BITE-SIZED: Red Scorpion (Joseph Zito, 1988)

 Lieutenant Nikolai Rachenko (Dolph Lundgren), a Soviet Spetsnaz soldier, is sent to an African state to infiltrate a rebel force and assassinate the leader.

After he is betrayed by his own side, and rescued by the local people, this supersoldier decides to fight for the people, and turns his skills on the Soviet forces.

The second starring vehicle for Dolph Lundgren, Red Scorpion is a riff on Rambo, with the star playing off his iconic role from Rocky IV.

Red Scorpion had a solid pedigree (director Joe Zito had shown his action chops in Invasion USA and Missing in Action) and cast (M. Emmett Walsh and Brion James).

A project for future felon Jack Abramoff, Red Scorpion disappeared quickly from cinemas because the filmmakers broke the boycott on South Africa by shooting in occupied Namibia.

As an eighties action film, Red Scorpion cannot hold a candle to Rambo 2 or Commando, but on its own terms it is a solid example of the genre.

You have a heavily muscled action hero, the Cold War as the backdrop, and a lot of firepower. It also includes the theme of a white hero being saved and rehabilitated by an indigenous people who provide him with a new insight and skills which he then uses to save them. There is nothing particularly original about the film, or its portrayal/understanding of the cultures it is interacting with.

While he looks great, Lundgren is a little blank in the lead. He is not terrible, but the role feels like it is demanding more of the fledgling performer than he can deliver.

Nikolai’s conversion is also obscured -  instead of learning from the rebels, we get an extended subplot where our antihero is saved from death and nursed back to health by a local tribe of bushmen.

What does not help is that the script is a little over-complicated: the Russians destroy multiple villages so when Nikolai stumbles on their handiwork it lacks the intended impact. 

The protagonist's change of heart is cemented when his adopted village is poisoned by his former bosses, and he then returns to fight alongside the rebels.

You could cut out the Bushmen - or have the Bushmen be the rebels. As is, it means the film feels disjointed.

In its favour, the movie looks great (courtesy of Deep Throat cinematographer Joao Fernandes) and the action sequences are decently staged, with some impressive practical explosions and stunts.

While the movie fumbles the redemption story, as an example of eighties action, Red Scorpion does the business.