''Commando Leopard'' () is a 1985 Euro War 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 Italians, Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different film ...

and starring Lewis Collins,

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a ...

, and Manfred Lehmann.

Plot

In an unnamed

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n dictatorship, a group of rebel freedom fighters fight to bring about a less oppressive society. The rebels, led by the enigmatic Enrique Carrasco ( Collins) who has returned to his native land to fight, attack a hydro-electric dam. 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

mercenary, 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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

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, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

and are recovering the sunken supply convoy. Using

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

equipment, Carrasco and Smithy plant time bombs on some of the still submerged trucks that carried explosives. But before 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

* Lewis Collins as "Leopard" Carrasco *

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 ...

as Anrade * Hans Leutenegger 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, Lewis Collins,

, 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 such ...

Reception

In a contemporary review,

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...

of ''

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

'' 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