The Defender poster & wallpaper

Dolph Lundgren, Jerry Springer, Shakara Ledard

The global war on terror rages on. When a government official goes missing, Lance, a man with an impressive record of service to his country, finds himself protecting the man who embodies everything h...( read more  read more... )e has dedicated his life to fight against.

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44% liked it

895 ratings

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71% liked it

7 critics

R, 90 min.

Directed by: Dolph Lundgren

Release Date: January 1, 2004

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DVD Release Date: October 18, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (45)

  • allan913
    September 2, 2009
    allan913
    A solid directional debut by Dolph Lundgren, he keeps his action hero status in tact with a stylsih and effective attack in directing. A slick, stylish, cool and pulse-pounding action-packed thriller. A smart, excitng, fast-moving and thrilling film. It's packed with lots of grea...( read more)t explosive action and gripping suspense. It surprisingly keeps you on the edge of your seat till the end. Even thow there is a lack of character development, the actors behaviour and attitude toward eachother is compelling and enjoyable.
  • PvtCaboose91
    April 29, 2009
    PvtCaboose91
    You messed with the wrong country and you fucked the wrong President!


    In an era of political unrest and global chaos, it's a small comfort - but a comfort nonetheless - that superstar Dolph Lundgren is still around to keep the world safe. For The Defender, Lun

    ...( read more)dgren not only stars but also directs... And you know what? Despite the odds stacked against him, this flick doesn't suck, nor does Dolph's surprisingly decent direction. Certainly, The Defender is brainless, unrealistic and riddled with clichés...but it doesn't suck. In fact, this is an endlessly entertaining, straightforward shoot-'em-up action movie. It's overflowing with violence, shootouts and blood; reminding its target audience as to why we loved the brainless action films of the 1980s. Perhaps it comes as no shock that Lundgren's directorial debut is a low-budget direct-to-DVD affair, but - even for a picture inhabiting the suicidal DTD realm - The Defender looks surprisingly self-assured. With its top-notch action sequences and satisfactory acting, Lundgren's first effort as a director has a lot going for it. But alas, it's ultimately hamstrung by preposterous plotting.


    As for the storyline: it's a tense time for the United States and its allies as they wage the War on Terror. The President of the United States (played by Jerry Springer...yes, that Jerry Springer is the President) has launched a new Peace Initiative. Unbeknownst to the general public, the National Security Advisor (Lee-Johnson) is making a secret trip to Romania to negotiate a peace agreement. To ensure this meeting runs smoothly, Gulf War veteran Lance Rockford (Ludgren) is employed as head of security, leading a few disposable agents. As the enigmatic meeting plays out, a group of armed militants attack Rockford and his team. The assault is relentless and never-ending (a little reminiscent of Assault on Precinct 13, actually), putting Rockford to the test as he works to protect both himself and the National Security Advisor.


    Sidney J. Furie (the man behind 2003's Detention) was originally attached to direct The Defender, but fell ill during the pre-production period. Since Dolph Lundgren had worked closely with Furie beforehand (as well as a handful of other directors, ranging from John Woo to Roland Emmerich), and because the actor had worked with the screenwriter during development, the producers asked Dolph to step up and direct the picture. A few too many gimmicky shots and too much slow motion notwithstanding, Dolph has proved an excellent director with his first effort. The Defender is easily one of the most action-saturated shoot-'em-up action flicks of late. It's also leaps and bounds above anything Van Damme or Steven Seagal has featured in recently. After about twenty minutes of admittedly slow exposition, the flick goes balls-to-the-wall. Once the enemies fire their first shot, respite is infrequent as the movie propels through action sequence after action sequence.


    This is hard R material as well. Massive kudos to Dolph for being unafraid to craft gritty, brutal, very violent shootouts! Bullets hit their targets, blood flows in torrents, necks are snapped and squibs detonate like crazy. The final hour is more or less an extended action sequence, and the action is simply sublime. Maxime Alexandre's wonderfully crisp and intense cinematography places a viewer in the action. There's also tight editing and great pacing as the kinetic energy barely lulls. The sound effects are also outstanding; easily one of the flick's biggest assets. However, one downfall is the dreadful music courtesy of Adam Nordén. The music reminds the audience they are watching a DTD affair. It's occasionally tense but at other times the music is grating for the ears.


    Bolstering the exhilarating on-screen happenings is an unfortunately (yet quite unsurprisingly) trite story. Lots of questions go unanswered in the first hour; pretty much leaver a viewer in the dark. We have no idea what the meeting is for and who the National Security Advisor is meeting. For the first hour, a viewer can't help but be riveted as they await all the answers. However, when the revelations are finally unveiled they almost entirely nullify the prior plot developments. The whole point of the operation is absurd and on the verge of anticlimactic.

    There are also a few too many overly dramatic moments scattered throughout the 90-minute duration. In addition, the film doesn't allow an audience to become attached to the characters. The protagonist is uninteresting and we simply don't care about him, nor do we care when a minor character is killed. The Defender is ultimately an action story that's solid on the action, but unrewarding on the story.


    Cast-wise, things are fairly standard. Dolph Lundgren places forth a solid performance, although the part never calls for any overwhelming acting skills. Dolph enjoys wading through the scenarios, barking commands ("Open fire!" for instance) and saying clichéd things. Of course, in this particular production Dolph isn't the only big star. Jerry Springer stars as the President of the United States. Mercifully, Jerry is given less than 10 minutes of screen time (still enough to garner second billing, though). Surprisingly, Jerry makes for a moderately convincing presidential figure, although he hardly seems like a popular candidate. There's also Caroline Lee-Johnson as the National Security Advisor. Not a bad actress per se, but nothing special.

    The rest of the cast are pretty much just the constituents of Dolph's team. Shakara Ledard, Thomas Lockyer, Gerald Kyd, Ian Porter, Howard Antony, etc. As a team they share adequate chemistry, exchanging occasionally witty banter.


    As a shoot-'em-up actioner, The Defender is an enjoyable time waster. While nothing groundbreaking for action cinema, Dolph's first directorial outing is a success! If the plotting was a little less absurd and more substance was present, I'd be recommending this film to no end. As it stands, though, The Defender contains a lot of fun mayhem with the absurdity meter shooting up to 11 (like when a sniper is shot from afar with a Beretta pistol despite being, you know, a fucking sniper). It's painful to admit, but I really enjoyed this film despite its shortcomings. As long as Dolph continues to direct new movies I'll continue to watch them.


    It was truly great to witness Dolph Lundgren and Jerry Springer featuring in a movie together...up next is Steven Seagal and Dr. Phil.
  • Julkliusard
    July 26, 2009
    Julkliusard
    seen it. good... can't comment with stars, computer too slow lol
  • maxpowerhjays
    July 25, 2009
    maxpowerhjays
    it wasnt bad enough that id change the channel but still not very good
  • gravityandgrace2003
    February 28, 2009
    gravityandgrace2003
    'The Defender' is Dolph Lundgren's directorial debut, and he shows that, even out of the starting gate, he's got the goods. This movie is really cool; I didn't like it as much as 'the Mechanik,' (AKA The Russian Specialist) but then again, 'the Mechanik' is in my top ten Dolph mo...( read more)vies. In that movie, he's slitting bad guys throats slowly, acting all Russian and stoic, and shooting people's faces off in tepid pools of water in Bulgaria or wherever. This movie is great, but it's heavy on plot for a Lundgren film. There's a message of checks and balances in assuring national security, etc... Lots of commentary on the war on terror and how Osama Bin Laden has become that pig from Animal Farm for us. It's that weird subgenre of Dolph movie like 'Cover Up' or Silent Assassin that focuses on political intrigue than blowing shit up. I'm fine with that; Dolph is stylish with his hair and shooting his guns and effortlessly wrapping chicks around his finger. You'll probably want to rent this because of the Springer factor as well. This is the second thing that connects him to B movie action heroes (the first was 'Ringmaster, where he had Michael Dudikoff play a role). And for Lundgren, it's also the second film in which his co-star is a talk show host (the Peacekeeper with Montel Williams being the other). Dolph is a very impressive director, and I think he could be the Clint Eastwood of B movies and could have a great career behind the camera directing movies with lots of slow-mo and fade outs and yellow. I can just see Dolph one day directing 'Road House' sequels or something and winning DTV awards. My complaints about this are minimal: 'Red Scorpion-esque political commentary, inappropriate use of soft jazz music during shoot outs, and little if any of Dolph actually kicking the crap out of anybody, just opting for gunplay instead. Oh yeah, and that Jerry Springer line is priceless too ("you messed with the wrong country and you fucked with the wrong president!"). Good, good Dolphage. But if you want to see what Dolph can really do, rent 'the Russian Specialist' first.
  • Boloyeoung
    July 18, 2008
    Boloyeoung
    dolph lundgren is my fav actor of all time lol. almost 90% of his movies are interesting to me, so is this one too lol.
  • stallonefan1
    April 30, 2008
    stallonefan1
    This is a really great actioner with Lundgren directing and starring in it.Even Jerry Springer is suprisingly good!
  • motograter13
    September 6, 2007
    motograter13
    not one of his best films thats for sure
  • groovyredhead
    July 22, 2007
    groovyredhead
    Typical action flick but not bad and for first time directing Dolph Lungren did a great job. kudos to him!
  • FuturistiK
    November 26, 2006
    FuturistiK
    This was a pretty good movie and also Dolph Lundgrens directorial debue...

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