SNAKE EATER III... HIS LAW (1992)

Directed by: George Erschbamer

Writers: John Dunning, W. Glenn Duncan (book Rafferty’s Rules)

In my opinion, this final part of the legendary Snake Eater trilogy is actually the best in the series. Now, before the rabid fans of the first two parts tear me apart, let me try to justify this somewhat controversial statement: First of all, Snake Eater III is based on a book, which spices up its intellectual side a bit. And it has more breasts. I rest my case.

Nice...

The influence of W. Glenn Duncan’s novel Rafferty’s Rules (which I haven’t read, but I’ll bet it’s a pure masterpiece) on the screenplay is obvious: Instead of rednecks, drug lords, mental institutions etc, we have a warm story of a biker gang that kidnapped a young reporter and spent several months drugging and raping her. When she finally escaped (or was let go, I don’t remember) she was so screwed up in the head that she automatically offered herself to anyone she met.

"I'll take the two hundred on the left..."

So, the girl’s parents are quite upset with this and they hire Lorenzo Lamas to track the bikers down and have them rubbed out, eliminated, maybe even killed. Initially, he refuses, saying that he doesn’t do that sort of thing, but when the girl’s mother replies “I think you do!” he immediately changes his mind and accepts. Someone with her persuasion skills would certainly be a fine addition to any RPG party.

"No signal??? Damn it!"

The reason Lorenzo’s able to accept this time consuming task is that he’s suspended from the police again, this time for killing a guy who was trying to rob a cafeteria. I wonder if they have a limit on suspensions in the department... Anyway, now that Lorenzo has some free time, he finds himself a pretty cool sidekick named The Cowboy, who provides vital information for him and occasionally helps him kill people. Together they manage to bring down the gang and eliminate their leader, after which the girl is mysteriously cured. This sounds lake a lame horror movie, but that’s how it is.

Party pooper!

Snake Eater III has all the action and humor of the first two parts, plus more nudity than both of them combined (which means simply more than the first, because the second one didn’t have any). All the main female characters take their clothes off at some point. For example, the girl that got tortured by the bikers (Valerie’s her name, I think) lifts her skirt and starts to pull down her panties immediately upon being introduced to Lorenzo, but unfortunately her boring father stops her (a short digression: If you analyze these movies carefully, you’ll notice that Lorenzo probably has some superpower that makes women strip in his presence). 

"You have the right to... oh, why don't I just kill you?"

The film has a good tempo and constantly alternates between fist fighting, shooting, sex and Lorenzo’s arniesque one-liners. The highlight is probably a scene in a bar where he fights this HUGE redneck, a moment of epic proportions, rivalling the legendary fight between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar in Game of Death. An interesting change from the previous installments is that Lorenzo has a full-time girlfriend in this one, which shows his romantic side. Of course, she’s completely useless, just like other female characters in the series. 

"You know, Cowboy, you're cool and I like you, but I'd prefer if you stayed in your bed."

Unfortunately, they have never made another Snake Eater movie and it burns my heart with sorrow. But at least Lorenzo went on and many other brilliant movies.

SNAKE EATER II: THE DRUG BUSTER (1989)

Directed by: George Erschbamer

Writers: Don Carmody, John Dunning, Michael Paseornek

Lorenzo Lamas returns as Jonathan “Soldier” Kelly in this sequel which is probably the weakest film in the trilogy, but that doesn’t mean it sucks or something, it’s just that it’s... the weakest film in the trilogy.

The story goes as follows: Lorenzo learns that a particularly nasty drug lord has been enrichening his merchandise with rat poison, which for some reason causes the death of some people. It comes as no surprise that Lorenzo is really pissed off and that he immediately sets sail for bringing down the said druglord and kicking his ass.

 

It’s also not a real surprise that he’s suspended; this time they don’t even bother to tell us why. This comes as a small problem for his mission, because he’s unable to use the standard police methods like shooting everyone and blowing everything up. Forced to keep a low profile again, he arms himself with a really big shotgun and goes to shoot everyone, but only manages to kill four or five bad guys before the police arrives.

He goes to trial, where his lawyer plays the temporary insanity (TM) card, resulting in him (Lorenzo, not the lawyer) being sent to a mental institution for evaluation, rather than jail. Apart from not being in jail, the institution has several upsides: First, the doctor that does the evaluation is a woman, so she eventually falls in love with Lorenzo. Second, the inmates are really a cool bunch, especially a crazy sex-obsessed former preacher whose “sermons” are probably the high point of the entire movie. Finally, the place is so well guarded that Lorenzo’s pals can go out and return unnoticed any time they like. They just don’t want to do it because the people outside are crazy.

 

Lorenzo however sees an opportunity and armed with his wit, fists and a black sidekick named Speedboat he goes about his business of destroying the evil drug master. Here lies the main problem with this movie – there’s a significant lack of fistfights.  Lorenzo and his pal base their operation on sabotage – for example, they blow up the evil guy’s warehouse, they poison his henchmen (and blow one of the up) in a restaurant, etc. etc. Finally, they get tired of that crap, kill the bastard and get arrested. End.

 

Anyway, it takes almost 80 minutes to get to the first fight, where Lorenzo is almost killed by this huge bearded guy, but luckily he notices a nearby bottle, breaks it on the guy’s head and then electrocutes him. We have a few shooting scenes, especially at the beginning and near the end of the movie, but we can say that in total this movie is a bit short on action.

 

All in all, as far as first two movies are concerned, I must say I’m not quite satisfied with Lorenzo’s performance in fights. However, he totally makes up for it with his superior endurance. This time he gets stabbed right in the back and later the aforementioned large bearded guy shoots him in the arm and in the leg, all of which does absolutely nothing to slow him, or even bring him any pain. Still, he should be more careful with his reputation – the way he walked right into the trap by not checking the corners of the room is really unflattering. A former Snake Eater should not allow that.

Female viewers would be interested to know that Lorenzo again takes his shirt off a few times, but doesn’t spend so much screen time topless as in the first movie. Male viewers should be warned that this time there’s no trace of female nudity.

 

I have already said that this is the weakest movie in the trilogy, which was kind of lame because now I don’t have anything to conclude the review. So, this review will remain unconcluded.