The Defender (2004) Reviews

• Lundgrens finest work to date! Very intriguing!

  supertom-32005-03-22

  Dolph Lundgren takes up directing duties for the first time here and scores a hit! The Defender is a film which remarkably for a B-movie offers some thought provoking ideas. The plot involves political intrigue and corruption but the basic gist is that America wants peace with the international terrorists against them. A secret meeting is set up between the head of NSA and Mohamed Jamar a kind of Sadam/Bin Laden character. Dolph plays Lance Rockford bodyguard and leader of a team of highly trained operatives who look after the head of the NSA. In 91 he thought in the Gulf and was captured and tortured to set an example to America. His torture was ordered from Jamar. So we now have an interesting concept. The meeting takes place in Romania in an empty hotel, a fantastic setting. What happens is that initially Dolph doesn't know who Roberta's Jones (NSA head) is meeting. The meeting is taking place essentially to buy Jamar's invisibility. He cannot be convicted or killed as that would make him a martyr, however if America does nothing they look weak. Buying his invisibility basically means he will never surface again and that America can keep up the pretence that he is being hunted down. So there is now a hotel with a terrorist and the head of the NSA meeting up with bodyguards for each. However this secret meeting is not so secret and they are ambushed. As it turns out by American soldiers, working for a group of traitors who call themselves the patriots group. Including one of the presidents own advisor's, and a senator. They want the meeting to fail, become public and in essence to oust he president and star a war at the same time. There is profit in war it seems. This is an interesting concept in itself but the movie take in an extra interesting twist which you'll have to see for yourself. As a director Dolph does well, raising the question: Why work with so many b-grade hacks in recent years? He does the best directing job since he had the good fortune to work with John Woo in 98 with BlackJack. Lest we not forget that Dolph has worked with some good directors, Woo, Russell Mulcahey, Roland Emmerich, as well as some veterans who although past their best when they worked with Dolph, still must have been useful for picking up tips, for example Sidney Furie, Ted Kotcheff and Bruce Malmuth. The Defender with all it's political intrigue and so called acts of patriotism are comparable to the Bourne films. This is essentially the low budget sibling to those films and although this is inferior, this is still good work. Dolph handles the action well and the action is plentiful with the entire last hour essentially one long action scene. The camera keeps moving creating a real vibrancy and kinetic energy that works well and the action is reality based putting the audience right in there with some great use of sound. The sound design is the best part of this film, strange as that may sound, but it is so well done it really enhances the action. At the same time the editing is tight and this gives the films action a great sense of rhythm and pacing, particularly with some excellent hand-to-hand moments. Cast-wise, Dolph is good in the lead, giving a solid performance. He plays it just right and it's a role that demands subtlety during it's edgier moments. He is ably supported by Caroline Lee-Johnson as Roberta Jones, as well as Shakara Ledard as a female member of Dolph's security teams. The rest of Dolph's team are also good. Particularly good in support is the one and only Jerry Springer as the president! President Springer! How cool would that be? Very methinks! Anyway Jerry is surprisingly good in fact because acting his not his first profession. The film is also blessed with a good score from Adam Norden whose subtle synth based score does not try to recreate a full orchestra, but instead plays to the strengths of the synthesiser and he creates some interesting themes. Also the cinematography from Maxime Alexandre is excellent, making the film look far more polished than Dolph's more recent efforts and giving it the gloss of one Seagal and Van Damme's latest efforts the considerably more expensive Into The Sun and Wake Of Death respectively. The Defender it must be said is also far superior to those films and is a film I would certainly watch at the cinema, even without my main man Dolph in it. It has interesting concepts and is a good action film. I have seen some abysmal films at the cinema like A Man Apart and Collateral Damage, Driven. All with big action stars, yet Defender is a hell of a lot better than those films. It has some integrity and excitement. Overall this is a solid piece and Dolph's fans will be more than happy. Adding to their excitement, Dolph is taking up directing duty in his next film too, with him playing a Russian hit-man in The Mechanik, co-starring Ben Cross (Chariots Of Fire). The Defender is a good watch for any action fan. ***1/2

• Very Good!

  wibwob2005-05-04

  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.

• More than OK for a director debut...

  BeneCumb2012-10-09

  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.

• Boring and unoriginal action movie

  ninoguapo2005-12-17

  I did not like that movie. Probably because it did not offer anything new or interesting – just shooting – there wasn't even a good scenario. As far as the soundtrack goes – it sucked as well with exception of the song they played at the very end. At first I thought that the movie will be interesting as is started with an operation in Iraq – and you know all these terrorist references which seem to be modern these days. But as the story unfolds I have lost my interest and was hardly keeping myself awake till the end of it. I guess I am not really into action films, but even if I was – I doubt that I will like the way the Defender is filmed. There was only one idea which seemed to be true – that some people have interest to keep the wars in the world going. That's why I am going to give two pints for this movie and a warning that seeing it can be a waste of your time.

• Defending President Jerry Springer

  zardoz-132007-08-29

  Dolph Lundgren wears two hats in his 2004 action-thriller "The Defender." Not only does he star as the hero in "The Defender," but also he directed "The Defender." Mind you, the Swedish straight-to-video star would have starred in this international intrigue actioneer anyway, but original director Sidney J. Furie, who helmed the groundbreaking Michael Caine spy thriller "The Ipcress File" and the Marlon Brando oater "The Appaloosa," had to drop out of the project in preproduction because of health-related issues. The great news is that Dolph pinch-hits a home run with this non-stop, $6-million dollar, shoot'em up that comes packed with surprises galore. No, Dolph has done better movies, principally Hong Kong director John Woo's made-for-cable action epic "Blackjack," but "The Defender" does qualify as one of Dolph's better direct-to-video action-thrillers. Scenarist Douglas W. Miller combines the plots of two cinematic classics, John Frankenheimer's "Seven Days in May" (1964) about Pentagon generals staging a coup against the President and Brian G. Hutton's "Where Eagles Dare" (1968) where British Intelligence creates a situation to lure Nazi moles in their organization out into the open. Of course, "The Defender" is nowhere near as intriguing as either "Seven Days in May" or "Where Eagles Dare," but it is at least ambitious enough to mount something on a grand scale. In "The Defender," a bespectacled, cigar-smoking U.S. President (Jerry Springer of TV's "The Jerry Springer Show") dispatches his African-American National Security Adviser Roberta Jones (Carolina Lee-Johnson of "The Saint") to meet with an international terrorist, Mohamed Jamal (newcomer Geoffrey Burton of "Inn of the Damned"), ostensibly a Bin Laden type to seek a peace initiative. Initially, Jamal appeared in an introductory scene where he brutally interrogated our iron-jawed hero during the Gulf War. The setting--a venerable hotel that once served as a retreat for the Royal Romanian family--lies about 40 miles outside of Budapest. The staff has been given the day off when the conference is held. Jones warns longtime security chief Lance Rockford (Dolph Lundgren of "Detention") that nobody must know that this meeting is being held because it could be political dynamite for the President. What Rockford doesn't know is that . . . well, you'll have to see for yourself because this constitutes one of the many surprises that occur throughout "The Defender." Meanwhile, as director, Dolph doesn't waste a moment in this bullet-blasting gunplay. The action occurs largely in a hotel in Europe with Dolph crosscutting to the President meeting with his advisors, etc., in shots set in Washington, D.C. Of course, in faraway Romania, the cameo-clad villains pour out of the woodwork like angry fire ants, and our heroes are constantly have to duck fusillades of machine gun fire. What Lance doesn't know is that one of his own team belongs to the other side. This is just one of the surprises that Dolph springs on us near the end of the movie. "The Defender" is a lot of fun and the ensuing surprises in the storyline should hold your attention throughout its 90 minute running time. The performances are adequate and the production values look good for this straight-to-video thriller. Dolph Lundgren fans should get a kick out of this tidy spy versus spy saga.