CASTLE FALLS (Dolph Lundgren, 2021)

[Tom]

That's great to see, because the DTV charts don't always follow the obvious patterns. Sometimes concepts tend to do better than star driven material. Good to see Dolph and Scott with some pull there (and 17th overall is very decent). The DVD market is also dwindling, and being fazed out entirely by many supermarkets, which further limits high street shelf space for these. Far less films are being picked up, and there will inevitably be films by Dolph, Scott, et al that might not get a UK DVD release going forward. So this getting DVD/Blu is great to see.

Side note, one of the stars of Jack in the Box 2, is leading an upcoming film made by myself and Nathan. She's great.

Side note 2, I'm working with the director of that Krays film at No3, on a film not unlike Unisol 3 as well.

Side note 3. Small world. hahaha.

[bomaz]

Hahaha, that's a busy schedule

(it seems like the french DVD will only have the french dub, no english version... good thing I ordered my UK BR).

[Jox]

(Gosh, amateurs, even in 2002 that was lame not to include the original English track, so 20 years later...! Are they gonna show the film in 4/3 as well?! You know I often end up getting 3 or 4 editions of each DL film but in the past decade I'almost completely stopped buying brand new French editions of newer movies because the treatment is always so bad... except for some collector's editions of the classics every now and then. But new Dolph movies are no longer given a single chance to find their audience in France )

[Jox]

February 7 on VOD and February 14 on DVD in Sweden, Norway, Denmark AND Finland through ScanBox Entertainment
https://www.scanbox.com/fi/movies/castle-falls/

And Blu-ray
https://cdon.se/film/castle-falls-blu-ray-90253683

[bomaz]

Still in the Top 100 in the UK, at rank 79 (but it sells better on DVD than on BR).

[Jox]

Theatrical release in United Arab Emirates, Oman, Barhain etc on February 24th
https://uae.voxcinemas.com/movies/castle-falls

[JuV]

Film was added to Dutch VOD as well somewhere last week.

[Jox]

Scott Hunter:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXtkH-7uTTa/

We shot this sequence in one quick afternoon between other scenes. No doubles, no shaky cameras to hide things. Just two Scott’s facing off and doing what they do. One of the most fun days of my career. Check out my reels for the whole scene. Thank you @dolphlundgren for give us this opportunity. And a big thanks to @ericlinden who operated camera for the fight.

[Jox]

(it seems like the french DVD will only have the french dub, no english version... good thing I ordered my UK BR).

I was told by French releasing company Program Store that it would actually include a subtitled English track as well.

[bomaz]

Well, that's the least they could do.

My little review (after getting my UK BR).
The movie is a great little piece. As long as you are not expecting a non-stop action extravaganza, you won't be disapointted. As a director, Dolph takes his time to flesh out (flesh up ? i don't know how to say it in english) the characters, and his take on the "middle class" is quite refreshing (in the action genre, and even more in the small budget sub-genre). Like he said multiple time in interviews, you can feel that the covid-delay gave him time to work on the background with Adkins. In the end, it's probably the two best performances by both actors in a long time. (surprisingly [or not] Ida is really good in her small part).
Visually, the movie has a strong indie vibes (that works for me) and the photography is really nice. The pace is refreshingly calm (but not slow). I really dug that. The action, purposedly scarce, is well made, and doesn't feel out of place : there's not a lot of action, but it does feels useful to the story and entertaining as well.
In the end, it's a very good movie. I'll have to give it a couple more views, but so far it's in the top 2 on Dolph's directors list (The Mechanik still has a place in my heart, but it might move to second place in time ).
Can't wait to see what Dolph has in store with Wanted Man.

EDIT : I read Tom's review after writing mine (in order not to be spoilt/influenced] and it seems we agree on most points (except yours is weeeeeell better written than mine )

[lhz]

I pre-ordered the UK blu ray aswell and didn't take the time to write a brief review but I think I don't need it anymore as you claimed exactly my thoughts and my feelings about this last directing effort from the Swedish.
It has been really a cure for me as it was so refreshing from Dolph to deliver such an authentic and classic piece of DtV art, breaking free from all the modern hideous gimmicks that this genre is suffering for years.

I m highly convinced that the filming hiatus due to Covid had, in some way, allowed Dolph to work more on the background of his characters, cause it was for me the most noticeable thing emanating from CASTLE FALLS : the authenticity (for a low-budget action Dtv category I mean)

[Scorpio]

We still don't know anything about the premiere of this film in Spain, right?
As always, last in line, and praying for it to be released, there are still unreleased Dolph movies here...

[lhz]

Well, CASTLE FALLS is still unannounced in France too, but I just pre-ordered the UK edition through amazon.uk, why are you not doing the same ? Personally, I never ever wait to French editor to release any title, I just grab the first release in the world which is alright.

Unfortunately, with the recent times of skyrocketing prices of importation and border fees, it has become really expensive for people from EU like us to grab something outside of the continent. (I recently paid 32$ shpping cost plus import/border fees included for my Kino Lorber's THE MINION disc which was costing only 8$ for the product itself...).

In your case you would not have that amount of fees if you grab the UK CASTLE FALLS disc which is a perfectly fine edition.

[Scorpio]

I always try to wait for an official release in my country, with dubbing and subtitles in Spanish, but when this doesn't happen, then I buy the foreign edition that I like the most.
I'm going to wait a little longer to see if I'm lucky, and if not, then I'll buy the UK or US edition for sure.

[Jox]

I think there are good chances that CF has been picked up for Spanish distribution and that it will be released soon or later.