Direct Contact (2009) – Review

Where to watch Direct Contact

2 1/2 Stars

The latest release from Nu Image/Millennium films and venerable action icon Dolph Lundgren is a curious beast. Well shot and edited with a fantastic score by Stephen Edwards, this 90 minute action affair is filled with enough mayhem, violence and nudity to entertain undiscriminating fans of the straight-to-DVD genre. The action is so constant that it’s as if the producers were trying to cover up the fact that the script (Les Weldon, Replicant, Hidden Agenda) is a paper-thin rehash of other films in the Nu Image cannon. In fact at times it looks as if this film is composed of stock footage from other Millennium films. A shot of a tank appearing from a snow covered base is used when the scene is taking place on a spring day is just one of the many odd inconsistencies.

Lundgren plays his character with a touch of the ‘Eastwood’ snarl. Which seems appropriate given the modern ‘Western’ vibe that seems to be the intention, particularly in a sequence involving a Mexican stand-off between a mafioso and a crooked general. Michael Pare is a shady American bureaucrat working for a shadowy organization. He springs Lundgren from an eastern European jail to rescue a wealthy American woman currently held captive by an evil general. The briefer the explanation about the story the better. The film ends with a mad dash to the gates of the American embassy that is reminiscent of the flag waving Chuck Norris action films of the 1980’s. On the middle rungs of the ladder of Dolph Lundgren films.

Director: Danny Lerner
Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Michael Pare, Gina May