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Men of War: Collector's Edition – MVD Rewind Collection (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA/Spain, 1994
Director: Perry Lang
Writers: Stan Rogow, John Sayles, Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris
Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Charlotte Lewis, Tony Denison, Tim Guinee, Don Harvey, Tom Lister Jr., Tom Wright, Catherine Bell, Trevor Goddard, Kevin Tighe, Thomas Gibson, Perry Lang, Aldo Sambrell

Release Date: December 12th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 102 Minutes 31 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English, Dolby Digital Stereo Spanish
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Nick Gunar (Lundgren) is part of a topflight team of ex-Special Forces agents hired by ruthless con men. Their mission: to carry out a secret operation and overtake an exotic island that's loaded with precious jade. But once there, the agents -- led by Lundgren -- defect to defend the islanders against the savage attackers!" – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 3.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "High Definition presentation".

Men of War comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.5 GB

Feature: 27.3 GB

This release's transfer uses a dated source; flesh tone looks healthy, colors look good, image clarity is strong, black levels fare well, and compression is very good. Also, some digital filtering has been applied to the image, making it not look organic. That said, despite its shortcomings, this release is currently your best option.

Audio: 3.5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, a LPCM stereo mix in English, and a Dolby Digital stereo Spanish. For this review I only listened to the English-language tracks. Quality-wise, the differences between these two audio tracks are minimal. Though dialog comes through clearly, range-wise these audio tracks are limited. Included are removable English SDH and removable Spanish subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a photo gallery with music from the film playing in the background (stills/home video art), a trailer (1 minute 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), raw footage / dailies of select scenes (9 minutes 44 seconds, LPCM stereo with music from the film), an archival featurette with Jérémie Damoiseau collaborator and specialist for Dolph Lundgren titled An Unsafe Place: Making Men of War (12 minutes 53 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by director Perry Lang (38 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), 2-sided artwork, a collectible mini-poster, and a slipcover (first pressing only).

Other extras are trailers for Knock Off, LA Wars, Kill Zone, Lionheart, Mean Guns, and Sabotage.

Summary:

A former special ops soldier is hired to lead a group of mercenaries for a mission to secure mineral rights for an island in the South China Sea. What should have been a simple mission quickly spirals out of control when another group of mercenaries makes their move.

Dolph Lundgren was one of a handful of actors who rose to prominence during the 1980s action cinema boom. When action cinema moved more to home video, Dolph Lundgren, like many of his contemporaries, continued to thrive throughout the 1990s. This brings us to Men of War, which is arguably Dolph Lundgren’s best performance.

In Men of War, Dolph Lundgren portrays Nick Gunar, a retired special ops soldier who spends his days wallowing in alcohol. After years of killing, he’s become jaded and is having trouble dealing with his past. When an opportunity comes his way to return to his former life, he’s reluctant. In this opening introduction, Dolph Lundgren is given so much to work with; Nick Gunar is not your typical one-dimensional action movie character. While it's a given that Dolph Lundgren would kick ass when it comes to the action sequences, he rises to the occasion during dramatic moments.

A solid supporting cast surrounds Dolph Lundgren, who is the main attraction of Men of War. Trevor Goddard (Mortal Kombat) delivers a deliriously over-the-top performance in the role of the main villain, a former special ops soldier named Keefer. Another performance of note is Aldo Sambrell (A Fistful of Dollars), who portrays a mercenary whose mouth is filled with gold teeth. That said, the rest of the cast is filled with recognizable faces.

From a production standpoint, Men of War is a film that fully exploits its resources. Pacing is never an issue, as key moments are given an ample amount of time to resonate, and the narrative does a great job building characters. Another strength of the narrative is how effectively it creates tension, especially between Nick Gunar and Keefer. Though there is not that much action in the first 39 minutes, once the action gets going, it's wall to wall. Ultimately, Men of War is a solid action film that greatly benefits from Dolph Lundgren's exemplary performance.

Despite an audio/video presentation that leaves room for improvement, this release is Men of War’s best home media release to date.