Pentathlon
- 1994
- Tous publics
- 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
4.4/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
An Olympic gold medalist escapes to freedom in the US, only to be tracked down by his sadistic ex-coach.An Olympic gold medalist escapes to freedom in the US, only to be tracked down by his sadistic ex-coach.An Olympic gold medalist escapes to freedom in the US, only to be tracked down by his sadistic ex-coach.
Featured reviews
Pentathalon is absolutely hilarious, Dolph definitely at his prime. So many ridiculous scenes from the trashcan window throw to Brogar run. I have gotten so much enjoyment from this film i feel i should pay Dolph. I am still curious as to why Dolph flushes the toilet after I think it's Offerman gets beat up over the toilet. Do not take this movies seriously though because its just worth it to actually think about it.Hutch from the old Starsky and Hutch is the old Nazi guy who you can't understand a single word he says because he is so crazy. Its also great because Bruce Malmuth stars in it as well in which he also wrote the story for. This was definitely the movie that made Dolph more passionate about making such hilarious films.
Guilty pleasure, all the way! I can't put down this movie cause it was a lot of fun to watch it, the director kept it simple, with some wrong doings but those can be excused. It's generic and almost dumb but you'll feel good through the whole thing.
"Pentathlon" transforms Dolph Lundgren (oh, in the 1990's, the best of times to watch him!) into a super gold medalist during the Cold Era who defects from East Germany to the U.S., much to the anger of his demanding coach (David Soul), during the Seul Olympics. Living in America, he's a complete nobody, working as a cook but with the help of his boss he has a chance to return to his passion: being an athlete But after the collapse of the Soviet regime and the reunification of Germany, the coach - now allied with a Neonazi group - goes to America to join Nazi group in America, and if possible, to recruit his former athlete to the cause (terrorism, obviously).
I think you've already drowned into the amount of absurd throw in just this basic plot line, but to hell with it. As an action flick is quite good, except for the insanely goofs here and there (the one with the gun is amazingly laughable, with the bad using a Walter PPK-like pistol that sounds like a revolver and with a silencer that doesn't work), and some shameless plot holes as well - what bothered me the most was the inconsistence concerning David Soul's character. How in the world someone so loyal to the Communism becomes part of a Nazi group? Nevermind. Works better as a comedy vehicle with positive scenes with Dolph's boss turned to coach, played by Roger E. Mosley. Laughs are granted with this dude. And if neither that can help you, at least the movie offers a quality camera work capturing the splendid and hunky leading man.
A severe case of a movie so bad that it's good. Enjoy it. 6/10
"Pentathlon" transforms Dolph Lundgren (oh, in the 1990's, the best of times to watch him!) into a super gold medalist during the Cold Era who defects from East Germany to the U.S., much to the anger of his demanding coach (David Soul), during the Seul Olympics. Living in America, he's a complete nobody, working as a cook but with the help of his boss he has a chance to return to his passion: being an athlete But after the collapse of the Soviet regime and the reunification of Germany, the coach - now allied with a Neonazi group - goes to America to join Nazi group in America, and if possible, to recruit his former athlete to the cause (terrorism, obviously).
I think you've already drowned into the amount of absurd throw in just this basic plot line, but to hell with it. As an action flick is quite good, except for the insanely goofs here and there (the one with the gun is amazingly laughable, with the bad using a Walter PPK-like pistol that sounds like a revolver and with a silencer that doesn't work), and some shameless plot holes as well - what bothered me the most was the inconsistence concerning David Soul's character. How in the world someone so loyal to the Communism becomes part of a Nazi group? Nevermind. Works better as a comedy vehicle with positive scenes with Dolph's boss turned to coach, played by Roger E. Mosley. Laughs are granted with this dude. And if neither that can help you, at least the movie offers a quality camera work capturing the splendid and hunky leading man.
A severe case of a movie so bad that it's good. Enjoy it. 6/10
As someone who's seen almost 30 of Dolph's movies I have to say this is one of the standouts from his filmography. Most of the movies he makes are quite entertaining and simple, mostly existing for Dolph to kill a bunch of guys and save the day. This one is quite different as it's probably the most ridiculous movie he's ever made. It's even more ridiculous than Bridge of Dragons which exists in some weird alternate fantasy universe where all the countries in the world have merged. In Pentathlon Dolph is an Olympic athlete who competes for East Germany and after certain circumstances force his hand, he flees to America. However, despite him trying to get away from everything and start a new life his communist coach has other ideas in mind and tracks Dolph with the intent of killing him! If that doesn't sound amazing then you should skip this movie. But if it does sound great you should give it a watch as the movie gets even better later on, especially in the last act which is absolutely incredible in its absurdity.
Being a big Dolph Lundgren fan, I was surprised to see a completely different side of him in this one, portraying him as being a pathetic, injured burnout who flips burgers for a living, while walking down dark alleys with no company beside his portable TV and his beer. When he is menaced by a group of hoodlums, they laugh at him when his trick knee gives out and he can't chase them. This struck me as being very odd, because it was Dolph acting like a regular guy, rather than the sarcastic killing machines he's typecast as. Sadly, as enjoyable as all of the footage of him being a loser (and his inspiring comeback into grade-A Pentathalon runner material), it sort of abruptly switches gears, turning into one of his usual action movies with a nonsense subplot involving neo-Nazis. It's a shame that the whole thing couldn't have been like the first two acts, or this would be by far his best performance, in a close tie with GR13 from Universal Soldier.
I found this movie a big disappointment. This is sad because it has good actors, good production values and a fine plot. But after awhile it just becomes another dull thriller that runs out of ideas. Dolph is the German gold medalist in the pentathlon who flees to America to get away from his mad Nazi coach (David Soul). Some years later, his coach comes after him and the action starts. David Soul is very good as the coach, and plays the part menacingly and convincingly. Dolph is very good in his role too, and gives one of his best performances ever. There are some good action scenes, but apart from that the whole thing begins to go downhill. This was a pity considering it was released after the excellent Army Of One, which I think is Dolph's best movie by far. Pentathlon is still a good flick, just not as good as I expected. It's still a great movie to watch to kill time. Overall I would recommend you get Army Of One instead though, it's much better.
Did you know
- TriviaThe Olympic swimming contest was filmed at Pepperdine swimming pool in Malibu.
- GoofsTwo sound errors concerning one of the henchman's gun. He is carrying a pistol with a silencer but when he unlocks the weapon, ready to shoot, the gun clicks like a .38 revolver's cylinder, and when he fires at Eric not only the silencer can't be heard - which is supposed to reduce the firing sound - but it sounds like a revolver firing.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Bad Movie Beatdown: Pentathlon (2011)
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 41m(101 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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