TOP LINE (1988)
aka Alien Terminator
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 54 Seconds
Audio: Italian or English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Nello Rossati
Cast: Franco Nero, Deborah Moore, George Kennedy, William Berger, Mary Stavin
The bonkers Italian sci-fi action adventure flick Top Line (aka Alien Terminator) is directed by Nello Rossati (Erotic Escape), and stars Italian film legend Franco Nero (The Day of the Owl) as the fedora wearing, hard-drinking American writer/adventurer Ted Angelo, who is on expedition in South America researching pre-Columbian civilizations and looking for treasure, which is funded by his publisher/ex-wife Maureen De Havilland (Mary Stävin, House). Following a lead he ends up exploring a cave system looking for 16th-Century Spanish conquistador treasures but instead accidentally stumbles upon a world-shattering discovery, a long buried U.F.O. that not only apparently crashed into the Andes Mountain 500 years ago, but tucked away inside is a Spanish Conquistador ship it apparently abducted just before crashing.
When Ted tries to go public with his discovery in pursuit of wealth and glory he finds himself pursued by various clandestine organizations (CIA, KGB), and allies himself with the attractive June (Deborah Moore, Warriors of the Apocalypse, 007 star Roger Moore's daughter!), who is a friend of a local art dealer named Quintero (William Berger, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff) who ends up dead. With Quintero dead Ted and June are framed for the murder, and are now hunted by former Nazi turned evil-antiquarian Heinrich Holzmann (George Kennedy, Creepshow 2), as well as a killer cyborg, played by Any Sidaris regular Rodrigo Obregon (Hard Ticket to Hawaii)!
This genre-blending sci-fi action-adventure flick is all over the place in terms of tone, the conspiracy storyline and how many people are involved in this alien cover-up is absolutely mind-bending, there's a clandestine alien cabal that have secretly infiltrated the highest levels of world government for hundred of years, it's a total Qanoon type set-up. This nutty flick has a little bit of everything, we get an Indiana Jones-esque adventure, green-skinned alien lizards in disguise, cackling Nazis, and the aforementioned killer-cyborg, with some pretty nifty practical effects that get quite gooey towards the end, courtesy of Francesco and Gaetano Paolocci (Silver Bullet).
Sadly, the pacing is often sluggish and it takes quite a while for this to get a proper head of steam, but once the conspiratorial aliens-on-Earth stuff kicks in during the final 25-minutes or so it's quite delightful, that's when they crank the weird-o-rama dial all the way up to 11! One of my favorite earlier scenes is of a barefoot Nero being chased through a cactus field, which looks bloody and painful, while George Kennedy's Nazi character pursues him in a car, cackling maniacally all the while; then of course we get the killer cyborg - which fights a losing battle with a bull - and lizard-tongued, green-slime spewing alien transformation that seems to be riffing on An American Werewolf In London, but on a late-80's Italian exploitation budget. The last 25-minutes turns this turn into a banger, so much so that I thought it was worth whatever slog we might have endured early on. If you like bug-nut genre mash-up insanity Top Line delivers the aliens-on-Earth goods, recommended.
Audio/Video: Top Line (1988) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut from Cauldron Films presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, sourced from a 2K restoration from the negative. The source shows no damage and looks terrific, grain level are filmic and well-managed, and the colors are pleasing, plus the black levels are solid. Cauldron Films have done excellent work spiffing-up this Italian genre-blender up for it's debut HD disc release.
Audio comes by way of Italian or English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The tracks are clean and well-balanced, dialogue sounds fine and the Maurizio Dami (It Was a Dark and Stormy Night) sounds great in the mix. It is generally quite a pleasing track, at times it can get a tad shrill in the higher registers but no serious issues.
As usual Cauldron Films stack this release with some tasty new extras, starting off with an Audio Commentary by film historian Eric Zaldivar that includes snippets of audio interviews from cast members, Deborah Moore and Robert Redcross, with additional insight on Italian cult films with actors Brett Halsey and Richard Harrison.
There are also new interviews from the cast and crew, we get the 22-min Black Top! An Interview with Franco Nero, the actor talks about how the film is full of many different genre elements, and how he had a ton of fun making it, describing it as a mix of Indiana Jones and Terminator. He talks about the cast, working with Oscar winner George Kennedy as well as William Berger, Rodrigo Obregon. The gorgeous South American locations, and fond memories of his time there.
There's also a 33-min appreciation of the director Nello Rossati, who is largely unknown outside of Italian genre cinema enthusiasts, by way of The Strange Case of Ted Archer: An interview with Eugenio Ercolani; a 13-min Alien Terminated: The Alien theories of Top Line by parapolitics researcher Robert Skvarla that delves into the conspiratorial world of alien cover-ups,
The single-disc standard release version arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap with both the Top Line and Alien Terminator artworks, I prefer the Top Line artwork which is a fun Romancing the Stone knock-off, while the Alien Terminator artworks really sells the cyborg aspect of it, neither of which truly capture the genre-blender vibe of it, but the two together come pretty close.
Cauldron Films also have a Limited Edition (of 1500) Slipcover Edition available from DiabolikDVD and the Cauldron website that includes an exclusive Booklet, Double sided poster and High quality slipcase w/ artwork by Ghanaian artist Farika (in conjunction with Deadly Prey Gallery) which can be purchased HERE.
Special Features:
- Black Top! An Interview with Franco Nero (22:17)
- The Strange Case of Ted Archer: An interview with Eugenio Ercolani (33:04)
- Alien Terminated: The Alien theories of Top Line by parapolitics researcher Robert Skvarla (12:37)
- Audio Commentary by film historian Eric Zaldivar including audio interviews from cast members, Deborah Moore and Robert Redcross, with additional insight on Italian cult films with actors Brett Halsey and Richard Harrison.
- Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork
I'm always delighted to see what gem bubbles up on Blu-ray from Cauldron Films, their love of bonkers late-80s Italian flicks continually impresses me, and this pulpy, sci-fi adventure flick, despite starting off slow, comes back around and won me over with how utterly wackadoo and entertaining it is.
Buy it!
