The scripts of 80s action movies with beefcake mercenaries going on jungle missions aren't exactly rocket science. Also, I never really considered myself to be very dumb person. And yet, "The Violent Breed" was too intelligent for me. At least, I can only come to that conclusion since I didn't understand anything about the relations and intrigues between the three lead characters. First, in Vietnam, they are buddies and save each other's lives. Then, two of them go hunt down the third in Thailand. But then at the end they are buddies again.
Ah well, it doesn't matter all that much. Italian-made "Rambo" rip-offs are already enjoyable and successful if they contain extreme violent massacres and numerous explosions. There's plenty of that, rest assured! Harrison Muller, Woody Strode, and their henchmen, shoot holes in each other's bodies the size of watermelons and two complete mid-jungle villages blow up in the air. Charismatic Henry Silva is sadly underused, but Harrison Muller is a more than adequate Rambo clone with a good taste in woman.
Writer director Fernando Di Leo made some of the very best euro-crime thrillers of the 70s, including "Milano Caliber .9" and "Shoot First, Die Later", and that's probably what I'll remember him for the most. "The Violent Breed" is okay, but could and should have been a lot better.
