Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection, The (1990) Review

“Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection” Theatrical Poster

Director: Edoardo Margheriti
Cast: Fred Williamson, Forry Smith, Debra Ward, David Light, Kelly Wicker, Ned Hourani, Buddy Norton, Mike Monty, Edward Santana, Maria Isabel Lopez
Running Time: 92 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In The Black Cobra 2 Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson finds himself involuntarily taking part in an Interpol exchange program, one that sees him sent off to Manila and partnered with a local agent played by Richard Hammond. Despite a rocky start, by the end the pair are firm friends, with Hammond’s son even asking Williamson the loaded question of “You are coming back now aren’t you?” in the airport’s departure lounge. Well, just a year later Williamson does return to Manila, even staying in the same hotel. Only he mustn’t have left much of an impression as nobody seems to recognise him (not even the doorman who used to be a cop), and Williamson never does contact Hammond and his family to let them know he’s back in the country. Heartless bastard.

It’s debatable if the third instalment acknowledges the existence of the sequel (which itself disregarded the original) despite also being helmed by Edoardo Margheriti, but either way, the result is Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection. Not that you’d know it’s a Black Cobra flick from the opening, which sends us straight into Philippines jungle warfare territory as we follow Ned Hourani (an actor who seems to have appeared in every Filipino action cheapie made between 1989 to 1995, including Eternal Fist) ambushing an enemy compound. No further description required – you know the type. After infiltrating the electrified fence in the most time-consuming way possible, soon Hourani is spotted and we get the best action sequence of the trilogy. We’re talking explosions, machine gun fire, and an impressive stunt that sees Hourani jump from the top of a waterfall. 

I’m sure Williamson wouldn’t be pleased that the most memorable action sequence is one he has nothing to do with, but thankfully you can’t tell. A unique element of The Black Cobra movies is that rather than the sequels following the conventional route and becoming progressively worse, in this case the opposite is true. From Williamson’s aloof and almost disinterested dial in from the original, his performance here is night and day, constantly wisecracking and energetically putting hapless lackeys’ heads through car windows. Clearly someone’s pay cheque was getting bigger, as way the overall budget! 

We soon learn that Hourani didn’t last long after his waterfall jump, as unlike the bad guys in Commando which the action clearly takes its inspiration from, it turns out in the Philippines they can actually aim. Enter Interpol agent Forry Smith (the guy who played Green Hornet in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) and his incredibly broad shoulders that I’d argue deserve their own screen credit. Forry is briefed that Hourani was an agent on the trail of a bunch of missiles which have been stolen from the US army, and have the capability if launched to bring an end to the free world as we know it. Now it’s up to him to find and destroy them, and his superiors recommend that if he should need any help, the best option would be to “pick someone you trust outside of Interpol.” Finally, Williamson gets a somewhat tenuous reason to make an appearance in his own movie.

It turns out Forry’s father and Williamson served together in ‘Nam, and his father had always said if he ever needs help to give Williamson a call, which was good advice otherwise we wouldn’t have a movie. Almost as if to remind us of Black Cobra’s origins being the 1986 Sylvester Stallone flick Cobra, we first meet Williamson in this instalment with a shopping trolley minding his own business in the local supermarket. When some punks come in and hold it up, it doesn’t take long before they end up full of lead thanks to Baby. Who’s Baby? Well in Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection we learn that Williamson has named his gun and, well, that name is Baby. We’d get 2 supermarket scenes in 1990 which both follow identical scenarios, with the other being Steven Seagal in Marked for Death. In terms of cool factor, I really wish someone talked Williamson out of using the trolley.

Unlike previous instalments Williamson no longer gets any flack for his use of excessive force, so after the killing he heads straight back home to open his mail and find the invite to Manila, then it’s off we go. Once in Manila we get to spend a lot more time in the Manila Garden Hotel than we did in the sequel (and learn about its poor curtain fittings), as a CIA agent who’s also been assigned to the case turns out to be staying next door to Williamson. Played by Debra Ward, she makes up the trio of good guys who are going to save the world (the stakes have really escalated in this one!), and also carries around a nifty modem, which can best be described as looking like an over-sized pager. Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection would be Ward’s one and only credit, having done nothing before or after.

The third entry earns more goodwill over the previous sequel that was also set in the Philippines purely because this time we don’t get any gratuitous filler, meaning we’re not subjected to a Filipino cultural show this time around, which is always a plus. Instead we mostly follow Williamson and Forry as they track their leads around Manila and frequently get into minor scuffles, most of which involve the Filipino stuntmen being used as human punchbags. Notably when investigating a pole dancing club the contact they connect with is played by Maria Isabel Lopez, star of Elwood Perez’s 1985 cult classic Silip, which was definitely an unexpected surprise (and is a movie that deserves to be seen for anyone who hasn’t).

There may be no gratuitous filler, but that’s not to say there isn’t filler of a different variety. Events culminate in the trio realising they need to find the same compound from the opening scene, as the missiles are likely stored somewhere onsite. Naturally, this involves a trek into the jungle to locate where the secretive compound is, and even the most patient of viewers may find their endurance levels tested by the amount of time we spend watching our heroic trio shuffle through nondescript foliage. Watching Williamson’s shirt become increasingly soaked with sweat may be fun for some, but really what the audience wants is to see the meaningful character progression from tough New York cop to Filipino jungle killing machine, and we do get there eventually.

Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection unsurprisingly contains the highest body count of the series, as the finale indulges in the classic trope of endless lackeys running into a barrage of machine gun fire from Williamson, Forry, and Ward. It’s fun to watch, even if it becomes obvious it’s the same 4 guys in each shot who are getting mowed down. What you can always rely on the Philippines of the 80’s and 90’s for though is a good old fashioned explosion, and once the missiles are located and rigged to blow, the sequence ends on the mother of all explosions which is a sight to behold. In an era where CGI explosions have become the norm, it’s scenes like this which provide a reminder that even the most convincing CGI is ultimately a poor stand-in for witnessing the real deal.

As an interesting sidenote, if you weren’t fooled by the stock footage of New York and Chicago that populates the trilogy, then prepare to brace yourself for Black Cobra 4: Detective Malone, which was released the following year. By this point Williamson was Black Cobra’d out, so didn’t return, however director Umberto Lenzi still made him the star of the show (going so far as to pull a Missing in Action III and name it after his character!) by recycling footage and using outtakes from the first 2 movies. As a cut ‘n’ paste extravaganza it’s a movie Godfrey Ho would be proud of, but I don’t recommend anyone ever subject themselves to it.

Overall Black Cobra 3: The Manila Connection gets by on its mix of belt kung fu, a dash of nudity (for the first time in the series!), and plenty of Filipino jungle action, none of which I was expecting when I ventured in. For cheap and cheerful fun from Italy, the home of rip-off B-movie cinema in the 80’s and 90’s, Williamson and Baby deliver an entertaining (official) end to the series.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10