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Hired to Kill
USA 1990
produced by Nico Mastorakis, Isabelle Mastorakis (executive) for Omega Entertainment
directed by Nico Mastorakis, Peter Rader
starring Brian Thompson, Oliver Reed, George Kennedy, José Ferrer, Michelle Moffett, Barbara Niven (as Barbara Lee Alexander), Jordana Capra, Kendall Conrad, Kim Lonsdale, Jude Mussetter, Penelope Reed, David Sawyer, Antzela Gerekou, Fanny Xidis, Alea Bair, Cynthia S. Lee, Peter Rader, John Holt, Mark Pickens, Mark A. Cuttin
written by Nico Mastorakis, Fred Perry, Kirk Ellis, music by Jerry Grant
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Mercenary Frank Ryan (Brian Thompson) is hired by businessman Thomas
(George Kennedy) to fly to the island Cypra, make friends with local
dictator Bartos (Oliver Reed) - a puppet ruler installed by the CIA that
has fallen from grace with the US-gouvernment -, then free the rightful
ruler Rallis (José Ferrer) from incarceration so he can lead the rebel
forces. Now so far nothing that Ryan hasn't done before, but what he
doesn't like, he has to enter the country as a gay fashion designer, and
his only back-up are his "models", mostly criminals and/or spies
fallen from grace, but to Ryan's horror, all of them are females (Barbara
Lee Alexander, Jordana Capra, Kendall Conrad, Kim Lonsdale, Jude
Mussetter, Penelope Reed), not fit for what he figures a man's job. The
other thing that Ryan's less than fond of, his contact on Cypra is none
other than Bartos' own spoilt girlfriend Ana (Michelle Moffett), whom he
has taken an instand dislike to ... though of course they'll land in bed
together later on. That said, the girls all prove amazingly efficient,
getting rid of their gouvernment minders during a shoot in some cage,
making it to a rebel stronghold, and then to the fort where Rallis is kept
- where Ryan has to eventually find out he has been betrayed by Thomas,
and even one of the girls is an enemy spy ... but he and his
"models" are not quick to give up and have plenty of firepower
at their disposal. Even though the release date of this movie's
1990, it's 100% a child of the 1980s, when true men were still allowed to
be machos, with all the misogyny the word might suggest, when women were
still "hot" first and foremost, and if they had any other
qualities, that was at best a surplus and had best to be kept under check
by a macho man. Now that's not to say that Hired to Kill is a bad
movie - though I would be hard-pressed to say it's great ... it's just
highly enjoyable in its far-fetched yet simplistic narrative, cool action
setpieces, really nice mediterranean locations and even sexy bits. It's a
somewhat nostalgic film to grab a beer to and turn your brain on low
energy - and then you'll be greatly entertained!
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