User reviews

Commando adventure in which ex-Special Force mercenaries carry out a dangerous mission set in a Thai island . This action-packed picture concerns upon a bunch of commando-for-hire who is assigned by two businessmen as financial backers to obliterate a little group of natives (B.D. Wong , Charlotte Lewis , among them) at an island of Thailand . But the financiers hire another bunch as back-up , in case they run into problems . The commando is led by a tough, two-fisted mercenary (Dolph Lundgren) . He contacts an inmate (Tommy Lister) , a soldier-woman (Catherine Bell) and several more (Tom Wright, Don Harvey, Anthony John Denison, among others) . The adventure starts when the expert band of mercenaries disembarks on the coast and goes to deep inside the jungle to destroy the village . But they decide to defend rather than destroy the inhabitants of the far island . As they help out the jungle's natives against other mercenaries( Trevor Goddard , Aldo Sambrell). The mission meets unexpected turns and twists when they're betrayed by their financial backers . Meanwhile they find some caves in middle of jungle where encounter the valuable Guano or bat's crap .

This fast-paced film packs adventures , large-scale blow-up, routine plot , drama , and lots of action for the most part . Based on the interesting screenplay by prestigious John Sayles , a magnificent writer and director . Has some weak moments which break up the continuity of the movie but generally is a good story and well told . It results to be a graphical depiction of a team of professional mercenaries driven by nothing but quest for power and money , being commanded by Dolph Lundgren in one of the best roles . Large support cast formed by various actors who subsequently would get successful careers as Thomas Gibson (Criminal minds) , Catherine Bell(JAG) , Don Harvey , Kevin Thige , Trevor Goddard and several others . Cinematography by Rohn Schmidt is quite nicely , capturing the atmosphere of everywhere , from Thailand to a pretty cool jungle , furthermore some stirring images filmed with camera above the shoulder . Vibrant musical score fitting to action by Gerard Gouriet . The motion picture picture is well realized by Perry Lang who also plays a secondary role . This is his second and last movie -the first was ¨Little Vegas¨- subsequently Lang would direct numerous TV episodes as ¨ Millennium, Charmed, One tree hill , Everwood, Alias, Weeds. .¨

The film was made in the wake of ¨Mercenary sub-genre¨ as the classic ¨Wild Geese¨ by Andrew McLagen with Burton, Moore and Richard Harris and ¨Wild Geese II¨ , plus ¨Dogs of war¨ by John Irvin with Christopher Walken and recently ¨Tears of the sun ¨ with Bruce Willis and Monica Belucci and many others . Rating : 6,5 . Better than average. Well worth watching .

Men of War is a good action movie. Dolph Lundgren is cool as Nick Gunner, a mercenary hired to force natives to sign over mining rights of the island. When he decides to defend it, his employers hire his old enemy to kill him. The action sequences are pretty good, especially the fight scene at the end. And Catherine Bell (The chick from JAG) is pleasant as a women warrior. All in all, I recommend Men of War to anyone looking for an entertaining action movie.

Everything John Sayles does reeks of intelligence one way or another, and this movie tries to imply issues much more important than macho bravadura, "Broken Arrow"-like. I'll leave you to check those issues by yourself, since this wasn't intended to be a philosophy lesson in the first plane (and doesn't fall in Hemingway-esque clichés like "Sniper")but this one also features one of the greatest mug-catalogue since the heyday of Spaghetti-western (Too bas Danny Trejo wasn't on the boat !), including the charismatic English actor from "Mortal Kombat", who really, really shines in this one. I'm as tired of guns-and-explosions movie as the next guy, but this one is really worth a look, if only for its lush photography and elegant direction. Besides, the latest reel, chock-full of adrenaline, is really better than average. I'm glad I saw this one.

Rating: *** out of ****

I don't generally make it a point to review Dolph Lundgren films, since they're usually steeped deep into mediocrity, but I gave this one a chance based on some fairly high recommendations. And I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised; though not a great movie, Men of War delivers thrilling action amidst a plot that's actually not half-bad by "generic action flick" standards.

Lundgren stars as Nick Gunar, an ex-special forces operative who's given a lucrative job by a corporation looking for someone to do their dirty work. Apparently, the company wants mining rights on a small island inhabited by a village of natives and they think Gunar's the man to convince the villagers to sign the rights over; if the natives don't agree, then Gunar and his men will have to eliminate them. With some reluctance, Gunar agrees to the deal and rounds out the rest of his team with hard-boiled mercenaries (totaling eight in all, including Catherine Bell) looking for a good payday.

But upon their first few days on the island, Gunar and a few of his teammates find themselves quite taken with the natives and their way of life, and are unable to bring themselves to complete the mission. This splits the team in half, with Gunar and his group choosing to defend the island and the rest leaving to join another much larger mercenary group (led by Kevin Tighe and Aussie Trevor Goddard) that's got its eyes set on completing the mission. No points for guessing this is going to lead to all-out war.

The film's premise, though often used time and again in the annals of action cinema, is effective in immediately engaging the viewer. Plot has often been a tricky complication in Lundgren's movies, as they tend to get in the way of the action or there's simply not enough of a hook in the story to hold one's attention. Not so in this case, and while the script isn't particularly complex or convoluted, I found myself quite interested in the natives' plight and the way Gunar and his soldiers respond to the situation.

It's also to no small degree that I even cared about the characters, and in this regard, even the natives aren't short-sighted, as ample screen time is given to both B.D. Wong and Charlotte Lewis. Wong, in particular, is excellent as the translator who helps bridge the cultural gap. As the lead, Lundgren is likable and appealing, displaying a fair amount of the same charisma that made Schwarzenegger a huge star. He's clearly not a good actor, but he has an undeniably strong presence.

The supporting cast immeasurably aids the film, most especially hottie Catherine Bell as one of the ass-kicking mercenaries with a heart of gold. I'm only a little disappointed that she didn't strip down or show any skin, so it seems that gratuitous task was left up to Charlotte Lewis. Also making strong impressions are Tom Wright and Tim Guinee as mercs on Gunar's side and Trevor Goddard as the over-the-top villain.

The action scenes are spectacular and thrilling, even if most of it is held off until the climax. But what a climax! The last half-hour is non-stop mayhem, with shootouts, explosions, knifings, and fisticuffs taking place all over the island. For my money, this is the best B-movie battle since Arnold took on all those Latino soldiers in Commando. Lundgren doesn't really get to show off his martial arts moves until his mano-a-mano battle with Goddard, but it's a damn good showdown that wraps the action up on an exciting note.

Add to that the gorgeous scenery and surprisingly high production values (this certainly has the look and feel of a theatrical release), and I'd have to say Men of War is a winner. It's not innovative or original cinema, but it is a highly entertaining action flick and that's all I ask from a movie starring Dolph Lundgren.

Yes, I've been catching up with Dolph Lundgren. Always wondered what he'd been up to all those years, with only on rare occasions having picked up one of his flicks. So second this week, I watched MEN OF WAR. Again nothing too special, but nevertheless a noble and decent enough effort. Most importantly, a "mercenaries hired to do a job"-plot supported by an honest story, with a little heart to it. Compared to other films that involve a bunch of highly trained misfits shooting the hell out of each other on some exotic location, MEN OF WAR turned out to be slightly better than I expected. The strain of events keep things going, though the outcome is - as to be expected - predictable. Nevertheless, the third act knows a satisfying climax, with lots of shooting, things blowing up and people dying.

Perhaps the most interesting name involved with this production, might be writer John Sayles. He previously delivered the screenplays for fine (horror orientated) genre pictures like Joe Dante's PIRANHA and THE HOWLING, and everyone's favorite 80's "killer-croc flick" ALLIGATOR. Apparently he has been working a wide variety of genres ever since, accomplishing great results on a regular basis. I'll be keeping an eye out for any other films with his name attached.

Like many, I'm sure, I expected this to be cheesy junk when it came on cable late one night many years ago. I was probably reading or simply bored so I didn't bother to turn it off. After about a half an hour I realized I was watching a movie that was not only surprisingly well written (I didn't realize then that it was scripted by John Sayles) but was also very well directed and edited. The movie holds up all the way through, with some interesting twists along the way. I'm a film buff, I don't usually go in for dumb action movies, but this one really caught my eye (and that was before I even knew who wrote the thing). Probably the only Dolph Lundgren movie I can say with pride that I enjoyed.

Pros: Good execution in spite of itself. Dolph Lundgren can act better than Sly. Decent, though prototypical, plot. Great nemesis. Film has a lot of heart just trying to break through.

Cons: The film does not realize it's heart fully, as the character "actors" seem to have trouble acting. Not much character development; may not be such a bad thing with these "actors." Film has horrible video transfer, as with its dreadful sound quality.

All in all, for a b-movie, you could do worse in the way of action films.

If you like Dolph, give it a spin. Otherwise...

Action genre icon Dolph Lundgren plays Gunar, a former Special Ops soldier turned mercenary. He's hired by sleazy corporate interests to force the residents of an Asian island to sign over the mining rights. Well, as you may expect, he experiences a change of heart when he meets the natives (including gorgeous Charlotte Lewis of "The Golden Child"), as do some of his comrades. The other members of the team remain mercenaries and become determined to complete the mission, leading to the inevitable all out war.

The capable direction is by veteran actor Perry Lang ("The Hearse", "Alligator"), who also co- stars as one of the young corporate creeps. Given that the script is co-written by indie favourite John Sayles, along with Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris ("Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight"), one can also expect this to be more well thought out and interesting than the run of the mill action film. It's quite serious (yet not totally without some humour), and the natives, as led by amiable young spokesman Po (B.D. Wong) are an inherently sympathetic bunch.

Of course, the natives do turn out to be pretty effective fighters once the stakes are raised. The set pieces are largely confined to the last half hour, but are intense and enjoyable once they occur. There are some nifty demises devised for our antagonists, and Dolph is given a formidable opponent with Trevor Goddards' over the top psycho mercenary Keefer. The location shooting in Thailand allows for some beautiful scenery, and it's all nicely shot by Rohn Schmidt.

The cast is above average for this sort of thing. Besides Dolph, Lewis, and Wong, the cast consists of Tony Denison, Tim Guinee, Don Harvey, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister (who, like Goddard, relishes chewing the scenery), Tom Wright, the lovely Catherine Bell (who looks mighty fine and also proves herself adept at kicking ass alongside the guys), Kevin Tighe as Dolphs' mentor, Thomas Gibson, and Aldo Sambrell, long ago co-star in Sergio Leones' "Dollars" trilogy, as a goon named Goldmouth.

All in all, this is good, rousing entertainment that genre aficionados will likely savour.

Seven out of 10.

Down and out in Chicago, perfectly-proportioned Dolph Lundgren (as Nick Gunar) appears to be living in squalor. He drinks heavily, wears dusty socks and saves old French Fries. His blond hair and muscles look amazingly well-kept, compared to his home. Looking no worse for wear, Mr. Lundgren is offered an exciting job by director Perry Lang (as Lyle) and TV favorite Thomas Gibson (as Warren). There will be a lot of blood and violence, however. Lundgren goes to a very picturesque tropical island. This setting is the main strength in "Men of War", if you're not watching for deadly violence. And, there's a bit of pole dancing, to break up the action...

The main villain is Trevor Goddard (as Keefer), who starts his first fight with Lundgren by kissing him. That could be a cultural thing, but the way Mr. Goddard caresses Lundgren's shoulders after the fight looks like he wants to take it to another level. The other interesting thing about this fight is that Lundgren is not allowed to hit back, so Goddard just beats him until he drips blood. In a later re-match, Lundgren gets to punch Goddard. Lundgren and the men get to show their well-developed chests throughout, and there is one brief side look at a female chest that is a relative match for Lundgren's pecs. Mostly, this is a collection of fights, gunfire, gore and explosions.

**** Men of War (9/3/94) Perry Lang ~ Dolph Lundgren, Trevor Goddard, Charlotte Lewis, BD Wong

I rented this expecting a stupid but violent Dolph Lundgren direct-to-video action thriller. Well, it's violent alright, but it is by no means stupid. In fact, I'd say this is the best direct-to-video action movie ever made, and at the very top of Dolph Lundgren's filmography. The general outline of the plot - Mercenaries assault tropical village to muscle mining rights from the villagers, but then mercenary has a change of heart and helps defend the village - is eminently cliche of course. Previous mercenary classics Dogs of War and The Wild Geese already have similar plots. But the execution is marvellous! What did you expect with the great independent filmmaker and famed scriptdoctor John Sayles writing the script on this one? The movie doesn't rely pure action to raise your blood pressure - All the time spent building the relationships and personalities pays off big time when it comes to the showdown. Real dramatic tension in a direct-to-video Dolph Lundgren flick! Who'd have expected it? The dialogue is smart and knows when to laugh at itself when it gets too cliche or macho. The director and cinematographer do great work as well, very stylish without resorting to cheap "music-video-style" tricks so common these days. And don't worry about the action, there isn't much at the beginning, but the last 30 minutes or so is one huge long action sequence. Best of all, it doesn't pull any punches. Maybe its direct-to-video status allowed them to show more, I don't know, but this is a helluva violent film. You see the results of the violence and it's anything but pretty. I loved this film. Go find it at the video store, it's worth it. The only negative is that the tape is pan&scan and there's no widescreen/letterbox version available on DVD. The compositions seem a bit cramped, especially during the action scenes. Anyway, go see it, and keep any eye out for some cool actors in the supporting roles - BD Wong, Catherine Bell of tv show "JAG" fame (playing a hardass mercenary chick no less!), etc. I hope the studio releases a widescreen DVD soon!

Yes, he was a typecast actor, but I kind of liked him, for some reason. Now he's gone (died in June). I noticed him showing up in a commercial for a cheesy home cleaning product (a mop, or something; I forget what it was exactly) not long ago, and I remember wondering if he was doing alright. Action movie star -- well, star villain, anyway -- doing cheesy ads? Not a good sign, in my book; you're supposed to go the other way: from the ads to the movies! Now I really wonder what was going on in his life, particularly when his cause of death is listed as an apparent drug overdose. He must have been very unhappy.

This isn't about Men of War (I already commented on the movie, under my prior email address, in Feb. 2001) but I just felt like this death deserved some sort of note here. Things like this remind us that actors have the same problems the rest of us do. I just hope his wife and two kids are able to deal with this.

RIP Trevor.

About the movie itself, there are ample comments.

I just wanted to say something about the German version, which I have seen recently on TV. It is heavily cut. From 103 to 76 minutes! It is usual that the most bloody scenes are cut for German TV. I understand the reasons for that, but this movie was something else. They did not only cut "gore-shots" - they have cut entire sequences, sparing only glimpses. Like: "WE have to attack THEM" - one 5 second shot of explosions in the camp - protagonist running away.

When the assault on the island begins, it isn't even possible anymore to follow the storyline. All the cuts create something that amounts to a string of erratic, disconnected scenes that don't make any sense anymore.

I could not stand to watch the end after spending 60 minutes on this nonsense.

I think I would have given the original 7/10 The German version is worth only 1/10

Get it on DVD (and check the runtime first) or forget about it.

"What if they made a really good Dolph Lundgren movie and nobody came?"

Well, if they put it out directly to video, ... :-)

I saw "Men of War" on broadcast TV, so of course some of the nastier stuff was censored. Still, I think I got the idea. And it was a good idea! This movie continually impressed me with excellent dialogue, good character development, humor, and most of all a story that I actually cared about. Sure it was somewhat predictable, but there were some unexpected developments, mostly centering on the ability of the supporting cast -- and I mean way down the list to some of the bit parts -- to behave in ways not anticipated by the principals. This made for a rather unorthodox movie. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack; good music, well suited to each scene. Did I mention the dialogue? I did? Well, I'll mention it again, because usually that's the last thing I expect to like in a DL movie, but this one was smartly scripted.

My favorite character was Po, who was exceptionally well written and nicely played by BD Wong. It took all of about 15 seconds for me to like this guy; his intelligence and wit were quickly evident even through the language barrier. Actually, that's one thing that impressed me a lot: they managed to come up with broken English script that comes across as totally believable. If I were a mercenary in SE Asia, this is a lot like how I'd expect people might really talk to me.

I can't say this is a great movie; it has its shortcomings. The themes explored were already old hat by the time this film was made, and there is a strange schizophrenia to the film; it's half story-movie and half action-movie-with-big-hero-star-dude. But the strong points seem to carry it pretty easily, perhaps because the makers realized before/during production what we do when we see it, and compensated. For example, the film does visit certain cliches, but it doesn't dwell on them, expecting them to make a huge impression on the viewer. It's as though the makers realize that a given situation is old hat, and are almost apologetically including it simply out of necessity, then moving on to "what they REALLY wanted to show us". I think that shows respect for the intelligence of the audience, treating us as though we've actually seen a movie before -- imagine that!! -- and I appreciated it.

Since Lundgren is the "star" here, I guess I'll close by saying that he was very well used. The story is the real star, which is why this movie works so well. Lundgren has never been a top-notch actor, and isn't one here, but that's not important. This movie tells a story and it uses all of its assets, not just shoving big Dolph in our faces over and over again. When he says something, or does something, it's because it was his turn to do so. Really, I'm very impressed by how well this worked.

(BTW, lest you get the wrong impression, I actually like Dolph Lundgren, and have enjoyed some of his films, usually almost exclusively for the action. I just don't think he's Oscar material.)

Flaw, boring and repetitive tale of a cruel and violent mercenary expedition against the people who lives in peace in a quiet island in the East. Lundgren is the pay-soldier who discovers in the process love and friendship among the peasants inhabitants of the island. Maybe a good premise but the movie is a complete misfire, with a shallow and unconvincing screenplay (although John Sayles is in the credits) that makes the ending completely predictable. Good work of photograph with some astonished landscape details. I give this a 03 (three).

A mercenary team is recruited by con-artists to convince the natives to move out and let the mines be plundered however half way through the mercenaries have a change of heart and stay and protect the islanders from the new mercenaries sent to fight the battle. This was indeed quite a surprise back in 1994, Not only did Dolph Lundgren give a decent performance (Although there's always room for improvement) Men Of War is the most energetic and interesting effort to date from Dolph Lundgren. The battle scenes are choreographed with a great eye for detail, the characters are all given personality and the movie satisfies on the visceral level of eye candy. It's no masterpiece but for those looking for a movie that has more texture than most should find this effort satisfying.

* * * out of 4-(Good)

In what attempts to be a positive story, Dolph Lundgren leads a group of mercenaries to take over a tropical island that looks a lot like paradise so that the men who hired his team can mine it for...bird droppings. Actually, the nitrogen gas that exudes from the muck on this island is what they are after.

There was only one good thing about this movie -- the island location in which it was filmed was beautiful. Otherwise, the story drowns itself leaving the actors with nothing to work with. Result: A lot of violence, a lot of language, lots of blood, and a few shots of women topless. If you want pointless violence (sorry, the storyline can't even give the violence a point, though it tries) then this is the movie for you.

Parents: be warned that this movie is full of violence and blood, driving the R rating.

I always say that a good action movie needs to have a decent story to work. Otherwise it will be just a mindless violence that is quickly boring and forgettable. Dolph Lundgren movies not always seem to remember that. This one however despite being a little cliché is god enough to keep the viewer interested.

The story here is based on screenplay written by John Sayles ( nominated for Oscar for the screenplay for "The Lone star"). You could say that the story ere is generic , but it's really not badly written for a B-class action movie. The film's premise is effective in immediately engaging the viewer.

The characters here actually have some soul and different personalities. They aren't bland and uninteresting like in many bad action movies. Another good thing is that the dialogues between them are actually nice to listen. When you care about the characters it means that someone did his job right. All the time spent building the relationships and personalities pays off big time when it comes to the showdown. A real dramatic tension.

There are no Oscar worthy performances here , but the acting is definitely above average. Lundgren is likable and quite convincing as the troubled mercenary leader. B.D. Wong as the natives leader is really good. There are also some attractive women here – Catherine Bell and Charlotte Lewis. The rest of the cast also doesn't disappoint with one exception – Trevor Goddard . He is overacting so much in the role of the villain that he almost single handedly destroys the movie.

Most of the action is held off until the climax of the movie. There is some nice action before , but it's the last half-hour that really counts. It's true that sometimes the camera work isn't perfect as other viewers pointed out. Still the mayhem is just great with shootouts, explosions, knifings, and fist fights taking place all over the island. It's also interesting that while a direct to video release this movie actually looks and feels like a theatrical release. The production values are surprisingly high and in the end the scenery is quite gorgeous.

This is not „Seven samurai", „The magnificent seven" or even "Dogs of war". It is however a decent action movie with heart. It has message (anti-war and pro–ecological ) , likable characters , some excitement and overall "Men of war" is a nice movie that might apply even to those who don't like action movies. It's a solid action entertainment with some substance . I give it 6/10.

You get a cast full of faces and a dose of decent action that will satisfy hardline genre fans, but 'Men of War' features the same 'ol burnt out ex soldier looking for a righteous moral cause to fight for storyline and a predictable romance to boot. Over the years I've heard good things said about this Dolph title. There's fun here, but also too much downtime in between and emotional moments ring hollow. This was originally gonna get a theatrical release but then didn't. Honestly I can see why.

Nick Gunar (Lundgren) ex-Special Forces turned mercenary is offered a job in Thailand to have natives sign over their land. He recruits some buddies and heads down. Po (BD Wong) an English speaker represents his people, but there's also Loki (Charlotte Lewis) who catches Nick's eye. When they won't deal, Nick is faced with a dilemma and the group of mercs splitter. Those who want to complete the original job and those who'll fight for the locals. Plus Keefer (Trevor Goddard) a sadistic man from Nick's past seeks a payday.

The cast is really this movie's meal ticket beyond explosions, gunfire. Dolph comes off pretty well here and Goddard has a flair for playing heavies. Add in roles for Wong, Kevin Tighe and all the fellow mercs (Don Harvey, Tiny Lister Jr, Tim Guinee, Tom Wright, Catherine Bell). Lewis is relegated to looking good, the quasi gf role like most of her 90's b-movie credits, but does the honor of going topless. Thai ladies provide more skin in a strip bar sequence too.

A poor merc on the bottle battling his conscience within the first 10 minutes left no doubt where this was going. They play up how John Sayles wrote this in trailers, but I have doubts about how much is actually his work. Honestly 'Men at War' doesn't require heavy scrutinising. If you like Dolph, some cheese and winning action set pieces this title will do the job. I never felt emotionally invested and I knew where things were going at all times, but I've seen much worse.

Forget characterization. Forget plot. Go in expecting a bunch of cardboard characters moving from point A to B shooting stuff and you'll be happily entertained, like I was.

It's a very predictable "dude goes around recruiting his team, suffers moral crisis, and chooses to oppose his bosses and defend the little people" kind of story. Hmm, I wonder if he's going to win in the end? It's been done a zillion times, even in a throwaway movie like Star Trek: Insurrection.

But Dolph Lundgren's got a rocket launcher. Charlotte Lewis has a great body. And B.D. Wong was hilarious. Bring snacks. Turn off brain. Enjoy.

A group of stereotypes (including all your favourites: the noble leader, the big angry black man, the one who adopts culture, and the token woman) take a job from two standard businessmen, to take over an island from natives (sharing all the characteristics of Ewoks: friendly, lovable, but fearless) with challenges coming from the British bad guy (why are they always British?). They battle through a series of clichés and a Colonel Trautman-esque character pops up every so often.

So, is it groundbreaking? No not in the slightest. But it's a film where the star is literally called 'Gunar', you're not here for a deep and philosophical story. The action and fight scenes are good, the one-liners are typically terrible (which is why they're so good), and everything you expect in an action B-movie with a Lundgren/JCVD/etc lead is there. Enjoyable, not life-changing.

Men of War is basic action that is cheaply shot somewhere in Asia and leaning on the star Dolph Lundgren. Well, I somewhat liked the movie, even more than I expected. The story starts a bit slow but stays interesting enough, and there is very good action towards the end. I recommend this movie if you are a Dolph fan.