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Stephen Boyd made 3 films with director Nieves Conde in the 1970's, starting with the Great Swindle in 1971, followed by Marta also in 1971, then Casa Manchada in 1975. This would be one of Stephen Boyd's last films before his untimely death in 1977. These are some of his best roles, in my opinion. Conde has a great way of directing him, and this is an excellent film role for Boyd. The story revolves around a wealthy landowner Alvaro (Boyd), and the three women in his life. The tragedy of the story is the haunting repetition of the execution of all male ancestors of Casa Manchada by Spanish Revolutionaries. Filmed on location in Spain, and accompanied by gorgeous soundtrack music, I found this to be a really excellent movie. Stephen Boyd is commanding as the tempted husband, the tragic victim of fate, and the heart and soul of the story (even though he is dubbed in Spanish). Very hard to find, but well worth watching!

Filmed on location at Castillo de Vinuelas outside of Madrid, Marisa Mell plays 'Marta', a woman who becomes the 'captive' of a wealthy, disturbed bachelor Don Miguel, played by Stephen Boyd, in his vast castle. We find out she is looking for her lost sister Pilar, who used to be Arturo's wife. Both actors do a great job in this film. Stephen Boyd gets to show off his acting chops as the disturbed yet charming Miquel. He is mostly placid and engaging, but the more he reveals about his life, the 'Norman Bates' side of his character starts to seep through. Marisa Mell holds her own vs Boyd as Marta, and the romance that happens with her and Miquel is the best part of the story. At the time, Marisa Mell and Stephen Boyd were real-life lovers, so the love scenes they have together on screen are genuinely electric and very sexy (with frequent Marisa Mell nudity!).

This movie is not for everyone, but I think it is a 70's classic. Directed by Romain Gary, and starring his wife Jean Seberg (just after her nervous breakdown), this is a strange, dreamlike, bizarre film. There are some great moments in this film- sort of a cross between a spaghetti western, ClockWork Orange and Performance. Jean Seberg herself is perfectly cast in this as the bored housewife Emily looking for a thrill--and off to Pakistan (well, OK it was filmed in Spain) she goes! The renegade she meets, Brad Killian (name obviously in reference to his dedicated profession of killing every drug runner he can find), is played by the wonderful Stephen Boyd. In his leather-clad outfit and wild hair, he makes for a great anti-hero as he seduces Emily, and turns the cards on her husband, played by the excellent James Mason. The music is amazing, and there are a host of classic Italian character actors in this flick as the bad guys. Oh, and Curd Jergens shows up too! It's a great 70's trip - I highly recommend this if you can track it down on IOFFER.

This is by far my favorite Brigitte Bardot movie! I love the Spanish scenery, I love her costumes, love the pulp-fiction semi-exploitation which Vadim teases us with, and I love Bardot's chemistry with Stephen Boyd (Ben Hur's 'Messala'). They make an absolutely sizzling screen pair together, and they look gorgeous. Boyd was one of her few English speaking co-stars (the first since Dirk Bogarde in 'Doctor at Sea', in fact). Boyd is like a hot-tempered bull in this. Even though he is dubbed, it doesn't detract from his performance. His muscular physique adds to the tension between himself and Bardot, who matches his intensity. Vadim's movies are always fun to watch, but I like the one in particular. It's just a sexy movie. He has a great way of directing Bardot and bringing out her best characteristics. Alida Valli is great as the seduced, then spurned woman. Can't ask for better entertainment in my opinion.

This is a great example of a 70's disaster movie! Starts off with all the story lines...Vera Miles and Ernest like each other, but never got married...Donna Mills is a school teacher out in the woods with her class...Erik Estrada is a disgruntled prisoner (falsely accused!)...Alex Cord and his wife are both doctors, but just can't see eye-to-eye about their marriage. Then the fire starts in the woods!! And all the actors come together in various threads (at the lodge, on the road, etc.) to battle the blaze and display their heroism. It's pretty entertaining, and also considering this is PRE CGI affects!! The best part for any Airwolf fans out there (the 80's helicopter action series) is to see Ernest B. (Airwolf's Dom Santini) and Alex Cord (Archangel in Airwolf) together in this!

I have to preface this review by saying that I am a big Robert England fan, from his work with Jan Michael Vincent in "BUSTER AND BILLIE" and "BIG Wednesday", to of course the Nightmare on Elmstreet films. It was great to see Robert in something where he could actually act on screen for a long time!! The trouble with many of the Nightmare movies is Freddy's role becomes less and less. I think Robert was waiting to chew up the screen (so to speak) in this movie. He really gets to show what good actor he is!! Along with displaying his incredibly amazing ability to disappear behind makeup. It's almost like this movie was made as a tribute to Englund/Freddy! The makeup he wears is very like Freddy makeup, and his body language/acting is excellent in this also. I really like the end (in the modern time - 80's) where the 'director' end up being Robert without makeup! (Just like Wes Craven would do in the later 90's Nightmare movie with Heather Langenkamp.) The costumes are also outstanding - especially England's Masque of Red Death outfit! It is a bit bloody - its close to slasher moments here may turn off a few folks. But if you are looking for a fun, Gothic, 80's, slasher/drama, this is great!

Wow- this was a "good" bad movie, if you get my meaning. It was rather entertaining from start to finish. It's obviously a very low budget, exploitation movie from the start (girls are falling out of their tops from the first roll of film!), but at least you are rooting for the vigilante! Don Stroud plays a hilariously over the top psycho out to extract blood from his female victims. He ties them up and tortures them, yadda yadda. The hero priest is a somber fellow out to stop crime!! But it takes him the whole movie to finally stop this Don Stroud vampire killer guy. Erik Estrada is classically bad (in a good way, once again), as the Monsignor. The best part of this movie is Jan Michael Vincent's small role as Father Thomas. JMV gets to irritate Erik Estrada at the breakfast table every morning by reading the paper about the latest killings. JMV has some classic one-liners that make his 5 minutes on screen well worth this whole flick! Too bad he gets killed which making confession!!!! :-)

Well, I was prepared for a total trash fest, but ended up being quite engaged in this strange, Edgar Allan Poe-inspired, somewhat soft-core porn movie. Brinke Stevens plays a woman who has a horror of being buried alive. She has nightmares constantly, and she's terrified of going to the doctor. Her husband and his secretary (the wildly gorgeous Delia Shephard) eventually plot to use her fears against her to make her truly go mad. Jan Michael Vincent, (of who I am a big fan!), makes a very brief appearance in this movie as Detective Trent. He's actually there to spy on Brinke's husband, but ends up seeing Brinke and all her craziness. He meets her briefly, just to see that she is OK. (They unfortunately don't get any love scenes!) Anyway, there are some really fun horror moments in this - one dream where Brinke appears dead, but she's alive and is taken to the morgue. There is the obligatory Delia Shephard sex scene, but overall this is a worthwhile horror flick, especially if you are a Poe fan or a Jan Michael Vincent fan!

This movie ended up being more entertaining than I initially expected it to be! Jan Michael Vincent acts and looks like his younger self in this. He plays Kepler West, who is on the move to cut off some whacked French terrorists out in the middle of the desert. There's some bomb about to go off...and a kidnapping....and a car chase! But JMV is the highlight here, still showing he has some of that unbeatable action-star quality as well as a romantic, seductive side with the female lead, Valentina Vargas. If you love JMV, you'll probably enjoy this flick! It seems to be a bit of a hard movie to find - I don't believe it's out on DVD, but there are video copies available.

This will be enjoyable only for fans of these 2 actors. I like Michael Pare from Greatest American Hero, Eddie and the Cruisers, Streets of Fire, World Gone Wild, etc. And I'm also a huge Jan Michael Vincent fan too (See Buster and Billie, Tribes, Winds of War, Airwolf, etc). So having these 2 in a movie together was very cool! Granted this came out in 1993, past the hey-day of either of them, but both do themselves justice in this flick. Pare looks to be in great physical shape still, as does Vincent. This is one of the last flicks Vincent did before he deteriorated more with alcohol problems. He puts in a very decent performance here is a former CIA toughie. It's great to see a final display of his action-star charisma before he vanished from the screen. By the end of the movie, Vincent really seems to be enjoying himself, flashing a boyish smile which makes you remember his charming quality in so many great 70's/80's movies. It's also fun to laugh at the plastic-weapon-wielding terrorists who are waaaaaaaay over the top!

Just bought this on video to see Jan Michael Vincent's part. What a fun movie this was! Urban decay as literal nightmare - huge ghetto apartment, graffiti everywhere, people out to kill you, gangs running rampant - this movie has it all! It captures 'scary' New York very well. I guess you might call it soft-core Blax-sploitation. The music is 80's, but the sheer adrenaline this movie creates still registers today. Jan Michael Vincent has one of the best cameos you will ever see in a movie! He plays 'Parker', a whacked out, bubba-Vietnam vet in a wheelchair (still handsome, but crazed!) who tries to help a remarkably decent-acting Ray Parker Jr. (Yes, the very same Ghostbusters singer in his first acting role) and his white companion. JMV gives an electrifying performance! One wishes he could have had more screen time - but it's well worth seeing his brilliant 10 minutes! Tony Todd (yes, the "Candyman" himself!) is also great as the "Vampire" gang leader in this.

If you are a fan of Jan Michael Vincent and would like to see him with very little threads on, this is the film for you! Yes, there's also a cute plot about a black football/baseball/basketball coach (John Amos) who travels to Africa on safari with his hopelessly stupid assistant (Tim Conway). While in Africa, they discover Nanu (Jan Michael Vincent)a young white African boy who possesses amazing athletic abilities. Nanu travels to the USA with the coach to excel in sports. Of course his witch-doctor adoptive father disapproves, and all sorts of goofy 70's effects ensue. JMV wouldn't be remembered for his acting in this movie, but his physique certainly got attention! He's slim and muscular, with long blond hair, and he looks perfect in the skimpy Tarzan outfits. But really, the star of this film is the TIGER! You never see this in movies today - a real, live, full-size tiger wrestling with the leading actor! With his teeth around JMV's neck, no less!! Can you imagine? One false move, and CRUNCH! Dead actor! Wow. I was amazed. JMV cuddles and rolls around with this Tiger throughout the movie. It's awesome. Move on over Russell Crowe - Jan Michael Vincent takes on real tigers, not CGI ones!!!

This was a pretty decent movie I thought, considering it was really a low-budget action flick. The setting is convincing - the lush, tropical Phillipines. The acting is very good. R. Lee Emery (you've seen him so many times as the Southern-drawling bad guy - like the newer "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ) is refreshing as Col. Haines in this. He's a good guy for a change! Nancy Everhard is very good as Sharon, a TV reporter who gets possessed by an ancient Chinese monk. She has a nice svelte figure, and her quiet, intelligent persona make her much more interesting than the usual girl/love interest in these kind of action movies. Jan Michael Vincent puts in a decent performance as well. He's neither coked up or drunk in this, which is saying a lot for one of his later movies. Jan must have just gotten out of rehab when he filmed this, because he looks great. This is the gruffer, older JMV, but he's very blonde and in great physical shape (JMV fans, take note of all too brief but really great love scene with Everhard!). It's nice to see him still starring in something like this in the late 80's, getting lots of screen time, before the string of bad sci-fi/erotic films he made in the 90's, in which he appears for only a few minutes. Overall, it's worth a look, especially if you are a JMV fan (like me!).

I was not able to get this movie out of my head days after seeing it. Buster and Billie is a powerful and poignant coming-of-age story, but also just very stark tale of how brutal and cruel people can be sometimes. This film takes place in the 50's I believe, but it's almost hard to determine the year. It's set in rural Georgia, so it has a very back-woods atmosphere about it. High-school buddies gather around to exchange girl and car stories, and the talk of the town is 'Billie' (Joan Goodfellow), a very shy, poor girl who lets this gang of upper-class boys do what they will to her. They basically come knocking at her door late at night (she lives in a run-down shack with her 2 negligent parents), take her out into the woods for gang-sex! Billie goes willingly, but with obvious sorrow. She's a lonely girl with no friends and 'this is the only way she knows how to find affection', (as Buster later tells his father). Buster (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a care-free, cocky young man who seems to have a penchant for taking odd-ball people under his wing. He drives his truck like a maniac, and annoys the heck out of the local school bus driver. His best friend is Whitey, played by a very young, awkward Robert Englund of Nightmare on Elm Street fame! Whitey apparently was a tortured 'geek' when he first arrived at school, but ever since Buster became his friend, Whitey became popular. Buster is also a 'lone ranger' among his friends – he never joined the group visits to Billie's house late at night. He remarks to Jake the bartender that two things in a man's life should be private..."Taking a s___ and getting laid." Buster is also engaged to marry Margie (Pamela Sue Martin), his high-school sweetheart. Because his girlfriend doesn't let him go 'all the way' when they park at night (she's waiting until the wedding night, of course), Buster starts to lose patience with her. At school, after a physical beat-down with the grumpy bus-driver, Buster notices Billie smiling at him. His friends steer him clear of her, saying he shouldn't be seen with her at school. Buster introduces himself to Billie at lunch-hour, and invites her on a date. She accepts, very, very shyly. She obviously has a crush on him, and the fact that he speaks to her like a human being is something totally new. So Buster takes Billie out on a date. It's still a sexual encounter, but the fact that he takes her in his own truck and treats her very gently is something she has never experienced. So as their dates continue, Buster starts to fall in love with her as well. He breaks up with Margie and takes Billie with him to church, nonetheless, in front of the whole town! It's scandal - his friends and his parents are shocked. Even the bartender Jake is offended that Buster would break up with a 'nice girl' like Margie, and start taking up with a 'bad girl' like Billie. But Buster doesn't give into all the pressure from his friends or family. He continues to see Billie, and Billie starts to show her real personality- she's a bit of a free spirit like Buster. She loves to be in the truck when Buster drives fast. They jump in the river together, naked (this is the infamous JMV full frontal scene – where he looks like an Adonis!). Fatefully, all is not meant to be so idyllic. One rainy, stormy afternoon Billie innocently encounters the car-load of Buster's so called friends. A horrifying chase and rape scene ensue, and Billie's fate is sealed. Buster finds out – he just knows something has happened –and he discovers her body in the dark, damp woods behind her house. His rage is insurmountable, and he tracks his friends down in local bar. In a frightening display of physical violence (as only JMV can display), he swiftly kills two of them, and seriously maims the others! The movie ends with Buster at Billie's grave site…sadly saying goodbye.

Wow, it's some movie! Anyway, the performance by Jan Michael Vincent is great. It wouldn't call it great acting, but his gentle manner combined with his ability to threaten physical violence form a unique blend in this movie. His sheer beauty is also just staggering to see – he was truly one of the most beautiful actors to even grace the silver screen. Joan Goodfellow is heart-wrenching in this movie—too bad she didn't appear in more films! And any fan of Robert Englund will enjoy this as well – he's such a funny geek in this!!

This movie could only originate in the 1970's!! It's a bizarre action movie set in a small California workers town. Some sort of mill or plant is closing down, so suddenly, rampant bad behavior is occurring in the streets! The townsfolk's are fed up! So Ben Arnold (Jan Michael Vincent), goes to another town to recruit his brother, Aaron, played by Kris Kristofferson. Aaron is a Vietnam Vet who looks and acts a little…off balance. He hangs out with a bunch of other surly Vietnam vet's. They come into town to clean it up (they become deputized), but underneath their good deeds, they are actually running gambling houses, asking for protection money, etc.!!! It takes a while for people to catch on, and in a biblical Cain and Abel showdown, Vincent has to take on his older brother. There's an interesting blue-collar sleaze atmosphere to this movie, which makes it interesting (note the cock-fighting scene!). Vincent is almost too angelic in this role – he thinks so highly of his brother, he cannot conceive of him committing the evil deeds he's accused of. He finally comes to his senses – his girlfriend, Victoria Principal, is brutally shot in the back & he himself is beaten up in his home. Kris Kristofferson is creepily effective as Aaron. He coolly denies any wrong-doing, and even gently coos and talks to Vincent's young daughter (she refers to him as 'Uncle Aaron') even while he's threatening her father's life, all the while smiling! Vincent and Kristofferson have good contrasting chemistry with each other. Bernadette Peters makes an interesting appearance as a 'saloon' girl who attracts Aaron's attention. This is a good 70's action movie, if you can find it!! It is NOT available on DVD yet

This was a really good, low-budget Vietnam action movie!!! I saw this right after seeing the hilarious Vietnam spoof "Tropic Thunder", and I couldn't help but laugh. This movie had some really decent special effects! I think it's one of the best action-war movie's I've even seen. It didn't go over the top, but it has a very good pace about, suspense is excellent, and when the action does come, it hits hard. The story takes place during the last frantic days of the American presence in Vietnam. Hanoi is falling, and people are trying desperately to get out. Jan-Michael Vincent plays a tough, ex-military man, Len Jordan, who's been lurking in Laos during the war. As Eb Lottimer, who plays Lt. Sam Henderson, prepares to flee down the Mekong with his troop, he's asked to go back up river and get Jordan out. Jordan is accompanied by a woman reporter Mary Jackson, played by Jillian McWhirter. She's a little annoying when she screams (or shrieks!) at gunfire, but overall she does a decent job in this all-male war-fest. The PT boat ends up escorting Jordan, Jackson, and some Amer-Asian children and a nun downriver!!! So of course many adventures ensue as they are chased and hunted by the VC and the North Vietnamese Army. This is a later role for JMV, but he looks very good (and blond!). I think he's still a little coked up, because his eyes look a little whacked every now and then. This was during his major cocaine/alcohol issues, but he (luckily) is able to overcome these problems for the most part during this movie it looks like. I think JMV was trying out for the next Rambo, as he does a lot of shooting with a machine gun in the jungle!! If you can find this movie, and you are a Vietnam Movie fan, this is a good one to add to your collection!

I would classify this as a horror/suspense movie. It deals with Native American black magic in the beautiful Canadian forests of British Columbia. Jan Michael Vincent plays Mike, or young "Hawk" (which is funny since in Airwolf he's HAWKE too!) who has to come to terms with an old Indian curse which is troubling his grandfather. Arriving in Vancouver(?), his grandfather persuades him and a journalist, Maureen, to drive him back to his Indian village. Meanwhile, Jan has been haunted by a really spooky, white-faced, grotesque mask that freaks him out at night and in the pool with his girlfriend. Apparently an ancient Indian witch is trying to destroy his grandfather, and now him! There are some really creepy moments in this movie. There's a Stephen King like 50's car with blackened windows that appears and reappears eerily. Weird things happen to Jan's 70's style SUV while driving - the breaks go out, a tire almost falls off. In the forest, a bear tries to kill JMV. Just a a lot of black magic evil abounds!! Anyway, Jan eventually comes to terms and confronts the evil in the Indian village after going through a 'ritual' of sorts. I think the scenery is the best part about this film. It has that 'X Files' look of spooky Canadian forests - just stunning mountain vistas. The movie is effective enough to keep you creep-ed out. This is a great Jan Michael Vincent role for his early career. I wouldn't call is great acting, but he does maintain his 'cool' while still showing skepticism and caution at all the strange happenings around him. Plus, he looks great! That's probably the best reason to see this movie - for JMV fans especially!

This is a classic 70's Bronson movie, with an added twist. The added twist would be Jan Michael Vincent's stunning and electrifying performance as Bronson's protégé. I rented this initially to see JMV, and you will not be disappointed. This is one of his earlier 70's movies, and he looks good enough to eat. His performance is great as the cold, icy, coolly seductive young man 'Steve' who works his way into Bronson's trust and eventually his profession. You can't help but notice a subtle (or not so subtle!) sexual attraction that weaves its way through the movie. Bronson's character 'Bishop' has a girlfriend he visits once in the first part of the movie. He's a very lonely and detached character. Once he sets eyes on Jan's handsome figure, you can see Bronson's 'Bishop' is hooked. Jan's 'Steve' is very persistent and pursues the lonely hit-man until Bronson finally gives in and reveals his profession. Sexual attraction is really the only explanation for Bronson character to let down his guard like this. He angers the organization who hired him by bringing Jan on board without asking permission. He reveals all his trade secrets. It could also be that he feels guilty for killing 'Steve's' father and tries to take him under his wing. This explanation would be OK, other than Vincent's simply too good looking to overlook the attraction angle. Anyway, after training 'Steve', this protégé eventually turns on Bronson in a chilling and unrepentant 'poisoning' scene at the end. It's hard to figure Jan's motives, other than he's a pure killer. But he disguises his cold-heartedness with overwhelming charm and good looks - everything that could doom the lonely Bronson character. You wonder why Vincent seduces Bronson's character in the first place - just to do him in? To take over his life, or his luxurious home? Maybe to get revenge on the obvious attraction he has for him? He seems to not care that Bronson has killed his father at the beginning of the movie. Many intriguing questions! There is also a classic car-chase scene down an Italian coastline near Naples which is just riveting. Bronson is quiet and actually very sympathetic in this movie. He looks like the classic action star in his black leather jacket, shooting up Italian cars and such! Jan's performance is excellent - using just a slight smile or look of the eyes to draw the audience in.

After all the bad reviews I read of this movie, I was dreading watching it. But it actually exceeded my expectations!! It's really fun! Don't listen to all the negative reviews. This was actually a very suspenseful, entertaining, low-budget SCI FI movie! Yes, there are some Alien elements in it of course, but I think the actors performances were really very good. Tara Buckman is fantastic as a "Linda Hamilton" type heroine. I really enjoyed her performance - she definitely leads the movie, and I have to say she's got wickedly cool hair too! She was a knockout in a Buck Rogers episode ('Unchained Woman') from the 70's. I was worried that Jan Michael Vincent would be alcohol-deadened, but he actually turns in an admirable performance as well! I know he's older, but some of that 80's 'action star' persona comes through really nicely, and he still has amazing charisma in front of the camera. It's also a treat to see a young Nicolas Lea (from the X Files) in this - battling aliens, no less! The alien itself is pretty interesting - nothing as scary as 'Aliens', but it's pretty cool special effects. Enjoy this movie- it's fun!!!!

I can't say enough good things about this film. It's poignant, funny, intelligent, and beautifully filmed. It really captures the feeling of the California surf culture quite well. It makes you feel like you can hear the waves outside as soon as the movie ends. Perhaps the beginning surfer party goes on a bit long, and yes there is a Tijuana scene that's a bit pointless too, but the movie gets stronger as it goes along. There is an interesting Vietnam War crossover in a recruiting 'barracks' - the surf guys come up with all sorts of outrageous ways to get out of going to Vietnam. Some of their antics work (like a Nazi regalia outfit, or JMV's injured leg), and others don't (Waxer's failed 'homosexual'). The crux of the movie really relies on William Katt and Jan Michael Vincent. They seem to be the closest buddies in the film, and the movie revolves around their changing and sometimes turbulent relationship - the common thread being their love of surfing. William Katt (Jack) is more of a straight-arrow character, whereas Vincent's (Matt) is frighteningly like his true off screen persona (a drunk who ends up sleeping on the beach - which actually happened to him!). Jack goes off to war willingly - and Matt stays behind, uncomfortable with the strangeness of the 60's culture around him. Jack returns from the war in one piece - and the first thing he does is go out to the ocean to find Matt and surf. The film ends in the 70's with the 'Big Wednesday' moment - a gigantic swell on the coast. All three buddies (can't forget about the unforgettable Gary Busey in this!) all meet at their usual beach and surf better than ever. They part ways at the end. Jan Michael Vincent is very good in this film, but in a quiet way. He's a pensive character. He has a great emotional scene at a cemetery, mourning a lost friend in the war. His brooding eyes carry the film - and you are always watching him and his reactions throughout. He also actually does a lot of his own surfing in the film, as did Busey and Katt. Katt is excellent as well - I wish he'd done more films like this one!

I wasn't sure at first if this was a 'B' movie or not, so I was pleasantly surprised how well done this was! Jan Michael Vincent portrays Jack Cox, a reporter who is close to the president of Nicaraguam, Somoza. It portrays the Sandinistas in a very refreshing perspective - not the usual liberal droll we hear. It also shows a country falling apart, and takes on the Carter Administration as well for not coming to the rescue and letting Communism take a foothold in Central America. Very suspenseful for a low-key flick - it shows 3 news reporters trying to get out of the country! Filmed in Puerto Rico or Florida, it feels and looks very authentic! Jan Michael Vincent is fresh off his excellent WINDS OF WAR performance, and it carries over into this venture. Julie Carmen plays a young, aristocratic woman who secretly works with the Sandinistas. She is Jan Michael Vincent's very very brief love interest. She also starred in a 2nd season "Airwolf" episode. Definitely worth watching this film!

This is an interesting, hard to find movie from the early 70's starring Jan Michael Vincent as a young man who doesn't make the cut as a marine. Dressed in 'baby blue' outfits to humiliate them as they are sent home, the failed recruits are sent packing. Vincent stops at a bar and runs into a very young Richard Gere who has just returned from a tour in the Pacific as a hard-core Marine 'Raider'. Gere's character is already jaded and contemplating desertion, and he takes advantage of Vincent's innocence, stealing his 'baby blue' uniform after getting him drunk and beating him in an alleyway. Vincent's character, whose name is Marion, takes Gere's outfit and is suddenly transformed into a Marine 'Raider'. Marion hitch-hikes his way into Wyoming and stops at a little Norman Rockwell-like little town. In the local café he meets Rose Hudkins, who immediately catches his eye. Staying with Hudkins parents, Marion attracts all sorts of attention from the towns folks. Mr Hudkins suspects Marion and wonders how a Marine 'Raider' could still be so innocent. The story also brings up the Japanese Internment Camps, as the towns folks go 'hunting' 3 escapees. Marion is shot accidentally during this hunt. But there's still a happy ending, which befuddled me a bit. I would have preferred a little more drama! Anyway, this captures JMV at the peak of his 70's performances. BUSTER AND BILLIE, BABY BLUE MARINE and WHITE LINE FEVER in the mid-70's were amazingly good JMV performances. He was both an action star and a heart-throb all at the same time!!! He made a lot of quality movies during his career, and continued to do so up into the mid 80's with the great TV show Airwolf. He does a very good job in this as 'Hedge', quietly observing the way people treat him (in his uniform) as he travels across the country. He must have performed some of the stunt work as well- there is a harrowing river scene at the end of the movie-and it looks like he's the guy getting tossed down the river to me! But really, at the height of his popularity, this movie could have done so much more with JMV's talent and his looks. Innocence can only be so interesting. Evil, as explored in "Buster and Billie", is much more dramatic! Anyway, Glynnis O'Connor is delightful as Rose. The whole look of the movie is like a Norman Rockwell painting. The outdoor scenes are gorgeous - must have been filmed in Canada.

I think this movie gets better on the second viewing. When I first sat down to watch this, I was expecting a drama. Then it turned into a violent action movie. Then we were back to a drama. Then we were in a labor movie. Then 70's whacka whacka-guitar action moment again. Chase scene through cardboard boxes. Then hospital drama again. Whew!!! Anyway, JMV is great as Carrol Jo Hummer! He's a born action star, and he looks the part in this. His girl friend (Kay Lenz) is adorable. I would have rather had a more basic drama, as these two actors really have great chemistry on screen. Don't get me wrong - the truck chase scenes are great too, but the bad guys in this movie kind of suck. Their wardrobe is horrible, and you don't really know why they are persecuting Carrol Jo so much. There are some pretty violent moments that take you off guard. They kill off a couple of fun characters for no reason. And the end - after the great truck crashing into the sign moment - really makes no sense at all.

Just take this for what it is - a strange 70's action movie with good eye candy in it!

Found this rare movie through an online rare movie collector (www.subcin.com). JMV plays Jimmy Graham, a 19 year old who goes in search of his father Harry K Graham (Robert Mitchum). Jimmy was a witness to his father murdering his mother when he was a child. He lingers around Harry's trailer and Harry's new girlfriend Jenny (played splendidly by Brenda Vaccaro), seemingly awaiting his father's explanation of this hideous act. There is great Oedipal tension with JMV and Brenda Vaccaro as Jimmy seems to think of her as his lost mother. He wants to protect her from lewd sailors in the arcade in which she works, and at the same time her feels anger and jealously towards her. There is a very well-acted rape scene (in a suggestive cock-fighting chicken coop)in which Jimmy attacks Jenny. Jimmy also broods when he's with his father. He seems to want to provoke his father's anger towards himself. There's a great scene at a gas station where Jimmy 'dreams' of his father attacking him. Also, the rape itself was also meant to provoke his father's anger. The ending is very interesting - no true resolution is made, and Harry Graham finally admits (rather coldly) that there was no reason he killed Jimmy's mother. It was murder born out of simple anger. The son has his answer. Then, the father drives away, leaving Jimmy on his own.

The story has a very blue-collar setting- trailer parks, bowling alleys, etc. Jan Michael Vincent is excellent in this movie. It's one of his earliest roles. He would later play Robert Mitchum's son again in the TV series WINDS OF WAR. It's a very quiet, simmering performance with a James Dean angst to it. You can tell JMV has a great intensity about him, even at this young stage of his career. Robert Mitchum is also very good as Harry Graham. He has a very non-chalant, intimidating quality to him. Brenda Vaccaro gives a truly moving performance.

This just aired on the ENCORE ACTION channel recently. This is a very entertaining NYC flick - and pretty action filled considering it is PG! Jan Michael Vincent is at his best as a reluctant action hero who finally has enough of a Puerto-Rican gang in a Italian NYC neighborhood. Jan is one of my favorite actors, and he effortlessly pulls off this character with believability and heart. And looks sexy doing it, too. His love interest is very sweet in this movie, as is the orphan kid he 'adopts' along the way. The bad gang leader is very entertaining - this guy loves hats! the gang looks like they dressed up to partake in Michael Jackson's Beat It Video! Best part of this movie is the Jan-Michael shower scene - that's all I have to say.