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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Executive Command
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #536: Executive Command
Dudikoff December: Week 3
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never met anyone’s henchman (and where would you do it, anyway? Is there some henchman hangout where you can find potential candidates?), The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number five hundred and thirty-six, Dudikoff December continues with the low budget action flick Executive Command, which hit home video in early January 1997.
Executive Command
Executive Command, also known as Strategic Command and directed by Rick Jacobson, is a sort of low budget rip-off of Die Hard, The Rock, and, most of all, Executive Decision, the big hooha action flick that starred Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal that came out in 1996. Executive Command doesn’t have the big twist that Executive Decision has, but it probably has the same amount of action. Maybe. I’d have to rewatch Executive Decision again to gauge the actual percentages.
Executive Command stars Michael Dudikoff as Dr. Rick Harding, a badass ex-Special Forces operator turned FBI scientist and expert on a super deadly biological weapon called Bromex 365. One day, while working in a sort of secret FBI lab, Harding runs into Carlos Gruber (the great Richard Norton), a big deal international terrorist that wants to steal as much of the Bromex 365 as he and his team of terrorists can take away. Harding and the lab’s security team try valiantly to keep Gruber from stealing any of the Bromex 365 samples but they are unable to do so. Of course, at the time Harding has no idea who Gruber and his gang are; they’re just a bunch of heavily armed assholes stealing one of the world’s deadliest biological weapons. After Gruber’s escape, Harding hooks up with his old FBI pal Rowan (Paul motherfucking Winfield) and tells him what Gruber stole and how deadly the Bromex 365 is. Rowan tries to calm Harding down, but Harding is super concerned about what’s happened. No one should have access to Bromex 365. No one. What the hell are those terrorist thieves going to do with the Bromex?
So Harding goes home and tries to calm down by banging his hot wife Michelle (Amanda Wyss), and the next day he meets up with Rowan again because the Bureau has a lead on where the stolen Bromex might be (the stuff might be down at the docks). So Harding and Rowan head to the docks and immediately engage in a wild shootout with various dock workers, kill several people, and obtain a sort lead on where the weapon may have been taken. Sort of.
Now, while all of that is going on, Gruber and his team of terrorists are busy infiltrating a commercial jet that’s being used by Charles Baker (the immortal Michael Cavanaugh), the Vice-President of the United States, who is on his way back to Washington D.C. after a summit meeting in Asia. Gruber actually disguises himself as a TV cameraman that works for Phil Hertzberg (Bryan Cranston), a sleazy reporter looking for his big break and who thinks an interview with the Vice-President may be it. Harding’s wife Michelle is also a reporter, she works with Hertzberg, and is on the same flight as the Vice-President and Gruber. As soon as the plane is in the air, Gruber and his team (they stowed away in crates in the cargo hold) take over the plane, kill several people (check out how the pilots are all shot at point blank range in succession. It’s brutal as fuck), and start making their demands.
So what the heck does Gruber want? Gruber wants the U.S. government to release a man named Asrat from prison and to pay up $100 million (Asrat is some sort of terrorist or international criminal of some sort. The movie doesn’t really make it clear. And Asrat doesn’t speak and is seen, very briefly, being escorted out of prison). The U.S. government has four hours to meet Gruber’s demand, or he will blow up the plane and spread Bromex 365 all over Los Angeles, essentially killing the city.
As soon as Harding finds out what Gruber wants and plans to do, he volunteers to be a part of the Special Forces commando team that the President (Jim McMullan) wants to send to deal with the terrorists. Rowan doesn’t want Harding to do it, and the Special Forces team leader, Captain Rattner (Jsu Garcia, working under the name Nick Corri), doesn’t want Harding on the team, either. Rowan is concerned that Harding may be too close to the situation (Michelle is a hostage on the plane), and Rattner doesn’t want anyone he doesn’t know working with his team. Harding manages to overrule all of them and becomes a part of the infiltration team. He’s the expert on Bromex 365 and he wants to save his wife.
So then some stuff happens, Gruber’s team kills a few hostages after they spot fighter jets outside, and some of Harding’s team manages to get on the Vice-President’s plane via an SR-71 (there’s turbulence that keeps most of Harding’s team on the SR-71). Harding, Rattner, and the team’s bomb expert (I don’t remember his name) are the ones on the plane, and they have to come up with a new plan to take out Gruber and his team. They also have to find a way to dismantle the bomb that Gruber has hooked into the plane’s systems.
The rest of the movie is Harding and Rattner trying to figure out how to attack Gruber and his team, the bomb expert trying to disarm the bomb, Gruber and his team threatening to kill more hostages, and Rowan and his boss (I don’t remember his name, either) conferring with the President on what needs to be done if it looks like Gruber might actually blow up the plane and kill Los Angeles. It plays out exactly how you think it does.
While it’s accurate to say that Executive Command is chock full of clichés, that doesn’t mean Executive Command isn’t an awesome low budget action flick because it is. We’ve seen all of this before, yes, but there’s a liveliness to the movie that makes it insanely watchable. It sure seems like everyone involved in the movie wanted to make as good of a movie as they could and you can tell that everyone is doing their absolute best. When that happens you know you’ve got a great movie on your hands.
The movie’s gun battles are sloppily staged but they’re consistent throughout. I’m just going to assume that there was no technical advisor when it comes to weapons and tactics because everyone seems to be doing whatever they want when it comes to pointing guns at people and whatnot. Check out the soldiers in the FBI lab at the beginning of the movie (what the hell are they doing?) and then the gun battle on the dock. I mean, if the movie did have a technical advisor, it almost seems like the cast forgot what they were taught and the production didn’t have enough time to teach everyone again so everyone just did whatever they wanted, or the technical advisor wasn’t a real technical advisor and taught everyone the wrong thing. I personally like the haphazard way the gun battles look here. It adds to the movie’s energy.
The hand-to-hand fights are fairly well staged, although it’s interesting how, even when action stars Dudikoff and Norton face off there’s no pause at the beginning of their fights where we see them take their individual stances. Dudikoff and Norton just start fighting. You just don’t see that kind of thing very often. I am surprised, though, that we don’t get any extended martial arts scenes, especially between Dudikoff and Norton. They fight, it’s brutal, there are some martial arts moves in the fights, but these aren’t martial arts fights. That seems like a real missed opportunity. They’ve both been ninjas onscreen.
The score by David Wurst and Eric Wurst is fantastic. It’s got the right amount of bombast to get the blood pumping when you hear it, and it helps add to the movie’s energy. I would like to know what the deal is with all of the stock footage, though. Imdb claims that a good chunk of the stock footage of the planes and whatnot is from Iron Eagle. Is that true?
The cast is excellent. Dudikoff does a great job as Dr. Harding. It’s a tad jarring at first seeing him as a scientist, but as soon as he starts talking about what the Bromax 365 can do you start to accept him as a scientist (the glasses and white coat help with this, too). Dudikoff also does a fine job with the action sequences he’s in, making you believe that at one point Harding was a Special Forces operator. I would like to know why Harding sleeps in cut off jean shorts, though. Look at the scene where he’s in bed with Amanda Wyss. How many people do you know who sleep in cut off jean shorts?
Richard Norton is perfect as terrorist mastermind Carlos Gruber. Norton gives Gruber the right amount of arrogant sleaze that makes you hate him while also being transfixed by him. He makes Gruber seem like a natural mercenary terrorist leader. He doesn’t get to do much in the way of martial arts but he does get throw a few sweet kicks and that’s always col to see. I don’t think you’ll be surprised by how he gets killed. I know I wasn’t.
Amanda Wyss is awesome as Harding’s wife Michelle. She doesn’t start out as a badass, but when she’s put in a situation where she has a gun to her head, she becomes a tough as nails reporter and resourceful as hell. I would love to know how the hell she put up with Bryan Cranston’s Phil Hertzberg. The man is such a douchebag. And why doesn’t the movie have a big scene where Wyss interacts with her boyfriend from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jsu Garcia?
Speaking of Jsu Garcia, my God his Special Forces captain, Rattner, is a fucking asshole. I get that he doesn’t want to “go to war” with people he doesn’t know, but you’d think that, considering the mission and the deadliness of the Bromax 365 Rattner would have been a little less douchey with Harding. Garcia does a good job being an asshole, though. That can be super hard to do.
Paul Winfield does his usual excellent job as Rowan the FBI agent. His voice seems especially high pitched for some reason, but when he whips out his Beretta he’s a guy you don’t want to fuck with. I’m shocked he didn’t do one of those jump and roll over the hood of the car things because, dammit, he could have done it. Why the hell didn’t anyone do a total badass cop/private eye movie with Winfield when he was alive? He would have kicked so much ass doing that.
Gina Mari is terrifying as Mira, Gruber’s second in command and girlfriend. She’s a complete psycho that likes killing hostages. The personal glee that she gets from offing the Vice-President’s chief of staff is disturbing. And her big kissing scene with Gruber is equally as disturbing.
Michael Cavanaugh plays the Vice-President as you’d expect him to, a leader that refuses to give in to terror, even when it would seem like that would be the sensible thing to do. And Larry Poindexter is pretty dang sleazy as the traitorous Secret Service agent Jack Haynes. Even when you find out why he decided to become a traitor you’ll want to see him get his ass kicked.
And then there’s Bryan Cranston as Phil Hertzberg, the reporter. Cranston is brilliant as Hertzberg, making him a total douchebag that you still kind of love. I mean, even when the shit hits the fan Hertzberg is doing incredibly douchey things, like flossing (because that’s what he does when he’s nervous, or so he says) and trying to reason with Gruber despite the fact that Gruber can’t be reasoned with. And check out the way he flees from the carnage, hides in the bathroom, and then claims that he kicked ass while dealing with the terrorists. It’s hilarious. I wonder if Cranston, now that he’s Bryan Cranston, puts this movie on his resume anymore or even admits to being in it. I’d love to see him do a role like this one again.
Executive Command is a great low budget action flick. It’s full of things we’ve all seen before, especially Executive Decision, but it’s well done and full of energy, not to mention a great cast. If you’re a fan of low budget action flicks be sure to track Executive Command down and see it. It’s well worth your time.
Very well worth it.
See Executive Command. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: If it’s less than 25 I’d be shocked.
Explosions: Several.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A cool opening theme, a group of heavily armed terrorists, a bloody eyeball used to open a door via retina scanner, biological weapons hooey, forced barfing, gas mask hooey, a shootout, some really poor shooting, an elevator brawl, pre-sex in bed, an explanation of “the real reason” for the first Iraq invasion/war, an important personal message that never gets delivered, another shootout that involves incredibly poor shooting by everyone, a massive dock explosion with a guy flying into the water, a hilarious stowaway plan, bomb setting, a super passionate kiss, selfie hooey, pilot killing, antidote hooey, head butt, gut punch, demands, multiple instances of plane stock footage, flossing, SR 71 hooey, stock footage of the SR 71 getting ready to take off, bullet to the back of the head, a should wound, hairspray to the eyes, neck snap, a punch to the face and then a vicious bullet to the back of the head, mid-air plane hook up, a sophisticated bomb, an attack on the reporting profession, attempted drink spiking, attempted spy camera, attempted negotiation, Special Forces dissension, a different kind of barfing, more neck snapping, ceiling destruction, a mid-air shootout, hot coffee to the face, a mid-air hand-to-hand brawl, plane door opening, bomb dismantling, biological weapon hooey, impromptu plane landing, a big salute and thumbs up, a big bullshit story, and a wonderful personal announcement.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: Michael Dudikoff, Michael Dudikoff as a scientist, Michael Dudikoff on the phone, Richard Norton, “And Bryan Cranston as Phil Hertzberg,” Richard Norton is left handed?, Paul fucking Winfield, Amanda Wyss, Michael Dudikoff wearing cutoff jeans in bed, Bryan Cranston, a shot of plane landing gear, Bryan Cranston calling Richard Norton Robert Goulet because of his mustache disguise, Richard Norton going into the bathroom and switching door sign from “vacant” to “occupied,” Bryan Cranston saying “It’s Emmy time,” the Vice-President of the United States doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, FBI HQ- western division, Bryan Cranston flossing, mild implied homophobia, Operation Intercept, multiple obvious plot similarities to Executive Decision, unexpected bathroom death, double handguns, Michael Dudikoff having to fly a plane when he isn’t a pilot, and a wonderful personal announcement.
Best lines: “What’s going on?” “There’s six of them!,” “Jesus Christ, why didn’t anyone tell me about this?,” “Say hello to Michelle,” “That’s some pretty serious shit,” “Shit! Feds!,” “I trust the rest of my equipment made it onboard?,” “This is Phil Hertzberg with Vice-President Charles Baker,” “Hey, Michelle, how’s my hair?,” “Hey, Bob Goulet? Don’t screw up,” “It’s Emmy time,” “Oh, Jesus Christ,” “Put the goddamn guns down!,” “Wise choice, Mr. Baker,” “Who are you? And what do you want? Who I am is none of your business. And what I want right now is to make a phone call,” “I don’t believe you. What? I always floss under pressure,” “You need a new Press Secretary,” “Uh, Rupert, can I get someone up here for a dead pilot removal, please?,” “Drop the gun, Lisa,” “Two thousand milligrams of adrenalin,” “I like your American cola,” “You are unbelievable,” “Interested? I might be,” “We gotta do something! We gotta do something!,” “Phase 2? You ain’t got a phase 2!,” “I am doing the best I can,” “Just cut a wire!,” “Tower confirms. They made it,” “Not a bad day’s work,” and “I’m pregnant. Is that okay? Of course it’s okay. Of course it’s okay.”
Rating: 10.0/10.0
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Things to Watch Out For
–Rambo: Last Blood: Last Blood is the fifth, and I would suspect final, Rambo movie, and it’s pretty good. It isn’t great but it’s decent (check out my full review here). It doesn’t really feel like a Rambo movie, though. I mean, Stallone is back playing a guy named John Rambo, he’s a Vietnam vet with serious shell shock issues, he carries around a big fucking knife, and he takes out the bad guys, but it just doesn’t seem like this John Rambo is the same John Rambo Stallone played in First Blood. Still, there’s some good action spread throughout, and it’s gory as hell, especially the final sequence. I have no idea if this home video release is the one that played theatrically in North America or if it’s the one that played in some international markets or if we’re going to get both. Worth seeing, but not really a classic. Again, it’s worth seeing.
–Acceleration: Another week, another low budget Dolph Lundgren flick on home video. Dolph isn’t the star in this one, he seems to be more part of an ensemble that includes Sean Patrick Flanery, Natalie Burn, Danny Trejo, Chuck Lidell, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. I do believe Dolph is the villain, though, so that could be interesting (he’s done that a few times). This movie had a very small theatrical run and it’s been on Video On Demand for a few months now, and the reviews that I’ve seen for it have been middling at best. Still, it’s a new Dolph Lundgren movie, and that alone makes it worth checking out. We want him, and everyone else involved, to keep making these movies, don’t we?
–Trick: This is a new slasher flick from the same team that brought the world the My Bloody Valentine remake ten years ago, director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter Todd Farmer. The movie apparently stars the great Omar Epps and the slightly less great but still pretty cool Jamie Kennedy and it involves cops having to track down a masked killer of some sort that’s terrorizing a small town somewhere. The immortal Tom Atkins is also apparently in it, too, so it has that going for it, too. Definitely want to check this out just to see if the end result matches the talent involved. I hope it does. The world doesn’t need another lame low budget slasher flick. The world has too many of them now.
–Silver Bullet Collector’s Edition: This Blu-ray comes to us from the fine folks at Shout! Factory and its Scream Factory imprint, so you know that the home video presentation will be nothing short of top notch. Silver Bullet, of course, is the “classic” 1980’s werewolf horror flick based on a story by Stephen King, and it has Corey Haim in a wheelchair, Gary Busey being Gary Busey, and Everett McGill as the bad guy werewolf. The Blu-ray is chock full of new special features alongside the ones ported over from the movie’s previous big deal home video release, so based on that fact alone this Collector’s Edition is worth picking up. When has Scream Factory ever let us down?
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Next Issue: Dudikoff December concludes with The Silencer!
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Check out my Widow’s Point set visit!
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
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Executive Command
Michael Dudikoff– Dr. Rick Harding
Richard Norton– Carlos Gruber
Amanda Wyss– Michelle Harding
Paul Winfield– Rowan
Jsu Garcia– Captain Rattner (as Nick Corri)
Gina Mari– Mira
Michael Cavanaugh– Vice-President Charles Baker
Larry Poindexter– Jack Haynes
Bryan Cranston– Phil Hertzberg
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Rick Jacobson
Screenplay by Sean McGinly and Tripp Reed
Distributed by Cabin Fever Entertainment and Command Productions
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime– 95 minutes
Buy it here
