William Katt is part Tarzan, part Rambo, and part
Christopher Atkins in The Blue Lagoon in this nutty, uneven Jungle Action Movie.
The Greatest American Hero sports ripped
abs and tiny shorts as an American soldier listed MIA after the Vietnam
War. He survives in the jungle and becomes
a local legend called “White Ghost”. Reb (Space Mutiny) Brown gets word Katt’s still
alive and sends an extraction team to rescue him. Naturally, Reb didn’t realize the leader of
the rescue team has been waiting twenty years to kill Katt. Whoops.
In addition to the tiny shorts, Katt is forced to
wear a hilarious mullet for the first part of the movie. These have got to be some of the worst hair
extensions in film history. The seams
between Katt’s familiar naturally curly hair and the wispy blond extensions are
obvious, and they almost look like they were glued on. Luckily, he cuts it off shortly before the
second act.
Shitty hair aside, Katt gives a solid performance. If you loved his Vietnam scenes in House, you
should enjoy this flick. Fans of Brown
may be a tad disappointed as Reb unfortunately spends a lot of time sitting behind
a desk. You have to wait 88 minutes to
see him say, “Move! Move! Move!” while shooting people, but when it
finally does happen, it’s kind of worth it.
Speaking of action, the action sequences often feel
like a mix of Rambo and Home Alone. Wearing
silly-looking make-up (so much for camouflage), Katt runs around the jungle setting
booby traps (some look like they came right out of a cannibal movie), tosses
knives into bad guys, and blows up lots of bamboo huts. What more could you really ask for from a
Jungle Action Movie? A tighter script,
crisper action, and a swifter running time would’ve been nice. As it is, White Ghost is an acceptable bamboo-hut
blasting actioner.
AKA: 48 Hours
in Vietnam.
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