Zebra Force (1976)

Director: Joe Tornatore

Starring: James Mitchum, Mike Lane, Richard S. Slattery, Timothy Brown, Rockne Tarkington

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Running with the mob can be deadly!

Plot: A band of ex-soldiers who served in Vietnam follow their former squad leader into ripping off the mob in a string of hits that will net them enough money to be set for life.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

#43 on Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

The story is the best part by far. The squad of white guys don masks and makeup to look like blacks in their heists from the mob. The local mob boss suspects it's the rival black gang which pulls them closer to starting a race gang war. The mob boss calls in a pro to find out who's stealing from him which leads to the killing of a detective on the take. While there might not seem to be anything that different about it so far, it's the ending that REALLY made me sit up and take notice.

THE SPOILERSFATHER PART II

The guy leading the squad actually died in a hospital in Nam but he outlined his plan to one of his men (a black guy who's been disguising himself as the white squad leader all along!) for him to execute after he dies!!! And, after a huge shootout at the end of the picture, our man in disquise is the last one standing and he's got two suitcases full of dough as he's ready to board his plane. Great ending!

END OF SPOILERS...YARRRRRRR!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! The reveal at the end was completely unexpected and this suddenly went from a 4 to a 5.5. I would like to rate it higher but there was so much bad from the acting and dialogue to the boring editing that I can't do it. I will say this, though, Charles Bernstein's got a really good main theme. The music doesn't always work but that theme sure was cool and funky and in pictures like this, every little thing counts!