The Movie

Sometimes bad acting and a hokey screenplay can be overlooked if the action or special effects is outstanding. It's too bad Special Forces has none of these positives going for it.

The plot of Special Forces is fine enough: An American woman journalist is caught photographing a genocide murder of a Bosnian suburb. She's held for ransom in exchange for the release of 12 "wrongfully captured" bad guys. Our response? Send in the Special Forces. Only it's a darn good thing that the real United States' Special Forces aren't as inefficient and sloppy as these guys, because if they were, no mission would be a success.

Special Forces doesn't know whether it wants to be a comedy, Van Damn-like fighting flick, or a military action movie. So instead, it throws everything into the pot, closes its eyes, crosses its fingers, and hopes for the best. Well, halfway through the movie I wished I had closed my eyes. This movie kept going from horrible to laugh-out-loud ridiculous all the way up the insultingly cheesy ending.

But I suppose I learned a lot from this movie. I learned that the best way to get from point A to point B is to roll, whether it be over a barrel, under a truck, onto of an advancing attacker, or simply to show that you're not too old. I learned that no matter where on your body you are shot, you will perform a perfect back flip. (Good to know I'll be graceful at the very end) I learned that if I want to be quiet and go completely unnoticed, I should feel free to punch, kick, and throw people into loud metal objects. I learned that getting shot with a single bullet often has the effect of rocketing a full-grown man backwards over 30 feet. (If only Carl Lewis knew.) I learned that when detonated, three long sticks of dynamite will produce a cute campfire-like flame that conveniently lights the way when driving by. I learned that when you're outnumbered 400 to one in a wide open field, it's better to stay and die, then run off into the woods 10 feet away where there's more cover and more places to make an escape. Man with all this knowledge, I feel like I can be in the Special Forces now. Where do I sign up?

Are you getting the impression yet that this movie is bad? For instance, the acting is so horrible, it made me snicker on several occasions. The first was during an early mass murder scene where the extras being shot to death didn't really know how they were supposed to play dead, so most looked ridiculous trying to fall without hurting themselves.

The only reason I think it deserves a half star, is because there are some nicely choreographed fight scenes. If you're into that sort of kung fu style of fighting, then a couple of scenes here may be worth watching. But if you look for them, please do yourself a favor and fast-forward through the movie to get to them. If you don't, you may feel compelled to commit unnecessary suicide by running into three missionary evil dudes while holding a live grenade when you could have just thrown it at them to save your life. Oh wait, that actually happened in this movie. What a smart guy.


The DVD

Video:
Special Forces is presented in 1.33:1 full screen. This DVD definitely falls into the "below average" category. There is a small degree of pixelation visible, as well as moderate signs of edge enhancement. The picture isn't crystal clear as it has a slight fuzzy look to it. However the most annoying aspect of this transfer it the improper flesh tones. Everyone's skin pigmentation looks slightly pinkish, as if they went a little overboard with the rosy blush makeup.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting a stellar transfer given the quality of the movie, but I still would have liked to see something cleaner with more accurate colors.

Audio:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound here is on the lousy side as well. Dialogue is hard to hear at times, resulting in frequent volume adjustments. Also, the rear surrounds are pretty much useless, even as far as 2.0 tracks are concerned. This is an action movie, and it needed a better audio track.

Extras:
There are no extras on this disc.


Final Thoughts:
Special Forces stinks, it's as simple as that. I suppose it's useful if you happen to be taking an acting or directing class on "what not to do," but other than that, it's a total waste of time and money. For those relative few who are really into bad action/fighting movies, you'll love it. For the rest, stay away. Stay very far away. Skip It