Red Scorpion [DVD]

A Russian soldier is sent into infiltrate a rebel African army but turns against his Russian masters when he learns he has been lied to. Daft but fun 80's action film with Dolph Lundgren on fine form in an early lead role that's more for adults than Rocky 4 and Masters Of The Universe. Suspend all disbelief as you normally have to in these types of movies as Lundgren takes on the entire Russian army with a little help with terrific action coming across a bit like a Russian Rambo as Dolph Lundgren attempts to become the next big 80's action star after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.

Excellent film I originally had the DVD version but this is much better the transfer to blu ray is amazing probably the best Blu ray I have seen.

I loved this movie as a Kid! If my memory serves me well it was released back in 1988, and it was a nice little, full blown Action Movie. When i saw this was now on Blu ray, and not seeing it for about Ten years, i just had to get it. The Blu ray is a good Picture but not Great as some scenes were still grainy, but it is old and good enough! As for the Sound quality, that is excellent. Like i already said i love this Action Movie!!! It is up there with Stallone's Rambo and Arnie's Commando, a classic One Man Army Action Adventure. One thing i never got though, was how Dolph Lundgren was never Huge in the Movie scene! He was in Rocky 4 which was a smash, Red Scorpion was a Hit at the time, plus other Movies, he even Starred alongside Brandon Lee in the 90's Movie Showdown in little Tokyo. This Guy had the Looks, Physique, Stature, could actually do Karate and could Act, so where it all went wrong i'll never know. Very pleased this is out on Blu ray and even more pleased Dolph is back in the Expendables 1 and 2, good to see him on Big Screen once again!!! but why the wait?

I really applaud Arrow for adding this great 80's action movie to their catalogue of more cult and horror oriented releases.As with all their delux Blu-Ray presentations, it is attractively packaged, and comes with a nice quality double sided poster, and 4 regional variant options of sleeve design.The small booklet is informative, though maybe padded out with information about the director's previous work, as opposed to a lot of info specific to the production of the film itself.The print of the film is OK, but not great - there are still some places in which the quality becomes grainy, particularly in night scenes where the imperfections stand out against the darkness.This is the complete and uncut version of the movie.Extra's include a standard director's commentary, a somewhat pointless intro from Dolph, a brief interview with him, and a feature on the film score.Unfortunately, as attractive as all this is to fans of the film, it is Arrows bad luck, that very shortly, Synapse Films will be releasing their own collectors blu-ray of this film, that will have a digitally remastered and restored print, a 5:1 DTS audio option, along with a far more impressive collection of extras, including more comprehensive interviews, and unseen footage from behind the scenes, shot by FX maestro Tom Savini himself. It will also be a Region free release.So its not that this version is 'bad', its just that a better edition is on the horizon.

'Red Scorpion' was made during a golden era of testosterone fuelled 'one man army' style movies. It was obviously designed as a vehicle to put Dolph Lundgren in the big league of action stars at the time, but it doesn't quite hit the mark.On the plus side, the film looks good, moves along at a decent pace and has the required amount of gunfire and explosions to satisfy fans of the genre. In terms of the lead actor, Dolph is quite a fearsome, athletic looking specimen who looks terrific in the action sequences. He doesn't have a great deal of dialogue to get through, which suits the robotic, monosyllabic nature of the assassin he's playing.On the downside, the plot of 'Red Scorpion' amounts to nothing more than the sort of myth-laden Soviet-bashing that was so commonplace in US movies at the time. The attitude was always America = good and USSR = bad. It was a bit laughable back then and it's downright embarrassing now. Here we have a muddled mess of a story, involving persecuted African villagers, sneering Soviet and Cuban villains and a disillusioned, double-crossed Dolph finding the road to redemption via a giggling bushman. Classic 80s B-movie villain Brion James pops up with a dreadful Russian accent and M. Emmett Wash gets to swear a lot.As a brainless, retro action romp, and showcase of Dolph's action hero credentials, 'Red Scorpion' does a decent job and is pretty typical of the kind of movies served up at the time. It's ok as a bit of late night movie nostalgia, but time hasn't been kind to it I'm afraid.

Well I think this film shows why Dolph Lundgren always remained a poor cousin of Schwarzenegger and Stallone, his wooden and uncharismatic performances! The film is OK although doesn't have that many cool moments which stand out. I bought this simply because its an Arrow Video release so thought id give it a go, though im not usually a fan of musclebound 80's american action films. A nice Blu Ray transfer however. If youre already a fan youll love it, for non fans this isn't going to switch you on at all. A 2 star movie with decent production values but little story and lacking any charisma in the lead actors, and crass in terms of its politics, language and violence. But i suppose that's what you expect from these type of films but in this one its all so humourless. Great Blu ray presentation so I award it 3 stars overall.

Just a great blu-ray all around.

really good film, probably one of Dolph's best films. the US release came with a booklet and reversal cover and the DVD version of the same film which is also region free, the bonus with this version over the UK release by Arrow is this version has slightly better video quality and better Audio quality with DTS 5.1 MA.Recommended!!!pictures of this release are included.