This week’s pick is the 1980 release of James Glickenhaus’s ‘The Exterminator‘ which takes us from the jungles of war torn Vietnam to the urban jungle of the crime stricken and bankrupt New York City of 1980.
The Film stars Robert Ginty (John Eastland), Steve James (Michael Jefferson), Christopher George (Detective James Dalton), Samantha Eggar (Dr. Megan Stewart), Dick Boccelli (Gino Pontivini), and Patrick Farrelly (CIA Agent Shaw).
The film opens with an explosion which propels an individual mid air. It’s quickly revealed to be the film’s protagonist John Eastland (Ginty) as he and his army ranger unit are ambushed and captured by the Viet Cong. Eastland and his unit are taken to a camp where they are interrogated in order to divulge information about an upcoming American offensive in the area. Eastland refuses to give up any information and one of his men is brutally decapitated by a Vietnamese officer.
Eastland is hesitant but the information that is given forces the Vietnamese officer to stop. Eastland’s buddy Michael Jefferson (James) breaks free from his bonds and strangles one of the Vietnamese captors with a piece of wire. Eastland and the others take a cue from Jefferson and aid in taking out their captors. Severely wounded, the Vietnamese officer tries to crawl away to safety but is executed by Eastland. Eastland, Jefferson, and the surviving rangers make it to a helicopter LZ and are airlifted to safety. The film then cuts to an aerial sequence of present day New York City where the story begins.
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