Wanted Man (2024)

 

Wanted Man (2024)- * * *

Directed by: Dolph Lundgren 

Starring: Dolph Lundgen, Michael Pare, Christina Villa, Aaron McPherson, and Kelsey Grammer

There was a drug deal gone wrong. Unfortunately, it didn't go right this time. Or any other time. During said DDGW, some undercover DEA agents got shot and killed by some mysterious masked assailants. It turns out that two hookers, but especially one named Rosa (Villa) witnessed the murders. It falls to a grizzled old salt cop named Travis Johansen (Dolph) to go to Mexico and safely retrieve Rosa, so she can come to the U.S. and testify. It seems he was chosen for this job because Johansen said some politically-incorrect things and the media is roasting him. So, to take the heat off, and to not seem as much like a supposed "racist", Johansen goes south of the border for his task.


However, as you might expect, things go sideways, shootouts and danger ensues, and Johansen and Rosa - who start out like the original odd couple - must learn to work together and get along. Johansen has some other officers or former officers as associates, Brynner (Grammer), Tinelli (Pare), and Hilts (McPherson). He also has to hide out with Rosa's family for a while. But who can he trust? What will Johansen learn? And why is he a WANTED MAN?


The talent and legacy of Dolph seemingly knows no limits, and Wanted Man is his eighth directorial effort, which he co-wrote with Michael Worth of Fists of Iron (1995) fame. Dolph and company were smart in the execution here. As he was about 70 years old at the time of filming, naturally he leans into the older, "dinosaur cop" idea. There's even a line of dialogue where someone tells him, "87% of your colleagues have retired!" But the Johansen character is old school, a workhorse, a real man in an age of memes. That's where a lot of the pleasure of Wanted Man can be found.

There's a scene with three legends sitting around at a strip club - Dolph, Kelsey, and Michael Pare. This should be enough right there to check out this film which is 82 minutes before the end credits. Tinelli, Pare's character, says something like, "Why are you guys always hanging around in strip clubs? They're so 80's", to which Johansen replies, "I like the 80's!" From this, and perhaps certain other things that are said in this scene (heh heh), we felt we were on home turf and the rest of the film glided forward as easily as a child's sled on ice.


There are certain parallels to The Last Marshal and Gran Torino. If you enjoyed those, you could perhaps see this as Dolph's version. Like many films that are made these days, the scale is smaller but the professionalism is there. It may not have a gigantic Hollywood budget, but it doesn't need one. The plot is simple but effective. Not every movie that comes out needs to be a Christopher Nolan-style Rubik's Cube. There are some shooting scenes which satisfies the action quotient, but all in all it's pretty low-key. It's an alternative to the slam-bang John Wick style of action.


There are some of the classic cliches on display that we all know and love. I don't want to give most of them away, but here's some advice: never talk about the future. If you're a character in a movie who is moonbeaming on about the wonderful life you're going to have soon, uh oh. Don't do that unless you plan to wear a bulletproof helmet.


Other Dolph connections: he is usually some type of "man". Wanted Man, Missionary Man (which he also directed), The Best Man, he was in Men of War, and this may be a stretch, but he was also in Aquaman and its sequel. He also continues his tradition of shooting people in the face: It happens here, in Missionary Man, The Russian Specialist, and probably others. So, clearly, Dolph's still got it - he always had "It" - and Wanted Man is merely a humble reminder of that fact.


Wanted Man is recommended for Dolph fans (who isn't one?) and many people have said it's one of his best for a while. It's noticeably better than a lot of the DTV slop that's out there these days. And Kelsey Grammer with a gun, capering around in a series of loud Hawaiian shirts only sweetens the deal.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

Raiders Of The Golden Triangle (1983)

 

Raiders Of The Golden Triangle (1983)- * *

Directed by: Sumat Saichur

Starring: Sorapong Chatree and Manop Aswathep 

"Jerks! I'll kill you both personally!" - Camp Guard

It appears that Cheng Sai Fu (all character names featured in this review are approximate, based on what we think they were saying. There's no way to check this and if we make any errors, please let us know) is an evil opium warlord in the Golden Triangle. A team is assembled by what is most likely a military faction of the Thai government in order to infiltrate and then put an end to the drug-running and villainy. Chat is the "best gunrunner", Pet is "the best secret agent we have", Room is a bomber pilot with a "100% hit record", and then there's Maj. Pachak (Chatree), who is presumably the leader of this group.




Meanwhile, there's a guerilla leader named Bo Kar Wing who is seeking freedom from the tyranny of the drug runners. He has a sister named Rong Fa that he's worried about. Cheng Sai Fu has a lieutenant named Tulip (Aswathep) who is a no-nonsense female fighter. Also there's an overweight guard named Fatass. The baddies want to root out the mole (s), and there's something in there about Burmese troops. Will Maj. Pachak shut down the opium dealers for good?




After Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), raiding things became important. We had Raiders of the Magic Ivory (1988), Raiders of the Sun (1992), and even Raiders of the Living Dead (1986), among many others, I would have to assume. The director of today's film, Sumat Saichur, has only two credits to his name: Raiders of the Golden Triangle, and a follow-up, Raiders of the Doomed Kingdom (1985). I guess he loved raiding things back in the 80's as much as everybody else. Could it be that film producers thought that if they put the word "Raiders" in there somewhere, patrons at small, mom & pop theaters and video stores might get confused and/or excited? We may never know.




As for the movie itself, after a brief "assemble a team" sequence in the beginning, it's largely a POW drama, with some war action thrown in towards the end. There are blow-ups, shootings and exploding huts, but you have to wait for them. It's all in the final section. The drama of it all is somewhat undercut by the typical yelling-screaming-emotionless-loud English dubbing so prevalent of the period. There is definitely some humor to be had by all this, especially with characters like Fatass, but it's all pretty standard stuff.




If you remember the Mercs DVD box set that came out sometime in the mid-2000's, this film would fit into it perfectly. The character of Tulip reminded us of Lt. Molly from Cobra Thunderbolt (1987). Coincidentally enough, both films star Sorapong Chatree. It's a small world.




At times it feels like they're going for some sort of cross between POW The Escape (1986) and a low-budget Apocalypse Now (1979). You have to appreciate their ambition, but the pacing is not what Western viewers are used to. It's probably more appropriate to small audiences in rural Thailand. It seems that they would be the most appreciative audiences for this sort of thing.



ROTGT - or "rotgut", as its fans definitely call it (and what you may need to get through it) (just kidding, it's not that bad. I just couldn't help myself) did get a release in West Germany (as it was at the time of course), Greece, Spain, and Japan. At least there was a VHS release in Japan, as that's what we viewed. And because EVERYTHING came out in Japan at that time. It even screened in May 1983 at the Cannes Film Festival. You'd think that would be enough to snag a U.S. VHS release, but, alas, no.



Two men with non-Asian-sounding names, Norman Carrigan and Gerald Meyers, are the credited writers. They have no other credits. They could be pseudonyms, but

I would like to believe that they wrote Raiders of the Golden Triangle, felt they had achieved perfection, and hung up their typewriters for good. What is their connection to this rare and largely unknown film? It's yet another mystery surrounding ROTGT.



So, if you like the jungle-set, war-based actioners that proliferated at the time, and you're not averse to some exploding huts, you could certainly do worse than Raiders of the Golden Triangle, but it does lean into the dramatics a little more than is usual. That might not be to everyone's taste, but if you can find it and you've seen every other exploding hutter out there, feel free to give it a whirl.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty