Summary

The website content discusses three lesser-known but enjoyable action films starring Dolph Lundgren: "Silent Trigger," "Direct Action," and "Don't Kill It."

Abstract

The article showcases three of Dolph Lundgren's less mainstream films from his extensive action movie career that have become fan favorites in the realm of straight-to-video releases and streaming services. "Silent Trigger" and "Direct Action" demonstrate Lundgren's prowess in the genre with compelling storylines, while "Don't Kill It" adds a horror-comedy twist to his repertoire. The author, after rediscovering their fondness for Lundgren's work, recommends these films not only for their entertainment value but also for their newfound accessibility on ad-supported streaming platforms such as Tubi and Crackle. Highlighting the films' enjoyable action sequences, underrated performances, and memorable moments, the writer suggests that these movies should not be overlooked even though they did not experience traditional theatrical runs.

Opinions

The author is an advocate for Dolph Lundgren's performances, emphasizing that smaller budget or straight-to-video films can be highly entertaining despite their lower profile.
Acknowledging the limited theatrical releases or direct-to-home-video nature of the films, the author holds the view that such works should not be dismissed.
The article points out that the rise of free, ad-supported streaming services has made Dolph Lundgren's films, among many others, more accessible and enjoyable for fans of action movies.
Russell Mulcahy, the director of "Silent Trigger," is praised for his work, with the author expressing a particular fondness for his direction in the original "Highlander."
"Direct Action" is highlighted as the author's personal favorite among the three, appreciated for its blend of intense action and humor, as well as the chemistry between Lundgren and co-star Polly Shannon.
Conrad Dunn's supporting roles in both "Silent Trigger" and "Direct Action" are noted, with the author suggesting that his performances add value to the films.
"Don't Kill It" is described as a standout for its unique horror-comedy elements and the potential for future franchise opportunities, with the writer expressing a desire to see a sequel made and even jokingly offering to take a role in it.

Three Enjoyable Dolph Lundgren Movies You May Not Know About

‘Silent Trigger,’ ‘Direct Action’ and ‘Don’t Kill It’

Image from ‘Don’t Kill It’ from Archstone Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment

Most people first became aware of actor Dolph Lundgren when he appeared as Russian boxer Ivan Drago in the 1985 film Rocky IV. He gave a very memorable performance in it and soon went on to star or co-star in several other popular action movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Masters of the Universe, The Punisher, I Come In Peace (later retitled Dark Angel), Showdown in Little Tokyo, and Universal Soldier.

As the ’90s progressed, movies like the ones he and other popular action movie stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in were becoming less popular in movie theaters — but there was a very big demand for them on home video — and later on DVD. Lundgren started appearing in a lot of movies that either had very limited theatrical releases, or they became what are commonly known as “straight-to-video” movies.

However, just because movies aren’t big blockbusters in movie theaters does not mean they can’t be good — and very entertaining. Though they may not be Oscar winners or ‘hits,’ like the movies that are breaking box office sales records, they can still be a lot of fun to watch!

Even though I was a fan of Dolph Lundgren’s movies in the ’80s and early ’90s, I didn’t pay much attention to his lesser-known later works when they were released. However, a few years ago I watched him in the more recent movies Creed II and The Expendables series and I was quickly reminded what a fan of his I had been years earlier.

This led me to seek out movies of his that I had missed over the last couple of decades. I quickly discovered that many of his movies could be easily found on one of the many streaming services I pay for. This led me on a bit of a ‘Dolph Lundgren Kick’ and I’ve watched a dozen (or so) of his movies in the last few years. While I haven’t loved all of them, I’ve enjoyed most of them — especially the three I’m highlighting below.

One very nice thing for TV and movie lovers that has happened in the past few years is the rise of multiple FREE (but with ads) streaming services like Crackle and Tubi. Several of Dolph Lundren’s movies (and tons of other “straight to video” movies featuring others) can easily be found on them.

Tubi alone has close to 30 of his movies, including these, which are my personal favorites of Dolph Lundgren’s lesser-known works. I’ve seen each of them multiple times and I recommend them all to you — especially if you’re looking for some fun action movies to watch.

Silent Trigger (1996)

Starring Dolph Lundgren, Gina Bellman, Christopher Heyerdahl, and Conrad Dunn

Directed by Russell Mulcahy

In this one, Lundgren stars as Waxman, who is a former Special Forces soldier, now working as an assassin. He is assigned a ‘ hit job’ that forces him to work alongside a woman named Clegg, who he had worked with on a mission that went very badly during his old days.

Clegg is played by actress Gina Bellman, who later went on to star in the popular television series Leverage, in addition to many other films and TV productions.

Is the movie violent? Yeah, it is — but not much more than most other action movies are. If you’re generally a fan of action movies, you’ll probably like the movie. It’s got a compelling story and Lundgren is very good in it.

Silent Trigger’s director was Russell Mulcahy, who is very well-known for directing many popular music videos in the 1980s — and for directing several great movies, including one of my favorite movies ever — the original Highlander.

P.S. to Those-Who-Know: There can be only one!

Direct Action (2004)

Image source: Alchemy/Millenium Entertainment

Starring Dolph Lundgren, Polly Shannon, and Conrad Dunn

Directed by Sidney J. Furie

This is my favorite of the movies I’m writing about today. When I first watched it, I was about 10 minutes into it and came close to turning it off, because I thought it was maybe a little too excessively violent.

However, I told myself to lighten up and just try to enjoy it — and I did! In addition to having some great action scenes, the movie also has some nice funny moments in it.

Dolph stars here as Sgt. Frank Gannon, a veteran cop who is about to testify against several of his very corrupt co-workers — who are now on a mission to stop him from doing so. While this is all going on, Frank is joined by young rookie detective Billie Ross, who is played by Polly Shannon. I like her a lot in this role. I thought she played both humorous and action-packed scenes very well. Also, she and Lundgren have great chemistry in the scenes they share — which is pretty much most of the scenes in the movie.

Direct Action is a fun movie. I’ve watched it three or four times and I’ll probably watch it at least three or four more times. It’s a good ‘popcorn movie,’ as some people say.

NOTE: One thing that the above two movies have in common is that they each feature supporting performances from actor Conrad Dunn. If you don’t know Dunn by his name, you may know him from his memorable performance as Psycho in Stripes.

Actually, his character’s real name was Francis. Just don’t call him that, though — because he might kill you.

Don’t Kill It (2016)

Image source: Archstone Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment

Starring Dolph Lundgren, Kristina Klebe, and Tony Bentley

Directed by Mike Mendez

In this comedy horror film, Dolph Lundgren plays a quirky demon hunter named Jebediah Woodley. He goes to a small southern town in the U.S. to help the people there deal with a string of horrible murders that have occurred. An FBI agent (played by Kristina Klebe) who is in town for the same reason thinks that the killings may be acts of domestic terrorism. Jebediah Woodley disagrees, though, because he knows it’s the work of an ancient demon.

A very, very nasty one!

The demon’s ‘routine’ way of killing is that it possesses a person and then goes on a killing spree, not stopping until the body it’s in is killed. But that doesn’t actually stop it because the demon then possesses the body of the person who killed it moments earlier — and then it resumes killing again.

So…don’t kill it! If you do, it will possess you and cause you to kill other people.

Pretty creepy, huh?

Can Jebediah and the FBI agent work together and somehow stop the wicked demon?

Maybe.

Can Dolph Lundren play a cool, badass, and funny character and be totally awesome while doing so?

Absolutely!

Don’t Kill It is an incredibly violent movie, but darn it, I think it’s also a lot of fun. There had been plans for it to be the first in a series of films featuring demon hunter Jebediah Woodley, but no other films have been made —at least not yet.

Who knows? Maybe this article of mine will help more people discover Don’t Kill It. Then, if there are enough of them, there might finally be a sequel made!

If so, I think they should give me a cameo role in it.

Come on, Hollywood — let’s do it. I’ll work cheap. Let’s make this happen!