At the time Dolph was quite proud to be part of it and happy he had more to do than shooting a machine gun.
There are two notable factors to take into account regarding COVER-UP:
1/ since it wasn't a "proper" Dolph Lundgren action film, the interest was less and distributors probably didn't believe in it as much
2/ unfortunately the Gulf War conflicts coincidently started right after it was made and in France for instance, the theatrical release was pushed back of six months to avoid any fuss about it. Since it didn't do well in Europe and Asia were it was released first, Live Entertainment then dumped it in VHS and LD in America were Dolph's star had already fadded (a few months after THE PUNISHER DTV release and after RED SCORPION and I COME IN PEACE had both flopped there)... Saddly premonitory, the US home video release date was September 11, 1991...
The movie sure has its flaws and issues but I think it has its charm and is a very unsual gem in some ways (the mood and contemplative moments, the beautiful score, the setting, and a kind of mystical last act). Maybe it's for nostalgic reasons (saw it twice in the theater here) but I have quite a soft spot for it. Very inspired by Hitchcock on this one, the director Manny Coto (who got hired a week before filming after writer William Tannen -HERO- left) later went on to produce shows like 24.
savagesketch wrote:yet it was also before SILT and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, so he still had some cred.
Shot about 8 months later, SILT flopped initially. But Dolph's titles back then were all strong titles to sell at the film markets until about 1995-1996. What I still don't figure is how come he didn't get or didn't take studio offers after UNIVERSAL SOLDIER which not only was a success but where he clearly stole the show (unless it's the Miramax MEN OF WAR theory that they didn't believe Dolph could draw people as a "good guy")...