Bullet Points: Rage to Kill

James Ryan could have been a contender. Ryan had all the physical tools necessary to be a big action star, but his career had a disturbing lack of momentum.

Ryan’s first attempt at being an international action superstar came way back in 1976 when he headline the South African produced Karate Killer. But it would be another five years before Ryan would star in the super fun Kill and Kill Again.

As the video explosion of the 1980’s was really starting to take off, James instead found himself in supporting roles and it was not until 1988’s Rage to Kill that James Ryan found himself back on top…

• Mama’s Boy: When we first meet our hero Blaine Striker, he is racing jet cars and doing so successfully. But in the midst of his post race celebration and photo ops, his mom shows up and is quite concerned after she received a letter from Blaine’s brother Glen. Glen is attending medical school on the Caribbean island of St. Hebron and thanks to the news coverage of a revolution taking place on the island and her own mother’s intuition,  Mama Striker is convinced Glen is in danger and wants Blaine to go help him immediately, he refuses at first but soon realizes he can’t say no to mama. Now I’m not sure why a professional jet car driver would be the first choice to go on a rescue mission, but with a name like Blaine Striker he was pretty much destined to be an action hero right after his mama named him.

• Trouble in Paradise: The revolution on St. Hebron is being led by Major General Edward Turner (Oliver Reed of Marco Polo fame). Right after the opening credits we are given a sample of how dastardly Turner could be as he and his troops attack the palatial estate of the Governor of St. Hebron. Once he has assumed control of the island, Turner orders that all the students (many of them from the United States) at medical school on the island be held hostage there. Turner’s diabolical plan is to frame the island’s counter-revolutionaries, led by local legend Wally Arn, with the destruction of the school and the death of the students hoping this will prevent the United States military from interceding on behalf of Wally Arn’s guerillas and allow Turner to continue to secretly build missiles for the Russians at an abandoned nuclear power plant. It is a solid plan, but Turner was not expecting Blaine Striker to arrive…

• Brotherly Love: Blaine Striker does make it to St. Hebron, despite the travel ban that is being enforced under Turner’s martial law. But things don’t start off well for Blaine as he is quickly captured, tortured and sent to the medical school to be with the rest of the hostages. In hindsight, Turner probably should have had Blaine Striker killed the night they found him, because Blaine along with his brother Glen, start organizing. The student body begin to steal weapons and hide them, just biding their time for the moment when they can escape.

• Turner’s Triumph to Tragedy: The Brothers Striker take what should have been Turner’s plan to blame the death of the medical students on Wally Arn’s counter-revolutionaries and use the attack as the diversion to escape the school instead… thanks in part to a double agent working for the CIA that was posing as a member of Turner’s army, Sergeant Bill Miller (Cameron Mitchell). This leads to an alliance being formed as Blaine Striker and his medical students and Miller join forces with Wally Arn’s army and St. Hebron would never be the same again!

The action packed finale gives all of our main heroes something of significance to do, with Blaine Striker and Bill Miller focusing their efforts on destroying the missiles, while Wally Arn focused on becoming the new leader of St. Hebron and eliminating the evil Major General Turner. This tied up any and all loose ends and really gave Rage to Kill a satisfying ending.

One bit of trivia before I wrap things up, Rage to Kill was not actually filmed on an island, but instead Cape Town, South Africa. This is not really surprising since most of James Ryan’s movies were filmed in South Africa, just like most of my reviews end with some Bonus Bullet Points…

• Introducing: Maxine John gets the special “Introducing” credit in Rage to Kill. John plays reporter Trishia Baker who becomes the love interest to our hero Blaine Striker and the two engaging in some sex on the beach where you get a look at Maxine John’s boobs from various angles.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see James Ryan in his tighty whities, then this is the movie for you. And if you ever wanted to see James Ryan electro-tortured while wearing tighty whites, then this is really the movie for you!
• Prime Two Day Shipping: To get around the travel ban in and out of St. Hebron, Blaine Striker ships himself to St. Hebron in a crate.
• Reunited: After Rage to Kill, James Ryan and Cameron Mitchell would work together again on the Reb Brown starring Space Mutiny. The “Space Mutiny” episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is, in my opinion, one of the best in that show’s history.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Cameron Mitchell ride a bicycle with a horn on it while listening to the World Series on the radio, then this is the movie for you. And if you ever wanted to see Cameron Mitchell ride a bicycle with a horn on it while listening to the World Series on the radio and riding by some of the medical students making two of Turner’s soldiers jog in place in their bikini briefs at gunpoint, then this is really the movie for you!
• This or That: I am going to guess that Oliver Reed preferred shooting his hot tub scene with some topless women in Rage to Kill over his lip locking scene with Brian Thompson in Hired to Kill.
• Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel: The attack on the Governor’s mansion at the start of the film features Turner and his troops flying overhead in a helicopter shooting at people enjoying an afternoon swim in the pool.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Oliver Reed shoot a guy in the knee cap, then this is the movie for you. And if you ever wanted to see Oliver Reed kill the same guy he shot in the knee cap with the tail rotor of a helicopter, then this is really the movie for you!