Au-dessus de la loi

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.

This undoubtedly, is the best Dolph Lundgren film I've ever seen. You'll have to take into consideration that I'm not a big fan of Mr. Lundgren. This movie had great action scenes. You can tell that John Woo had a strong influence on the producers and directors because one special shootout looked very reminiscent of John Woo's type of filmmaking. This movie also has to feature, I think, one of the best car chases in a straight to home video film ever. It's sad that movies like these don't get highly promoted or promoted at all, therefore they become lost in the film world, where nobody discovers them for the true action movies that they really are. Watch this movie, you will not be dissapointed.

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.

This movie surprised me. You don't expect much when you starts watching movie with Dolph Lundgren. But this turn out to be a great action-flick. The thing that is worst (as always in this kind of productions) is the acting. Dolph is bad, he just sits there with his stone-face and looks concentrated. Kristian Alfonson looks good but she can't act so well.

But the moments of action in the movie is good. The shooting is pretty much belieavble, except the shooting of chineses at the end. The car chase is a great piece of work but what can you expect when the director has made action-scenes in Tomorrow Never Dies, Starship Troopers and Total Recall.

See it and enjoy it.

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.