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Cocaine Wars
Cocaine Wars
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Héctor Olivera
Screenplay by	Steven M. Krauzer
Story by	Héctor Olivera; David Viñas
Produced by	Roger Corman; Alejandro Sessa; Fernando Ayala (associate producer); Luis Osvaldo Repetto (associate producer – uncredited)
Starring	John Schneider; Royal Dano; Federico Luppi; Rodolfo Ranni; Patti Davis
Cinematography	Victor Hugo Caula; Victor Kaulen
Edited by	Eduardo López; Edward Lowe
Music by	George Brock; Jorge López Ruiz
Production; companies	Aries Cinematográfica Argentina; New Horizons
Distributed by	Concorde Cinema Group; Aries Cinematográfica Argentina
Release date	June 25, 1985;
Running time	82 minutes
Countries	Argentina; United States
Languages	English; Spanish

Cocaine Wars is a 1985 Argentine-American action film directed by Héctor Olivera and starring John Schneider, Federico Luppi, Rodolfo Ranni and Royal Dano. It was written by Olivera, Steven M. Krauzer and David Viñas. The associate producer of the film was Fernando Ayala. It premiered in Argentina on June 25, 1985.

Cocaine Wars is one of the ten films that Roger Corman produced in Argentina during the 1980s.^[1]

Synopsis

Miami-based DEA agent Cliff Vickry (John Schneider) is in a South American nation (purportedly, Bolivia), working undercover within the organization of Gonzalo Reyes (Federico Luppi), the biggest cocaine exporter in South America. Cliff's significant other, Janet Meade (Kathryn Witt), is a reporter trying to gather evidence on Reyes. Reyes orders Cliff to kill Marcelo Villalba (John Vitali), a journalist who is running for his nation's position as president so he can bring Reyes down, but Cliff can't bring himself to kill Marcelo. Reyes is afraid Marcelo will put him out of business and is afraid that Janet's story will do the same thing, so Reyes sends someone else after Marcelo, and then Reyes has Janet kidnapped. Cliff is the only one who can rescue Janet and stop Reyes.

Cast

John Schneider as DEA Agent Cliff Vickry
Federico Luppi as Gonzalo Reyes
Royal Dano as Bailey
Rodolfo Ranni as General Luján
Kathryn Witt as Janet Meade
Ivan Grey as Klausmann
Richard Hamlin as Wilhelm
Edgar Moore as Rikki
Armand Capo as Oswaldo
Martin Korey as Gomez
Tom Cundom as Bailey's driver
Ken Edgar as Kenny
Joe Capanga as Miguel
Marcos Woinsky as Pugg
Jacques Arndt as Franco
Willy Marcos as Hernandos
John Vitali as Marcelo Villalba
Patti Davis as Rosita (as Patricia Davis)
Haydée Padilla as Lola (as Heidi Paddle)
Helen Grant as Pia
Theodore McNabney as TV reporter #1 (as Ted McNabney)
Patricia Scheuer as TV reporter #2
Martín Coria as Gómez
Edgardo Moreira as Ricky
Arturo Noal as Julio
Miguel Ángel Solá
José Pablo Feinmann
Juan Vitali

Production

Hector Olivera had previously directed Wizards of the Lost Kingdom and Barbarian Queen; both coproduced by Olivera and Corman.^[2]

Although the film was set in an imaginary Latin American country it was shot in the Salta and Jujuy provinces in Northern Argentina. The original screenplay was written by renowned novelist David Viñas after he made a thorough research into the international drugs market and trafficking. However, the script was entirely rewritten by U.S. screenwriter Steven M. Krauer before shooting.^[3]

Release

In July 1985 it was announced Roger Corman's newly formed distribution company Concorde Pictures would team with Cinema Group to distribute films. Their first releases would include Club Sandwich (which became Last Resort), Cocaine Wars from Concorde, and Born American and Hollywood Vice Squad from Cinema Group.^[4]

Reception

A review in Miami News called the film "a mind boggling atrocity".^[2]

The Los Angeles Times called it "a standard low budget action film but there re a few encouraging things in it... a step up from the pits perhaps but up nonetheless."^[5]

The San Francisco Examiner said it was "like bad Mexican television".^[6]

Speaking in an interview director David Gordon Green said that if he ever made a sequel to The Pineapple Express he would like to make it like Cocaine Wars which he called: "really good. I’d like to do that. Something in South America or something hard-core."^[7]

References

^ "Hollywood in Don Torcuato (first part)": When Roger Corman and his B-movies invaded Argentina Archived 2013-12-25 at the Wayback Machine Cinematófilos.com.ar (in Spanish)
^ ^a ^b "Dope turns dopey in Cocain Wars". The Miami News. 16 November 1985. p. 13.
^ Falicov, Tamara L. "U.S.-Argentine Co-productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, "Schlockbuster" Movies, and the International Market." Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, vol. 34 no. 1, 2004, p. 38. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.2004.0015.
^ "Cinema Group, Concorde Unite for distribution". The Los Angeles Times Part 6. 18 July 1985. p. 2.
^ "Cocaine Wars toes budget line". The Los Angeles Times. 10 February 1986. p. 77.
^ "Roger Corman's New B Movie - Give it a D". The San Francisco Examiner. 5 March 1986. p. 48.
^ Pais, Matt (12 August 2013). "Q&A: 'Prince Avalanche' director David Gordon Green plays 'Seth, James or Jonah?'". Chicago Tribune.