breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com Once Mr. Dolph Lundgren began pursuing an acting career, it wasn't until he played He-Man in The Masters of the Universe (1987) that he began approximately putting out a movie per year. Next in that line up was this action film. It's also probably the last time Dolph Lundgren ever played a Russian character. Good thing too because being typecast as a certain character frequently doesn't give the viewer something more to look forward too. Here, he plays a devoted Russian soldier who is trained and highly skilled in the art of killing. But as the story continues, he realizes maybe he's not seeing the whole picture.With a screenplay written by first timer Arne Olsen, it isn't great nor is it terrible. The story does contain some meaningful moments, but most of them are frequently overshadowed by scenes that are predictable enough that regular viewers could see it coming a mile away. There are also some points in the film that would make the viewer question "How does this pertain to the development of the character?". It can be far fetched at times. Like how is learning the way of a hunter open one's eyes to reality? Is it really that powerful of a activity?That's not to say the actors perform badly though. Dolph Lundgren portraying a Russian is accurate. He's a blonde, large, hulking mass of muscle and can speak with the basic accent. Al White plays an African rebel leader who is also legitimate in his role. M. Emmet Walsh plays a an American reporter who accompanies Al White's character. My question is though, how did an American reporter get caught in the middle of this? Lastly, Brion James makes an appearance too, who would play the British character, Requin in Tango & Cash (1989) a year later. It's an alright cast for this movie.However, the way the action is executed reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando (1985). There's lots of explosions and plenty of shootings. Just like Schwarzenegger, Lundgren runs around in war paint firing his machine gun without getting a scratch. But perhaps what helped this movie to excel further than Commando (1985) was the human aspect of it. Al White's character leads a bunch of poor followers who seek freedom from the Russian oppression. And when the audience sees them fall, it's hard to watch. Assisting those particular segments was Jay Chattaway's music to the film. In some places it worked but the rest didn't. It was an average listening experience.At least, the film was directed by a competent person. Joseph Zito, the man behind Chuck Norris' Missing in Action (1984), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) and The Prowler (1981) knew what he was doing. Also accompanying him is cinematographer João Fernandes who has also worked with Zito in the past. Fernandes was able to get nice shots of the arid terrain, which at least allows the audience to believe the place Lundgren was set in wasn't forgiving. In the end, it's not great or terrible. It's just average film making.As Dolph Lundgren's last film to play a Russian character, it comes off as a better rip-off of Commando (1985) but doesn't take the story in any direction that hasn't been explored. Just average on the whole.

Ricardo Pinheiro I'm not the biggest fan of action movies. But i love this one. Good action scenes, excellent scenarios, a not-ridiculous story. It's for entertainment, for sure, and that's all. The acting is just enough, no need for amazing acting. I love the "rebirth" theme with the indigenous character, realizing what is "good" and "bad" for those people, for those who lived in that country. Lundgren is just like Scharzenneger was in the early movies. Acting with few words and a lot of muscles. The chasing scene with 50's and 60's rock screaming in the megaphones is excellent. If you want to have a good time, pure entertainment... By the away, a little history lesson. There has been a lot of criticism because the soldiers in Africa speak Spanish. Well, the Soviet forces in Africa many times had Cuban soldiers inlisted. The reason: the weather, the cuban were more used to high temperatures. It's not a mistake.

Boba_Fett1138 Can't say I fell in love with this movie but it has a certain appeal to it. As far as cheesy, overblown, 80's, B-action movie flicks go, this is being a petty enjoyable and good movie for what it is! There were certainly certain aspects about this movie that I appreciated. One was its story. Not that it's being much good or anything cleverly written but it at least takes the movie to plenty of good places and meets some good characters along the way. And how many actions movies set in rural Africa are out there anyway? The movie is great and unique already, just because of that.Another thing I also liked about the movie and its story was that Dolph Lundgren was being both the villain and main hero of the movie. There isn't really being a main villains in this, since Dolph Lundgren is already on the 'wrong' side and along the way switches sides, as he is growing more and more sympathy for his objective and their cause. the transitions his characters go through are pretty good to watch and gives the movie and its story something extra and more depth. It's probably also part of the reason why this movie is often being regarded as the ultimate Dolph Lundgren movie.And this movie also definitely benefits from Lundgren's presence. He's a very charismatic lead, even while he doesn't speak an awful lot. He handles all of the action very well, both the hand to hand combat scenes as the ones in which he has to handle a large gun.The action itself is always something decent enough. Certainly nothing that blew me away but there are still some large setup moments that are great to watch and definitely something the '80's action movie lover should enjoy and appreciate. It's still being a totally silly and overblown action movie of course but if you're able to take it as just that, you'll most likely have a good time watching this movie.6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Scott LeBrun Never mind any sort of political angle or goal of propaganda in this agreeable bit of non- think entertainment. All that matters is that it does do its job when it comes to the entertainment aspect. Sometimes it's good for laughs, sometimes a strong and touching anti-war message comes across, and sometimes it's genuinely action-packed and exciting. Dolph Lundgren plays a *supposedly* top notch Russian operative dispatched by his superiors to get close to an African rebel leader who's objecting to the occupation by Russian and Cuban forces. The surprising thing is that Dolph's character isn't too good at his job and gets figured out. While awaiting punishment for screwing up the mission, he escapes and befriends a local bushman. The gentle and helpful ways of the bushman and his people help Dolph to realize he's fighting for the wrong side and he leads the rebels in a wonderfully over-the-top action finale. Director Joseph Zito is an old hand at this kind of action fare, having already directed Chuck Norris in the classics "Missing in Action" and "Invasion U.S.A.", and he and a capable crew give this all the juice that it needs, with a decent pace and violence aplenty. Zito also works with makeup effects expert Tom Savini once again; they'd collaborated previously on "The Prowler" and the fourth "Friday the 13th" movie. Dolph is fairly stiff as always, and it's up to the very amusing supporting cast to bring life to the story. The movie really hits its stride once the great character actor M. Emmet Walsh shows up, bringing lots of xenophobia, energy, and comedy relief to the proceedings, playing an investigative journalist. T.P. McKenna is the slimy Russian villain, Carmen Argenziano a thuggish Cuban bad guy, and the late Brion James brings a ridiculous accent to his Czech adviser the same year that he pulled the same gag for "Tango & Cash". (Annoyingly, his character is never properly paid off.) Ruben Nthodi is fine as the rebel leader, with his associate played by Al White, whom the viewer may recognize as one of the jive talking dudes from "Airplane!". But the performer who gives this movie a good deal of charm and presence is 95 year old Regopstaan, a natural in the role of the bushman Gao. These actors do help to make this fun. It's decent action fare where one can loudly root for the villains to meet their doom and where it's nice to see the redemption of the lead character. As an aside, helping to give this film some notoriety is the subsequent fate of this film's co-writer and producer, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but that shouldn't distract from what is basically acceptable escapism. Seven out of 10.