The war in Vietnam is officially over. Santos (Chick Vennera) and his trusty band of Rangers withdraw in their helicopter. En route, they fly over an enemy POW camp and in true gung-ho fashion decide it needs to be taken out, given the enemy aren't admitting the war is ended yet. They rescue McBain (Walken), who is in the process of being beaten to a pulp in a bamboo cage for the entertainment of his evil and sadistic captors (what else could they be?). All of this amidst a suitable barrage of gunfire, explosions and knife throwing. 'How can I ever repay you?' asks the grateful McBain. Santos rips a $100 note in half (clearly he has money to burn) and says if McBain ever sees the other half again, he will know the debt is being called in.

Cut to quaint folksy Colombian peasant village some eighteen years later. Santos, now a card-carrying revolutionary, is bidding a fond farewell to his sister Cristina (Maria Conchita Alonso). He and a small band of revolutionaries take off and overrun the presidential palace and then publicly ask the US to come and save Colombia from a corrupt government in cahoots with drug cartels. Haven't these guys learnt anything from Vietnam? Santos, unable to allow governmental tanks to crush helpless peasants in the square of the palace, hands his gun to evil el presidente who promptly shoots him in the head.

Meanwhile back in the US, McBain, now a welder, is having a beer in a bar and watches in shocked horror as he sees this execution broadcast in a special newsflash. A little while later, Cristina, with half the C note and the pathetic savings of the small peasant village, fronts up in New York in search of McBain. McBain assembles the remnants of the now aging and less than fit bunch of Santos' men, one of whom is now conveniently an arms dealer with heaps of money, and they all fly off to Colombia. En route, with the aid of an equally convenient US crack pilot friend of the arms dealer complete with fancy jet, they implausibly manage to defeat the entire Colombian air force. (Yeah, right).

Once on the ground much revolutionary action then follows with all the requisite explosions, gun-fire, oppressed and injured peasants, bodies flying in the air etc. McBain shoots evil el presidente, the drug lords are disposed of and the peasants led by the scantily and impractically dressed Cristina, à la French republican icon Marianne, storm the presidential palace.

The US has once again saved yet another country from its evil oppressors. True, an effete American administration plays no role in this, but aging Vietnam vets from the good old days when the US knew what was what, led by a working class hero (who, even if he was at Woodstock, now recognizes the error of his ways) are always ready to step in while governments dither, playing politics instead of taking action.

Additional comments

As soon as the opening shots, titles and music come up on the screen one knows this movie is going to be a dud. If the number of extras, explosions, helicopters, jets and location filming in the Philippines is anything to go by, clearly lots of money was spent on this film. One can only ask why. For all its left wing sympathies for the oppressed and starving peasants exploited by drug cartels and corrupt governments in Colombia, the film proposes the most right wing of imperialistic and militaristic solutions. The use of mainly medium and long shots, if perhaps intended to create an epic effect of the forces of history taking over, instead creates mere distance and one cares little for any of the sketchily drawn characters. The reviewer Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times who is quoted on the video jacket as saying: 'A macho action fantasy... a provocative revolutionary epic', clearly got this film confused with another.

Walken is woefully miscast in the title role and has very little to do. Apart from looking good and knowing his lines he really isn't doing anything at all. Another puzzling thing is why this movie is called McBain when there is hardly any focus on the character. Here are my theories as to why Walken is in this movie.

1. He needed the money.
2. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
3. He wanted to revisit Dogs of War territory, but discovered that this film was the palest of pale imitations.
4. He wanted to try a classic action hero role but then found he was (a) bored to tears (b) wasn't very good at it -he's just not the all-American macho Rambo working class welder type.
5. He wanted to visit the Philippines but found it too hot and enervating to do any acting.
6. He was friends with those involved in making the film and said he would do the role as a favour.

Trivia

Wikidpedia provides an interesting and informative entry on the appearance of a character called McBain in the well-known cartoon series The Simpsons:

For a short time in 1991, The Simpsons could not use the McBain name due to the fact that a movie of the same name (unrelated to the Simpsons character) was released starring actor Christopher Walken. During this time the movie's producers refused to give Twentieth Century Fox and Matt Groening's production company clearance to use the McBain name.

Walken's persona does make an appearance in The Simpsons however. The comedian Jay Mohr does an impersonation of Walken's voice with an animated Walken reading the children's book Goodnight Moon to a group of children at a book fair. The episode is titled 'Insane Clown Poppy' from season 12 of the series which first went to air in 2000-2001.

Soundtrack

Titles music features a bland cover of Mark Knopfler's (of Dire Straits) song 'Brother in Arms'. Music not particularly notable elsewhere.

Walken essentials

Salute to Broadway: None in evidence -unless you count pseudo-martial arts fight with Viet Cong in bamboo cage.
Hair: POW short and slicked down (jungle look), then short early 90s sticking up straight -very stylish. Walken's hair is easily the best thing about this entire film.

Thanks

I would like to thank Carolyn Hinton for editorial suggestions and information about the music.