Thunder II (1987)

Yavapai County, Arizona, is a dusty ol' hamlet inhabited by a lot of Native Americans. A Police Deputy named Rusty (Harmstorf) is an angry, corrupt racist who is working with drug-dealing biker gangs when he's not verbally abusing the local Indian population. So he really doesn't approve when Thunder (Gregory), a big, muscular, and incorruptible local Indian joins the police force. Now caught between Thunder and Sheriff Roger (Svenson), Rusty plants some drugs in Thunder's locker at the police station. Thunder then undergoes some brutal hardships at the local prison, biding his time until he can get out and take revenge on those who wronged him. Rusty and his cronies better prepare for the oncoming THUNDER STORM! In the grand tradition of "persecuted Indians on the run but with some revenge" movies such as Johnny Firecloud (1975) and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) comes Thunder Warrior 2 - or, to make things a bit more simple, just take First Blood (1982) and make Rambo an Indian. The fact that there are THREE Thunder Warrior movies is a testament to the video store era, when stores clamored for product to fill its shelves, and Italian companies (and so many others) were more than happy to oblige. Shot in the American west by a team of Italians, led by Fabrizio DeAngelis (under his normal pseudonym Larry Ludman), It has that certain Italian feel we all know and love. Maybe it's the dubbing, maybe it's hiring Mark Gregory - Trash himself - as an American Indian, or maybe some other indefinable quality, but a work like Thunder Warrior 2 could only have come from those mad Italian geniuses.They get very impressive scenery on film, maybe it's the outsider's view of America. We can't be sure it's an in-joke, but at one point a character says to Thunder, "This ain't no place for trash like you!" - could that be a reference video junkies at the time (and today) are meant to recognize? Also in the noteworthy dialogue department, Rusty is blatantly called "The most corrupt in Arizona"! Well at least he isn't trying to hide it. Raimund Harmstorf, who plays Rusty, was an actor the Italians used often when they needed a blonde, blue-eyed guy for a change. He was a shoe-in to play the evil racist. Maybe it's his name, "Rusty", but in this movie at least, he has a certain Chuck Norris-esque quality.Thunder Warrior 2 has a good amount of action scenes, and most of them, including the stunts and car chases/crashes, are in slow motion. This predating Hard Target (1993) by many years. Plus who can forget the heart-stopping "Thunder on a rope" sequence? And like how many people, when they're about to get revenge, put on a special "revenge outfit" (the best example being Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs in Quietfire), Thunder goes full-on Indian regalia before he breaks out the bow and arrow with missile-tipped arrows! Granted, they look a lot like lipstick tubes, but so what? Plus, other characters just casually call this hulking brute "Thunder", as in, "hey Thunder, what's going' on?" - his name is THUNDER, okay? THUNDER. Show the proper amount of awe.Released by TransWorld in one of their standard big-boxes (you gotta love the original retail price of $79.95 printed on the sleeve), Thunder Warrior 2 was the middle half of a Thunder sandwich (also a great name for this movie) and we think you pretty much know what to expect.

This is a low-budget ripoff of "Rambo", and although the original "Rambo" was no great shakes, it's "Citizen Kane" compared to this stinker. Mark Gregory is such a terrible actor you feel embarrassed for him, but no one else is much better. Bo Svenson is the only American in the cast--even though it was shot in New Mexico--but at least they didn't dub his voice, like they did everyone else's (and, as is usual with these dubbed Italian movies, the dubbing is atrocious), so the best thing you can say about his performance is that you can recognize his voice. The action scenes aren't handled particularly well--a fight in a desert diner at the beginning of the picture is laughable and a bank robbery and chase scene toward the middle is so poorly coordinated it makes you wonder if anyone actually directed it, or if they just told the drivers, "OK, drive around town and bump into each other." There are plot holes you could build an eight-lane highway through and characters do things that make you shake your head in disbelief. For example, when Thunder is being chased and shot at in the desert by a helicopter, does he try to get to a place--behind boulders, among rocks, etc.--where the chopper can't see him or get to him? No, of course not--he stands out in the open, grabs a rope and tries to lasso it! What did he think he was going to do, pull it out of the sky? Anyway, the whole movie is filled with stupidities like this.So, to recap, there's bad news and good news. The bad news is that "Thunder Warrior II" is a tenth-rate copy of a movie that wasn't particularly good to begin with, the script is laugh-inducing, the "acting" wouldn't pass muster in a porn film, the "action" scenes are shoddy and poorly done, the dubbing is not only terrible but annoying, and its "hero" is about as stiff, bland and colorless as they come. The good news is that, because a friend gave it to me, I didn't pay anything to see it. And that's pretty much the ONLY good thing about this picture.

this movie rocks. its got so much bad its good. you have to truly like a good bad movie to enjoy this, so take warring, but im my opinon fantastic!!!!! From the awful overdubs to awful acting to gut renching editing and a plot that makes no sense. did i mention a awful soundtrack, constantly reused footage, and the fact that you can see the stunt drivers IN THE CARS!!??!! amazing is all i can say. the surprise ending is also genius! 10+