The Last Patrol

Sadly this is a mess. Probably being generous with 4/10 Closer to 3.5/10 but I did manage to sit through it.

In large part due to Dolph Lundgren who holds the film together for the most part.

He is let down by a very poor support cast (the leading lady in this is absolutely terrible) and a plot that is very confusing.

This film is largely a disappointment as on paper a team up with Sheldon Lettich and Dolph Lundgren should have provided a fun action packed movie! I mean Sheldon Lettich and JCVD did A. W. O. L (Lionheart) and Double Impact together.

Also this was not long after he made Only the Strong with Mark Dacascos.

All 3 decent action movies.

This pales in comparison.

Apparently there was a lot of problems behind the scenes and rumour has it Sheldon Lettich actually walked away from this movie but it is yet to be confirmed.

I would not recommend this even for die hard Dolph fans.

1/5 stars. Avoid.

(2000) The Last Warrior/ The Last Patrol SCIENCE-FICTION ACTION

Dystopian movie which it is not gasoline that brings the world upside down like it does on "Mad Max 2" or diseases that can turn people into ghouls or zombies like "I Am Legend" or "24 Days Later", to "Zombieland" but in this movie, it is earthquakes leading to people living in hot deserts.

As it centers on two different compounds, one managed by.captain sergeant, Nick Preston (Dolph Lundgren) along with his two trusted keepers of captain Sarah McBride (Sherri Alexander) and Lucky Simcoe (Joe Michael Burke) who has a young wife, Candy (Rebecca Cross) who loves to perform. Other eccentric characters also include Pope, Cooky, Will and Miriam. The other compound is like a prison-like fortress with a gate, led by a fascist wannabe, Jesus/ Jehovah Carrera (Juliano Mer) and his sidekick, Simon Peace. On his compound are men wearing orange prison-like jumpsuits, as they continue to stare at a TV screen or listening to a monitor of or from Jehovah speaking on a microphone stuck behind a production control room facility.

On the first hour is a whole lot of nothing, other than character development, some narrated by the Dolph Lundgren character as he and his two trusted friends go on about searching for things s/he could use, whatever it might be. Sarah McBride tries to contain a horse and it appears has an agenda where she is looking for her co-pilot who she eventually found at the enemy compound. And it is not until the final 25 minutes or so , they realize that some children have been held hostage there along with a lady, with Nick Preston being the first to go there. Very uneven throughout with a few amusing moments that is not enough to hold the movie together.

US Army Captain Nick Preston (Dolph Lundgren) is a relic left over from previous wars. He is left in Fort Edenberg, a military junkyard. Then an earthquake measuring 9.5 hits and California is separated from the U.S. Preston, Marine Sergeant Lucky Simcoe and Air Force Captain Sarah McBride are the only survivors on the base. They are joined by a disparate collection of civilians. There is an epidemic called Q Fever. There is a shortage of water. The prisoners at Nanwong have taken over led by Jesus Carrera.

This is a bad B-movie even considering its intent. The apocalyptic world is just cobbled together with random problems. I don't know what a plague has to do with an earthquake. Even a 9.5 wouldn't turn the world into a dystopia. Dolph Lundgren is not the best actor but he tries. There is some action but it's not shot well. This is a low grade B-movie no matter how you add it up.

The Last Patrol was one of those movies I forced myself to sit through. On pretty much every level I was left disappointed. The plot, the characters, continuity and the ending.

For some reason I had respect for Dolph but after a flick through his filmography I could only obviously recommend Universal Soldier. He was the only element of this production that offered any attraction but, while he went through the motions pretty well, he was surrounded on all sides by the mediocre and the ridiculous.

I'm sure that some of the scenes could maybe have been reworked and the overall plot could maybe have been dragged into more respectable territory but the characters were, overall, poor. Those who were meant to be funny were just annoying and with the possible exception of McBride, there was a general lack of depth.

I just don't understand how these movies make it to DVD - we're obviously not talking big budget here but where's the quality control guys?

If you like DL ( like I do ) you should watch it as he actually carries the entire movie with his decent performance. The other actors are unbelievable bad. Holy smokes they are bad.

The plot is really cool, however, the producers managed to create a bore fest despite such a promising setting.

I enjoyed it, I giggled and I used the fast forward button a lot. Watch it but do not be sad if miss it.