JUDGE, TAYLOR, SPIT, and MEMPHIS are an all-female helicopter gunship crew known as the “Hell’s Belles” with a reputation for being too aggressive and not following orders. After an action-packed and chaotic opening battle in the Middle East fighting terrorists, they are demoted to ground crew but still, due to their individual dysfunctions when working alone, can’t help themselves getting into hilarious hijinks. They are soon disenrolled pending review and sent back to the stars and bars where they decide to stick together in Los Angeles and go find work. However, when they head out into the desert and get lost on their way to a job interview, they quickly run into trouble when a local Gang steal their only means of transportation. Chatting with BILL the owner of a local diner reveals the Gang is a perennial problem known for everything from thefts to drugs, and maybe even kidnapping.
Never ones to turn and run and wanting their property back, the Hell’s Belles go into detective mode and establish that the Gang are holed up at an abandoned copper mine. They run straight into the henchman for the gang and get into a brief aggressive encounter which escalates fast when one of the crew, a paranoid doomsday prepper reveals she’s carrying a second-hand rocket launcher she bought at a Texas yard sale. One dead gang member and a burnt-out pickup truck later, the Hell’s Belles scope out the Gang’s hideout and, after identifying their leader PANCHO, they come to realise these guys have something else that must be returned - a Young Girl they learn the Gang kidnapped from a local ranch where her illegally trafficked immigrant Mother is alone, desperate for help, and unable to go to the authorities. The Hell’s Belles feel they have found their new purpose.
The Hell’s Belles return back to the diner and plot their attack together, but encounter difficulties putting it into action when it turns out the local sheriff is corrupt and clearly working for the bad guys. They keep managing to outsmart him however and the prepper amongst the crew turns out to be a valuable asset as she’s able to hook them up with a stash of artillery buried out in the badlands, which they manage to retrieve in an exciting firepower-heavy car chase. Bill allows them to use the diner as a base and, despite his surly nature, begins to bond with them. The whole town comes together in fact with the Young Girl’s mother able to point them in the direction of a rich man’s permanently stored helicopter. It’s like everything is falling into place and they are fast becoming a modern-day all-female A-Team.
Pancho is quick to fight back however which he does so in a highly aggressive fashion when he and his Gang makes a surprise death-squad attack on the diner while the Hell’s Belles are sleeping peacefully. Following this, the crew come to realise this is going to be one hell of a fight and, as the stress starts to take over and the Gang continues to raise the stakes, their tight friendship seems like it may collapse but, after digging deep and realizing they are so much stronger as a team, the crew remain united and focused on their drive to help those that need them by being the rare kind of people willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means breaking the rules. They strap an old minigun to the private helicopter they’ve commandeered and ready themselves for war.
The Hell’s Belles storm into the abandoned mine town and attack in a high-energy showdown with Pancho and his Gang with action taking place both in the air and under the ground, eventually splitting the crew up and forcing them to work in pairs in a bid to reunite. Using everything from martial arts, to military strategy, to high explosives specialization, they find the Young Girl and rescue her but getting out alive proves harder and harder as they have to fight their way up through Gang Members, to take on the brute like Henchman, and eventually Pancho himself who finally meets his demise at the hands of the very community he’s been oppressing for all this time. With the Young Girl finally back safely with her Mother the Hell’s Belles are applauded as local heroes and, now a stronger team than ever, head out on the road looking for others that might need their help and further adventures to get into.
"'Hell's Belles is a grand, bang, shoot 'em up tour de force reminiscent of Tarantino's "Kill Bill" times four. Hold on to your hats, folks! It's going to be a funny, terrifying, rough and tumble ride! - Ralph Shorter
Spotlit on the Black List.... seriously.