The Package

the guys never disappoint..i like it

A rather moderate B-movie. They made action movies like this in the 80' with the dozen. I think nowadays it's a new hype to gather all the old action heroes who are thinking about their retirement plan already in a movie (Other examples are Expendables and The Last stand). Dolf Lundgren still speaks as slow as a snail and Steve Austin still looks like a walking wardrobe, Louis XIV style or so. The action was sometimes very fake and the story with the blood type was far-fetched and unbelievable. Like Dolf said: "The chance of finding a match is almost non-existent ..." but accidentally Steve is in the neighborhood. And they know each other from the past ... what a coincidence. An unfortunate spectacle and probably the last feats of arms in cinematic terms of both gentlemen! PS. I've always wanted to know how the mechanism of a bowling alley worked in reality. At least something I've learned of this movie ! More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/

Plot: A courier for a local crime lord must deliver a mysterious package while being chased by a horde of unusual gangsters. This was very disappointing to me, especially having Lundgren and Austin in a movie together would've been great, but the problem is the story is not very interesting, the writing is sub-par at best, the action is lackluster compared to their other films, and worst of all its just boring. Austin and Lundgren do fine with what they do, but they aren't given much along with the rest of the cast. The villains are very one note and one dimensional. I'm glad the writer would then write the John Wick films which definitely improved his writing and gave the heroes and villains depth and motivations. If you're a fan of either Lundgren or Austin, avoid it at all costs watch Hunt to Kill for Austin and Skin Trade for Dolph, they are more worth your time and they deliver what you want.

I don't go out of my way to see a Steve Austin movie and he does enough of them. I'm an 80's action junkie so I sat down to watch this strictly because Dolph Lundgren was in it. Sadly, he isn't in it much so you know how bad a movie this must be when Lundren is your star power cameo. The script tries honestly enough and the main character is actually a pretty good anti hero but the script doesn't give up enough to make this last for a feature length film. It drags and drags and drags some more. The fights are WWE style in true Austin fashion and the action scenes are basically okay but very, very choreographed and therefore look hokey. A fight just past the middle of the film breaks out in a very clean back alley with inexplicable sparks spouting from some sort of welding machine. It just looks cheesy. I can't really go on and on about how bad a movie it is because honestly you really can't help but know exactly what you're in for. It delivers what any person who loves Steve Austin movies would enjoy so I can't fault it for that. I thought it dragged, was far too long, very campy, and barely watchable but I could understand if a WWE fan or a Steve Austin fan would think it was fun. The saving grace for the movie is actually Lundgren's sadistic "German" as he's known but he's very underused which is unfortunate. Steve Austin isn't a bad actor. I don't think he has quite the chemistry on screen of Dwayne Johnson but he does an alright job. His anti-hero character is surprisingly pretty well developed and he does well in the brooding hero role and actually shows some depth of character considering the film is anything but deep. Dolph Lundgren is really more or less a big cameo. He has a few significant scenes but I actually thought he was really good. No one does a brooding psychopath like Lundgren. Don't get me wrong, its not an award winning performance but it was decent, fans of his won't be disappointed other than the fact that there was not enough of him or his character. The supporting cast are all forgettable. No one is really awful but no one stands out whatsoever. Much of the line delivery is incredibly cheesy but that could be the fault of the script moreso than the cast. As a struggling writer, it kills me when I see someone write something like this that actually gets made into a film and likely made them six figures, or at least five figures. Derek Kolstad has two films to his credit, both of them Lundgren movies and both of them cheap cheesy TV type quality films. Add in director Jesse Johnson who seems to make a living at this type of film and you have exactly what you need to know to have expectations for this film. The story is ridiculous and overblown for being a silly action flick with very little direction. The music and sound effects in the background are over dramatic and ridiculous. I stuck with it mostly to see the inevitable final battle between Austin and Lundgren and it was completely unsatisfying and made me want to watch something superior with them in it (Expendables) This one is only for those looking for a completely dim witted action flick with some okay stunts and action scenes. Otherwise its DOA. 3/10

I am a huge action movie fan: Rambo, Action Jackson, Universal Soldier, Bloodsport -- you get the picture. This is a stupid, lazy, unentertaining movie. I spent most of the movie rolling my eyes and fast forwarding through the relentless, boring, uninspired, unrealistic, stunt double fight scenes. It is just so many clichés piled on top of each other. Let's check all of the cliché boxes, shall we? Pretty, way out-of-his-league long suffering girlfriend that would not stay with this guy for 10 second in real life - check! Literally thousands of bullets shot and none hit the action star anywhere - check! Almost point blank (I'm talking 6 feet away) heavy machine gun fire missing the action star - check! Bad guy and action star "run out of bullets at same time and fist fight" - check! Bad guy and action star get more bullets then "run out of bullets at same time and fist fight" FOUR more times (no exaggeration) - check! Fight in building with nonsensical sparks and smoke coming from unmanned, closed factory - check! No police for 20 minutes even after four people killed and thousands of rounds fired - check! High-powered 3,000 feet per second .308, .223 and 7.62 X 54 bullets from machine gun (in real life able to penetrate a military Kevlar® vest) easily blocked by standard 1/2" drywall, a regular wooden chair (like in grade school) and a flimsy hospital operating table - check! Instead of just shooting the good guy and being done with the movie, the bad guy wants to "torture and tell the good guy the sinister plans before killing him." Good guy kills bad guy and gets away with the girl - check! After telling him his sinister plans, Instead of just shooting the good guy, bad guy wants to have "fist fight with good guy proving to the bad guy that he's still got it". Good guy kills bad guy and gets away - check! Good guy proves his is forgiving and righteous man when he walks away and lets bad guy off hook in end of movie. After all bad guy has done, good guy simply can't kill him because of good guys true heart of justice. BUT WAIT! When good guy turns his back, "bad guy double crosses him and tries to kill good guy!" Good guy notices in very last second and kills bad guy. End of movie. Believe it or not this scene did NOT happen in this movie - GOTCHA!. This is the ONLY cliché the director left out! Awful, awful, awful movie. Spending an afternoon plucking your short hairs or counting your body moles would be time far better spent.

I've read the reviews and I must say; some are very harsh. I also find the apparent lack of open-mindedness to be frustrating. It's a movie and they should evoke a sense of fun and excitement no matter the content. I've seen near all of Dolph Lundgren's movies and not all are great, not all are amazingly well written but all have something decent about them and this one is no different. I'm not the one to go to if you want to see someone denigrate someone's work. I try to find the good points in everything. The Package, while ill acted at times, does have a good story line. Tommy, played by Steve Austin, is the hired muscle employed by the mob. He's married, loves his wife and wants a better life for both of them. He doesn't like what he does and he doesn't feel good about it but he does what he has to, to make a life and pay the bills. Tommy is paying off his brothers debt to his boss and with one more job, he is promised an "out" and a clean slate for his brother. The only thing he has to do is deliver a package to a man only known as "The German" played by Dolph Lundgren. As he travels to his destination he is followed and attacked repeatedly by thugs from all sides. Their intentions are to take the package, kill Tommy and collect a huge payday. What they don't understand is that "The Package" is not what they think it is and Tommy is not just a delivery boy. If you look past the semi bad acting you find a story that is actually pretty good. You end up routing for Tommy and feeling bad for "The German". Not every bad guy is bad for bad reasons. Sometimes they need to be bad for a good reason.

I watched THE PACKAGE last night and was surprised by it; mostly because the earlier Austin vehicles I had seen (HUNT TO KILL, TACTICAL FORCE) were really bad. Austin is still really stiff (both acting and physically) but the director plays upon these traits better than the previous helmers. Also, director Jesse Johnson handled the action scenes a lot better than most, not resorting to the shaky cam crap that a lot of DTV action guys use. Of course, the highlight for me is Dolph Lundgren, who delivers another juicy co-starring role much like he did in the Cuba Gooding, Jr. action flick ONE IN THE CHAMBER last year. While I'd still like to see Dolph get back in the directing chair, these smaller roles are good enough to fill the time in between.

"I need a package delivered to the German." Tommy (Austin) has an easy task. All he has to do is deliver a package to a man named the German (Lundgren) and his brother's debts will be wiped and he will be free. What starts as an easy task takes a deadly turn when he finds out what the package is and then is followed by another gang who wants their hands on it too. I know what your thinking Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren in the same movie...how can that be bad?? Well, sorry to disappoint but this is not all that impressive. I do have to admit that of all these generic B action movies that seem to constantly come out at least Austin's movies are entertaining, mainly because of the little jokes he says. This is no different. Really nothing to say except if you like Austin's movies you will like this one as well. Overall, not as bad as I expected. I give it a C.

The Package