Battle of the Damned

This movie does what I have always wished zombie movies would do. Make the men fighting the zombies competent but not superhuman. The "good guys" shoot with accuracy and don't waste ammo. They also don't just stand still and let the zombies eat them - they fight like their lives depend on it! When they do die the soldiers/mercs die because even though they fought well they were simply over run by superior numbers not because of total complete incompetence which is the standard for 99% of zombie flicks.

Most movies like this have some sort of special forces or organized shock troops that go into battle against the zombies and then just slowly take random unaimed volleys into the zombie crowds with little or no effect and then die pointlessly- their entire lives full of training and discipline completely forgotten and unused- VERY unrealistic. This movie doesn't do that- it is the complete 180 degree opposite and makes you like the characters and want them to live! Fun movie for action and sci-fi fans.

Dolph Lungren stars in yet another straight to DVD action film. This time he plays a former military man recruited by a wealthy guy to go somewhere dangerous and extract his daughter. So yeah basically the same plot as a couple of hundred other action flicks.

The twist is the "Dangerous area" is full of zombies, and on top of that military grade robots are also out in force.

With a hostile reception from all sides upon his arrival Lungren must dig deep to find and rescue the girl.

It's dumb, it looks shoddy and despite the zombies vs robots thing which is remotely original the whole thing feels oddly familiar.

For fans of Lungren or hardcore zombie nuts only.

The Good:

Lungren still looks the part

Kind of original

The Bad:

Crappy zombies

SFX more miss than hit

Weak kills

Seven shades of dumb

I was entertained. First off, it contains Dolph Lundgren, you know what kind of movie it is. He doesn't disappoint, while no Arnie, Dolph handles his one-liners while killing zombies and surviving while all around him die.

Although the zombie attacks are less and lees in the middle of the film, they come back with a running vengeance that overwhelms most of the survivors.

The plot is thin and basic, but the added adventures when the robots come into the picture change the course of their actions quickly.

Good for a popcorn night in.

Battle of the Damned has a great idea going for it. A somewhat unique premise in the execution but its all hampered down by a small budget. Don't get me wrong their is some fun to be had with this movie plus it doesn't try to be anything that its not. Dolph Lundgren is a soldier for hire who gets employed by an individual who wants him to go into a quarantined city of infected people and rescue his daughter. Sure you can call them infected or zombies but essentially they are like the infected in 28 Days Later as in they are fast moving and are more prone to bite and tear than eat. So Lundgren's crew doesn't last long and its up to him and only him to find the target and get her out. Along the way he finds some survivors that are led by one who is addicted to his position and they end up clashing. Also while trapped in the city Dolph and his fellow survivors come across Robots that happen to have wondered into the city fresh off of malfunctioning and killing people from another movie called Robotropolis. So how to get out of the city alive? Reprogram the robots and let them pave a way. I'll admit its a good idea but the acting is uneven, Dolph is showing his age and the budget isn't high enough to properly execute this idea. With that said its entertaining and has a good idea going for it. Sure its not for everybody but its fairly good in the end for what they had to work with.

This is yet another "cash in" on the zombie success movies. Remove success and that is what you have, a zombie movie. A very typical one at that, hire a merc to go into a zone infested with zombies to save the damsel in distress. If it wasn't Dolph Lundgren as the action hero(with a GREAT heroes name "Max Gatling") than this movie would score much lower. The action is OK I guess for a low budget movie, although not very believable. I do appreciate that the writer/director of this chose Dolph with the perfect script in mind, hardly any dialog. That sums up the acting, it is horrible, by all involved. I am pretty sure you can quickly visualize the whole movie, so that sums it up. The effects are pretty standard for the budget, poor. That brings me to a curious point, why are the robots in this the same as the robots from "Robotropolis" ? A quick search solved this dilemma "Battle Of The Damned is written and directed by Christopher Hatton (who previously made Robotropolis), will commence shooting in Malaysia this summer, and will be released at some point in 2013." So recycled robots, and effects...and yes, i am reviewing that movie next (out of order on purpose since they don't really have anything to do with each other) If you like Dolph, then it is fine, mindless fun. If not, don't bother. 3.7/10