Missionary Man

This is the first Dolph Lundgren movie I've seen in many a moon and I found it an entertaining modern day take on the classic Westerns of old, mainly Shane, High Plains Drifter and most of all Pale Rider. Dolph does a good job of playing the mysterious preacher who rides into town and takes care of the local bad guys. This is the perfect entertainment for a Friday night with a few beers. Dolph also directed this movie and that really impressed me he has a definite talent for that and I hope he directs a few more, preferably with a slightly bigger budget as this was undoubtedly a low budget movie but one that I found much more rewarding than many a Hollywood blockbuster. Whilst many of the supporting actors won't win many awards some of the young cast were very good as was the two main villains. My one complaint was the colour of the movie I found it a little too colourless but I suppose it gave it a cool look. Thumbs up for the final shoot-out too with a nice final line from Dolph before he rides into the sunset.

Dolph Lundgren stars as Ryder a mysterious biker who rolls into town (and bares an uncanny resemblance to Gary Busey) and defends an Indian reservation from the local mobsters and bikers that show up in the finale. Missionary Man despite what Dolph Lundgren fans will tell you, is not one of his best movies. Indeed in comparison to his last two directorial efforts this one is the weakest. The problem is that the action is badly edited, the bad guy bikers aren't written well and pose little threat and the film is all grainy and bled out of colors. (Why Dolph didn't shoot this in black and white is beyond me.) The climax has its moments and Missionary Man does remain somewhat watchable through Lundgren's typically commanding presence but with such craftsmanship shown in The Russian Specialist and The Defender one can't help but be disappointed with this one. Plus Lundgren borrows heavily from many superior films such as Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter and Billy Jack. The problem is that he just can't fuse enough novelty to distinguish his work. In the end though it's the sped up action and over-edited camera angles which render this one as a forgettable effort. Not a terrible movie mind you, indeed it is superior to most straight to video movies but Missionary Man is nothing special. * * out of 4-(Fair)

I thoroughly enjoyed it, although, with perhaps a bit more effort (or perhaps a lot) it could have been made into a very decent modern interpretation of the Clint Eastwood classic (don't tell me it was an original idea, because it so was not). My fellow fan in the previous write-up is right to say the base of the story is 100% Pale Rider, and stated some of the similarities. Besides the ones he picked out; ( "hired gangster believes he killed him many years ago (just like in Palerider) - holy man with the bible (just like in Palerider" )), here are some more: 1) Daughter of the family he befriends has a crush on him 2) Mother of the daughter takes him to bed 3) The big gentle giant of the bad guy gang helps the girl when they try to have their way with her 4) This same big gentle giant then helps our hero when taking on the bad guys ( bashes one of the bad guys, just as in Pale Rider ) 5) Daughter looks for our hero at the end of the film and spots him as he rides off into the distance (I was half expecting her to shout out that she loved him, as in Pale Rider) 6) probably many more, but this is my first viewing and my memory is not that great All in all I enjoyed it and I hope to see Dolf in more films. Hopefully with a little bit more depth for his character rather than relying so much on his screen presence, which King Kong would have trouble matching. Just in-case the man himself reads this, I'd just like to say respect to you for your academic achievements (I'm impressed) and I hope I do at least nearly as well in my studies.

I couldn't finish the whole thing! I'm a huge Dolph fan, but I wish they'd give him better material. Dolph tries to pull a Clint Eastwood with the "Stranger" routine. It lacks the budget and more importantly, the entertainment to pull it off. It's extremely talky, and the action scenes are very unexciting. It looks really cheap and grainy, and I didn't see the point in the whole scheme of things. Dolph deserves so much more than this cheap crud. When he gets something to work with, he shines. If you want to see a great Lundgren movie, watch The Punisher. He's made good movies in his career, but this isn't one of them. Avoid it! DUD

A mysterious stranger (Dolph Lundgren) rides into an Indian reservation town for the funeral of a guy named JJ. This drifter, who drinks tequila and reads the Bible, claims to have been a friend in JJ's military unit, but no one recognizes him. Naturally, our lead gets into it with the local bad guys (and JJ's killers) led by Reno (Matthew Tompkins). When the stranger easily handles the small-town crew, Reno calls in a motorcycle gang to add some extra muscle to battle this apparent angel of vengeance. While it is hard to believe with his looks, Dolph Lundgren turned 50 last November. As an aging b-action star, he seems to have survived better than most by making the move to the director's chair. This film - his third directorial effort following THE DEFENDER and THE Russian SPECIALIST - shows that he definitely has a handle of the craft. This is basically THE OUTLAW DOLPH-Y WALES, but it is neat seeing Lundgren play a character with a metaphysical edge. He leaves it up to the viewer to decide if this guy is real or a ghost (I side with the latter) and that is a appreciated twist. Like his two previous directorial efforts, the violence level is up there so he knows his audience. The only misstep in my opinion is Dolph's decision to give the film that popular bleached look. Some points are so bad that the film almost looks like an old sepia toned silent movie. The cast is all around good, with John Enos III being quite effective as the biker leader. Also, UFC star Brad Imes shows up for a bit as one of the town thugs. The film's oddest moment is a cameo by producer/former b-movie star Andrew Stevens as a drug dealer with all of his dialog in Spanish.

I've always been a fan of action movies having grown up in the 80's fed on a diet of Sly, Arnie, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme. These are the best of the best when it comes to kicking ass. I would include Dolph Lundgren is this category. Granted, he has been in some terrible movies like Cover Up and The Minion, but all the other big action stars also have movies on their CV's that they want to forget about! The thing that struck me about Missionary Man is that is was filmed brilliantly and had an excellent musical score to go with the usual Dolph Lundgren action we expect from him. He directed this movie and it is shot brilliantly. It reminded me of older Clint Eastwood movies, as Dolph plays a stranger in a small town who decides to help the townsfolk fight back against the greedy businessman John Reno and the corrupt Sheriff's Department. It is the closest thing to a modern western I've seen, and I really enjoyed it. Dolph is back people, and this is one of his best!

One point that is criminally underrated in other reviews is the photography by Xiaobing Rao. I suppose the dark look is not just digital post-production, but to a degree already achieved during filming by use of polarizers. Later on, the colors were tainted bronze/wooden and in the end, the look is grainy, modern and antique at the same time, while the low lens focal length often gives much focus depth (remember the a-dime-a-dozen, flat direct-to-video action flicks of the 80s?), excellent craftsmanship! The music by Elia Cmiral is hardly in the foreground, only giving Dolph a special chord when he appears, but often using percussion instruments to give it an American Indian touch and raise the tension very subtly. The script gives a clever variation of the old story (guy comes into town and cleans it up) which doesn't follow all of the clichés, but respects the rules of the game nonetheless. It even adds a bit on sociology, explaining the situation of the Indians, while it strictly refuses to give us the background story of the hero. Interesting movie, much better than I expected, albeit more in its film making qualities than in the action entertainment, my congratulations to Dolph as the director.

"Universal Soldier" tough guy Dolph Lundgren has written, starred in, and directed a hard-as-nail but hackneyed revenge melodrama that he cobbled together from such past hits as "Billy Jack," "High Plains Drifter," and "Pale Rider." Clocking in at a lean, mean 93 minutes, Dolph has all the clichés covered. If you like your revenge movies predictable as blood gushing from a belly wound where the bad guys get their heads blasted off, this is the ticket! There are no surprises in "The Missionary Man," but Dolph lets the formula smolder like a steer being cooked on a spit so you can savor the wicked villainy of the white underworld who believe that they are indestructible. Some of the acting by the homegrown Texas cast is amateurish, but you'll forget these quibbles when our rugged, enigmatic hero goes into a kill mode for a catharsis of a showdown. Ryder (Dolph Lundgren) cruises into a small Texas town terrorized by white criminals to pay his last respects to a fallen comrade who died under mysterious circumstances. It doesn't take tall, dark, silent Dolph in sunglasses to make an impression. He wears glasses, reads the Bible, and likes to do shots of tequila. The bad guys line up to take it like guys and do they ever more get taken. Jarfe (John Enos III) is the leader of a notorious motorcycle gang and he and his army are summoned to silence Ryder. There is something almost supernatural about the way our quietly spoken champion navigates the dangers. Essentially, it all boils down to an Indian reservation trying to build a casino and the local thugs trying to get in on the action. When they cannot convince one Indian to back down, they kill him and make it appear to be a drowning death. August Schellenberg is good as an older Indian named White Deer. The last 30 minutes is a solid smack-down that makes the previous 103 minutes of build up tolerable. No, "The Missionary Man" isn't high art, but there is an art to taking something this familiar and making it work for the zillionth time. Bravo, Dolph!

I love all of Dolph's movies, when I read the story line for this one I saw Pale Rider all over it. That is still one of my favorite Clint movies, Dolph does a great job of adapting that story line to his movie. The only cheesy part of the movie is when he does his BillyJack impression, it made me cringe with the 'I'll hit you with my right knee and there's nothing you can do about it' then makes the guys drop their drawers. Besides that, I like the movie as well as the cast. I thought the grayish tint to the movie was a nice touch. I really enjoy a good action movie with good acting instead of all the special effects and Dolph pulls it of well(no surprise there).

I would say this film has a good atmosphere of subtle menace, combined with lots of action. It's good vs evil and as such doesn't deviate from the standard plot - but the acting is good for a tight budget film.The violence is graphic so as such is not recommended for children - in Canada we would rate it 14 yr minimum age but with parental guidance for language, graphic violence, and sexual content - even if it's implied mostly. The actual filming is quite good, and in a different decade would probably be a good Eastwood flick. Films such as the Dirty Harry series, or even his spaghetti westerns. This film reminded pacing-wise and character-wise, of The Good The Bad and The Ugly for instance. I must confess that all that was missing for it to be on par with the aforementioned films was for Dolph to have a defining quote a la "Go ahead, make my day".