User Reviews

PHANTOM RAIDERS is an amusingly generic Filipino action flick closely modelled on RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II as were so many of these movies. This one stars good old Miles O'Keeffe, ATOR himself, as a commando sent in to destroy the usual Vietcong and terrorist types hiding out in their jungle camp. There's barely any script here, just endless action sequences; the first half involves lots of amusing ninja-style training before the repetitive waves of action in the second half. It's basic but brisk, with O'Keeffe on top wooden form and genre regulars like Mike Monty appearing. Hardly highbrow, but it does the job.

If you walked into Prime Time Video and went to the right instead of the horror room to the left, you'd hit the back wall where action films lived. Rocky, Rambo, John Matrix and the A list heroes were always out, which left you to search through the ranks of Dudikoff and O'Keefe and man, that isn't a bad place to be.

Miles O'Keefe is Python Lang - man, what a name! - here and he's part of a team sent to destroy a Viet Cong training base. If you've seen any movie made after the second Rambo, you know the drill, but you're here and huts blow up and machine guns and training montages.

A thirty-page script for ninety minutes of action feel like this was written Marvel style and it works right from the beginning, as a group of Americans are forced to fight in death matches complete with machine guns ready to kill their fellow soldiers and punjabi spikes to the back and body slams into tiger cages and man, I'm down for whatever comes next.

Sonny Sims only directed one movie and this is it, the sum totality of everything he wanted to say, all laid out for your eyes to see. What he wanted to give us was O'Keefe teaching people how to use throwing stars because that's why we didn't win Vietnam. It was all that simple.

Imagine if Apocalypse Now had even less plot and Mike Monty (Double Target) instead of Brando. This is that movie. There are a lot of people out there that will tell you that this has no plot or character development and I can straight up tell you those people are morons. You don't rent a third or fourth-tier action movie to solve the issues of the day, unless the issues are "this hut in the Philippines needs to blow up real good."

SPOiler Ahead----- This is a story about a myseterious ex American Green Beret who is training Viet Cong terrorists in Vietnamn. They first take out a group of soldiers, only to have their base and activities photographed by CIA operatives. Well the photos get into the hands of the CIA, and they launch a mission with Miles O'keefe at the helm. He is to recruit and train 3 ex-Namn Vets to conduct this mission. They also bring with them.....The ex American Green Beret's son who is a formidable soldier in his own right. They are trained and then dropped off in Nam. They in true warrior fashion take out the enemy and the rest is history.

This movie was dismal. The plot was extremely simplistic, which may be the movie's only strength. The special effects are mediocre at best. The prob is that sometimes explosions happen in places where it is clearly seen that a grenade is not thrown in. The dubbing is horrible. O'Keefe sounds like a between of Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise. The main bad guy voice is just hilarious. There is no character dialouge that goes for longer than 2 lines. The longest dialouge is given to the CIA Chief, who had those two consecutive lines. Most action movies even if the acting sucks, editing sucks, plot sucks, and special effects suck (think Seagal movies here) at least the action is what keeps them somewhat interesting, not here. This is one of the few movies where the action is completely boring. The action scene at the end at least goes on for about 20-25 minutes, non-stop. Its the same old same old. Bad guys who are supposed to be well trained can't hit the backside of a barn even only 10 yards away from them, and the good guys hit everyone with every bullet aimed. I mean you had bad guys falling down before any weapon was pointed at them and shot. The bad guys are obviously not Vietnamese but Fillipino, but who cares all Asians look the same right? (sarcastically). There were times when the editing was so bad, you guys in the opening scene put their weapons aside and looking around while the action supposedly is going on, thinking the scene was over. The funny thing is that this terrorist must have 200-300 guys in their force. Because the same extras (especially the ones in the red hats) are used over and over again.

I bought this at wal-mart for $1 alongside, Karate Cop. Karate Cop was 2-3 times better and it also sucked. Just puts this movie in perspective.

Obviously made for the late 80's drive-in crowd, this is a type of film for audiences who really don't intend to watch much of the film except for the excessive violence of which there is plenty. Laughable acting (when there is any attempt to act) and extremely slow pacing, this is basically a Z grade Vietnam War exploitation movie with no story and characters that only exist as names on a page.

There's one name actor, Miles O'Keefe, and he's far over the stardom of his Tarzan success. Even karate /king fu/judo movie fans will be instantly disgusted by this, a disgusting display of human barbarism disguised as a war movie. Wretched sound quality with an effeminate white male villain who is ridiculously offensive. Expect to hear a lot of back breaking during the fight scenes which somehow triggers a machine gun to go off. This is the epitome of what an all around hideous waste of celluloid looks like. Absolutely no redeeming values.

B-movie god Miles O'Keeffe stars in this outrageous Filipino action masterpiece. He is Python, a commando who also happens to possess Ninja powers. His mission is to exterminate a group of communist terrorists that are being trained at Vietnam. He gathers his old Vietnam vet pals and teaches them the Ninja secrets. Together they attack the communist forces, causing serious mayhem! This Filipino gem is packed with non-stop gun-fighting action, Ninja attacks and countless explosions! Has to be seen to be believed! The great cast features Mike Monty who must have made a living out of his countless appearances in Filipino films during the 80s and the 90s. Plus the late Kenneth Peerless as a Ninja-commando who has the ability to fly! Do not miss PHANTOM RAIDERS!!!