Crisis in the Kremlin

My review was written in July 1992 after watching the movie on New Horizons video cassette.

The attempted coup in 1991 in the former Soviet Union is fodder for an okay low-budget actioner "Crisis in the Kremlin". Originally titled "Red Target", pic benefits from atmospheric location filming.

Robert Rusler toplines aws a young CIA agent who's sent from Moscow to Vilnius to foil a supposed plot by Lithuanian freedom fighters to kill Gorbachev. Quickly it's learned that evil Soviet Gen. Chernov (Borris Loukanov) is behind the plot, with an honest Lithuanian boy Vlad (Doug Wert) chosen as the hitman.

Amidst some exciting chase scenes shot in Bulgaria, Russia and Germany, Rusler teams up with Vlad's sister-in-law Yanina (Denise Bixler) to head off the killer. Theodore Bikel guest stars as a former KGB operative.

Vlad's escapes are unbelievable, mainly inserted to keep the pot boiling. A happy ending is contrived that reflects the increasing difficulty of finding suitable bad guys in post-Cold War thrillers.

Jponathan Winfrey, who's worked his way up in Roger Corman's Concorde school of filmmaking, directs competently and humorlessly. Cast is adequate though several supporting players are crudely dubbed.

Note to film makers: When making a film staring two little known actors, make sure they don't look so much alike that it's difficult to tell them apart.

I see now that they have made a few movies, but I didn't recognize anyone in the film. At first I thought "why is he talking with an accent now?", it took awhile before I could tell the difference between the two main guys. Other than that, it was worth the 49 cents I spent to rent the movie (I can't say that about all movies).

Some of it was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria. I don't see too many films shot in Bulgaria, so it was kind of cool to see scenery other than the standard L.A., New York, London etc.

It has a fair amount of action, and actually has a plot. There are a few lame scenes, but I've seen worse. Overall, it's worth seeing if you have four bits and some time kill.