Michael Foster-Sanders
Senior producer
michael.foster-sanders@my.tccd.edu

The 80s was action-packed. The action movie genre was full speed ahead. New movie stars were being born almost every weekend, and among those stars was Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone, who got his big break with the boxing drama “Rocky,” and rolled that star power into the mega-blockbuster “Rambo,” decided to take on a role that was somewhat subdued compared to what he was used to. 

In the early afternoon, a man walks into a supermarket full of patrons during the holiday season, pulls out a shotgun and shoots anything in sight, causing mass hysteria. Customers who could not make it to the front door are caught in a hostage situation, and the police’s hands are tied. 

The captor of the hostages is spewing incoherent verbiage about “A new order” while roaming the store looking for his next prey. The upper brass of the force knows there’s only one man who can pull this job off, but is it worth the press when he does things his way?

“Cobra” stars Stallone as Marion Cobretti, a no-nonsense cop who’s at odds with his superiors because there’s a new breed of criminal that the environment is breeding. Criminals with no code, no restraint and who are not afraid of the law.

Someone is killing random women throughout the city, which has it shaken to its core. Law enforcement doesn’t have any leads but knows the murders are taking place. Dubbing the killer “The Night Stalker,” and with him having the city at his mercy, Cobra is called in to stop the killings but could it be more than what he bargained for?

The reason why “Cobra” works is because it doesn’t play it safe. It’s not a conventional cop versus bad guy framework like a “Dirty Harry” movie. Marion “Cobra” Cobretti is fed up, and he cares about little to nothing as long as the end justifies the means. He wants to wipe out, which he sees as a disease, and him being the cure.

Stallone may have the lead role of the film, but its shining star goes to Brian Thompson as The Night Slasher. Thompson plays this role with such conviction that the viewer would think he was a killer in real life. Also, the way he delivers memorable monologues ensures he will go down as one of the greatest villains in cinematic history.

The details put in this movie are phenomenal, and you can tell love was put into making this one memorable. The firearms and car chase set pieces are one for the ages. Cars are mangled, motorcycle shootouts tear through neighborhoods, raising the tension of the scene.

The steel factory climax is a visual tour de force in cinematography. Viewers will feel the heat characters are feeling in the environment. Close-up shots of them drenched sweat in an all-or-nothing war is a level of detail that movies rarely have today.

The one flaw a viewer might have is Bridget Nelson’s acting is subpar, but she’s just playing herself in the movie, so it’s forgivable to an extent.

Audiences will never see a movie like “Cobra” again in history. It’s an action movie with horror elements that grips the audience with its subject matter of a serial killer cult and visceral graphic violence with no CGI. 

⅘ stars