Retrograde

source: Retrograde

RETROGRADE is a cheesy, choppy science fiction thriller with feels like a mishmash of previous movies such as TIMECOP and THE THING. Dolph Lundgren plays a fugitive time traveller, pursued by villains, who arrives on a research ship in the Antarctic just as a deadly virus breaks out. There's a lot of melodrama here and a little action, but the latter isn't very interesting and it's a crying shame that Brit kicker Gary Daniels has his undeniable talents almost entirely wasted. There are flashes of potential and some not-bad performances, but overall it's the cheapness that lets this down.

I thought that this movie had something going for it, because not only did it have Dolph Lundgren (one of my favorite B movie actors) in it, but that one of the producers was Joseph Merhi, who made some great B action movies in the 1990s. Unfortunately, I thought the end results were a big let down. Partly because of an inadequate budget, most of the movie looks really cheap, with interiors that were obviously not shot on a real ship, and exteriors that look nothing like the real Antarctic. An additional problem is that director Christopher Kulikowski directs the various going ons with a lack of conviction. The action scenes are sluggish and badly choreographed, and there is a curious matter-of-fact feeling to many scenes despite the plot of the movie centering around the fate of the human race! Even if you are desperate and it's a slow night does not make this movie worth watching. A note to Joseph Merhi: Reunite with your old producer partner Richard Pepin and get back to making those great action movies you guys once made!

Combine "The Terminator" with its travel back in time premise to save the future and "Die Hard" about one many against many gunmen, and you have the basics for Christopher Kulikowski's unconvincing but entertaining sci-fi saga "Retrograde" with Dolph Lundgren battling to save Earth from a global biological disaster with some maniac zombies thrown into the mix. There is nothing wrong with the plot, but Kulikowski has to work on such a threadbare budget that the film fails to grab you where it counts. John Foster (Dolph Lundgren) and a space ship full of heavily armed soldiers, including Dalton (Joe Montana) are dispatched from 200 years into the future to Antarctic where a ship is trapped in the ice. They see a meteor land in the frozen wastelands and tromp out to collect samples, little realizing the tragic mistake that they are making. Talking about tragic mistakes, Renee (Silvia De Santis of "Artemisia") leaves her toddler to take off on this historic voyage. Later, as she lies dying in the snow, with their ship sinking, she knows that she made a mistake. Of course, heroic Dolph saves the day, not once but twice! Gary Daniels co-stars but is wasted. The close-quarters combat fights register as lackluster. Presumably, they didn't have a stunt coordinator or they wanted to make double sure than nobody got hurt. Nevertheless, the thesping is quite good and the crew of the ship look like they actually know each other. Overall, "Retrograde" is an imaginative but shoddy movie because the budget doesn't make its science fiction believable. The settings are okay, but the special effects are less than special.

I have watched many of Mr. Lundgren's films which I have managed to sit through until now. I don't know if it was the low budget or the cast no wait it was the whole idea of actually making this film, why did they bother! We can always do with more science fiction but this was so bad how could they, even my other half agreed with me to change the channel before we had watched the first quarter. By the time they're ship left for Earth arriving 200 years in the past and the crew mutinied I lost interest as the ship rolled in space and they were all still standing except for the ones being shot. Turning over the channel to watch Lethal Weapon 3 meant my evening was not spoilt.

Dolph In Space!....Now calm down. So far unreleased in the U.S., (almost with good reason). It's for die-hard Dolph fans (like myself) only. "Retrograde" is about John Foster (Lundgren) who has to stop a bunch of bad guys who are trying to take over a boat in the future. Yes, that sounds like a poor plot and it is, but deep down it looks like they were trying. The budget is low and the special effects are cheap, but Dolph and Gary put in decent performances. The movie's worst sin was to not pit Dolph and Gary Daniels' characters to a fight to the death. That would've been awesome. To tell you the truth, if you liked "Direct Action" you won't like "Retrograde", unless you are a Dolph completist. For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Just finished watching Retrograde, and I have to say that it was better then what I thought it would be. Many reviews on here have lamented the movie, but it was enjoyable. Dolph Lundgren (John Foster) is a genetically superior time traveler who is sent back in time to destroy a virus that wipes out humanity. But his crew rebels and he is left to fend for himself. They get to where the ship is that discovers the virus, and Dolph has to destroy it. Along the way there are some fights with the remaining 4 time travelers who are trying to kill Foster. Some good things about this movie is that the cast and directors make the low budget aspect work. The time travel ship is decent, along with all the futuristic gear. Fights are good, some nice Dolph kicks, and quite an interesting story for such a low budget film. But the main downside is the budget as well. If the movie had a bigger budget, I feel like it could of been much better. Overall, I enjoyed the movie. The plot was decent, and it was interesting. Acting besides Dolph was not very good. Its a good movie to kill some time, but I wouldn't see it again.

DOLPH?! He still makes movies? Really? People actually invest money in movies that star Dolph? Really?? OMG ... well don't be shocked if you don't like this movie (or any that has him in it). I think that the ONLY recent movie with Dolph in it that was worthwhile was Expendables. They certainly understood that D's role MUST be minor at best and well-controlled or ... he'll probably take the entire movie down with him ... :-) Bottom line, unless you are one of those people who are inexplicably drawn to Dolph ... don't see ANY of his movies ... unless you also appreciate being disappointed :-) It is what it is ...

Dolph Lundgren vehicles have hit DVD every spring for the last few years. Apparently they have done well enough that some studio finally snagged this sci-fi time travel flick that has been sitting on the shelf since completion in 2003. John Foster (Lundgren) pilots a space craft from 2204 back to the 21rst century with the crew's mission to stop scientists from discovering plague carrying meteorites in Antarctica. Naturally, there are traitors on board who want to alter the future for their own personal gains and it is up to Dolph to stop them. This is pretty bad, thanks mostly to the flat direction by Christopher Kulikowski. The guy has no concept on how to stage or film a fight scene. And who casts martial artist Gary Daniels and doesn't give him a big fight scene? Even more disappointing when you see former PM Entertainment exec Joseph Merhi is a producer on this. The acting is uniformly bad with Joe Sagal (as a rich dude funding the scientific expedition) and Ken Samuels (as the boat captain) being the stand outs. Seriously, how do guys this bad get cast and maintain some semblance of a career? One has to wonder if working with such a poor director is what finally made Dolph decide to step behind the camera (his directorial debut was the film made right after this). He has directed 4 films since RETROGRADE and the three I've seen have been infinitely more entertaining than this.

What's not to dislike? From the mega-cheap production values, to the terrible performances (the non-European accents -- and stereotypes -- are the worst), it's infinitely awful. They might have considered reading an actual book about Antarctica, that might have helped the script although I doubt anything outside of burning it would have prevented this abomination on film. In Antarctica, you simply can't physically do 75% of what they showed characters doing. It's not just a really, really cold place. When Dolph Lungren is your star performer, you have a serious problem from the start. They couldn't even agree upon the time of day (when in doubt, take wristwatches off your performers and off the walls of the sets.