The Mercenaries - Recap

Jim picks up his briefing from a parked car and is informed that Colonel Hans Krim, a mercenary leader in Africa, claims to fight for emerging nations but actually loots employers and victims alike. He then converts the stolen loot into gold bars, which he has stored at his impenetrable jungle headquarters. The IMF must recover the gold and put Krim out of business.

Jim assembles the usual team and in the final briefing they check a gun for Rollin that is loaded with two blanks. Krim’s headquarters only has one road in or out, but there’s an old escape tunnel into the compound and they’ve determined it’s still intact. Rollin warns that he can only hold out against torture for six hours, and Barney confirms that he should be able to finish the job with the special equipment in that time. Finally they determine that a recent gold shipment disappeared in the region, and that Rollin will go in as a mercenary soldier.

Rollin arrives at Krim’s compound and gets a demonstration of how Krim punishes his men: he has a man strung up for insubordination. Krim is interested in Rollin’s background and finally determines he’s a deserter. Meanwhile, Jim and Cinnamon arrive as missionaries with Bibles, driving a truck with Barney and Willy hidden in the back. The guards let them through and they drive to Krim’s headquarters.

Krim figures that Rollin was with a recent group military outfit that was responsible for the missing gold shipment. Rollin denies any knowledge of the shipment but Krim doesn’t believe him. Meanwhile, Barney and Willy slip away from the truck and go to find the escape passage. Jim and Cinnamon arrive at the compound and reveal that they’re actually gunrunners with a shipment to sale to Krim.

Barney and Willy go through the escape tunnel and figure out the spot directly beneath Krim’s gold vault. Krim agrees to buy Jim’s guns and wants immediate payment, so Krim takes him to the gold vault. It’s clear that Krim’s men, particularly his lieutenant Gruner, are protective of the gold because it belongs to the entire company. When Krim is distracted, Jim drops a small metal sphere and Barney picks up on it from below using a metal detector. He and Willy then start drilling upward into the vault.

Cinnamon starts vamping Krim and convinces him to let them stay the night. Rollin steals a truck and takes it out of the enclave and hides it in the jungle. Barney and Willy drill up into the vault then extend first a metal pipe and then a heating element. The heat melts the gold, which flows down into the pipe where they pour it into identical bullion molds. Rollin returns to the compound but Krim catches him and finds a gold bullion on him. Krim assumes Rollin is looking for the gold his company stole and hangs him up to torture him for the information. Krim then has a drink with Cinnamon and hits on him, staging a scene for Jim to get jealous.

Later Cinnamon flirts further with Krim and Jim barges in on them, threatening to shoot him with the IMF gun with the blanks. Krim disarms him and Jim drops the gun. Meanwhile, Barney and Willy finish stealing the gold and spray the gold-covered floor with new paint. They then haul the gold out and take it to an abandoned fortress in the allotted six hours.

Rollin, who has been keeping track of the time, “breaks” on cue and tells Krim that they hid the gold in the abandoned fortress. He takes Krim and his aid e Karl to the fortress where they find the (supposedly) new gold. Rollin tries to escape and Krim shoots him… with Jim’s gun with the bullets. Rollin falls into the nearby lake, and Krim decides to keep the new gold for himself and Karl. They need someone to smuggle it away so offer Jim $50,000 to get it out past their men at the checkpoint. Krim then eliminates Karl, the only witness, as a warning to Jim then takes Cinnamon hostage.

Krim calls his men at the checkpoint and tells them to let Jim’s truck past. Once he’s done, Barney, who is at the juncture box, cuts the phone lines. Rollin then calls the checkpoint and impersonates Krim, calling and telling Gruner not to disturb him. Then Rollin impersonates the voice of the guard at the checkpoint and calls Gruner, telling him they found the hidden gold in Jim’s truck.

Gruner confronts Krim, who is meeting with Cinnamon. Cinnamon confesses that Krim and Jim made a deal to get the gold out. Krim has no idea what he’s talking about and takes Gruner to the vault… where the gold is no longer there. A furious Gruner kills Krim on behalf of himself and his men for stealing their gold, while Rollin gets Cinnamon out. Jim, Barney, and Willy load up the gold then pick up Cinnamon and Rollin and drive past the checkpoint guards, who are following Krim’s own orders not to search the truck.

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