Men of War (1994)

A former Special Ops soldier leads a group of mercenaries to an island in the South China Sea: their mission is obtain the rights to the unusual treasure that the island beholds.

Director:

Perry Lang

Writers:

Stan Rogow (story), John Sayles (screenplay)

Stars:

Dolph Lundgren, Charlotte Lewis, BD Wong

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dolph Lundgren	...	Nick Gunar
Charlotte Lewis	...	Loki
BD Wong	...	Po
Tony Denison	...	Jimmy G. (as Anthony John Denison)
Tim Guinee	...	Ocker
Don Harvey	...	Nolan
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister	...	Blades (as Tiny 'Zeus' Lister)
Tom Wright	...	Jamaal
Catherine Bell	...	Grace Lashield
Trevor Goddard	...	Keefer
Kevin Tighe	...	Colonel Merrick
Thomas Gibson	...	Warren
Perry Lang	...	Lyle
Aldo Sambrell	...	Goldmouth (as Aldo Sanbrell)
Juan Pedro Tudela	...	Waldo

Storyline

Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren) is a burnt-out, jaded and hard-up former mercenary who is having a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. At the end of his rope, he is hired by the Nitro Mine Corporation to strong-arm the natives of a South China Sea island into giving up their rights to its valuable mineral resources. Nick loathes the thought of another mission, but this seemingly easy job will earn him enough money to get back with his estranged family. He recruits some of his former mercenary buddies to help him with the job. The island people refuse to give up their land and Nick decides to help them fight the greedy corporation that hired him. The island and its people bring Nick back to life. He finally finds something worth fighting for and a place to call home. As greed and treachery begin to unravel, Nick's band of mercenaries choose sides. Some are with him and others, still working for the corporation, will stop at nothing to destroy him.

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Plot Keywords:

island native | island | mercenary | fight | cockney accent | 

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Taglines:

Killers for hire are paid for what they can do, not for what they believe... until today.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for non-stop violence, strong language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 1995 (Spain)

Also Known As:

A Safe Place

Filming Locations:

Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$8,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MDP Worldwide, Pomarance Corporation, Grandview Avenue Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 76 min (heavily cut) (TV)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the very beginning of the movie, Dolph Lundgren's character Nick Gunar "bakes" a ball of Swedish snus and pops it in his mouth. Interestingly, he puts it under his lower lip, which is rather uncommon, with the vast majority of users putting it under the upper lip.

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Quotes

Nick: [to a mercenary who tried to shoot him in the back but got burned by the backfire of the bazooka] Don't sneak up on people.

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Alternate Versions

The R-rated Region 1 DVD is cut during a few violent moments (about 13 seconds), but on one hand is presented in a beautiful, remastered widescreen presentation. The German release in presented in a Pan and Scan presentation, but is fully uncut. The UK DVD (not VHS) release is uncut and widescreen.

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Connections

Referenced in Solo (1996)

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Soundtracks

HANDSOME LADY
Written by Gregg Pagani and Wade Childers
Performed by Spanky and The Red Riders

User Reviews

A troop of commandos-for-hire led by Dolph Lundgren are sent to an island to submit natives

Commando adventure in which ex-Special Force mercenaries carry out a dangerous mission set in a Thai island . This action-packed picture concerns upon a bunch of commando-for-hire who is assigned by two businessmen as financial backers to obliterate a little group of natives (B.D. Wong , Charlotte Lewis , among them) at an island of Thailand . But the financiers hire another bunch as back-up , in case they run into problems . The commando is led by a tough, two-fisted mercenary (Dolph Lundgren) . He contacts an inmate (Tommy Lister) , a soldier-woman (Catherine Bell) and several more (Tom Wright, Don Harvey, Anthony John Denison, among others) . The adventure starts when the expert band of mercenaries disembarks on the coast and goes to deep inside the jungle to destroy the village . But they decide to defend rather than destroy the inhabitants of the far island . As they help out the jungle's natives against other mercenaries( Trevor Goddard , Aldo Sambrell). The mission meets unexpected turns and twists when they're betrayed by their financial backers . Meanwhile they find some caves in middle of jungle where encounter the valuable Guano or bat's crap .

This fast-paced film packs adventures , large-scale blow-up, routine plot , drama , and lots of action for the most part . Based on the interesting screenplay by prestigious John Sayles , a magnificent writer and director . Has some weak moments which break up the continuity of the movie but generally is a good story and well told . It results to be a graphical depiction of a team of professional mercenaries driven by nothing but quest for power and money , being commanded by Dolph Lundgren in one of the best roles . Large support cast formed by various actors who subsequently would get successful careers as Thomas Gibson (Criminal minds) , Catherine Bell(JAG) , Don Harvey , Kevin Thige , Trevor Goddard and several others . Cinematography by Rohn Schmidt is quite nicely , capturing the atmosphere of everywhere , from Thailand to a pretty cool jungle , furthermore some stirring images filmed with camera above the shoulder . Vibrant musical score fitting to action by Gerard Gouriet . The motion picture picture is well realized by Perry Lang who also plays a secondary role . This is his second and last movie -the first was ¨Little Vegas¨- subsequently Lang would direct numerous TV episodes as ¨ Millennium, Charmed, One tree hill , Everwood, Alias, Weeds. .¨

The film was made in the wake of ¨Mercenary sub-genre¨ as the classic ¨Wild Geese¨ by Andrew McLagen with Burton, Moore and Richard Harris and ¨Wild Geese II¨ , plus ¨Dogs of war¨ by John Irvin with Christopher Walken and recently ¨Tears of the sun ¨ with Bruce Willis and Monica Belucci and many others . Rating : 6,5 . Better than average. Well worth watching .