Direct Action

Plot synopsis:
With fifteen years on the force, Sergeant Frank Gannon (Dolph Lundgren) has spent the last three years on the Direct Action Unit (DAU) task force, fighting gang crime and corruption.
The DAU, led by Captain Stone (Conrad Dunn), is a special unit of the Metropolitan Police Department focusing on gang violence, drugs, and prostitution. It's made up of highly trained officers with at least 10 years on the force. They have been untouchable in every way.
With the highest arrest record in the department, two Medals of Valor, the youngest officer ever to make detective, and the son of a cop himself, Gannon does everything with integrity. His father was the late Captain Michael J. Gannon.
Although the Direct Action Unit appears to have been the saving force in city over the past few years—fighting against theft, larceny, conspiracy, extortion, and murder—evidence is coming to light that some members of the DAU were up to much more than keeping the city streets safe.
The Direct Action Unit task force has been under intense federal investigation for 8 months on suspicions of stealing drugs and money, the jailing of innocent people, and possibly murder. And the investigation is being overseen by Assistant Attorney General LoPresti (Daniel Kash).
At the end of his shift on this day, Gannon is to testify at a federal grand jury about the DAU, which is making Gannon's bosses extremely nervous.
That morning, Gannon is suddenly partnered with detective trainee Billie Ross (Polly Shannon), and is asked to show her the ropes. With little experience on the streets, Ross is thrilled to start her two-week detective training period with the legendary Gannon.
This not good news for Gannon, as Ross is hardly the experienced backup he needs on the toughest day of his career as Captain Stone keeps sending men to kill him. And Stone has been working with a drug ring led by Khalid Manseur (Anthony J. Mifsud). Even LoPresti has been working with Stone.
Stone frames Gannon and Ross for murder in the self-defense killings of three corrupt cops, and to prove their innocence, Gannon and Ross will have to take down Stone and everyone he's working with.

Tags: cult, murder, violence

Review:
Pure Dolph action!
Earlier in the year saw the release of Dolph's latest movie, Detention.
That was a disappointment to say the least but his next effort; Direct Action is far more like the good old days for any Dolph fan.
Over the last 6 years Dolph has been starring in considerably cheaper and poorer movies than he used to.
This is all very well and good but the films are trying too hard to move with the times and B-movies have a tendency to do things badly.
Hidden Agenda was a good little thriller, nothing exceptional and Dolph was good, playing someone with some intelligence and a different kind of intimidating presence.
It's been the only transition from all out action that has worked for Dolph in recent years.
The plot of Direct Action could almost be typical Seagal fodder from that period with corrupt cops and FBI officials and Dolph as the moralistic cop who'll take them down.
This brought back good memories for me of films like Nico, Out For Justice and Hard To Kill.
Simple story, plenty of action and a bad-ass cop who scowls throughout the movie (in fairness Dolph does more than that though.).
This is miles better than Detention but what I did find with Detention in any case was that Dolph had a new found enthusiasm.
Direct Action continues that trend and filmed a year after Detention, Dolph is further enthused and in even greater shape.
Dolph seems to be having a new lease of life and while these last two films aren't his best they have bigger budgets and are more old style action than he has done recently.
His next few are promising a good amount of action too and Dolph will probably be playing the tough man again, it does seem the way forward for the DTV action men, doing films they used to keep the fans happy.
Hidden Agenda was good but it didn't sell, for the simple fact that if you are trying for something with depth and intelligence then there is little hope that people are going to look for a straight to video movie, whereas these brainless fist-fests still seem to sell.
Van Damme is back to his revenge movie trademark and Seagal has left his eco warrior image behind for more conventional ideas.The plot follows Frank Gannon, a veteran police sergeant who is to testify against his co-workers in the Direct Action Unit because they are being investigated for links to drug lords, extortion and murder.
Gannon (Dolph) has seen this stuff first hand and wants to testify.
Basically the film plays out with Dolph taking on his co-workers head on with help from his partner and the young rookie Billie Ross along the way.
When they kill three cops in a bloody shootout, a failed attempt on Gannon's life Gannon is in trouble because he is wanted for the murders and now his word is going to mean little against the testimonies of the guys in the Direct Action Unit who have heroic reputations, despite the dark dealing in the background.
It's all shootouts or fist fights and while there are no really big set pieces the action is plentiful and nicely spread out.
This is perhaps the most action Dolph has had in a movie for ages.
Fistfights cost nothing but the time to make so they have put plenty in which is good.
What is good is that Dolph gets to use his martial arts here.
The action is similar to Seagal's was in Nico etc too, with plenty of throw movies and bone breaking.
It is good to see Dolph using his Karate so prominently here.
Dolph is really looking in prime action man form here and looks tough.
The film has a smaller budget than Detention did, which was 10 million while this was between 5 and 8 million dollars but this looks far more polished and there is more bang for your buck.
Everyone does their job far better it must be said, particularly veteran director Sidney Furie who shows more flair and assurance in the action while he has upped his game on the more dramatic scenes too.
I know this is low budget but they could still make it look better, Hidden Agenda had very good cinematography.
The score wasn't great but it knew the limitations of doing it cheaply and didn't try to recreate an orchestra on a computer like many DTV movies do, and badly.
Dolph holds the movie, his role is straight down the middle and simple but he does it with conviction and coolness.
Polly Shannon is okay as well as Billie, she's pretty and gives a good enough performance.
I also thought that Conrad Dunn was very good as Captain Stone, the ring leader of the corrupt cops.
Here he plays a good guy and does it well.Overall this was a pleasing movie for me.
It's the most pure and entertaining action movie Dolph has down since Peacekeeper and the best he has looked in terms of action since Silent Trigger.
Dolph is looking cool and modern these days and I eagerly await his next two movies, Defender (with, get this, Jerry Springer) and Retrograde (with Gary Daniels), which fingers crossed could appear this year.
That would be 4 new Dolph films I have seen this year and after a lengthy spell of nearly two years without one before that I'm a happy Dolphamaniac people.
I like my action films people, I like them fast, loud, and violent and the king of Swedish ass-whoopers, Dolph Lundgren is someone who I enjoy watching.
I ain't a huge fan but I have to say I really enjoyed his early work, Punisher (The newer one sucks), I come In Peace (that was freakin cool movie, with the deadly CD's and the giant Aliens.) and Red Scorpion but a lot of his recent movies didn't do it for me.
I have seen a few of his recent ones, Stormcatcher (Bad!), Jill Rips (Boring!), Sweepers (Wha?!), and Hidden Agenda (good fights, too much damn talking!).
Direct Action has a simple idea and leaves Dolph to look a bad-ass mo-fo.
Dolph is a good action man, he has presence, he's cool, and unlkie Fatboy Seagal, he has stayed in great shape.
On the evidence of this movie, if Dolph keeps this kind of thing up then he's got himself a new fan.
You have good hand to hand fights, okay shootouts and plenty of it.
Given that I had read several positive reviews on this movie and that it comes from the hands of Sidney J Furie, a veteran for over 40 years responsible for 1960's spy thrillers like The Ipcress File and The Naked Runner and has also delivered some very slick direct to video action movies such as Top Of The World, The Rage and Hollow Point as well as the largely underrated 1991 theatrical release The Taking Of Beverly Hills.
Furthermore, he also did Detention with Dolph Lundgren which was by no means great but I enjoyed it a lot more than many others did.
It isn't bad, but it could be so much better.None of this can be blamed on Lundgren or any of the cast really for that matter, as much of them deliver acceptable to good performances.
Lundgren especially deserves credit as he is in excellent shape and does very well in the action scenes.
The film has a good sense of pacing, never letting up enough for the action to stop and plot itself is fine for the type of movie.What really lets this down is the very poor production values - it looks extremely cheap.
Of course none of this really makes the movie any less watchable, but it's all those little touches that make a movie all that more enjoyable to watch.Overall, this is a decent, entertaining action picture with all the visual flair of a TV drama but it's worth a watch once and for Dolph Lundgren fans it will be a must.
I would probably have enjoyed it more with lower expectations, but the overall low quality of the movie is something I just couldn't ignore.
"Direct Action" is one of the best direct-to-video action flicks ever.Frank Gannon (Lundgren) is about to blow the whistle on a group of dirty cops from the "Direct Action Unit".
Polly Shannon is a good foil for him.
They have a nice chemistry.In the end: "Direct Action" is one of best action movies out there.
Dolph Lundgren is back with Direct Action.
Dolph plays Frank Gannon a Veteran cop who is assigned a new partner played by Polly Shannon the Two now must fight a group of corrupt cops drug lords and other scum.
Direct action is fun film that doesn't take itself to seriously.
Other reviews say that the action is boring I thought the action was Cool and stylish with well staged shoot outs and cool fight scenes And good characters Dolph's character is a hard as nails chewing gum Loving cop who is incorruptible and Conrad Dunn is a good bad guy.
To round up the review Direct action is a cool little action flick To watch on a boring rainy day 9 out of 10..
In Direct Action Dolph is an LA cop about to expose the rampant police corruption that surrounds his precinct every day.Before he can testify his fellow cops decide he is better of sleeping with the fishes,which puts Dolph into survival mode and on the run.Will he survive in the end?I think we already know that.Direct action is the 2nd pairing of Lundgren and veteran Director Sidney J.
Furie.Both quite capable here.The plot has been done countless times.The supporting cast is okay.Polly Shannon does pretty well here.But what nearly sinks Direct action is over-Ambition.The budget for this was clearly too low.The movie ends up looking way TOO cheap for its own good.The script while okay,has its fill of clichés and twists that you can see coming a mile away.On the plus side,Dolph gets to demonstrate more of his martial arts prow-less.The fights are pretty good.I think some producer should put up about 10 million or more for the next Lundgren flick.He cannot keep making them so cheap.After all the good things I had heard about DR,It came off as a major disappointment.Its still better than the latest Steven Segal trash.5/10.
Dolph Ludgren is Frank Gannon, a cop who was in the D.A.U (Direct Action Unit) a special unit of elite cops focusing on gang violence, drugs, and prostitution.
Plus he knows I like seeing movies before they're released in the states.
What I saw was a fairly standard cop action drama flick.
But a better than average as far as Dolph Lungren is concerned.
Not a surprise that it went straight to video in the least, as it adds nothing new to the genre at all and the whole film is strictly routine.My Grade: C-.
You know an action movie is going to be horrible if the soundtrack mainly consists of rap.
While watching the opening credits, along with the rap soundtrack, you get treated to all the fighting scenes in the movie so before the movie even starts you've seen pretty much all of the action which is what's supposed to draw you into this movie.
It's too bad Dolph had done this movie, he wants to keep a low profile in the movie industry but this is the absolute wrong way to do it..
It doesn't change the fact that this is another brainless action movie about corruption in police.
The plot has been done countless times before with better results.
The script is full of clichés and twists that you can see coming a mile away."Direct action" looks extremely cheap.
Funny thing - The opening credits feature all the fight sequences and action stunts that you will later see again in the movie.
Also at the beginning of the movie, a thug that Lundgren beats up can be seen wearing a Punisher t-shirt emblazoned with the famous skull design.
Dolph Lundgren played the title role in "The Punisher".All in all it's a typical cheap direct-to-video-action movie.
Dolph Lundgren is one of my favorite B movie actors, so when I got a chance to see his movie "Direct Action", you can be sure that I took it.
In this movie, Lundgren is in fine form, giving a likable and relaxed performance, and giving it his all in the action sequences.
The script has a number of plot holes (if Lundgren's character wants to testify, why doesn't the prosecution give him some protection?), and has a number of twists and turns that will be very familiar to those well versed in B movies.
And while Lundgren gives it his all in the action sequences, the action is directed and edited in a way that never rises above routine.
Dolph Lungren plays an honest cop who is going to testify about police corruption on the force.
Will they spend the rest of the day running from the corrupt cops wanting him dead?
Sure it is predictable (is it a coincidence that one of the dirty cops looks like Al Pacino in Serpico) but it is fun to watch.
You are not going to watch Oscar winning stuff, but it is worth your time to rent this movie out..
Not a very good one but far better than expected.
I was looking forward to Dolph's latest effort especially after waiting over a year since his last release, the completely underwhelming DETENTION.
This one seems to be a return to the films made in the mid-to-late 90s by say Dolph's compatriots like Steven Seagal, Sly Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The story here is basic, a cop confronting corruption in his unit, out to stop them and to stop them from either killing him or discrediting him and clearing his name after the bad guys set him up.
And here Dolph resorts several times to using the karate and related martial arts that he has not used much if at all say in his last picture.
The guys don't say fight for five minutes straight, for example, although I wouldn't mind seeing such fights even though they are never all that real but they are helpful in moving the plots of these flicks along.The action is better here than in the usual Dolph flicks and seems more realistic than say in DETENTION, with both sides getting into the action, Dolph getting hit at one point; and all are better staged and edited, and they look like they fit with the story instead of simply existing.The time factor also helps move it along with Dolph having only one!
day to train his new partner, find out who is behind the corruption and to foil the perpetrators.It is good to see Dolph back and I look forward to the next one..
Despite a low budget-A good action movie.
At the beginning it was a little bit boring, but later on the action started and as I think the story became interesting.
You see bullets flying around but no car is damaged-O.K. this is bad, but what else can you expect from a low budget movie.
At least I must say, that Dolph is making the best out of the fighting scenes.
I have watched many action B movies and I think direct action is one of the good ones.
Sweden Dolph brings the best out of it and he doesn't look like he is now forty-nine.
The title "Direct Action" is good chosen-you will be surprised.
pure action, Dolph kicks ass in this.
direct action is the best Dolph lundgren vehicle since hidden agenda, and although it isn't as good or smart as that movie, direct action delivers just pure fighting and gun battles that lets Dolph do what Dolph does best, kicks ass, there is some kind of plot about police corruption but i wont go into it, but as an action film this delivers the goods, sure it isn't a masterpiece and the low budget shows at times, the amount of quality action on show here, more than makes up for it.
all in all a solid Dolph lundgren movie that delivers what wev'e all come to expect from the action star and he does disappoint here.
Direct (to video) Action.
I suspect, much like other has-been action-heroes such as Seagal and Norris, that he is intending to carry on with these pale and low budget imitations of other, more successful movies, until he goes toes-up.Not that Direct Action is awful in the way that the last few Seagal films have been.
Why do they not accept that their time has gone and either go do something else, or if they must stay in film, at least try something more suitable?
Anyway, Direct Action is standard cop action fare.
It is let down somewhat embarrassingly by the opening credits, which feature all the fight sequences and action stunts that you will later see again in the movie.
Perhaps they thought that, by showing you the good bits first, it might encourage you to stay and sit through the whole film?
Anyway, what you see during the opening credits is what you get later on, so if you are on a tight schedule (or just plain can't stand to watch anymore) then you can leave at any time safe in the knowledge that you've seen all the fun parts.Inexplicably, the worst acting of the film probably has to go to the chick who played Dolph's cop partner's wife.
I could be kind and suggest that these scenes were filmed first and that she hadn't read the script properly, thus not knowing her husband was supposed to have just died, but that would probably be giving the script way too much credit.Anyway, the movie isn't great.