Cobra (1986)

Director:

George P. Cosmatos

Writers:

Paula Gosling (novel)
Sylvester Stallone (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 May 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Crime is the disease. Meet the Cure.

Plot:

City cop is on the trail of a serial killer. Loaded with action and violence. Stallone fans will love...

Plot Keywords:

Jeep | Electronic Music Score | Police | Victimization | Rivalry

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Lieutenant Marion 'Cobra' Cobretti
Brigitte Nielsen	...	Ingrid
Reni Santoni	...	Sergeant Gonzales
Andrew Robinson	...	Detective Monte
Brian Thompson	...	Night Slasher
John Herzfeld	...	Cho
Lee Garlington	...	Nancy Stalk
Art LaFleur	...	Captain Sears (as Art La Fleur)
Marco Rodríguez	...	Supermarket Killer (as Marco Rodriguez)
Ross St. Phillip	...	Security Guard
Val Avery	...	Chief Halliwell
David Rasche	...	Dan
John Hauk	...	Low Rider
Nick Angotti	...	Prodski
Nina Axelrod	...	Waitress

Runtime:

87 min | Finland:78 min (cut) | Germany:73 min (heavily cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Ultra Stereo (35 mm prints) (as Eagle Stereo)

Certification:

UK:18 (cut) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1990) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (re-release) (uncut) | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1986) | Australia:R | Canada:14A | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Mexico:C | Singapore:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1989) (cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1986-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cannon Group

Trivia:

The submachine gun used by Marion Cobretti in the final showdown with biker gang is a Jati-Matic. The Jati-Matic first appeared in the early 1980s, but was never adopted by any country for use. It re-appeared in Finland in the mid-1990s as the GG-95 Personal Defense Weapon made by the Golden Gun Company. The gun is chambered in 9x19 parabellum, has a cyclic rate of 600 rounds/min, and has various accessories that were offered such as a silencer, various capacity magazines, and a laser pointing device.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cobra is getting grenades from his bag, he sets three on the table and takes a fourth one out. In the close-up, as he puts the fourth grenade down, only two grenades are on the table.

Quotes:

Gonzales: You're such a liar.
Cobretti: Watch your mouth. You're in public!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Operation Dance Sensation (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Voice of America's Sons

Where Rambo stops, Cobra Begins

With two Rambo movies, First Blood (1982) and Rambo : First Blood part II (1985) under his commando belt, Sylvester Stallone had confidently confirmed himself as the Box Office king of the Action Thriller genre. With all the gingoism and American flag waving that went with the comic strip adventures of the worlds favourite fictional viet nam vet, Stallone steps up a gear into Cobra (1986), one of the tightest, exciting, well written and under-rated action movies of the past few decades. Stallone takes British crime novelette Running Duck (US - Fair Game} from celebrated writer Paula Gossling and gives it the full Rambo gloss treatment. Gone from the novel is the alcoholic schizoid lead character and in his place is Marion Cobretti, the typical, four square Stallone character, and the story is all the better for this. Stallone' screenplay is pretty simple, and so is the under lying message that evil is a force that must be met on its own terms. So what we have is a violent actioneer chock full of punch ups, car chases and shooting. Sadly, the script isn't developed enough, and the Rocky elemnts so typical of Stallone's movies at this point, IE, the underdog hero who everyone is against, is used to the maxim here. Unlike the Rocky movies, the glare of humour isn't up to scratch, and so a great many of the lead characters are unlikeable. So what? Wasn't this the case with thrillers such as Seven or Resovoir Dogs? However, Rambo Director George Pan Cosmatos gives a fresh coat of paint to this particular movie, adding stylish touches of film noir to the action genre in a way that precceeds Face/Off (1997) and a whole host of successors. Bridgette Nielsen is the movies real surprise, giving a likeable and sincere performance as Helgar, under the watchful eye of her then Husband. What is really surprising is that Cosmatos manages to succesfully blend into the action genre touches of classic and contemporary horror movies such as Friday the Thirteenth and John Carpenters Halloween with the chilling depiction of the Night Slashers. The movie also contains some of the most exhilerating action and chase sequences, particularly in the movies climax, where Cobra lets rip unto the Night Slashers men. This is an under-rated gem, a very efficient Stallone/George Pan Cosmatos vehicle, and very possibly the best ever Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus/Cannon Film Group picture ever produced. .......................................................................

8/10