11/07/2011

Direct Contact (2009)

Direct Contact (2009)-* * *

Directed by: Danny Lerner

Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Gina May, Bashar Rahal, and Michael Paré













Mike Riggins (Dolph) is rotting away in a Balkans prison for supposedly smuggling weapons. Thankfully he can defend himself against his jailhouse assailants. When Clive Connelly (Pare), a government bigshot, comes to Mike and offers him a total of 200,000 dollars if he can find the kidnapped Ana Gale (May) and bring her back home, Mike agrees. But as it turns out, all is not as it seems, and thanks to some twists and turns, we see there is a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. Will Mike and Ana make it to safety?

In one of the better Nu-Image movies we’ve seen of late, Direct Contact delivers the Dolph you want. Sure, as we’ve discussed before, he elevates all movies he’s in. His presence means a lot, but here it’s just enjoyable to watch him beat, shoot, pistol-whip and blow up everybody in sight. Even the squibs are entertaining, as baddies die unnecessarily bloody deaths, sometimes to humorous effect.

However, it’s not all good news, as some lame green screen and CGI effects hurt the movie. These things are just annoyances, nothing more, and it’s puzzling why some filmmakers believe they are important to the movie. There’s even some ridiculous sped-up chase footage where it seems like the “Yakety Sax” should be playing on the soundtrack. Somehow, the doofuses at Nu-Image don’t seem to realize this is DOLPH LUNDGREN, not Benny Hill. But we suppose it’s forgivable, because Direct Contact is an entertaining, if not that original, production where Dolph meets another titan of the genre: Michael Pare.


 Pare puts in a good performance and it’s cool to see this “clash of the titans” as he faces off with Dolph. He doesn’t seem to phone in his role, and that’s certainly a good thing. Also it should be noted that there is a baddie in the movie named Drago (Rahal). He’s such an ethnic stereotype, he gives Balki of Perfect Strangers fame a bad name. Perhaps they couldn’t get Bronson Pinchot. That aside, in a “meta” move, it’s Drago vs. Drago! Was this done on purpose, or are there no more generic Eastern-European names left to use? (To answer our own question, judging by the end credits of most DTV productions nowadays, which read like the Bulgarian phone book, no.)

Also, even though it has been mentioned before, we can’t not bring up the scene where a character actually says, “What if he goes AOL?” How this passed the director, the actor himself, the editing process, and any step in between without any notice and ended up in the final film is anybody’s guess. But to answer the man’s question, he’ll get mail, news, messenger, and plenty of extras for only $9.99 a month. Someone find Mike Riggins!

So aside from the aforementioned technical hiccups, Direct Contact (not to be confused with Direct Action, 2004), provides a solid night of Dolph fun.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great review of a great latter-day Dolph flick. The final Dolph/Pare face-off is sweet and Pare's comeuppance is legendary. (Well, at least in my household; I showed a bunch of friends the end and they all laughed their ass off at how over the top it was.)

Ty said...

Thanks! Haha, we also love Pare's comeuppance. It was very silly and funny at the same time!

Anonymous said...

do they say aol as a word or do they say it like a acrynom a.o.l.?

Ty said...

The guy says it in an acronym form and not as a joke! Haha.

robotGEEK said...

Hey this sounds like fun! Great review, I'll have to track this one down!

Explosive Action said...

Direct Contact was a great big roller-coaster of poor acting and downright fun. Dolph was the only one that could act! Didn't pick up the AOL line, that's hilarious. I loved the cliched "one last job for your freedom" opening with the fight in the prison. Great stuff.

venom said...

LOL, I never noticed the A.O.L. thing!

Our Blog said...

You know, I kinda thought that Dolph had dropped off the face of the planet. Gonna have to check some of these out.

Ty said...

RobotGEEK: Thanks! Hope you get to see it. It is silly and stupid fun.

Explosive Action: Loved that also. That is one of the best clichés!

Venom: It was really funny when that guy said that! We laughed out loud.

Hoaks2: Dolph has made quite a name for himself in the DTV world. Would definitely be interested in your take on it or any of his other works!

Jack Thursby said...

Yeah, I've missed some the recent Lundgren flicks but will give this a watch based on your review. That AOL line is genius. I can't believe it slipped through though it's not the first time. In Raging Sharks (also directed by Lerner) there's a bit where it cuts from a close up of Vanessa Angel saying a line to a long shot. Where she repeats the EXACT SAME LINE. It's like no one double checks these films before they are released!

Ty said...

Haha! That is great. I guess Danny Lerner doesn't know how to edit.

Direct to Video Connoisseur said...

I loved this one, and one major Dolph note to make about it: unlike most of his other DTV flicks where he's shot in the left arm, here he's shot in the right. (As you're making your way through the Dolph catalog I'm sure you've noticed all the times he's shot in the left arm.)

Ty said...

This was a blast! It was so silly with the AOL comment and it had some fun Dolph moments.

Cam Sully said...

I'm never surprised when these Nu Image flicks have some hackneyed dialogue lol.

If only Dolph had used that Desert Eagle pistol on the DVD cover in the actual flick.

Ty said...

Totally agree about the pistol. Dolph can usually do no wrong.