User Reviews

The plot is a little complicated, but not hard to follow. The characters are simplicity itself. There are the good people and then there are the bad people. Of course the real world isn't so structured but it's nice to relax once in a while and allow our heads a playful descent into the vulgate. Why not? Freud called it regression in the service of the ego. The plot of an action movie usually provides a good example, as this one does.

The story involves the extortion of a monstrous amount of money from the British government, primary shareholder in a North Sea oil production platform. The bad guys, led by Anthony Perkins, have hijacked a service ship, planted mines around the bases of two oil rigs, and threaten to blow both of the mega-expensive things up unless they are given the money in 24 hours. Something like that, anyway.

Roger Moore is Ffolks, head of a dozen or so specialists in a private army. The PM hires him to take out the hijacking extortionists. Moore and his team do so, with the help of an Admiral (James Mason) who is there primarily to provide a stiff upper lip and smoldering resentment of Moore's quirky personality. And, man, is it quirky.

Moore is curmudgeonly but in a cute way. His no-nonsense egotism and prejudices make you smile instead of wince. Moore drinks scotch neat four hours after breakfast, sometimes out of the bottle. If his men are slow, he threatens to "have your b***s for breakfast." He does petit point or whatever it is. He loves cats and dislikes women in no uncertain terms. His analyses are wind swift. Mason's admiral grumbles, "I'll bet you're the type who does the Times crossword in ten minutes." Moore is offended -- "I never take TEN minutes." Nota bene: The London Times crossword puzzle is designed by sadistic geniuses for consumption by big league masochists. It must be the toughest in the English language. Example: "A major seaport in the middle of Czechoslovakia." Answer: "Oslo."

Michael Burns, wearing a pair of glasses as thick as coke bottle bottoms, is one of the heavies. I have always admired Michael Burns' work. I like the way he looks. The sole reason for this is that someone once said I resembled him or, rather, the other way round. But, come to think of it, that observation was made by a young lady with whom I'd just had a tiff and now I'm not sure it was meant as a compliment. Ex girl friends can be pretty subtle in inserting the syringe. Hmmm. I don't think I like him so much now.

A couple of other things. The director was a protégé and imitator of John Ford. He's a nice enough guy but, like Ford, tended to use his stock company and he made a couple of poor choices. Some of the supporting players will make you wince. And of course he carries on Ford's least attractive values while missing any of the poetry.

There's also the question of the crew on that supply ship. I spent some time as a seaman on a Coast Guard cutter and it was nothing like this. The crew wear hard hats and international orange vests, and they hustle 50-gallon drums across rusty wet decks. There is no seamanship on display. They might as well be working in a warehouse in Queens.

However, the action scenes are suspenseful and exciting without bathing the viewer in gore. The locations are colorful and evocative, from Castle Urquhart to a heaving ship in a gale. A few inconsequential good guys die, while ALL of the bad guys bite the dust. Perkins' last words to Moore, as Perkins is dying, pinioned to a chair by a harpoon: "I still don't like your face." Don't take it seriously. Just relax and regress in the service of your ego. If you're in a shape that is in any way similar to mine, your ego needs it badly.

Actually perhaps it's only sisters he doesn't like, his own or his in-laws. He's Roger Moore, a divorced anti-terrorist agent called to assist in the hijacking of an oil rig taken over by Anthony Perkins and crew, and they're not after just a few barrels of crude. They're out to kill if they don't get what they want, and on the orders of prime minister Faith Brook (certainly not based on Margaret Thatcher), he gets to do what he needs to do to overpower the terrorists.

Moore is none too thrilled to find out that one of the people he must work with closely is a woman, Lea Brodie, and even when he's complimenting her, he's insulting her for her gender. But he can't help but see her for the brave soul she is, so they create a bond of sorts, and he begins to see her as a good buddy if not completely get over his sexism.

This is more desperately trying to escape from the image of James Bond even though he's playing a Bond like agent. He gets some very funny lines at women's expense, but they are done with such charm that even a woman can laugh at them because they are so ridiculous and obviously they just make him look silly. James Mason is also along for the ride, but he doesn't have much to do, so this is all about Moore, the villainous Perkins (who also gets some funny nasty lines), and the action which will keep you glued to the screen. A perfect popcorn movie that doesn't need a double martini.

Unlike the number of anti-terrorist movies that came out in the mid/late eighties, ffolkes provides the most accurate depiction of how a hostage situation is handled should force be required. Instead of simply shooting up the place, ffolkes excellently manipulates Kramer as his team prepares to strike. The final attack takes only a few seconds, with Kramer not even knowing anything was happening until he is shot.

Roger Moore may have considered himself miscast as Rufus Excalibur ffolkes but he's good fun in his role as the gruff, cat loving expert in counter terrorism at sea called in by Lloyds insurers and the British government to foil a plot to ransom some North Sea oil rigs by a gang of villains led by Kramer and Schulman. It's an old fashioned adventure movie and I was thoroughly entertained. Apart from Sir Roger I liked James Mason as grumpy Admiral Brindsen, Jack Watson as the captain Olafsen of the hijacked boat and Lea Brodie as the crew member Sanna. The main villains Kramer and Schulman played by Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks were also excellent, and Perkins was intense and Parks was mild but they were both scary. They seemed to be more than friends. The cinematography by Tony Imi and the music score by Michael J. Lewis added to the appeal of the film. Definitely worth a watch.

Saw this film when it came out, more than a quarter century ago. Nothing spectacular, but a good, enjoyable thriller, about a British team (led by Roger Moore, slightly out of character as a serious, sober and somewhat eccentric government agent) trying to overtake an oil platform in the North Sea that has been hijacked by a band of terrorists (led by the late, unforgettable Anthony Perkins, in one of his nervous, unsettling performances). The great James Mason also appears as one of the top admirals of the British navy. A good, solid thriller overall. A female prime minister (an obvious stand-in for then premier Margaret Thatcher) congratulates Bond (er, Roger Moore) at the end.

Roger Moore takes a break from his more famous action character, James Bond, to play Rufus Excalibur ffolkes, an expert in underwater infiltration. He is approached to plan how to defeat anybody how attempted to seize an oil rig in the North Sea. Of course it isn't long before he has to put his ideas to the test as a group of criminals hijack a Norwegian supply vessel, plant bombs on two rigs then demand a ransom of twenty five million pounds within twenty four hours.

ffolkes is a very different character to James Bond, he is somewhat eccentric and can't stand women but likes cats. The action also seems more realistic than most films, a no point do our heroes go in all guns blazing instead they negotiate with the criminals until they are ready to go in stealthily.

The acting is solid enough especially from the stars Roger Moore, Anthony Perkins as the criminal leader and James Mason as the head of the navy. The only character I wasn't keen on was Perkin's deputy who would cackle like a pantomime villain at each of his boss's threats. While this isn't a great film, I'm sure it was never meant to be, it is good solid entertainment which doesn't contain excessive gore or bad language that so many films these days seen to contain.

The British-produced Andrew V. McLaglen actioneer "Ffolkes," based on Jack Davis' novel "Esther, Ruth and Jennifer," gives Roger Moore a refreshingly different, change-of-pace role. As Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes, Moore is both ill-tempered and egotistical. He despises women, adores cats, and prefers to drink his Scotch neat. If Ffolkes claims that he can do something, he will-by the Lord God Harry—do it! Everything about "Ffolkes" goes against the grain of the typical, well-mannered, saintly Moore image. First, the James Bond star sports a thick beard, knits when thinking, and refuse to be proved wrong. Evidently, Roger Moore had a grand time playing Ffolkes because this qualifies as his most robust, forceful portrayal in years. His face and his eyes are wildly expressive throughout all 99 minutes of this adrenalin-laced, nail-biting thriller.

Davis scripted the action from his own adventure novel. Esther is the name of the transfer ship that supplies Ruth, the oil drilling rig, and Jennifer is the gargantuan production rig. Masquerading as journalists, the villainous Lou Kramer (Anthony Perkins of "Psycho") and henchmen Harold Shulman (Michael Parks), board Esther, brandish this hardware and hijack it. Kramer's second-in-command sets explosives throughout the ship and connects them to a detonator box that can signal the destruction of not only Esther but also the charges set on Ruth and Jennifer. As it turns out, Jennifer is the largest production rig on any sea, reputed to cost over $250 million dollars! Kramer warns British authorities, including a Thatcher-like Prime Minister (Faith Brook), that they have 24 hours to pay a ransom of $25 million in five currencies. If the British Crown refuses to fork over, Kramer threatens to blast Esther, Ruth and Jennifer, along with himself and his henchmen, and more than 600 innocent people aboard the rigs and ship off the face of the earth. The entire North Sea will be polluted and the coasts ruined.

Andrew V. McLaglen, who helmed "Ffolkes," is a seasoned professional at making adventure epics. He began his career as a television director, making episodes of "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood. Afterward, he graduated to feature films and made a string of rough & tumble John Wayne westerns, starting with "McClintock!" Among the others were "The Undefeated," "Chism," and "Cahill, U.S. Marshal." Between the Wayne oaters and "Ffolkes," McLaglen helmed the gritty Charlton Heston & James Coburn western "The Last Hard Men as well as two other Roger Moore yarns "The Wild Geese" and "The Sea Wolves." Most of "Ffolkes" was lensed on location in the North Sea where the story takes place. McLaglen seems to improve with his material. His war movies were exciting, suspenseful, and clever. They move at an incredibly fast pace and are no-nonsensical. Of course, believability is optional in the Davies' script. McLaglen and Davis both know that superior thrillers follow a formula in which things go from bad to worse before the finale. And our stiff-upper lipped hero doesn't have an easy time thwarting the nefarious, loud-mouthed Kramer.

As for Ffolkes' nemesis Kramer, Anthony Perkins shouts and waves his pistol with his sinister, steely-eyed glare that is enhanced by his lean, ascetic features and dark, close-cropped hair. He is a man not to be trifled with. Audacious greed motivates Kramer and his cohorts to hijack the ship and hold the rigs for ransom. Ingenious, conceited, and menacing as Kramer is, Perkins doesn't have as much to work with in his characterization as Moore.

As the British Admiral forced to deal with Kramer and company, James Mason turns in a crusty performance. Mason's Admiral Sir Francis Brindsen is a stalwart, career naval officer whose contempt for Ffolkes and the man's unconventional methods is matched only by his deep, abiding mistrust of anything that is neither military nor naval. Michael Parks, late of TV's "Then Came Bronson," is Kramer's second-in-command. His characterization is confined to his thick-lensed spectacles, a pistol, and a tan trench coat.

Ffolkes runs a small but efficient group of mercenaries that he trains ruthlessly to perform miracles under the worst conditions. He concocts a plan that hinges on split-second timing and calculated risks. The only quibbles that I had with this movie is that it's miniatures stand out more on the small screen than on the big-screen. Michael J. Lewis provides a stirring orchestral score that ramps up the suspense. Nevertheless, "Ffolkes" ranks as a first-class, crackerjack thriller.