PENTATHLON (Bruce Malmuth, 1994)

An area for discussion of Dolph's past, present & future movies!

Moderator: Moderators

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 12 Dec 2009, 11:38

savagesketch wrote:Pentathlon was released by LIVE Entertainment on video... The LIVE library was later purchased by Artisan, which was later purchased by Lion's Gate. Therefore, Lion's Gate owns the rights to Pentathlon and could theoritically release it if they want...

Yes. Question is if they still do have the rights, a lot of these deals were made for 10 or 15 years and have expired by now which is very likely, plus the possibility that hasn't been renewed or picked up after. The best way to find out would be to give the sales agency, PFG Entertainment, a call...
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby savagesketch on 12 Dec 2009, 21:21

I couldn't agree more. I think the big reason why Pentathlon doesn't work and isn't one of Dolph's better films is because it's just so disjointed. A straight-up sports movie would have been a better route to go. The nazis just seemed so out of place and almost bizarre when you consider the rest of the film. I think the action route was an interesting touch, but like I said, felt strange, especially after the numerous training montages, love story, etc.

The idea of the disgruntled coach seeking revenge on the athlete who betrayed him is indeed an interesting idea... I always felt this would have been a better plot, especially if you continue with the whole "evil coach" concept... After excaping the clutches of his former coach, Eric begins building a new life in America. But when his former coach finds him hiding out in a mountainous area, Eric must use all of his training and his surroundings to defend himself and his new friends. A little bit of First Blood as you can see, but the setting/location is more enclosed, thus making the action more exciting... Just a thought.
User avatar
savagesketch
Member
 
Posts: 736
Joined: 20 Dec 2007, 05:55

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 12 Dec 2009, 23:03

savagesketch wrote:After excaping the clutches of his former coach, Eric begins building a new life in America. But when his former coach finds him hiding out in a mountainous area, Eric must use all of his training and his surroundings to defend himself and his new friends. A little bit of First Blood as you can see, but the setting/location is more enclosed, thus making the action more exciting... Just a thought.

That is kind of how culminates an earlier version of the script I have. The stakes were bigger, the neo-nazi were involved in some shady business at the company his father was working at in the US, Eric had to go for a showdown at their "lair", fight the goons using each of his skills from pentathlon etc.

But again even with the shooting script the main fault is the budget (which I read was cut in half from what Dolph was guaranteed when he signed up), small settings (the Olympics, the Jewish rally, the qualification finals etc), a dozen extras, lame supporting cast and flat directing...

This could have been a decent movie and I can see how Dolph was interested in it, it had both the action and drama in a more contemporary and realistic setting, an underrated sport that fits him, combined with the identification of being an athlete himself.

The positive point is it lead him to a good relationship with the US pentathlon federation who got him involved in promoting the sport and be the team leader for the Atlanta Olympics (which got him more media coverage than his movie career at the time), something he feels good about...
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby savagesketch on 15 Dec 2009, 04:16

It seems to be that Dolph has been in this situation a number of times... He signs on, the budget gets cut significantly, thus resulting in some last-minute script changes, and Dolph has to make due with what they have. Off the top of my head, AGENT RED suffered this tremendously when virtually the entire plot was changed (I think it was originally to be CAPTURED...). RETROGRADE and DIAMOND DOGS all suffered similar fates, but those have been discussed already.

Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why DL has decided to start writing and directing much of his stuff. He knows clearly what his budget constraints are and has full control over everything that goes on behind and in front of the camera...
User avatar
savagesketch
Member
 
Posts: 736
Joined: 20 Dec 2007, 05:55

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Nathan on 15 Dec 2009, 19:22

Good post mate, I agree that Dolph is aware of the restrictions imposed up him concerning budget, which is probably why he put some of his own money into Command Performance because it was a more ambitious plot/location/story etc.
"Are we having fun yet?" - Dolph Lundgren, Universal Soldier
User avatar
Nathan
Regular
 
Posts: 1730
Joined: 19 Oct 2006, 23:04
Location: UK, Scotland

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Mosquito on 15 Dec 2009, 21:38

Yeah I've read this "It was a good script but then they shrunk the budget" so many times... I guess if I had been in Dolph's place I'd have had a heart attack early in my career because of all the fury and frustration.
User avatar
Mosquito
Site Admin
 
Posts: 2163
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 18:23

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 18 Dec 2009, 21:28

Mosquito wrote:Yeah I've read this "It was a good script but then they shrunk the budget" so many times... I guess if I had been in Dolph's place I'd have had a heart attack early in my career because of all the fury and frustration.

That's the reality of movies, it's not as glamorous as people think and just like other business you just have to deal with shit happening everyday and do with what you have to work with.
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Mosquito on 19 Dec 2009, 03:01

Jox wrote:That's the reality of movies, it's not as glamorous as people think and just like other business you just have to deal with shit happening everyday and do with what you have to work with.


True, but for so many movies you hear "The director blew up the budget 50% with his megalomaniac settings" etc., but for Dolph's movies we read so many times that the first thing was to cut the budget in half. Man...
User avatar
Mosquito
Site Admin
 
Posts: 2163
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 18:23

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 19 Dec 2009, 23:30

Mosquito wrote:but for so many movies you hear "The director blew up the budget 50% with his megalomaniac settings" etc.

That's only because you hear of a handful of big budget movies... and blowing up the budget is usually not like "we'll give you more $ to spend" but more like "this can't make this work otherwise, it's a case of force majeure"... And you know for instance I'm pretty sure CP cost more than it would otherwise because of Dolph's demands and the money he put on the table; so he pushed the budget to the limit even though limited.
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 20 Dec 2009, 22:07

Original trailer
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Lennert on 10 Feb 2010, 12:45

Lol, I wanted to see this movie so bad, but couldn't find any information on the web about it. The trailer looks incredibly bad with the voice over and the horrible music, but I guess the movie might still be worth watching!
Lennert
Member
 
Posts: 21
Joined: 16 Dec 2008, 16:55

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 10 Feb 2010, 16:17

It's worth watching if you're a Lundgren "completist" like us but this is one of his worst overall. There's interesting stuff in it but the execution is very bad.
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby savagesketch on 11 Feb 2010, 04:51

I think you hit the nail on the head Jox... There's no denying that Pentathlon is a cool concept. The whole idea of the coach seeking revenge on the supreme athlete who scorned him is cool... However, I think this just would have worked better as a sports film / drama. As stated before, the neo-nazi subplot almost comes in outta nowhere and really doesn't gel with the rest of the film. Dolph does the best with what he has, but that's not saying much. I think the budget being slashed really affected this film in a negative way. It does say a lot about Dolph's character in that he sticks to his word and stays on the production...

I think Pentathlon would have worked if it... a.) was a straight-up sports film / drama (a first for Dolph), or b.) took a cue from First Blood and switched to a more enclosed location, i.e. the mountains, wilderness, etc., where Dolph is alone and hunted by his vengeful coach and former teammates, and he must rely on his athletic skills and training to survive.

Sorry, but the Olympics and neo-nazis just don't fit with one another...
User avatar
savagesketch
Member
 
Posts: 736
Joined: 20 Dec 2007, 05:55

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby Jox on 13 May 2010, 15:00


Spanish
User avatar
Jox
Site Admin
 
Posts: 23038
Joined: 08 Nov 2003, 23:03

Re: PENTATHLON (1994)

Postby savagesketch on 20 Jul 2010, 07:04

////
Last edited by savagesketch on 20 Jul 2010, 22:35, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
savagesketch
Member
 
Posts: 736
Joined: 20 Dec 2007, 05:55

PreviousNext

Return to Dolph's Movies

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 35 guests

cron