An imaginary small town of Norman, Texas, ostensibly near San Antonio (where this film is shot), has a police force composed of, with but one exception, professional assassins from its chief down to its dispatcher, each on the payroll of a local racketeer who makes use of these paid killers to dispose of zealous law enforcement officials who are opposed to his operations. When the last remaining honourable member of the force, played by Glenn Corbett, is slain, his brother-in-law Rick Kelly (Dirk Benedict), a homicide detective from one of the (undetermined) Kansas City departments, attends the funeral to console his sister, after which he begins an investigation of his own that flies in the faces of common sense and continuity. The picture is produced in large part by San Antonio area residents who, therefore, fill some small roles and the pedestrian direction is attributed to "Darrell Davenport", who is actually the competent cinematographer Ken Lamkin, but it is the stale and grating scoring of Jeff Marsh and the poorly devised script by Wayne Wynne that are principally responsible for the work's banal quality. Lance LeGault, as the tainted police chief, is effective as usual, Corbett's final performance (he died shortly after its completion), as the last honest policeman in Norman is welcome, and Lise Cutter spices the proceedings with a delightful turn as a journalist and Rick's love interest; Benedict, however, is typically bland and, for some reason, the video package displays him intimately posing with substituted Tonie Perensky, who is cast as the moll of the crime boss, typical of this ragged production.
3 Reviews
Watchable if you like Benedict
Brianweimer7312 May 2002
Shadow Force is the kind of movie that one rents only if they like the main star, which in this case, is Dirk Benedict (of Battlestar Galactica & A-Team). This straight-to-video film is definitely a low-budget flick, and is does have some pretty bad acting in it. Because of this, there are some pretty funny moments . If you decide to watch it, look out for any scene involving the Columbian drug lord guy, because this guy has got to be about the worst actor I've ever seen, and I have seen alot. It is interesting to note that Lance Legault, veteran of Magnum PI and other various 80's television shows, is in this movie. I just love his line to Dirk , calling him "Ricky boy". Look out for this also, it's pretty funny. There are some pretty interesting action sequences , that I wouldn't exactly refer to as being first rate. Now unless I am completly wrong on this, please note that Dirk Benedict's love interest in Shadow Force, played by Lise Cutter, is not the woman featured with him on the video box cover. Kind of strange, but OK. Benedict may not be the best actor in the world, but he is always worth watching, and this movie is no exception. It has a fairly interesting plot involving currupt cops in Texas. Unlike the beginning of the movie may suggest, there is actually no nudity . It is suprisingly clean for a movie of this sort. The production values are mediocre at best, and the editing is choppy. Remember, watch this knowing that it isn't a great movie, and try to just enjoy it, with a group of friends , if possible.
Shadow Force doesn't appear to have been a hot renter on the shelves.
tarbosh2200017 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Something rotten is going on in Norman, Texas. Not only is the entire police force corrupt, but they're also on the payroll as assassins for local crime lord Emilio Vela (Pena). Chief Thorpe (LeGault), who looks a lot like Craig T. Nelson, knows about it. Mayor Talbert (Hastings), who looks a lot like Mike Ditka, knows about it. The whole freakin' town knows about it. So when out-of-towner Rick Kelly (Benedict) comes to Norman to start investigating his brother-in-law's murder, all the forces in town ally against him. He teams up with your standard female reporter, Mary (Cutter), and the two of them proceed to unravel the conspiracy that goes, well, all the way to the top. But will they be able to put a stop not just to the police force, but to the SHADOW FORCE?
Shadow Force is a DTV cop drama with some action elements. It's relatively serious in its intentions, and not wacky. That's not to say there isn't humor, but it's either unintentional or it's provided by the charming Dirk Benedict. He keeps the movie afloat, along with some amusing side characters like Tommy the bartender (Elam). Lise Cutter as the love interest/reporter should've done more, or at least have had a more flattering hairstyle. It all plays out like a TV movie, possibly made for Lifetime, which isn't surprising as this was director Lamkin's only theatrical film, having primarily worked in television. You can definitely tell.
It's sort of a DTV version of Magnum Force (1973). On the technical end, it's all lit and shot well enough. There's the local color of something like One Man War (1990). Or, if you're being particularly uncharitable, Radical Jack (2000). There are some car stunts, a blow-up or two, and a bit of shooting, but the movie highlight comes when Rick Kelly breaks out the skills he learned in 'Nam and sets some Home Alone-esque traps for the baddies. In other words, deadly ones.
Benedict really was the Bradley Cooper of his day, which explains why Cooper played Face in the recent G. I. Joe movies. That was good casting. Someone was paying attention. On the soundtrack front, during most of the scenes of action or intrigue, Jeff Marsh provides some wailing quasi-shredding on electric guitar.
Whenever the Mexican baddie Vela appears on screen, a Mariachi-styled nylon-string acoustic guitar is strummed. We're not going to say that's racist or anything, but let's just say we wouldn't be surprised if there was an Asian character and a gong was hit every time he was on screen. For the end credits tune, a very catchy ballad called "We Can't Lose" by Marsh and Carol Michaels plays. It will likely get stuck in your head. It could've been a hit on adult contemporary radio at the time.
Of note is the fact that the Imperial Video VHS states that the running time is 97 minutes. The moment we first see the end credits, the movie clocks in at 77 minutes. A very TV-esque running time. There are also trailers on the tape, including for My Samurai (1992) and other Imperial titles, so lying and inflating the running time by 20 minutes was not necessary. But that was how it was back in the VHS days. We're just beginning to sort it all out now. That's especially true in this case, as Shadow Force doesn't appear to have been a hot renter on the shelves. From what we've been able to tell, it likely just sat on those shelves and collected dust.
Sure, it's a little slow by today's standards, and there's nothing particularly exceptional about it, but it's not bad. If more of the movie had concentrated on Dirk Benedict killing off baddies using his 'Nam skills, and it had backed off of some of the other, more boring material, we'd have a true winner on our hands. As it is, it's all a bit middle of the road. But Benedict fans may want to check it out.
Shadow Force is a DTV cop drama with some action elements. It's relatively serious in its intentions, and not wacky. That's not to say there isn't humor, but it's either unintentional or it's provided by the charming Dirk Benedict. He keeps the movie afloat, along with some amusing side characters like Tommy the bartender (Elam). Lise Cutter as the love interest/reporter should've done more, or at least have had a more flattering hairstyle. It all plays out like a TV movie, possibly made for Lifetime, which isn't surprising as this was director Lamkin's only theatrical film, having primarily worked in television. You can definitely tell.
It's sort of a DTV version of Magnum Force (1973). On the technical end, it's all lit and shot well enough. There's the local color of something like One Man War (1990). Or, if you're being particularly uncharitable, Radical Jack (2000). There are some car stunts, a blow-up or two, and a bit of shooting, but the movie highlight comes when Rick Kelly breaks out the skills he learned in 'Nam and sets some Home Alone-esque traps for the baddies. In other words, deadly ones.
Benedict really was the Bradley Cooper of his day, which explains why Cooper played Face in the recent G. I. Joe movies. That was good casting. Someone was paying attention. On the soundtrack front, during most of the scenes of action or intrigue, Jeff Marsh provides some wailing quasi-shredding on electric guitar.
Whenever the Mexican baddie Vela appears on screen, a Mariachi-styled nylon-string acoustic guitar is strummed. We're not going to say that's racist or anything, but let's just say we wouldn't be surprised if there was an Asian character and a gong was hit every time he was on screen. For the end credits tune, a very catchy ballad called "We Can't Lose" by Marsh and Carol Michaels plays. It will likely get stuck in your head. It could've been a hit on adult contemporary radio at the time.
Of note is the fact that the Imperial Video VHS states that the running time is 97 minutes. The moment we first see the end credits, the movie clocks in at 77 minutes. A very TV-esque running time. There are also trailers on the tape, including for My Samurai (1992) and other Imperial titles, so lying and inflating the running time by 20 minutes was not necessary. But that was how it was back in the VHS days. We're just beginning to sort it all out now. That's especially true in this case, as Shadow Force doesn't appear to have been a hot renter on the shelves. From what we've been able to tell, it likely just sat on those shelves and collected dust.
Sure, it's a little slow by today's standards, and there's nothing particularly exceptional about it, but it's not bad. If more of the movie had concentrated on Dirk Benedict killing off baddies using his 'Nam skills, and it had backed off of some of the other, more boring material, we'd have a true winner on our hands. As it is, it's all a bit middle of the road. But Benedict fans may want to check it out.
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