Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Double Target (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Double Target (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review

    Click image for larger version  Name:	cover.jpg Views:	2 Size:	50.5 KB ID:	405239

    Released by: Severin Films
    Released on: December 13th, 2022.
    Director: Bruno Mattei
    Cast: Miles O’Keeffe, Donald Pleasence, Massimo Vanni, Luciano Pigozzi, Ottaviano Dell’Acqua
    Year: 1987
    Purchase From Amazon

    Double Target – Movie Review:

    One of quite a few low budget wars movies that Bruno Mattei (under his infamous Vincent Dawn alias) made in The Philippines in the wake of the success of films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon and the Rambo movies, 1987’s Double Target stars Miles O’Keeffe as a man named Bob Ross. Bob is, no, not a way too mellow painter, but in fact a former commando who is brought back into action at the behest of the American government, specifically Senator Blaster (Donald Pleasence), after a series of terrorist attacks obliterate a few of their embassies in Asia. They suspect the Vietnamese are behind this.

    Bob isn’t really so keen on the idea of going back into action but when the government offers to help him locate his missing son Jan (Edison Navarro), the one that his now dead wife gave birth to years ago and who he’s never really known, he doesn’t really have much of a choice but to comply. As he starts shooting his way across Asia trying to figure out who is behind the killings and why, signs start to point to a Russian maniac named Colonel Galckin (Bo Svenson) as the culprit. Will Bob Ross, with some help from McDougall (Luciano Pigozzi, credited as Alan Collions) and Toro (Zombie's Ottaviano Dell'Acqua, credited as Richard Raymond), be able to fight his way to Galckin and put a stop to his evil plans before his son and others that he cares about, like McDougall’s beautiful daughter Mary (Kristine Erlandson), get caught in the crossfire?

    Loaded with the type of nonsense and stock footage inserts you want from a Mattei film, and featuring a pretty awesome, if not entirely original, shark attack scene, Double Target is loaded with goofy dialogue, cheap squibs and exploding miniatures. In short, it gives you exactly what you want from one of Mattei’s action films from the period. If you like rocket launchers and helicopters and explosions and supporting actors that look weirdly like Chuck Norris (we're looking at you, Massimo Vanni!) alongside recycled The Last Shark footage and weirdly familiar sounding soundtrack cues, this is the movie for you.

    As dumb as a bag of hammers but more fun than a barrel of monkeys, Double Target makes good use of a quirky cast. While it’s fair to complain that one time Tarzan leading man Miles O’Keefe, probably better known around these here parts for Ator The Fighting Eagle, is no Reb Brown (who Mattei had used earlier on Strike Commando), he does what he needs to do: grimace, flex, show off his muscles, punch things, shoot things, blow things up. As such, he’s pretty decent in the lead. Donald Pleasence yells a lot, likely shot all of his footage in an afternoon and always seems on the verge of having an asthma attack but he’s a blast to watch here. Try not to pay too much attention to Bo Svenson’s randomly changing accent, or rather, just take it all in and enjoy it. He chews the scenery with the best of them here and is great as the film’s main villain. The supporting players are all a lot of fun here too.

    Double Target – Blu-ray Review:

    Double Target is presented on a 50GB disc with the feature using 33GBs. The AVC encoded 1080p high definition image is framed at 1.66.1 widescreen and is taken from a 2k scan of the original 35mm negative. Overall this looks quite nice. There are, as expected, some (well, a lot) of stock footage inserts that are sometimes clearly taken from lesser sources and you’ll notice some scratches during the opening credits and some of the scene transitions but otherwise, the image is clean and nicely detailed with very good color reproduction and strong black levels.

    Audio options are provided for the film in English and Italian language 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo tracks with optional subtitles provided in English audio only. Audio quality is solid regardless of which option you choose. The tracks are clean, clear and nicely balanced.

    Extras start off with Italian Masters Of War – an interview with Co-Director/Screenwriter Claudio Fragasso that runs twenty-nine minutes. He speaks here about how Mattei started making movies in The Philippines after meeting Luciano Pigozzi who had immigrated there because things were cheap. This led to Mattei scouting the country and realizing after Apocalypse Now was made there, that it would a great spot to start making war and action films on a low budget. When Strike Commando did well at the box office, Mattie leaned into this idea and Fragrasso was there for most of it, working with the director behind the scenes and coming up with story ideas. He tells some amusing stories about the pros and cons of shooting in The Philippines, working with Filipino stuntmen and crew members, replacing Reb Brown with Miles O'Keefe for Double Target, what O'Keefe and Pleasence were like to work with, creating the shark attack sequence and quite a bit more.

    All About The Sentiment interviews Screenwriter Rossella Drudi for nineteen minutes in a piece that lets her share early memories of getting to know and starting to work with Mattie, his love of history and sense of humor and his hatred of actors. She also covers the editing process used on his movies and his frequent use of stock footage, writing scripts for film before the advent of computers, how these movies were financed, the influence of the Rambo movies, having to change and fix the script on the fly during production and her thoughts on working in The Philippines and on the different cast members that took part in the production.

    Additionally, the disc includes a U.S. trailer and an original trailer for the movie as well as menus and chapter selection options.

    Double Target - The Final Word:

    Double Target might not have an original bone in its body but it’s fast paced, gleefully violent and a whole lot of good, trashy fun. The Blu-ray release from Severin Films presents the film looking and sounding great and the two interviews are both interesting and informative. Recommended for those who like their action movies dumb and cheap!


    Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Double Target Blu-ray screen caps!

    Click image for larger version  Name:	01.jpg Views:	3 Size:	224.4 KB ID:	405240

    Click image for larger version  Name:	02.jpg Views:	3 Size:	293.3 KB ID:	405247

    Click image for larger version  Name:	03.jpg Views:	3 Size:	449.2 KB ID:	405246

    Click image for larger version  Name:	04.jpg Views:	3 Size:	373.5 KB ID:	405242

    Click image for larger version  Name:	05.jpg Views:	3 Size:	354.2 KB ID:	405251

    Click image for larger version  Name:	06.jpg Views:	3 Size:	458.3 KB ID:	405245

    Click image for larger version  Name:	07.jpg Views:	3 Size:	406.2 KB ID:	405241

    Click image for larger version  Name:	08.jpg Views:	3 Size:	433.8 KB ID:	405243

    Click image for larger version  Name:	09.jpg Views:	3 Size:	234.8 KB ID:	405244

    Click image for larger version  Name:	10.jpg Views:	3 Size:	367.7 KB ID:	405250

    Click image for larger version  Name:	11.jpg Views:	3 Size:	356.7 KB ID:	405249

    Click image for larger version  Name:	12.jpg Views:	3 Size:	331.8 KB ID:	405252

    Click image for larger version  Name:	13.jpg Views:	3 Size:	362.7 KB ID:	405248

    Click image for larger version  Name:	14.jpg Views:	3 Size:	553.8 KB ID:	405254

    Click image for larger version  Name:	15.jpg Views:	3 Size:	552.7 KB ID:	405253

      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X