''Laser Mission'' is a West German

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Beau J. Davis. It stars

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed what was to be his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the supernatural superhero fi ...

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine ( ; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perf ...

and Werner Pochath in his final film role. The film was released under the title ''Soldier of Fortune''.

Plot

The plot concerns a

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

named Michael Gold (Lee) who is sent to convince Dr. Braun (Borgnine), a

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

specialist, to defect to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

before the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

acquire him and use both his talent and a stolen diamond to create a nuclear weapon. Dr. Braun is captured by the KGB and Gold is sent on a mission to rescue both him and the diamond. He has to enlist the help of Dr. Braun's daughter Alissa (Debi A. Monahan), whom he eventually falls for. The pair confront Col. Kalishnakov (Graham Clarke), whom they kill by hitting him with a truck in the climax of this story.

Cast

as Michael Gold * Debi A. Monahan as Alissa *

as Prof. Braun * Graham Clark as Col. Kalishnakov * Trevor Williamson as The Foot

Release

In the

the film was released on home video in 1990 by

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner on August 2, 1986. Purchased by Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was lar ...

. The film was released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

directly on video in 1994.

Box office

In the US the film was a financial success. After Brandon Lee's untimely death in an accident on the set of ''The Crow'', movies such as ''Laser Mission'' saw a surge in video sales.

Reception and legacy

From contemporary reviews, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the film as a "lively, well-made actioner with humor" that had both Brandon Lee and Debi Monahan left to "struggle with a mediocre script." Jon Casimir of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' did not like the film, finding the acting poor, with the plot and action scenes unconvincing. Pat Gillespie of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' found the direction clumsy but said that Lee's and action film fans would find the film entertaining. From retrospective reviews, Jim Vorel and Kenneth Lowe of ''Paste Magazine'' did not like it and found the continuity disorienting. Dan Colón of ''Talk Film Society'' said the film is great for those with an appetite for action-oriented

B movies A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, ...

. RiffTrax spoofed the film on October 3, 2011.RiffTrax
/ref>

References

Sources

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, id=laser_mission
Excerpts of RiffTrax's treatment on official YouTube channel

Official video trailer
1989 films 1989 action films German action films West German films Cold War spy films English-language German films Films about mercenaries Films shot in Germany Films shot in Namibia Films shot in South Africa 1980s English-language films 1980s German films English-language action films