IMDb > The Defender (2004)
The Defender
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The Defender (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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The Defender (2004) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
5.0/10   761 votes
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Director:
Writer:
Contact:
View company contact information for The Defender on IMDbPro.
Genre:
Tagline:
Fighting The War On Terror.
Plot:
Today - the global war on terror rages on. The United States will not give an inch against terrorists... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Dolph's first directorial movie: some high points, some low points more (15 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Dolph Lundgren ... Lance Rockford

Jerry Springer ... President of the United States

Shakara Ledard ... Kaye
Thomas Lockyer ... Stevenson
Caroline Lee-Johnson ... Mrs. Jones (as Caroline Lee Johnson)

Gerald Kyd ... Morgan

Ian Porter ... Newell

Howard Antony ... Parker
Geoffrey Burton ... Jamal
Iddo Goldberg ... Scripts

James Chalke ... Lee

Leigh Zimmerman ... Reporter

Steven Elder ... Tech 1
Radu Florescu ... Aide
Ovidiu Niculescu ... Officer
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for violence and language.
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Sidney J. Furie was originally hired to direct this film, but left due to illness during the prep period. more
Goofs:
Errors in geography: The map used several times throughout the movie to represent Romania is of Western Canada (ranging from B.C. to Manitoba, focused on Alberta, with a huge red area on Saskatchewan). more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Making of 'The Defender' (2004) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Inside more

FAQ

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful.
Dolph's first directorial movie: some high points, some low points, 24 June 2006
9/10
Author: davideo-2 from United Kingdom

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Special Agent Lance Rockford (Dolph Lundgren) was the leader of an elite squadron in Iraq during the Gulf War that was captured, who suffered terrible torture and lasting mental scars. Years later, he's the head of an elite group of Special Agents charged with protecting national security. They are summoned to a deserted hotel in Romania when they are suddenly ambushed by an unknown enemy. They discover they are being used as pawns in a political conspiracy to make a radical terrorist leader 'disappear.' There's a rebel group that are not pleased about this and will go to any lengths to stop it.

And so Lundgren's decided to try his hand at directing and he seems to like it too, because he's done it twice with a film called The Russian Specialist (which I'm going to see tonight.) My fellow action movie fans have billed this film as Van Damme's Second in Command done better. And there are a lot of similarities between the stories, The Defender's just meant to be a lot more exciting. The trouble is, being a Dolph movie, naturally it doesn't have the budget and the flashy production values that Second in Command did. And that is a bit of a problem.

The story at first glance seems to be not that interesting, but if you look at it a bit deeper you can see more in it. It's been five years since 9/11 and despite all the searching of the CIA Bin Laden has still not been captured and the movie does have an interesting story detailing what the US's approach might be to dealing with dangerous foreign terrorists who, if imprisoned or killed, become 'martyrs'. Dolph seems to be pointing a bit of a finger indeed.

The action, although providing little in the way of human drama, it could be argued plays out like it would in real life, which will add that air of authenticity for some. The film benefits also from quite a nice soundtrack. On the downside, the action itself is pretty stale and repetitive, all the characters are pretty cardboard and on this level it is a pretty unremarkable and forgettable film. But for what it is, Dolph has given us an above average directorial debut. ****

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Defender (2004)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Can't...get over....Jerry Springer... sunquake-1
who killed parker (shot in the back) ? Mandy_Whitsands
The Defender Betty-karr
Beginning/Title Sequence Music? krdement
Combat Load for the Secret Service georgegauthier
This Movie Sucked Out Loud In Five Different Languages depastino
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