The Final Alliance (1990) User Reviews (10)

A solid 5, and that is good for a movie of this caliber.

[Agent10 · 5/10 · 28 December 2020]

Now you might hate me for my 5 rating, but that is all I can conceivably give this movie. It's bad, really bad. But the big question is if it is enjoyable. I give the enjoyment factor a resounding yes!

Damn, where to begin? Pointless explosions, poorly choreographed fights, weird ADR all throughout the film and some truly hammy acting. The horse and the puma were better actors than some of their human counterparts. You heard that right...a puma. I loved this part because David Hasselhoff had conversations with "Felix" akin to the ones I have with my dogs. So kudos to reeling me in with that detail.

The story is typical straight to video fare of the era. Ex-marine/mercenary comes home to clean up a town overrun by a generic redneck biker gang led by a sheriff who cackles way too maniacally and his second in command albino. You heard that right. John Saxon plays an albino with some questionable style choices. I mean the white boots he wears are ridiculous!! Plus he rides in a side car rather than a motorcycle. A SIDECAR!!

This thing plays out rather predictably, and there are so many action movie tropes that show up that I will leave it to you to find this movie. I mean it has boobie traps AND an armored vehicle. Watch this movie if you can. I think the real debate will be whether this movie or Stone Cold is the true violent B-movie supreme of the early 90s.

Good Story, But...

[momster0005 · 4/10 · 7 January 2021]

Terrible acting from all the supporting actors Including Hasselhoff. The 2 bad guys and also the real stars were ok. B movie.

not bad at all

[maly-buh · 5/10 · 6 November 2005]

I love movies about motorcycle gangs like Mad Max, Stonecold or Beyond the Law / Fixing the Shadow. There is something really evil and scary about motorcycle gangs and it's for sure, that hero always has to walk trough the hell when he fights them. Final Alliance is not as good as Mad Max a Co., but it isn't so bad. It starts with 5 motorcycles and pretty cheap fight scenes, but soon it gets better. There is a lot of explosions, one pretty cool action scene (bikers attack Hasselhoff's farm, but he planted many mines around), funny dialogues and acting. If you expect Schindler's List, you will be disappointed, if you expect funny B actioner, you won't. I missed only some rape scene, but you know, gentleman Mitch Buchanan is on board, so I wasn't surprised, there isn't any.

A genuine C-movie. 'C' as in 'Crap'

[Renaldo Matlin · 1/10 · 31 January 1999]

Hasselhoff is the hero battling a MC-gang in a small Texas community. He dresses in a ninja suit in the finale showdown (because that is like, so cooool...) and Jeanie Moore gives one of the worst performances in recent memory. Ridiculous piece of trash made in the same mentality as a bunch of war-loving kids with a video camera.

What the hell did I just watch?!

[garcinder-22139 · 2/10 · 28 January 2024]

Nothing we haven't seen before.

Rather kind of been done before, numerous times. Original plots are harder to find in Hollywood (well, basically anywhere these days).

Writers and producers? Limited imaginations, likely limited budgets, etc., etc.

This movie is good for putting the brain in neutral, watching it, and letting the time pass on by.

The costuming is also rather ridiculous. The fight scenes aren't very well staged or very believable.

And I'm also supposed to believe all this stuff is considered "art"?

If you enjoy it, that's all well and good.

And the character of "Ghost"?

Laughable,.. Good grief!

Maybe some will, and some do. I'm passing on labeling or defining that aspect of things.

Felix the Cat

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 7 January 2020]

What we have here is entertainment of the cliched, bad acting variety, enhanced by the apparent sincerity of all those involved. The stranger's revenge story is so familiar, you could use a check list to make certain all the cliches are covered. Then there is the wild card of Felix the Cat, Hasselhoff's pet cougar, which snarls alot at the bad guys. Speaking of the bad guys, John Saxon should have won an Oscar for his Richard Lynch imitation as the albino leader of the "Vipers" motorcycle gang. Now throw in Bo Hopkins as a corrupt Sheriff, and you have the perfect cast for "B" movie predictability. Bar fight, check, female intimidation, check, hero destroys motorcycles, check, explosions, check, originality zero, check. Despite all the above problems, "The Final Alliance" is marvelously entertaining because of it's sincere ineptness, and the second half rivals even Frank Stallone "masterpieces" of "good bad", for shear "off the rails" insanity. - MERK

So good for all the wrong reasons...

[vidstrclrk · 10/10 · 8 April 2006]

There are movies you love because of how good you think they are, and there are movies SOME people love because of how bad they are. I have to put my two cents in here for this film being so bad it's good. Trust me, it's HORRIBLE. But on certain levels, like on an Ed Wood level, it's great. The plot is half baked and the acting plummets below the level of EVERYONE in Star Wars Phantom Menace. If you happen to be one of those people who doesn't understand why Hasselhoff gets raked over most of his work, then it is very likely you will love this movie. Not to be missed is John Saxon's performance as an albino gang leader. If the producers of this film didn't have their tongues in their cheeks while this film was produced then I say they are masters of schlock. Otherwise, "Final Alliance" rates among the top adolescent wish-fulfillment wet dream films of all time. Hasselhoff and his pet puma- that says it all.

"an adventure that mixes justice with revenge for explosive results"

[leathermusic · 7/10 · 30 June 2007]

The back of the box did not lie- "an adventure that mixes justice with revenge for explosive results" -BOOM! I just watched this hidden gem of a movie. Hasselhoff stars as Will Colton, an ex-marine who returns to his hometown in Texas. A gang of weapons dealing biker creeps killed Hasselhoff's family years back and he is back for revenge. He gets help from a local lady who has also been terrorized by these thugs. The gang includes the police chief, played by Bo Hopkins, which gives the movie some redneck credibility to the rural Texas setting. Actually, I would guess that this film is Italian or South African. The dubbing involved is of the 80's Italian style. Also it stars John Saxon, who is in a lot of the Italian action movies of this time. Also, it has an Italian director. One thing is for sure, it was not made in Texas. But anyways, this movie has some very good action sequences, a good cast, and an unintentionally hilarious script. Hasselhoff has some great conversations with his pet cougar that are awesomely cheesy. And John Saxon as the leader of the pack seems kind of embarrassed to be wearing such a lame looking wig, but he puts together a menacing portrayal of creepiness.

There is a some good motorcycle violence, a cougar, a short love scene featuring Jeannie Moore, a load of European synthesizers futile mimicking honkytonk boogie music, and an Albino Motorcycle . If you happen upon this thing, give it a try. This is a lost classic.

"I've been shot before. I lived. But you won't".

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 10 April 2020]

In big, bold white text; David Hasselhoff in... Not without my puma, and call him Felix. Comedic hilarity ensured. Almost in the same league as Chuck Norris and his scene stealing armadillo. Felix definitely deserved that second billing. Also starring John Saxon, like you have never seen him before, a menacingly uptight albino head honcho biker(!?). Those black shades he wears didn't make it look any less conspicuous. If he didn't open his mouth, you wouldn't know.. Glad he does though, as he gets some choice dialogues. And rounding it off is the all talking Bo Hopkins mugging every scene with his bombastic yelling, and bellowing laughter. When the latter two came together (henchman & boss), it always felt like there was some sort in-joke that they only knew about, because it was just so much fun whenever they shared the screen.

"THE FINAL ALLIANCE" (and how does this title tie in to what I'm seeing?) is a cheapjack, straight-to-video action vehicle for a stoic Hasselhoff to show off his styled stubble, leather jacket, close fitting jeans, wicked cowboy hat and to obviously let loose. Well, it doesn't entirely stretch the imagination, as the theme of the plot (an unknown stranger makes himself at home in a small corrupt country town to clean up , but there's also another ulterior motive driving him), has been milked over and over again, but it's absurdly trashy and harebrained (like Hasselhoff and Moore getting their priorities mixed up, as they reinforce their love for each other at the very wrong time) to make this trite entertaining enough that you simply chew up everything about it.

While violent at times (head trauma), for most part its light-weight (due to the humor making light of many situations and the biker cronies even with their nunchucks and chains came off more so bumbling, than threatening), yet there are some boisterous action set-pieces (road chases, booby trapped homestead, assault on an airport hanger) and harmful stunt-work (fire and shotgun don't mix). Mario DiLeo's homespun direction never lets hit a bump either, by keeping it simple-minded and moving at a fast clip. But slow-motion was sorely under-used, only one sequence, still it's a powerful moment due to the circumstance surrounding it. Surely it would bring a tear to your eye.

Silly fun!

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 21 April 2014]

Will Colton (The Hoff) is a man who swears by his awesome hat, beard stubble, mullet, tight jeans, cowboy boots and jacket. He also has a pet puma named Felix. He returns to his old hometown of Goldcrest, and begins fixing up his old homestead. However, that does not sit well with the local biker gang, called The Vipers. Through their forceful intimidation tactics and a frightened populace (of only 3000 people), The Vipers run Goldcrest. It's also because the leader of the gang, an albino named Ghost (Saxon) has a corrupt relationship with the Sheriff, Whistler (Hopkins). So it's up to Will Colton to clean up this town, with the help of new love Carrie (Moore). As if that wasn't enough, an event in Colton's past drives him to get revenge on The Vipers. Will he succeed? Hasselhoff should have been in more movies like this. It plays to all of his strengths. He even runs in slow motion at one point. The Final Alliance is a lot of fun, though it's nothing, plotwise, you haven't seen before. The "stranger comes to town and cleans up said town" has been around since time immemorial and if you've seen Walking Tall: The Payback, Nowhere To Run, Street Corner Justice, Radical Jack, Fire Down Below, among many other possible examples, you'll know what we're talking about. It's all very David Heavener-esque (let's not forget to add Outlaw Force to the list), but somehow, someway, The Hoff makes it work.

Casting John Saxon, a man of Italian descent, as an albino was certainly an interesting choice. The role seemed tailor-made for Richard Lynch, but perhaps he wasn't available. Saxon's ghoulish appearance adds something to the overall feeling. Bo Hopkins also puts in an inspired performance (read: insane) and he yells most of his lines. It's truly a pleasure to watch Saxon, Hopkins and Hasselhoff in this outing. It doesn't get much better than The Hoff as a former mercenary with a proficiency in booby traps.

There are the time-honored stand-bys such as the abandoned warehouse fight and barfight, and the fact that this movie is from 1990 and shot in a foreign country is evident pretty much all the time. Prime examples include plenty of stonewashed denim, Hoff's first nemesis is a dude in a Manowar half-shirt, the town has a combination general store/video store (complete with posters for The Untouchables, among others), graffiti on the walls says "Dead People Are Cool" (???) and the word "Tobacco" is spelled incorrectly on another sign in the small town, which feels very much like a Western set. And of course, the sax on the soundtrack.

Director DiLeo has fashioned an entertaining, if incredibly undemanding romp that's not to be taken too seriously. While we're not exactly sure what "the final alliance" refers to in the saga of Will Colton, you'll be pretty much guaranteed a night of silly fun if you can find this VHS.