Category Archives: Movies

Here is the first part of the final battle, where the second bad guy gets his come-uppance. And one of the good guys too.
The gangsters are rather upset with Diah after what she did to Donna. She made things worse by waiting around for them to come home and starting this shoot-out. Now Rhoma and his detective buddy have come to help out.
The gangster on guard duty waits for the detective to come up close and shoot him. There’s plenty of gunfire, Rhoma does a funny pose at 3:02 and then demonstrates a strange way of running (maybe because of his high heels?). Next there are a couple of tedious fight scenes, where the outcome is never in doubt, but the bad guy in the first ends up lying on barbed wire and in the second over-reacts to every punch to comic effect.
Rhoma is about to rescue Debby, but forgets all about his daughter when he sees Diah get shot. For unknown reasons, Bonang – who can hit a tiny camera with a shot from the hip – is unable to hit a slow running Rhoma, except for a flesh wound to the arm which is soon forgotten. Diah gets the reward due all women who challenge man’s authority. Rhoma is incensed at losing an addition to his wife collection and gives Bonang a firey death. Why are they storing gasoline at a boat yard? Don’t the boats use diesel, like in every other country?

In our 11th and final clip, Rhoma deals with the last gangster, Herman. It seems pathetic that the climax of the film should be Rhoma beating up on a disabled person. But Herman makes a good show of it. I was also a bit surprised by 1:28, where they roll around on the ground together. Is that a nod to the gay section of the audience? I’m just asking.
It all ends with Rhoma tipping Herman into the well. Herman freefalls for 7 seconds, which means the well is 240 metres deep!  And it’s dry!  That’s incredible that they should sink a well so deep in the swampy ground of North Jakarta, right inside a shipyard, and not find water. 

And that’s the end of the film.  Rhoma is reunited with his wife and daughter, which is to say - one of his wives and one of his daughters.  I’ve already checked Google, but Delsy Linasari who plays Debby doesn’t appear.  Maybe her parents used an assumed name for her and she went the way of most child actors (into obscurity) after that?

I’m pleased to say that this is the first English language synopsis for this film.  I’m also glad that it’s finished.  I feel like I’ve been living in Rhoma’s pocket these past few weeks and it’s not a comfortable place to be.   Anyhow, there’s plenty of action and variety and certainly plenty of laughs in this film. 

Is there anything we can take away from the movie?  Rhoma behaves in a reckless and agressive manner thoughout.  From the very beginning, he gets himself involved in someone else’s fight, bringing disaster on his family.  Having gained the respect of the police, he refuses to call on their assistance when his family is attacked.  Instead, he tries to solve the problem by himself, leading to bigger problems.  In fact, it leads to the death of an innocent person when he participates in a bank robbery.  In the midst of this carnage, he drops everything and orders his wife to make arrangements so that he can perform a concert.  When he is almost assassinated by a music lover (joke), he returns to reality and joins with the police to rescue his daughter.  However, it is not clear whether he is more interested in rescuing his daughter or sharing some tender moments with a woman who is not his wife or relative (haram).  Accordingly, my conclusion?  Pure exploitation.