Bullet Points: U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen (2002)
Last Nuvember, I finally checked out a Nu Image flick I had long skipped over in favor of U.S. Seals II… 2000’s U.S. Seals.
This Nuvember, I will complete Nu Image’s in-name only Seals trilogy by watching and reviewing 2002’s U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen…
- Casper, Baker, Nightmare Maker: The movie begins with Capt. Rick Jeffries (Tyler Christopher) briefing his SEAL team for their mission ahead. They have been tasked with capturing Casper, the world’s most dangerous terrorist… an evil mastermind who is as resourceful as he is deadly! A huge red flag went up after the meeting when Steve, a member of the team and Rick’s best friend, mentions to Rick that he just got word from his pregnant wife that they will be inducing labor and he’s going to miss the birth of his first child… I immediately feared Steve was going to miss a lot more than that since I have seen my share of action movies. And sure enough… the mission does not go smoothly, Rick loses some men (in great part thanks to the nerves of the inexperienced Baker) and one of those men is Steve. To add insult to injury, the team doesn’t even get Casper… instead they find an associate of his named Andreas (Bentley Mitchum, Shark Attack) and they take Andreas back with them instead.
- You Border on the Adriatic: Still reeling from their botched mission and the loss of some of his men, Captain Jeffries is called in to meet with the Commander… who first briefs Rick on his new team members… then gives him his next mission, retrieve the Stormbringer… the last of the Cold War super weapons! There is intel that the Russians are planning on selling the Stormbringer to the Albanians and that the infamous Casper plans on crashing that deal and taking the Stormbringer for himself! This doesn’t sound like a walk in the park… but it gets worse for Rick, he finds out that Baker is still on his team (thanks to Baker’s powerful Senator daddy) AND to serve as a “tour guide” of sorts, will be none other than known terrorist associate, Andreas!?!? When they arrive in Albania, Andreas actually does prove to be useful… Baker is still a fuck up.
- Spoiler Alert: It’s not long after they arrive in Albania that it is revealed that Andreas is actually Casper… diabolical! Casper and his team, which includes the beautiful but deadly Anya, take Rick and his team captive. Seemingly there is now nothing to stop Casper for carrying out his evil scheme… unless of course the good guys can somehow manage to escape captivity and stop him. Maybe that bastard Baker can even redeem himself in some way!?!
If not for the performance of Bentley Mitchum in the dual role of Andreas/Casper… I could safely say that there was NOTHING about U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen that stood out. Mitchum was the best thing about the movie, which is faint praise, but praise none the less.
Unlike Nu Image’s Death Train where the maniacal Mitchum had a memorable and charismatic foe to oppose him (shout out to Bryan Genesse!), the heroes in U.S. Seals 3 were as bland as bland can be… with the exception of Baker, but it’s hard to cheer for the worst Seal in action movie history.
The only thing more generic than the action in U.S. Seals 3 are the various posters and DVD covers for the U.S. Seals trilogy. The ho-hum action certainly didn’t do anything to spice up a movie that needed some serious spicing up.
Let me try to spice up this review with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen is also known as Frogmen Operation Stormbringer, U.S. Seals Dead or Alive, Commando Deep Sea and Operation Stormbringer. This is Lionheart territory where aliases are concerned.
- Bastard Count: There was only one “bastard” in U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen.
- Directed By: Franklin A. Vallette was the director of U.S. Seals 3: Frogmen. Vallette served as an assistant director on numerous Nu Image movies, including Target of Opportunity, Cult of Fury, and U.S. Seals II.
