Warhead - 1977

Warhead starring David Janssen is just the sort of mildly entertaining film one might expect from a mixed bag 1970's themed movies boxset such as the one I have.  It should surprise no one that this film is in the public domain, just as it should be extremely easy to see what I'll end up thinking of this remarkably unremarkable would-be thriller.

After all, what sort of movie is Warhead starring David Janssen?  Warhead starring David Janssen is a movie that was made for TV, and looks precisely like the sort you would see on TV.  When I go into the trivia section in IMDb, it says it was filmed in 1974 as a TV flick, and that couldn't be any more true.  It does beg the question as to which year is correct, and why it's 1977 on everything I see, but I'm willing to assume that Warhead starring David Janssen is so completely under the radar that no one gives a flying fuck.

Warhead starring David Janssen has main character Tony Stevens (that's Janssen) as a nuclear arms specialist.  He's called in to defuse a nuclear bomb that's been accidentally dropped, un-detonated, in the middle east.  The problem is that there is also a terrorist group led by Meshugi who are after the bomb, and they've got wildly evil plans to match their wild mustaches.  After they kill a bunch of soldiers, it's a regular ol' race to the bomb.

This is a supposed action movie, and what can I say, it is.  I'm not gonna call it a lie.  It's an action thriller, 70's style, and it does exactly what one might expect.  It has some pacing to it, takes the time to explore David Janssen's character a bit, hell even throw him a lady interest in there and have a brief philosophical dialogue about seeing people die.  In the end, as he witnesses the bloodbath caused by the bomb, you bet those words will come back to haunt him.  In this way, it's good, it's not just guns firing and shit blowing up.

However, Warhead starring David Janssen has also got some slow movement, certainly a lot of unnecessary over the top villain acting, and a plot that's so simple you might as well just have the only dialogue be the word "bomb" spoken in different inflections.  In other words, it's got some goods and some bads, it's completely middle of the road.  It's this sort of thing you could equally pay attention to, or just sort of put on.  You could equally hate it or love it.  You could certainly focus on the flaws, or focus on the unexpected charms.  I choose the standard middling approach again, 2.5 stars.