Red Scorpion Blu-ray

Not long after heroically playing the majestically mulleted master of the universe, the real-life He-Man Dolph Lundgren replenished his stern Ivan Drago accent and became the relentless Spetsnaz killing machine Lt. Nikolai Rachenko, better known to avid 80s action movie lovers as 'Red Scorpion', the brutally efficient, bullet discharging, Teflon-chested, gun-happy chappy tasked to infiltrate the rebel African army bravely defying their heavily armed Soviet oppressors, but once among his beleaguered quarry, Rachenko's especially bloody hero's journey is ultimately coaxed into a wholly unexpected, hugely edifying endgame by the mystically benign bushman who suggests that the deadly, buzz-headed hunter might very well be after the wrong prey! Exciting film-maker Joseph 'The Prowler' Zito has successfully created one of the 80s more substantial Gung-ho, kill 'em all shoot 'em ups, being somewhat fortunate in having hyper-destructive, witheringly handsome demi-god, action-Alpha Dolph Lundgren in the titular, rough-housing role of conflicted, super-combative, special op assassin Rachenko. The vast, imposing, breathtakingly beautiful African vistas lending 'Red Scorpion' an additionally exotic lustre wholly absent in the more prosaic, urban-set actioners of the period, additionally blessed with a suitably robust and nuanced script by Arne Olsen, with a splendidly rigorous supporting cast featuring T. P McKenna, Brion James, and another quirky, singularly amusing expletive-laden performance by avuncular character actor M. Emmet Walsh which has, not unsurprisingly, over time, made the still highly explosive 'Red Scorpion' eminently re-watchable, with its frequently hyperbolic displays of ballistic overkill, genuine pathos, and quite literally incendiary action sequences, this especially bellicose and resilient 'Red Scorpion' has an exceptionally potent sting in its tail!