Action superstar Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, Universal Soldier) directs and stars in THE RUSSIAN SPECIALIST, an explosive and fast-paced action-thriller.

Lundgren plays Nick Cherenko, a former Special Forces soldier forced to leave his home in Russia and escape to Los Angeles when ruthless gangsters kill his wife and son. Living a simple life as an auto mechanic, Nick is offered a hefty reward to go back to Russia to retrieve a wealthy woman's kidnapped daughter. Nick is not interested, until he finds out that the kidnapper is the same mob boss who killed his family.

Ever since I first saw the hulking Ivan Drago on the big screen as a kid, I've been a massive fan of Dolph Lundgren. Subsequent turns in such fare as "Masters of the Universe," "The Punisher" and "Universal Soldier" cemented his placement at the top of the action genre in mine eyes. In fact, for a period of time in the early days of the Internet, I admit to running the most popular fan site for the guy - trust me, he has a rabid global audience of fans!

As such, I was quite enthusiastic to review this film, as it's not only an R-rated action flick starring Mr. Lundgren, but he also came up with the story AND directed it, so I was very curious to see what he could bring to a film behind the camera (in addition to being in front of it). The end result is a film that I really, really enjoyed - truth be told, while Lundgren always turns in top-notch performances, some of his recent films could not be considered "good" films. Thankfully, "The Russian Specialist" does not fall into that rut and is genuinely a good action flick - it's an R (and a pretty hard "R" at that) with lots of realistic gun battles and fight sequences. For example, when someone gets shot, there is blood (usually lots of it) - there's none of this boom-fall-down stuff you see in some flicks. In this one, if someone gets shot, you know it and it's very realistic.

I also was suitably impressed with some of the cinematography - the opening sequence of flying over a forest into a small Russian village was actually breathtaking, and the closing scene (filmed underwater) was something I'd never seen before in any film, let along a straight-to-DVD action flick, so lots of approving nods for Dolph the Director as well.

All in all, an excellent bit of action fare, easy to recommend.

Interesting aside: CalgaryMovies.com is currently trying to sync up an interview with Mr. Lundgren for the release of this film - attempt #1 didn't work out, so stay tuned to see if we're able to connect with him!

Video: How's it look?
The film gets a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen treatment and looks quite good overall. While there is a bit of compression artifacting evident in some of the darker scenes, these are minimal and few & far between, and the film itself is presented with a great-looking & stylized colour palette, sharp detail and some excellent cinematography throughout.

Audio: How's it sound?
A very robust and dynamic Dolby 5.1 surround mix is provided on this disc, with clear dialogue, speaker-rattling gunshots and explosions and a well-selected soundtrack that blends in and enhances the entertainment on-screen.

Extras: What all's on the DVD?

• trailers

Closing Thoughts
Top-notch action flick + no extras = solid entertainment for those looking for a no-holds-barred shoot-'em-up and/or Dolph Lundgren kicking ass & taking names