Black Eagle

This 1987 B-movie international action flick stars Jean-Claude Van Damme at an early point in his career when he was sometimes cast as bad guys. Strikingly physical, Van Damme plays Andrei, a Cold War Russian enforcer for a Soviet military cabal, hunting missile-guidance technology off the island of Malta from a downed American F-111 (the plane appears to be sunk in about two fathoms of water). Coerced into thwarting the schemes of the nasty Reds is Hawaiian-born U.S. commando Ken (Japanese action star Shô Kosugi). Very colorful Mediterranean locations appear to good effect under director Eric Karson, and while the storyline tends to skew towards the choppy side, it gets things done. Presented in both the theatrical version and an extended cut, extras include deleted scenes, interviews, and behind-the-scenes featurettes (in one, Karson claims that Van Damme and Kosugi were especially competitive, and that their climactic onscreen brawl truly threatened to get out of hand). A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)