Icarus

It is entertaining, it is exactly what you should have expected with it when you ordered it, and it is not a classic. Lots of shootouts & killing, lots of testosterone, lots of close quarter combat fighting (with lots of fighting 'grunting' noises, though a bit too much shaky camera action), car chases & crashes, and lots of action go along with Dolph and his pictures. Synopsis: Dolph is an assassin, a former KGB operative with a new identity himself, it involves the KGB's old operatives, the Russian mafia, some nebulous oriental mafia group, the American 'crime syndicate', the CIA, and subgroups, with their own special interests, of the above. Dolph still loves his ex-wife & daughter but has a gorgeous hottie to help him make it from dusk to dawn. Suddenly Dolph finds himself a target from all the above groups without anyone to trust. In the end he is in conflict with a former KBG agent, who was a friend, and whose life he once saved. You have to love the infinite ammo cheat whenever it is called on, and that Dolph can be unarmed & can still kill multiple well trained & heavily armed advisories. Lots of dots were not connected and there were unanswered questions. hollywood follows its receipt for moneymaking: Guns, guns, & more guns (You have to question hollywood's integrity when they preach anti-2nd amendment but don't let their statements interfere with the box office gross), pinball speed action, a little skin, a dollop of 'love' to try to make it movie with some 'redeeming quaintly' (which this move does not have). Enjoy it for what it is worth.

Dolph Lundgren is one of those actors that either makes a hit or miss type of action film. Now I do like him, although growing up I didn't seek out his movies, I was more interested in Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan and Jean Claude Van Damme, but Dolph is one of those actors that have a likable quality at least I feel is appealing and charming, even if he's in films that are sometimes over the top.

This was the best film he made in awhile and surprisingly he directed it himself. The film is your typical hit-man with a family, that gets caught up in his dangerous life type. But Dolph made it fun and at least a little fresh.

The body count is satisfying as well as the action scenes, and decently paced. The story is what you've seen before but I feel Dolph made it fun with some OK twists here and there. There are one liners Dolph says but kept to a minimum, because it's more of a serious movie than a tongue-in-cheek one. I originally seen this back in 2013 and I loved it, I was like finally a good Dolph Lundgren movie, because before I had only seen him in some crappy films that were forgettable and they really sucked, you know, really disappointing.

Overall a good film from start to finish and very re-watchable as well. I give it a 5/10. If your an action fan or a Dolph Lundgren fan, honestly check it out. Highly recommended.

This straight-to-DVD enterprise is quite a mindless parade of macho, bullets and blood in this same-old, same-old get-up that sees a professional KGB-trained assassin finding himself with a contract on his head. You can he trust, that's what it comes down to as his family find out he's living a lie. Being much more than just a businessman. Everything about this venture is heavily contrived, but outside some sluggish moments and the monotonous narrative filled with deep in- thought dialogues, but let's not also forget those stares. Dolph Lundgren who stars (in a methodical performance), but also directs keeps things rather repetitive, where it seems to be becoming a comfortable formula. He pumps up the screen with numerous slow-motion shots and frantic shot-on camera frames trying to give a personal touch. Talk about personal, Lundgren really gets up and personal when in conversation. What starts of immensely slow, gets better as it goes along where it eventually opens with blistering set-pieces of shootouts and brutal hand-to-hand combat with an ending that throws an ironic twist of fate. The plot tries to balance out its human dramas, but the pandering script is too heavy-handed and feels like a smokescreen as our man becomes a pawn in a much bigger game. Also making an appearance is Bo Svenson. While for me it might not have been as fun as some of Dolph's other recent outings. However while predictable and at times slow, "The Killing Machine" is a bold b-grade action joint.

"I guess today is your lucky day."

When I picked up and read the DVD box for this Dolph Lundgren movie, my heart sank when I saw it was being distributed by Cinetel Films. For those who don't know, Cinetel Films makes extremely cheap genre movies padded out with stock footage from big-budget Hollywood movies. Actually, the production values for this movie are somewhat higher. It is clearly a low budget movie, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't look as cheap as usual. (And there's no stock footage.) Other things good about the movie are some decent action sequences and Dolph giving another likable, charismatic performance. And it's nice to see a Canadian movie actually set in Canada (for the most part), though the use of Vancouver is so generic the movie could have been set anywhere.

Unfortunately, the movie still has some serious problems. There are a few poor special effects. Some dialogue is hard to make out. The camera-work for the movie is awful - it always seems the camera is jiggling or in someone's unsteady hands. In fairness to Lundgren (who was also the director), he was reportedly given less shooting time than usual, and also was constrained considerably by the producers. So I don't blame him for the movie's faults. Still, the movie is probably only for die-hard Lundgren fans, and they should probably wait until it appears on cable so they won't feel ripped off when watching it.

First of all, some reviewers should keep their hopes and expectations in check; this is not "True Lies 2", it doesn't even tries to. This is not a multimillion dollar action comedy with state of the art effects, stunts and actors. But if you're looking for a decent, entertaining little action flic with a small budget a story ripped right out of a 80's/90's script of a Golan/Globus production, this is for you. The story is really easy to tell: former KGB-agent turned husband and father turned assassin for the Russian Mob becomes a target and got to save his own skin. The mediocre script works thanks to a charming leading man in Lundgren and a capable director (Lundgren again) who focuses enough on the action bits to make you forget about the plot holes or some of the cringe-worthy dialogue. What keeps this movie from being a great nostalgic action trip is the lack of money. There are no big explosions or chase sequences but mostly gunbattles and fistfights (at least Dolph seem to make most of the stunts himself). And while the titular hit-man seems to travel the whole world from china to Hollywood, everything looks like shot in good ol'Canada. But with a bigger budget I'm quite sure Lundgren could give his buddy Stallone a run for his money as an director of old fashioned, testosterone fueled action-cinema. So maybe I've got to see a big budget sequel to "Red Scorpion" anytime soon! ;-)