Commando d'élite

'Command Performance' is not a very demanding movie, although saving the Russian President is a commanding act itself. No one expects some meaningful and profound movie when they sit down to watch a Dolph Lungren action movie. This movie is alright for a low budget straight to DVD action piece to spend an hour and a half with. Dolph is at his best, but the film itself is just not very original. Or anything special either. Only this time the savior of the day is a drummer with the combat skills of special ops soldier. The film is nicely paced and Dolph does a good job as a director. Some of the supporting actors seemed wooden, but that doesn't take away any attention from the main attraction - and that is Dolph Lundgren rocking and loading.

A ludicrous, but passable action flick that is quite enjoyable.

When the Russian Premier is taken hostage at a rock concert in Moscow, it's up to a drummer, an ex-biker, to save him.

This movie has everything a good action movie should have... Minor plot holes, mostly physically plausible action, and some pretty good dialog, including some actually funny stuff.

Dolph is not the greatest actor, but he did a pretty well Job.

The surroundings are tight, claustrophobic, making the action quick, rough, frantic. When Dolph takes someone on in a fight, he goes in fast and hard, using any weapons he can at hands.

Once the action kicks in, the pace of cutting picks up as well. But more-so, the tightly editing helps hide the small budget. The lighting is natural. It enhances the production value of the film. The opening of the film really establishes the style of it brilliantly. It's well shot, and very well edited.

A must see for fans of good action-cinema!

I really loved Dolph Lundgren's action flick from the late 80s & early 90s and i must admit that i stopped watching his last years's works because of the direction they took and their quality. I started missing him nowadays and i was happy when came across this title,wanted to watch a movie with him no matter if it's mediocre. What a great & pleasant surprise!He did put something on the table this time! The plot is simple,there aren't big twists - we have the classic 'die hard scenario' at a concert organized in Moscow by the Russian president who wants to satisfy his daughters's wish to see their idols sing live;as the party gets warmed,the theater gets stormed by terrorists starting to kill people and take hostages - and instead of John Mclane we get Joe,'the drummer',member of a rock-band who is forced by the situation...to 'have some fun'. It captures you from the first minutes because it has heart,a strange satirical style(sometimes it does give the feeling that it's a tribute to this genre) and a lead character with who Lungdren knows exactly what he wants(he writes,stars and directs it) making him multi-dimensional. In some places it's bloody as hell and violent,even gory - while remaining brutally real it manages to be funny on edges too and i think that's while it's working so good - we want Joe,'The Drummer' to take his time and 'clear the mess' with style and he doesn't disappoint. It's a fun ride!thanks,Dolphie.

Lundgren won't win any originality awards for the script he wrote for "Command Performance". As you probably guessed by just reading the plot description of the movie, this movie is a rip-off of "Die Hard". But there are also elements of the "Die Hard" rip-offs "Under Siege" and "Sudden Death" - making this movie a rip-off of rip-offs! Also, the climatic action scene rips off the climax of "Commando".

So this story of this movie isn't very original. But I was entertained neverless. For starters, the production values are very good. Although this was a low budget movie, it looks very glossy and expensive at times. Lundgren's direction of the movie is good as well. He gives a lot of the movie a cinema-verite look, making it feel like we are seeing something that is "live" instead of staged and rehearsed. As for the action, Lundgren delivers the goods in these scenes as well. A lot of blood gets squirted, there are some exciting moments, and there are a couple of deaths done in ways I've never seen in a movie before.

There are a few minor quibbles I have with the movie. Lundgren's character is somewhat thin, speaking very little and not revealing too much of his past. The accents of some of the foreign actors are thick at times and make their dialogue sometimes hard to make out. (And some of the actors are obviously dubbed.) But overall, if you are wanting to see this formula again, this movie does the formula in an above average manner.

In a new movie which is written, directed and stars Dolph Lundgren, he plays the part of 'Joe' a very loud rock drummer. The story is that of a modern Russian President and his two daughters visit a rock concert given for charity. Once the concert begins in high volume, a rouge band of revenge seeking militarists, invade the music hall and begin killing everyone and anyone trying to stop them. Taking hostages, they demand a huge ransom or they will begin killing off their prisoners. What the killers did not count on was a novice secret service presidential guard and an ex-biker, and extremely physically gifted street fighter. Together, they take on the militants and hold them till the Red Army can rescue their president. It's somewhat reminiscent of 'Die Hard' Russian style. The movie is filled with lots of dramatic action, good physical exciting scenes and lots of explosive mayhem. For Lundgren, he still packs a wallop and is good throughout the film, although one wonders if the audience can see the great man is showing his age. Still it's a good movie for his fans as they watch the real-life Drummer take on the bad guys. ****