I know there are kindred spirits who also spent hours upon hours walking the aisles of video stores looking for titles to bring home. With the countless tapes (and later DVD), it was easy to overlook something that may have been worth a view. With all the clocked hours of browsing, the cover art would be my point of reference. The titles would often escape me, but once I’d see the artwork, it was like a door being unlocked and opened with a flood of memories running through. When the title Opposing Force (1986) came across my desk, I knew it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. When I saw the cover art, I knew exactly the film I would be diving into. Thanks to Ronin Flix and Scorpion Releasing, Opposing Force has returned to Blu-ray so fans can rejoice.
Casey (Lisa Eichhorn) is the only female soldier who is part of an experiment to simulate POW torture. She quickly becomes the obsession of her commanding officer Becker (Anthony Zerbe), who goes to the extreme regarding the torture with her. He doesn’t feel what he’s doing to her as being wrong, just part of the experiment. Fellow soldier Logan (Tom Skerritt) realizes things are going too far and rebels with her against their superior, causing a major rift in the system. With the split, blood will be spilled, and an all-out war is looming around the corner.
Opposing Force is nothing like the film I thought it would be. I had always assumed it was a B-action or exploitation flick. What I saw was far more challenging to watch because it’s a dark and brutal tale with a brave and powerful performance from Lisa Eichhorn. The cast is terrific, which also includes Richard Roundtree, Robert Wightman, John Considine, and more.
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Scorpion Releasing has basically re-issued its release from 2020, which includes a 2019 commentary with director Eric Karson (The Octagon), an alternate ending, a trailer, as well as the new HD master, which had been commissioned for the previous release. Opposing Force looks and sounds fantastic, a crisp transfer for a film worthy of being revisited for those who have seen it.
Since this was my first time, I’m not sure I’d watch it again since the subject matter is so hard-hitting, but I’m certainly impacted by it. Scorpion continues to bring the best of the best to our homes on physical media, and this film is no different.
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