Silent Trigger

`Silent Trigger`is the best actioner Dolph Lundgren made in years and it looks absolutely fantastic for a B-movie.This feature owes a lot to dynamite direction of Aussie-shooter Russell Mulcahy who made a really significant contribution in this one. The whole movie relies entirely on Mulcahy`s direction that is still hip and vital.The script is average with lots of flaws in the middle of the movie but the writing overall does the trick.Plotting is trashy but the ending is twist-oriented and it really freshens up the whole concept.The script isn`t witty enough but those gaps could`ve been filled by bigger budget since the movie has only two capital A,action set-pieces.I wonder how Mulcahy got expelled from the Hollywood action mainstream since lots of hackers like Hyams or Dwight H.Little get to do mainstream movies even though they haven`t had a hit for years. This movie is the right way for Dolph to go because such action vehicles are hard to find in Hollywood these days.Lundgren`s martial art scenes are great since he is tall and bulky so his kicks really pack a punch.His face isn`t as pretty as Van Damme`s but he hits harder.Of course `Silent Trigger` ain`t no `Citizen Kane` but it sure does go way beyond anyone`s expectations from a movie that lays in the dust of the video-store back-shelf. Mulcahy`s visual work is great and he still has the zeal for the job. No Kevin Hooks or Peter Hyams can overthrow this wet of hip visual directing.Let me remind you that Mulcahy brought video clip aesthetics to the Hollywood mainstream at the time when David Fincher,Simon West and Domenic Sena used to dress in diapers.Sadly,he never had an idea of his own like Fincher but he still made groundbreaking videos for `Queen` and movies like `Highlander` or `Ricochet`.Let`s hope he finds his way back to the maistream.

Dolph Lundgren's 1996 vehicle here is a pretty unique production. A 90s action-thriller with heavy existentialist aspirations, the feature manages to attain most of its ambitions via the surprisingly careful touch of director Russell Mulcahy. It's got some problems that threaten my rating and may limit it to a niche audience, but for the most part, this is a successful experiment the likes of which Lundgren has yet to reproduce.

The story: A mysterious sniper (Lundgren) and his spotter (Gina Bellman) face a series of internal and external threats as they prepare to eliminate a target from an unfinished high-rise building.

From a thematic standpoint, this is an extremely ambitious effort for an action movie starring a performer best known for punching people. The first time I saw it, I thought of how easily this could have been turned into a play. There are only four prominent cast members, all generally inhabiting a single location, and there is an emphasis on character scenes with few action highlights. Sergio Altieri's screenplay mixes a typical action premise with heavy doses of noir and a touch of absurdity, creating a micro-world wherein alien codes of conduct are natural and the namelessness of characters is taken for granted. Though Russell Mulcahy can be a heavy-handed director, he's very in tune with Altieri's story and manages to create a tense, intimate atmosphere that's oftentimes more chilling than his attempts at horror have been. There are some lapses and excesses to this moody atmosphere, but for the most part, the filmmakers are very successful at striking the tone they want.

The one major qualm I personally have with the picture is its treatment of Gina Bellman's character, which makes painfully clear that this is a movie written by men and for men. Bellman's talent shines through even in the most indignant of situations, but aside from the usual tropes of turning a highly-trained female operative into a damsel and a random sex scene, it's a challenge to find any statements or actions the character makes that aren't in some way critiqued by her male counterparts.

The action content is measured. It's pretty sparse, but what's there tends to adrenalize. The worst of these scenes is the single brawl that Lundgren had with sadistic coke-fiend Christopher Heyerdahl, but the best scenes involve the use of Lundgren's unique sniper rifle. Two major shootouts compose the highlights of the action, and Lundgren's weapon of choice – with its immensely powerful bullets but agonizingly slow rate of fire – gives these scenes a unique pace that you don't get when both sides of a firefight are blazing away with automatic weapons. The uneven nature of these gunfights, combined with their infrequency, may understandably leave some action fans unfulfilled, particularly if the story is not to their liking either. Essentially, this is an action movie that asks you to take a chance on something other than the strength of its action, and if you'd rather spend your time on less of a gamble, Lundgren has an entire library of other flicks to check out.

Personally, I had a good time with this one. The fact that the star has not attempted to make another film along these lines is a little disappointing, since Lundgren does well with the minimalist touch. Nevertheless, this helps make SILENT TRIGGER something of a hidden gem, and if nothing else, the strength of its production places it on the list of high-end offerings among Lundgren's non-theatrical features.

I liked it... I like Dolph Lundgren... not everything was good, but who cares... Gina Bellman... beautiful woman with a fantastic sensual voice... it was a pleasure listening to her voice... I'm not going to say anything about the movie and there's not much to say... a shooter, a spotter, nothing new, but everybody did what they had to do and for me it's enough... if you want you can give a look and then deciding, otherwise I did it and I'm not regretting anything about... if you want an Oscar movie, this is not indeed, so forget it...

This movie was a very pleasant surprise. I figured it was just a BIG turkey, but no. Silent trigger is a very styleful actionflick. Nice photography and a cool storyline, and Dolph delivers (yeah).

An unusual actionmovie and Dolphs best too date.

Paranoid assassin Waxman (Dolph Lundgren) is hired to perform a high value hit from the top of an under construction high rise. Trouble starts right away when he finds out his spotter, Clegg (Gina Bellman), worked with him a few years previous on a job that went incredibly wrong. So he thinks he is being set up. Also, there are two nosy watchmen (Conrad Dunn and Christopher Heyerdahl) to deal with. Revisited this Dolph action vehicle in proper widescreen and still enjoyed it quite a bit. Widescreen seems essential due to director Russell Mulcahy's great sense of style. The main building is a great location with tons of atmosphere thanks to the rain drenched night. All of the acting is good with Bellman sporting a really unique accent. It looks they were totally trying to do the Anne Parillaud hit woman thing with her. Heyerdahl plays a completely over-the-top druggie scumbag, but it works and we even get a bizarre bit where he sees spider hallucinations. He recently snagged a gig in the TWILIGHT movies. The action is all well staged and quite bloody for the time. There is also a unique Deep Forest-esque score. Mulcahy did a couple of more features (TALE OF THE MUMMY, RESURRECTION) before going into TV nearly full-time with a few features here and there. His most recent work is on MTV's TEEN WOLF. *sad face*