Richard Jaeckel Movies

A DEA agent (Jeff Wincott), working on the case of a Russian drug kingpin, agrees to let his unstable brother (Gary Hudson) help him foil the crook. ~ John Bush, Rovi

This confused sequel -- bearing many names in the credits: Delta Force 2, Delta Force 2: Operation Stranglehold, Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection -- to the first Delta Force movie lacks the nightmarish collection of guest stars gracing the first film, i.e. Hanna Shygulla, Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters, George Kennedy, and Joey Bishop. Chuck Norris, however, returns as Col. Scott McCoy, a man in a blue funk because notorious drug dealer Ramon Cota (Billy Drago) arranged to have McCoy's partner and his partner's wife and baby brother killed. Cota has also kidnapped three DEA agents to boot. Even without Lee Marvin, Col. McCoy wants to enact biblical vengeance upon Cota and his cartel. As a result, McCoy and his marines travel to the Latin American dictatorship of San Carlos. There they destroy half of the country's cocaine supply and proceed to search out and destroy the evil Cota and his minions. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Ghettoblaster immediately gets down to business with a frightening montage of urban gang violence. Richard Hatch plays Travis, a survivor of the ghetto who returns home to find that his "hood" is a hotbed of criminal activity (he didn't know this when he left?) Fortunately, Travis is more than a match for the punks who terrorize the local citizenry. He himself becomes a marked man when he falls in love with Gina (Diane Moser), the object of gang leader Jesus' (Del Zamora) affections. Before the film has run its course, Trask has become a one-man vigilante unit against the forces of evil, much to the dismay of ineffectual police officer and self-styled "champion of the people" Mike Henry (Richard Jaeckel). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Featuring shots of aerial adventure and excitement, this is the pilot for a television series that chronicled the exploits of a group of specially trained Navy fighter pilots who live aboard a gigantic aircraft carrier and struggle daily to keep the world safe for democracy. The story centers on the pilots' fight to contain a devastating virus. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

As a result of several changes in his TV series' production staff, the brilliant, highly principled Boston private eye Spenser (Robert Urich) is short one girl friend as Spenser launches its second season. It was decided to write out the character of guidance counselor Susan Silverman, played by Barbara Stock; by way of explaining her absence, Susan left Boston for California, reluctant to continue her relationship with Spenser for fear that he'd be killed at any moment. In the season opener, Carolyn McCormick is introduced in the role of assistant DA Rita Fiori, whose initial relationship with Spenser is adversarial; in fact,when first we see her, she is doggedly prosecuting our hero on a blackmail charge. Eventually, Rita realizes that Spenser is one of the "good guys", and before long a romance has blossomed. Episodes this season include a brace of stories in which Spenser's grim, muscular street contact Hawk (Avery Brooks finds himself in hot water, first when he is framed for carrying a concealed weapon in a backwater town, and second when he is suspected of shooting down Spenser's police lieutenant friend Martin Quirk (Richard Jaeckel). In other episodes, Spenser is stuck between a rock and a hard place when he must either clear a notorious pimp of murder or let him take the fall for the real killer, whose motive for murder was a surprising noble one; our hero nearly loses the use of his right arm when he takes a bullet meant for a politician; and, as he has so often done in the past, Spenser takes time to put a few misguided youths on the right path. Guest stars this season include such familiar film and TV faces as Charles Kimbrough, Ed O'Neill, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cullum, Rob Morrow, Jamey Sheridan, Ruby Dee, Larry Fishburne, David Straitharn, Tony Shalhoub and David Hyde-Pierce. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season One of Spenser:For Hire begins with the two-part "Promised Land", one of a handful of the series' episodes actually based on a "Spenser" story by novelist Robert B. Parker. In this one, tough but ethical Boston private eye Spenser (Robert Urich) is hired to find the wife of a powerful businessman, only to realize that his client may not be 100 percent trustworthy. In addition to Spenser himself, the series' inaugural season introduces Avery Brooks as Spenser's fearsome but loyal street contact Hawk (Avery Brooks), his guidance-counselor girlfriend Susan (Barbara Stock) and his liasons at the Boston PD, Lt. Quirk (Richard Jaeckel) and Sgt. Belson (Ron McLarty). Subsequent episodes found Spenser protecting a volatile police witness, going after a duo of thrill killers, butting heads with a crooked landlord, protecting the so-called twin sister of a neurotic woman, exposing a team of "dirty" vice cops, going undercover to trap a gang of heroin pushers who have infiltrated a private high school, attempting to dissuade the clueless Sgt. Frank from romancing a white supremict, and trying to avoid extermination by that most terrifying of adversaries, the Woman Scorned. Among the season's guest star are George Grizzard as Susan's ex-husband Frank Silverman, Shirley Knight as Lt. Quirk's wife Katie, and a young Jimmy Smits as a firebrand Mexican dockworker in an episode reminiscent of On the Waterfront. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With shoddy production values and a plot that seems to be more of an excuse for violence than anything else, this underpar drama focuses on vigilante justice. While trying to cross the border into France, a Spanish truck driver's vehicle is burned by two angry French farmers, killing the driver's wife. Unable to win his case against the men in court, the angry driver vows to avenge the death of his wife by killing the farmers and their sleazy lawyer. It may have helped to know that European farmers were irate at this time about the dumping of their produce. But then, education was not an objective here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

With 1985's Pacific Inferno action star Jim Brown made a triumphant return to movies. Or did he? If you read the copyright date carefully, you'll discover that this US-Philippine coproduction was actually shot in 1977. The plot has us believe that General Douglas MacArthur ordered that $16 million in silver be sent to the bottom of Manila Bay before the Philippines were overtaken by the Japanese in 1942. Navy divers Brown and Ric Van Nutter are among several POWs ordered to retrieve the money. Brown is all for escaping, but the duplicitous Van Nutter plans to abscond with the booty. Thus, Brown is alone in his efforts to round up local guerillas to help his fellow divers get away. Among the resistance fighters is buxom Wilma Reading, whose role consists of falling out of her blouse at the slightest provocation. Less attractive is "special guest star" Richard Jaeckel, who plays a soldier of fortune named Dealer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having crashed to Earth, an extraterrestrial space traveller must assume a human identity lest he be captured by the authorities. The alien (Jeff Bridges) chooses the likeness of the recently deceased husband of Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). At first dumbstruck, Jenny becomes both hostile toward and frightened of her guest. He gradually wins her confidence, learning a few vital English-language phrases so that he can explain his presence. The "starman" has come to Earth with a message of peace, in response to the similar message sent out on Voyager One. He asks for Jenny's help in transporting him to the Nevada desert, where his fellow aliens are to pick him up and take him to his home planet. Soon he and Jenny form a united front against a mean-spirited National Security Council agent (Richard Jaeckel), who intends to seize the starman and turn him over for scientific scrutiny (and possible extermination). While en route to Nevada, Jenny grows closer to the gentle-natured Starman, eventually making love with him. By the time he is poised to leave, she is carrying his child, leaving the field wide open for a sequel--which was never produced, though a weekly TV version surfaced in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With the Jerry Zucker-Jim Abrahams-David Zucker team absent, this sequel to the cash-cow 1980 spoof Airplane once again finds garrulous man-with-a-past Ted Striker (Robert Hays) compelled to take over the controls of crippled aircraft, all the while trying to patch up his relationship with stewardess Elaine (Julie Hagerty). This time, the first passenger space shuttle is launched into orbit -- and takes off for the moon - but the on-board computer malfunctions and sends the craft hurtling toward the sun, threatening the lives of everyone on board. Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves return from the first Airplane, while William Shatner, Chad Everett, Sonny Bono, Raymond Burr and Chuck Conners join the cast, as they too lampoon their established images. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by William Judson, Cold River is a study of the New York Adirondack region and the citizens dwelling therein. Richard Jaeckel is the only "name" actor in the cast, unless you count Robert Earl Jones, father of the better-known James Earl Jones. The villains are those old reliable Evil Land Developers who wish to despoil the terrain. Cold River was a family-oriented "four waller", designed for city-by-city distribution for a quick turnover. In this respect, it succeeded; aesthetically, it's little more than a glorified home movie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Albert's classmate Sylvia (Olivia Barash) has been impregnated by a masked rapist, whereupon her "disgraced" father forcibly removes her from town. Already suspected of being the father of Sylvia's unborn baby, Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) courts further scandal by helping the girl run away from her intolerable home situation. Unfortunately, Albert unwittingly tips off the rapist to the girl's hiding place, leading to a terrifying denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the fourth installment of the "Herbie" series of Volkswagen Bug fantasies, the magical car has lost a lot of its sheen as it is retreaded into a journey through Central America. D.J. (Charles Martin Smith) and Pete (Stephan W. Burns) want to enter their supernatural car in a special, high-stakes race in Brazil. And so they set off driving with that goal in mind. Along the way the car ends up in a bullring playing the role of matador, the best of several incongruous adventures. Most audiences will still favor The Love Bug, the 1969 hit that spawned this third sequel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi