Here’s a post-Kill Bill vehicle that, alongside The Expendables, should hopefully kick off some kind of Dolph Lundgren revival. Hell, the whole of the Western world seems to be lost to the 1980s at the moment (Skinny Jeans, Economic austerity, spy swops, the imminent return of big hair), so why not?

DOLPH LUNDGREN IS THE KILLING MACHINE

DOLPH LUNDGREN IS BACK ON FORM TAKING NAMES AND KICKING ASS.

After a prolific but less than stellar movie career in recent years, 2010 looks set to be a golden one for Swedish action superstar Dolph Lundgren, with the release of two movies that see him returning to the kind of form not seen since the glory days of ‘Rocky IV’, ‘Masters Of The Universe’ and ‘The Punisher’.

In August, Dolph will be seen starring alongside the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin and Jason Statham in the testosterone-filled ‘The Expendables’. That same month also sees the DVD and Blu-ray release of the high-octane action-thriller, Dolph Lundgren Is The Killing Machine, Dolph’s latest movie outing and his fifth feature to date as both director and star.

To his friends, family and colleagues, Edward Genn (Lundgren) is an ordinary man, a divorced father with a steady job working for an investment company. However, to others Genn is known as Icarus, a ruthless killing machine and former US sleeper agent once based in the Soviet Empire. Determined to break away and leave his dark past behind, Genn has started over with a new identity, but he soon learns you can only escape your past for so long.

When an unexpected incident in Hong Kong results in Icarus’ cover being blown, past and present collide and the one-time assassin realizes he is now the target. Worse, the people that want him dead will stop at nothing to get to him and that means going after those he cares about most—his wife and daughter.

With his life at stake, Icarus is forced to face the demons of his past in order to protect the loved ones in his present. He must fight to save the only thing he’s ever done right in his life by uncovering those who are after him and protecting his family before it’s too late.

“Extended gunfire, explosions, and an impressive body count are the order of the day” (BeyondHollywood.com) in Dolph Lundgren Is The Killing Machine, which co-stars Stefanie von Pfetten (Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief), Samantha Ferris (Supernatural) and Bo Svenson (Inglourious Basterds; Kill Bill), and is a definite must-see for Dolph Lundgren fans and those with a taste for edgy, independent action movies.

Dolph Lundgren Is The Killing Machine (cert. 18) will be release on DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) by Anchor Bay Entertainment on 16th August 2010.

Sounds cool, and Dolph seems to be aging rather gracefully.
Why the “post-Kill Bill” remark though? Was that film a landmark moment for Lundgren (even though he isn’t in it as far as I know)?

I just mean it’s got a streak of irony and a moody narration that seems to wink at the audience a bit. I could have put it better…

Why Anchor Bay didn’t keep the original and more mysterious, interesting and sophisticated title of ICARUS is beyond me. “The Killing Machine” is bringing the product down and is not helping the revival. As another fan put it: “That’s gonna give it even less of a customer variety, the lousy jackasses.”

GO DOLPH!

It comes down to simple economics.

DVD companies work on ever tightening margins and, although cinema savvy contributors to forums aren’t necessarily wrong when they’re unhappy with what might seem a strange choice of retitling, it will help casual sales and it’s these purchases that keep films coming out.

OK thank you for your reply, but are we really sure that really helps the sales and that those couldn’t be higher?

Dolph Lundgren is a good exemple of someone who’s career had more downs than ups partly due to how his films were marketed, sure his name insured quick bucks to distributors but his image was so bad at some point that even the casual action lover would dismiss him as a poor man’s action star and would prefer his colleagues like Van Damme. Maybe the profits could be higher if the products were valued up instead of down.

I’d say Dolph’s been on a comeback since “missionary Man” (despite the serious flaws) as that got the best reviews and distribution for a film of his at that point for a long time.  And he’s been pretty consistent ever since.

Will be released under the same title in the US   on October 19.

Great UK trailer.
http://twitchfilm.net/news/2010/07/dolph-lundgren-is-the-killing-machine.php

OOOOOOOOOO!

Looks like mean ‘n’ meaty fun. 
Nothing new in the plot department of course, at all, but as far as kick ass action goes with a mean looking Doplh it should deliver.
Thankfully looks like quite a violent ‘15’ too.

It’s been rated 18 by the BBFC actually.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/c2fb077ba3f9b33980256b4f002da32c/cd1c85bd10a5979f8025776500501642?OpenDocument

JerryDam - July 21, 2010, 10:45pm

It’s been rated 18 by the BBFC actually.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/c2fb077ba3f9b33980256b4f002da32c/cd1c85bd10a5979f8025776500501642?OpenDocument

Oh good!  Must have been early artwork. 
Nice one!

42nd Street Freak - July 16, 2010, 1:05am

I’d say Dolph’s been on a comeback since “missionary Man” (despite the serious flaws) as that got the best reviews and distribution for a film of his at that point for a long time.  And he’s been pretty consistent ever since.

Agreed, but The Expendables is the ‘big breakthrough’ as far as the mainstream is concerned and we’re certainly pushing that angle to get the movie out there.

Here’s a playlist of clips from the movie…

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FBDB2365251968EE

What’s with the awful ‘letterbox’ version rubbish?

So you can have a perfectly fine 16:9 full frame version (I expect the proper OAR given as this was probably a straght to DVD movie anyway) or a cruddy letterbox version which simply hacks off huge portions of top and bottom information with 2 black bars to no other effect at all?

Near the start Dolph cooly lights a cigar while a gun is pointed at him and on the ‘letterbox’ effort the entire cigar is cut out of the frame (along with his chin and the top of his head!)

Sadly I fear too many people will pick this pointless letterbox choice thinking it’s the correct 16:9 version for their TV’s.  WELL DON’T!

I’ll let others wrangle with the aspect ratios, I’m just here to tell people about the movie… Although if you want me to forward the above to the company behind the release, I’m happy to do so. Let me know.

The movie is out now in the UK, here’s my latest Killing Machine blog, featuring a brace of behind-the-scenes footage from Movieset.com:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=497135849&blogId=538375590