1989 | Color | 84 min
Starring: David Carradine, William Zipp, Robert Tessier, Anna Rapagna, D.C. Douglas, Patrick Cullition, Dawn Wildsmith, and Kimberley Casey.
Directed by: David A. Prior
It’s 1991 (THE FUTURE!!!) and crime rates have risen to unacceptably high levels. Despite their best efforts, the current police force have been powerless to stem the tide of violence. In order to appease the frightened public, the U S. government has taken the drastic step of privatizing the nation’s police forces. The new private police corporation known as Civilian Operated Police Systems, or C.O.P.S., under the direction of corrupt CEO Jason Adams (played by the wonderful William Zipp), has all but destroyed the old concepts of civil liberties and due process. Suspects are now guilty until proven innocent and your only inalienable right, is your right to die (insert lazy Trump joke here). C.O.P.S. officers are little more than glorified bounty hunters, more concerned about scoring bounties than upholding law and order.
They drizzled her with siracha. Those bastards!
Obviously, many are unhappy with the loss of civil liberties that has resulted from this new method of law enforcement. During a series of exposés on the corruption and possible criminal actions of the new private police force, news anchor Marian Sims (Anna Rapagna) obtains secret surveillance footage that could bring down Jason Adams and the entire C.O.P.S. Determined to keep this footage from being made public, Adams has her found guilty on bogus treason charges and orders a $100,000 bounty be placed on the troublesome reporter’s head.
“I see you guys have finally decided to exercise your right to remain silent.”
When it comes to bringing in top bounties, Officer John Tucker (David Carradine) is the undisputed king. If there’s a big money bounty to be had, you can bet John Tucker, armed with his two trusty revolvers and robotic power glove, will be the one to bring ‘em in. Naturally, being the bounty-bagging badass he is, John Tucker is first on the scene to apprehend Sims. It seems like an easy $100k for Tucker until he is suddenly forced to fight off a couple crooked officers Adams sent to kill the pesky reporter. Furious that his plans were foiled, Adams saddles Tucker with a $100k bounty of his own for the murder of a C.O.P.S. officer. Now, in order to clear his own name, John Tucker, with the help of his disabled, hacker friend Billy, must find a way to protect Marian and take down Jason Adams for good–all while fending off every C.O.P.S. bounty hunter in the area, each of whom are dead set on being the one to take down the legendary John Tucker.
“I love my Power Glove. It’s so bad!”
I love this movie. I’ve always been a fan of David Carradine, and watching him play the world’s top bounty hunter while he sports a middle-aged paunch and tools around in a Jeep Cherokee Chief is enough to make Future Force entertaining for me all on its own. When Carradine whips out his remote-controlled, robotic murder glove, my cold, little b-movie-loving heart melts completely.
“I said use your turn signal, motherf***er!”
The supporting cast of characters are great as well, with perennial tough-guy, Robert Tessier playing Tucker’s right hand man, Becker. However, it’s William Zipp’s performance as the unhinged, power-mad, criminal kingpin, that steals the show. I love his crazy expressions and little facial tics he gives the character. Maybe a bit hammy at times, but that’s exactly what’s called for in a movie like this. You don’t want subtlety when you’ve got your hero out there bashing bad guys in the junk with a flying, robot hand.
“Are you trying to seduce me, you skanky whore?”
Then there’s the eclectic crew of C.O.P.S. officers. They are an interesting group, to say the least, with guys resembling a dollar store Freddy Mercury; a bloated “Dog” The Bounty Hunter; and one who is basically a Bizarro World version of the late wrestler, Dino Bravo. Not to be outdone by the men, the female officers are, shall we say, quite a colorful bunch, as well.
“I knew I could count on this guy for a good review.”
Action International Pictures and director David A. Prior simply knew how to make entertaining, direct-to-video schlock, and they certainly didn’t disappoint with Future Force. I’m a little saddened that both he and Carradine are no longer with us, because they don’t make them like this one anymore. Fortunately there is a sequel, Future Zone, starring Carradine and Deadly Prey’s Ted Prior, and somehow it is even better than this one. But that’s a review for another day.
Reviewed by Derek “Robotic Murder-Glove” Miller
Posted On August 31, 2018
Video Clip – Man, that one button sure has a lot of functions.
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