Ultimate Dolph

Dida wrote:I have never seen Agent Red (although I hear it's one of Dolph's worse movies). Is this movie available on Region 2 with the English version? Just to make my Dolph collection completer...

Yes, it's available on region 2, you can get the French edition, German (not recommended though, the image quality and compretion is bad), Swedish, Japanese and some Hungarian Polish editions. They have the original English track.

You can check this DVD database, it's not 100% acurate or complete but it lists tehnical features and extras as well:
http://www.dvdcompare.net/

Thanks again, buddy!

Jesse V. Johnson, futur director of THE PACKAGE, was apparently a stuntman on this.

Love this from the Aussie VHS:
"adrenaline-pumped, edge-of-your-seat... thriller that knows no depths, Agent Red"

Indeed it's not very deep!


(click to enlarge)

Back in 2000, AGENT RED and JILL RIPS were shown on the big screen at a Tokyo "Battle Festival" (where most films were Nu Image or Phoenician/Franchise Pictures titles for some reason)

As we've all heard how the writer (who went uncredited despite it being a rehash of other material he'd done with Fred Olen Ray and Royal Oaks/Andrew Stevens Productions), I always was curious to find out who the original writer was to begin with.

I know some definitely get more annoyed because some of the footage is taken cheaply from Dolph's previous (and easily far more superior Broken Arrow knock-off) Storm Catcher, with some of the same stunt guys like Denney Pierce and Cole S. McKay (in fact, that dude has two other roles in this film) remaining credited.

Coincidentally, later on, the main villain actor Alexander Kuznetsov (who I'm actually Facebook pals with) would later go on to play a similar villain who also infiltrates a American government owned facility, takes someone's ID card and unleashes a nerve gas that kills 60-something people. It was on season 5 of the TV series "24," which Cover Up scribe Manny Coto contributed to.

Overall, I always meant to ask Jim Wynorski about the experience but he doesn't often like to venture to experiences he looks down upon. I still find it a fun, cheap flick though, just not high art or something you're going to rewatch. It also has to do with my love of stock-footage heavy schlock and Die Hard rip-offs.

Scifibuff5 wrote:Overall, I always meant to ask Jim Wynorski about the experience but he doesn't often like to venture to experiences he looks down upon.

I did ask him a few questions by email 10-12 years ago, he wasn't very talkative, but basically he was hired to shoot 30 minutes of footage in just 3 days so he just went in and cranked it. He talked highly of Dolph being in the same boat and just doing the same, being very professional.

I guess that's why I respect Jim. He knows he doesn't work on any high art but he also never has anything negative to share and when he does, he often stomachs it or just says that the person was difficult but doesn't talk bad about them.

Damian Lee, reportedly on all external online reviews for the film, actually has a positive and rather informative commentary for the film surprisingly. He doesn't talk about any of the troubled filming, just gives simple cliff notes.

AR discussion resurfaced on Reddit!

Is Agent Red, the 'worst submarine movie' or just the 'worst movie'?
https://www.reddit.com/r/submarines/com ... e_or_just/

Latest episode is here in which Brenton Haysom joins me once again to discuss the absolute abomination that is AGENT RED! I never thought I'd be getting to discussing this one, but it's a necessity, especially as we chart the highs and lows of D's impressive career. If you haven't seen AGENT RED, it's one of the lows... way lows... But that didn't stop us from having fun; we decided to crack open some cold ones to get through this one. Enjoy!

https://imustbreakthispodcast.wordpress ... agent-red/

Please feel free to rate and review the show on iTunes, as well as leave a review!

My understanding from talking to a few people is that there was no script but the sales flyer synopsis written for the CAPTURED title that was pre-sold (with fake credits on the "key art" front).

STORM CATCHER was also put on the market with but the visual that we know of and a synopsis; except that they actually did have that screenplay written and filmed!

It was Andrew Stevens' assignment to remake COUNTER MEASURES with Dolph Lundgren and Damian Lee wanted to write and direct his "virus" movie... I was told the original shoot was 14 days, and Lee would often cover one side of a conversation and not the reverse shots of the other characters.

Regarding Phoenician Entertainment, it was the new name of Royal Oaks and the low budget label from the defunct Franchise Pictures headed by the Stevens and the controversial Elie Samaha. Even though the company is not as famous and iconic Nu Image / Millennium Films or Cannon if you will, there is a wild and fascinating story to dig in book or documentary with this one.

Anyway I 100% agree with Brenton when he says that everybody should absolutely watch AGENT RED, once in their/your life this is a seminal, experience for one's film education!

Anyone feel like revisiting AGENT RED aka "it sounds like a bad action movie" these days?

For a good laugh, possibly... But the latest podcast recording was enough for at least the next ten years.

The audio commentary is a good option too!
Especially the first 20 minutes (all or most of which were the Jim Wynorski reshoots) where Lee is dead-seriously talking viruses, the novel and its inspiration New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone"



PS and maybe off-topic personal thoughts:

Seriously though if I watched AGENT RED today I might find it actually more watchable compared to some of the stuff we've been subjected to in the past 5-7 years. I was also thinking recently that one of the problems with bad DTV today is that they don't even have the Z-movie exploitation taste that the really bad ones used to have in the '80s and '90s. Today there's none of that, there's no artisanat filmmaking because of digital, no filmmakers rebels per say because they've all been tamed or shunned, no fucking SOUL...

I've never seen any Lloyd Kaufman (Troma) movie because it's not my thing but I know there is soul at what he does.

Many wannabe younger writers/directors in the genre just want to "break it into the business" and what they think is what fans /audiences will take anything with "some sort of action make belief". And they don't watch enough of other movies, indies, dramas, art-house, even comedies, romances, stuff that would nourish not only their cinema tastes but also their work with action / sci-fi / fighting projects.