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Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Maziun This made in the late 80's action movie seems to be a lower budget clone of the Rambo movies. It is certainly a product of it's time , because you can smell the anti-Soviet propaganda without even watching the movie. Hollywood made quite a few movies about the evil Russians that were actually entertaining ("Rambo 2","Rambo 3" , "Rocky 4" ) and few that were painfully bad ("Red dawn" , "Invasion USA" ). This movie unfortunately belongs to the second category.Let's start with the good things. The movie is set in Africa , which is actually an original background for action movie. Are they any other action movies set in Africa ? I don't know - only "Shaft in Africa" comes to my mind. This brings a touch of freshness to the movie."Red scorpion" also learns us that communism is evil (true) , war is bad (true) and sends a few messages - think for yourself, don't follow blindly the orders , truth might be manipulated and appearances might be deceiving . It's nothing spectacular , but at least it provides some depth to the whole movie.The relationship between the main hero and the african bushman is silly , cute , funny and even touching at times. Probably the best part of the movie.The problem with "Red scorpion" is the fact that for an action movie this is rather mundane & boring film. Im' all in for action movie that treats itself seriously , but it was poorly done. A lot of the running time is devoted to Lundgren wondering around as he develops a conscience. The Russians plan doesn't make any sense , just like their further decisions.The action scenes are done badly. There is a car chase in style of "Raiders of the lost ark" that is ruined by annoying and inappropriate song by Little Richard. It was supposed to be funny - it wasn't. There is a really big shootout in the end , but it isn't exciting. All the bad guy's have terrible aim and can't shoot straight. There is very little blood and violence here. Hand to hand combat or fighting ? Forget it.This bad movie was directed by Joseph Zito , an expert of making bad propaganda action movies ("Missing in action", "Invasion USA" - both with Chuck Norris). Dolph Lundgren who plays the main hero Nikolai Rachenko (funny fact - after his breakthrough role of Ivan Drago in "Rocky 4" here he gets to play another Russian) is passable. M. Emmet Walsh (" Blade runner ") plays an American photographer and is terribly annoying and unfunny. Brion James (" Tango and Cash ") makes an appearance , but sadly disappears at the end of the movie without any explanation ! What a waste. Everybody else give poor performances.I don't really recommend this movie. Not even for the action junkies . I rather recommend watching one of the Rambo movies. Still it's a little bit better than most of Lundgren movies. There was a sequel in the 90's , but it had very loose connection to this movie. I give it 2/10.

Leofwine_draca I found this to be one of Dolph Lundgren's most accessible movies. Now, I know that isn't saying much, but this film actually has a far-reaching story with some real issues to comment upon. These may only be superficial, but they certainly give the film a more realistic edge over the usual action fare that Lundgren has found himself in in the past decade. Of course, in the end the Soviets are still the blacker-than-black bad guys and the good guys (the rebels) win out in the end, but it still makes you think.As it was actually filmed in Africa, this film has some authentic and beautiful locations, especially in the desert scenes. I'm just a sucker for nice scenery but this film makes good use of it at every opportunity. It also has a slightly higher budget than most action fodder, as judged by the ridiculously high number of explosions we witness at the film's conclusion. Lundgren's minimalist style of acting actually fits the bill here as he plays the impassive soldier who gradually begins to realise that the side he is fighting for is the wrong side, and he makes a believable transition from baddie to rebel leader at the end.The American supporting cast is pretty forgettable, though. M. Emmet Walsh plays an obnoxious reporter who spends almost the entire movie swearing or shouting at somebody, so it's impossible to warm to his character. On the other hand, T.P. McKenna's Soviet bad guy barely registers apart from his over-the-top accent. Brion James also pops up in a minor role as a Russian sadist (what else?) but is sorely underused; halfway through the film his character just disappears never to be heard of again! However, many of the local African actors are very good, especially the guy playing the native who is, quite simply, excellent. Incidentally, the sub plot in which Lundgren turns native and grows to appreciate life out in the desert is brilliant, and I wish it could have lasted longer than twenty minutes.The action itself is mainly routine for most of the film and consists of the standard truck chases, shoot-outs, and occasional display of martial arts from Lundgren. However, at the very end this film turns into Rambo with Lundgren and his rebel pals taking on a Russian base and winning. Here, the death toll is high, and Lundgren beats up and knifes many a bad guy. In the sadistic highlight, he actually shoots the arm off a Cuban officer to prevent him throwing a grenade! Then everything blows up in a spectacular fashion that will leave you satisfied. While RED SCORPION is far from brilliant, it spins a believable and very different from the norm plot which had me interested throughout.

Paul Andrews Red Scorpion is set in Africa where the Russians & Cubans are at war with the natives as they try to bring Communisim to the country, however the war isn't going as well as they had hoped so step in hard as nails Spetznats special forces solider Lieutenant Nikolai Rachenko (Dolph Lundgren) who is ordered by his boss General Vortek (T.P. McKenna) to go undercover in Africa to assassinate an anti-Communist revolutionary & hero to the people Ango Sundata (Ruben Nthodi) by gaining the confidence of his right hand man Kallunda Kintash (Al White). It's a tough job but someone has to do it. Nikolai apparently saves Kallunda from a public execution at his own risk which has the desired effect of making Kallunda trust him, as Nikolai spends time with Kallunda & eventually meets Sundata he realises that he has been fighting for the wrong side & wages a one man war on his own country & it's army in order to liberate Africa & it's people...This South African, American & Namibian co-production was directed by Joseph Zito & I actually had quite high hopes for Red Scorpion in a cheesy over-the-top testosterone filled late 80's action flick of the kind they just don't make anymore sort of a way but after wasting 100 odd minutes on this rather mundane & boring film I realised why they don't make these sorts of films anymore as Red Scorpion exemplifies just about everything wrong with the late 80's & early 90's action flick fad. I like my action films with plenty of action & gratuitous violence in them, unfortunately Red Scorpion actually tries to have some sort of meaning & say something relevant about world events at the time. Now, I'm all for a bit of drama & seriousness if it's done properly but having the Sweedish actor Dolph Lundgren playing a Russian in Africa finding his true self, redemption & have him join some tribe or other in which he then instantly sympathises with the whole country & realises how bad & evil his own country is while running around in nothing but shorts & sandals with a silly haircut is not the way to go about it. Right? A lot of the running time of Red Scorpion is devoted to Lundgren wondering around as he develops a conscience, yawn. Where's all the action? Where are all the one-liners? Where is the obligatory love interest for Lundgren to save at the end? Why is Red Scorpion so boring & quite frankly dull? These Russians can't be that smart can they? I mean you have invaded Africa & have waged war on it's people so who do you send in to kill one of your biggest enemies? That's right a huge soldier with a Russian accent. Yeah, that's going to work isn't it? I mean I am sure every African will help big Lundgren, totally & utterly trust him & give him pretty much anything he wants. Wouldn't you? For my money Red Scorpion has too much preaching & moralising with the main plot an obvious take on apartheid & the events in Africa at the time. I usually like big, dumb, brainless action flicks but I found Red Scorpion seriously dull.Even the action sequences aren't that good, they feel too random with lots of shoot-outs where lots of people are shot but you never feel Lundgren is in danger & of course all the bad guy's have terrible aims & can't shoot straight. Lots of things blow up too but for no real reason & Lundgren is rarely in the same shot so again there's no threat there or last minute escapes or anything of that sort. For all we know these explosions could be happening twenty miles from where Lundgren is. There's a reasonable car chase about twenty minutes in but it's ruined by a very inappropriate & somewhat annoying song on the soundtrack. The violence is also disappointing, there's barely any fighting or hand to hand combat in it & there's not much blood either. A guy sticks some spikes into Lundgren as a form of torture & Lundgren shoots a soldiers arm off but other than that this is actually surprisingly tame.With a supposed budget of about $16,000,000 Red Scorpion was shot in Namibia in Africa & therefore breaking an international boycott of the country for it's apartheid regime which this film ironically tries to highlight, apparently the budget for the film was pulled & the cast & crew were stuck there for three months while the money was got back. The cast is alright although Lundgren is awful, it's always nice to see Brion James in something but what happened to his character who seemingly disappears half way through the film.Red Scorpion is a anti apartheid drama disguised as an action film & a bad action film at that. This has no real meaning, the dialogue sucks as does the story & action. Not one I would want to see again in a hurry. Followed by the totally unconnected Red Scorpion 2 (1994).

jread-5 This movie was produced and written by none other than Jack Abramoff, recently in the news (and in the slammer) due to being convicted of illegal lobbying and fraud. Eventually, two White House officials (J. Steven Griles and David Safavian) and a congressman (Bob Ney) were also convicted in connection with his activities. You can get an accurate feeling for the "Rules? What Rules?" attitude of Abramoff and his cronies in the Bush White House by watching this bit o' dreck.Although this movie was released during the Reagan Era, when the atmosphere was also "Rules? What Rules?" - see Iran/Contra, the October Surprise, etc. etc. - the Bush Administration has taken this to new and previously unimagined extremes. I am anxiously awaiting a movie (written by Scooter Libby- or maybe a sequel from Abramoff when he gets out) that captures the zeitgeist of stupidity and arrogance that only a true insider can really know. "Team America" comes close (America!! F*ck Yeah!!), but it is intended as a comedy. What we have experienced the last seven and a half years is no joke.