Dolph Lundgren stars as Nick Cherinko, a former Russian super soldier (I think it is the same character in Red Scorpion!) who this time uses his special skills for vengeance when his family is wiped out by Russian mobsters however this is just the first fifteen minutes as Lundgren wastes literally no time in delivering payback and it is when he finds out that the mobster lived that it becomes apparent that he must return back to Russia and even the score. Rescuing a girl in the process is just secondary to satisfying his blood thirsty rage. I must admit that I enjoy a certain style of actioner, mainly the type in which the action is big, brutal and solid. Of course I was mildly surprised by Lundgren's last movie The Defender due to it's good action and solid story however I generally don't rent straight to video movies because I got burned way too many times, however when this came on TV I saw it and was VERY impressed with it. The Russian Specialist is a throw back to the Charles Bronson days when the heroes dispensed ruthless justice and walked away with an ending that was happy for everyone but them. Certainly there are some minor flaws and the main one being that Lundgren has softened his accent so much he no longer can pull off that great of a Russian accent. Also Ben Cross (Best known from Chariots Of Fire) is somewhat out of place in this movie but i'd be lying if I didn't enjoy this brutal throwback to the classic revenge actioner. So this one is worthy of a rental. In fact I may go onto Amazon and see if I can find a cheap DVD of this to add in my collection. (The last Lundgren movie I bought on DVD was Bridge Of Dragons)
* * * out of 4-(Good)
* * * out of 4-(Good)