Cobra Thunderbolt (1984)

"I wanna see blood and violence, now!!" - Terrorist leader

A team needs to stop terrorists, with help from a special tank.
Starring: Sorapong Chatree, Rapeetran Kornsakul, Krung Srivilai, Siriporn Lamsoontorn

Link to IMDB

Col. Dave

It seems the terrorists in Thailand are getting too powerful, partly because they're being supplied powerful weapons by rich, corrupt companies that just want to make a profit.
A retired Colonel named Dave is hard at work on building a new tank that will hopefully help in the war against the terrorists. He gets help from his daughter, Molly, who is in the military, and also from Dick, a disgraced soldier that Dave takes as his apprentice.

Once the terrorists learn about this new powerful tank, called the Cobra Thunderbolt, they want it for themselves. When Col. Dave refuses to sell it at any cost, the bad guys kidnap his wife in attempt to force his hand. This really pisses-off Dave.


Dave, Molly and Dick know what they have to do, and that's to use the Cobra Thunderbolt to fight the evil terrorists and bring peace back to Thailand. Along the way, the get help from a reporter and the police, but only one thing can truly win this war... The COBRA THUNDERBOLT.

Molly                                   Dick

The plot here is a bit slow at times and it's nothing that I haven't seen before, but I still found this to be very enjoyable. It's low budget 80's action from Thailand at its finest, helped by the fact that they were trying to keep it dramatic and realistic.
I found a lot of laughs here, too, especially at the really poor dubbed dialog. Many of the words coming out people's mouths sounds nothing like how real conversations happen, but it does seem like the actors themselves were decent enough.

Dick: "I'm no writer, I was born to be a fighter."

Dave: "Dick's a born fighter."

Cobra Thunderbolt

The action here was actually better than I thought it would be. There are some fun stunts, car chases and fights, even if the last 20 minutes just devolves into the "everything explodes" routine when they take the tank to war.

Overall, this movie is far more entertaining than it should be, and that's always a sign of some classic, mindless fun.

Be sure no to miss:
- Someone's a fan of Snoopy.
- Dick wears an Oakland Raiders football helmet into combat.
- There's conflicting dialog if Dave actually made the tank or not. Something lost in translation?
- Great synth soundtrack.

Internet review:
"If you enjoy low-budget zany action films from the 80's then this is worth seeing." - BRussel

Should I watch it?
Not essential, but still good.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

Cobra Thunderbolt gets...