardin… a man she had just met hours before and had a drink with. Hardin ups his kill count and he and Sandra jump in a jeep and get the hell out of dodge!
- Welcome to the Jungle: Eventually the jeep runs out of gas and that means Hardin and Sandra are going to have hoof it and Sandra is not dressed for the occasion. But that is soon the least of their problems, because Major Green’s men have tracked them down in the jungle and to say Hardin/Sandra are outgunned would be an understatement… however the old proverb, the enemy of my enemy is my friend comes into play as the rebel forces now led by Laura Gomez, send Green’s guys packing… but Hardin and Sandra aren’t out of the jungle yet. Hardin tells them they should join forces and help one another… but the rebels are skeptical. Most of the doubt is erased the next day when Green’s men attack the rebel base and Hardin proves how helpful he can be, getting a radio from one of Green’s men and using it to trick Green’s ground and air forces to attack one another! To erase any remaining doubt, Hardin then helps plan a rescue mission for Julio Montiero, a member of the rebel forces that is in jail. This leads to one of the most awkward rides home in cinematic history.
- This Means War: After Montiero is busted out, Major Green realizes his worst fear has come true… Hardin is now helping the rebel forces, making them more dangerous than ever… Hardin knows that Green will be coming back for them and he takes the lead, something that does not sit right with Montiero. Hardin even does some firearms training with the rebels and Sandra, who I should point out is now in more appropriate jungle attire… I was hoping for a big action finale, but it is really kinda just there, there’s a traitor amongst the rebels and it’s not really a shocker… There is a guy on fire at one point and they blow up a bridge, but the movie could have used a little bit more of that in the third act to give it a stronger finish.
If nothing else, I can say watching The Firing Line gave me the opportunity to see a mustachioed Reb Brown in action, something I don’t think a large portion of the world’s population can say. In some ways, The Firing Line was not unlike any of the other dozens of low budget military themed action movies filmed in the Philipines in the 80s and 90s…but the lack of “holy shit” moments and Jim Gaines made The Firing Line a below average entry.
This review of The Firing Line is not lacking Bonus Bullet Points…
- And The Award For Most Misleading Cover Art: If I saw the above cover at my local video store back in the day, I would assume it was an erotic thriller of some sort and not a movie shot in the jungle. Speaking of erotic…
- Don’t Go Filming By Waterfalls: There’s a skinny dipping scene where Sandra Spencer wants to wash the jungle stink off of her and it features some of the worst audio quality. The audio is so bad that if the scene didn’t feature a skinny dipping Shannon Tweed it likely would have ended up on the cutting room floor. Sandra and Hardin return to the waterfall one night where Mike Hardin becomes Mike Hardon, if you know what I mean.
- Money Making Opportunity: At one point Hardin warns the rebels of the incoming chopper, by screaming in classic Reb Brown fashion and it got me to thinking… with all the home security options out in the market today, I feel like one that features the sound of Reb Brown screaming INTRUDER ALERT would be a big hit with action fans and quite effective.
- Directed By: The Firing Line was directed by Jun Gallardo, using his John Gale alias. This was Gallardo’s final film.
