Death Before Dishonor (1987)

You won't be disappointed!

Great Film overall

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Blistering performances.

Sergeant Burns reports for duty the American Embassy in the Middle East. Due to the 'enlightened' views of the Ambassador, the marine security detachment he is in charge of is severely restricted in their functions and presence to avoid upsetting the host government. As a result, when terrorists attack the compound, they are able to kidnap hostages and escape with little opposition. Burns ignores the Ambassador's restrictions, as he becomes a one man army in an attempt to rescue the hostages, and wipe out the terrorists.....This has been one of those films I've been curious about since I saw it on a video shelf in 1989, and I finally got the chance to see the film after 24 years. Lets just say it might have been good when I was 12, but seeing it now, it didn't entertain.Its basically a poor mans Heartbreak Ridge, with Dryer playing the grizzled lead who turns into Rambo come the end. For a generic action movie, its pretty violent and some if the scene are shocking, so kudos to the makers for that.But the rest of the film is dull, and not very exciting. You've seen one explosion you've seen them all, you've seen the enemy shot a hundred rounds, and the hero firing one, yep, it happens here all the time.If your a connoisseur of eighties action movies like myself, you'll be clock watching around the thirty minute mark.

Death Before Dishonor takes itself too seriously, and in this case it's a plus. Though it's lead isn't the best actor in the world, it's good to see someone different beside the Chuckies and Stallones. It's actually a really put together film, that I wouldn't call spectacular, but it treads the thin line between fair and good, where it's closer to good. It has a different setting too, the middle east. Sergeant Gunnery Burns (Dryer is caught in an ambush, his marines slaughtered, his commanding officer (Brian "Family Affair" Keith) is kidnapped along with two escorting marines, by merciless terrorists, who's ways of getting answers are brutal. One marine's hand takes a hell of a drilling from a Mackita, at a terrorists/bitch's hand. A nasty piece of role. When they go for the leg next, he folds, against that ever existing rule, as well as his shamed C.O, Death Before Dishonor. A great title. The ambush sequence is fantastically shot, where at the end of it, Dryer yells s..t after jumping from a bridge, into a gully, his jeep, he evacuates, prior, exploding. There's some other good action pieces too, that makes great use of location. Some of the violence is raw, but this is one of those better action pieces, a two week runner, that's not that far fetched as you would think. Joanna Pacula, (remember her) co stars, as a bold photographer who first gets on Dryer's bad side, a side you don't want to be on. We too see the loyalty of terrorists, one driving his van straight into the embassy.

This is so hilarious that the movie is really fun to watch. Here we have the usual stereotypes fighting each other in a fictional middle eastern terrorist nation. The plot is mediocre but the acting is at places really good. Some say that this is the most anti-Arab movie there is, perhaps, but I don't know. I've seen worse anti-Arab and anti -American filth out there. One fun detail is that I for a moment thought I watched Delta Force (1986) when watching this. Same sets. Same Israeli looking Arabs actors. I found this Anchorbay DVD on a yard sale, mint condition. Sadly, the world this movie depicts is close to ours in 2012. War, war and bloodshed......

This movie is an ultra patriotic, one-dimensional all-American military hero movie from the Reagan era. Do we like this kind of stuff? YES! It's great for relaxation at home. It's not great by any means, the action is OK/mediocre, the acting is (just forget about the acting), the story is standard, in total it's nothing we haven't seen before. I guess you have to be a fan of this type of movie to enjoy them. The movie itself knows what it is and doesn't try to do anything else than stick to it's safe formula. At least you know what you'll get from this.6 out of 10