Hard Hunted (4 Stars)

This is the seventh film in the Andy Sidaris collection, made in 1992. It's about a trigger for an atomic bomb which is hidden in a Jade Buddha. At the beginning of the film Kane, who we met in the last film, has just received the Buddha from contacts in Hong Kong. Then it's stolen by a government agent called Mika. She dies shortly after delivering it to Donna Hamilton. The rest of the film is about Kane pursuing Donna in an attempt to get the Buddha back.

Here's a case where I'm really disappointed with Andy Sidaris. In the last film Kane was played by Pat Morita, a 59-year-old Japanese American. Pat couldn't return for this film, unfortunately. I have no idea why. Maybe it was because of health problems, maybe it was because he was busy with other films. Whatever the reason, Andy should have tried to replace him with a similar looking actor: a portly, elderly Japanese actor. I'm sure he could have found someone. Instead of this he picked Geoffrey Moore, a 26-year-old English actor. They couldn't look less alike.

This is Pat Morita as Kane in "Do Or Die".

This is Geoffrey Moore as Kane in "Hard Hunted".

Geoffrey Moore is the son of the James Bond actor Roger Moore. He's a competent actor and plays his part well, but I still think he was the wrong choice for the role.

"Hard Hunted" marks the beginning of a new era in the Andy Sidaris films. In the first three films the de facto headquarters of the Agency was the yacht called Malibu Express. In the next three films there's no specifically named headquarters, although we see that the Agency has centres in Las Vegas and Dallas. From this film onwards the new headquarters are the KSXY radio station in Molokai. The disc jockeys are Shane Abilene and Ava. This is Michael Shane's fourth film as Shane Abilene and Ava Cadell's second film as Ava, except Ava's a new Ava. She was an evil assassin in the last film and met an untimely end, but now she's one of the good guys. I wish Andy wouldn't do this, but on the other hand, Ava Cadell is so beautiful that it was worth resurrecting her.

Talking about resurrections, Rodrigo Obregon is killed in almost every film, but he manages to return in the next film as a different character, almost always a bad guy.

This time he's killed by Nicole Justin. Wow, she doesn't half look mean! I can imagine what she's thinking: "However often I kill this guy, he keeps coming back!"

Shane sits with the new agent Becky, showing her his gun. He thinks she'll be impressed by how big it is. She's very unimpressed when he fires it and misses every target. Size doesn't matter when you don't know how to use it.

In contrast, Becky is a perfect shot. She makes Shane feel ashamed of himself.

Becky is played by the actress Beckie Mullen, following the Andy Sidaris tradition of actors playing characters with their real name. I know nothing about her, except that she used to be a wrestler and she died of cancer at the age of 55. That makes me very sad.

This film there's no cameo by Andy Sidaris. It's his son Drew's turn to make a brief appearance as a sheriff. I wasn't sure it was him, so I had to replay the scene to make sure.

Cynthia Brimhall appears once more as the singer and club owner Edy Stark. In the last film she was singing in Las Vegas, but now her club is next door to the KSXY radio station. Her songs are frequently played on KSXY. That's practical, because it means that Andy Sidaris didn't need to pay for the rights of music used in the film.

There's something unusual in the film's introduction. It's the first time Andy Sidaris has taken his eyes off Julie Strain's breasts. Twins! And they're cheerleaders! What a sight!

I've never seen Andy look so happy. Julie is doing all she can to calm him down.

This film features only three former Playmates, the least ever for Andy's films. No, he's not slacking. Girls like Ava Cadell and Beckie Mullen are just as beautiful as any Playboy Playmates.

• Dona Spier (Donna) was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in March 1984.
• Roberta Vasquez (Nicole) was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in November 1984.
• Cynthia Brimhall (Edy) was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in October 1985.