ATTACK FORCE Z

      In 1980 Mel, John Phillip Law and two talented Aussies, Chris Haywood and John Waters, signed up for Attack Force Z. The assigned director was Phillip Noyce, who had a number of award-winning films under his belt, but script difficulties prompted Noyce to abandon the project. He was replaced by Tim Burstall.

      The film takes place at the tail end of the World War II in the Pacific in 1945. It focuses on an impossible mission to rescue an important government official from a Japanese-held island in the Sembalang Straits, where his American plane was shot down. A five-man team from Force Z , led by a Dutch command, land under cover of night near the island and, aided by loyal Chinese, bring back the defecting scientist.

      "Attack Force Z" was shot entirely in exotic locations in Taiwan.

      Production was a headache from start to finish. The filming of the movie turned into a real life battlefield of bitterness Tim Burstall didnŽt get on quite well with Gibson and the rest of the actors did not fraternise with John Phillip Law, who was "the star". So, while Burstall was rewritting the script, the crew spent free time fighting against language problems and paying bribes to continue working eficiently.

      The person least happy was Mel, who felt he had yet again been betrayed by the broken promises of cheap skate film producers. His fee was ridiculous. (Gibson was paid $1,000 per gruelling six-day week) and his role in "Attack Force" was a disappointing comedown from "Tim".

     In spite of the awful circumstances, the film was finished and released in a cinema in Melbourne in June 1982 and in a few overseas markets, not including the United States, where it finally ended up being shown on cable television two years after his initial release, by which time GibsonŽs name had become something to capitalize on.