''Laser Mission'' is a West German

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by Beau J. Davis. The film stars

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

and

Werner Pochath Werner Pochath (29 September 1939 – 18 April 1993) was an Austrian film actor. He worked in Germany, Italy and the United States, and then in the 1980s he began a second career as a Hollywood agent. He had been the partner of the ballet directo ...

. The film was released under the title ''Soldier of Fortune''. This was Werner Pochath's final film appearance before his death on April 18, 1993.

Plot

The plot concerns a

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 o ...

named Michael Gold (Lee) who is sent to convince Dr. Braun (Borgnine), a

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

specialist, to defect to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

before the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

acquire him and use both his talent and a stolen diamond to create a nuclear weapon. Dr. Braun is captured by the KGB and Gold is sent on a mission to rescue both him and the diamond. He has to enlist the help of Dr. Braun's daughter Alissa (Debi A. Monahan), whom he eventually falls for. The pair confront Col. Kalishnakov (Graham Clarke), whom they kill by hitting him with a truck in the climax of this story.

Cast

as Michael Gold *Debi A. Monahan as Alissa *

as Prof. Braun *Graham Clark as Col. Kalishnakov *Trevor Williamson as The Foot

Release

In the

the film was released on home video in 1990 by

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

. The film was released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

directly on video in 1994.

Box Office

In the US the film was a financial success. After Brandon Lee's untimely death in an accident on the set of ''The Crow'', movies such as ''Laser Mission'' saw a surge in video sales.

Reception and legacy

From contemporary reviews, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the film as a "lively, well-made actioner with humor" that had both Brandon Lee and Debi Monahan left to "struggle with a mediocre script." Jon Casimir of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' did not like the film finding the acting poor, with the plot and action scenes unconvincing. Pat Gillespie of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' found the direction clumsy but said that Lee's and action films fans would find the film entertaining. From retrospective reviews, Jim Vorel and Kenneth Lowe of ''Paste Magazine'' did not like it and found the continuity disorienting. Dan Colón of ''Talk Film Society'' said the film is great for those with the appetite action orientated

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

spoofed the film on October 3, 2011.RiffTrax
/ref>

References

Sources

External links

* * * {{Amg movie, 28257
Excerpts of RiffTrax's treatment on official YouTube channel

Official video trailer
1989 films 1989 action films German action films West German films Cold War spy films English-language German films Films about mercenaries Films shot in Germany Films shot in Namibia Films shot in South Africa 1980s English-language films 1980s German films