Cobra

Summary

“You’re a disease… and I’m the cure.”

In 1985, Warner Bros. backed the filming of Sylvester Stallone’s action film Cobra. At the time, Stallone was the biggest box office star in the world thanks to his Rocky and Rambo franchises. Cobra was a screenplay written by Stallone which was based upon a novel by Paula Gosling called Fair Game. The novel was later also adapted into an action film called Fair Game starring Cindy Crawford and William Baldwin. (If you have seen both movies it is interesting to think of them as two iterations of the same story, because they are very different.) 

Cobra was critically maligned upon its release, but was a huge box office success. It did $160 million in the theaters off of a $25 million dollar budget. Over the years, people like myself, have continued to show their love and appreciation for the film. It is a great example of a certain type of macho one-liner driven popcorn movie that seems to no longer be made by the Hollywood system.  In 2019, Shout! Factory gave the film a release on Blu-ray with some excellent special features and a new 2K scan from an archival interpositive. I couldn’t resist picking up the film. I revisited it the other night.

As the film begins, a man steps off of his motorcycle wearing a large overcoat and enters a grocery store. When an employee approaches him, the man pulls out a shotgun. He begins to let loose shots and hold the people inside hostage. Captain Sears (Art LeFleur) arrives on the scene and recommends that they call in the Cobra. Lieutenant Marion Cobretti (Sylvester Stallone) arrives in his antique Ford Mercury with the license plate AWSOM 50. He wears black aviators and driving gloves, and has a matchstick hanging from his lips. He walks directly into the store to confront the perp, casually taking a sip of a beer along the way. The perp has killed one person in the store and is making demands. Cobra easily kills the perp after just a moment of talking with him, despite the fact that the perp is wearing a bomb and has a shotgun pointed at a girl. The media jump down Cobra’s throat for excessive force. He goes home to eat some pizza. On the news, the Night Slasher has claimed his sixteenth victim without any understandable pattern. On the streets, a group wielding axes kill a random waitress. At the morgue, Cobra asks to join the squad handling the string of murders. That night, the axe wielding gang kill another woman after intentionally causing a car accident with her. A blonde model named Ingrid (Brigitte Nielsen) driving by the scene of the crime in her Jeep gets a look at their van and the face of their leader – the Night Slasher (Brian Thompson.) Ingrid drives off quickly and reports the crime. After a photo shoot, Ingrid is attacked but survives. Cobra is assigned to protect her. Cobra doesn’t understand just yet the level of influence that the Night Slasher and his gang have within the city.

I love Cobra. I know it’s stupid. I don’t care. I love it.

Certain movies defy the conventional rubric for what defines a great movie. Cobra at times makes little sense. There is a sequence where the heroes run through a farm and then enter an active steel factory. I am guessing that we are meant to believe (as an audience) that this is pretty normal. It doesn’t work, but it doesn’t matter. Cobra should not be judged as if it is attempting to be some sort of treatise on human nature or a piece of art. Cobra is just good fun ass kicking entertainment. Stallone keeps a match in his mouth inexplicably for most of the film. About eighty people are killed onscreen. There are explosions, car chases, nitrous tanks in vintage cars, one liners galore, and a villainous group of people that for unknown reasons follow the credo of an axe wielding psychopath that holds meetings underground. What is there to not like?

Sylvester Stallone wrote the film, helped direct the film (basically called all the shots whenever he was present on set,) and starred in the film. If you like Stallone’s other films, more than likely Cobra is up your alley. He wears aviators, driving gloves, and a tough facial expression the whole movie. The film features some of my favorite Stallone lines ever (see quote at the beginning of the review but also – “I don’t deal with psychos. I put ‘em away,” or “This is where the law stops and I start, sucker!” Brigitte Nielsen (who was dating Stallone at the time) stars as the model victim Ingrid. This is one of her best roles and she is enjoyable onscreen here. The main villain is played by Brian Thompson. It is pretty obvious while watching the movie that the main villain was rewritten to emulate the horrifying Night Stalker Richard Ramirez that was terrorizing Los Angeles at the time. Thompson gives the role his all and it paved the way for a long career for him. Director George P. Cosmatos was probably unhappy that his vision for the film was constantly subterfuge by Stallone, but cinematographer Ric Waite helped the film to have a strong visual presence that still works thirty five years later. Cosmatos’ career was definitely not hurt by the film and he went on to direct one of my other favorite action films – Tombstone.

There are a ton of fun character actors in this film. Art LeFleur has a small but enjoyable role in the film as the excitable Captain Sears. One of my favorite character actors in the film is Andrew Robinson. He plays Detective Monte that is a stuffed shirt that hates all of Cobra’s careless tactics. Robinson is best known for his roles in Hellraiser and Dirty Harry. Speaking of Dirty Harry, Reni Santoni plays Detective Gonzales. I don’t believe that to be a coincidence. Lee Garlington is an effective villain with the most Eighties hair imaginable. Marco Rodriguez has one of the most memorable roles in the film despite its short running time as the supermarket killer (a.k.a. The Disease.)

At the end of the day, you probably know if Cobra is your type of movie or not. if it looks like something you would enjoy, definitely give it a shot.

Video

Shout! Factory presents Cobra in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 utilizing an MPEG-4 AVC codec. The transfer comes from a new 2K scan of an archival interpositive. I think that should help to tell viewers to slightly temper their expectations. While I would love to see Cobra in 4K with a transfer from the original camera negative, I am not sure that day will ever come. For now, this transfer is the best that the film has looked. Colors are appealing and the overall visual feel from cinematographer Ric Waite looks good. The film is stylized and benefits from the Blu-ray treatment, but it is also a little bit soft at times. I am happy with the transfer while also feeling like a better presentation may be possible in the future.

Audio

Cobra features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track that sounds great. I enjoyed listening to the numerous car chases, gunfights, and cheesy Eighties love songs in this presentation. While the film’s surround track may not compete with some of the Dolby Atmos tracks featured on more recent films, I still enjoyed the track a good amount. 

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Director George P. Cosmatos
• Stalking and Slashing – An Interview with Actor Brian Thompson – in my favorite interview on this disc, Thompson discusses the early start of his career acting in the film The Terminator, his seven auditions to be cast in Cobra, the unique filming experience with Stallone largely calling the shots, his distaste for George P. Cosmatos, and his trouble with a particular stunt from the film. This is a great interview that is sure to entertain.
• Meet the Disease An Interview with Actor Marco Rodríguez – Rodríguez, who has appeared in hundreds of roles since his breakout performance in the opening scene of Cobra, discusses his memories of working on the film.
• Feel the Heat – An Interview with Actor Andrew Robinson – the notable character actor Robinson goes into good detail about the conflicts between Stallone and Cosmatos vision for the film and how it caused the set difficulties. Robinson also reveals that originally there was a big reveal for his character at the end that they decided to cut from the script. I liked this interview.
• Double Crossed – An Interview with Actress Lee Garlington – the actress discusses working on the film. Her most interesting story involves how Stallone came off as cold to her until they had made it far enough along on the shoot that he felt comfortable with her. 
• A Work of Art – An Interview with Actor Art LaFleur- the kindhearted actor reminisces casually about working on the film. Like many of LaFleur’s interviews, he says kind things about everyone he works with and does not mention much else.
• Vintage Featurette – an EPK on the set of Cobra
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Galleries

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Cobra is a movie that I enjoy revisiting whenever someone feels like watching it with me. It’s just the type of ridiculous over-the-top violent popcorn movie bursting with testosterone that I find thoroughly entertaining. Critics didn’t like it, but I have a strange feeling that the film was not made with them in mind. I have loved Cobra ever since the first time I saw it growing up. Every time I rewatch it, I have a great time. It highlights Stallone’s unique abilities as a screenwriter, actor, and moonlighting director with a lot of style and flair. It’s an incredibly Eighties affair and all the better for it. With an amazing cast of character actors to back up Stallone, there is a lot to enjoy about the film. Shout! Factory’s new Blu-ray features a good looking new 2K scan and some great new supplements. Highly recommended for those that know how to laugh while enjoying their action films.