''Fireback'' is a Filipino low-budget

action movie 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 ...

directed by

Teddy Page Teddy Chiu, professionally known as Teddy Page, is a Filipino film director and occasional writer. He began his career as a young man in the early 1980s, directing low-budget action movies for producer K.Y. Lim's Silver Star Film Company (know ...

''(Teddy Chiu)'' and starring Richard Harrison,

Bruce Baron Bruce Baron (November 15, 1949 – April 13, 2013) was an American actor. Born in New York City, he graduated from Cornell University (B.A. 1971). He starred in several Asian movies, playing over a dozen lead roles in Hong Kong and Manila produ ...

, James Gaines, Ann Milhench, Gwendolyn Hung,

Mike Monty Mike Monty (October 23, 1936 – August 4, 2006) was an American character actor, born in 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Michael O'Donoghue but he changed his name to Mike Monty late in life. Career He left the United States for Italy i ...

, Ronnie Patterson, and

Ruel Vernal Ruel Vernal (born Norberto Paranada Venancio; September 8, 1946) is a Filipino-American actor. He was known for portraying villain and lead roles in many famous Philippine films. He was also known as the first endorser of Red Horse Beer. Biograp ...

Characters

Jack Kaplan ''( Richard Harrison)'' is a US Army Soldier and Weapons Expert who "can turn an ordinary soft drink straw into a weapon". After being rescued from a

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

camp, he returns home only to find his wife missing. Duffy Collins ''(

)'' is a

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

who falls for and is rejected by ''Jack Kaplan's'' wife ''Diane'', after which he kidnaps and eventually kills her. Diane ''( Ann Milhench)'', is ''Jack Kaplan's'' wife who becomes the target of the amorous advances of ''Duffy Collins''. ''Collins'' kidnaps her because she denies him. ''Diane'' is killed by ''Collins'' in a moment of rage after trying to escape. Eve ''( Gwendolyn Hung)'' is a treacherous, bleached-blonde

femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...

working for ''Duffy Collins'', who works as a dancer in a nightclub. She tries to seduce ''Jack Kaplan'', fails and is accidentally killed by ''Man with the Golden Hand''. Digger ''(James Gaines)'' is a small-time crook and

informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

, who leads ''Jack Kaplan'' towards ''Duffy Collins'' and is killed for that by the ''Man with the Golden Hand''. Man with the Golden Hand ''(

)'' is a

tracksuit A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with a front zipper. Also known as ''sweatsuits'' or ''trackies'', tracksuits are designed to keep the body warm during and after athletic activity. It w ...

-wearing

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

with a "golden hand", working for ''Duffy Collins''. He kills ''Digger'' and ''Eve'', after which he is disposed of by ''Jack Kaplan''. Police Chief ''(

)'' goes after ''Jack Kaplan'' after he is wrongly suspected of killing a minor bad guy. Deputy ''( Ronnie Patterson)'' is the

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

of ''Police Chief'', out to capture ''Jack Kaplan''. Cat Burglar ''( Ron David)'' is a villain working for ''Duffy Collins'', who is killed by ''Jack Kaplan''. Shadow ''(

Tony Aaron Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

)'' is a

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

working for ''Duffy Collins'', who is killed by ''Jack Kaplan''.

Plot

''Jack Kaplan'' is a US Army Soldier and Weapons Expert kept as a

somewhere in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

(the script is never quite clear on that). Liberated by a "rescue team", he returns home 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 ...

only to find out that his wife ''Diane'' has been captured by infatuated gangster ''Duffy Collins''. ''Kaplan'' embarks on a mission to find his wife, running into characters like ''Digger'', ''Man With The Golden Hand'', and the treacherous

''Eve''. ''Diane'' is killed by ''Collins'' while trying to escape him, and the storyline turns extremely confusing. ''Collins'' sends bizarrely named hitmen like ''Cat Burglar'' and ''Panther'' out to kill ''Jack Kaplan'', who dispatches all of them. ''Kaplan'' ends up suspected of the murder of one of the minor baddies (whom he didn't actually kill) and a fugitive from the law.

and Ronnie Patterson show up as policemen, who eventually track ''Kaplan'' down to a junkyard where he's been hiding. ''Kaplan'' escapes with the help of his customized car and a combination of a bazooka, a crossbow and a shotgun. The setting switches from the US to "the jungle". ''Kaplan'' kills a legion of policemen on his trail and is wounded in the process. He holes up in a "jungle" cave, where he's attacked by a ninja called ''Shadow'', who is one of the henchmen of ''Duffy Collins''. Kaplan kills ''Shadow'', masquerades as him and infiltrates the stronghold of ''Collins'', where he, after a short fight, disposes of him with ''Shadows

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

sword.

Memorable lines

''"He can turn an ordinary soft drink straw into a weapon."''-

describing Richard Harrison to Ronnie Patterson. ''"He's heading for the jungle!"''-Policemen chasing after Richard Harrison. (The film is supposedly set in the United States.)

Reviews

Fireback has never been reviewed or featured in print much of anywhere. The

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

gives it a votes average of 4.9. Richard Harrison wrote a short piece on ''Fireback'' and the ''Silver Star'' films for the book '' Gods in Polyester'', where he recalls his (generally negative) experiences working in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, with additional anecdotes on James Gaines,

and

Romano Kristoff Romano Kristoff is a Spanish actor, writer and director, better known for his work in Filipino cinema. He worked mostly in the Philippines between the 1980s and early 1990s. He was also credited as Rom Kristoff, Ron Kristoff, Run Kristoff, Ron Kra ...

. Beyond that, ''Fireback'' has fallen into complete obscurity. Excluding minor notoriety among fans of "no-budget" Filipino

Z-movie Zmovies (or grade-Zmovies) are low-budget films with production qualities lower than Bmovies. History and terminology The term "Zmovie" arose in the mid-1960s as an informal description of certain unequivocally non-A films. It was soon adopted ...

s and Richard Harrison completists. The movie provided inspiration for the

Collapsed Lung A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by ...

song "Codename: Omega" on their 1996 album ''Cooler'' ("Omega" was the codename for the elaborate weapon Jack Kaplan wielded in the film).

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0304014, title=Fireback 1983 films 1983 action films