Verdict
Summary
The Devastator is a fun low budget 80’s actioner but there are better movies with similar stories and bigger budgets.
Plot: This war’s in your own backyard. Violent warfare erupts in Northern California when Vietnam vet Deacon Porter reassembles his Combat Strike Force to avenge the death of a commanding officer.
Review: After watching Wheels of Fire recently I thought I would start watching some other 80’s gems from director Cirio H. Santiago. With a title like The Devastator (AKA The Destroyers) you’d expect a pretty high bodycount… and you’d be right.
There must have surely triple digits on the kill count factor in this movie; sure it’s low budget with some poor acting/dubbing but it’s just one of those movies that I happily lose myself in for 80 minutes.
Our hero Deacon Porter (Rick Hill) is a little bland but he does at least look like Peter Weller and kills people with ruthless efficiency. When he goes to a small town after his friend dies in a car crash he discovers it wasn’t an accident and he crosses paths with the local bad guy. It wastes no time in getting to the action and we get shootings, punch ups and car chases so it delivers on that front.
There is some unintentionally hilarious editing which verges on amateurish with certain scenes cutting too quickly which guarantees there is never too much of that whole talky stuff.
The music is also pretty cheap and very dated sounding now but the most annoying aspect was the character of Ox played Jack S. Daniels (great name though) who is meant to be the “wild and crazy” member of Deacon’s ‘Nam buddies who decide it’s time to put an end to the local thugs. He’s just loud and irritating but he at least gets a shot and dies… which is nice.
Overall, The Devastator is a fun low budget 80’s actioner but there are better movies with similar stories and bigger budgets.
