The credible, pyrotechnical director of the grossly undervalued 'Killing Man' (1984) is once again reunited with dynamic, muscular action man, Jorge Rivero, the most visually stimulating member of covert black ops outfit 'Counterforce', alongside notable Cult movie icons, Isaac 'Truck Turner' Hayes, Louis 'Swamp Thing' Jourdan, George 'Everything' Kennedy, Andrew 'Brood' Stevens, Hugo' City of The walking Dead' Stiglitz and the estimable character actor, Robert 'Vigilante' Forster as the dastardly dictator sowing the seeds of discontent in North Africa now that his honourable, freedom campaigning rival Kassar (Louis Jourdan) is reluctantly in exile.
As pressures continue to escalate in North Africa, the people oppressed by ceaselessly death dealing dictator and a failed assassination attempt increasing the volatile tensions, as the heavily armed, montage-trained Counterforce are tasked with their inevitably incendiary mission to protect freedom fighter Kassar and his family from the savagely scheming despot, Forster, who proves himself to be one especially tenacious S. O. B, abusing his power for means nefarious to assassinate Kassar, thereby putting Counterforce's considerably awesome talents to the test! Loma's boisterous, ceaselessly locomotive 80s B-actioner entertainingly delivers an uncommonly zesty barrage of noisome gun play, audacious vehicular carnage, and a righteous overload of entertainingly explosive, Boy's Own, macho mayhem!
In lesser hands 'Counterforce' could well have been an altogether flaccid, low grade 'Delta Force' knock off, but, happily, the capable, no nonsense director is only too aware what the beery demographic for such unrepentantly formulaic fare expects to see! Plentiful explosions, frantically squib-heavy gun battles, high tension escapes, a communally sweaty homoerotic flexing montage, excessively 'bro-dacious' B-Movie banter, and cartoon evil, freedom-baiting terrorist skells getting it royally in the ear, and, rewardingly, ace director, José Antonio de la Loma generously provides uproariously escapist retrograde entertainment with his galloppingly Gung ho, hardwired-to-thrill, Alpha Bros save the world shoot 'em up, 'Counterforce'.
The B-Movie icing on this scrumptiously calamitous celluloid confection, the 'Bicing' if I might be so precious, is the extraordinarily vivid, heart-thumpingly magnificent score by master composer, Joel Goldsmith, the film being additionally blessed by one of the more memorable performances by Euro-cult boss, Hugo Stiglitz since his memorable turn in 'Cemetery of Terror'; with his glacial hit man 'The Blond' even sporting a gnarly-looking Iron Maiden Powerslave T-shirt. Right on!
