Kommando Leopard is chapter 2 in the Dawson-Collins jungle war trilogy, and whilst baring no real relation to the others, is essentially the same film with a few plot variations. This instalment finds the intrepid mercenaries being pursued by contract killer Klaus Kinski whilst holed up in a Church hospital run by mysterious priest Manfred Lehmann. Quality scale miniature sets are used in abundance but generally to good effect, whilst the personnel is also much the same as the predecessor with Lehmann, Kinski and Collins re- joining Thomas Danneberg and veteran Alan Collins (aka Luciano Pigozzi) whilst American ex-pat Mike Monty and British ex-pat John Steiner join the franchise for their first appearances. Kinski does arrogant bad-ar$e better than anyone and this is a masterclass of his less-is-more approach though it's debatable whether his bored exterior is acting or genuine contempt. As with the others there's a fair amount of pathos on display, mourning those lost and lamenting the sacrifices and collateral damage made in the name of cheque-book war - all of which is unnecessary and pure guff. But if you like it when stuff explodes, catches fire or just enjoy massive machine gun recoil and spent cartridges flying in all directions whilst the hero nonchalantly mows down his incompetent opponents, then Kommando Leopard will be very adequate - though brainless- escapism.

This film was made after the success of the first film directed by Antonio Margheriti CODENAME WILDGEESE which also starred Lewis Collins and Klaus Kinski .This film has a much larger budget than the first film and it is much better, the special effects coordinated by Margheritis son Edoardo are very good.I would have to say some of the action set pieces are spectacular and well executed and would stand up in any Hollywood action production and i would highly recommend this film to action and fans of cult film it is produced by swiss producer Erwin c Dietrich.Also the cast includes John Steiner a usual face in many euro films and Alaln Collins ,Hans Leutenegger.

This is the second part of a war actioner trilogy which seems to enjoy some kind of cult status – the others being CODENAME: WILD GEESE (1984) and THE COMMANDER (1988) – and featuring the same star (Lewis Collins), producer (Jess Franco regular Erwin C. Dietrich) and director (Margheriti, who dabbled in every "Euro-Cult" subgenre there is, though he was at his best perhaps handling atmospheric Gothic chillers). Actually, it provides little more than standard heroics – albeit done on a fairly elaborate scale, with a couple of notably spectacular action sequences (including the blowing up of a dam, a stationary airplane and a moving train); allegedly, it was the most expensive Swiss-budgeted production up to that time.Collins plays Carasco, a quasi-mythical leader of a band of revolutionary mercenaries – which include feisty Cristina Donadio, cynical John Steiner and world-weary Luciano Pigozzi (who is curiously uncredited) – up against the dictatorial regime of an unidentified Latin American state and, more specifically, Klaus Kinski's bloodthirsty militia. Another major character is that of the heroic priest (Manfred Lehmann) of a war-torn village who stands up to Kinski and, consequently, earns the respect and help of the mercenaries; the religious/political elements of the plot may be intended to give the whole a more serious tone than the typically mindless Euro-Cult fare – but we've still seen this "saintly martyr vs, cruel oppressors" scenario countless times in earlier and better Hollywood movies, so that this segment is actually more predictable than anything else.The German 2-Disc set of the film which I happened upon at a local DVD rental outlet also contains a 50-minute "Making Of" Documentary but, unfortunately, I didn't have time to watch more than a few samples from it...

Italian B movies don't get better than this. Great cast, fantastic action sequences, great score and top notch direction from old hand Antonio Margheriti. If there was a trio of movies that should be released on DVD it is CODENAME WILDGEESE, this and THE COMMANDER. Maybe Anchor Bay will do the right thing and get it out on disc.