''Ang Supremo'' () is a 1988 Filipino action film directed by Joey del Rosario and starring

Ramon Revilla Ramon Bautista Revilla Sr. (born Jose Acuña Bautista; March 8, 1927 – June 26, 2020), popularly known simply as Ramon Revilla Sr., was a Filipino actor who served as Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. He was known as the "''Hari n ...

as the titular supremo. It also stars

Chat Silayan Maria Rosario Rivera Silayan-Bailon (July 8, 1959 – April 23, 2006), also known as Chat Silayan, was a Filipino beauty queen and actress. She won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1980 crown and became the third runner-up at Miss Universe 198 ...

Eddie Garcia Eduardo Verchez Garcia (; May 2, 1929 – June 20, 2019), known colloquially as Manoy, was a Filipino actor, television personality, film director and producer. With almost 600 film and television roles and a career spanning seven decades, he ...

, Jean Saburit, Rommel Valdez, and Miguel Rodriguez. Produced by GP Films, the film was released on July 21, 1988. Critic

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on recor ...

gave ''Ang Supremo'' a mixed review, criticizing the film's confusing setting as to whether or not it is about the historical

Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight into a rebellio ...

guerrilla group or the contemporary

New People's Army The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aimi ...

, though he still considered it an adequate action film. Eddie Infante won the Film Academy of the Philippines Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Cast

as Luis Talusan *

* Jean Saburit * Rommel Valdez * Miguel Rodriguez *Ulysses Santiago *Greg Moreno *Dennis Isla *Rocco Montalban *Rodolfo Boy Garcia *Gary Gallardo *Jose Romulo *Arsenio Boots Bautista *Karim Kiram *Ernie Ortega *Omar Camar *

Lucita Soriano Lucita Soriano (born Lucita Soriano Adriano; March 22, 1941 – July 8, 2015) was a Filipino actress, who appeared in more than 215 movies and television shows. She was runner-up in the Miss Philippine Press Photography (PPP) 1964 beauty pagean ...

*Johnny Wilson * Ramon d'Salva *Eddie Arenas *Romeo Rivera * Ruben Rustia * Eddie Infante *Johnny Vicar *Renato Robles *Vic Varrion *Robert Talby *Naty Santiago *Ester Chavez *Estrella Kuenzler *Linda Castro *Alex Suñga *Francisco Cruz * E.R. Ejercito *

Delia Razon Delia Razon (born Lucy May Grytz; born August 8, 1931) is a Filipina actress born to a German father and a Spanish Filipina mother. She made her debut in 1949 in the LVN Pictures' ''Krus na Bituin''. Dona Narcisa de Leon discovered Lucy's talent ...

The poster for ''Ang Supremo'' notes that the film has "a cast of ousands".

Release

''Ang Supremo'' was released on July 21, 1988, with free diver's watches and T-shirts handed out to early moviegoers in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

Critical response

, writing for the ''

Manila Standard The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. , it is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid p ...

'', criticized the unclear setting of ''Ang Supremo''s story as to whether or not it is about the defunct

, a socialist guerilla group formed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, or the contemporary

, the armed wing of the

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is des ...

. Diaz also pointed out that the film never used the word "Huk" or any other term referring to the Hukbalahap, adding to the confusion. However, he stated that ''Ang Supremo'' is still a fine action film, commending its contextualization of rebellions as chiefly caused by people's suffering in rural areas.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Supremo, Ang 1988 films 1988 action films Filipino-language films Films about rebels Philippine action films Films directed by Joey del Rosario