ruben guthrie is a 2015 australian romantic drama film starring patrick brammall as the title character , with alex dimitriades and abbey lee kershaw in supporting roles .

the film was written and directed by brendan cowell , based on his play of the same name .

ruben guthrie

ruben guthrie first look review – a year of living soberly . . . in sydney
ruben guthrie ( patrick brammall ) has a raging thirst for alcohol - fuelled wild times .
ruben guthrie will premiere at the state theatre at 7 . 30 pm on wednesday 3 june 2015 .
perhaps ruben guthrie makes more sense if you watch it while drunk . being sober , i loathed it .
there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about ruben guthrie !
ruben guthrie first look review – a year of living soberly . . . in sydney | film | the guardian
deeply unpleasant characters
: robyn nevin , alex dimitriades , jack thompson and patrick brammall in ruben guthrie .
the morning after : performing arts in australia : review : ruben guthrie by brendan cowell . red stitch actors theatre .
‘the nsw government is proud to have supported the production of ruben guthrie through our tourism and major events agency destination nsw and screen nsw .
abbey lee ( left ) and robyn nevin ( right ) as girlfriend and mother of ruben guthrie ( paddy brammall ) . photograph : mark rogers
ruben guthrie is the story of one man not only battling the bottle , but the city that won ' t let him put it down .
ruben guthrie producer kath shelper said , ‘sydney is such a stunning place to live , work and play . we were incredibly lucky to have the support of both destination nsw and screen nsw to get ruben guthrie off the stage and out into sydney’s streets to share with the world . ’
brendan cowell’s script —based on a somehow - acclaimed stage - play— imagines its titular cad as an anti - hero , but it gives us nothing by which he earns that status . he’s a charismatic drunk working in advertising , so perhaps the model was don draper . but cowell never shows his main character at work ; instead , he lazily has other characters tell us ruben guthrie’s a genius , ruben guthrie’s the greatest creative this firm has ever had , ruben guthrie’s won world advertising awards four years running . in fact , ruben guthrie says the latter out loud , himself , several times over . because , y’know , complete cockhole .
with a steady supply of sharp gags , ruben guthrie could easily have been a comic redemption tale - awful man loses woman , finds himself then wins her back .
as a writer and actor , cowell is obviously talented if erratic ; as a filmmaker he has a long way to go . ruben guthrie the movie has , essentially , two gears : lengthy montages modelled after ruben ' s ads , and even lengthier dialogue scenes presumably carried over from the play , often involving supporting characters tempting ruben to fall off the wagon .
‘ ruben guthrie is a bold story with sydney at its core and it’s fitting that this major australian film will have its world premiere and open this year’s sydney film festival , ’ mr ayres said .
virginia is introduced gazing winsomely at ruben across the floor of a support meeting . a hair’s breadth later , we’re treated to a shot — from behind — of her crotch as she propels herself through water . soon she’s moved in and morphed into an unhinged harridan who’s spending all ruben’s hard - earned money on organic produce . needless to say , ruben guthrie is not a film that aces the bechdel test . even ruben’s mother ( robyn nevin ) is there to enable him — mom goes from supporting ruben’s teetotalism to actively breaking his sobriety by holding his mouth open and pouring a glass of white down his gullet .
ruben guthrie is brendan cowell’s brutally honest comedy about work , family and excess . this is a special play which taps a deep vein of australian life and asks , is it unaustralian to refuse a drink ?
unless it was set on the harbour bridge , featured a suburban property developer fronting icac or starred the rabbitohs backline , there could hardly be a more sydney film than ruben guthrie to open the sydney film festival .
ruben’s point of view — simultaneously objectifying and self - pitying — is clearly meant to be the point , but tonally ruben guthrie is perched awkwardly between damning expose and redemption story . it ends on a more optimistic note than the play , with ruben off the grog but staring lustfully at a glass of champagne , torn between an instant salve and the unlikely love of a good woman . self - annihilation beckons — or so one can only hope .
guthrie finished with the game with 12 carries for 82 yards , but he had just three carries for 15 yards when the fourth quarter began . that ' s when guthrie started grinding the clock - and aubrey ' s defense .
life is good for ad man ruben guthrie - he leads a party boy lifestyle , has a model fiancée and lives in a house on the water . he ' s at the top of his game , until some drunken skylarking lands ruben at the bottom of his infinity pool , lucky to be alive . his mum hits the panic button , and then his fiancée leaves him , but not before issuing him one final challenge : if ruben can do one year without a drink , she ' ll give him another chance . . . ruben guthrie is the story of one man not only battling the bottle , but the city that won ' t let him put it down .
if you think ruben guthrie is a terrible name for a film , well , you wait until you see the actual film . in it , the name is intoned , again and again , and always in full ; as if the man who bears it borders on myth . hell , even ruben guthrie ( patrick brammall ) speaks about himself in the third person . if that makes him sound like a complete cockhole , well , so does every other thing that comes out of his mouth .
pilot point - one of mason guthrie ' s main jobs on friday nights is to punish opposing defenses with his running game .
‘featuring a stellar australian cast including patrick brammall in the title role and abbey lee , jack thompson and alex dimitriades , ruben guthrie was filmed exclusively in sydney and will showcase this wonderful city including the spectacular vivid sydney festival , to audiences across the world .
ruben ' s much younger czech model girlfriend zoya ( abbey lee ) is the only one who emerges with any dignity intact .
cowell attempts to create empathy for his titular character by comparative cockholeishness : surrounding ruben guthrie ( that name again : ruben guthrie ! ) with even - more - awful people , one - note caricatures saying even - more - offensive things . there’s jeremy sims as repellent boss , brenton thwaites as millennial cliché incarnate , jack thompson as boozehound dad , robyn nevin as neurotic mum , alex dimitriades as screaming queer ; all staggering around with drinks in their hands , all enablers daring to distract our hero from his noble quest .
ruben guthrie is the story of a highly successful creative director of a sydney advertising agency and his spectacular fall from grace . originally presented by belvoir street theatre in 2009 , the film marks the directorial debut of award - winning playwright , screenwriter and actor brendan cowell .
ruben’s a hotshot creative living in a waterfront mansion with his czech model girlfriend zoya , played by abbey lee , last seen as one of immortan joe’s unfortunate brides in mad max : fury road . as zoya informs us later , she was 16 when ruben “found her” and she moved in , a fact that’s relayed blithely . the film opens during an orgiastic bash at ruben’s pad worthy of jordan belfort , and culminates in ruben jumping off the roof into his pool , where he sinks to the bottom as assorted trendies look on coolly .
minister for trade , tourism and major events stuart ayres has welcomed the announcement that the world premiere of ruben guthrie , the screen adaptation of brendan cowell’s acclaimed stage play , filmed exclusively in sydney with support from the nsw government , will open the 62nd sydney film festival .
‘ vivid sydney , the world’s largest festival of light , music and ideas , provided the backdrop for one of the film’s scenes and i’m sure opening night audiences at the state theatre will be enthralled by the festival , with ruben guthrie premiering during this year’s vivid sydney .
lee is an australian supermodel - turned - actress who makes her film debut this year in ruben guthrie , brendan cowell’s adaptation of his own play . she’ll also be seen this summer in george miller’s mad max : fury road and next spring in alex proyas’ gods of egypt .
or at least that must have been the idea . ruben guthrie’s transition from stage to screen has tempered him , and some of the play’s more extreme lines — about ruben’s orgies with fifteen - year old soap stars in hotels , among other things — have been excised . but by humanizing ruben ( relatively speaking ) the film also asks us to sympathize with him , which hardly seemed the point of the more darkly satirical play — not to mention all but impossible , despite the best efforts of patrick brammall , who is convincingly frayed in the title role .
ruben guthrie is on fire . he’s 29 , he’s the creative director of a cutting - edge advertising agency , he’s engaged to a czech supermodel and sydney is his oyster . he pours himself a drink to celebrate , a drink to work , a drink to sleep and one spectacular night he drinks so much he thinks he can fly . ruben guthrie is brendan cowell’s brutally honest comedy about spiralling high , crashing hard and being taken to aa by your mum .
by general agreement , the leading light among stage writers of his generation .
- the sun herald
ruben guthrie is on fire . he’s the creative director of a cutting - edge advertising agency , he’s engaged to a czech supermodel and sydney is his oyster . he pours himself a drink to celebrate , a drink to work , a drink to sleep and one spectacular night he drinks so much he thinks he can fly . a brutally honest comedy about work , family and excess , ruben guthrie taps a deep vein and asks – is it unaustralian to refuse a drink ? a funny and moving act of revelation about spiralling high , crashing hard and being taken to aa by your mum .
nor does cowell seem in full control of the many scenes in which ruben ' s associates treat him with admiration bordering on awe . the suggestion that ruben is a whiz at his job is never borne out by what we see of his ad campaigns ; on the available evidence , his success stems partly from his good looks and swagger , partly from the advantages that naturally fall to a straight white boy who comes from money . but none of this stops the other characters from repeating the name
ruben guthrie
over and over , as if it were the key to a magic spell .
there’s plenty of bacchanalian behavior , but ruben’s mostly a spectator to it . it’s a neat jumping - off point for an exploration of liquor as an enabler of intimacy between heterosexual men , and of the kind of leering entitlement of which the new entourage movie is the ne plus ultra . ruben guthrie at least gestures toward a more gimlet - eyed take on the debauched behavior of its protagonists . but the titular character is such a solipsistic misogynist that a couple of hours spent in his company is about as easy to stomach as the gallons of liquor ruben’s pals push toward him pretty much relentlessly .
ruben guthrie is not as simple as that , reluctant to suggest a sip of the sweet stuff is necessarily a ticket to doom and gloom . an initially archetypal trajectory ( boy loses girl ; boy goes on mission to get her back ) becomes something curlier and less conventional , with lashings of abrasive dialogue that recall its stage origins ( “you’re going to die in the fucking snow chewing on your own hips ! ” , guthrie shrieks when zoya leaves him ) .
the film has fun with the idea that ruben ' s work on ad campaigns for lexus , royal randwick and vivid gets them splashy mentions on screen .
ruben guthrie , the booze - guzzling protagonist of writer - director brendan cowell’s impressive sydney - set feature debut – the opening film of the 2015 sydney film festival – gets off comparatively lightly . the award - winning ad man’s wakeup call is a broken arm inflicted by jumping off the roof of his waterfront mansion .
brendan cowell ' s play ruben guthrie , about a hotshot sydney adman trying to go sober , was praised by intelligent reviewers when it opened a few years ago . watching this adaptation directed by cowell himself , it ' s easy to see why : the dialogue has an energy and bite rare in australian cinema .
agency boss ( jeremy sims ) , who flatters him with names like bradman , black caviar and kubrick , also figures ruben needs to drink to be creative .
when ruben goes to visit his dad peter , peter is informed by the server harry . harry is played by jack thompson ' s real life son billy .
quarterback j . p . price threw a strike to guthrie in the middle of the end zone to give the bearcats a 14 - 7 lead going into the break .
ruben guthrie is on fire . he’s 29 , he’s the creative director of a cutting - edge advertising agency , he’s engaged to a czech supermodel and sydney is his oyster . he pours himself a drink to celebrate , a drink to work , a drink to sleep and one spectacular night he drinks so much he thinks he can fly .
ruben guthrie is the tantalising new comedy from internationally celebrated playwright and actor brendan cowell presented by ironbark . he lines up the shots for us in a heady cocktail of fizzy humour and touching revelation . it ' s a sparkling play about spiralling high , crashing hard and going to aa with your mum . . . . read more > >
the latest incident in guthrie’s long history of irresponsible acts proves too much for his much younger fiancee , zoya ( abbey lee , impressive ) . a glamorous czech model who’s been with guthrie since she was a starstruck teenager , zoya announces she’s leaving him and will be returning home to live with her mother in prague after a photo shoot in brazil . most viewers will think zoya’s making the right move , but at the same time will probably agree with her that beneath all that selfish recklessness there’s still a glimmer of something lovable about ruben guthrie . the result is an ultimatum whereby she’ll return in a year and offer him a second chance , provided he hasn’t touched a drop of abooze .
guthrie ' s 10 - yard touchdown reception from j . p . price with 25 seconds left in the first half gave the bearcats a 14 - 7 lead going into halftime .
this is where cowell’s screenplay , a polished piece of work adapted from a play he wrote and premiered at belvoir st theatre in 2008 , finds its most interesting groove . in ruben guthrie , it’s clear why the protagonist has stopped drinking ; less clear is why the key players around him – mum , dad , best friend , boss – would prefer he not remain sober .
an entertaining coming - of - age dramedy about a man - boy pushing 40 , “ruben guthrie” centers on a boozy sydney advertising hotshot who swears to stay off the sauce for a year to win back his fed - up fiancee . adapting his highly successful stage play , writer - helmer brendan cowell neatly balances comic elements with sharp observations of how friendships between aussie males [ … ]
the bearcats ( 3 - 5 , 1 - 2 ) still had work to do after guthrie ' s long run , which officially went for 41 yards , but the penalty was almost crucial .
reacting to the pressure of friends and family gives guthrie a more domestic - feeling authenticity than someone like don birnam in the lost weekend , who freaked out at imaginary creepy crawlies running down the walls .
it helps that cowell has learned the playwright ' s trick of balancing perspectives and letting unsympathetic characters mount plausible arguments . virginia ( harriet dyer ) , the reformed addict who moves in with ruben , proves to be a piece of work , but there are moments when she speaks the truth , and the same can be said for damian ( alex dimitriades ) , ruben ' s bitchily camp best mate .
cowell wastes no time showing the hedonistic excesses of ruben guthrie ( patrick brammall ) . the opening scene has him screaming “let’s get smashed ! ” to a horde of hot - bodied party animals at his funky house in one of sydney’s ultra - expensive seaside suburbs . from there he clambers on the roof and , just for the hell of it , plunges into his pool , avoiding death by a matter of inches .
guthrie ( played by patrick brammall ) has the self - awareness to realise that liquor has got him licked , so signs up for aa , goes cold turkey and periodically calls his tetchy love interest in the hope she will start talking to him again . birnam’s lost weekend is a year of sobriety for guthrie , whose urge for drink takes a back seat in storytelling relevance to the urge of others to encourage him to return to the bottle .
brammall seems to be channelling cowell at times but makes ruben a brazen , larger - than - life , funny character . but one who is so self - absorbed that it is difficult to feel much empathy during emotional moments .
so after the penalty gave pilot point the ball at the aubrey 20 - yard line with 52 seconds left , junior kicker ruben martinez played the role he ' s played a few times in the playoffs - hero , at least temporarily .
those were both really huge ,
guthrie said .
they had taken the momentum from us both times . it was big . the whole team needed those . that first pick [ in the end zone ] was really huge .
ruben guthrie is on top of the world . he ' s the creative director of a cutting - edge advertising agency , he ' s engaged to a czech supermodel and the city of sydney is his oyster . he pours himself a drink to celebrate , a drink to work , a drink to sleep and one spectacular night he drinks so much he thinks he can fly . after his night of debauchery his fiancée leaves him , vowing only to return if he can go a year without drinking .
in the wash - up , zoya tells him she’s going back to prague . ruben’s reaction is typically charming : “you’re going to die in the fucking snow chewing on your own hips ! ” but ruben’s as fragile as his ego is large , and when zoya – mystifyingly – tells him to come find her after a year off the drink , he’s desperate to acquiesce . and so begins a year of sobriety , in which the australian drinking culture comes in for its most unforgiving close - up since
from his middle linebacker position , guthrie picked off two james wurster passes , one in the pilot point end zone with aubrey driving to tie the game and another with under four minutes to play . both interceptions came after pilot point penalties extended aubrey drives .
while the backdrops are spectacular - ruben has an aa meeting at tamarama surf club , his boozy father ( jack thompson ) runs a hatted waterside restaurant and he goes kayaking on middle harbour - there are signs of the film ' s theatre origins in the number of talky scenes .
alex dimitriades struts on to the scene as guthrie’s gay and decadently behaved best pal ; it’s another beautifully timed comedic performance from the actor , playing the polar opposite of the bogan javelin - throwing lug he mined for an equal amount of laughs in 2014’s screwy time travel romp the infinite man .
price finished the night with 71 rushing yards , including a 22 - yard touchdown run in the first quarter to get the bearcats on the scoreboard first . he also threw for 130 yards on an efficient 14 - of - 22 passing with no interceptions and the one touchdown toss to guthrie .
as cowell’s directorial debut , ruben guthrie doesn’t show much filmmaking promise , either . its tone is wildly uneven , its pace scattershot . there’s bad dream sequences , over - determined musical cues , and so many montages . at its nadir , when our anti - hero falls back off the wagon , cowell moves from montage to montage : first happily depicting a wild booze - up with blasts of brassy horns , then switching , the second go - round , to slow - motion shots set to a piano - ballad ; just to let you know that alcohol is bad and stuff .
belvoir associate artist wayne blair directed toby schmitz as ruben in the downstairs theatre in 2008 . the show sold out before it even opened . the following year brendan , toby and wayne – three of australia’s finest young theatre artists – joined forces once again to create a shining new production for belvoir in the upstairs theatre .
arrogant , self - absorbed and superior , ruben goes to his first aa meeting and starts the 12 steps to getting his life back on track , which gets more complicated when his over - the - top gay best friend ( alex dimitriades ) lands on his doorstep ready to party after failing to make it in new york .
receiving : a - collin scribner 3 - 36 , james reeves 1 - 2 , skyler craig 1 - 5 , kristian wiseman 2 - 14 , albert silva 1 - 16 . pp - austin balderas 7 - 73 , mason guthrie 1 - 10 , willie davis 1 - 5 , jacob lock 2 - 14 , ricky campbell 1 - 6 , conner camacho 2 - 22 .
the film ' s main weakness is the complacency underlying its satire , a quality that may have been less visible on stage . given the literalism of film , it ' s hard for cowell to avoid celebrating his hero ' s expensive lifestyle : ruben ' s waterfront mansion with its exposed concrete surfaces may symbolise his empty existence , but it ' s also a plainly desirable piece of real estate .
rushing : a - albert silva 18 - 89 , skyler craig 3 - 7 , dexter loza 1 - 2 , charlie radford 8 - 65 , kristian wiseman 2 - 4 , james wurster 4 - 16 , skyler starling 1 - 1 . pp - j . p . price 15 - 71 , mason guthrie 12 - 82 , austin trinklein 1 - ( - 2 ) , corbin sitzes 1 - 9 .
ruben bolling , pen name of ken fisher , is the author of the weekly comic strip “tom the dancing bug , ” distributed by andrews mcmeel syndication to many newspapers across north america it also appears on : boingboing . net , one of the most linked - to websites in the world ; dailykos . com , the u . s . ’s largest progressive blog ; and gocomics . com , the largest comic strip website .
film is a different ballgame , so telling a story about a struggling alcoholic who decides to keep enormous amounts of grog in his designer home at arms length – but periodically smashes glasses and bottles , as if rebelling against their very existence – borders on narrative implausibility . but theatre rules apply : we see the face of guthrie’s girlfriend and are reminded of her importance in the story ; we see the bar and understand the ongoing temptation .
ruben bolling was the finalist for the 2016 herblock award . he was the 2014 winner of the society of illustrators best cartoon award in its art annual . in 2011 , bolling won the sigma delta chi award from the society of professional journalists , for editorial cartooning . “tom the dancing bug” has been twice - nominated for the harvey award for best comic strip or panel , and has won the association of alternative newsweeklies award for best cartoon five times .
the presence in guthrie’s home of a wall - sized picture of his fiancée and a bar stuffed to the hilt with a disneyland - for - alcoholics array of bottles feel like leftovers from the stage production . in theatre , minimal sets take on longer - lasting , tone - setting significance . if a stage is lined with bottles , for example , and the play is about a person quitting alcohol , a director can trade off the friction between the physical backdrop and the dramatic objective .
definition of what this means .
photos ( c ) bruce guthrie
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cowell tends to frame these exchanges in oppressive close - up , so that performances which might have seemed overscaled under any circumstances register as gross caricature . perhaps this is intentional , since the script paints almost all the characters as deeply unpleasant , including ruben himself as well as his parents ( robyn nevin and jack thompson ) ; his much younger girlfriend zoya ( abbey lee ) , a czech model who soon walks out on him , is the only one who emerges with any dignity intact .
sara duke ' s family , warren bernard , john kelly , mike rhode and his wife , martha kennedy and her husband , michael cavna , warren bernard , eric shansby , dan perkins ( tom tomorrow ) clarence and lisa page , tom toles , john lewis , eleanor clift , joe sutliff and ruben bolling , vincent schilling , marty two bulls sr . , matt wuerker , mike jenkins , jeffrey ballou ( president of the national press club ) , john kelly , and dana maier .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
cowell makes his feature film début as writer / director / producer , bringing it to the screen with patrick brammall in terrific , tormented form as our titular ' hero ' .
it might be a case of something essential getting lost in the translation , but first - time director brendan cowell ' s adaptation of his play about an alcoholic advertising man on the road to redemption is a well - intentioned mess .
as a writer and actor , cowell is obviously talented if erratic ; as a filmmaker he has a long way to go .
it ' s an entertaining trip , but one that ' s also thought provoking and appropriately sobering .
sails breezily along with terrific dialogue , great performances and an extremely relatable story . it ' s excellent contemporary entertainment , the kind of character and situation - based comedy the french do so well but australian cinema , not so much .
, one of cinema’s earliest serious depictions of alcoholism , ray milland plays don birnam , an off - the - wagon writer embarking on an epic five - day bender . he sheds all kinds of moral scruples and ends up like a character in an edgar allen poe story – in hospital screaming in terror at hallucinations caused by delirium tremens .
or rather , it’s a wake - up call for his czech model fiancée zoya ( abbey lee – currently on screens as one of immortan joe’s brides in mad max : fury road ) who decides that enough is enough . she tells him to sober up for a year , then check back in .
there’s a cynicism here that can only come from a thoughtful place , because none of these characters are presented as evil temptors nor products of a society incapable of thinking thoughtfully or critically of others .
director robert zemeckis’ 2012 drama flight , featuring denzel washington as one of the most convincing alcoholics to have ever stumbled on to the screen , has a terrific scene in a hotel room with a bar fridge that takes the protagonist’s temptation and cranks the dial to 11 . there’s to be a big legal hearing the next day and the tension is almost unbearable : if he reaches for the bottle it’s all over red rover .
cowell observes the prevalence of alcohol in australian society but doesn’t seem to be saying it is bad per se , or even that responsibility is the key ; the message is more about how , at different points in different lives , moderation may not be a realistic option .
patrick brammall begins the film shaking champagne bottles , popping corks and lapping up liver and sinus damage , but the slick ad man aura evens out into a more broadly accessible character , less jordan belfort , more bloke next door ( albeit in a bigger and fancier house , and prone to nasty outbursts ) . it is a fine performance that finds an endearing middle ground between impressionable chump and spoiled brat .
here , zoya mocks australia for being a land of alcoholics . perhaps this is so , but for a country littered with beer bellies and winos , conspicuously few of our feature films have revolved around thoughtfully written multifaceted principal characters who are alcoholics – usually the heavy drinkers are relegated to the ranting goofballs or sad schleps on the side .
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one of the purest expressions of sydney hedonism yet brought to the screen , this is a bumpy but watchable movie , with patrick brammall from offspring bringing the right kind of superficial charm to the lead – though it ' s a mystery why cowell didn ' t just cast himself , since brammall has virtually the same blokey good looks , she ' ll - be - right drawl and little - boy pout .
this unpleasantness is not in itself a flaw . on the contrary , cowell ' s willingness to acknowledge the nastier side of human nature gives the film a substance missing from an outwardly similar recent australian comedy , the asinine any questions for ben ?
jake wilson was born in london and grew up in melbourne . he got his start reviewing movies for various websites and has been writing for the age since 2006 .
actor brendan cowell makes his debut as writer - director with a black comedy about going teetotal starring patrick brammall , alex dimitriades and abbey lee .
the dark side of aussie drinking culture is examined in helmer brendan cowell ' s entertaining adaptation of his hit play .
patrick brammall , alex dimitriades , abbey lee , harriet dyer , jeremy sims , aaron bertram , brenton thwaites , robyn nevin , jack thompson .
sydney’s stunning natural beauty , chintzy glamour and illicit substance - fueled urban underbelly are memorably captured by d . p . simon harding . visuals are at once a tourist advertisement and a cautionary commentary on the most brash , exciting and superficial australian city . production design by robert cousins gets the vibe of hipster lifestyles and cringingly “groovy” creative industry work spaces just right . all other technical contributions are on the money .
reviewed at sydney film festival ( opener ) , june 3 , 2015 . running time : 94 min .
production : ( australia ) a madman entertainment release of a scarlett pictures production in association with screen nsw . ( international sales : arclight films , sydney . ) produced by kath shelper . executive producers , jonathan duncan , paul wiegard , nick batzias , david gross , brendan cowell , andrea denholm , laura waters .
crew : directed , written by brendan cowell , based on the stage play by cowell . camera ( color , hd ) , simon harding ; editor , peter crombie ; music , sarah blasko ; music supervisor , kim green ; production designer , robert cousins ; art director , tim webb ; costume designer , xanthe heubel ; sound ( dolby digital ) , robert sullivan ; visual effects , soren dyne ; stunt coordinator , dean gould ; line producer , belinda mravicic ; assistant director , scott lovelock ; casting , kirsty mcgregor .
with : patrick brammall , alex dimitriades , abbey lee , harriet dyer , jeremy sims , aaron bertram , brenton thwaites , robyn nevin , jack thompson .
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our complete cockhole is set on a journey towards self - discovery , when he hits a drunken - low and his cut - out - caricature czech - supermodel fiancée ( played with a terrible accent by abbey lee ) walks out on him . if he can stay sober for a year , she’ll see about coming back . it’s at this point , you realise that cowell expects you to care whether this complete cockhole —a born - into - privilege , ultra - wealthy , ultra - white , private - school - educated , egotistical , entitled , judgmental , self - centred , macho male— can get his life together , and get the girl .
making films about rich cockholes is one thing entirely ; but nothing here scans as social commentary , satire , or incisive writing . just because the film’s named after him , the audience is expected to care whether a man who gets whatever he wants gets whatever he wants . at times , this seems accidentally audacious , but , mostly , it plays as utterly clueless .
with a soundtrack blasting hot indie jams ( vampire weekend ! son lux ! war on drugs ! twin shadow ! haim ! holy fuck is that robin pecknold singing joanna newsom ? ! ) and all your favourite teen - movie clichés in tow ( house parties ! prom ! road - trips ! a literature teacher reading from a classic novel whose themes reflect the story ! that classic scene overlooking the shitty town you’re desperate to leave behind ! ) , paper towns is the latest film to be adapted from john green’s burgeoning ya empire .
it gives us nat wolff as the uptight geek who stays on the straight - and - narrow out of adolescent fear , dutifully working towards that imagined future —30 , a doctor , wife - and - two - kids— that will bring him the happiness high - school doesn’t . what does such an uptight white male need to shake him out of the doldrums ? why , it’s cara delevingne’s manic pixie dream girl , set to blow through his world in a best - night - of - his - life storm of impulsive whimsy and wa - hey ! craziness , only to vanish the next day .
from that very - generic set - up , the story —written for screen by scott neustadter and michael h . weber , who also adapted the fault in our stars , not to mention tim tharp’s the spectacular now — moves from an unconvincing mystery into a far - more - interesting portrait of runamok fantasy and romantic projection . at times , there’s even echoes of the virgin suicides in the way the unknowable , vanished girl is made myth by the absence of facts and the presence of male hormones , her blank canvas leading to gathering obsession .
ultimately , wolff learns his lesson ( “what a treacherous thing to believe a person is more than a person , ” he intones , with attendant teenage dramatics ) , and comes - of - age ; he and his nerdlinger pals ( austin abrams , justice smith ) losing their innocence , sobriety , and virginity , as they prepare to grow up and go their separate ways . it’s run - of - the - mill teen - movie stuff puffed up with a genuine sense of romance and wonder , though lacking any of the subversive qualities that mark the true classics of the genre .
has a fine idea for a film : the sleuth in winter , where the greatest ( fictional ) detective that ever was , sherlock holmes , finds himself in his 90s , battling with senility ; his once magnificent mind now marked by lapses in memory . holmes is played , with gravity , tragedy , and gentle humour by ian mckellan . the actor is reunited with director bill condon ( returning to historical character drama after his still - strange stint with the twilight saga finales ) , with whom he made gods & monsters , another portrait of a great man railing against the indignity of his dying days .
french director david oelhoffen mounts far from men , effectively , as a war - time western . shooting in morocco , his camera situates mortensen and kateb as tiny figures in a vast landscape of red dirt and looming mountains . though buffeted by the elements ( including a memorable rainstorm sequence ) , what they’re really caught in are the winds of change . the duo —one french , one algerian— head cross - country through the crossfire between occupiers and rebels , their status as hostages or allies flip - flopping depending on who points a gun at them .
finds zhang yimou reunited with his old muse gong li , and recapturing the filmmaking form that , in the early - ’90s , marked him as the standout director from china’s fifth generation . his 18th film is a tragic romance loaded with symbolism . it begins amongst the drab , industrial greys of the cultural revolution ; where chen daoming has escaped from the labour camp he was sent to for being ‘over - educated’ , and , on - the - lam , seeks to return home to ex - wife gong . but his daughter , a ballet prodigy ( zhang huiwen ) , has been raised , in his absence , by communist ideology , and is ready to rat out this ‘enemy of the party’ if he shows his face .
after a fabulously - mounted , deftly edited showdown between husband , wife , daughter , and police at a train station , zhang jumps three years forward . the cultural revolution has suddenly ended , and chen is out of prison , again , this time as a free man . but when he comes face - to - face with the wife he hasn’t seen for 20 years , she is now —with dramatic convenience and symbolic richness— suffering from psychogenic amnesia , and can’t reconcile the man before her with the husband of her memory . zhang uses this to turn the film into a weighty parable : her amnesia china ’s cultural amnesia , this drama embodying the way state - sanctioned horrors are repressed , but never quite forgotten .
screened as a world premiere , brendan cowell ' s comic drama starts with an advertising golden boy - his fourth consecutive best ad win in france was for vivid sydney no less - screaming
let ' s get smashed
as he celebrates with a party full of women in bikinis at his waterside mansion .
but when he gets injured throwing himself off the roof into the pool at the party , his czech model girlfriend ( the excellent abbey lee ) heads for the airport and says he can only come for her if he stays off the booze for a year .
but adapting his own play , cowell heads into more complex and substantial territory with a study of how alcohol is at the centre of every family , friend and work relationship , a medium for celebrating and commiserating , in what his ex describes as an alcoholic country .
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nicolas winding refn ‘s female - led horror film the neon demon has found a new star in abbey lee , who’ll join previously cast lead elle fanning . that’s the pretty good news . the really great news is that with her comes a host of new details about the mysterious project . to sum up , this film sounds bonkers in a good way .
deadline got the scoop on lee’s casting , and they also got to reveal some verrrry interesting details about her character sarah . since it’s unclear how exactly these plot points fit into the movie , it’s also unclear if they’re big spoilers or just minor details . consider yourself warned .
in neon demon , she plays a cool ringleader that other girls want to follow . envious , emotionally unstable and a tad delusional , she shows her true maniacal colors in the end . after first creeping jesse out by sucking the blood out of her wound , she ends up killing and later eating jesse to absorb her virginal youth and beauty .
fanning will be playing “an aspiring model who is caught in a world of beauty and demise . ” her character’s name was not given , and we don’t know if she’s jesse .
refn scripted neon demon with mary laws . he’s been rather vague about the plot so far , but here’s what he had to say about it last year :
one morning i woke and realized i was both surrounded and dominated by women . strangely , a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty . after making drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of los angeles , i knew i had to return to tell the story of the neon demon . this movie is a manifestation of the strong ties between us and will lead to many more adventures .
now we have a much better idea of what exactly he means by “vicious beauty . ”
refn is coming off of the indie drama only god forgives , which reunited him with drive star ryan gosling . the neon demon shoots this spring in los angeles . no release date has been set .
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with jurassic world : fallen kingdom now in cinemas , we take a look at how imdb users rated the first four films of the franchise . plus , browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets , presented by lego .
jermaine fowler and omari hardwick of sorry to bother you take us back in time to the worst jobs of their careers .
check out our guide to family entertainment , see what imdb editors are watching , and more .
audiences took a good hard look at sydney with this hilarious and moving act of revelation about spiralling high , crashing hard and being taken to aa by your mum .
harry joy , an ad agency exec , dies from a heart attack in his backyard while having dinner with his family .
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while novels have been a longstanding staple of screen material , this year sees an unprecedented number of stage plays translated to film by some of the most established names in theatre .
the fortnightly screen australia newsletter includes industry news , funding approvals , festival and market news and screen opportunities .
written by brendan cowell directed by peter blackburn scenic designer john iacovelli costume designer kate bergh sound designer cricket s . myers lighting designer jared a . sayeg assistant director jackie diamond stage manager rebecca eisenberg assistant stage manager quinn pickering production photography suzanne strong poster photography adrian wlodarczyk publicist lucy pollak cast shane connor , nick hardcastle , david ross paterson , vivienne powell , nathan sapsford , olivia simone , sasha yegorova understudies damian sommerlad & maria volk
with a sterling cast of seasoned performers , director peter blackburn has crafted a very entertaining evening of theatre , with crisp action and powerful emotions and no little amount humor .
( l - r ) sasha yegorova , shane connor , vivienne powell , nathan sapsford , david ross paterson and olivia simone .
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this is the one about the alcoholic - but it ' s less predictable or painfully emotional and far more entertaining than such a description promises .
as such , it fits nicely into silo theatre ' s line - up of comic dramas about young urban scenesters for young urban audiences . and happily , for the most part , australian playwright brendan cowell takes the advice of his own characters : if you want to be a writer , you can ' t afford to be earnest . [
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finalist : marty two bulls sr . , a freelance cartoonist who has drawn for the indian country today media network .
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red scorpion is a 1988 american action film starring dolph lundgren and directed by joseph zito .

the film was released in the us on april 21 , 1989 .

red scorpion

the film poster for red scorpion . ( photo : courtesy shapiro - glickenhaus )
with the headline : review / film ; dolph lundgren in ' red scorpion ' .
the savoy hotel , on site scorpion diving centre and red sea . . . . bliss
joseph zito , who directed norris in missing in action , brought red scorpion to the screen .
there are no critic reviews yet for red scorpion 2 . keep checking rotten tomatoes for updates !
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing red scorpion near you .
dolph : : dolph lundgren delivers the sting of the red scorpion . . . on location in africa ! ( from prevue magazine )
e heart so that the red scorpion finally see the death . remember , brother called . cold road . bang when the sound , red scorpion kneeling knees , directly fell to the ground , motionless . he knew he was completely defeated . yin and yang p .
i found red scorpion to be a mildly entertaining action flick with a few good fight scenes , but nothing more . then a couple days after i saw the first red scorpion , i saw red scorpion 2 on cable . to my surprise , red scorpion 2 was a lot better than the first . the action scenes were better , the acting was an improvement over the acting the first film [ though it still wasn ' t very good ] , and the movie was actually clever . what i also like about it was you wouldn ' t have to see the first red scorpion to understand this one . i think that should be true with all sequels .
red scorpion by joseph zito | dolph lundgren , m . emmet walsh , al white | 654930313893 | blu - ray | barnes & noble®
as a cultural document , red scorpion is definitely a film that shows its age , one whose geopolitical conflicts have long been lost to history .
the indian red scorpion is considered the most lethal of all scorpions . but despite its reputation , it only stings as a last resort . and rather …
despite all the political controversy red scorpion is a highly entertaining eighties action movie . with great stunts , a stellar cast and a ridiculous amount of explosions .
the savoy hotel , on site scorpion . . . - savoy sharm el sheikh
comic book fans will know his character becomes the villain known as the scorpion .
while vulture knows spider - man is peter parker , he won’t let scorpion know .
john carmen , ms . jones ' s new york agent , said in a telephone interview this week that he had never heard of ' ' red scorpion . ' '
the savoy hotel , on site scorpion diving centre and red sea . . . . bliss - review of savoy sharm el sheikh , sharm el sheikh , egypt - tripadvisor
defying a boycott of south africa by many united states artists , americans wrote , directed , produced and starred in the film , ' ' red scorpion , ' ' the reports said .
' ' red scorpion ' ' is loosely based on the life of jonas savimbi , the leader of a pro - western guerrilla movement in angola and a key regional ally of south africa .
but one part of the abramoff story that is rarely told is the period of his career where he was a hollywood film producer . a standout from that period was 1989’s red scorpion , starring dolph lundgren as a soviet - trained super killer . somewhere in between 1980s shlock and 1980s awesomeness , the controversial red scorpion has gone on to become a cult classic of sorts . but t
hesitating in the moment he is about to kill the rebel leader , nikolai fails and is captured . rather than being killed outright , he is forced to undergo a shamanic initiation ritual . the ingestion of the poison of a local scorpion , and his initiation ceremony , including scarification ( a scorpion ) , give him a new identity and role in the world - - the red scorpion .
of that 1500 , only a few dozen are potentially lethal to human beings . and of those , this one , the indian red scorpion , takes the prize as the most lethal of all .
with a body count that leaves jaws firmly on the floor and a healthy disregard for troublesome logic , red scorpion is a classic 80s action spectacular that doesn t let up for a second . . .
hesitating in the moment he is about to kill the rebel leader , nikolai fails and is captured . rather than being killed outright , he is forced to undergo a shamanic initiation ritual . the ingestion of the poison of a local scorpion , and his initiation ceremony , including scarification ( a scorpion ) , give him a new identity and role in the world - - the red scorpion . written by phillip batz
the indian red scorpion is considered the most lethal of all scorpions . but despite its reputation , it only stings as a last resort . and rather than humans , it prefers to feast on insects , like roaches .
spider - man homecoming end credits scene teases the scorpion as the next villain and maybe even the sinister six .
but abramoff ' s plan backfired : it was not long before anti - apartheid activists were protesting at the
red scorpion
set , and warner brothers , who had signed on to distribute the film , pulled out .
oh crap : nikolai ' s face when sundata catches him red handed during his assassination attempt says it all .
asked by newsday about the south african government ' s connections to the iff and
red scorpion
in 1995 , the last time he seems to have entertained questions on the subject , abramoff called the allegations
outrageous .
sadly a few cool effects sequences and two solid action sequences aren ' t enough to keep red scorpion from being a dud . it just doesn ' t have the same flare as zito ' s previous action outings and sadly this film
red scare : bonus points for having the distinction of being a cold war movie made by a future government official .
it deals about a recently formed elite commando team ( lead by matt mccolm and including jennifer rubin ) trying to destroy a neo - nazi army ( lead by john savage ) , after having been trained by an old russian soldier telling about his mentor nikolaï , who formed the
red scorpion
squads , known with their scorpion tattoo on the arm .
actor michael mando , who played the baddie , revealed he would be playing scorpion before spider - man homecoming was released .
the story of a russian special forces operative ( lundgren ) brought in to assassinate an anti - communist military leader , only to switch sides and join a group of freedom fighters in beating down the soviets , red scorpion definitely hits on all the plot points designed to make red - blooded americans cheer . ( watch the trailer here , if you ' d like . )
red scorpion [ blu - ray ] [ region free ] : urltoken dolph lundgren , m . emmett walsh , al white , brion james , carmen argenziano , t . p . mckenna , joseph zito , jack abramoff , arne olsen : dvd & blu - ray
' ' red scorpion ' ' has already drawn criticism from anti - apartheid organizations in the united states and abroad . [ in new york , arthur ashe , a co - chairman of artists and athletes against apartheid , was asked about the film . the tennis star said :
the package – synapse have presented red scorpion with a beautiful 2k transfer that is crisp and blemish free . there are some scenes , especially the darker ones , where heavy noise can become a little bothersome , but that’s about as far as anything negative goes . 9 / 10
with all the news about the various upcoming international releases of red scorpion on blu - ray ( uk , france , germany , etc . ) , i just wanted to take a few moments to let you know what’s happening with our version , which should be announced soon .
this is a classic
so bad it ' s good
movie . terrible acting , incomprehensible plot , and everything explodes . vehicles , bad guys , straw huts - - everything detonates upon impact . so why just 1 star ? are you serious ? have you seen red scorpion ?
in ' ' red scorpion , ' ' dolph lundgren plays the part of a soviet agent sent to assassinate ' ' an african resistance leader ' ' named sundata , according to jack abramoff , the film ' s american producer , who was quoted in an interview published dec . 4 in the namibian .
full ibm c2040 - 402 dumps . f the police know how people kill him anyway , red scorpion has decided to find fox tonight and feng small princess after the night directly back to suzhou and 650 - 196 study guide hangzhou , hedong this place he was enough , no meaning , but also filled the s .
go when the dc0 - 280 exam secretary of the city before access to the underground world news . red scorpion this title , in the hedong city police , should only he alone know , how can qin emerge out in the mouth the qin wan was chen wei looked stunned . new ibm c2040 - 402 vce .
the 1989 dolph lundgren vehicle “red scorpion” is the sort of movie you’d channel surf to at 2am and flip away from instantly . at first glance , it looks like any other mindless action film . you’d never give it a second thought , unless you happened stumble on it as this credit appears on the screen : “a jack abramoff production”
projects links action in the red sea / alien agent / the amber room / beowulf / captured / code blue / cover up 2 / dark angel 2 / duke nukem / frogs for snakes / inside man out / interstate 10 / it waits / ivory city / le tigre / legion / masters of the universe 2 / meltdown / nightclubbing / the peacekeeper 2 / pit bulls / the punisher 2 / r . p . m . / red dawn / red scorpion 2 / revenge / rewind / rocky vi / running man / starlight murders / still the drums / straight blast / the threat / trooper / unknown project / vampires / venom / warrant / the watchmen / swedish projects /
dolph lundgren , the man responsible for single handedly making every american male question their masculinity in rocky iv . easily one of the most iconic classic action stars of all time , when you hear his name you expect a towering , european dose of fucking shit up on a massive scale . red scorpion delivers these goods and more . with a controversial production , overt tones of a mccarthy - istic red scare , and enough ‘splosions and action to choke a walrus , this is easily one of the coolest movies of all time .
in the scene with vulture ( aka adrian toomes ) , scorpion asks him for the true identity of the web slinger – as he wants revenge for spidey’s involvement in his arrest .
the indian red is tiny…it’s no bigger than a cigarette lighter . but it possesses a potent elixir . and when it lives near people , it often takes shelter where they do .
red scorpion is also being digitally restored by the same folks who did the indiana jones films , once upon a time in the west , the godfather trilogy , the alien films and , most recently , the all - new 4k 3d restoration on titantic . we are thrilled to be working with them on this , as well as many future releases for synapse films .
the story is a little different from other red scare films , because instead of america being invaded by commies or involved in some communist conflict , red scorpion focuses on the redemption of a soviet soldier when he comes face to face with the horrors of war . instead of the atypical american hero , here we have the “enemy of america” , in africa , and he decided to turn the tables on his controllers and snap back . it’s unique and really a breath of fresh air in a fairly mundane genre . it also has a lot of shit blowing up .
eventually , nikolai begins to side with the locals , has a red scorpion tattooed on his chest by a shaman , and helps fight against the cubans and the soviets . horror fans should note tom savini ' s expert gore effects during a torture scene , while others will be pleased with a fine supporting cast including m . emmet walsh , carmen argenziano , and brion james .
glickenhaus , who knew of crew and cast going unpaid , claimed that despite its poor box office receipts ,
red scorpion
did well in video , television and foreign sales . nonetheless , at some point prior to its release in april 1989 , the abramoffs and regency found themselves in enough debt that the film went into the possession of performance guarantees , a completion bond company .
after jack returned to washington , robert abramoff stayed in los angeles and continued to produce films . he is now a full - time lawyer . reached at the offices of burgee & abramoff in woodland hills , he refused to speak about his brother or
red scorpion .
it ' s a family matter and i prefer not to comment on anything ,
he said .
the sinister six are a group of super - villains which has included both scorpion and vulture in the past as well as spider - man baddie favourites such as doctor octopus , electro and sandman .
other trivia : lundgren is such a generous and kind raconteur that it ' s pretty funny listening to him reflexively trying to defend some things that any other star else would either conveniently gloss over or dismiss . he praises sylvester stallone ' s detail - oriented direction of rocky iv but also commends red scorpion director zito for his zeal :
zito was very postitive and had full momentum all the time rather than focussing on the individual scenes .
furthermore , lundgren ' s not even sure why he did some of the stunts that he did for red scorpion , saying about a stunt where he jumps onto a speeding motorbike :
i don ' t know if i was just stupid or if zito wanted it .
he added ,
crazy ! i would never do that today .
urltoken red scorpion : dolph lundgren , m . emmet walsh , al white , t . p . mckenna , carmen argenziano , alex colon , brion james , ruben nthodi , vuzi dibukwana , james mthoba , dinky motsemme , ernest ndhlovu , thapelo mofokeng , mxolisi hulana , nicky rebello , drummond marais , charles comyn , tullio moneta , jurgen hellberg , graham clarke , joseph zito , jack abramoff : movies & tv
we’ve been working on our release of red scorpion for almost a year now . we want ours to be the best version available in any country , on any format , and we have been taking our time putting together the ultimate version of the film for our audience . not only in compiling some amazing supplements , but also working on a restoration of the original materials to make ours the best looking version released .
in the scene , lundgren goes into a drunken rage and breaks a man ' s nose with one punch . it ' s easy to think that is drago struggling with the loss . the problem is that it is not a scene from rocky iv but from 1998 action film red scorpion , where lundgren plays a soviet spetsnaz operative . hopefully millions of people scroll far enough into the comments section to learn that .
even as propaganda , “red scorpion” is a bit confused . every single russian and cuban soldier in the film is portrayed as being pure , uncomplicated , hitler - doesn’t - look - so - bad - in - comparison evil ; every one , that is except lundgren , whose heroism dilutes the intended message that the only good soviet is a dead one . then again , by the end of the film , the only russian who’s
before fallen lobbyist jack abramoff assumed his role as the most scrutinized man in washington , he had a brief career as a budding hollywood producer . he made just one movie , the 1989 cold war bomb
red scorpion .
with its blatant propaganda , its collaboration with the apartheid south african government , and financial misdealing , it ' s notable , even for hollywood , for being one of the seamiest productions in recent memory .
if only things were as jovial off the set . they weren ' t . actors went unpaid ; argenziano said that although he was paid his initial salary , he has never received a residuals check for
red scorpion .
the manager of one of the major cast members , who did not want to be named , said that , according to her client , many of the actors and crew were never paid at all .
in countries like india , scorpion stings are a serous public health issue , particularly among children , where the unclad foot of an unwary youngster can lead to a painful and in some cases if left untreated deadly sting .
but the story behind
red scorpion
is far more captivating . the film was to be a manifesto for abramoff ; a rambo - like morality tale and a grand indictment of communism - - his reagan doctrine parable in action - packed technicolor . and in the process of conceiving of and making it , abramoff helped groom an african despot , rose to high levels in the k street food chain , and got to play international spy .
one thing to understand about abramoff was that his hollywood career and his lobbying career weren ' t separate—they were like a giant melting pot of influence and propaganda . in fact , red scorpion was effectively funded by the south african military , thanks to the fact that the country was abramoff ' s primary client at the time . if you watch the movie , in fact , you ' ll notice that the tanks being driven throughout are south african .
with citizens for america disbanded , and law school done , abramoff moved to los angeles . he came up with the premise for
red scorpion
and hired arne olsen , a young screenwriter with no credits to his name , to write it . the abramoffs told olson they wanted to base the fictional african country in the film , mombaka , directly on angola , and the rebel leader on savimbi . olsen said he churned out a baldly propagandistic script .
lundgren is the
red scorpion
of the title ( like you couldn ' t figure that out ! ) . the russian government sends lundgren , their top soldier , to africa to hunt down and kill a rebel leader that is giving russian bases some flak . lundgren infiltrates the group by look like a deserter but along the way ends up becoming empathetic towards the rebels views . his government in turn tries to exterminate lundgren so lundgren gets angry and bullets begin to fly .
how the dvd / blu ray makes the case for the film : in his liner note , damoiseu gives a stirring and comprehensive history of red scorpion that reveals how the film ' s freaky production history helped to make it a memorable role for the charismatic - - look at him pout ! - - athletic - - thighs as big as a rob liefeld comic book character ! - - and smart - - has a master ' s degree in chemical engineering ! - - swede .
since recently , dolph lundgren owns the privilege to weight on a film ' s orientation and his character ' s contruction . without the ex - punisher signature , a project can stay a treatment for eventual buyer . masters of the universe , red scorpion 2 , the punisher 2 and even the sequel of cover up . . . the list of sequels projects on dolph ' s agent desk is long .
from impact , # 30 , december 1990 ( translated from french )
james glickenhaus , whose company , schapiro glickenhaus entertainment , ended up distributing
red scorpion
after warner brothers jumped ship , said he was not aware of the help provided by the sadf , but he was aware of the controversy over the location .
look , had the film been made in nazi germany , i wouldn ' t have distributed it ,
he said .
but i personally felt upon investigating that the namibian government was more simpatico than the south african government .
and once their victim is captured –either clasped in the scorpions’ pincers , or poisoned by a deadly sting , like this roach - digestive fluids turn the meal to liquid , that can be sucked into the scorpion’s stomach . and what’s left , is cast aside .
i won ' t lie , i came out of red scorpion extremely disappointed . it starts off all right but quickly degrades into a nearly actionless display of lundgren living with some natives . it does have two good action sequences , especially the climax but that comes an hour and a half too late . the production values are also rather flat and the lighting for one thing looks really cheap . it ' s nice to see lovable character actors m . emmet walsh and brion james present but they are in mostly thankless roles
— dolph lundgren , reflecting on the production of red scorpion in a 2011 interview with the now - defunct site mondo video . the swedish actor did a number of his own stunts in the film , including a scene in which he had scorpions walking on him .
jesus , i did so many crazy stunts on that film ,
he recalled .
it ' s unbelievable when i think back about it . it would never happen today . nobody would ever let you do any of that stuff now .
while these trends ensured red scorpion could be made and would have an audience , it also meant that it was far from unique in the market . cannon films , another independent filmmaker of the era , was making dozens of films just like this one every year , relying on a stable of well - remembered b - list action heroes like chuck norris , charles bronson , and jean claude van - damme . ( side note : this documentary about cannon is an amazing document of this era and its impact on filmmaking . )
directed by joe zito , who i’m sure everyone remembers as the director behind the prowler , friday the 13th : the final chapter , and the chuck norris vehicles invasion u . s . a . and missing in action . another factor in red scorpion and the films mentioned , with the exception of missing in action , is legendary effects master tom savini . instead of machetes and pitchforks severing limbs this outing , its machine gun fire , so expect some gore in these firefights . this is way more than bond style action here .
pandin recalled that abramoff enlisted russell crystal , the head of the iff ' s johannesburg office and an advisor to f . w . deklerk , to be an informal producer on
red scorpion
( whether this meant crystal helped fund the film , pandin did not remember ) . but pandin says abramoff refused to compensate crystal afterward .
it wasn ' t a good experience ,
pandin said of the film .
a lot of people didn ' t get paid . russell wasn ' t entirely enamored of jack after that .
this action - packed controversial cult classic is now available from synapse films in a brand - new 2k high - definition transfer of the uncensored version , containing footage never before seen in the u . s . featuring amazing performances from dolph lundgren , m . emmet walsh ( blood simple ) and the late brion james ( blade runner ) , red scorpion contains bloody special effects from the legendary tom savini ( dawn of the dead , friday the 13th ) . loaded with interviews and other amazing special features , this disc will blow you away !
red in the qiu yan who , qiu yan fourth step into the fifth order to spend enough of two years , and now the mood of the year no progress . qianfeng into the sixth order has also been a year s time , he is still relatively high quality roo .
considering the budget and target audience , red scorpion pretty much achieves its modest goals . draggy patches notwithstanding , this is an entertaining action movie featuring dolph lundgren at the peak of his physical form along with a healthy dosage of one - liners . in the end , however , the film offers nothing new , and the twist of making the hero a russian is hardly enough to extend the film ' s appeal beyond the audience of hardcore action fans or loyal dolph lundgren followers . if you do not fall into any of the abovementioned categories , give it a miss .
in the mid eighties when dolph lundgren was picked out of the five thousand men who auditioned for the role of the almost super human russian boxer ivan drago in rocky 4 . it was assumed that he’d been marked for stardom , but lundgren was never able to the right role . his first staring role as he - man in the highly anticipated masters of the universe ( also known as the movie that sank cannon pictures ) wasn’t the blockbuster that it was expected to be . although when he was cast as the lead in red scorpion a year later it seemed like a sure thing .
dolph lundgren ' s pectorals are the real stars of ' ' red scorpion , ' ' an action - adventure movie set in the fictional african country of mombaka . filmed from below so that one has the sense of peering up at a massive kinetic sculpture , his glistening torso , which over the course of the film is subjected to assorted tortures , is the movie ' s primary visual focus whenever the action slows down . and since mr . lundgren remains stone - faced , rarely speaking except to issue commands in a surprisingly hesitant monotone , his heaving chest actually communicates more emotion than his mumbling lips .
disc # 1 - - red scorpion 1 . the mission [ 8 : 12 ] 2 . getting in trouble [ 10 : 59 ] 3 . escape [ 11 : 16 ] 4 . traveling home [ 12 : 05 ] 5 . homecoming [ 8 : 04 ] 6 . left for dead [ 8 : 36 ] 7 . desert wandering [ 9 : 20 ] 8 . training [ 5 : 15 ] 9 . final test [ : 56 ] 10 . unwelcome reception [ 4 : 02 ] 11 . kicking some ass [ 8 : 33 ] 12 . end credits [ 7 : 22 ]
the film – ah the soviet super - solider , the biggest threat to the american way of life right under marijuana and civil rights . ever since the end of wwii ( and that one little incident where we killed the rosenberg’s for espionage , but we don’t like to talk about it ) , america has hated the idea of those godless commies gaining power . so , um , they just went out and gained a shitload of power - most notably cuba and vietnam , but even in south africa russian influence took root ( by force , but again shhhhhhhh ) . this brings us to red scorpion .
now to the smaller , more rapid explosions that produce little lead balls of instant kill . i’m talking about gunfights , and there are plenty of them . of course since there’s soviets , you’ve got ak - 47’s out the ass , but some odd choices too . like the rpk lmg ( which i only recognized from black ops , so thumbs up for violent video games on the learning scale ) , which dolph uses in an odd way , holding the bi - pod instead of the grips when firing . it’s small things like that that make red scorpion stand out , just those little deviations to action stereotypes that stick with you .
peter roff , who is listed as abramoff ' s personal assistant in the credits of
red scorpion ,
said he worked for abramoff out of the latter ' s washington office during the time of the production in 1987 and ' 88 . roff , however , recalled doing more work for the iff than for the film . indeed , he only vaguely remembered the name regency entertainment . he never went to l . a . or to the set in africa . but roff , who worked on george h . w . bush ' s ' 88 campaign , claimed he too was unaware of the source of the iff ' s funding .
designed to make red - blooded americans cheer . lundgren plays a russian special forces operative brought to an unnamed african nation , ordered to assassinate an anti - communist military leader . instead , he switches sides and joins a group of freedom fighters in beating down the soviets . it’s the cold war in desert heat , essentially .
the thing about red scorpion is that it ' s not a great movie by traditional critical standards . it ' s from an era of filmmaking when auteurs weren ' t the driving force behind independent filmmaking in hollywood . the auteurs never really went away , of course—john waters and david lynch made some of their best films during this period—but a lot of low - budget action movies being made in this era were trying to riff off the reagan - era republicanism of the rambo series . as abramoff was both a reagan - era republican and a guy who grew up in beverly hills , he was pretty much the perfect person to take advantage of this b - movie trend .
the iff , however , could not claim impartiality on the subject . it was , in fact , clandestinely funded by the sadf ' s military intelligence arm , according to former u . s . officials , anc documents , and reports published in u . s . and u . k . according to a 1995 newsday report , the iff received up to $ 1 . 5 million a year from the sadf from 1986 through 1992 , as a part of operation babushka , a smear campaign meant to discredit mandela and the anc by portraying them as allied with communist regimes . an sadf intelligence chief also told the newsday reporters that the sadf helped fund
red scorpion .
screenwriter andrew lemay did an interview with the
boxing with the truth
blog has written a screenplay and said he ' s discussed the idea with people tied to the rocky series . a synopsis of the screenplay was shared with si . the characters in the proposed drago movie are owned by mgm . lemay adapted the drago film from his original screenplay titled red glove .
' ' a south african defense force spokesman in pretoria has confirmed that vehicles , weaponry and other military equipment has been made available to the film makers , ' ' said an article published under the headline ' ' scorpion sting . ' ' ' ' this is equipment that could not be provided by the private sector . the film makers are paying for this assistance . ' '
in ' ' red scorpion , ' ' which is now playing at the criterion and other theaters , mr . lundgren portrays nikolai , a one - man , soviet - trained killing machine assigned to assassinate a rebel leader who is fighting the mombakan communist regime . attaching himself to the rebels ' second - in - command ( al white ) and a wild - eyed american journalist ( m . emmet walsh ) , he crashes their stronghold but fails to kill their leader . discarded by his nasty communist bosses for failing in his mission , he is rescued in the desert by a kindly tribe of bushmen who nurse him back to health and initiate him into the tribe . once restored to fighting condition he is ready for battle , this time on the side of the oppressed rebels .
abramoff ' s last gasp as a producer came thanks to austin st . john , a . k . a . the original red ranger from the power rangers . after st . john left the show , he created an instructional martial arts video , which you can watch here in full , because austin uploads his stuff to youtube . abramoff has just three imdb credits as a producer . somehow , this is the third .
the house of the scorpion is a dark , twisted , but ultimately hopeful story about a young clone named matt who grows up in a dystopian world under the control of a drug lord . oh , and this drug lord happens to be the man from whom he was cloned . as it turns out , this guy , called el patrón , cloned our protagonist so that he might harvest matt ' s organs to keep himself alive later in life .
but at the same time , what makes red scorpion so fun is the fact that everyone was clearly throwing caution to the wind when they made it . the film could have been shot anywhere but instead it was shot in the desert , causing the film ' s shooting schedule to distend from its original 2 1 / 2 months to 4 1 / 2 months . the film ' s crew similarly used real guns and real dynamite for stunt - work . and while tom savini ' s make - up effects certainly wasn ' t real , lundgren did many of his own stunts . several live black scorpions were let loose on his back in one scene ( their stingers had rubber tips put on them ) while a p . o . ed hyena took a bite out of lundgren after the filmmakers shot a deleted scene that ' s not featured in synapse ' s release but is alluded to in damoiseau ' s essay .
' the wolverine ' − hugh jackman sees more of jean grey & the silver… after the initial trailers for the wolverine depicted our favorite stogie - smoking x - man in a vulnerable state , his adamantium… - frank digiacomo watch : shot - for - shot ' iron man 3 ' parody kicks shiny metal ass from thailand , by way of the website kotaku , comes this sweded shot - for - shot remake of the iron man 3 trailer that , frankly would… - frank digiacomo ' aftershock ' red - band trailer : a body count the deaths keep coming in the red - band trailer for eli roth ' s earthquake gorefest aftershock . i count seven distinct deaths in… - frank digiacomo watch : ' iron man 3 ' − a closer look at shellhead ' s dramatic air rescue… my palms get sweaty just watching this extended clip of what i hear is one of the most riveting sequences in iron man 3 . tony… - frank digiacomo
we worked closely with two companies to help us with extras for our release . both red shirt pictures and ballyhoo motion pictures have put together some great stuff . and a big congratulations goes to tom savini who not only gave us an interview , but raided his footage archive to give us some great behind - the - scenes “on the set” footage that no one has seen in 14 years . and big thanks to dolph lundgren for allowing us into his home for a great retrospective / interview about his career .
loudmouthed , arrogant , commie hating , 100 % american ( that’s for goddamn sure ) reporter and supporter of the rebellion , dewey ferguson ( played by the legendary m . emmet walsh ) was caught by the red army snooping around the base . insulting nikolai beyond any and all comprehension , especially when you consider he could easily tear him in half , his blabbering draws the guard into the cell . when you have soviet soldiers in your jail cell and you piss them off , and you’re in the middle of fucking nowhere , that’s not exactly a good thing .
his soviet will represses these thoughts , and he progresses with his assassination mission . nikolai is caught red handed ( i think i’m getting good at this pun business ) trying to carve up sundata , who leaves him unconscious for his fellow soldiers to find , still thankful for his assistance in the escape . vortek is furious with his failure , casts him out of the spetsnaz , and sentences him to death at the hands of the cuban occupiers . since russia pretty much used cuba as a whipping boy , they decide to torture him for soviet secrets before the execution .
so since all three are on the run from a triple force of red army destruction , kintash decided to head to his home village where they can rendezvous with sundata ( which in case you forgot is the prime target of nikolai ) . upon arrival , they realize that general vortek has obliterated the village with his hind helicopter . men , women , and children have been mercilessly gunned down , bombed , and burnt . not everyone has been executed though , and the survivors receive sundata as he arrives at the graveyard of a village . nikolai sees the horrors of his faction , and begins to question who is really on the right side of the conflict .
indian red scorpions , contrary to popular belief , only use their stinger as a last resort . at night they go hunting . they wait for their prey ( insects ) to come and when they do , the scorpions grab their prey with their pincers . then , without even taking the insect inside their mouth , they produce digestive juices from their preoral gut and digest it slightly . then , the setae takes out the part of the insect that they can ' t eat , press it together and get rid of it . the food is then brought into the body by the muscular pharynx . next , food goes through the pharynx , the esophagus , the mid gut , the hind gut , and is then released in the form of feces from the anus . [ 1 ]
dolph lundgren rules . i can ' t say that i ' ve seen a lot of his work , since the ' 90s most of it has gone straight to video , but the guy knows exactly who he is and where he fits , and that is a blessing . joe zito ' s
was lundgren ' s third feature film in a prominent role and he certainly made the most of it . the story is a ludicrous , flag - waving , jingoistic mess , but the execution is actually pretty damned decent , and lundgren ' s presence on screen plays no small part in its success .
nikolai ( lundgren ) is a highly trained spetsnaz agent sent into africa to assassinate a rebel leader . he has known nothing in his life but following orders , and these orders are clear . he has to befriend a rebel in order to get close enough to snuff out the leader , but when he realizes the conditions against which these men are fighting and who is the cause , he has a change of heart and becomes a commie - killing machine .
redsploitation film was a very popular action genre in the ' 80s , thanks in large part to the cold war and reagan ' s xenophobic ranting . just as the ' 70s gave us a healthy portion of nazi - hunting flicks , the ' 80s was brimming with films about the evil empire , which was of course , the communist ussr . dolph lundgren , for some reason , was the go - to guy for imposing russian characters in action films . his breakout role as ivan
i must break you
drago in
certainly primed that pump . even though lundgren ' s looks are clearly scandinavian , his blond hair and blue eyes still managed to convey aryan evil to american filmgoers . whatever the reason , it worked , and dolph quickly became a second tier action icon .
) was a real director who had some skills and took a very difficult shoot in namibia and made it work surprisingly well . the dialogue wasn ' t going to set the world on fire , but we go into these movies expecting shit to blow up , and blow up it does .
films , but it certainly keeps the action moving at a quick pace . if you throw in a little bit of comic relief from m . emmet walsh , you ' ve got all the ingredients for a good time .
, dolph lundgren never quite made the a - list . that strata was saved for men like arnold , sly , and bruce , though i think that is a bit of a shame . lundgren clearly had the chops , and i think with the right choices he could have been a bigger star . it was nice to see him on the big screen again in
certainly does encourage me to dig through some of his dtv work in search of gems . this film is a lot of fun , if a little bit long at around 105 minutes , and deserves a second chance , definitely check it out .
this is another of the glickenhaus films coming to us from arrow video and synapse films . this time around , it looks like arrow video got the jump , and their disc is very solid . the image quality is very good , though ' 80s action films will probably never look great . there is abundant fine detail and a noticeable lack of intrusive grain , probably due to the fact that the vast majority of the film is shot in very bright lighting , thus allowing the filmmaker to use slower film speeds and reduced grain naturally . the audio is pretty good as well , there isn ' t a whole lot of directionality to the mix , but the explosions do manage to pack a punch and i found no major faults with the dialogue .
is really great . on the disc we have a commentary from zito moderated by howard s berger , which is okay , though zito seems a bit laconic on the track and needs prompting often . there is also a great interview with dolph , which is sadly only about 20 minutes , because i could listen to him all day . dolph is incredibly endearing and intelligent and understands his place in cinema history better than anyone . a true gentleman . rounding out the video extras is a brief interview with the composer , which is kind of a throw away , but is made up for by the fantastic lundgren stuff .
also included in this package is the awesome custom art from the dude designs ' tom hodge , 3 additional cover options , a fold out power , a very in depth interview and essay on zito and the film by calum waddell , and the super neat arrow video catalog . this is a very impressive region free package , and we definitely recommend it . there is a blu - ray coming soon from synapse , also , so be aware of that , and we promise to review and compare when we get out hands on that one as well , but i think you can feel confident in picking this one up , it ' s a winner !
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loved this one as kid . thanks for the review and for liking this movie .
one good dolph movie from 2005 is the mechanik ( aka
the russian specialist
) . dolph also directed this one . he ' s actually a pretty decent director . could definitely teach stallone a thing or two about putting together a coherent action scene .
todd brown , toronto , canada founder and editor peter martin , dallas , texas , usa managing editor ryland aldrich , los angeles , california festivals editor james marsh , hong kong , china asian editor ben umstead , los angeles , california u . s . editor more . . .
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nikolai rachenko . less a man than a soulless instrument of war , rachenko is dispatched to assassinate the fiercely anti - communist leader of a rebel group in south africa . infiltrating the rebels is easy enough : gargle some vodka , get tossed in the clink , bust out the leader ' s right - hand
, and earn enough of his trust to get up close and personal with the big man himself . actually
the guy . . . ? well , that proves to be a little more problematic . rachenko ' s handlers don ' t take the news of his failure all that well , torturing him in the hopes of learning whatever rebel secrets he ' s keeping squirreled away in that tightly - cropped head of his . after pulling off another daring escape and being taken under the wing of an elderly african bushman , rachenko witnesses first - hand the horrors his former comrades have been inflicting on the proud people of this country . rachenko signs up with the rebel forces , cocks a shotgun , and steels himself for some steamy , blood - spattered commie - on - commie action .
. i mean , it ' s comfort food , and part of that ' s playing exactly like a big stack of the action movies that cannon was churning out in those days . hell , they even got
' s joseph zito to hop into the director ' s chair . there ' s not a whole lot to separate
from the rest of that one - man - army - for - truth - justice - and - the - not - communist - way bunch . sure , the couple of standout action sequences are more than a little bit badass . the african backdrop makes for some pretty spectacular visuals at times . the plight of the tormented africans themselves packs more of a sincere emotional wallop than these sorts of action flicks usually do . tom savini contributes a couple of grisly make - up effects pieces that make for some of
' s most brilliantly cringing moments . plus you score dolph lundgren in the lead , and you ' re never gonna hear me complain about
field so much of his own stuntwork , leaping off a motorcycle onto a speeding truck or marching just a few feet away from another colossal explosion . no cheating with cgi
' s good enough , but if i didn ' t have to sit down and hammer out this write - up after seeing it again for the first time in however many years , it ' d be a distant memory about twenty seconds after the fact . i
, but it ' s really , really , really routine . because his character is a coldly manufactured weapon whose heart is only just now starting to beat , dolph lundgren can ' t exude the sort of personality or charisma that usually draws you in with ' 80s action flicks . m . emmett walsh ' s grating comic relief journalist scores nothing but groans throughout just about every last frame of screentime he gets . the movie kinda takes a while to get going - -
starts not with a bang but with a conference room - - and the pace has a tendency to sputter once the adrenaline rush of its action sequences has worn off . it ' s beyond awesome that synapse films has restored an uncensored version of
is an okay - to - pretty - good action flick from the tail - end of the ' 80s . i mean , it ' s not the sort of movie you ' re likely to speak about with hushed awe like
. it ' s not the sort of movie you ' re likely to speak about , period . still , there ' s just something about these cannon - inspired shitkickers that i can ' t get enough of , and i ' m always game to pal around with dolph lundgren in 1080p . even if you ' re not all that bowled over by
itself , the story behind the movie - - a 19 - year - old king giving the production the boot a week before cameras were slated to roll , the looming spectre of apartheid stomping all over distribution , and disgraced lobbyist jack abramoff having conceived and produced the whole thing in his earlier years - - is pretty damned impressive , and all of that ' s covered in great detail throughout the extras on this blu - ray disc . the movie itself is nothing all that great or noteworthy or whatever , but you know if you ' re a sucker for this flavor of action flick , and if you are ,