At one time Michael Dudikoff was seen as a successor to Chuck Norris, and was a big favourite on tape at the height of the 1980s video boom. This was the one that made his name, and went on to spawn a fair few sequels, most of which didn't stray too far from the blueprint established here. Dudikoff, along with chum Steve James, are the martial arts experts who take time off from their GI duties to tackle evil drug dealers. There are some nice fight scenes, but the acting is about as mindless as the action sequences.

Joe Armstrong, an orphaned drifter with little respect for much other than martial arts, finds himself on an American Army base in The Philippines after a judge gives him a choice of enlistment or prison. On one of his first missions driving a convoy, his platoon is attacked by a group of rebels who try to steal the weapons the platoon is transporting and kidnap the base colonel's daughter.