Men of War
|
Our Price: $49.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.78 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Men of War
Movie Review: Honorable Men Nonetheless
Summary: 4 Stars
The story: Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren, Universal Soldier) is an ex-Special Ops soldier who's agreed to lead a mission to an island in the South China Sea, where he's to strong-arm the natives into signing over the rights of their land to a mining corporation. Accompanied by several of his military comrades - including Tom Wright (Marked for Death), Anthony Denison ("The Closer"), Tim Guinee ("Impostor"), Don Harvey (Casualties of War), Tiny Lister ("Little Nicky"), and Catherine Bell ("J.A.G.") - Lundgren finds it morally difficult to carry out his mission in light of his friendship with an English-speaking inhabitant (B.D. Wong, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), and thus causes his team to split their allegiance between him and a new order led by the psychopathic mercenary Keefer (Trevor Goddard, Mortal Kombat).
As far as action goes, there's not much to see within the film's first 75 minutes besides a bar fight and a bit of inter-soldier scuffles; its final 25 minutes, however, is a nonstop firefight between the two opposing teams. Few films effectively use the build-up style of action anymore, where dramatic tension is played up to the breaking point until exploding into an all-out guilty pleasure. I am greatly disappointed that director Perry Lang (Little Vegas [VHS]) had very limited work within the action genre following "Men of War", because the man really knows how to maximize guns and explosions: the action is comparable to that of Commando or Predator. There are few martial arts encounters to be seen, but the climatic, lengthy fistfight between Nick and Keefer is very satisfying: Trevor Goddard demonstrates his boxing knowledge to extents that were sorely lacking in "Mortal Kombat" and Lundgren proves that he does not need roundhouse kicks to topple an enemy.
Don't expect to find Oscar nominations in store for too many of the cast, but know that just about everybody pulls their dramatic load to create a memorable bunch of characters (with the exception of Anthony Denison and Tim Guinee, whom we rarely see). Kevin Tighe (Another 48 HRS.) rounds off the cast and provides some legitimate dramatic credibility, but then again, Dolph and the others were not really in need of help.
The production, by large, is in good shape. Though I counted at least four instances in which small clips of stock footage had been used, the film's cinematography and special effects are good, despite that the movie was clearly shot in an actual jungle without a 7-11 around the corner. The scenery is beautiful, from ethnic villages to lush rain forests and large underground caves, and plays a large part in describing the scope (quite large) and character of the film.
The cultural conflict aspect has been done before and probably better, but is handled without condescension on either side in "Men of War". If there's one major criticism to be given, it's that even though the movie has produced under the best circumstances for a $6 million picture and has excellent production values, it's still trying to tell a story a bit too big for itself (that and the sex scene that had no business existing). Regardless, it's one of Lundgren's very best - just underneath Showdown in Little Tokyo. Watch "Men of War" expecting to see beautiful island scenery, and leave the rest of your expectations up to chance: this is the best way to experience one of Dolph Lundgren's better movies, despite the fact that it strays somewhat from the typical action hero formula.
Movie Review: PARADISE IS BURNING
Summary: 4 Stars
Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren) tries to put his mercenary past behind him, but fails because, in the words of his best friend, his heart isn't in anything else. When a pair of unscrupulous yuppies offer him a quick paycheck for what ought to be a walk in the park, the good old days seem to be back. Assembling an elite squad of merc friends, Gunar leads an incursion into a tropical paradise to squeeze the peace-loving natives into signing over the mineral rights to their homeland. But the natives have seen all this before and won't give in, and before they even know it Gunar and his warriors are infected with the island spirit--peace. But Gunar's bosses aren't so easily put off, and when it becomes clear Gunar isn't going to get them what they want, they bring in the big guns, led by Gunar's long-time rival, the sadistic Keefer. A line in the sand is drawn, and paradise explodes.
MEN OF WAR is a little-known gem of the action genre that is certainly one of Dolph Lundgren's two finest films, rivalled only by the much more lighthearted SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO. Lundgren's performance as the war-weary Gunar, unable to escape a life of mayhem because it's all he knows how to do, is authoritative. The supporting cast is also strong, with the charismatic Charlotte Lewis as the beguiling Loki, an island girl who offers Gunar a life of more than bloodshed, and Terry Goddard chews the scenery with maniacal glee as the barbaric but formidable Keefer. Some of the film's best lines go to B.D. Wong in his role as Po, an English-speaking islander whose wit and sarcasm are often the story's conscience. The script is furious but focused with a strong moral center around which everything else revolves, and the direction from Perry Lang succeeds in sweeping the viewer up in the well-choreographed havoc. The cinematography is very good with lots of idyllic forestry for our characters to frolic and fight in alike. There are some jumps in logic, but nothing the willful suspension of disbelief can't easily sweep under the rug. All in all an excellent actioner that won't insult the viewer's intelligence, and quite a feather in Lundgren's cap.
Movie Review: Men of War Exceeds All Expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
At first glance, Men of War doesn't seem like much: It looks like yet another low-profile action film from the King of B-Movies, Dolph Lundgren. Good for a few laughs perhaps, but certainly nothing worth repeat viewing. But this notion is quickly dispelled upon closer examination. The first clue to the film's surprising quality is a screenwriting credit attributed to indie filmmaker, John Sayles (Passion Fish, Ghost Dog). Known for his intelligent and character-driven dramas, Sayles' writing imparts Men of War with far more subtlety, wit and meaning than one would expect from a direct-to-video action film. Things just get better from there. There's the diverse and talented cast that includes BD Wong, Catherine Bell (TV's JAG), Thomas Gibson (TV's Dharma & Greg), and Tiny Lister (The Fifth Element). The actors have clearly been chosen for their ability and suitability for the roles rather than because they're the next "hot young thing". This high quality is maintained by the director and cinematographer. I've never heard of director Perry Lang, but based on his tight, visually-interesting work here, he certainly deserves to be given another film to helm. The whole production has an extremely polished and high-quality feel to it. Indeed, the major failing of previous home video editions of Men of War was that they were in pan & scan, thus cropping off the film's beautiful widescreen cinematography. The DVD edition finally corrects this oversight and allows the wild action scenes and gorgeous South Seas locations to be seen in their original 2.35:1 widescreen glory. While the DVD is a bit light on features, one needs to consider that this is literally the only widescreen DVD of the film in the entire WORLD. Combined with an effective surround sound audio track, this DVD is worth it just for presenting a great overlooked film in the way it was meant to be seen. Part hardcore mercenary action movie and part deft character study, Men of War should be sought out by anyone looking for a quality film that can stimulate both the mind and the eyes. Highly recommended.Movie Review: This is a keeper, strangely enough...
Summary: 4 Stars
From the annals of b-movie hell comes "Men of War", which, as the Amazon reviewer put it best, is a hell of a lot better than anybody could expect.Not to put anything against Dolph, but his time passed a while back (as has Van Damme's), so it's to his credit that he can still put out product like this one. And it's way better than most of the slop they've been putting out in theatres in the way of action pictures (Fled, Chain Reaction, Con Air, etc.) with much bigger budgets.
The cinematography is stunning, and the plot is simplistic enough, but it's the secondary characters that make this a decent film. The islanders that Dolph fights to protect are both proud enough and funny enough to make you understand why he'd even want to.
The editing is very good, and the direction is equally adept... compared to the other Dolph vehicles, this one is a diamond. But even compared to other actioners, it's still head-and-shoulders above the rest.
Van Damme and Seagal should take some notes.
Movie Review: One of Lundgren;s better movie !
Summary: 4 Stars
The story is standard, Lundgren and a group of other mercenaries are hired by two executives to go to a remote island near Thailand to convince the local to sell their lands. Why ? Because apparently there are a big deposit of bird and bat's droppings in the caves that can produce nitrogen. Off course, at the end, Lundgren ended up helping the local.The acting and direction is good, much better than Lundgren's later movies and you can see a glimpse of Charlotte Lewis's beautiful body. The DVD's picture quality is very good, bright and sharp. The jungle scenery presented beautifully on the DVD. I happened to watch this after Emerald Forest DVD and this one looks much better. I would have given it 5 stars if Disney bother to give 5.1 sound to it. But overall, a must buy of Dolph Lundgren fans or action fans in general.