User Reviews

When Michael Smith, a CIA agent, is captured by government forces in Angola his father, retired US Marine Colonel Bill Smith sets out to rescue him. He flies into South West Africa and learns that his son is being interrogated by an East German officer in an Angolan fort. He hires a group of mercenaries and heads through the Skeleton Coast desert towards the border. Things go wrong when they cross paths with Captain Simpson; a cruel man who is employed by the diamond mines to hunt down smugglers. This leaves them a man down and more importantly their vehicles are destroyed. He leaves Smith and his people to die in the desert but they find a new way to Angola. Once there they run into the rebel leader Smith's son had been working with then head to the fort to attempt a rescue.

This is a distinctly average film; the plot is fairly basic and much of the action is fairly laughable. That said it isn't terrible; it just could have been much better. Ernest Borgnine is solid enough as Col. Smith and Oliver Reid was suitably menacing as Captain Simpson; it was a pity that his character didn't play a larger role. Robert Vaughn was okay as East German intelligence officer Maj. Schneider; he played the role fairly straight when some over-the-top hamminess might have suited the film more! The direction isn't the greatest; if it wasn't for the fact that it was a bit violent in places one could be forgiven for thinking it was made for television. Overall I'd say that this isn't worth going out of your way to find… it was just about worth the 50p I paid for it.

SKELETON COAST is a very low rent action/war film, made in South Africa and shot in the Namibian desert. If you're going to watch it, it's going to be for the various ageing actors who have been coerced into appearing, because otherwise it's a film with no value. The action is cheap and repetitive, and the 'mission' plot feels meandering and lacking in plot.

Ernest Borgnine headlines the piece as a mercenary who must break into a fortress to rescue his kidnapped son, but what plays out is cheap and lacklustre. Watch out for a gruff Oliver Reed cameo, a sheepish Robert Vaughn as the baddie, and Herbert Lom in an early part. Arnold Vosloo's here too, years before HARD TARGET and THE MUMMY, and he has a full head of hair! It says something that this is the most remarkable thing about the movie.

When his son Michael, who is an undercover CIA operative, is kidnapped and imprisoned by the Angolan army, his father Col. Bill Smith (Borgnine) snaps into action and assembles a team of inter-racial mercenaries to travel deep into Africa to free his son. This team includes, but is not limited to: Smith himself, Blade (Vosloo), Toshiro (Kwong), Sam (Mulford), Chuck (Kennedy) and Rick (Greene). All have their specialties in the fighting arts. On the side of the baddies we have Col. Schneider (Vaughn), supposedly an East German with some interests in the Angolan army vs. the rebels, and Capt. Simpson (Reed), yet another character who has his own interests. Add to this mix Elia (Lom) and you have a desert/jungle adventure best suited to Saturday afternoon viewing.

Clearly, the only real reason to see this movie is its incredible cast. Our hometown hero Ernest Borgnine leads the pack with his engaging and always-upbeat performance. It really is a pleasure to see him shooting machine guns along with all the younger cast. We also always love to see Oliver Reed doing what he does best - yelling crazily - whether he technically has to be there or not. He plays a very similar character here as he does in Rage to Kill (1987). Robert Vaughn brings his distinct voice to the proceedings, and a fairly early performance by Arnold Vosloo completes the picture. Interestingly enough, he met and married co-star Nancy Mulford when they met on this film. See, Skeleton Coast really brings people together.

While the many stars on show will draw viewers in, and there is plenty of beautiful scenery and such, the movie is kind of flat and feels like filler at times. It also has some wacky musical stings that seem inappropriate. Really, this is just a star-studded Exploding Hut movie, and it's also a bit overlong (probably to try to accommodate all the characters).

On the technical front, if you watch this on Netflix streaming, the colors are soft and faded. On the Nelson VHS, that is not the case. The movie looks a lot more normal, with sharper colors. If you opt to buy this movie, look for the Nelson VHS.

While the wonderfully jolly Ernest Borgnine is a personal hero, Skeleton Coast really is nothing overly good OR overly bad. It's kind of somewhere in the middle. If you're a fan of any of the stars involved, and you're okay with that, do proceed. If not, your time might be better spent elsewhere. If Skeleton Coast was The Expendables (2010) of its day, then Ernest Borgnine truly is the original Stallone.

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The basic plotline has the over the top Ernest Borgnine (was he ever anything else?) searching for his missing son and dealing with the Russians and Germans and the equally campy Herbert Lom in his efforts to get international assistance. Borgnine gets to utilize a fake accent (basically imitating Fearless Leader from Bullwinkle as he deals with German officer Robert Vaughan) and provides some delightful comic moments in his efforts to bring in some comedy even though the script didn't have it. Action film and "Falcon Crest" actor Daniel Greene is brawny if not brainy as the much younger military associate of Borgnine's, quite the agile man of action. The combination of unintentional comedy and nonstop action (some quite violent) works on the aspect that you never expect it to blend as well as it does.

There's some feminine beauty here that is often funny as well, with Lom's black wife laughing hysterically when Borgnine gets the better of her husband, and a blonde vixen who is able to fight among the best of the rugged masculinity standing side by side with her. Lom seems to think that he's reciting Shakespeare with his not quite Shakespearean dialog as if he was King Lear, MacArthur and Don Vito Corleone, going up against Borgnine once again emulating Wallace Beery, with a bit of Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy as well. Oliver Reed has high up billing, but his role is nothing more than a pointless cameo. Simon Sabela stands out in a nice part as an African military officer with a big heart of gold and a laugh that would give Geoffrey Holder a double take to make sure it wasn't him. Maybe not the greatest action film but one that is very amusing for its unique narrative.