The Mechanik

Dolph's first directing effort, The Defender, was a nice little action piece. Granted, the movie was low budget, but there was enough enthusiasm and excitement to make it worthwhile.

The Russian Specialist,aka The Mechanik, as it should be called; is a distinct step UP for Dolph. His direction is incredibly assured for someone who's only directed one other movie.

I won't go into story specifics here because everybody already knows what this about. However, I will go into the production and performances.

Dolph has changed as an actor. He's matured, he's confident in his skin. That is half the battle, and he wins bigtime.

Ben Cross is the comedy relief/dramatic Brit. He's one of the film's better assets.

The rest of the performers are more than adequate. The villains in particular, are slimy and nasty. It's a good thing they're slaughtered in such a brutal fashion!!! The script for this film, while hardly original, is pretty good for low budget fare like this. It pushes all the right buttons at the right time. The dialog is also quite good.

Dolph, the director, is in very good form. His style is loose and fluid. Think Tony Scott meets John Woo and you're on the right track.

The score by Elia Cmiral is haunting when it needs to be and tense when the crap hits the fan. Which brings us to the action set pieces.

Although they're not numerous, the action scenes are well done and VIOLENT! Dolph pulls no punches with this flick. The deaths come fast, hard and furious! Overall, this little film is quite good. I eagerly await the next Dolph film. To those who have not checked out this film and The Defender, I recommend you do so.

This is actually one of the few western movies about Russia and Russians that is not following official propaganda lines like "Russians-are-bad-people" or "bears-walking-in-the-streets-of-Moscow". More modern are for sure something like "no-freedom-of-speech" or "Putin-killed-that-London-spy" :)

Anyway, this flick is NOT anything of that mentioned above. This is a story about crime, that's sure, but the movie is very objective with quite OK script and even not that bad acting. And it's actually filmed in Russia, not Prague or other places that would "look-like-Russia" for western viewers. :) There is just one major miss - once again Hollywood failed to find some Russians to play the parts of Russians :) - but hiring Bulgarians is still better that just having Americans pronouncing something completely ridiculous that should sound like "Russian" :)

Funny, once more "The Big Swedish" - Dolph - is playing a Russian guy. :) :) Only this time a good one :)

Dolph Lundgren stars as Nikolai a Russian special forces officer who takes vengeance on the (russian) mobsters who killed his family, assuming that the killer is dead, he works as a mechanic however when he is asked to help a European heiress, Nikolai needs little convincing when he finds out that the man who took her is the same man who killed his family in this fairly engaging straight to DVD release.

Dolph Lundgren has always been one of the more engaging action stars in the market and he certainly crafts excellent action scenes (Especially the climax) but where as The Defender had more twists and satisfying punch,this one is let down by a screenplay that is too mediocre to really work.

Still this is above average for the genre and despite a few silly moments, The Russian Specialist works fairly well. Also fans of Lundgren who wanted a sequel to Red Scorpion, here you go.

Matt Bronson 2.5/5

I've never been much of a Lundgren fan, with my preferred viewing being Norris and Seagal, with also Van Damme too. But to my surprise, during a DTV rampage of these guys (The Hard Corps, Shadow Man and also the Cutter too) Dolph's film the Mechanik was by a long, long, way the best of the bunch. I've fallen by the wayside a little in recent years, and haven't kept up to much with the action boys, but when your in the mood, your in the mood. Anyway The Mechanik was fantastic. It's a simple storyline, and a simply delivered film, but it promises something, and delivers. The result is a violent, dirty and damn fun action movie. It's a great little regression to 70's and 80's action films. I also understand it was shot on a fraciton of the budgets of Chuck's, Stevens and Jean Claudes, movies and still manages to look the most expensive too.

Lundgren too gives a solid performance and looks in great shape. In fact dare I say it the other guys like either old, tired or overweight (all three in Seagal's case). Lundgren looks fresh and in great shape. Ben Cross was really good. That guy should have been a bigger star, a really good actor if anyone's seen his earlier work.

On the negative side, the girl in the movie seems little more than a pointless inclusion to aid the bloodshed, and the bad guy is a little too "hey look at me I'm the bad guy!" After all though, it's expected from this sort of film so it's not a big problem. I also wasn't too sure what was with all the dissolves either, but on the most part this film is directed with assurance and a great sense of pace, and of course directed by Dolph himself! This film really acts as a showcase for Dolph Lundgren. It's the Dolph show, and it's a good show. It brought back fond memories of cool Peckinpah movies. Good work Dolph!

The Mechanik is a solid bare-bones action movie. If amazing special effects and an all-star cast are required to enjoy a movie, look elsewhere.

Nick Cherenko (Lundgren) previously of the Russian special forces, has his family brutally killed by Russian Mobsters. Now he is offered a reward to recover the daughter of a millionaire, forced into prostitution by the same men. The plot is a no-brainer, its a simple revenge story which has been done a thousand times. While the acting varies, the locations give a real presence in the film. Wide soviet countryside and wartorn villages help thicken the atmosphere.

Action is paced, with some nicely executed shootouts. The violence is depicted as gritty - bricks chip and windows shatter as mercenaries fall. Deaths come with an abundance of blood and gore.

Overall, an entertaining flick with nice camera work and solid action. One of the better Dolph movies.