THE MECHANIK / THE RUSSIAN SPECIALIST (Dolph Lundgren, 2005)

[Jox]

Joblo's review just popped out
http://joblo.com/reviews.php?mode=joblo_dvds&id=1139

[Jox]

here you can watch all sorts of clips from the movie

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showrelease.php3?category=DVD%20Press%20Release&ID=6296

[Travis]

The Mechanic is awful...

[Travis]

The Mechanik is awful...I can't recommend it on any level. It was so boring it was hard to watch the whole thing. Dolph really needs to start doing better. The man hasn't had a good film since Bridge of Dragons...and how many years ago was that?

[Tom]

Bridge of Dragons was dire.

[Tom]

Another review here, more mixed. He's clearly no fan of Dolph but has to grudgingly admit that he's got talent as a director although he's incredibly harsh no Dolph's acting.

http://collider.com/dvd/reviews/article ... 889&tcid=3

[Tom]

Another positive and I'm quite proud of this one because the guy clearly is no fan of action, as he believes Dolph was in Rocky 3 and there's an action star called Stegal!

http://www.herorealm.com/hrMovies/index ... 5&Itemid=4

[preacher]

I agree with Tom. I Think The Mechanik is Dolphs best film. I too like the cheez-fests. Showdown is one of my alltime favourites just because it´s full of stupid fun.
But The Mechanik is really good.

[Tom]

So far the critics agree. Many are shocked and hate admitting it too, clearly they don;t enjoy praising Dolph.

[Lance]

My take is that I disagree with both of you.


The Russian Specialist is decent, certainly head and shoulders above most STV movies out there, did anyone see any of Seagal's last few movies? The Russian Specialist isn't as good as say The Punisher, Bridge Of Dragons or Universal Soldier but it is better than Detention, Agent Red and Storm Catcher.

I personally found The Defender to be much more enjoyable than RS just because there are too many stretches where this film loses momentum, however the movie had some good action and never became too boring. So I liked it and think most people would find it fairly watchable, I don't believe that it's his best.

[Jox]

I don't know where that is but according to http://www.militarynews.com/sentinel/s_leisure.html Dolph Lundgren will be signing the DVD titled "The Russian Specialist" at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Clear Creek PX, so in case you're in the area drop by and say hi to Dolph.

[Travis]

The main problem with The Mechanik is it is boring. This is really not an entertaining film.

[preacher]

It´s not entertaining in the same sense as say, Showdown. This film is more serious in nature, and I like that alot. I think it balances elements of action and drama nicely.

A film like say 'Brokeback Mountain' is not entertaining either but that does not mean it is not a good film.
Bad comparison really but my point is that a film can be many good things besides just entertaining.
The alltime best action film (according to me) T2 also has alot of slow parts.

Personally I think that The Mechanik is very entertaining. To me the action is alot better in it than in The Defender.

peace.

[Tom]

I just like somehting a bit old school and 70's rather than so much MtVish crap.

[bryanhill]

Bryan Hill here. I turned Dolph's story into the screenplay and it's really interesting to hear all of your points of view.

Dolph knew going in that this wasn't going to be as fast paced as his other films. I think he wanted more time to sit with the story and explore different ways to execute scenes.

I understand the people that are disappointed that the film doesn't move faster. I wish it was marketed with those qualities, and not like a cut-cut-cut action extravaganza.

It's interesting to hear what you guys think of the action genre. What tone works best for each of you and what pace you each enjoy.

I'm prepping a film I'm directing and all of this feedback is really valuable.

Each 1, Teach 1,

BH