MEN OF WAR (Perry Lang, 1994)

[Jox]

Romanian poster

Fun fact courtesy of Krom, the Romanian title can be translated as “The War is my Job”

[Jox]

Released in Spanish cinemas 25 years ago today

[Scorpio]

Spanish Blu-ray:

https://www.amazon.es/Hombres-Acero-199 ... dvd&sr=1-1

[alex.sp89]

I think this is going to be the same print used by Digidreams or US Echo Bridge. The US problem is the aspect ratio, DigiDreams color problems only French Bu ray has good color but someone complain with aspect ratio again saying DigiDreams offer more picture because the aspect is not correct presented again but looks much better with this error and faces don't look cut from the sides. Hard to believe which is the best blu ray release ...

[Jox]

July 12 marked the 25th anniversary of the French theatrical release -- with rave reviews --
(82 screens - 31 greater Paris area)

[Jox]

Happy birthday to Charlotte Lewis

[Moltisanti]

Tiny Lister Jr. passed away:

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2020/12/tommy-tiny-lister-dead-at-62

He was in UNIVERSAL SOLDIER but always dug him in MEN OF WAR. Great scene between him and Lundgren during the "recruitment" montage.

[bomaz]

Oh man he was quite young. and a hell of a character actor.

[Jox]

Catherine Bell:

Had the pleasure of working with this sweet funny giant of a man on my very first movie. You will be missed Tiny <3
#rip @officialtinylister
#MenOfWar

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIs4ODjAqiH/

[Jox]

Tim Guinee:

RIP Tiny Lister. We had a fight scene in a movie in Thailand. It was like fighting a mountain. Another Covid loss. If you’re one of the folks who still thinks this a hoax (after 280,000 deaths in this country alone), ... well you can go f___ yourself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIriWtxJ0d0/

[Jox]

US TV presskit

[savagesketch]

Latest episode of The DTV Digest in which one of the films they look back upon is 1994's MEN OF WAR... Go to about the 1:01:29 mark, near the end of the episode.

https://thedtvdigest.podbean.com/e/epis ... en-of-war/

[Jox]

The A-Z of Action Movies: M-Q by our brilliant Tom Jolliffe
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2021/07/ ... ovies-m-q/

Men of War



Written by Oscar winning screenwriter, John Sayles, this marked something a little more thoughtful in the action career of Dolph Lundgren. Though Sayles’ original script would have more action and humour sprinkled in over rewrites, much of his humility remained behind. It may well be Pocahontas crossed with Heart of Darkness, but has more human range in it than most of the genre at the time, and has enough action throughout to also please genre fans less interested in the philosophical questions. For Lundgren, he benefitted from having an actors director in Perry Lang on board, whilst the whole expendable crew dynamic is actually far more interesting and involving than The Expendables franchise ever was. It may in retrospect still fall into an increasingly maligned, white hero in Asia trope, but at least treats the native characters with some humility (well played particularly by Charlotte Lewis and a scene stealing B.D Wong). As villain, Trevor Goddard may step in from more conventional genre fare as an unhinged, scenery chewing maniac, but he’s excellent regardless, as is the late great Tiny Lister as cohort turned foe as the team have a moral split. This one is very underrated, but has found a little more love in recent years. The cinematography and music is also superb, making it not a million miles from some of the epics of the time.

[Jox]

The Paris Cinematheque holds a John Sayles retrospective this October / November, I hoped there was a small chance for a MEN OF WAR screening, but sadly not. Only his directorial work and not even some of his more famous screenplays...
https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/john-sayles-615.html

That said, I love his work as a director, and some of his films are pretty rare even on physical media, so that's a great event nonetheless.

[Jox]

Here is John Sayles' Q&A at the French Cinematheque following the screening of MATEWAN (1987) held this fall (86 min):
https://www.cinematheque.fr/video/1723.html