Retrograde DVD with Dolph Lundgren, David Jean Thomas (R) +Movie Reviews

DOLPH IS BACK

WONKA | Lexington, Kentucky | 02/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To those of you have been sleeping on action-god, Dolph Lundgren, I have a few words for you. WAKE UP! His movies can be very entertaining and always push the envelope. In the future, Dolph plays Captain John Foster. Foster leads a team of genetically unique men and woman on a dangerous trip back in time to rid the human race of a deadly virus. Travelling by space ship, Foster begins to discover that some of his crew-members aren't who he thought they were. Embroiled in a futuristic space-fight to save his own life, Foster must find a way to stay alive for he may just be the human's last hope.
What you really get with Retrograde is the melding of the two greatest genres known to man: Action and Sci-Fi. The flick is packed with some hard action and cool CGI. Rediscover one of the 90's top stars in one of his many fine films of recent years. Good popcorn movie to watch with your buddies, good for repeat views. Pop it in and enjoy!

"

Not as bad as I thought it would be...

Shopper | USA | 03/30/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"So many of the 80's fashions are now coming back (to bite us...), that it got me thinking again about my high school years, including the crushes I had during those days of yore...One of the most spectacular ones was, of course, Dolphie (in his Rocky prime)...I can scarsely believe the man is still churning out action flicks! I must say the time has been kind to his body (still hot in his fifties! at least to this 38 year old...), though his acting skills have not benefited equally (or, maybe I'm wrong: his acting hasn't really deteriorated that much; but then, I doubt it could have actually been any worse...). Still, the man possesses a certain degree of charisma, which makes him very watchable...I was entertained, and think the price of the DVD (equal to the price of a movie ticket) money well spent.
Considering that Retrograde is obviously a flick made on a shoe string budget, I was pleasantly surprised by the fairly convincing cgi and sets. The story line made sense as well (for the most part), which is not something true of all Dolph movies. I was annoyed though by how often I had to engage the suspention of disbelief in order to "get on with the show". Most of it could have been avoided had only some attention to detail been employed by the makers (oh, come on!: a man cannot pass out for five hours outdoors, in the snow, in a minus forty degree temp, and then jump to his feet with nothing but a grumpy mood for a side effect!...and what's up with the unending "damsel in distress" act?!: in order to keep upright, a woman does NOT need a man's shoulder EVERY time the ship tilts to a side...otherwise, it would suggest an impaired cerebellum, and most of us are JUST FINE!!! thank you very much!).
Anyway, I was entertained, though if the original Star Wars was a "five stars", I cannot honestly give this film anything over "two stars", and it is only because this film is so much better then the usual Dolph fare..."

Good little sci fi flick

Michael P. Dobey | colorado springs | 03/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"We have now reached the era when even a low budget sci fi flick can look pretty good. And this one does look good the cgi (computer generated effects) are more realistic than was possible a few years back at this budget level. Another good thing is that it has Dolph Lundgren, who is a very entertaining action star. And I agree that he has put out some excellent low budget action flicks over the past ten years. He has a solid presence and he can even show some emotional depth. The action is pretty good and the sets look pretty good for this budget of movie. And that's no mean feat to accomplish on a low budget. In reality this is a action and sci fi blend movie and the acting is good enough to enjoy it on that level too. And best of all the effects look decent so you can say things are improving for low budget producers using cgi effects, and that's a good thing. After all on many (1990-today) low budget sci fi flicks the cgi effects were not so great because of lack of money. The acting and stories made them fun though sometimes; and this is a good little story with a true blue hero who is clearly fighting for good and that's another reason to sit through this sci fi flick."

Grade B All the Way

Martin Asiner | Jersey City, NJ | 06/07/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When one watches a low budget action thriller, one must forget the need to forgo a willing suspension of belief. In RETROGRADE, this is easier said than done. I have no problem with time travel stories, as this one is, but I expect that once time travel is inserted, then I expect the writers to confront some obvious questions of paradox and altered time lines. The year is 2209, and Earth's population has been decimated by the appearance of an alien plague two centuries earlier. Billions have died and the survivors have developed a partial immunity. Their chief scientists by then have mastered time travel (although the film does not address how) and a time travel team has been assembled to return to 2009 when a meteor struck Earth bearing the plague. Dolph Lundgren is Foster, their leader. The first few minutes of the plot hold our interest, especially when we have been led to believe that an altered time line may pose its own plot complications. However, director Christopher Kulikowski introduces an entirely unbelievable subplot wherein most of Lundgren's crew decide to sabotage the mission. That to do so would hurt them in their time line is not considered. No explanation for their villainy is presented. The plot involves Lundgren trying to blow up an ice breaker stuck in Antarctica so as to destroy the virus. The bad guys wish to prevent that so as to ensure its spread. RETROGRADE is not a martial arts film, though it has a few scenes of that. Nor is it a convincing actioner. The film mostly limps from scene to scene with the mutinying crew from the future showing a clear propensity to kill even as they do not evince a reason for doing so. RETROGRADE took only nineteen days to shoot with two more for editing and the clumsy non-segues are clear proof. The final scene of Lundgren back in the future with an altered time line (SPOILER HERE) is an insult to an audience that demands to know how he could so easily reconnect to a family that by all rights should have disappeared when he changed the past. RETROGRADE is only for those die hard fans of brainless actioners that star otherwise convincing heroes like Dolph Lundgren, who by the way was paid one million dollars for his less than three weeks of work."

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