{"id":3736,"date":"2024-08-29T03:16:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T03:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3736"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:15:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:15:38","slug":"angels-brigade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/29\/angels-brigade\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Brigade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Angels Brigade<\/strong> (1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arista Films\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 96 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (violence, drug material)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Greydon Clark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Greydon Clark and Alvin L. Fast\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Gerald Lee\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Dean Cundey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Susan Kiger, Jacqulin Cole, Sylvia Anderson, Lieu Chinh, Noela Velasco, Robin Greer, Liza Greer, Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Jim Backus, Neville Brand, Pat Buttram, Alan Hale, Arthur Godfrey, Darby Hinton, Mike Gugliotta, Cody Palance, Kenny Endoso.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Is it possible Quentin Tarantino got his inspiration for \u201cFox Force Five\u201d, the pilot that Uma Thurman\u2019s character from Pulp Fiction talks about co-starring in, from Angels Brigade<\/strong>? I wouldn\u2019t be surprised; the premises are too similar to ignore. It\u2019s highly likely he\u2019s seen it given his affinity for obscure B-movie titles. Also, is it just a coincidence that it was featured on an episode of MST3K in 1995, the year after<\/em> Pulp Fiction came out? The evidence, albeit circumstantial, appears to support my hypothesis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I never heard of Angels Brigade<\/strong> until I found it on Tubi under the title Angels Revenge. It\u2019s also known as Seven from Heaven which would explain why a big number 7 is sometimes used to transition from one scene to the next. When I saw it was directed by Greydon Clark, I knew I had to check it out. He\u2019s to schlock what Bergman is to arthouse fare with titles like Black Shampoo, Satan\u2019s Cheerleaders, Without Warning, Joysticks and The Forbidden Dance to his name. With a resume like that, Angels Brigade<\/strong> couldn\u2019t possibly miss, right? Well, let\u2019s just say it doesn\u2019t quite hit the mark.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While the ladies are the stars of the show, it\u2019s their co-stars that get top billing. The supporting cast consists of has-been actors obviously looking to retain their SAG membership by accepting small roles in trashy B-movies like Angels Brigade<\/strong>. The line-up includes Jack Palance (Shane), Peter Lawford (card-carrying Rat Pack member), Neville Brand (Kansas City Confidential), Pat Buttram (Green Acres), Darby Hinton (Daniel Boone), TV entertainer Arthur Godfrey (as himself) and Gilligan\u2019s Island co-stars Alan Hale and Jim Backus. Each actor gets a few minutes of screen time, after which they presumably collect their paychecks and go home.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The plot centers on a group of female bad asses who band together to take down a drug ring. The effort is spearheaded by schoolteacher April (Cole, Satan\u2019s Sadists) who approaches Las Vegas singer Michelle (Kiger, H.O.T.S.) with her plan of action after the entertainer\u2019s little brother is beaten senseless by the pusher (Hinton) who got him hooked on dope. April figures Michelle\u2019s up-and-coming celebrity status (she currently has a song on the pop charts) will make it easier to approach potential recruits. It\u2019s twisted logic, but OK whatever. The other members of the team are movie stunt driver Terry (Anderson, Ebony, Ivory & Jade), martial artist Keiko (Chinh), model\/ex-junkie Maria (Velasco), police woman Elaine (Robin Greer) and high school teen Trish (Liza Greer).<\/p>\n

\u00a0The plan is to destroy the ranch where the drugs are processed before hitting the street. But first, the girls have some prep work to do. They need transportation. No problem. They buy a van (with cash!) and turn it into a supervan with a computer, gun turret, battering ram, bazooka and a ramp for the motorcycle stashed in the back. They\u2019re also going to need guns and ammo. To acquire them, they hatch a plan to steal them from a fanatical right-wing organization led by Mr. Howell (aka \u201cthe millionaire!\u201d) himself. Backus is NOT the most intimidating right-wing leader out there, but wait until you get a load of the guard with the Hitler moustache. If he had a German accent, he could be a cousin to bumbling Sgt. Schultz from Hogan\u2019s Heroes. Oh yeah, let\u2019s not forget the matching outfits, skin-tight white jumpsuits. Now they\u2019re ready for action!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lawford plays the head of the drug ring, a rich guy named Burke. He talks a lot about control, especially as it relates to his main guy\u2019s (Palance) handing of the situation involving the ladies. Do you notice something peculiar about his performance, the slurred speech perhaps? That\u2019s because Lawford was reportedly drunk the whole time he worked on Angels Brigade<\/strong>. Who came blame him? It\u2019s a long way down from performing alongside Frank, Dino and Sammy Baby. It was so bad, he actually had to sit down for his character\u2019s intro scene to keep from falling down. Palance, stone cold sober, isn\u2019t even trying. He\u2019s played a villain so many times, he can do it in his sleep which it looks like he\u2019s doing here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here\u2019s a quick rundown of the rest of the has-been players. Brand plays Elaine\u2019s sexist boss who makes no effort to hide his disapproval of \u201cbroads\u201d on the force. Hale is Michelle\u2019s manager. Buttram is the used car dealer who sells the girls their van. And Mr. Godfrey shows up backstage after Michelle\u2019s final gig at a Vegas lounge to offer congratulations on her success as a singer. For the most part, their roles are walk-throughs. They show up, read their lines and that\u2019s it. Great work if you can get it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If acting was in any way important, Angels Brigade<\/strong> would be in serious trouble. The lead actresses may be hot, but none of them can actually act. They\u2019re what\u2019s known in the industry as \u201ceye candy\u201d. None of them would go on to become superstars. It\u2019s the only feature film credit for Chinh and Velasco. Anderson hasn\u2019t acted since she appeared in an episode of The Fall Guy in \u201982. The Greer sisters appeared together in a 1989 episode of Full House. Liza called it quits after that while Robin did small parts in TV shows and movies until \u201993. Cole, married to Greydon in real life, continued to act sporadically until a few years before her death in 2003. Kiger, 1977 Playboy Playmate of the Year, last appeared in the 1982 horror movie Death Screams.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s some fun to be had with Angels Brigade<\/strong> as long as you don\u2019t set your sights too high. Don\u2019t expect any of the cheap thrills normally associated with cheap exploitation movies. It\u2019s rated PG which means there\u2019s no bloody violence or gratuitous T&A. The big action scene at the drug processing plant has a lot of shooting and stuff blows up, yet nobody actually gets killed. In terms of content, it\u2019s no worse than an episode of Charlie\u2019s Angels. Also, Greydon really struggles with tone. He can\u2019t seem to find the right balance of action and humor. As a result, Angels Brigade<\/strong> is too goofy to be taken seriously and too rough (at times) to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0To its credit, Angels Brigade<\/strong> has a few decent action scenes. Sure, they\u2019re a bit clumsy, but what do you want from a movie made on the cheap? This is the kind of movie you watch on a double bill with something better. It\u2019s a half-decent time killer on a rainy weekend afternoon, but that\u2019s about it.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angels Brigade (1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arista Films\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 96 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (violence, drug material)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Greydon Clark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Greydon Clark and Alvin L. Fast\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Gerald Lee\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Dean Cundey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Susan Kiger, Jacqulin Cole, Sylvia Anderson, Lieu Chinh, Noela Velasco, Robin Greer, Liza Greer, Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Jim Backus, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Angels-Brigade-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3736"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4447,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3736\/revisions\/4447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}