In the midst of all the craziness in the world, it’s hopeful knowing that we can count on Mill Creek Entertainment to deliver the goods. The company has once again brought more Andy Sidaris titles to physical media. With the release of Enemy Gold and The Dallas Connection, we are slowly reaching the end of the road. There are only two more releases to follow, but these titles are just a bit different than the rest. While Andy and Arlene Sidaris still produced the films, it was Christian Drew Sidaris, Andy’s son, who wrote (or co-wrote) and directed them. Let’s take a closer look and see how far the apple falls from the tree.
During the Civil War, two soldiers accidentally stumble upon a whole lot of gold. They do what any person would do and hide it deep in the woods where no one will find it. Flash forward to present time (in the film, 1993) and three federal agents Chris (Bruce Penhall), Becky (Suzi Simpson), and Mark (Mark Barriere) are on a mission to bring down ruthless drug kingpin Santiago (Rodrigo Obregon). After getting suspended for how they handled things, the group takes a vacation in the exact same forest and stumble upon the Civil War gold. Santiago isn’t going to let them get away with putting a kink in his operation, however. He brings out the big guns when he enlists the aid of expert assassin Jewel Panther (Julie Strain) to put an end to the agents. In the end, who will survive, and more importantly, who will get away with the gold.
As far as the apple falling far from the tree, it turns out, it didn’t really fall too far. Christian Drew Sidaris does a solid job of building on what his father began nearly a decade before. Most of what you would expect to see in an Andy Sidaris film is present, and in spades. There’s a plethora of explosions and beautiful women in various states of undress. One thing I did notice was the lack of gadgets. Most Sidaris films use remote control vehicles, Frisbees, and even a blow-up doll as some sort of weapon but aside from a cross-bow with explosives, you won’t really find any.
Enemy Gold has a smidge of humor, a couple of great one-liners, but it mostly feels as if it takes itself a bit more seriously than the films before it. It’s great to have Bruce Penhall, Julie Strain, and the late Rodrigo Obregon return in new roles. It is, however, a shock to the system knowing there’s no Dona Speir. She never has really been given the credit she deserves for the contributions she has made to the series. The action in Enemy Gold is grounded a bit more in reality and it almost seems to feel a bit tighter. Being set in the American wilderness, it does venture into location territory it’s never explored before. Another solid entry in the series, as well as another fantastic transfer with plenty of classic bonus features to browse.
The Dallas Connection delivers exactly what you would expect from the series, nothing more, nothing less. With a major convention for all the world’s top scientists on the horizon, assassins are popping up out of the woodwork to kill them. It turns out, there was supposed to be a state-of-the-art satellite launched that would be able to track all the world’s weapons. There’s four microchips needed and three of the scientists who had them were slain. Believed to be the next target, Antonio Morales (Rodrigo Obregon) needs protection and the agency puts their best agent on it, Samantha Maxx (Samantha Phillips). With the help of some old friends, they will do whatever it takes to keep him from falling victim to Black Widow (Julie Strain) and her stripper assassins.
There’s a couple of great one-liners, and how can you go wrong having Julie Strain play an assassin who has sex with her victims right before she kills them? In a sense, I kind of felt The Dallas Connection, as well as Enemy Gold, almost felt as if they were re-booting the series. The actors were all having a good time, and having Julie K. Smith show up was also a welcome addition.
For the martial arts aficionados, the legendary Gerald Okamura (Big Trouble in Little China) is one of the villains. There’s a welcome return of the remote control toys, and don’t expect a lack of explosions. Once again directed by Christian Drew Sidaris, he most certainly follows in his father’s footsteps.
The world of Andy Sidaris can be a bit confusing sometimes with actors who have died returning as new characters, usually pretty similar to the character they portrayed before, but it’s all in good fun. As for the critics who were always harsh on these films, they seriously missed the point. These are not to be over-analyzed for story or acting, they were always meant to be fun and he always succeeded.
RELATED: Live-Action ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Movie Casts Jason Momoa
