MEN OF WAR (Perry Lang, 1994)

[Jox]

It's one of the best scores in a Dolph movie. They had two composers but one of them didn't want the other one to be credited along as main composer whereas they did 50/50. Some parts are very much inspired by Alan Silvestri's PREDATOR as it was one of the temp scores the editor used in the rough cuts.

[dolphage]

Some parts are very much inspired by Alan Silvestri's PREDATOR as it was one of the temp scores the editor used in the rough cuts.

That makes total sense to me. The percussive sounds for the fight and chase scenes are quite similar. And amazing.

[Jox]

[Mosquito]

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Missing Trevor Goddard. The timbre in his voice - priceless. The end fight - a piece of choreography and filming art. Compare that to the shaky cut-fest they unleash in every movie today, rendering every hand-to-hand combat undecipherable.

[savagesketch]

Acting-wise, this one has be my favorite performance from Dolph. Not saying his other movies weren't as good, but for some reason I thought Dolph's acting was excellent in MEN OF WAR. Let's face it, in some of his other films, his acting is a little below par... I wonder if the quality of his acting has to do with the direction he's receiving... Did Perry Lang provide excellent direction for Dolph? Much better than say, Danny Lerner (DIRECT CONTACT) or Damian Lee (AGENT RED)? Just a thought...

[GeneralMcFaiL]

Direction maybe... but mostly those films there isn't a whole lot of emphasis on his dialogue... just look badass and shoot or beat someone up. Dolph definitely has range as an actor he's just never really done a film where his range was really tested.

[Jox]

First MEN OF WAR (formerly A SAFE PLACE) was a very well written script by indie prodigy John Sayles, it wasn't just get some shoot outs and stuntmen going down. No it was a story with genuine depth and wit, with good dialog, good characters (ant not just one so it wasn't all on Dolph's shoulders) and the main character played by Dolph was one questioning himself and looking for a new sense of purpose in his life. So there was already something for Dolph to chew on and motivate his performance. Then Perry Lang, who's a close friend of Sayles, sure knew of the quality of his material and his direction and the movie he delivered show how capable is; and in terms of working with actors, he had a career as an actor himself before becomeing a director, so he sure knew how to work with them...

PS Lerner, nicest guy in the world, doesn't give any performance direction to his actors except for sparse blocking remarks and as for Lee just listen how he throws flowers to every single non extra actor in his AGENT RED, it certainly questions his credibility... I will say though, that these gents don't have much time to care about the acting at their pace and limited time...

BUT YEAH, MEN OF WAR RULES.
PERIOD.
ONE OF THE BEST DOLPH'S ROLES AND MOVIES.
HANDS DOWN.
A MASTERPIECE IN ITS OWN RIGHT.

[savagesketch]

Well said. I think it's safe to say that MEN OF WAR is easily one of Dolph's best, and I think it's his performance that really elevates this one. Films like AGENT RED and THE LAST WARRIOR for example, are relatively cool concepts, yet because of the poor script execution and perhaps direction, the film suffers. Dolph can't be blamed entirely, much less at all; he's simply trying his best with what he's got. JILL THE RIPPER is another... It was great to see Lundgren in a role that's so completely different from what we've seen before... But his performance is great in some parts and a little weak in others. I can't help but wonder if the reason for this falls on director Anthony Hickox's shoulders.

Perhaps MEN OF WAR should be the film directors should look at as how to effectively utilize Lundgren...

[Mosquito]

Thank you Jox. I just licked the LCD... I can only repeat what I just wrote about the fight in Joshua Tree. With one difference. Trevor Goddard is kinda hotter than Dolph's opponent in JT.

[Jox]

[teedoubleyou]

watched this for the first time last night. Top quality! Lundgren vs kano from mortal kombat. Script was damned peachy at times too. Great action flick. 'dont sneak up on people' awesome

[Stadanko]

went to super k-mart today looking for this and they had a few copies. They put out most of the upcoming echo bridge/miramax titles out early. It's only five bucks for those who don't have it.

[Travis]

I just watched Men of War off the new 3 pack. It looks terrible. I don't remember the VHS looking this bad.
It is zoomed and cropped and often peoples faces are cut off when they are talking. There also seems to be a weird zoom type distortion when ever the focus changes. Was the VHS like this?

Btw, I also watched Hidden Assassin off the same DVD and it looks great with a nice 16:9 aspect ratio.

[Moltisanti]

Must be a bum transfer for this new release from Echo Bridge. I've got the DVD that was put out in 2000 and it looks terrific and displays the exotic locations really well.

[Stadanko]

Yeah just got done watching this. I agree the transfer is a pretty big disappointment. There's a few explosions and whatnot that get totally sliced off on the sides. Then most of the scenes with the huts blowing up, zoomed in really close. So they looked really weirdly stretched. It's just a real shoddy transfer, not sure why they couldn't just port over the original release. I didn't have the other movies, so it's not a total loss. But since I did enjoy the movie, I will be buying the standalone copy next chance I get.