| 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 | |
| Distributed by | Concorde Cinema Group Aries Cinematográfica Argentina |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Countries | Argentina United States |
| Languages | English Spanish |
Cocaine Wars is a 1985Argentine-Americanaction film directed byHéctor Olivera and starringJohn Schneider,Federico Luppi,Rodolfo Ranni andRoyal Dano. It was written by Olivera,Steven M. Krauzer andDavid Viñas. The associate producer of the film wasFernando Ayala. It premiered in Argentina on June 25, 1985.
Cocaine Wars is one of the ten films thatRoger Corman produced inArgentina during the 1980s.[1]
Miami-basedDEA agent Cliff Adams (John Schneider) is in aSouth American nation (purportedly, Bolivia), workingundercover within the organization of Gonzalo Reyes (Federico Luppi), the biggestcocaine 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.
Hector Olivera had previously directedWizards of the Lost Kingdom andBarbarian Queen; both coproduced by Olivera and Corman.[2]
Although the film was set in an imaginaryLatin American country it was shot in theSalta andJujuy provinces inNorthern Argentina. The original screenplay was written by renowned novelistDavid 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]
In July 1985 it was announcedRoger Corman's newly formed distribution companyConcorde Pictures would team with Cinema Group to distribute films. Their first releases would includeClub Sandwich (which becameLast Resort),Cocaine Wars from Concorde, andBorn American andHollywood Vice Squad from Cinema Group.[4]
A review inMiami News called the film "a mind boggling atrocity".[2]
TheLos 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]
TheSan Francisco Examiner said it was "like bad Mexican television".[6]
Speaking in an interview directorDavid Gordon Green said that if he ever made a sequel toThe Pineapple Express he would like to make it likeCocaine Wars which he called: "really good. I’d like to do that. Something in South America or something hard-core."[7]
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