Operation Cobra (1997)

Kyle Connors (The Dragon) is an Interpol agent who is somewhat on the edge. During a "night at the museum" bust where he and his partner are planning to take down some baddies, Connors' partner is killed thanks to the unadulterated evil of Davaad (Lurie). In a quest for vengeance, Connors travels to India because that's where he believes Davaad and his evil empire are located. While Davaad is your classic monosyllabic meathead, he somehow controls a squadron of Indian doctors and scientists who are working on a code to decrypt anything on any computer, ever. Meanwhile, Connors has his hands full not just fighting goons, but with two mysterious women: Callista Sinclair (McClure) who is supposedly some kind of British special agent, and Shalimar (Bhatnagar), an Indian beauty as stunning as the Soul Train act from whence she was named. But who can he trust? With twists and turns aplenty, it's going to take everything Connors has got to tame this Cobra...Operation Cobra is an amusing Don The Dragon romp that doesn't take itself too seriously or go on too long. It provides light thrills and is pretty enjoyable, with all the classic clichés we've come to sink into like a warm bath. While it does involve "The Disc" (something that characters in these B movies always seem to be searching for), and features many dumb moments that act as glue that holds the story together between action scenes (which luckily are plentiful), the fact that the movie is set in India provides interesting and different atmosphere. Director Fred Olen Ray's long career is spotty at best, but this proves to be the best action effort we've seen from him to date.This is a good role for Don, as it puts him in a James Bond-like adventurer role. Perhaps a lot of the aforementioned dumbness is a by-product of having Evan Lurie be the main bad guy. That's not a slam on Lurie, we definitely love his work (if we didn't, how do you explain the fact that we've seen more of his movies than perhaps anyone on the planet?) but come on. The guy's head simply oozes meat maybe more than anyone else who appeared in 90's DTV's on a regular basis. That said, his jumping ability is pretty impressive in this particular outing. Perhaps his being a solid meathead gives him better equilibrium than other humans. As if the fight between Evan and Don wasn't enough for you in Ring of Fire II (1993), here they go for a second round. So many DTV personalities fight each other numerous times, but there are combinations that never happened. How about a fight between Don The Dragon and Lorenzo Lamas? Or maybe Evan Lurie and Matthias Hues? Or we could get really crazy and dream up Harrison Muller Jr. Vs. Ron Marchini. The combinations are truly endless...Besides trying to find "The Disc" and characters being Ex-Marines, another staple that we love to see is the club scene. We both love the 70's-80's-90's discotheque and the one here is a real winner, thanks to some outstanding background dancers. Watch out for it.In the final analysis, Operation Cobra might be one of the better Don outings out there. It balances the dumb with the slightly-less-dumb in a nice way and we don't have too many complaints.

The other comments on this film sum up fairly well the dramatics of it. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is an Interpol agent whose best buddy is killed in an opening shoot-em-up scene. Still hunting terrorists, Wilson is sent to India (helmer Fred Olen Ray sits in for a cameo as Don's boss at Interpol), where he gets into a tangle that leads to a couple of revelations.There's not much to distinguish this from any other quickie, straight-to-video actioner, except that much of the stunt work seems a little anemic. Nonetheless, I highly recommend the DVD edition of this film (which is entitled "Operation Cobra") to all fans of low-budget movies. One might say, "War, Pestilence, Plague, and Famine -- the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!" but a close runner up for the fifth spot on that team might -- at first blush -- seem to be "With Director Commentary track by Fred Olen Ray." That conclusion would be a definite mistake. The director's commentary track is the most fascinating part of the DVD package. Ray pulls relatively few punches in discussing the movie. We learn that the whole film was shot in Hyderabad, India, and Fred tells us that it was the first American movie to be filmed completely in India. (Was "Maya," in the 60s, not all shot on location?) We also learn that although Hyderabad is not among the scenic high lights of India, one of the producers owned a studio there, which made for economical filming! Ray also discusses the ins and outs of low-budget film-making, pointing out where specific locations were used for multiple purposes, and noting the Indian actors who had to be dubbed for the American release. We also learn a good bit about the crew's drinking habits and the outbreak of dysentery on the set, as well as the logistics of the big action finale sequence, which was filmed under less than ideal circumstances. (I got two words for ya -- Flies! Flies!) There is likewise a short on-set featurette, which is mostly home movie footage and not nearly as informative as the commentary track. Fred Olen Ray makes straight to video/straight to cable movies for less money than Brad Pitt's personal assistant gets paid. Ray is not likely to win an Oscar any time soon (I always felt he should have at least been nominated for "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers"), and he's not remotely pretentious here. You wanna know about making movies for peanuts in a difficult overseas location? Here it is. I watched the film once for story, then ran it again with the commentary track. Cut out the middle man and go straight to the commentary. Anyway, Ray throws in enough of the plot (sometimes puzzled by it himself) that you can follow the story with no problem. You can find the DVD, if you shop around, for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5, and if you love Poverty Row movies as much as I do, you'll think it a bargain at twice the price. Forget about the plot and concentrate on America's most prolific non-porn filmmaker at work.

I caught this flick on tv, and thought "lets give it a chance!"I don't know too much about Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, suffice to say that he doesn't really seem too much of a dragon to me :-)The martial arts are non-existent; there are some high kicks, a few punches and that's all. The cinematography is pretty bad too, as all scenes are uninspiring. The fight scenes are short and badly shot.The plot is laughable. I won't spoil anything, but it's so bad it's embarrassing. The acting is bad too - most actors overact their lines.There are about three sex scenes thrown in like an afterthought. They are bad too (any surprises?) because there is no chemistry, no connection or mutual attraction between the characters. The sex just happens. There's a busty (but slightly aging) blonde and a rather attractive brunette that show us their bodies, but that's not enough to save this crap.In conclusion, avoid it. At least, don't pay for it.

The fourth of nine films bearing the title INFERNO, most of which are straight-to-video or "Z" grade flopperoos.Before watching this alleged martial-arts but in reality actionless no-brainer, you gotta ask yourself, what DOES director Fred Olen Ray have in common with compatriots Bill Carson, Sam Newfield, Roger Collins, Freddie Valentine, Nick Medina and the incomparable Ed Raymond? Give up? well you will be underwhelmed to discover that they are ALL the same person! Not a promising start! But there again these ARE the people responsible for the timeless classics DINOSAUR GIRLS, EVIL TOONS, THE BRAIN LEECHES and who can forget BAD GIRLS FOR MARS? So armed with this knowledge (and I was deprived of this vital information on my first viewing) you can sit back and watch Olen-Ray's INFERNO. Don "The Dragon" Wilson "stars" (I use the term loosely) as Connors - our chop-sockey hero who seems more adept with guns and wigs than anything else. Actors appear in different roles, none of which matter, they are so stupefyingly amateurish.Why the hell am I reviewing this trash?