Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 17, 2012

Joseph Zito's "Red Scorpion" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer; video interview with composer Jay Chattaway; video interview with actor Dolph Lundgren; exclusive audio commentary with director Joseph Zito, moderated by filmmaker and scholar Howard S. Berger; and more. The disc also arrives with reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork, double-sided fold-out poster, and collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author Calum Waddell. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Nikolai

Here’s a film that falls into the "it is so bad that it is actually good" category. It is called Red Scorpionand was released in 1988. It was directed by Joseph Zito, who also did The Prowler (1981), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), and Missing In Action (1984), and was apparently partially funded by a right-wing foundation which was linked to the South African government, which in the late '80s was working hard to undermine the African National Congress.

The film is about a Soviet supersoldier, Lt. Nikolai Rachenko (played by the Swedish hunk Dolph Lundgren, Rocky IV, Showdown in Little Tokyo), who is sent on to an unknown country in Africa to eliminate an influential anti-communist leader (Ruben Nthodi). Along the way Nikolai meets Kallunda (Al White, TV's Matlock), his target’s right-hand man, and Dewey Ferguson (M. Emmet Walsh, Blade Runner, White Sands), a seriously annoying American journalist who can’t stop swearing. They become friends after Nikolai manages to kill a rather large number of his countrymen deep into the desert. Eventually, Nikolai is introduced to his target, who immediately figures out what his intentions are.

Fastforward. Nikolai escapes in the desert, where he is bitten by a scorpion. Luckily, he is saved by a hilarious character with a pretty decent bag of tricks named Gao (whose haircut is pretty similar to that of the skinny fella from Jamie Uys’ The Gods Must Be Crazy). The two become good friends and, after the Soviets destroy Gao’s village, eventually Nikolai realizes that he has been defending the dark side. Then, he meets his target again and goes on a killing spree that impresses the American journalist.

Red Scorpion is a straightforward propaganda film which imitates another straightforward propaganda film that was released in 1988 - Peter MacDonald’s Rambo III. Both targeted the Soviets, who at the time were trying to figure out how to get out of Afghanistan and look like winners. (The phased withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began in 1988 and ended in 1989).

Rambo III was clearly the better film. It had a notably bigger budget, which meant bigger and more impressive explosions, better script and better cast. Unsurprisingly, however, it was as utterly unbelievable and loaded with moronic statements about freedom, democracy, honor and friendship as Red Scorpion. I don’t think this mattered much, though, since I don’t believe anyone expected Rambo III to deliver anything more than it did.

There are a couple of sequences in Red Scorpion where Lundgren handles his enemies as well as Stalone does his, but he tends to look a bit stiff in front of the camera. Thankfully, he does not talk much and takes his shirt off as often as possible.

The supporting cast isn’t any better - Walsh tries too hard to be the annoying American he is supposed to be, White never really looks like a freedom fighter, while Nthodi simply looks bored. The only guy who genuinely looks enthusiastic about his job is the skinny bushman who plays Gao.

Ultimately, Red Scorpion is a film that would appeal only to hardcore Lundgren fans or folks who saw it back in the days and for whatever reasons now feel nostalgic about it. The younger crowds, with blood type Avatar, will be bored to tears by it.

Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Joseph Zito's Red Scorpion arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films.

Generally speaking, most close-ups convey adequate depth, while many of the panoramic vistas from the desert boast rather decent fluidity. With a few minor exceptions, contrast levels are also stable. Color reproduction is satisfactory, though clearly there is room for improvement. Some healthy light grain is also visible, though admittedly often there is a good dose of light noise mixed with it. The best news here is that no attempts have been made to apply sharpening or contrast boosting corrections. Naturally, even though it is clear that the high-definition transfer was struck from a dated master - which is why there are various limitations - the film does look like film. In other words, the film does have a dated look, but I personally prefer these types of high-definition transfers for older, low-profile catalog titles for which new 2K/4K masters and new high-definition transfers are unrealistic. They are not perfect, but are far better than the dated, DNR-ed and color and contrast boosted transfers some distributors have been using recently for their catalog releases. All in all, Red Scorpion looks decent on Blu-ray, which is most likely how the majority of its fans expected it to look. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Arrow Films have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM 2.0 track serves the film well. During the action scenes there is good intensity and oomph. The sound is also pleasingly crisp and free of serious distortions. Generally speaking, the dialog is clean, stable, and easy to follow. This being said, it is obvious that the film had a modest budget as there is a very limited range of nuanced dynamics. There are also some inherited minor balance fluctuations. Still, the loseless audio track manages to effectively open up the film in all the right places.

Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Intro - a few encouraging words by Dolph Lundgren. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - an original trailer for Red Scorpion. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 720p).

• Music With Muscles - in this featurette, composer Jay Chattaway discusses the soundtrack of Red Scorpion and his collaborations with director Joseph Zito. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080p).

• All Out of Bullets - in this video piece, action star Dolph Lundgren discusses his contribution to Red Scorpion. The Swedish actor also recalls how a lot of the dangerous stunts, including the nighttime scene with the scorpions, in the film were done in Namibia. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - an exclusive UK audio commentary with director Joseph Zito, moderated by filmmaker and scholar Howard S. Berger.

• Booklet/Posters - reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork, double-sided fold-out poster, and collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author Calum Waddell. (See the screenshots we have included with our review).

Red Scorpion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Joseph Zito's Red Scorpion could be the perfect film to see very late at night - it is cheesy but at the same time quite charming. However, I do believe that the people who will enjoy it the most will be those who saw it first when it was released. Arrow Films have put together a decent Blu-ray release, which I find very easy to recommend.