PodBill Just what I expected

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Chase_Witherspoon Average Euro-styled jungle action flick is the third of the trio that was borne of the Anthony Dawson- Lewis Collins mid-80's partnership, Der Kommander is essentially the same as its predecessors with a few plot tweaks.Good use of miniatures again, lots (emphasis) of things blowing up, people of SE Asian appearance dressed in military fatigues being catapulted in the air doing somersaults, that sort of a spectacle which you either tolerate or fall asleep watching. Collins is again wasted in a one dimensional role as the suave kick-ar$e mercenary with the eternal 5 o'clock shadow, whilst the supporting cast though lacking a principal female lead, does have some surprising depth with Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasance, Brett Halsey, Paul Muller, Romano Puppo, Bobby Rhodes, Mike Monty and John Steiner (as well as series regulars Manfred Lehmann & Thomas Danneberg). That's an impressive cast assembled for a very average jungle war pic, even by Euro-trash standards; had Klaus Kinski returned for this final instalment, the acting chops would've been in the cult movie stratosphere. Van Cleef sadly does not look well and so it's perhaps regrettably no surprise that he died shortly after this film's theatrical release.If you've seen Codename Wildgeese or Kommando Leopard, then you've essentially seen Der Kommander (sans Klaus Kinski of course). Lots of old and borrowed, but nothing new. Would be nice to have these three movies as a box set for an evening of cheesy goodness, especially now that most of the cast have left the mortal coil, all much too soon.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Der Commander" or "The Commander" is a West German / Italian co-production from 1988 (almost 30 years old) and this one runs for 105 minutes. According to IMDb, it is a German-language film in the original, but I am not too sure about this. Yes the title is German, but the actors who play the main characters are not, so they have been dubbed for sure. Also it is part of as trilogy and the previous film (despite having German titles) are no German-language films either according to IMDb. Anyway, the cast is pretty good here. The title character is played by Lewis Collins and I cannot say I know who that is, but other than him Donald Pleasence from James Bond and Lee Van Cleef (star of epic western films) have lots of screen time too. For the latter, it was one of the final performances of his life and career and he has aged considerably compared to other films you may have seen him in. The director is Antonio Margheriti and the trio who wrote this are also 2 Italians and one German. The latter is Arne Elsholtz, who died recently, and looking at other films from him, this was certainly a very different genre compared to what he usually did. It is a military film that takes place in Asia, so you basically know what to expect. For male audiences, they included one hot female solider, an Asian actually. The story is pretty generic for a military film and sadly, I was not really impressed by the acting or the plot here. Then again, I may be a bit biased as military films are rarely my preferred choice. That's why I give this one a thumbs down. Only worth checking out for the biggest fans of the genre.

ma-cortes This action-packed film deals about some stalwart mercenaries . A team formed by a misfit troop of commando-for hire are contracted (by Lee Van Cleef, Paul Muller) to attack a lord-ringer's stronghold and retrive a floppy disk. They're commanded by a tough and two-fisted Major (Lewis Collins) helped by a war veteran (Manfred Lhemann). The band of mercenaries (Romano Puppo, Mike Monty, Bobby Rhodes : customaries in Italian B series) land deep into jungle to obliterate some drug-lords in Asia's infamous Golden triangle and much movement and danger ensues. The bunch includes a Thai native girl who falls in love with the veteran war.This fast-paced movie contains adventures, thrills, mindless agitation and lots of noisy action for the most part. Big name cast by known actors as Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasance in a histrionic and sympathetic role. Screenplay by usual Tito Carpi but some spectacular action scenes cannot a silly script save. Stirring final full of explosions, shootouts and burning installations ; furthermore some plot twists. Cinematography is quite well, capturing the atmosphere of everywhere, in addition some moving images shot with camera above the shoulder. Embarrassment musical score composed by synthesizer isn't composed by Ennio Morricone. The picture is produced in average budget by Erwin C. Dietrich, ordinary producer and director of soft-core genre and Jess Frank's habitual financier. The motion picture is regularly directed by Antonio Margheriti. The film was realized in the wake of ¨Wild Geese¨ (Andrew V McLagen) and ¨Wild Geese II¨(Peter Hunt). And belong a trilogy constituted by ¨Codename : ¨Wild geese (1984)¨ and ¨Command leopard(1985)¨ starred by similar actors and same technical equipment and director. This jungle-setting exploitation movie will appeal to Eurotrash buffs.

gridoon OK, this is confusing. In 1984, the Italian director Anthony Dawson (AKA Antonio Margheriti) made "Codename:Wildgeese", an action film about a commando squad that goes to Southeast Asia to attack a drug lord's stronghold. It starred Lewis Collins, Lee Van Cleef, Klaus Kinski and Ernest Borgnine. In 1988, he made "The Commander", an action film about a commando squad that goes to Southeast Asia to attack a drug lord's stronghold. It starred Collins and Van Cleef again, but no Kinski and Borgnine this time; in their place, there was Donald Pleasence. To further confuse matters, the version of "The Commander" I saw was actually titled "Commando:Wildgeese"! It took me about 10 minutes to realize that I wasn't watching the 1984 film! Anyway, all you need to remember is that "The Commander" / "Commando:Wildgeese" is a low-grade action film, to be avoided at all costs. A low point in the careers of Van Cleef and Pleasence; all the others involved never had much of a career to begin with. The only character who piqued my interest was a beautiful female fighter, but she didn't get to do much. (*)