Silent Trigger

Plot synopsis:
The movie takes place in and around an unfinished city skyscraper, the "Algonquin", where a sniper/spotter team (Waxman and Clegg) set up a firing platform on a top floor. The two arrive independently of each other, two of the Agency's assassins. As they meet, they recognize each other, as they have been on a mission together before.
This mission is portrayed in a series of flashbacks. In the first flashback, Waxman and Clegg were supposed to assassinate a female politician. Waxman hesitates when the politician lifts a child and, while hesitating, a helicopter appears, air assaulting soldiers in the courtyard behind the team's firing position. The two defeat the attacking force, including the machine gun-equipped helicopter, whose pilot and copilot are shot through the canopy.
Returning to the primary scene, one of the construction site security personnel is new on the job. The drug-addicted regular, O'Hara (Christopher Heyerdahl) attempts to win a statutory position over him by scaring him. As Waxman opens a roof door, a light by the security personnel turns on, and the newcomer, Klein (Conrad Dunn) leaves in search of it.
The internal lift of the building is clearly audible, and Clegg surveys Klein's movements, when he arrives. She interrupts his inspections when he is about to open the roof door. She takes him to the lift, sending him downwards. However, just as she is talking him off, she sees Waxman sitting on top of the lift car. He mounts a bomb on the lift car and, when the car begins moving, nearly falls down the shaft. He is saved by Clegg, and they both attempt keeping up the "just business"-facade, although some romantic appreciation is apparent.
While the two on the rooftop readjust their gear, O'Hara, presumably, decides to rape Clegg. However, Clegg pulls her small-caliber sidearm, and threatens O'Hara into the lift. When O'Hara returns downstairs, he picks up his gun and puts on body armor. He then surprises Clegg, while she is standing over the sink of the top-floor bathrooms. Clegg points her gun at him, and shoots a well-aimed bullet into his chest. Unsurprised by this, O'Hara attacks Clegg, but is encountered by Waxman, and a violent fight takes place in an unfinished hall between various building materials. The fight is won by Waxman, and he ties the now bloody O'Hara to a toilet.
Clegg and Waxman consummate their feelings for each other. Afterwards, as duty continues, Waxman heads for the bathrooms, but sees water running out under the door to the bathroom. He pulls his gun, and discovers that O'Hara has disappeared.
O'Hara bears the toilet with him down the stairs. A vengeful O'Hara grabs his shotgun and is about to go upstairs to finish off Waxman. Klein, the new security guard, shoots O'Hara with his shotgun, walks to the spot where the dying O'Hara lies and, in cold blood, puts a final shot into him.
Upstairs, the two are engaging the target. As before, Waxman hesitates and doesn't take the shot. As history repeats itself for the two, Clegg pulls her sidearm and implores Waxman to do his duty. Before the situation escalates, another shooter shoots the target four times and, when finished, takes aim for Clegg and Waxman. Waxman quickly throws himself and Clegg away from the shot, grabs his rifle and shoots the adversary. Waxman and Clegg defend themselves from Special Forces personnel raiding the skyscraper. Waxman and Clegg are surprised by Klein, who has stealthily entered the room. He shoots Waxman in the chest with his shotgun, but is threatened by Clegg who has picked up an MP5 submachinegun. He takes the lift car and leaves when the planted bomb explodes.
Believing Waxman to be dead, Clegg flees the skyscraper. As she walks away from the building, the top of a nearby fire hydrant is shot off. She looks up, and sees Waxman throwing his sniper rifle from the building. Clegg walks away, smiling.

Tags: violence, plot twist, flashback

Review:
Gina Bellman is difficult to watch, being from the UK I'm acquainted with her later (emetic) sitcom work, and seeing her try to hold down a serious role is very funny.
Most of the film is set in the penthouse of a skyscraper (the Algonquin) at night time during heavy thunder and rain.
The rest of the film is shown in flashbacks of Waxman and his spotter's exfiltration following an abortive assassination attempt.
Good though.In true B-movie tradition we have a freak, Christopher Heyerdahl, as the night-shift security guard in the Algonquin.
This one is more for the B-movie mavens.Plot-whores don't really like this movie because it is a bit discontinuous, for example why on earth is Waxman given a second chance after his first failure to complete his assignment?
But Silent Trigger is perhaps the most entertaining movie I have ever watched, and I could see it again and again.
`Silent Trigger`is the best actioner Dolph Lundgren made in years and it looks absolutely fantastic for a B-movie.This feature owes a lot to dynamite direction of Aussie-shooter Russell Mulcahy who made a really significant contribution in this one.
The whole movie relies entirely on Mulcahy`s direction that is still hip and vital.The script is average with lots of flaws in the middle of the movie but the writing overall does the trick.Plotting is trashy but the ending is twist-oriented and it really freshens up the whole concept.The script isn`t witty enough but those gaps could`ve been filled by bigger budget since the movie has only two capital A,action set-pieces.I wonder how Mulcahy got expelled from the Hollywood action mainstream since lots of hackers like Hyams or Dwight H.Little get to do mainstream movies even though they haven`t had a hit for years.
This movie is the right way for Dolph to go because such action vehicles are hard to find in Hollywood these days.Lundgren`s martial art scenes are great since he is tall and bulky so his kicks really pack a punch.His face isn`t as pretty as Van Damme`s but he hits harder.Of course `Silent Trigger` ain`t no `Citizen Kane` but it sure does go way beyond anyone`s expectations from a movie that lays in the dust of the video-store back-shelf.
No Kevin Hooks or Peter Hyams can overthrow this wet of hip visual directing.Let me remind you that Mulcahy brought video clip aesthetics to the Hollywood mainstream at the time when David Fincher,Simon West and Domenic Sena used to dress in diapers.Sadly,he never had an idea of his own like Fincher but he still made groundbreaking videos for `Queen` and movies like `Highlander` or `Ricochet`.Let`s hope he finds his way back to the maistream..
Paranoid assassin Waxman (Dolph Lundgren) is hired to perform a high value hit from the top of an under construction high rise.
Trouble starts right away when he finds out his spotter, Clegg (Gina Bellman), worked with him a few years previous on a job that went incredibly wrong.
Dolph also provided you with fantastic action scenes that will take your breath away.
The movie is about an assassin (Dolph) who was the best in the business.
If you like Dolph, he looks really good in this film and his acting isn't bad.
He does deliver one boring monologue that you should just skip, and the girl in the film (Gina Bellman) has an annoying voice.
However, the action scenes are good and the film looks really slick.
He does a great job as a weirdo guard, and is an excellent filler for action during the assassins set up.
The action scenes were good; some extreme, but not too outrageous like a lot of other flicks.
And maybe I could include that the Canadians seem to have a higher percentage of good action movies than Hollywood..
Waxman ( Dolph Lundgren ) is a highly trained, expert assassin working for a secretive undercover organization known as The Agency.
After failing to pull the trigger at his target in a previous mission in a unnamed war-torn East European country, Waxman ( Dolph Lundgren )and Clegg ( Gina Bellman ) his beautiful accomplice who is his "spotter" are given one last chance to make things right.When i saw this movie i was very surprised how creative and stylish this movie turned out to be, the lighting, the soundtrack, locations and characters made this movie my favourite Dolph lundgren movie.
I must say that most of the credit must go to the director of this movie Russell Mulcahy, not only he made this movie a very entertaining action film for action fans, he also creates a good style of suspense..
The movie has a good plot, great acting, interesting stuff, well scripted bad guys, and is very beautifully shot.
The flashback of the shooter and spotter were interesting, one of the two security guards is one messed-up-in-the-brain, coke-sniffer, the other was a very annoying by-the-book rookie, the shooter was a "paranoid" man, and the spotter was a beautiful woman that "got along with everybody", or so she thought, I would dare say Russel Mulcahy did an excellent job at directing and recommend it..
After reading the other reviews I can say what some may not like about this film makes it a hit for me.
You might like this movie less if you need a visible plot and an even pace (it's not here!).
It's got some problems that threaten my rating and may limit it to a niche audience, but for the most part, this is a successful experiment the likes of which Lundgren has yet to reproduce.The story: A mysterious sniper (Lundgren) and his spotter (Gina Bellman) face a series of internal and external threats as they prepare to eliminate a target from an unfinished high-rise building.From a thematic standpoint, this is an extremely ambitious effort for an action movie starring a performer best known for punching people.
There are some lapses and excesses to this moody atmosphere, but for the most part, the filmmakers are very successful at striking the tone they want.The one major qualm I personally have with the picture is its treatment of Gina Bellman's character, which makes painfully clear that this is a movie written by men and for men.
Bellman's talent shines through even in the most indignant of situations, but aside from the usual tropes of turning a highly-trained female operative into a damsel and a random sex scene, it's a challenge to find any statements or actions the character makes that aren't in some way critiqued by her male counterparts.The action content is measured.
Two major shootouts compose the highlights of the action, and Lundgren's weapon of choice – with its immensely powerful bullets but agonizingly slow rate of fire – gives these scenes a unique pace that you don't get when both sides of a firefight are blazing away with automatic weapons.
Essentially, this is an action movie that asks you to take a chance on something other than the strength of its action, and if you'd rather spend your time on less of a gamble, Lundgren has an entire library of other flicks to check out.Personally, I had a good time with this one.
The fact that the star has not attempted to make another film along these lines is a little disappointing, since Lundgren does well with the minimalist touch.
Nevertheless, this helps make SILENT TRIGGER something of a hidden gem, and if nothing else, the strength of its production places it on the list of high-end offerings among Lundgren's non-theatrical features..
Some of the over excited Lundgren fans compare this to "Reservoir dogs" and say that this movie has a very clever plot.
I mean, when it ended I felt almost like characters in the movie.
But what I do know, is that despite being a quite generic action movie (hits almost everything in the cliché check-list) it has some amazing atmosphere which actually works fantastic with such special kind of acting (phlegmatic I would say) and some weird-cheap special effects.
It's OK, Just Not A Great Dolph Lundgren Movie.
Overall, I always want to like Dolph Lundgren movies but seldom do?
I think he chooses action movies with poor storylines and crummy directors.
A different kind of Dolph Lundgren movie.
Of all the movies I've seen from Dolph Lundgren until now Silent Trigger is the most unusual one and it sure surprise me in a good way.
The movie is very stylish with the look and the shot for a B-grade action movie starring Dolph and for 1h and a haft the movie definitely take a large amount of it runtime to set of the relationship between two main character so for some people who just want to be entertain that maybe a downside but don't worry too much cause when the action finally kick in it very bloody and squishy.
For me I think the real downside of Silent Trigger is not the limited action scene but the cat and mouse game with those two guard cause this time it actually bugging the hell of out me for long it take and if you look at the situation from a logical angle get rid of those two from the get-go will make thing much easier later on.
Good Hit-man Movie.
i am Really Big Fan of Dolph Lundgren but there is not much of Actors on this movie but in this movie it's Really fun flick,Really Fun Entering Film Ever made well shot film i like Dolph Lundgren cool name in this movie Waxman that is Hit-man name perfect killer name.Gina Bellman did well in this movie but not that hot women i think it would be perfect if they get perfect women that would be so hot Pamela Anderson would be perfect for this movie rather then Gina Bellman,any way it doesn't matter that's what they choose i love Action scene when Helicopter shootout crashed in to the building that was awesome and there is a lot of Action in this movie 5 minutes of Action non stop is so awesome i think this was before Dolph Lundgren went into low budget movies that was OK but i want Dolph Lundgren to get into more Big Budget Movies, there is cool Action Scene when Dolph Lundgren and Security Guard was Fighting each another i love shootout at building and Explosion scene was Awesome i am Big Fan of Dolph Lundgren he is Awesome this movie was amazing..
It's an interesting concept that allows the filmmaker to produce 90 minutes of tasteless crap and bad acting without having to invent reasons for it or waste time to explain things, time better used to cram in even more blood, bullets and bodies.
OK normally i wouldn't bother commenting on a movie like this, but honestly, what is with the good reviews for it?!
And Dolph Lundgren....i don't know why anyone ever let him near a film set!Basically, unless you want to laugh yourself senseless at the stupidity of the plot and how little sense it makes, AVOID..
They work for an unnamed agency, their jobs have no motive, the flashback story is set in an unnamed country etc.
The director has done some OK action movies and did some cool shots with this.
Also, the flashback story goes absolutely no where, and actually ends in a situation that makes the present hit make absolutely no sense..
This movie should be an excelent guide movie on how to use spectacular lighting the correct way if anyone are teaching a course in this.So, to sum up, slow movie, some stupid scenes that people have mentioned here before, but nice lighting makes it worth watching..
Dolph Lundgren stars as Waxman an assassin who becomes the target when his supervisor (Conrad Dunn) double crosses him, while Klegg (Gina Bellman) has an agenda of her own in this strictly routine "hitman with a heart" caper.
I mean, come on, it's Dolph Lundgren, and he's got a *really* big gun!
The main threat most of the time seems to be two security guards who would last about 5 seconds in any self-respecting action movie, one of whom, for no discernible reason, wants to rape the female lead, who would be quite capable of eating him for breakfast.
The point is, I saw this this movie twice and still didn't get the plot because there's so many events keep occurring around two Assassins (Dolph Lungdren and Gina Bellman) living in some high rise blocks of flat as they await orders to assassinate someone.Although this is not one of Dolph's best, he may be an action hero but someone's gonna give this guy a decent script.If he wants to be bigger than Schwarzenegger, he's gotta find something new rather than do something which is not really entertaining..!.
Therefore, based on my nostalgia for Dolph Lundgren's stints in such 'classics' (well, I thought so!) in 'He-Man, Dark Angel and Universal Soldier,' I thought I'd give 'Silent Trigger' a go.Now, normally this is the time I say something like 'You should know what you're getting with a film called 'Silent Trigger.' I know it's a B-movie.
Whether it was due to the blatantly computer-generated attempts at major action set pieces, or just the ludicrousness of the script – it did hold my attention, sadly just to see how bad it gets.
The plot (and I use that term loosely) begins with Dolph Lundgren failing to assassinate his target (did I mention he was an assassin?
Either way there's a lot of 'cat and mouse' which takes place, leaving me a little unsure as who I'm supposed to be rooting for – the killers, or the nut jobs guarding the place.So, there's basically only four people in the cast and therefore what little action there is is sparse and hardly high-octane.
So, in order to pad out the film's runtime there's more flashbacks which don't really make an awful lot of sense and all could have been left out of the story if truth be told.I like a good B-movie.
Yes, if you're a REAL die-hard fan of Dolph himself I guess you'll like it more than normal, but even he can do better (I take it you've seen the Expendables?).
Actually its a slow Action Movie.
I don't know if the word Action is right for this Movie.
What I liked and can never forget about the Movie WERE the last 15 Minutes.
Gina Bellman such a cool Actress, I like her acting and even her real personality.
I use to like this guys acting and hope he goes on making some great Movies, but I think he should take roles which suite his age.
A movie that even makes Dolph Lundgren look good.
In Fact the plot is not the work of a real genius but this film thrills.
Not least the work of Gina Bellman which gives the film a warm note in this cold location and her character will be stronger as the viewer thinks at the beginning of the movie..
Silent Trigger is worth seeing but it's not the best Dolph vehicle out there..
Apart from that, this was the beginning of a phase of more serious-minded films from Dolph, leading up to Hidden Assassin (1995).
In Silent Trigger, however, there's a lot of set-up in the plot (perhaps too much), but what's good about this movie is that it is at least trying to be different.
What helps that are the stylistic flourishes by Russell Mulcahy that provide atmosphere and interesting shots, camera-work and set design.On the flipside of that, however, the fact that the movie takes place in one location (except for Dolph's flashbacks/memories) impedes the movie, even though the set is impressive.
That would have helped this movie a lot.On the bad news front, there is some really stupid and unnecessary (well, it's always unnecessary) CGI at times.
But the violent bits that are in the movie are great, and that keeps the viewers' interest.Also it should be pointed out that Dolph has an extremely large, complicated gun.
More like an art-house movie than an action thriller.
A cat and mouse game between a heroic sniper and sinister assassins, all set in a super high-rise building miles above the ground, directed by Russell Mulcahy, the man who gave us that '80s cult classic HIGHLANDER.
Wrong, unfortunately, as Mulcahy yet again proves himself to be a one hit wonder with this watchable but disappointing story that suffers from a slow pacing, a lack of decent action, and a budget that really hurts.
You know the film is in trouble when there are only four cast members and the story is set in one location, but despite this, there are flashes of style and inspiration to keep you watching and wanting more.
For a start, the camera-work isn't bad at all and manages to make the setting pretty interesting, if bleak; a deserted and run-down building soaked by the constantly pouring rain and covered in grime, littered in dirt.Into this setting comes all-round action man Dolph Lundgren, one of the more dependable actors in the straight-to-video crowd whose work I'm quite fond of; his highs may not be as high as the high points in Van Damme's and Seagal's respective careers, but at least he usually hits the mark more often than those two with his movies and rarely lets his audience down.
After an incredibly slow first hour (which introduces and explores the characters to a minimal level, whilst they walk and sit around a lot) there is one major set-piece towards the finale which provides something of what I was expecting from this movie, but it really isn't enough and the end result is that I'm left feeling a little cheated.
A waste of Lundgren and a bare minimum of an entertainment value, SILENT TRIGGER is recommended for dedicated drama fans only, as its cold atmosphere makes it seem more like an art-house movie than the action flick which it masquerades as.