Red Scorpion (1989) Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment/Action RT: 102 minutes Rated R (violence and language) Director: Joseph Zito Screenplay: Arne Olsen Music: Jay Chattaway Cinematography: Joao Fernandes Release date: April 21, 1989 (US) Cast: Dolph Lundgren, M. Emmett Walsh, Al White, T.P. McKenna, Carmen Argenziano, Alex Colon, Brion James, Ruben Nthodi, Regopstaan. Box Office: $4.2M (US)
Rating: ***
Let’s dispense with the obvious. Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV) can’t act, that’s all there is to it. The same could be said of other 80s action icons like Stallone, Norris and Schwarzenegger. They were great at what they did, but none of them were ever handed an Oscar for their efforts. However, their movies still made money so why not try it with Lundgren.
Action movies tend to be dopey. They don’t come much dopier than Red Scorpion which stars Lundgren as Nikolai, a Soviet Special Forces soldier tasked with assassinating the leader (Nthodi, American Eagle) of a rebel movement against Soviet and Cuban forces in an unnamed African country.
In order to gain the trust of one of the leader’s most trusted guys Kallunda (White, Airplane!), Nikolai helps him break out of prison along with American journalist Dewey Ferguson (Walsh, Missing in Action). Dewey is distrustful of Nikolai, but Kallunda believes he’s on their side. Of course, he’s proven wrong when Nikolai makes an attempt on the leader’s life.
I guess it goes without saying that Nikolai experiences a change of attitude after his own people turn on him for failing in his mission. He escapes from the facility and flees into the desert where he’s found by a bushman (Regopstaan) who teaches him a different way to live. Meanwhile, the bad guys continue their attacks on African villages, killing lots of innocent people. Realizing what he must do, Nikolai joins the fight against his former comrades.
Directed by Joseph Zito (Invasion U.S.A.), Red Scorpion is a standard action flick with plenty of violence and a lead actor who can barely put together a sentence. Lundgren looks like a tree trunk which is only fitting since his acting style is so wooden. He’s not so much an actor as he is a blunt instrument of death and destruction. He lumbers around grunting monosyllabic dialogue while shooting, punching and kicking his way through whoever gets in his way. He blows stuff up too. That’s what passes for acting in these movies. I’m totally fine with it, especially when Communist baddies are on the receiving end.
Walsh makes out better as the foul-mouthed reporter determined to let the world know what’s really happening in this African country under the oppressive thumb of the Soviets and Cubans. He’s actually perfectly cast as a sweaty, slovenly guy who hates Russians, especially the one in his midst. He never has anything nice to say to Nikolai. Although it’s always cool to see the late Brion James (Blade Runner) play a bad guy, I wish Zito gave him more to do than look mean and put a cigar out on a prisoner’s chest. Carmen Argenziano (When a Stranger Calls) shows up as a Cuban colonel while Irish actor T.P. McKenna (Straw Dogs) plays a Russian general. They both camp it up nicely.
Red Scorpion falters occasionally- okay, frequently. Its politics are questionable. It seems to want to make a statement about the need for military intervention in Communist-controlled countries (it’s the 80s, remember?). It definitely hates its antagonists. It depicts them as lying, ruthless, violent buffoons who don’t think twice about torturing one of their own when he fails them. In a scene likely to make most viewers turn their heads, a Cuban officer tortures Nikolai by sticking long needles through his muscles. It’s like something out of a Mel Gibson actioner. In any event, anything even resembling a statement or message gets lost in all the violence and mayhem.
Aside from its Russian protagonist and absence of American jingoism, Red Scorpion is business as usual for the genre. It could be argued that it marks a shift in Hollywood’s attitude towards the Russians, but it would be a weak argument as well as an unnecessary one. Why would anybody want to make a silly action movie like Red Scorpion sound more important than it actually is? It’s just a B-movie made for action junkies looking for a fix. It has some cool action scenes, but it’s still junk. It’s badly written, directed and acted. It’s badly made. It looks cheap. It has zero artistic value and even less intellectual value. It’s as dumb as action flicks come. It’s also a lot of fun if you can get past the violence against the African people. It’s always gratifying to see oppressors get theirs.
Although not an action classic in any way, shape or form, Red Scorpion does what it sets out to do more or less. It also puts Dolph in the company of up-and-coming genre greats like Seagal, JCVD and Bosworth (hey, I liked Stone Cold!). You have to give credit where credit is due, right?
