No Dead Heroes (1986) User Reviews

So Bad It's Good? Maybe... Maybe Not.

[actionmoviefanatix · 4/10 · 16 October 2013]

No Dead Heroes is another movie I HAD to check out after the favorable review by our buddies over at Comeuppance Reviews. No Dead Heroes isn't available on DVD so the only option to see it is tracking down an old VHS… which I did.

Lt. Richard Sanders has no choice but to accept one final mission. Capt. Harry Cotter, Sanders' former colleague prior to being taken captive in Vietnam, has become a victim of KGB experiments. He has had a micro-chip implanted in his brain which controls his mind and has turned him into an unstoppable killing machine. Now, 10 years later, Sanders is sent back in to bring Cotter back alive.

Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've hot him on the spot, welcome back… Welcome back Mr. Cottayyyyr! You're a top secret KGB killing machine now… welcome back, welcome back, welcome back…

Oh, man!!! No Dead Heroes is off its own rocker. This movie is crazy! And, holy crap, do suckas get mowed down here or what. The scenes of action have little to no dialogue, just Russians, Vietnamese and/or Cubans getting shot to hell over and over. There's explosions everywhere. Machineguns everywhere. There must have been hundreds of commies killed throughout this movie.

I'm not sure if pistol grip pump shotguns or crossbows were standard issue in Vietnam but they certainly don't seem like they would be the best choices. Regardless of what my logic tells me they were the weapons of choice for the soldiers invading the Viet-Cong camp at the beginning of the movie.

All the stabbings and arrow sticks have the exact same "tick" sound effect. All you hear as the U.S. soldiers sneak through a Viet Cong camp is tick, tick, tick as they kill their enemies trying to free the trapped American soldiers.

The acting and dialogue are atrocious. Truly some of the worst I have ever seen. But, then again, I wasn't expecting much.

The music is comically bad. Inappropriate for almost every scene.

I'm not sure if No Dead Heroes qualifies as so bad it's good material. By most logical standards it is not at all a good movie but it is most certainly the type of movie that could be quite entertaining given the right circumstances (a few cold ones and a few friends). It's crazy stupid fun but it's unfortunately not overly memorable.

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Highly recommended for a good laugh!

[lefrelonvert · 1/10 · 24 October 2005]

Totally brain-dead actioner made in the Philippines. This belongs to the mode of Filipino movies which tried to pass themselves as American films on the international market. After a rather dull beginning, the movie takes off and never disappoints again. It is actually a rip-off of the worst movies Chuck Norris ever made : an American prisoner in Vietnam is brainwashed by the soviets who implant a microchip in his brain so he is programmed to kill the Pope, then the President of the USA. One of his old buddies (played by B-movie stalwart Max Thayer) is sent to stop him. Utterly ridiculous action scenes, putrid acting (Nick Nicholson's performance as the evil soviet commander is a must-see!)and implausible plot make up for one of the cheesiest action pictures ever bestowed in the general public.

THE WORST THING EVER CREATED BY MANKIND

[kingofthekickboxers · 1/10 · 25 December 2000]

This movie is the worst thing ever created by humans. You think manos is the worst movie ever? It doesn't even come close to this garbage. I dont even know where to begin. The "russian" commander and the rebel chic are the worst "actors" ever to appear in a movie. They make the sister in troll 2 look like Meryl Streep. The goofy faces the chic makes while she's in kung fu training have to be seen to be believed. Then there is the oompa music during the prison break, the totally out of place love scene, the stupid song that plays during the out of place love scene, the fake castro, the fact that everybody has either a headband and/or a bandanna on some part of their body, the goofiest rape scene ever filmed, and the worst acting ever put on film. This movie deserves to be more well known among bad movie fans. Definitely the worst movie ever made.

Makes Chuck Norris look like George Kennan

[Kazoo-2 · 1/10 · 23 June 2000]

Addle-brained stupidity that the cartoon "Bullwinkle" made fun of a quarter-century beforehand, NO DEAD HEROES proves that you can rip off a good movie (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) without copying a single sliver of quality from the object of your plunder. The acting barely registers on the cable-access TV scale, the plot is less nuanced than an old "Sgt. Rock" comic, and only Boris J. Badanov-style "bad guy" mustaches are missing from the Commies. This movie achieves the unusual feat of being too bad, too stupid to be enjoyed by anyone with opposable thumbs.

Fascistic, pathetic trash !

[Phroggy · 1/10 · 29 September 1999]

Makes "Invasion USA" look like "Apocalypse Now". This one can only be recommended to US skinheads, John Birch supporters or militia members. The message is very simple : let's shoot them all - gooks, commies, latinos, everything that isn't American.

Besides, this is badly acted, badly scripted, badly interpreted, incredibly stupid but no fun at all. This movie could be used as a toorture device by CIA torturers. oops, sorry, there can't be any US torturers because they are the GOOD

My pleasure is temporary.

[Zeegrade · 2/10 · 23 October 2009]

With No Dead Heroes you get stupid lines like that as this woefully abysmal action flick needs to be seen to be believed. William Sanders is saved by his buddy Harry Cotter during an extraction in Vietnam but gets himself captured by the enemy. Fast forward ten years and Harry is now a brainwashed Russian operative with a mind control microchip implanted in his brain. His new Russian superior is Ivan played to the obscene hilt by Nick Nicholson who might I add not only doesn't attempt once to speak with a Russian accent but resembles more a gas station attendant in Kentucky with his stained teeth. What is even more absurd is the fact that he was also the dialog coach for this film. Soon William is re-recruited by the CIA to hunt Harry down. He teams up with Barbara, a freedom fighter who has infiltrated Ivan's El Salvador camp and soon the both of them are blowing up half of South America. Some scenes are so jaw droppingly awful that it's a wonder why this film doesn't have more of a cult following. One such scene is the sudden lovemaking in the jungle by William and Barbara accompanied by the most inappropriate catterwalling background music I've ever heard. Who would strip completely nude in the middle of a South American jungle? There is a rape scene that uses the end theme from Blood on Satan's Claw as well. No Dead Heroes is the magic bullet movie champion of all time as one shot leads to multiple kills. In one scene Harry strafes his rifle from behind a rock and kills seven guys. I had to rewind it and count. Hard to find film that has recently gotten the full HD treatment by MGM. Track this movie down and watch it for the sheer silliness that ensues.

The BEST thing ever created by mankind!

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 13 October 2010]

Really cool movie alert! Fans of Invasion U.S.A. (1985) (i.e., everyone that's ever seen it) are sure to love this one as well.

When ridiculously evil Russian General Ivan Dimanovitch (Nicholson), who naturally runs a prison camp in Vietnam, is holding an American CIA agent in his horrid cages, badass soldier dudes Richard "Ric" Sanders (Thayer) and Harry Cotter (Dresden) are sent in by their commanding officer Baylor (Monty) to save the man and free the camp - in the next 24 hours. If the man succumbs to the torture tactics of Dimanovitch, he could spill information sensitive to the U.S. Just when we as viewers are acclimating to this, we see a title on screen - TEN YEARS LATER (!) Dimanovitch has captured Cotter and he makes him undergo a surgical procedure in which a microchip is implanted at the base of his skull. This chip turns him into an emotionless killing machine controlled by a Casio wristwatch. Of course, Dimanovitch is wearing the watch and pressing the buttons. The plan is a total commie takeover of the world, and since he hates religion, to use Cotter to assassinate the Pope. So Baylor sends Sanders, now a private citizen, into the fray to take down all the baddies and stop Cotter. With the help of Barbara (Nero) and of course an arsenal of machine guns larger than most armies, will they be able to stop the nefarious evil planning to take over the world? If movies were judged by the amount of people that die in them, No Dead Heroes would win awards. The kill count is huge, and there are even surprising lashings of gore. Try to imagine a cross between Wardogs (1986) and Invasion U.S.A. With maybe a dash of The Devastator (1985) thrown in for good measure.

The movie starts with an explosion in the first second, and many more follow throughout the majority of the film's running time. In the funny department, even though he is an evil commie rapist, just look at Dimanovitch's henchman Lopez. He is an obese, bearded man that looks like Castro. Speaking of which, No Dead Heroes shares Invasion U.S.A.'s patriotism, and the prerequisite speeches are made against America, capitalism and religion...all this angers super-patriot Sanders who truly is a one-man army. Additionally, since his buddy's name is "Harry Cotter", every time they say it, it's hard not to imagine the beloved, bespectacled children's character (with one letter different, of course) massacring people and attempting to knock over the PopeMobile.

You're really not a super-villain unless you have a terrorist training camp (or, in the case of American Ninja (1985), a Ninja training camp) and when Sanders and Barbara show up with guns blazin', that will certainly knock you off the monkey bars! Behind the camera, we have producer Anthony Maharaj, responsible for some Richard Norton epics, including Not Another Mistake (1988). Apparently he likes being involved in movies where there are "No" something or "Not" something. It's quite a formula for success. Also there is a credit in the movie for, and I quote, "Meal Checker". Maybe there was a mad poisoner going around bent on the indigestion of Max Thayer, so it's good the production sprang for him.

For classic 80's uber-patriotic shoot-fests that require zero brain power, (and, thankfully there is zero irony), top marks go to the impressive No Dead Heroes.

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Fantastic B film that propelled Max Thayer's Career

[bad_habitt · 10/10 · 20 December 2005]

I purchased a copy of this on eBay for $24 as I learned Max Thayer starred in this gem. After seeing him in No retreat No surrender 2, I knew I had to own this film.

After 3 months of waiting for my copy, it finally arrived this morning. I of course took the day off work, lit up a jay and popped it in my VCR.

From the opening credits I knew It was watching something special. Straight from 1987 and everything that came along with it. Max's acting in this doesn't rise to the sophistication and sharpness of that in NRNS2 however. You get the idea that maybe he enjoyed himself a lot more in that film than this one. Although he is still great in it and passes off some very surreal acting.

The villain Nick Nicholson has to be seen to be believed. There are no words in the English language to describe his performance. His character transfers from a sadistic general, then forward 10 years (that's right, this film has a time warp), to where he's a maniac communist trying to implement justice into the world by assassinating the pope and US president. Simply brilliant.

Kudos to J.C Miller for having the balls to write the screenplay for this and eventually direct it. I'd love to see a DVD release of this with his commentary. I imagine it would be very manic and one of the best commentaries ever. Simply because anyone who'd write a film like this, is a unique artist - worthy of cinema acclaim.

10\10 - A must see.

NDH-A 23 Year Retrospective

[kidmoe · 10/10 · 17 March 2023]

23 years ago, a younger, less-appreciative me wrote a review in which I shamefully called NDH the "worst thing ever created by mankind."

Sitting here, 23 years later and watching a beautifully restored NDH on Tubi (complete with trailer) I can tell you that NDH is one of the greatest things ever created by mankind. The 87 minute run time is perfect, the action is non-stop, and the psychotronic aspects are impeccable. I have no idea how younger me could have ever besmirched the awesomeness that is NDH.

If you don't love NDH, you're an unpatriotic commie and you need to leave the USA immediately.