Review: FUTURE FORCE

Director: David A. Prior
1989
Echo Bridge DVD (2007)

Is this Italian?

As at least one of you may know, I received my Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. I had intentions of becoming a Criminal Investigator. Certain things happened in my life that prevented me from following through with that goal.


In a world like Future Force's. I wouldn't have given up on my dreams of glory so quickly. The world of Future Force is screwed up big time. Crime is out of control.

The movie starts out explaining that in 1991 (a clever year to use as the "Future" but not have to spend money on "Future" sets), the world is badly ridden with crime, the government has gone to privatized police forces. Civilian Operated Police Systems - AKA C.O.P.S. operate like crews of bounty hunters that wear matching denim vests and leather gauntlets.

Tucker, is the old badass C.O.P.S. dude that scores all the big money jobs. The young fools on the force try testing him, but they can't top his sweet skills or Robot arm that fires chain lightning.

Of Course, they can all get along while hanging out at the DMZ, a titty bar that plays synth xylophone driven funk tunes. They especially dig Tucker when he shoots the TV when lame ass reporters diss C.O.P.S. on TV.

C.O.P.S. Mogul, Jason Adams (Prior regular and Tattoo Assassin's (!!!) Alum, William Zipp) is coming up against heat from a particularly super lame ass reporter named Marion Simms. So he has his bald headed man servant put a huge bounty on her head. Tucker's nerdy ass man servant that sits in a computer all day radios Tucker to inform him of the huge bounty. Tucker drives his kickass Jeep Cherokee (similar to the one John Moret drove in High School) and hunts down Marion's sweet Chevy Cavalier Convertible.

Carradine doesn't kill Simms because:

#1: She's a babe.
#2: She bites him
#3: Some other C.O.P.S. get orders "From the Top" to overtake Tucker.

Naturally Tucker Shoots dominant lightning at them and realizes something isn't right. He's framed for murder for ganking one of Adams' goons. He teams up with "The Newscaster Broad" and takes on Adams and the C.O.P.S. organization.

The plot is mostly illogical. Tucker nabs the reporter within minutes of her bounty being posted. Adams' goal is to get her from prying in C.O.P.S. affairs. IF Adams hadn't have interfered, he would have had his way.

The nerd keeps reminding Tucker to use the remote control for the arm. When he does. Awesome happens.

Like many of Prior's movies, Future Force simply takes a lot of common cinema trends from the period, jumbles them together into something that would please the video rental crowd and sell well on the international action market. Future Force mixes Robocop, Dirty Harry, The Terminator, Captain Power, and a 1989, straight to video budget. While one can likely make comparisons to many other films, Prior managed to make a film that in no way copies the above mentioned. Sure many people see these films as "cheesy" or "bad" but to hell with it, they're entertaining. That's why we watch movies in the first place. And in this movie David Carradine punches at least two dudes in the balls.

Also worth noting, The pot bellied, limping, Canned High Life swigging, Carradine is somehow undeniable as a screen presence. Carradine had charisma and charm for his entire career. He's been in quite a few terrible movies, but he always shines. It may also be that Carradine has a sweet robotic arm that shoots explosive lightning.

This is the DVD I have. Lawnmower Man?

The DVD-

The DVD I have is pretty well junk. It's a two disc set that includes Future Force and the sequel Future Zone. It looks slightly better than a VHS tape. Each disc has the movie and Chapter selections. I can't complain too much though, they did release this movie. For that I am grateful.

Set Yourself Up:

- Make a robot arm - Tin Foil is fine.
- Get a case of canned High Life.
-Wrap a line of ham and cheese sandwiches in to your robot arm.
- Cook them with lighting.

Awesome Special Thanks:

Miller Beer

- M. McSlam