Review of Troma's War (1988) by Jose M — 16 Apr 2014

This is some ridiculous shit. but for the first two thirds Kaufman and Herz and co manage to find a balance between the one liners and gags, and the more serious elements (or at least as serious as a goofy cartoon like Troma can get) such as the commandos on the island who are, behind the jokey Schwarzenegger captain who is funny every time he speaks and the (Jesus christ) AIDS guy who is out to rape women so they get it, its a war movie that is intentionally BIG and MANIC and just nuts, but with a purpose. when Tromas War is at its most impressive and eye catching when Kaufman skewers 80s action movies and Regan era militarism. As an ex hippie it's clear he didn't like what he was seeing, in bloated B movies and over the top spectacles, so... why not make his own, the troma way?

Where it lost me a bit was in the last third. there is What feels like a natural climax like two thirds into the movie, where some of the heroes (like Lost they're not all likable but their bond is a plane crash) save the others from being killed and raped and maimed by the commandos. and then it just keeps going. and the acting doesn't get better. and not that one should be looking for a totally consistent tone in this junk food, but there was a better grasp of what the film was and trying to do for a while. by the time it nears its real climax, there's still some more mayhem, relentless violence, all shot and edited with flair even as its with liytle to no budget (outside of the special effects - the highlight for me is a montage of soldiers in trees who all get shot down and fall off the same way, tree after tree). But it kind of devolves into dumb (and I mean DUMB for a movie by these fuckers) antics and one liners, though it's almost saved by a side characters stunt from a trunk onto a boat.

I want to like it more - it's shot with more competency than other troma movies and up to a point has some really good music (up to a point as in not too much but still there crappy 80s songs put over scenes unnecessarily) and though some of the acting is cheesy and over the top, some of it really works for it being a ludicrous mockery. And yet there is a line that, sometimes, Kaufman and Herz have to not cross but do a lot of the time which is the film being the same carnage extravaganza with bullets flying and guts spilling and squibs popping like there's no tomorrow and became something like Commando.

But... if you wanna get some buddies together, and are in the mood for some comic book characters and set ups and pay offs (including a British dude who talks like Peter O'Toole and has a shtick with poison darts), this ain't bad. it's just not AS memorable as toxic avenger and nuke em high.