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  #1  
Old 6th February 2012, 07:21 PM
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Default Red Scorpion: The Reviews

The title says it all. Post up your Red Scorpion reviews here!


To kick start the thread, here's a great review:

Red Scorpion (1988) | Attack From Planet B - Where B-Movies Come To Live & Die ...
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Old 8th February 2012, 05:04 PM
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AICN UK review
(lack of posts wouldn't allow me to post the direct link)

Quote:
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.
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Old 10th February 2012, 04:27 AM
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Filmwerk ... Red Scorpion Blu-ray Review

According to an interview included on the extras of this new release Dolph Lundgren accepted the part of Lt. Nikolai Rachenko in Red Scorpion based on a poster he was shown. Personally I would like to see those days return so we can have more insane action films like Red Scorpion. Rachenko is a KGB killing machine who even the Soviets struggle to control. He’s sent to Africa to infiltrate a group of rebels and then kill its leader Ango Sundata .Naturally things don’t go as planned as Nikolai comes to understand the nightmare of Soviet foreign policy.

Director Jospeh Zito made his name helming two hugely successful Chuck Norris action flicks in the mid 1980s. Both films were heavily pro American and cashed in on the Rambo franchise by having Chuck as a Vietnam POW in Missing in Action. They both teamed up again for Invasion USA a year later when the Russians finally arrived on the mainland USA to find Chuck waiting for them armed to the teeth. No doubt Zito is an action director and has very little interest in anything else and Red Scorpion is no different as he blows something up every 15 minutes. This time though he took a look behind the Iron Curtain and had an elite Russian soldier question his own country.

First off you have to understand that this is a cult action classic, thus meaning it doesn’t have the production values or level of performance you might find in a big studio production. The acting credit must all go to M Emmet Walsh as crazy journalist Dewey Ferguson who simply gets up into Dolph’s face constantly calling him an asshole. Dolph himself is a little wooden but this was only his third film after Rocky 4 and the amazingly bad He-Man. Dolph’s lack of acting talent is irrelevant though as you become bedazzled by his astounding shorts. Having been saved in the desert by a nomadic shamen (as you do), two things chance to signify Nikolai’s change from bad to good. He gets a scorpion tattoo on his chest from the locals to signify he’s a hunter and ditches his trousers for short shorts.

Red Scorpion will have you laughing at times, but in the right way if you appreciate all things cult. But Zito lives up to his reputation and systematically blows up everything in sight. The level of destruction rivals and exceeds Commando as the rebels storm the Russian compound and kill everyone. The location work is excellent and the stunts completed by Dolph and his co-stars are clearly dangerous and another thing you won’t see today.

The Blu-ray release is gorgeous as the print is crystal clear but not annoyingly artificial. The extras are solid as usual from Arrow with the big prize being Joseph Zito’s commentary. Naturally he focuses on the action and the challenge of shooting in Namibia’s relentless heat. Along with that you get interviews with Dolph talking about the production and composer Jay Chattaway discussing his superb score for the film. Given how obscure the film has been for a couple of decades ago you cannot moan about the due care and attention given by Arrow to this release.

Dolph Lundgren has made is clear that The Expendables has given his profile and career a rebirth since its release. Given how much I hated the awful Expendables it’s good to know that at least one good thing came out of that action turd. Beyond that this is another choice release for 80s fanatics which now include such new cult heroes as Jason Eisner. A decade that seemed somewhat artistically challenged when it ended has by today become oddly cool.

Red Scorpion is a cold war cult classic but I have a sneaky feeling anybody coming to this film today may see it more as a camp extravaganza. None of the Arnie or Sly films from the 80s have aged well in terms of authenticity. But so what it really doesn’t matter if you appreciate the glory of this kind of nonsense. Films such as this Commando, Cobra, Invasion USA, Delta Force and countless other 80s classics simply don’t exist today. Long may Arrow and other labels chose to preserve and highlight the wonder of these now legendary cult epics.

Aled Jones
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Old 10th February 2012, 04:34 AM
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Flash Bang Action Movie Reviews posted this review of Red Scorpion

Directed by: Joseph Zito
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, J T Walsh, Brion James

Synopsis:

Lundgren stars as Nikolai Rachenko, a deadly, highly skilled agent for the Russian army and an all-round a killing machine whose brutal efficiency and single minded determination to serve the motherland leaves behind a trail of battered bodies and bloodied enemies.

Nikolai’s latest mission involves infiltrating an African rebel army seeking to defy its new communist rulers and take out their leader. But as he gets to know his enemies and the dignified Bushmen he encounters, he begins to slowly realize that all he has been taught was a lie. Now, this Cold War rebel is ready to turn the tables on his Soviet masters and kick all kinds of ass!

Review:

Red Scorpion is a great slice of 80’s action, tinged just a bit with Anti-Communist propaganda. Unlike other gung-ho commie-bashing movies of the period such as Red Dawn and Invasion USA (also directed by Zito), this is set on a different continent and also only has one American character. J T Walsh plays Dewey Ferguson, an American journalist who has access to the rebels and is helping to promote their cause. He is also incredibly arrogant and narrow minded and has an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Hardly the most sympathetic character in the film!

Coming hot on the heels of his breakthrough role as Ivan Danko in Rock IV, Dolph Lundgren looks amazing in this film, and does a good job acting wise too. There are times where he looks like a catwalk model rather than a hardened soldier, but overall he looks the part. He brings a lot of dignity and honour to his role, proud of the fact that he is Spetznaz and vengeful when that status is threatened.

Even though he plays an assassin sent to kill a benign leader, Nikolai never loses our support because we know that he’s been lied to by his superiors (the excellent T P McKenna as General Vortek and Carmen Argenziano as Colonel Zayas) and it’s only a matter of time before he finds out. Unfortunately, Nikolai is a bit slow on the uptake and actually tries to follow through with his mission. Luckily the rebel leader isn’t a dummy, and benevolent enough to allow Nikolai to live.

Nikolai realises that he’s being hung out to dry by his superiors and strikes out on his own, only to fall foul of a nest of scorpions (black ones, not red) and is rescued by a Bush Man called Goa (a real-life Bush Man called Regopstaan, who was a whopping 95 years old at the time), who shows him some bush craft and an appreciation of nature. It’s through Goa’s eyes that Nikolai begins to see how oppressive and brutal the Russian/Cuban regime actually is. There is a scene where Nikolai and Goa come across a village where the whole population has been slaughtered, and you can see the heartbreaking look of sorrow and incomprehension in Goa’s eyes, making him the best actor in the whole film.

The action in Red Scorpion is varied and entertaining. There are plenty of big battles, skirmishes, hand-to-hand combat going on throughout. One of the most iconic images of any action movie involving Russian troops is the Hind Helicopter, a heavily armed lumbering beast, and that image gets prominent use throughout this film (even if it is actually a mock-up!).

Verdict:

A genuine classic slice of nostalgia, Red Scorpion delivers the action and ensured that Dolph Lundgren continued to kick ass.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

Extras:

As usual, Arrow have gone "all-out" with their presentation: This is what you can expect on your disc:

Brand new High Definition transfer of the film (1080p); introduction to the film by star Dolph Lundgren; UK exclusive audio commentary by director Joseph Zito, moderated by filmmaker and genre scholar Howard S. Berger; “All Out Of Bullets” – Dolph Lundgren remembers Red Scorpion; “Music With Muscles” – composer Jay Chattaway on the soundtrack of Red Scorpion; original trailer; reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork; double-sided fold-out artwork poster; collectors’ booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author Calum Waddell; original 1.78:1 aspect ratio; original uncompressed LPCM Stereo audio; optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
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  #5  
Old 10th February 2012, 06:52 AM
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Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix - Red Scorpion
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Old 13th January 2013, 11:03 AM
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Just curious, but Any opinions on the Arrow release vs the Synapse blu ray? In the audio dept, I'm sure the 5.1 mix on the Synapse wins out, but what about the transfer and extras? Both seem pretty neck and neck to me *shrug*.
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Old 13th January 2013, 11:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mlock76 View Post
Just curious, but Any opinions on the Arrow release vs the Synapse blu ray? In the audio dept, I'm sure the 5.1 mix on the Synapse wins out, but what about the transfer and extras? Both seem pretty neck and neck to me *shrug*.
I have both editions and they looks similar. Apart from the 5.1 mix on the Synapse, it all comes down to which extras you prefer to have. I wanted them all.
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Old 13th January 2013, 11:13 AM
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Synapse's looks a bit superior, the 5.1 re-mix is for once very good and it has more extras. But the Arrow is worth it as well.

Own both if you're a fan of the film, they complete each other.
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Old 13th January 2013, 11:30 AM
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So I guess it's similar to the ZFE Arrow vs BU debate in a sense: transfer and features vs. audio mix? Decisions decisions..... Does the Synapse have a reversible cover option too? Not that it will ultimately affect my purchasing decision however, just wondering
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Old 13th January 2013, 11:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mlock76 View Post
So I guess it's similar to the ZFE Arrow vs BU debate in a sense: transfer and features vs. audio mix? Decisions decisions..... Does the Synapse have a reversible cover option too? Not that it will ultimately affect my purchasing decision however, just wondering
Yeah, the Synspse release has a reversible cover too.

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