Men of War is the overlooked Dolph Lundgren and John Sayles collaboration you never knew you needed or wanted. Initially marketed as just another dumb. macho action flick and dumped direct to video in 1995, Men of War does have some familiarity in terms of its story, but it’s an exceptionally made piece of work that boasts Lundgren’s career best performance. Recently re-released on Blu-Ray as part of MVD’s Rewind Collection, Men of War is deserving of a wider look, not just by action movie buffs.
Men of War opens in snowy, slushy Chicago where washed-up, drunken ex-special forces mercenary for hire Nick Gunar (Lundgren) is approached on the streets by a couple of suits (Perry Lang and Thomas Gibson) to take on a job that’s a “pushover of an operation.” They want Nick to put together a team to go into the South Asian jungle and lean on some indigenous peoples to sign over the mining rights to their land. Once they Nick and his squad arrive, some of them realize that these are peaceful, easygoing people with a sense of humour. A rival team of mercenaries – led by the positively unhinged Keefer (the late Trevor Godard), who Nick passed over because he was too unstable – arrives to try and find the hidden lode of jade on the land that was once described in an issue of National Geographic. Nick and his team are forced to choose sides: defend the land on behalf of those who were there first or take the easy money and do their job.
Originally titled A Safe Place, the film’s earliest draft was written by Sayles (Lone Star, Eight Men Out, Matewan) as a more serious drama about the post-Vitenam power vacuum and exploitation of land throughout the region. Men of War, as it would come to be known, would be passed off to the team of Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff (Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight and creators of the Kung-Fu Panda characters) to add more action and humour, but even if that hadn’t happened, the film would still be within character for Sayles’s career. Although he’s praised for his more thought provoking works, Sayles had one heck of a run when it came to writing B-movies and popcorn entertainment, like Piranha, Alligator, The Howling, Battle Beyond the Stars, and The Challenge. As such, Men of War plays like the best of the screenwriter’s two best known settings.
Directed by co-star Lang – who would go on to have a prolific television career – Men of War has some formulaic elements to it. There are big speeches, one liners, cheesy sentimentality, and some sleazy, tough guy moments, but Men of War also has a surprising about of heart and the action never disappoints. The hand to hand combat is exceptional, and the brutally violent climax between the good mercenaries and the evil ones is very well done. Thematically, Men of War is sad and mournful beneath its swaggering surface, depicting the lives of its mercenaries (who are paid to act, not think or question) as exploited workers who are held in as little regard by their employers as the people they’ve been sent to move along. Nick can sympathize with the people he has chosen to protect because he’s also fed up being undervalued and put upon.
Lundgren digs deep to make Nick into a compelling, credible hero, especially when put up against the likes of Godard and the towering Tiny “Zeus” Lister. The film also offers great supporting turns for Charlotte Lewis (as the only person who knows where the jade lode is located), Kevin Tighe (as Nick’s mentor), Catherine Bell (as a rare female merc), and especially B.D. Wong, as one of the community leaders, who has one of the most jaw droppingly memorable and badass moments of his entire career during the film’s climactic battle. There’s substance to go along with the broken bones and explosions. Every character in Men of War is magnetic, compelling, and given something to do instead of just take up space in the frame.
Men of War was independently produced, and performed exceptionally well with test audiences. It’s not hard to understand why. The movie slaps, as the kids occasionally say. But like a lot of other low and mid-budget genre efforts of the era, distribution of the film was picked up by the Weinstein brothers’ Miramax banner, where it sat on a shelf for a couple of years before being unceremoniously dumped onto home video. The reason for the shelving was because the executives thought that Lundgren, at this point in his career, was not enough of a star anymore to build a theatrical release around. A project that could’ve fully rejuvenated Lundgren’s career years before The Expendables franchise would do so, Men of War deserves a lot more respect today than it got at the time. It’s a hidden meat and potatoes gem that’s ripe for rediscovery.
Men of War is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from MVD as part of their Rewind Collection.
