Troma's War Information

Troma's War, also known as 1,000 Ways to Die in the United States, is a 1988 action/adventure film written by Lloyd Kaufman and Mitchell Dana and directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman (credited as Samuel Weil). It began production in 1986 and was released in theaters in 1988 shortly after Class of Nuke 'Em High was done making its rounds at the box office.

Plot synopsis

After a commercial airline crashes on an uncharted island, the surviving passengers venture to the other end of the island, which they find is home to a terrorist infiltration camp. When Parker, a mentally unstable Nam vet, manages to kill one of the terrorists, he and Taylor lead the other passengers to a safe haven where they can stay until things have cleared up. After being captured, said passengers are forced to watch a neo-Nazi brutally murder an air steward and a priest. Gathering what weapons they can find, the remaining passengers storm the camp in hopes of recovering their lost friends. Meanwhile, back at the camp, a musician's girlfriend is shot and killed by an obese terrorist wielding an AK-47 assault rifle. After losing a fight with the Nazi, the rocker's bandmate is kidnapped by another terrorist leader named Señor Sida (Mr. AIDS in Spanish), who leads a cult known as the AIDS brigade who hope to infiltrate AIDS to the US as a part of the terrorists' plan. Sida proceeds to violently rape the captive woman. Meanwhile, an attractive young African American lady is taken to see the brains behind the terrorist operation, a pair of Siamese twins conjoined at the head. Parker and Taylor lead the remaining passengers in a surprise attack on the terrorists' hideout. Señor Sida, while trying to escape, is shot in the scrotum with a crossbow by the young lady he raped. Having been transformed by her experience, the African American lady hunts down the Siamese twins armed with a machete. After finding them, she violently hacks them apart. She then goes after a terrorist who tried to have his way with her and stuffs a grenade in his mouth. After having realized the terrorists' plan to invade America, the remaining survivors lock and load, forming a small platoon that plan to invade the terrorists' main headquarters the next morning. Later that night, Taylor and his love interest Lydia share an intimate moment with one another. Our heroes plan to storm the camp later the next morning. The men refuse to let the women go with them so they don't put their lives at risk. Hardwick, a depressed widower, volunteers to drive a truck full of explosives into a cargo boat hauling the terrorists into the US. After alerting the terrorists, Hardwick is shot down, ruining their plan. At the last minute, the females ride in and help kill off the terrorists. A morbidly obese passenger named Cooney decides to fill Hardwick's role. He fights his way through the terrorists blocking his way until he gets to the truck. Just as the boat is taking off, Cooney drives the truck off a ramp into the boat, destroying it. The unlikely heroes mourn the loss of Cooney, until he appears unharmed, having ditched the truck as a last minute resort.

Production

After finding success in such films as The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High, Troma began production on what was intended as a criticism of President Ronald Reagan's attempt to glamorize armed conflict. The film was initially rejected by the MPAA as too violent to even receive an R rating, so several scenes were cut from to the film, including the entire AIDS subplot. Despite this the film was rejected a second time leading to even heavier cuts. The butchered end result of the film was poorly received. In the aftermath of the film's poor financial performance, Troma experienced financial hardship, jettisoning the company from the Hollywood mainstream. Troma's War's budget was $3,000,000, making it Tromas most expensive film to date.