Silent Trigger

This film felt like a mix of LA FEMME NIKITA, another early '90s piece, and BLADERUNNER, in both aesthetics, mood, and plot elements. The whole 'crawling-around-in-shafts-and-elevators' reminded me of DIE HARD, as well. This film has a welcome female presence, unlike Die Hard. I found this film very enjoyable. The endless rain and lighting, as well as just '90s vibes, were enough to make me keep watching. I found the repeated flashbacks to a previous mission bothersome to the narrative present; I thought the opening scene was enough to establish the relationship between Gina Bellman and Lundgren, although they did a good job maintaining the tension between them throughout the film. On a side note, people forget how gritty the '90s were, and this film shows that (not that people were sniping each other all the time), similar to La Femme Nikita. I have yet to see Russel Mulcahy's HIGHLANDER (I have the VHS on my shelf!) nor have I seen any other Dolph Lundgren films, but watching this one made me want to see all his other films. I don't know what else to say, except the opening music rocks, the CGI is bad (typical '90s), and it was confusing why such a large, important tower would have been left vacant like that. Now, if you don't mind, I have some unfinished industrial buildings to climb around in.

The best part of this movie is it's set pieces. It definitely gives off a Die Hard 2 vibe. Dolph Lundgen does a great job in the game of cat and mouse between his character as well as Christopher Heyerdahl's creepy character. When the two are together the scenes are intense and a good time. U fortunately, the poor writing in this film keeps this film from being distinctive from other action films. Nevertheless, this is a great action film and if you were looking for something to watch you won't waste your time.

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. So he thinks he is being set up. Also, there are two nosy watchmen (Conrad Dunn and Christopher Heyerdahl) to deal with. Revisited this Dolph action vehicle in proper widescreen and still enjoyed it quite a bit. Widescreen seems essential due to director Russell Mulcahy's great sense of style. The main building is a great location with tons of atmosphere thanks to the rain drenched night. All of the acting is good with Bellman sporting a really unique accent. It looks they were totally trying to do the Anne Parillaud hit woman thing with her. Heyerdahl plays a completely over-the-top druggie scumbag, but it works and we even get a bizarre bit where he sees spider hallucinations. He recently snagged a gig in the TWILIGHT movies. The action is all well staged and quite bloody for the time. There is also a unique Deep Forest-esque score. Mulcahy did a couple of more features (TALE OF THE MUMMY, RESURRECTION) before going into TV nearly full-time with a few features here and there. His most recent work is on MTV's TEEN WOLF. *sad face*

This movie was a very pleasant surprise. I figured it was just a BIG turkey, but no. Silent trigger is a very styleful actionflick. Nice photography and a cool storyline, and Dolph delivers (yeah).

An unusual actionmovie and Dolphs best too date.

Dolph Lundgren's 1996 vehicle here is a pretty unique production. A 90s action-thriller with heavy existentialist aspirations, the feature manages to attain most of its ambitions via the surprisingly careful touch of director Russell Mulcahy. 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. The first time I saw it, I thought of how easily this could have been turned into a play. There are only four prominent cast members, all generally inhabiting a single location, and there is an emphasis on character scenes with few action highlights. Sergio Altieri's screenplay mixes a typical action premise with heavy doses of noir and a touch of absurdity, creating a micro-world wherein alien codes of conduct are natural and the namelessness of characters is taken for granted. Though Russell Mulcahy can be a heavy-handed director, he's very in tune with Altieri's story and manages to create a tense, intimate atmosphere that's oftentimes more chilling than his attempts at horror have been. 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. It's pretty sparse, but what's there tends to adrenalize. The worst of these scenes is the single brawl that Lundgren had with sadistic coke-fiend Christopher Heyerdahl, but the best scenes involve the use of Lundgren's unique sniper rifle. 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. The uneven nature of these gunfights, combined with their infrequency, may understandably leave some action fans unfulfilled, particularly if the story is not to their liking either. 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.