- Fireback
"Fireback" is a Filipino low-budget
action movie directed byTeddy Page "(Teddy Chiu)" and starringRichard Harrison ,Bruce Baron ,James Gaines ,Ann Milhench , Gwendolyn Hung,Mike Monty ,Ronnie Patterson , andRuel Vernal .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 camp, he returns home only to find his wife missing.Duffy Collins "(Bruce Baron)" is a
gangster 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 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 , who leads "Jack Kaplan" towards "Duffy Collins" and is killed for that by the "Man with the Golden Hand".Man with the Golden Hand "(Ruel Vernal)" is a
tracksuit -wearinghitman with a "golden hand", working for "Duffy Collins". He kills "Digger" and "Eve", after which he is disposed of by "Jack Kaplan".Police Chief "(Mike Monty)" goes after "Jack Kaplan" after he is wrongly suspected of killing a minor bad guy.
Deputy "(Ronnie Patterson)" is the
sidekick 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)" is a
ninja working for "Duffy Collins", who is killed by "Jack Kaplan".Plot
"Jack Kaplan" is a US Army Soldier and Weapons Expert kept as a
POW somewhere inVietnam ,Cambodia orLaos (the script is never quite clear on that). Liberated by a "rescue team", he returns back home to theUnited States 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 treacherousfemme fatale "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.Mike Monty andRonnie 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 "Shadow"'ssamurai sword.Memorable lines
"He can turn an ordinary soft drink straw into a weapon."-
Mike Monty describingRichard Harrison toRonnie 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 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 thePhilippines , with additional anecdotes onJames Gaines ,Teddy Page andRomano Kristoff . Beyond that, "Fireback" has fallen into complete obscurity. Excluding minor notoriety among fans of "no-budget" FilipinoZ-movie s andRichard Harrison completists.External links
*imdb title|id=0304014|title=Fireback
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