For someone who has a master's degree in chemical engineering and was once awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT, Dolph Lundgren has certainly starred in his fair share of brain dead motion pictures, the majority of which may or may not have resulted in his gradual decline. You see, after a short but snazzy career in the '80s, poor Dolph found himself slowly sinking into the direct-to-video cesspool with the other muscle-bound has-beens of his generation. A string of low-budget flops pretty much cemented that fact, and soon after our hero decided to pack up his career in order to spend more time with his family. As of 2002, Mr. Lundgren was no longer a working actor. The nation silently wept.
Two years later, Lundgren was suddenly back in the proverbial saddle, tossing out a handful of third-tier actioners that suggested his so-called "retirement" was nothing more than a hasty retreat from impending doom. As of this writing, the guy has quite a few straight-to-video flicks collecting dust on video store shelves across the globe, not to mention those currently in production. Like former action heroes Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Wesley Snipes, it seems that Dolph has finally found his niche amongst the fallen. Unlike his contemporaries, however, Lundgren's recent output actually has a bit more class than you may initially realize.
Take 2004's Direct Action, for example. It's not the best action vehicle the guy has ever lent his talents to, but it's certainly not the worst. Dolph stars as Frank Gannon, a good cop surrounded by a squadron of crooked bastards. They're so dirty, so utterly foul that ol' Frank is going to testify against them in a court of law. Bad idea. Our beloved hero soon finds himself knee-deep in bullet casings as he desperately tries to stay alive long enough to spill the beans about his co-workers and their seedy operations. With the help of a head-strong young rookie (Polly Shannon), Frank dives head-first into an all-out war with those who seek to silence him.
Article comments
1 - The Haze
You know your career is over when you have to resort to reality TV(i.e.-Gene Simmons,Hulk Hogan).My God,what were they thinking?Oh yeah,$$$$$$!!As for the Dolphster his best movie was "I come in peace".Damn good idea but bad movie.I'd like to see that redone with a better script and tighter story line.
2 - T. Rigney
I know I've seen I Come In Peace years ago, but I can't remember a thing about it. Anyway, I've got Dolph's The Mechanik on the way, and I'm quite anxious to see how he operates as a director.
3 - Michael J. West
I can't give kudos to Dolph Lundgren. He killed Apollo Creed.
4 - T. Rigney
Since I really don't enjoy any of the Rocky films, I can't really hold that against the big guy. I do, however, understand how the loss of Apollo Creed may effect those who held him in such high regard.
;)