My review was written in March 1989 after watching the movie on Celebrity video cassette.

Direct-to-video feature "Wild Man" curiously mixes mystical elements in a standard he-man adventure. Overlong effort plays like a tv action pilot for an uncensored network.

Don Scribner is rather unconvincing as Eric Wilde, a casino manager in Las Vegas called in by the government to go after an old adversary, drug kingpin Tommy Lee Smith (played hammily by James L. Newman.

As a destitute man's James Bond, Wilde beds every woman in sight, including a lovely tv newshen played by ubiquitous starlet Michelle Bauer. Complicating the plot is Tommy Lee's latest girlfriend, Jessica (Kathleen Middleton), who's Wilde's ex-wife.

Pic derails via its heavy emphasis on Wilde's magic ring, with director Fred J. Lincoln (one of many hardcore porn helmers like Roberta Findlay and Chuck Vincent dabbling in mainstream projects of late) cameoing in flashbacks as an Indian medicine man who makes Wilde invulnerable. With the ring he' able to come back to life twice after being killed, a bit of hokum that combines self-destructively with pic's unjustified 2-hour running time.

Action scenes are awkwardly staged and worst thesping is turned in by Tom Green as one of Tommy Lee's henchmen.

Former porn star Ginger Lynn Allen (whose mainstream career was derailed a bit by her omission from the final cut of Blake Edwards' "Skin Deep") is okay here doing what comes naturally.l Since she's assistant to a government spook, her character name of "Dawn Hall" is mildly amusing.

The action genre features fast-paced, thrilling, and intense sequences of physical feats, combat, and excitement. The characters of these stories are involved in daring and often dangerous situations, requiring them to rely on their physical prowess, skills, and quick thinking to overcome challenges and adversaries.

The adventure genre features exciting journeys, quests, or expeditions undertaken by characters who often face challenges, obstacles, and risks in pursuit of a goal. Adventures can take place in a wide range of settings, from exotic and fantastical locations to historical or even everyday environments.

The crime genre features criminal activities, investigations, law enforcement, crimes, and the pursuit of justice. Crime stories often revolve around the planning, execution, and consequences of criminal acts, as well as the efforts to solve and prevent such acts. They explore various aspects of criminal behavior, motives, and the moral dilemmas faced by both perpetrators and those seeking to uphold the law.

James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)

Ex-Commando Eric Wilde teams up with a news reporter to stop a psychotic drug dealer.

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Wild Man

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