O Defensor - Protegendo o Inimigo

And the time has shown that the movies both directed and starred by Lundgren are usually better than those he just starred (with the exception of Rocky and The Expendables, however). The plots have more advised scenes are there are less stupid or unrealistic moments characteristic to all low-budget thrillers. And Lundgren just likes East, whether the Far one (South Asia), Middle one (Arab countries) or the closer one (so-called Eastern Europe)... Here, the action takes place mainly in Romania, with the strong links to the Arab peninsula. And several twists and turns - and definitely plenty of gunshots, explosions and dead bodies... And a political mess in the background.

Dolph Lundren is good as always, but it was a surprise to see Jerry Springer as the US president. And not bad at all! The other characters were not especially catchy.

Watch this 1'20" minutes creation if you like Lundgren, nothing to be ashamed about.

Two interesting facts – it's Lundgren's first movie as a director and Jerry Springer plays the president of United States. Dolph has to protect the president from the terrorists. That's all the plot . Well , not really , the movie makers do try to tell us some kind of story , but is just boring and predictable . The big twist ? Some people want to keep war going because it's a good business . Unless you're as intelligent as Forrest Gump that shouldn't be a surprise to you. Also Lundgren's back story seems to be made only to make the movie longer. It doesn't have any connection to the main plot whatsoever.

The movie is mostly one shootout after another in big castle. The characters have no personality . The acting aside Springer is non-existent. There is plenty of action but it's so empty because the meager plot that exists makes such little sense.

Only for die-hard Lundgren fans. I give it 1/10.

To be fair- I loved him in the Rocky 4 and Creed II. So from the early days until now. He was upgraded to B-Level actor! But I have to give this one a 2/10. Once you see Jerry Springer- 2 stars is all you get from me!

I must BREAK YOU!

I'd read somewhere that Dolph Lundgren got into directing a few years ago, when the next in a long line of straight-to-DVD cookie cutter action movies had its director get sick, so Ivan Drago himself just stepped in and took the reins. Then I forgot about the movie for four years.

I'm flipping channels today, and see the first two names in the credits: Dolph Lundgren ... and JERRY SPRINGER. I make a bet with myself to watch it until Springer shows up, and Springer is playing the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

With all this going for it, it should be one of the grandest movies of the 21st century. Except, no.

While not the worst movie I've ever seen, nor the worst action sequences I've ever seen, the action is still choppy, shot from entirely too close a range to see what's going on. The acting isn't terrible (except Dolph, though he's only required to stand there and look chiseled), but the plot is telegraphed in every scene. Every good guy that turns out later to be shady, acts shady the moment they come on screen. Every character who is going to die, the camera lingers on them long enough to give them extra footage for future demo reels. And Dolph's character is named "Lance Rockford." Seriously. I am not making this up.

Every action sequence is essentially the same, just a whole lot of bullet sound-effects and nothing interesting to look at or remember. There was some mumbo-jumbo at the beginning where Lance Rockford was a POW in his past, as if to explain that the character is damaged or something. It's completely unnecessary, as is about 45 minutes of the movie. By the time Lance Rockford is faced with a crucial moral dilemma, I honestly don't see how anyone watching it could care.

There are better places for your action fix, and better places for your Dolph fix. It's currently averaging around a 5.0 on IMDb, which is about right. It's by no means worth a theatrical release, but nor is it Uwe-Boll-quality, either. Guns fire, people shout a lot, and you'll find yourself getting bored when you're not studying the scars from Dolph's face-lifts. But hey, Jerry Springer plays the bad guy, so that's worth a bonus point.

5/10

I don't like action movies all too much but I got this film and it was very good. I haven't seen many Dolph Lundgren movies except Rocky 4 and He-man but El Protector was a very good film. If all his films are like this I shall watch more.

The idea is quite good, involving terrorists and quite brave for todays current situations. The film has a strong plot which helps because it is almost all action. It never stops. Lot's of gunfights, punching and kicking and explosions. This is good fun.

Dolph Lundgren is quite a good actor for the genre he works in I must admit. He's still also in excellent shape considering Rocky 4 was 20 years ago.

I also must say I liked the music. I am a musician myself and would like to get into the movie industry through that, and the score in this film is interesting.

This is overall a good movie, worth your time.