| The Russian Specialist (2005) Cast:Dolph Lundgren, Ben Cross, Ivan Petriushinov, Olivia Lee Dolph Lundgren stars as an Ex-Russian super soldier who shoots the mobster who killed his wife and son in a mafia shootout, however years later Lundgren is asked to help out a wealthly couple who's daughter is being held for ransom, Lundgren of course doesn't take much convincing when he finds out that the mobster he thought he had killed is very alive, now Lundgren teamed up with a couple of mercenaries becomes a one man army to dispose of the Russian mafia one at a time in this intense actioner which features Lundgren in good form. Direct Action was a merely competent and fairly enjoyable police thriller, that was good due to it's fast pace. The Defender on the other hand actually had a fairly well done story (For a B.movie) and basically delivered it exactly what you would expect from such. Of course I recommended both films and I recommend The Russian Specialist as well. Mainly due to it's similarity to a Charles Bronson vigilante movie. Many people who know me and talk to me through letters, know that i'm a huge Bronson fan. (I even recommended Death Wish 3 and 5) so even though Dolph Lundgren is no Charles Bronson, the style lives on in a time where the genre has been stripped of it's balls. Not so here. Lundgren crafts such suspenseful actionscenes that this alone is the main appeal of watching. The Russian Specialist is about on par with Jean-Claude Van Damme's enjoyable Wake Of Death and therefore one walks away from The Russian Specialist a little dazed. The final set piece in particular pulls no punches, showing a shotgun decapitation, shots to the head and beatings, endless beatings. This is without one of Lundgren's more hard edged actioners. All of the action is of course enhanced by the fact that all of the action is done in the most realistic way possible, which in the end makes the movie all the more suspenseful. Some people say that this is Lundgren's best movie, it's not but it is one of his most intense and I for one was generally impressed with Lundgren as a director. D.Dolph Lundgren*** |