Deadly Impact (1984)

Impatto mortale

Cast:

Bo "I can any kind of Snowbeast" Svenson is George Ryan
Fred "I am 'THE HAMMER'!!!" Williamson is Lou
Marcia Clingan is Kathy Heller
Giovanni Lombardo Radice is Al
Vincent Conte is Kurt

What the box says:

When a computer hacker calculates a program that beats the slot machines at Las Vegas casinos he and his girlfriend make a killing. Then so do the other criminals, after torturing the two to find out the system. Soon all the crooks in town are trying to get a copy of the software, including crooked cop George Ryan (Bo Svenson) and his buddy Lou (Fred Williamson). Also featuring Marcia Clingan and John Morghen.

Plot:

In the 1980s, let the computer hacking by Harry ensue. He radios to his girlfriend Kathy which casino to hit the slot machines. He's calculated which slots are winning. A couple of a gangsters are following them to find their hidden stash. Harry and Kathy have been winning for the past couple of months. Leaving out of Vegas, they're planning to buy a ranch and start a family.

In Phoenix, George, a cop, picks up his friend, Lou, at the airport.

Gang guys are waterboarding Harry. Demanding the money, he is drowned. George heads to the apartment where the 2 guys are searching. A firefight ensues before the car chase. The gang guys get away from George.

At the station, George is getting chewed out by his boss. Lou has been looking around for the gang guys when George catches up with him.

The gang guys are searching for Kathy.

George and Lou look into Harry's background and learn about his computer background. They head to Vegas and learn that Harry had some sort of system to beat the casinos. George wants to get the program for himself.

Phoenix, George returns and looking for Kathy. He's being followed by the gang and has a shootout. Lou is able to fly up and rescue George. They trail the gang car but get evaded.

Later, George, finds Kathy's friend, Nancy. Gang guys are hiding in her apartment and shoot her afterwards. GEorge is sent to some kind of bar that looks like a very angry Blue Oyster Bar from the Police Academy movies. He is able to get out of the bar without being in a fight. Back at the station, George learns that Nancy was shot and killed.

Gang guys finally get Kathy.

Lou gets George about the gang's location with Kathy. George heads to the airport disreguarding vehicle saefty and propert damages. George reaches to Lou's chopper and take off.

Gang has taken off and force Kathy to reveal where the money is. Let the gunfight between the choppers ensue. The gang gets to the ranch. Kathy takes them to the money when George and Lou catch up. Let the gunfight ensue. Lou checks on Kathy who get shot. George jumps from the gang chopper into a near lake before it crashes into a cliff-side. Lou picks up George who grabbed the money.

George decides to take the money in and take a long vacation. Afterwards, in Vegas, George and Lou are hitting the casinos and are using the slot machine gambling program to win...

What I say:

The mid-1980s Italian action movie shows that back in the day, Italy could run any b-movie genre into the ground. It was even more than just that. Well, including an American name was almost an unspoken requirement. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is one of the few actors who deserve the word "The" with their nickname. In the 1970s, he was one of the big Blacksploitation stars in Black Caesar, Fist of Fear, Touch of Death, Hell Up in Harlem, and Mean Johnny Barrows. The following decade saw Fred going into more low budget foreign movies such as Black Cobra and Black Cobra 2. Well, The first and mid part of the 1980s Italy film industry saw Fred in things like Warriors of the Wasteland.

This is not the kind of buddy action movie with the comedy we've gotten so use to thanks to the Lethal Weapon movies. Bo Svenson is the crooked, tough cop. How tough, he gets into a bar and leaves without having a bar-fight even when other guys are readying pool-cues. That has to be a first. Bo Svenson and Fred are both from the very tough guy mold. Even if Fred doesn't pack the firepower of Svenson, they wander around and the gun or car-fights will have to ensue in short time. The final Chopper chase reminds me a lot of the ultra-light chase from Howard the Duck. That was definitely an action movie killer.

The computer genius is able to calculate which slot machines in Las Vegas are on hot streaks. Excuse me, my computer questioning has been fired up...Just how could anyone get the data from all the Vegas Casinos wirelessly in 1984? Alternating between the various casinos to get to the winning slot machines and not get recongized by the security...It would have made more sense for the hacker genius to start selling how the casinos could recognize which of their slots were hot to keep from losing more.

This is jsut a caper movie that seems to be set up for the random action scene every 10 minutes or so. Get the feeling that had this movie been seen back in 1984, it wouldn't have been action packed or awe-inspiring. Think of it as a pre-Direct-to-Video movie. It was originally released in Italy before the dubbing got it over here to the good USA.

Quotable Dialogue
"I don't know who you love more - me or your computer?"
"What are you trying to do make 'Cop of the Month' award?"
"Shoot him in the head, he's wearing a bulletproof vest."
"You got weird way of arresting people..."
Morals of the Story
Criminals routinely carrying fragmentary grenades.
Wacky synthesizer music excites car chases.
Cars easily jump 50 foot heights without damage.
Plenty of people with true "Suthern" accents live in Phoenix, AZ.