Customer Reviews

Direct Action [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Of course, this is a low budget movie. There are some problems with believability in this movie such as the police chief who dresses more like a hitman in the mafia. Some of the supporting cast overact their roles (the criminals in this movie are a little far fetched). On the other hand, Dolph Lungren himself does an amazing job in his role as a cop

who will not allow the greasy haired police chief to bully him into "tainting evidence' and lying on the witness stand in court.

Great action. Dolph looks very fit. Polly Shannon does a fine job as the new trainee officer in the unit.

I rate this video 5 stars because of Dolph Lungren and Polly Shannon.

On the downside, the director needs to be sure that the supporting cast (including the criminals) are more believable in their roles.

Notwithstanding the greasy haired police chief who was obviously a crooked cop, I would recommend this Dolph Lungren movie just because Dolph has an exciting stage presence-

For a DTV action movie starring Dolph Lundgren, "Direct Action" is pretty good. Lundgren's definitely made some better ones, but on the whole, his 26th starring outing is a solid vehicle. It's not as flashy or bombastic as I'd like it to be and the style of action isn't quite what I had hoped for, but in Dolph's case, no one can really complain if a movie of his surpasses the 'acceptable' mark. If you're already a fan, you can buy the film without much reservation, but newbies to Lundgren should start somewhere else.

The story: Frank Gannon (Lundgren) is a police officer set to testify against the activities of the department's Direct Action unit - a coalition of veteran officers undertaking illegal operations for the sake of money. On the day before his visit to court, he's paired with a rookie officer (Polly Shannon, Men With Brooms) and is almost immediately caught up in a plot of the DA brotherhood to retire him permanently.

It becomes quickly apparent that the film was shot under a small budget and minimal resources - few tripods, an unflexible lighting scheme, and loosely-choreographed action - but rather than letting this drag the movie down, director Sidney Furie (Iron Eagle) maintains excellent production values to turn the stripped-down look into the film's style without making it look fudged, turning technical deficiencies into the choice look of a gritty cop thriller. The only real production decisions that I can find fault with is the choice of soundtrack (a repetitious selection of grating rap and electronic music) and the rather noticeable goof that all of the cars being shot up display no bullet holes. Oh, and the special features - a rarity on any Lundgren DVD - aren't all that great.

The action is good...for a DTV film. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the violence is that it's the most karate-friendly since Lundgren's Bridge of Dragons: Dolph bangs out the kicks, punches, and throws to a respectable extent, and this alone should make the film appeal to fans who feel that the Swedish Superman doesn't use his hand-to-hand talents nearly enough. It's a bit of a disappointment that all of his fights are relatively short and one-sided, but apparently that's the trade-off for seeing the big man throw roundhouse kicks at all these days. Surprisingly, the gunfights help make up for this: while the aforementioned no-holes snafu is evident most of the time and the shootouts themselves are nothing revolutionary, both Lundgren and the bad-guys put themselves out there and get shot up enough so that there's some actual excitement to be gained from these scenes, which there is no shortage of.

There's not all too much to be said as far as the acting goes other than that nobody's awful: looking amazingly fit and powerful for a man approaching 50, Lundgren fits the role of veteran cop well, while Polly Shannon likewise does good with a few slip-ups, and miscellaneous co-stars Donald Burda (The Highwayman), Rothaford Gray (Max Payne), and Conrad Dunn (Silent Trigger) are generally passable in their roles as assorted good cops and bad cops. Not much to complain about, but nothing to roll out the red carpet for, either.

On its own, "Direct Action" is unremarkable, but as a Lundgren action vehicle, it's a hopeful example that the man can still deliver. If expectations are kept low and the film is watched in the company of some popcorn or a hotdog or two, fans are likely to have a good time with it. Give it a try.

THIS MOVIE WAS QUITE A SURPRISE! THIS MOVIE HAS GOOD ACTING, STORY, DIALOGUE, INTERESTING CHARACTERS, AND EVEN A LIKABLE SOUNDTRACK. DOLPH LUNDGREN IS VERY GOOD AS THE LEAD CHARACTER, AND

POLLY SHANNON AND THE OTHER ACTORS PLAY SUPPORTING ROLES VERY GOOD AS WELL. THE FIGHT SCENES ARE WELL CHOREGRAPHED AND THE MOVIE GOES ALONG AT JUST THE RIGHT PACE. THE DVD PACKAGE MAKES IT APPEAR THAT THIS IS A LOW BUDGET B-MOVIE....BUT IT IS NOT. IT IS A HIGH QUALITY, UNDERATED, DIRECT TO VIDEO MOVIE.

This was the best movie I've ever seen since my last Ed Woods flick a few decades ago. Buy it. Watch it. Then buy it again.

If you like action movies staring guys like Dolph or Jean Claude you will like this movie, especially if you don't mind a mild romantic undertone. Dolph does one of his better acting jobs in this flick, I believe.

Sure, it's a plot we've seen over and over, but it works very well for action movies, and the enjoyment is in the reliving of the details.

Direct Action (2004) is a direct to video action film about big city police corruption, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Sergeant Frank Gannon (not Cannon), a member of the Direct Action Unit. The Unit is riddled with corruption, and Gannon is scheduled to testify in court against some of his fellow officers. The film principally follows the events during one day, as Gannon is separated from his regular partner Ed Grimes (Rothafoard Gray), and teamed with newcomer Billie Ross (Polly Shannon).

The plot is rather predictable and by the numbers, where the corrupt police officers, led by Captain Stone (Conrad Dunn) first attempt to bribe Gannon to keep him from testifying. When that fails, Gannon is marked for death, and Billie Ross is drawn into the fray, when she saves Gannon from termination. Also in the mix, are federal agents, the CIA, the Mayor, members of an Afghani task force, and drug dealers. With plenty of deception all around, there are a number of twists intended to keep things lively, but the plot is generally nonsensical, and dialog often atrocious. Supposedly set somewhere in Ohio, the vehicles sport Ontario license plates.

Under the direction of Sidney J. Flurie (Iron Eagle), the action is mostly confined to standard unrealistic looking gunfights, and a few stunts with vehicles. The Afghani's factor causes decorative knives to be featured in a couple of fights. Frank Gannon gets shot early in the film, but it doesn't seem to slow him down much, through what is a pretty eventful day. As usual, there isn't much depth to Lundgren's character, except that Gannon occasionally chews gum, looking rather shabby, dressed in a faded jersey. Ross gets off to a shaky start, looking good while firing an automatic weapon, but rarely hitting the target. Polly Shannon does what she can with her role, but there really doesn't seem to be much chemistry between her and the low key Lundgren. It's hard to buy Conrad Dunn as a cop, let alone a police captain.

With a low budget look and feel, treading the familiar ground of battling against police corruption, Direct Action offers nothing that is new. The screenplay is weak and makes little sense, and the action scenes are just passable. Like many of Lundgren's recent efforts, this is B movie territory, but if you just want a cartoonish shoot `em up, this may fit the bill.

WOW! - What a strange movie. For those of you who said this is a great movie - I don't know what you people were smoking when you watched it. Seriously!

Rarely, if ever, do I rate items I purchase on Amazon; however, I just couldn't resist to warn people before they blow their money on this. I think I had set my expectations too high for this movie; however, Dolph Lundgren usually makes simple, straight-forward action films.

Overall, this movie has NO plot. The film goes on from scene to scene leaving the viewer with one question on their mind, "Where is this going?". I stopped the movie half way in because I couldn't take the torture any more. There was no way to determine what Dolph's overall goal in the movie is. Also, its hard to tell if Dolph is a bad guy or a good guy for most of the movie as well. Further, expect to see some of the worst romance dialogue EVER.

Basically every scene is completely random so expect to be completely confused with the exception of a few scenes that actually mesh together correctly. Frankly, its a miracle that this ever officially became a released movie.

Do NOT watch this film - If you want to watch a Dolph Lundgren action flick --> watch the Punisher where he simply kicks @ss and the plot actually MAKES SINCE.

don't know why dolph lundgren never got the chance to upgrade himself from the b or c movies to a level. all of his movies either sucked big time or totally lukewarm and mediocre, unworthy of wasting any time or word to give a detailed review, unlike steven seagal, who at least had some prime time then keep going down the hill, lundgren never reached any hilltop but always struggled in the deep valley with lousy screenplay, lousy dialogue, lousy plot, lousy scenario....and now he's trying so hard to come back before he becomes too old for being an action hero, he's even tried to direct couple of action movies recently. but sadly speaking, none of his tryings ever paid off, his movies still looked so deadbeat and sometimes even ridiculous. this one is not so exceptional from the other, except even more horrible and hollow. what a shame for a guy tried so hard but always failed.

No wonder with this bad film. One good cop goes against all his squad and testifies they are crooks, now they are trying to kill him.

Story flaws galore in this one. First of all, they try to convince you it is an American city, but make no attempts to hide the fact that it is shot in Toronto. All the close ups of the Ontario licence plates give it away.

The filming style is bizarre. All kinds of unneeded shots of the industrial area of the city when they are suppose to be in the city. There is one scene when they are going to an apartment building but end up in a junkyard in a shoot out.

Dolph Lungren is looking old and skinny in this one and his acting has not improved. He is still better than the girl playing his partner, I'm guessing she went back to her job as a waitress by now. There are a couple of unintentional laughs, like when the cops change cars the director decided to give their cars to the bad guys that are after them. Couldn't they rent a couple other cars to make it look a bit more realistic?

As far as the script, holes in this thing a mile wind. There are too many to mention, but it'll leave you scratching your head. I'd pass on this one unless your cable is out.