Bullet Points: War Bus
In this edition of Bullet Points, I will turn to the suggestion box once again and another movie suggested by Bulletproof Action staffer, Matt Spector… 1985’s War Bus.
- Too Close for Comfort: As the movie begins, the inhabitants of a missionary located in the jungles of Vietnam are forced to flee when the ongoing conflict gets a bit too close for comfort. Everyone loads up into the mission’s school bus and they get the hell out of the crossfire. On the bus are the unhappily married couple of Anne and Ronny (who run the mission), the injured Major Kutran (one of the United States’ South Vietnamese allies), a brothel owner from Saigon and her daughter (who I am guessing was at least 18 years old) and a random Aussie dude that has eyes for Anne.
- Not So Fast: It isn’t long into their journey “south” that the bus is stopped by three United States Marines, Sgt. Dixie (Daniel Stephen, 2020 Texas Gladiators), Ben (Urs Althaus, Warrior of the Lost World) and Gus (Romano Kristoff, Black Fire)… much to Anne’s dismay, Sgt. Dixie informs her that they will be commandeering the bus as they need to get to the United States base located in Da Nang. It ends up being a good thing for the bus load, because their “loyal” bus driver was driving them in the wrong direction… when the driver realizes the jig is up, he takes off running and Ben goes after him and the traitor gets what’s coming to him!
- Roadblocks: A treacherous driver is only the first of many obstacles the team is going to have to overcome… our trio of Marines wanted to take a path that was filled with landmines, fortunately Major Kutran is able to give them an alternate route… but then they run out of gas and according to Ronny they only have one can of gas on board, which is not enough to get them to Da Nang… Sgt. Dixie, Gus and Ben then go on foot to check out a nearby supply base. As soon as they are gone, Ronny suddenly remembers there were two more cans of gas stashed underneath the bus. Major Kutran is pissed… thanks to Ronny, three soldiers may be walking to their death for no reason. Ronny tries to convince the Major that they should all leave without them… fortunately for the Marines, that doesn’t happen. Quite the opposite actually…
- Night Time is the Right Time: When Sgt. Dixie, Gus and Ben arrive at the supply camp, they see that it has been taken over by the North Vietnamese, so they are going to have to wait until nightfall to make their move… a night time attack sounds like a recipe for action to me. Despite being outnumbered the Marines kick ass as one might expect… and they even get some help when the Aussie shows up driving the bus, to pick them and the fuel up!! As they drive away, the base blows up in glorious fashion… the next day when they find out what Ronny did, Gus hangs him upside down in a cage and is prepared to leave him there, but the Major steps in and says Ronny will have to pay for what he did, but not that way.
- But Wait There’s More: Now with enough fuel to get them to Da Nang, the team still has to cross a guarded bridge, deal with corpses of American soldiers that have been packed with explosives, and there are still enemy troops all over the place AND they are driving around in a big yellow school bus, so it’s almost impossible to not be noticed. Some how, some way… the team make it to the now abandoned base in Da Nang, but they are able to radio for some choppers to pick them up the next day… a celebration ensues but what the team doesn’t realize is the enemy was listening in on their call and War Bus does not end exactly like I would have expected it to.
I have seen my fair share of low budget Vietnam action flicks over the years and most of them end up being pretty forgettable, as one runs into another in my mind. War Bus is not one I will soon forget, the gimmick with the bus certainly helps, but the cast of characters also deserves some praise… they are a classic rag tag bunch that we really get to know as the movie progresses. And the unexpected events of the film’s finale, also help set this one apart for me.
Matt Spector deserves a gold star for this suggestion and if you would like to make a movie suggestion, I am always looking for content for the site so feel free to leave your suggestions in the comment section below, but first check out these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Directed By: War Bus was directed by Ted Kaplan, which was the nom de plume for Ferdinando Baldi. Among Baldi’s other directorial efforts, is the Cannon film, Treasure of the Four Crowns.
- The Name Game: Not to be confused with 1989’s War Bus Commando.
- Jungle Love: Perhaps it was being at death’s door and everyone being emotionally charged or perhaps it was the heat of the jungle, but there was a lot of romance happening on the war bus… I already mentioned the Aussie dude who had the hots for Anne, Gus was also really into the brothel owner and the two of them would steal away every chance they got and Ben had eyes for the brothel owner’s daughter (and again, I’m really hoping she was 18).
- Another Lonely Bastard: I heard one “bastard” in War Bus. Speaking of lonely bastards, I guess Ronny could be considered a lonely bastard, since his wife was making time with the man from the land down under, amirite?
