9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
When people share one thing... humanity!, July 16, 2002
This review is from: Red Scorpion (DVD)
A lot of words have been spent describing, criticizing or simply discarding this movie. Pity, after all it's an inoffensive adventure movie a la Tarzan and as such it should be considered.
My three stars go out to the poor bushman who probably played himself and didn't get mentioned in the credits.
He's actually the reason why this movie is worth watching. All the rest is cheap anti-communism propaganda of the lowest and brainless level.
The director seems to tell us "Hey guys, the Communists got it up their a... in Afghanistan and in Africa too, so why should we blame our boys for having lost the Vietnam War?".
The script came from a spoiled child with too much time to do something useful with it.
And yet, despite all the "propaganda" bit, "Red Dawn" it is not... if you know what I mean. Thank God for that!
It's the simple story of a Spetnaz (the russian equivalent to Special Forces in the U.S. Army or the S.A.S. in the British Army) who gets an assignment as an undercover hitman to kill an African rebel leader.
Unfortunately for him, once in the midst of the Rebel group he starts to understand why they revolt and sympathises with their cause.
Bad mistake! He's captured by the Russian secret service, tortured and thrown out of the Spetnaz with dishonor.
Abandoned in the midst of an unknown African wilderness, he's suddenly confronted with the harshness of the land and must learn very fast how to survive in it.
Unfortunately for him some lessons learned are soon forgotten thanks to exhaustion and sleepiness. In fact, no sooner is he asleep that a very venomous scorpion decides to sting him.
The real movie starts here. Will he survive or not? Well, thanks to the said Bushman he gets his skin saved for a little longer.
At first, the giant Lundgren mocks the little man for being so primitive and so backward and seems to take pleasure at teasing him, despite his gratefulness for having being saved by the Bushman.
Very soon though the positions get reversed, and this is the really interesting plot twist of the movie. Lundgren is not a great actor, or even an actor at all, but in his clumsiness and genuine naivete' he gets through in convincing us about his helplessness out there in the wild.
Soon enough the wisdom of the old Bushman gets revealed to him and now a true friendship starts to ensue between two worlds as alien and as far apart as can be.
Not only do they become friends but start to respect each other as human beings, and out of this relationship comes the final strong reaction of Lundgren when he sees that the Bushman's entire village, family and friends have been wildly butchered by so-called "civilized" people. Lungren's own bunch.
While the Bushman hardly utters a word watching the scene and seems to linger in a state of deep shock at what he sees, Lundgren gets upset and swears to the old man that his family won't have died in vain.
A noble reaction, but probably one the Bushman wouldn't accept, also because it is not in his nature.
From here on the movie returns to his old actioner cliche' of Rambo's fame.
Naturally, somebody must have had some doubts on how to end the movie, but such doubts didn't last very long... Pity!
Lundgren seems more comfortable acting with the Bushman than surrounded by professional actors and at his level it is more than comprehensible. This is also where he is at his best.
So, in conclusion, if you are a Tarzan fan, this movie comes very close to that genre, with a touch of Rambism and a touch of Italian Stave Reeves' Hercules you may be served.
If you thought about a deep movie, this is absolutely not it.
It's pure escapism with a touch of sprinkled Pathos on top.
I would still recommend it just for the poor Bushman who did his job with honesty and generosity.
If you are an actor or a Drama student watch him carefully because you may still learn a thing or two about how an amateur can sometimes steal the show from a professional, despite his training and upbringing.
I only wished somebody someday will finally retrace the Bushman's name and include it on the DVD or VHS tape cover. He deserves it more than Lundgren...
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