Men of War (1994) Starring Dolph Lundgren
MVD Rewind

When researching my contributions for The Good, The Tough, and The Deadly: Action Movies and Stars 1960 – Present (2016 Schiffer Publishing; edited by david j. moore), I realized that not all ’80s action stars were making bad direct-to-video (or cable) movies. Several were making films that rivaled their big-budgeted studio films. One such performer would be Dolph Lundgren.

His theatrical run was much shorter than many of his contemporaries, but that didn’t mean he was making subpar films. Sure, there were some duds in there, but much of his work in the mid to late ’90s and early 2000s is pretty stellar. Films like The Russian Specialist (2005), Bridge of Dragons (1999), and Joshua Tree (1993) are all prime examples of exciting films that may have been lost in the video store shuffle. Another film that falls into the same category is Men of War (1994), which the MVD Rewind Collection has proudly brought to Blu-ray in an exceptional presentation.

Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren) is a former soldier who retired from the business of killing when he’s approached by two men who want to hire him for a job with a massive payday. After consulting with his former boss, Colonel Merrick (Kevin Tighe), he decides to take the job and assemble his old team to travel to an island in the South China Sea.

Gunar meets with the island leader Po (B.D. Wong) to discuss him and the elders signing over the rights to a treasure they have there. What starts as a simple mission where everyone would make out with bundles of cash quickly turns into a fight for survival when another merc and enemy of Gunar, Keefer (Trevor Goddard), learns of their plans and decides to move in on the territory.

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Director Perry Lang directs this intensely tight and exciting action/thriller from a script by John Sayles (Eight Men Out), Ethan Reiff, and Cyrus Voris. It is an ensemble piece with memorable performances by Lundgren, Wong, Anthony Denison, Charlotte Lewis, Tiny ‘Zeus’ Lister, Catherine Bell, Trevor Goddard, and more. There’s even an early performance by William Gibson, who later rose to fame on shows like Dharma and Greg and Criminal Minds.

The story isn’t overly deep but works, and the action sequences are high in intensity. Lundgren’s character is tough, but he isn’t afraid to show a more vulnerable side. It’s everything I love about action cinema from the ’90s and deserves a second life with the release of this disc.

MVD loaded the disc with a high-definition transfer, a new introduction by director Lang, an archival featurette, raw footage, and dailies from select scenes, a photo gallery, trailers, a folded mini poster, and a limited retro slipcase.

These releases from MVD are so much fun, and they’ve curated a wonderful collection thus far. Men of War is a welcome addition that hopefully leads to some of Lundgren’s other work from that era making its way to Collector’s Edition Blu-ray.

Men of War (1994) Starring Dolph Lundgren

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