Wow! Now here's a hidden gem if there ever was one. Commander (AKA Last American Soldier), we can safely say, is one of the best - if not the best - Exploding Hut movie of all time. Probably more huts explode (along with just about everything else within a 100-mile radius) in this movie than in any other Exploding-Hutter...COMBINED. The plot, if there even is one, is nothing more than a simple excuse to perhaps win a Guinness World Record for the most jam-packed kaleidoscopic cornucopia of blow-ups, explosions, detonations, fireballs, firebursts, fireblasts, combustions, ignitions, flare-ups, and, yes, cannonades ever committed to film. And if you think there isn't a difference between all these things, Commander will show you the subtle nuances, and the whole outing gives new meaning to the band name "Porno for Pyros"! Sure, you may have seen some Italian-made, jungle-set "Rambo knockoffs" before such as Tornado (1983), Rolf (1984), Strike Commando (1987), Strike Commando 2 (1988), etc. (or non-Italian outings such as Mannigan's Force (1988) or anything on the Mercs box set), but here we have something special. For starters, we have true American hero Craig Alan in the lead as Commander. He's a one-man army of epic proportions, an unshaven, beer-swilling killing machine who's so macho he makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Richard Simmons. His voice sounds like a narcoleptic Elvis. At the end of every line he utters, you're just waiting for a "thank yuh, thankyuhverymuch." But he cares very much about freedom, and if he has to slaughter entire regions to make his dream of freedom happen, then, so be it. Evil Russians and commies have to get what's coming to them. And speaking of Arnie, don't get confused - the title Commander isn't meant to recall any other movie titles, surely. Actually, if this movie brings anything similar to mind, it's high body count-classics like No Dead Heroes (1986).

It should also be highlighted that his name is Commander, which leads to actual dialogue such as "Commander seems very efficient." Evidently his rank is Sergeant, which would mean his name is "Sgt. Commander". That alone makes this movie worth seeing. God bless losses in translation. Of course, the director, Ignazio Dolce, also directed Last Flight to Hell (1990), which, as we all know, had a great sceenplay.

Mike Monty has very minimal screen time as a Major, but that doesn't stop Commander from getting into a conflict with him. Apparently all this is happening some time after the Vietnam war, and Commander is helping the people of Southeast Asia to be free, before the commies can take over their villages. He has a girlfriend of sorts named Cho Lin (Gomez), but a lot more time is spent on the Prerequisite Torture than on any time with her. In between blow-ups, there's some shooting. Then some more shooting. And maybe a few knifings. For extra added spice, there's some neck snaps. But it's all about the explosions (helicopters certainly included), and this movie delivers, and then some. It makes Hollywood pap like Blown Away (1994) look like Larry Crowne (2011). And it's all set to a quality Simon Boswell score. How can you lose? Criminally, Commander was never released on VHS in the U.S. Evidently it only came out in Greece, Brazil, and, of course, Japan (they get everything). Based on that kind of poor decision-making, is this even a country Commander would want to serve? We didn't even release COMMANDER for God's sake. Well, what the world needs now - RIGHT now - is this movie. In our wimpy, wussy, overly-PC, "Gun Free Zone", wet-noodle, touchy-feely culture, Commander stands as a raging, double-middle-finger "F-you" to all the liberal sludge polluting our lives. Craig Alan is our new hero, and he will be yours too when you see this utter classic of the action genre. This movie just rules. See it ASAP.

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Comically blank and uncharismatic actor Craig Alan leads a mercenary squad in Southeast Asia battling communists in this otherwise humorless clone equal parts RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II, MISSING IN ACTION, and most importantly COMMANDO. Quite awkwardly, his character goes through most of the film simply referred to as "Commander" which doesn't even really make sense until you take into account the film's constant attempt to dupe audiences into thinking this was really an original American mainstream crowd-pleaser like the Schwarzenegger movie was. Just look at the Anglicized credits for further evidence (and frustratingly so at that as I have no idea who the very gifted director of photography on this film really was).

What these Italian and Filipino action movies fail to understand is that the unrealistic nature in the American movies was played off largely for the darkly comedic or cathartic factor, whereas these ripoffs are totally straight-faced and one-dimensional in execution. Combined with the much lower production values, bad acting, and banal dialog, this all sling-shots these films so far in the other direction that it's really hard to look at them seriously as anything more than another pathetic cash-in. Unlike its predecessors, COMMANDER comes off as so addle-brained and juvenile yet violent and mean-spirited so as to create a bizarre viewing experience, entertaining in different ways altogether.

Ignazio Dolce made several careers in the Italian film industry, first as an actor and then later largely as an assistant director. Like a few of his peers, he got his chance to direct in the late 80's with a series of low budget Vietnam-set actioners shot in the Philippines, mainly starring American expatriates and slumming B-vets like Richard Hatch and James Mitchum. Of all of those films this one easily has the most effort and energy put into it and therefore it's the most fun of the bunch, yet at the same time the strikingly least-intelligent.

Much like the B-movie REVENGE OF THE WILD BUNCH, this film puts about 90% of its resources into the action scenes (particularly the climactic celebration of violence near the end) and barely anything into the rest of the movie. I've seen this movie a few times and am still not entirely sure why the hero allows himself to get captured and tortured other than to just make the movie longer. While the dialog and acting are quite terrible, it's undeniable that COMMANDER's action scenes must be seen to be believed! In what must have been an effort to outdo the slam-bang finale COMMANDO, there's more exploding huts, bloody squibs, dangerous stunts, dummies on fire, and impressive pyrotechnics involved than most of the actual wars which ripped through Southeast Asia during the 70's and 80's.

Much of the violence is lovingly captured and edited with a certain energy absent from most others in the Italian/Filippino jungle action/war genre, matched only perhaps by Ferdinando Baldi's WARBUS and some of Antonio Margheriti's slightly more original efforts such as THE LAST HUNTER, THE COMMANDER (not to be mistaken with this film even though they were done the same year), and COMMANDO LEOPARD. Simon Boswell provides the simple synth score which bounces back and forth from goofy Nintendo game to being genuinely moving and exciting.

So is this rare little movie worth hunting down? If you're even reading this review you've likely made up your mind on the merits of such a film long before viewing it. This movie has a lot of bad and a lot of good - it's definitely best for those not expecting too much or with a hunger for cinematic violence and easy access to a Fast-Forward button. One point just cannot be argued, and that is that there are few movies out there with this nearly pornographic level of violent and explosive Action (capitalized for a reason), and the bulk of it truly is Action well-done. I'm sad that the rest of the films on the cast and crew's resume just doesn't quite measure up.

The Last American Soldier is another hilariously inept Italian war film made at the fag-end of the 1980s. The version I watched was renamed COMMANDER and has the main character's name as simply 'Commander' throughout in order to cash in on the success of COMMANDO. There are some superficial similarities between the two stories but this is much more of an open rip-off of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II, right down to the lone hero being captured and tortured by Russian forces.

Other than that, I enjoyed it, but then I have a high tolerance for trashy gems. The hero goes after evil Russians and Vietcong in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia and kicks up a storm. You know the hero type: grenades hanging from chest, heavy weaponry in hand, a spare slung over the shoulder, a razor-sharp knife that would give Crocodile Dundee nightmares in the boot. Craig Alan has to be one of the most wooden actors of a decade not particularly requiring much of its action heroes, while the shooting in the Philippines means that regular stars from that part of the world show up, including Ken Watanabe and Mike Monty.

If you're looking for cheesy and repetitive action then you've come to the right place. It's generally a mix of Alan taking down guards and sentries, usually with the break of a neck. Occasionally he'll infiltrate a base to set bombs and later blow it up. The big scenes have Alan and his buddies blowing the heck out of guard huts and watchtowers, particularly at the action-fuelled climax which is a violent delight. How much you enjoy this one depends on your predilection for low-brow action trash cinema.