''The Human Shield'' is a 1991 low-budget American film from

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feat ...

film studio Cannon Films. It was directed by Ted Post and written by

Mann Rubin Mann Rubin (December 11, 1927 – October 12, 2013) was an American film and television screenwriter, whose credits included '' The Best of Everything'' in 1959, '' Brainstorm'' in 1965, ''Warning Shot'' in 1967, ''The First Deadly Sin'' in 1980 ...

and stars Michael Dudikoff and

Tommy Hinkley Hiram Thomas Hinkley (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in the comedy ''Back to the Beach'' (1987), and subsequently appeared in the Academy Award-winning short film ''Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall'' (al ...

. It is about a former government agent who must save his diabetic brother from Iraqi abductors.

Plot

In 1985, during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...

, Colonel Doug Matthews ( Michael Dudikoff), is a U.S. Marine hired to help train Iraqi troops to fight off the Iranians. He , arrives somewhere in the northern part of Iraq only to discover that stormtroopers are killing people in the nearby village. Doug disagrees with this and attacks Dallai, the leader of the Iraqi troops, but loses. Five years later, in August, at Baghdad Airport, the news reports that Iraq has invaded Kuwait and that all foreign nationals are to be evacuated. Ben Matthews (

), Doug's diabetic brother, who is a teacher, is taken away from his wife and child by Iraqi guards for interrogation and is held hostage to lure Doug in to a trap.

Cast

* Michael Dudikoff as Colonel Doug Matthews *

as Ben Matthews *

Hanna Azoulay Hasfari Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari ( he, חנה אזולאי-הספרי; born June 29, 1960) is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, playwright, film director and a two-time winner of the Ophir Award. She is a women's rights activist, and has dedicated her c ...

as Lila Haddilh *

Steve Inwood Steve Inwood (born January 3, 1947) is an American actor . Inwood appeared mainly in the early 1980s with roles in such films as ''Fame - The Path To Glory'', ''Prince of the City'' and ''Staying Alive''. After that, he focused on appearances ...

as Ali Dallal *

Uri Gavriel Uri Gavriel ( he, אורי גבריאל) is an Israeli theater, film and television actor. Winner of the Ophir Award and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2005 as Best Actor in film ''What a Wonderful Place''. In 2018, he appeared as P ...

as Tanzi * Avi Keidar as Sager * Gil Dagon as David * Michael Shillo as Joe Albalo * Roberto Pollack as Bashir * Irving Kaplan as Sid Cromwell * Gilat Ankori as Laura Matthews * Megan Lawson as Laura's Baby * Michael Eleazar as Iraqi Officer * Avi Cohen as Blackmarketeer * Gilya Stern as Stewardess

Reception

Emanuel Levy of

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), ...

magazine called it " a lame, small-budget actioner that exploits its political context without delivering the expected thrills of the genre." The film gained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

with most fans considered it as "one of Dudikoff's better films".

References

External links

* * 1991 films American action drama films Films set in 1990 Films set in Iraq Films set in Baghdad Films shot in Israel Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in Jordan Films directed by Ted Post 1990s action drama films Golan-Globus films Gulf War films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-action-film-stub