Plot: An Interpol officer’s quest to avenge his partner’s death leads him to India and encounters with assassins.
Operation Cobra AKA Inferno is one of my favourite Don “The Dragon” Wilson films as it’s essentially him doing a hard R James Bond picture. This is apparently the first American picture to be filmed entirely on location in India giving it that international feel like classic Bond.
In the movie Wilson plays Agent Kyle Connors, out for revenge against the terrorist who killed his partner. What ensues is a tale with double crosses and several twists which keep you on your toes as a viewer.
As I always say any movie is improved with the addition of Evan Lurie who plays said terrorist Johan Davaad and this is him at his villainous best. He’s as vicious as they come and one kill came as a shock that I didn’t see coming.
Wilson is at his charming best here and I love how every woman in this movie wants to sleep with Connors; at one point he comes into his hotel room and there is a beautiful Indian woman in his bed waiting for him. I can state for a fact this has never happened to me before in my entire life and is pure wish fulfilment just like classic 007 movies.
There’s almost a softcore element to this movie too with several love scenes and gratuitous nudity which is as ever a plus.
Don Wilson movies never skimp on action and Inferno has regular fight scenes which are well done and coherent where we can see everything that’s happening; this movie has so many necks being snapped that Steven Seagal would be jealous. We do of course get the inevitable showdown between Wilson and Lurie which doesn’t disappoint.
I was reading a few interesting tidbits about the film on IMDb, and I particularly loved how “the crew were advised to take medication in case they were to contract malaria while filming in India. However, once they took the medication, they wouldn’t be able to consume alcohol, so the crew decided to risk getting malaria so they could have alcohol while making the movie”. That’s the spirit, Soldier!
Evan Lurie was also apparently set to be the film’s action choreographer but suffered heat stroke and was replaced by Art Camacho while he was recovering, so it doesn’t sound like the easiest shoot.
Keep your eyes open for Director Fred Olen Wray who makes a brief appearance as the Interpol Chief.
At around 85 minutes Inferno is well paced and the story keeps you engaged due to the various twists but it’s never short on action either which delivers on all fronts.
Overall, Inferno AKA Operation Cobra is a rather underrated picture for Don Wilson and if you’re a lover of those 90’s action movies then you’ll have a fun time here.
