[Jox]

AICN UK review
(lack of posts wouldn't allow me to post the direct link)

Hot off the heels of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, Dolph Lundgren continued sowing the seeds for his iconic action hero career to be by swapping swordplay for machine guns when he signed on to play the lead in RED SCORPION, helmed by Joseph Vito, director of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER and the Chuck Norris action romp, MISSING IN ACTION, and now it has made its format debut courtesy of the great Arrow Video.

But Arrow, one of my favourite distributors, may be running out of high quality cult movies to give the “white box” treatment to. They've supplied fans of Dario Argento and George A. Romero with the best releases their films have ever had, but lately, between re-releasing titles in budget editions, they're heading in a far more niche direction. I'm not sure this story of a Spetsnaz elite killing machine sent to Africa to terminate a revolutionary will ever be known as a cult classic. It packs plenty of explosions and mindless shots of Lundgren doing his best Rambo impression with a heavy machine gun, but there's nothing to pull you into the movie. His character, Nikolai, has as much depth as a puddle of mud and is often hard to understand, the few times he utters (or mutters) dialogue. The only memorable character is a foul-mouthed journalist played by the great M. Emmet Walsh who finds himself teaming up with Lundgren.

RED SCORPION is a completely forgettable '80s actioner, but I have no doubts that fans of the film will lap this release up. It's certainly the best the movie has ever looked, even if the HD remaster fluctuates between scratchy and fresh.