Non-Horror Exploitation: I Cinque del Condor (A.K.A. Wild Team) (1985)

Yeah I know, the title on the still on the left is completely different from the original title I used for this review. Apparently Squadra Selvaggia is an alternative Italian title for I Cinque del Condor though, so we're fine. Lets just call it Wild Team to not get confused anymore. Wild Team is just one of those dozens and dozens of B action movies the Italian released in the 80's. It turned out to be a quite decent one as well.

A South American rebel leader in exile in Miami is given one last chance to overthrow his successor, a brutal dictator, by a multi-national mining group out to exploit his countries' mineral resources. PROBLEM: The leader's only son is held hostage by the dictator, and will be executed at the first sign of attack. SOLUTION: Recruit a team of deadly fighters, all experts in guerilla warfare, to free the boy and eliminate the resistance. Thus, the Thunder Squad is born. The Thunder Sqaud is an all action, all fighting, all thrilling adventure into the country of a madman!

The story certainly isn't the most original one out there, but director Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Eaten Alive!) understands that and also understands how to still keep it interesting: By sticking to the name of the genre and show as much action as possible... The tagline of the Dutch VHS basically translates to ''They blow everyone to hell!'', and that about sums it up. The action certainly isn't next level or anything, but it's fun and entertaining stuff nonetheless.

The cast is pretty decent. We've got Antonio Sabato, Ivan Rassimov, Julia Kent and a bad-ass looking Salvatore Borghese (on action still to the right) as a veteran mercenary. The kid that needs to be rescued is annoying, which seems to be a standard in movies (wether they're low-budget or blockbusters).

Pretty standard action movie from Lenzi, but done very well. No boring dialogues but just a shitload of action scenes and a good pace. The goodguys never miss and the badguys like to through enemey fire without any form of protection. But since it makes for a high bodycount I could care less about logics. And fortunately so did Lenzi.