Customer Reviews

Men of War [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There is only one reason for me to buy this DVD & it is because Catherine Bell (who portrays LtCol. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie) of "JAG" fame graces this movie with her presence.She portrays Grace, a (Wo)Men of War", one of Dolph's mercenaries.Catherine Bell is great in this movie, I just loved how BUTCH she was with short hair & muscles, kicking ... & swinging the big guns around.So if you are a Cat Bell fan, this is definately a "must-have" for your collection.Also, for all you "JAG" fans, Trevor Goddard who portrayed Australian Navy lawyer Mic Brumby (who Sarah MacKenzie was supposed to marry, thank God that didn't happen!) plays Keefer in this movie.

At first glance, Men of War doesn't seem like much: It looks like yet another low-profile action film from the King of B-Movies, Dolph Lundgren. Good for a few laughs perhaps, but certainly nothing worth repeat viewing. But this notion is quickly dispelled upon closer examination. The first clue to the film's surprising quality is a screenwriting credit attributed to indie filmmaker, John Sayles (Passion Fish, Ghost Dog). Known for his intelligent and character-driven dramas, Sayles' writing imparts Men of War with far more subtlety, wit and meaning than one would expect from a direct-to-video action film. Things just get better from there. There's the diverse and talented cast that includes BD Wong, Catherine Bell (TV's JAG), Thomas Gibson (TV's Dharma & Greg), and Tiny Lister (The Fifth Element). The actors have clearly been chosen for their ability and suitability for the roles rather than because they're the next "hot young thing". This high quality is maintained by the director and cinematographer. I've never heard of director Perry Lang, but based on his tight, visually-interesting work here, he certainly deserves to be given another film to helm. The whole production has an extremely polished and high-quality feel to it. Indeed, the major failing of previous home video editions of Men of War was that they were in pan & scan, thus cropping off the film's beautiful widescreen cinematography. The DVD edition finally corrects this oversight and allows the wild action scenes and gorgeous South Seas locations to be seen in their original 2.35:1 widescreen glory. While the DVD is a bit light on features, one needs to consider that this is literally the only widescreen DVD of the film in the entire WORLD. Combined with an effective surround sound audio track, this DVD is worth it just for presenting a great overlooked film in the way it was meant to be seen. Part hardcore mercenary action movie and part deft character study, Men of War should be sought out by anyone looking for a quality film that can stimulate both the mind and the eyes. Highly recommended.

Don't have anything bad to say, Dolph Lundgren did himself proud with this one. Great location shots, good directing, good script, good acting and top notch action sequences. Probably the highest production standards a Dolph Lundgren production will ever see again.

The story is standard, Lundgren and a group of other mercenaries are hired by two executives to go to a remote island near Thailand to convince the local to sell their lands. Why ? Because apparently there are a big deposit of bird and bat's droppings in the caves that can produce nitrogen. Off course, at the end, Lundgren ended up helping the local.

The acting and direction is good, much better than Lundgren's later movies and you can see a glimpse of Charlotte Lewis's beautiful body. The DVD's picture quality is very good, bright and sharp. The jungle scenery presented beautifully on the DVD. I happened to watch this after Emerald Forest DVD and this one looks much better. I would have given it 5 stars if Disney bother to give 5.1 sound to it. But overall, a must buy of Dolph Lundgren fans or action fans in general.

I think this is a great action movie, but my husband says its too mushy for a Dolph flick. Dolph's character (Nick) is a mercenary who is hired by 2 businessmen to put together a small band of men to force some islanders to move off their island. He puts together a group of tough misfits and heads off for the island. Of course once Nick meets the islanders, he has second thoughts about his mission and decides to defend the island from his employers. His employers go out and hire another mercenary. Of course this guy and Nick had been in the military together and they hate each other; action ensues. The fighting unit that Nick puts together is very entertaining and very tough. One member of the small army is a woman who is just as tough as the men, she is great to watch. There is one guy in the film with an Australian accent whose acting is very annoying. There is nothing new in this film, its all very predictable but the action is great, the scenery is great, Dolph's acting is good, and his costars are good (except the Australian guy). I highly recommend it.

A COMMANDO [DOLPH LUNDGREN] ASSEMBLES A CRACK TEAM AND THEY TRAVEL TO A PACIFIC ISLAND TO SECURE IT FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES. GOOD ACTING AND SUPERB ACTION MAKE IT BETTER THAN MANY OTHER DIRECT TO VIDEO ACTION MOVIES AND IT MAKES IT BETTER THAN ANY OTHER DOLPH LUNDGREN MOVIE THAT CAME BEFORE OR AFTER THIS. UNFORTUNATELY FOR DOLPH, JUST ABOUT EVERY MOVIE HE MADE AFTER THIS TURNED OUT TO BE TRULY HORRIBLE. BUT FOR ALL ACTION FANS, THIS IS AN UNEXPECTED TREAT!

From the annals of b-movie hell comes "Men of War", which, as the Amazon reviewer put it best, is a hell of a lot better than anybody could expect.

Not to put anything against Dolph, but his time passed a while back (as has Van Damme's), so it's to his credit that he can still put out product like this one. And it's way better than most of the slop they've been putting out in theatres in the way of action pictures (Fled, Chain Reaction, Con Air, etc.) with much bigger budgets.

The cinematography is stunning, and the plot is simplistic enough, but it's the secondary characters that make this a decent film. The islanders that Dolph fights to protect are both proud enough and funny enough to make you understand why he'd even want to.

The editing is very good, and the direction is equally adept... compared to the other Dolph vehicles, this one is a diamond. But even compared to other actioners, it's still head-and-shoulders above the rest.

Van Damme and Seagal should take some notes.

With over the top comic book type violence, and a macho superhuman hero figure, Rambo II (1985) pretty much set the mold for 1980's war films set in Southeast Asia. Released nearly a decade later, Men of War (1994) is a bit late to the game, but is in much the same tradition, as mercenaries on a remote island engage in a ferocious battle, when the native people are threatened. It takes a while, but in the end the film delivers a barrage of explosions, gunfire, and gratuitous violence, reminiscent of the typical 80's style war adventure, where mass destruction is the objective, and realism isn't a major factor.

Working with some yuppie type business partners, Colonel Merrick (Kevin Tighe) is involved in a scheme to exploit the resources of a small island. The plan is to use mercenaries to pressure the villagers into signing over their mineral rights. Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren) a former soldier under Merrick, who is down on his luck, accepts the job of putting together and leading the mercenary team, who arrive in the city for a little relaxation before heading to the island. After a fight breaks out in a club, Keefer (Trevor Goddard), a former comrade of Gunar, who is now an enemy, arrives on the scene. Gunar lets Keefer beats him up, and in return Gunar's group escapes being arrested. The mercs gain another member when Grace Lashield (played by a very butch, and youthful pre-JAG Catherine Bell) signs up for the mission.

At the island, the team finds the people polite and welcoming, led by a man named Po (B. D. Wong) who speaks English. Gunar tries to convince the village leaders to sign the agreement, but they refuse. The soldiers speculate that jade may be the island's secret treasure, but it turns out that the great prize is actually bird droppings. Gunar informs Merrick that he will not use force against the villagers, but Keefer has cut himself into Merrick's deal, and has soldiers prepared to attack the island. The resulting battle, with the villagers banding together with some of the mercs, is the highlight of the film, and features extensive battle sequences in the jungle, with the action spread out pretty well between the cast. Grace Lashield gets several chances to display her fighting skills, and the expected one on one confrontation between Gunar and Keefer, is pretty fierce and satisfying. Trevor Goddard does a good job as the hotheaded psycho point man for the baddies.

Prior to the big finish, the film spends quite a while establishing a connection between the mercenaries and the villagers. Po is a really likeable character, and he shares some of the island's secrets with the Americans. Po's sister Loki (Charlotte Lewis) becomes romantically involved with Gunar. It may be superficial, and some of the scenes feel like filler material that drag a bit, but the purpose is to try and humanize the soldiers, and provide a rationale for why some of them refuse to harm the natives, and choose to stand together with them.

With some cartoonish characters, corny dialog, and many overdramatic moments, Men Of War isn't very credible, but if you are looking for a jungle shoot `em up where the good guys win, it fits the bill, and is probably more grounded than Rambo II, or the Chuck Norris' Missing In Action series, where a single soldier is basically taking on a army. While Dolph Lundgren is definitely the star, he has a solid supporting cast, and spreading the focus around a bit, makes for a more interesting movie.

Just a fun movie. After having just watched The Expendables at the movies, it kind of reminded me of that movie.

Every time I watch this film, it feels like I have seen it before. Dolph Lundgren plays Nick, a mercenary in retirement. He is lured out of retirement to do one last job...get a crew, go to a topical island paradise and convince the local natives to sign a mining contract...or else. Along the way they run into some other bad guys. Got the plot figured out yet? It is overly predictable and this is perhaps the formula for a man's "chick flick."

BD Wong plays Po, one of the island natives with speaking lines. He provides us with the little bit of the predictable humor in the film. Charlotte Lewis as Loki, provides us with the token island nudity. Catherine Bell plays an under used butch character. Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, who has gone on to better things also stars as one of the mercenaries and provides conflict within the group.

As a 90's feel good man's film this one rates up there. But by today's standards it doesn't measure up to an action film. There is no CG fighting. There is no swagger music with slo-mo walking. There are no names popping up by characters giving us their bio. There are no unexplainable flashback scenes. If you can live without that and don't want to think too hard, this is a relatively easy going action film.

F-bomb, brief nudity, bar dancers in sheer outfits (mega camel toe)