LET’S GET PHYSICAL: D.R.E.A.M. TEAM (1999) ** ½

FORMAT:  DVD

D.R.E.A.M. Team is a pilot for a TV series I have never heard of.  It’s essentially a Charlie’s Angels rip-off, but it’s fairly decent as far as these things go.  While there’s not much here to distinguish it from a lot of the other ‘90s action shows that were running in syndication during the decade, it does boast a surprisingly robust cast of guest stars. 

Martin Sheen is the head of a counterterrorism group.  His right-hand man (Jeff Kaake) recruits three hot women played by Angie Everhart, Traci Bingham, and Eva Halina to lead his team. Posing as a cadre of supermodels known as “The Dream Team”, they head down to Puerto Rico to stop an international terrorist group from unleashing anthrax on New York. 

The impressive roster of villains include Traci Lords, Ian McShane, Paul L. Smith (in his final role), and James Remar.  McShane equips himself nicely as the ringleader of the group and Lords looks great as his arm candy/bodyguard.  Smith and Remar are sadly a bit underutilized, but their very presence certainly elevates what could’ve easily been a forgettable experience. 

Everhardt, Bingham and Halina are appropriately sexy as the model/agents, even if they don’t exactly have a lot of chemistry together.  They, however, all look credible during their action scenes, which helps.  Kaake makes for a serviceable, if a bit dorky lead, but come on, you’re not watching this for him, are you? 

The action is consistent with a late ‘90s TV shows.  We have shootouts, explosions, and stunts that aren’t quite up to the standard of a feature, but are competent, nevertheless.  There are also the traditional fade-ins and fade-outs every fifteen minutes or so where the commercial breaks would’ve been, which helps hammer home the Made for TV feel. 

Fortunately, there are some amusing moments along the way, like McShane having a remote-control machine gun turret that is equipped with a computer readout that looks like a Super Nintendo game.  The highlight comes when Lords and Everhardt duke it out, although I for one wish it went on longer.  Sadly, the plot point of the villains placing the anthrax at the World Trade Center has aged like milk.