Remove ads
Laser Mission is a West German action film directed by Beau J. Davis.[1] It stars Brandon Lee, Ernest Borgnine and Werner Pochath in his final film role. The film was released under the title Soldier of Fortune.
| Laser Mission | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Beau Davis |
| Screenplay by | Phillip Guteridge |
| Story by | David A. Frank |
| Produced by | Claus Czaika |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Hans Kuhle Jr. |
| Edited by | E. Selave |
| Music by | David Knopfler |
Production companies |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | English |
Remove ads
The plot concerns a mercenary named Michael Gold (Lee) who is sent to convince Dr. Braun (Borgnine), a laser specialist, to defect to the United States before the KGB acquire him and use both his talent and a stolen diamond to create a nuclear weapon. Dr. Braun is captured by the KGB and Gold is sent on a mission to rescue both him and the diamond. He has to enlist the help of Dr. Braun's daughter Alissa (Debi A. Monahan), whom he eventually falls for. The pair confront Col. Kalishnakov (Graham Clarke), whom they kill by hitting him with a truck in the climax of this story.
Remove ads
- Brandon Lee as Michael Gold
- Debi A. Monahan as Alissa
- Ernest Borgnine as Prof. Braun
- Graham Clark as Col. Kalishnakov
- Trevor Williamson as The Foot
Remove ads
In the United States the film was released on home video in 1990 by Turner Home Entertainment.[2]
The film was released in Australia directly on video in 1994.[3]
Remove ads
In the US the film was a financial success.[2][4]
After Brandon Lee's untimely death in an accident on the set of The Crow, movies such as Laser Mission saw a surge in video sales.[5]
Remove ads
From contemporary reviews, Variety described the film as a "lively, well-made actioner with humor" that had both Brandon Lee and Debi Monahan left to "struggle with a mediocre script."[6] Jon Casimir of The Sydney Morning Herald did not like the film finding the acting poor, with the plot and action scenes unconvincing.[7] Pat Gillespie of The Age found the direction clumsy but said that Lee's and action films fans would find the film entertaining.[3]
From retrospective reviews, Jim Vorel and Kenneth Lowe of Paste Magazine did not like it and found the continuity disorienting.[8] Dan Colón of Talk Film Society said the film is great for those with an appetite for action orientated B movies.[9]
Remove ads
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads