Customer Reviews

Border Cop

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This most unusual action/thriller shot in mexico and the U.S., focuses on the hard, dangerous lives of Mexicans attempting to cross the border into the U.S. Telly Savales stars as the tough cop dealing with the evil Mexican officials who blatantly ship them over the border to work in horrible sweatshops.

GRAPHIC FOOTAGE

Had this on VHS and now got it on DVD,the PQ and sound are not the greatest but for the $1 I payed for it at my nieghborhood dollar store,it's pretty darn good. Telly Savalas plays a Border Cop in this exploitaion classic,note,there is some very graphic real slaughterhouse footage in this film,not for the kiddies!

The first five minutes of the movie were actually pretty cool. An exciting car chase and shoot-out. After that, I found the movie to be predictable and tired. The dialogue sounds like it was written for junior high students. There was a hideous and graphic five minute scene where a steer is first shot, and then butchered with an axe and various cleavers. This film can best be described as an amateurish hispanicsploitation film, where all Americans (except Telly Savalas) are shown as brutal racists and profiteers. Leave this one in the bargain bin of history.

Border Cop, 1979 film

The film opens on a two-lane blacktop highway in the southwest. A pick-up truck is stopped for an inspection. "Any contraband?" There is an exciting chase. Cooper's partner is hurt bad. Later Cooper visits a party. A important man talks to Romero. Senor Suarez talks to Cooper. The wedding is followed by a rare rain. Cooper visits a border town. A young woman asks for a ride across the border. Back at work Cooper gets a new partner and an older car. Are Mexicans being exploited by being sent across the border for low wages? [Are they oppressed in their own country?] Romero's job is to transport people in secret at night. They know how to avoid detection?

They arrive at a slaughterhouse. Tools are sharpened, cattle are killed, skinned, and cut up for meat. How many films would show this today? The workers are upset over their treatment. Suarez knows how to manipulate people. The immigrants are loaded into a truck for the return trip. To avoid the police the passengers are dumped in the desert. Will they be lost? Is Commander Moffet on the take? Benny goes into town and looks for revenge. There is a fight. Benny goes to Suarez's place. Will Cooper go there and rescue him? Will there be an emotional confrontation to end the story?

This average story could have been much better as an expose of conditions on the border, and exploitation of illegal immigrants. You have to read between the lines for part of this story. [My hunch is it was taken from some little known book. Was "Cooper" the name of a real border guard who was famous in some circles?]