| Credited cast: | |||
| Robert Beltran | ... |
Eddie Guerrero
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| Annette Charles | ... |
Marlena
(as Annette Cardona)
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Américo González | ... |
Malena's Father
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| Michael Goodwin | ... |
Becket
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Ricardo López | ... |
Attila
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Gavin MacFadyen | ... |
Major Metcalf
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Walter Marín | ... |
Gilberto
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Julio Medina | ... |
Salazar
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Juan Carlos Ortiz | ... |
Marlena's son
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| Tony Plana | ... |
Ruben
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Luis Torrentes | ... |
Luis
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Set in the context of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua and their battle with the U.S.-backed Contra rebels. Eddie Guerrero (Robert Beltran) is a Vietnam War veteran sent to help U.S. Special Forces train Contra rebels. Eddie falls for a local girl, Marlena (Annette Cardona). However, when her father is killed by the Contras, things change. Written by Fryingham
If good intentions translated into great film-making, then I wouldn't be the only person reviewing this movie, and everybody would be giving it a score of 10 on IMDb. Even though this is a well-meaning film, it has justifiably gone on to become a lost historical relic of the 1980s. I actually saw this film at a fund-raiser in Los Angeles and Haskell Wexler was there. Everything about the film was dreadful. The acting, the pacing, the plot development, the screenplay. Robert Beltran plays a sort of combination CIA/Special Forces-type of commando who trains Contras in Nicaragua and falls in love with a journalist. Their relationship develops against the backdrop of the Contra war in Nicaragua. There's little chemistry between them on screen, and the film fails to engage the audience on all fronts: as a love story, as a film about war and warfare, as a drama. There were other, much better films about Central America from the period: Oliver Stone's gritty Salvador (1986) and Roger Spottiswoode's epic/fast-paced Under Fire (1983). This film just sort of disappeared. I don't even know whether it's available on DVD. Maybe I'm being harsh--it has been 20-plus years since I've seen it. And the good intentions were certainly there.