Moviecut—Dog Tags

Being in the mood of watching an Umberto Lenzi film,I got set to watch him take on an Indian Jones style adventure movie,with the 1991 film Hunt for the Golden Scorpion.About 2 minutes into my viewing,I discovered that a mistake had been made,when the DVD turned out not to contain Lenzi's movie,but to instead contain Antonio Margheriti's 1982 Adventure film Hunters of the Golden Cobra.Not wanting to let the disappointment sink in,I quickly decided to go for the film which had been laying under the Lenzi title,which would give me the chance to witness Romano Scavolini's tour of Vietnam. The plot: 1984: Giving up years ago on ever finding out the truth about a story that a Vietnam War vet told him,an investigating author rushes to Vietnam to meet a man who claims that he is at last willing to open up and give details to events which took place 10 years ago. 1974: Escaping from caged cells in a Vietnam jungle,a group of US POW's start searching for a way to make contact,so that a chopper can be sent to pick them up.When the group eventually get in contact with a leading general,they are given the unexpected news,that before they can be picked up,the gang must first complete a secret mission of picking up boxes containing secret US war documents from a shot down chopper.Struggleing to get any sense of direction in the jungle,the group stagger towards the fallen chopper,where they discover,that instead of containing US War documents,the boxes actually contain a gold cache. View on the film: Wising going for an emphasising the positives and hiding the negatives approach,writer/director Romano Scavolini, (who along with partly being inspired by his own experience in the Vietnam war as a freelance photography,would also not make another movie for 12 years) gives the setting a terrific stylised low-lit appearance,that along with being backed by a pulsing score from John Scott creates a strong atmospheric mood of the POW's being trapped in an almost alien like wasteland.Along with the lighting style, Scavolini also shows a refreshingly restrained approach to the gore scenes,with the use of clever sound effects helping to make images much more downbeat than what the film's ultra low budget could ever show.Making the Film Noir elements, (the reporter and the gold cache) and the last 20 minutes of the movie feel rather flimsy, Scavolini thankfully makes sure to pack the first hour with enough of a thrilling wallop to make the flaws in the films final 30 minutes easily forgivable.Deciding to not go with the typical approach of making the solider's/POW's look bloodthirsty in the jungle, Scavolini instead show's the POW's continued attempts to become friends with the Vietnamese people,as they do everything not to succumb to the insanity of the jungle.

Being in the mood of watching an Umberto Lenzi film,I got set to watch him take on an Indian Jones style adventure movie,with the 1991 film Hunt for the Golden Scorpion.About 2 minutes into my viewing,I discovered that a mistake had been made,when the DVD turned out not to contain Lenzi's movie,but to instead contain Antonio Margheriti's 1982 Adventure film Hunters of the Golden Cobra.Not wanting to let the disappointment sink in,I quickly decided to go for the film which had been laying under the Lenzi title,which would give me the chance to witness Romano Scavolini's tour of Vietnam. The plot: 1984: Giving up years ago on ever finding out the truth about a story that a Vietnam War vet told him,an investigating author rushes to Vietnam to meet a man who claims that he is at last willing to open up and give details to events which took place 10 years ago. 1974: Escaping from caged cells in a Vietnam jungle,a group of US POW's start searching for a way to make contact,so that a chopper can be sent to pick them up.When the group eventually get in contact with a leading general,they are given the unexpected news,that before they can be picked up,the gang must first complete a secret mission of picking up boxes containing secret US war documents from a shot down chopper.Struggleing to get any sense of direction in the jungle,the group stagger towards the fallen chopper,where they discover,that instead of containing US War documents,the boxes actually contain a gold cache. View on the film: Wising going for an emphasising the positives and hiding the negatives approach,writer/director Romano Scavolini, (who along with partly being inspired by his own experience in the Vietnam war as a freelance photography,would also not make another movie for 12 years) gives the setting a terrific stylised low-lit appearance,that along with being backed by a pulsing score from John Scott creates a strong atmospheric mood of the POW's being trapped in an almost alien like wasteland.Along with the lighting style, Scavolini also shows a refreshingly restrained approach to the gore scenes,with the use of clever sound effects helping to make images much more downbeat than what the film's ultra low budget could ever show.Making the Film Noir elements, (the reporter and the gold cache) and the last 20 minutes of the movie feel rather flimsy, Scavolini thankfully makes sure to pack the first hour with enough of a thrilling wallop to make the flaws in the films final 30 minutes easily forgivable.Deciding to not go with the typical approach of making the solider's/POW's look bloodthirsty in the jungle, Scavolini instead show's the POW's continued attempts to become friends with the Vietnamese people,as they do everything not to succumb to the insanity of the jungle.