Red Scorpion Blu-ray Review

• 7th Feb 2012

According to an interview included on the extras of this new release Dolph Lundgren accepted the part of Lt. Nikolai Rachenko in Red Scorpion based on a poster he was shown. Personally I would like to see those days return so we can have more insane action films like Red Scorpion. Rachenko is a KGB killing machine who even the Soviets struggle to control. He’s sent to Africa to infiltrate a group of rebels and then kill its leader Ango Sundata. Naturally, things don’t go as planned as Nikolai comes to understand the nightmare of Soviet foreign policy.

Director, Jospeh Zito, made his name helming two hugely successful Chuck Norris action flicks in the mid 80s. Both films were heavily pro American and cashed in on the Rambo franchise by having Chuck as a Vietnam POW in Missing in Action. They both teamed up again for Invasion USA a year later when the Russians finally arrived on mainland USA to find Chuck waiting for them, armed to the teeth. No doubt Zito is an action director and he has very little interest in anything else. Red Scorpion is no different as he blows something up every 15 minutes. This time though, he took a look behind the Iron Curtain and had an elite Russian soldier question his own country.

First off, you have to understand that this is a cult action classic, meaning it doesn’t have the production values or level of performance you might find in a big studio production. The acting credit must all go to M Emmet Walsh as crazy journalist, Dewey Ferguson, who simply gets up into Dolph’s face constantly calling him an asshole. Dolph himself is a little wooden but this was only his third film after Rocky 4 and the amazingly bad He-Man. Dolph’s lack of acting talent is irrelevant though as you become bedazzled by his astounding shorts. Having been saved in the desert by a nomadic shamen (as you do), two things change to signify Nikolai’s change from bad to good. He gets a scorpion tattoo on his chest from the locals to signify he’s a hunter and ditches his trousers for short shorts.

Red Scorpion will have you laughing at times, but in the right way if you appreciate all things cult. Zito lives up to his reputation and systematically blows up everything in sight. The level of destruction rivals and exceeds Commando as the rebels storm the Russian compound and kill everyone. The location work is excellent and the stunts completed by Dolph and his co-stars are clearly dangerous and something you won’t see today.

The Blu-ray release is gorgeous as the print is crystal clear but not annoyingly artificial. The extras are solid as usual from Arrow with the big prize being Joseph Zito’s commentary. Naturally, he focuses on the action and the challenge of shooting in Namibia’s relentless heat. Along with that you get interviews with Dolph talking about the production and composer Jay Chattaway discussing his superb score for the film. Given how obscure the film has been for a couple of decades you can’t moan about the due care and attention given by Arrow to this release.

Dolph Lundgren has made is clear that The Expendables has given his profile and career a rebirth since its release. Given how much I hated it, it’s good to know that at least one good thing came out of that action turd. Beyond that, this is another choice release for 80s fanatics which now includes cult hero, Jason Eisner. A decade that seemed somewhat artistically challenged when it ended has, by today’s standards, become oddly cool.

Red Scorpion is a cold war cult classic but I have a sneaky feeling anybody coming to this film today may see it more as a camp extravaganza. None of the Arnie or Sly films from the 80s have aged well in terms of authenticity. But so what, it really doesn’t matter if you appreciate the glory of this kind of nonsense. Films like this, Commando, Cobra, Invasion USA, Delta Force and countless other 80s classics simply don’t exist today. Long may Arrow and other labels chose to preserve and highlight the wonder of these now legendary cult epics.

Aled Jones