Au-dessus de la loi

A predictable but exciting action vehicle for Lundgren, which plays more like a road movie than anything else. Although we've seen it all before, ARMY OF ONE offers up plenty of action from car chases in the desert (always a good thing) to a huge, John Woo-inspired shootout in a warehouse plus the expected fist-fights and more. All combine to make a satisfying, easy-viewing movie experience.

Lundgren here has one of his better roles and is actually required to act in some scenes, as well as being his usual hardman self. He's given good support by George Segal as the dastardly villain, Kristian Alfonso as a tough hostage he takes who also turns out to be a cop, Geoffrey Lewis as good-natured Sheriff, and the familiar Michael Paul Chan as a slimy, Chinese fellow villain. Horror fans may want to look out for DAWN OF THE DEAD's Ken Foree who is killed in the first scene but reappears throughout the movie.

Although things do take a while to get going, and it takes time to get to know (and like) the main characters, ARMY OF ONE has some excellent action towards the end. The aforementioned warehouse shootout is very violent and well-staged, and most impressive. The "speeding cars through the desert" scene is sufficiently exciting, and the expected showdown between Lundgren and the chief baddie at the end holds the attention. In all, a good time-waster, and one of Lundgren's better movies.

Army of One is a very awesome action movie. Dolph Lundgren is a very good actor and this is one of my favorite movies. I highly recommend it to any action fan on the planet. The movie has good actors and actresses, and has great plot to it. Any action fan who turns it down without watching it first is CRAZY!

Dolph Lundgren as Santee does not do much talking but makes up for it with action. Santee is a convicted cop killer who was framed by Det. Severence played by George Segal. Santee manages to escape during transport and kidnaps Rita Marrick who unknown to Santee is an off-duty cop herself. Now the action begins as Santee sets out to get revenge against Severence while at the same time is being hunted by Severence and the whole states police force. Who will get Santee first, Severence & company or Marrick the off-duty cop.

I bumped casually to this movie a couple years ago. It was on a hot summer night and I had problems in falling asleep. So I turned on the TV and I found this movie when it hadn't begun yet. And it was surprised at how much I liked it since it has a score of 5,7 on IMDB.

Wellman Santee (Dolph Lundgren) plays a former race car driver who has turned to a life of crime and one day he is assigned to transport exotic stolen cars with his buddy Eddie. However during the trip they find some policemen and there is a shootout. Eddie is killed and Santee is taken in prison. After a while Santee manages to escape and takes hostage Rita Marrick, without knowing that she is an undercover policewoman. After escaping in the desert and even making a visit to the wife of the police lieutenant that arrested him (George Segal) he'll have the final stand with Lt. Severance and Rita will manage to prove his innocence.

I had previously liked Dolph Lundgren in some of his movies (like the EXPENDABLES franchise) and I was surprised at how much he was good in this movie. He has also a slew of one liners and makes quite a good pair with Kristian Alfonso. George Segal as the villain is very effective and I was surprised since he usually plays comedic characters. There are some very good shots throughout the movie of the Sierra Nevada desert and of the South West of California. The soundtrack is good and it reflects a lot the period the movie was filmed (beginning of the 1990s).

Don't expect a masterpiece or an Academy Award nominated movie if you bump in this one. Just expect one of those ''Turn off your brain and enjoy'' movies perfect for one lazy afternoon.

Dolph Lundgren is a true action star, one of those one man army vehicles for Lundgren to leave a constant wave of destruction. Watch as things go BOOM! "Joshua Tree" is pure simplicity in its plotting and conventional with the surprises, but the blistering action (gotta love the spectacular set-pieces of Lundgren giving his shotgun a good workout) is extremely well staged and the pacing is high-octane. This is what you ask for and it delivers in spades.

Wellman Anthony Santee is a trucker who's framed for the murder of a highway patrol man that pulled him over in a smuggling job gone wrong. Over a year later escaping an attempt on his life, he kidnaps a lady (who unknowingly to him is a cop) and flees. Now Santee is seeking revenge for those who betrayed him and killed his best pal. However these folks have authority and are using this power to get their man.

For an on-the-run narrative, the momentum is consistent (despite some lulls with some moralistic babble and dramatics) and there are some excitingly dangerous high speed car chases which are expertly shot within beautifully open, baking hot desert / mountainous backdrop. Director Vic Armstrong (who's an excellent stuntman) gallantly engineers a durable actioner, where he packs bloody carnage (slow-mo anybody?) while also chipping in with a sense of humour ("Is there an off switch to your mouth."). While Joel Goldsmith's music score scorches along. Performances are spot on. Lundgren is a hard-shell, Kristian Alfonso looks comfortable and George Segal shows ticker as the corrupt officer who's on the trail. There's also good support by Beau Starr and Geoffrey Lewis.

Black and white action yarn, but effective nonetheless especially when it's romancing us on its violently meaty encounters.