''Commando Leopard'' (german: Kommando Leopard) is a 1985

Euro War Euro War, also known as Macaroni Combat, Macaroni War, Spaghetti Combat, or Spaghetti War, is a broad subgenre of war film that emerged in the mid-1960s. The films were named ''Euro War'' because most were produced and directed by European co-pr ...

film directed by

Antonio Margheriti Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonyms Anthony M. Dawson and Antony Daisies ("daisies" is "margherite" in Italian), was an Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different genres in th ...

and starring

Lewis Collins Lewis Collins (27 May 1946 – 27 November 2013)"Happy Birthday Richard Hastilow, 65", ''The Times'', 26 May 2010 was an English actor, best known for his career-defining role playing 'Bodie' in the late 1970s – early 1980s British television ...

, Klaus Kinski, and Manfred Lehmann.

Plot

In an unnamed

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

, a group of rebel freedom fighters fight to bring about a less oppressive society. The rebels, led by the enigmatic Enrique Carrasco (

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

) who has returned to his native land to fight, attack a

hydro-electric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

. Along with Carrasco's native fighters are Smithy ( Steiner), a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...

, and Maria, a native ex-medical student turned freedom fighter. After killing the security guards, Carrasco's men place explosives at a crucial point in the dam wall; when they detonate, the resulting tidal surge destroys a nearby bridge that is carrying a

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

convoy. On hearing the news, the President demands the head of the secret police, Colonel Silvera ( Kinski), to eliminate the rebels. Carrasco's group arrive at an impoverished village to gain medical supplies for their wounded, unfortunately the village leader informs Carrasco that there is none, but there are nearby priests that looks after the sick and wounded. Splitting his force in two, Maria leads a group including the wounded to seek out the priests while Carrasco, Smithy and the rest of the group return to the dam. After leaving the village Government forces led by Silvera's deputy ( Leutenegger) attacks the village with flame thrower armed helicopters. At the site of the destroyed dam, Carrasco finds that the Government forces have already built a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

and are recovering the sunken supply convoy. Using

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

equipment, Carrasco and Smithy plant time bombs on some of the still submerged trucks that carried explosives. But the two rebels can exit the river the bombs explode, the pressure wave knocks Smithy unconscious and he surfaces and is captured. Carrasco is more fortunate and escapes with the help of an elderly friend ( Pigozzi) and his men, who turn up in a truck in the nick of time. In a prison located in the country's capital, Smithy is being held with other political prisoners when he learns of a plot to free them.

Cast

as "Leopard" Carrasco * Klaus Kinski as Silveira * Manfred Lehmann as Don Julio *

John Steiner John Steiner (7 January 1941 – 31 July 2022) was an English actor. Tall, thin and gaunt, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed on-stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company, but was best known to audiences for his roles i ...

as Anrade *

Hans Leutenegger Hans Leutenegger (born January 16, 1940 in Bichelsee-Balterswil) is a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the early 1970s. He won the gold medal in the four-man event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Leutenegger also founded his own cons ...

as Leutnant Ortiz * Thomas Danneberg as José * Francis Derosa as Hidalgo * Alan C. Walker as Emiliano

Production

''Commando Leopard'' was made from many returning cast and film crew members of '' Code Name: Wild Geese'': Director

, producer Erwin C. Dietrich, cinematographer Peter Baumgartner,

, Klaus Kinski, Manfred Lehmann, Thomas Danneberg and

Luciano Pigozzi Luciano Pigozzi, also known professionally as Alan Collins (10 January 1927 – 14 June 2008), was an Italian character actor. A long-time staple of Italian genre cinema, Pigozzi was noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre and appeared in s ...

Reception

In a contemporary review,

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...

of ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' noted the special effects in the film, stating that the set-pieces "are quite impressively managed through the use of near-perfect miniatures" while stating that "everything else is very lazily slung together". Newman described Lewis Collins acting as "uninvolved" and that only Klaus Kinski as "at least having a presence...he refuses to give any kind of performance."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Commando Leopard 1985 films 1980s action thriller films West German films 1980s Italian-language films Films directed by Antonio Margheriti Films about Latin American military dictatorships Films shot in the Philippines Macaroni Combat films 1980s Italian films