Asalto en Tijuana (1984)

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In a rather far-fetched action thriller about horse thieving, an otherwise upright rancher is blackmailed into stealing a pricey, champion racehorse that some gangsters want for their own stables. The two gang leaders, Bruno (Toño Infante) and Killer (Rubén Recio) connive to enlist a commando from the Korean War named Felipe (Mario Almada) to carry out the theft of the racehorse Excaliber, soon to run at the Tijuana track for the first time. They dispatch the evil Osaka to twist Felipe's arm, which he successfully does by kidnapping Felipe's son and then beating his ranchhand nearly to death, blowing off his leg for good measure. Thus coerced, Felipe looks up an old army buddy and with some of the money that Osaka left in payment for the deed, Felipe covers the cost of his friend's help. Next, another vet from the Korean War is recruited as a helicopter pilot and the three begin to rehearse the planned horse-napping. Their objective is to pick up the horse by helicopter in mid-race, and to ensure the success of that imaginative heist, Osaka kidnaps the jockey's wife to force his cooperation. When the big day comes, the horse caper is successful -- with a few glitches here and there -- yet Felipe is a long way from getting his son back safely and at the same time, escaping arrest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi