The Zebra Force

This is nothing more that an excuse for a bunch of scenes of slaughter. It has virtually no plot or motivation. The characters are stereotypical and really questionable actors. Their reason for doing what they do wouldn't stand up under any scrutiny. It's the Zebra force against the Mafia. I don't know why because it's never clear. If they are both basically evil, why don't the just stay away from each other. There's virtually no conversation and when it happens it is senseless and pointless. The old running back, Timmy Brown, is in it. So is the Sinatra kid. It's a monumental waste of time. There isn't even the "bad movie" syndrome at work here.

Makeup has a great deal to do with this story, so much so that it could have been given Oscar consideration. You won't even know how much until the very end of the film

Having said that The Zebra Force is one incredibly dumb action adventure film where a group of Vietnam veterans who were an elite unit have taken to ripping off the Mafia, known here as 'The Outfit'. They've done this in such a way that the blame is being placed on a local group of black gangsters whom The Outfit considers are getting too uppity. A nice little gang war erupts before the truth is known and most of the cast is killed.

The Zebra Force seems very much to be influenced by Sam Peckinpah and his work. A few slow motion violence ballets are in this film, but believe this ain't Peckinpah.

Makeup great, the rest of it you can have.

Even though this late-night action flick has aged, it still has what many of today's multi-budget movies are lacking in: ORIGINALITY! Don't expect good guy heroes in "The Zebra Force" because this definitely is not your typical action film. Instead, this is a first-person anti-hero show that knows no limits. Watching the soldiers in black masks terrorize the innocent is rather deteriorating, but that's part of the fun. Overall, the real show stealers are the gang's leader with a deformed face who communicates via mini walkie-talkies, plus an unexpected finale. If you can live with obscure '70s trashies like this one, then I can't blame you for that!

A few of the user comments submitted here are, in fact, written for the belated 1987 sequel. You can't blame anyone for the confusion, because the sequel's official title "Code Name Zebra" is also an alternate title for the original and both films are incredibly obscure. Haven't seen the 80s sequel yet myself, but if it's as unpretentiously entertaining and action-packed as this one, I will most certainly track it down! "The Zebra Force" is a crazed exploitation flick made by, and targeted at, macho males. The only women here are ravishing looking extras, like guests at a casino or girls by the pool, and they are not opening their mouths to speak, only to shriek. Writer/director Joe Tornatore may not care too much for women, he certainly does know how to make a remarkable entrance! The film opens with an exhilarating heist on an illegal mafia casino, where several gangsters and guests are killed by a well-trained and organized 8-headed group of black guys in blue overalls. The mob's senior leadership immediately sends for professional "caretaker" Carmine Longo to find the assailants, but it's not so easy. For you see, the black guys are really disguised white guys! They are buddies who served together in Vietnam and still loyally follow their lieutenant who worked out a plan for all of them to get filthy rich via three big hits against the mafia. Let the mob look for black gangsters and declare gang wars; - they'll never find the black-and-white "Zebras". The Lieutenant is, by the way, one of the most remarkable characters in 70s exploitation history! Following a landmine accident in 'Nam, he only has one arm, a horridly disfigured face and he talks via a throat-cancer device. "The Zebra Force" guarantees a raw and gritty 70s atmosphere, complete with wild car chases and brutal executions. The final showdown between mobsters and veterans is already grotesquely violent, and then still Joe Tornatore foresees a totally out-of-the-blue but fantastic end-twist! If you like 70s smut, you must watch "The Zebra Force", period!

A group of Vietnam veterans, fiercely loyal to their lieutenant (horribly disfigured as a result of a land mine explosion) agree to perform a series of audacious hits on mob-controlled gambling operations to ostensibly rid the town of their influence and protect society's youth from the spectre of drugs. But their raids also net hundreds of thousands of dollars in tainted cash, leading Mafia Don (Caruso) to enlist the aid of his Mr Fix-it Carmine Longo (Lane) to rectify the problem.

You've probably read that the vets disguise themselves and while it's certainly a novelty, the "transformations" are unintentionally comedic (watch for the interrogation scene near the end of the movie). Puerile dialogue and atrocious cinematography (or perhaps the editing) don't do any favours, but I enjoyed the characterisations, and the cast has some talent. Lanky Mike Lane from "The Harder They Fall" is imposing, Stafford Morgan as the crooked cop, and Rockne Tarkington as the tough-talking downtown pusher, all make an impression in spite of the script they deliver.

A jazzy soul soundtrack, slow-motion stunts, car chases and a twist ending keep things entertaining and overall, while it's routinely panned by the armchair critics, you could do a lot worse than this gangster flick dressed in a blaxploitation wardrobe. Often confused with its sequel "Codename Zebra" starring James Mitchum made in 1987, while the latter is more technically proficient, the sheer quirkiness and 70's infused texture of "Zebra Force" is superior in entertainment value.