Alright, fellow tape-heads, gather 'round the flickering glow of the Zenith. Tonight, we’re pulling a real curiosity off the shelf, a tape that practically screamed “WARNING: MAY CONTAIN EXPLOSIONS AND QUESTIONABLE TASTE” from its lurid box art. We're diving headfirst into the chaotic, ambitious, and utterly bonkers world of Troma's War (1988). Forget your slick, Stallone-fueled jungle rescues for a moment; this is the Troma Team attempting to play in the big leagues, and the results are… well, exactly as wonderfully messy as you’d expect.
Imagine this: you pop the tape in, the tracking adjusts just so, and you're expecting a straightforward slice of Reagan-era, rah-rah action. Instead, you get a planeload of average Joes – tourists, families, a punk rocker, even some folks with disabilities often ignored by mainstream action flicks – crash-landing on a remote island. Standard survival stuff, right? Wrong. This island isn't just deserted; it's the secret staging ground for a vaguely South American (or maybe vaguely Middle Eastern? Does it matter?) terrorist group planning to… invade the USA? Bring down democracy? Honestly, the plot specifics get gloriously lost in the ensuing mayhem, which is precisely the point.
From Tourist Trap to Booby Trap
What follows is Troma’s take on Red Dawn meets The A-Team, filtered through the unique, anarchic lens of studio founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, who share directing and producing credits here. The survivors, initially bewildered and bickering, must band together under the unlikely leadership of Parker (Sean Bowen), the rugged pilot, and Lydia (Carolyn Beauchamp), a determined mom-turned-warrior. They scavenge weapons, set traps, and wage guerrilla warfare against the surprisingly well-equipped invaders, led by the sneering Commander (Rick Washburn).
This was famously Troma's most expensive production up to that point, clocking in around $3 million – a king's ransom for the house that Toxie built (that's over $7.5 million in today's cash!). You can see the money on screen, at least by Troma standards. There are helicopters, sizable explosions, and a truly impressive number of extras getting blown away. They filmed primarily in upstate New York, cleverly (or perhaps desperately) trying to make forests and parks double for a tropical island hellscape, which adds another layer of charming absurdity.
Practical Mayhem: The Troma Way
Let’s talk action, because that’s where Troma’s War earns its stripes, albeit blood-soaked, grimy ones. This isn’t the smooth, CGI-assisted ballet of modern blockbusters. Oh no. This is the glorious era of practical effects, cranked up to eleven with Troma’s signature gusto. Remember how real those bullet hits looked back then? Here, squibs erupt with comical intensity, spraying crimson everywhere. Bodies fly through the air from explosions with reckless abandon, clearly stunt performers earning their paychecks the hard way. There's a raw, tangible feeling to the violence – fire is real fire, crashes feel impactful (if sometimes hilariously staged), and the gore effects, while often crude, have a certain handmade charm you just don't get anymore.
One infamous behind-the-scenes nugget involves the film's brutal battle with the MPAA. Kaufman envisioned the film as a satire, not just of jingoistic action films, but also touching on serious themes like the AIDS crisis (a subplot almost entirely excised). The ratings board, however, demanded massive cuts, removing minutes of graphic violence and politically charged content to grant it an R rating instead of the dreaded X. Finding an uncut version on VHS back in the day felt like uncovering forbidden treasure, revealing a film far more extreme and perhaps pointed than the theatrical release hinted at. Did those cuts ultimately hurt the film's coherence and box office performance? It certainly didn't help its already niche appeal, leading to it becoming a financial disappointment for Troma despite the budget.
More Than Just Explosions?
Beneath the surface-level chaos, Troma's War tries to subvert action tropes. The heroes aren't super soldiers; they're ordinary people pushed to extraordinary limits. The inclusion of characters with disabilities, portrayed not as victims but as active participants in the fight, was genuinely progressive for an 80s action flick, even if handled with Troma's typically blunt approach. The performances are… well, they’re Tromatic. Energetic, sometimes bordering on hysterical, but filled with a certain earnestness. Carolyn Beauchamp makes for a compellingly fierce reluctant leader, a far cry from the damsels in distress common in the genre.
The film barrels along with the frantic energy typical of Kaufman and Herz (who gave us classics like The Toxic Avenger (1984) and Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)). The editing is choppy, the pacing relentless, and the tone veers wildly between brutal violence, slapstick comedy, and moments of attempted pathos. It’s a cinematic Molotov cocktail – volatile, messy, and likely to leave scorch marks.
***
VHS Heaven Rating: 6/10
Justification: Troma's War gets points for its sheer audacity, its commitment to practical carnage, and its surprisingly subversive casting choices. It’s Troma throwing everything and the kitchen sink (probably filled with fake blood) at the screen in an attempt to make their own explosive epic. However, the narrative is often incoherent (partly thanks to those infamous cuts), the acting is wildly uneven, and its satirical aims sometimes get lost in the noise. It’s not traditionally "good," but for fans of gonzo 80s action and Troma's unique brand of mayhem, it's a fascinating, often hilarious, and surprisingly ambitious artifact.
Final Thought: A glorious, gunpowder-scented mess that tried to be Troma's Rambo but ended up pure Troma – essential viewing for understanding the studio's chaotic charm and the raw, unpolished glory of late-80s practical action on VHS. Fire it up, but maybe keep the tracking button handy.