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.
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
