Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Red Scorpion

Play trailer Poster for Red Scorpion R 1989 1h 42m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
17% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Tattooed by a Bushman, a Soviet officer (Dolph Lundgren) leads an overthrow of Soviet/Cuban troops in Africa.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Red Scorpion

Critics Reviews

View More
Variety Staff Variety 01/14/2008
A dull, below-average action pic, lensed in Swaziland. Go to Full Review
Stephen Holden New York Times 05/20/2003
2/5
The movie's reflective moments belong to Mr. Lundgren's sweaty chest. Go to Full Review
Richard Harrington Washington Post 01/01/2000
Beware of its stink. Go to Full Review
Ed Travis Hollywood Jesus 03/31/2020
Red Scorpion is a legitimate gem of the 1980s action movie canon. It captures a still-rising Dolph Lundgren and uses every strength in his arsenal to create one of his most iconic action heroes. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 02/07/2017
C-
Good golly, this comic book action picture is a stinker. Go to Full Review
Dan Lybarger KC Active 07/07/2012
3/5
Because it was produced by disgraced (and imprisoned) Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the movie is now loaded with an eerie unintentional laughter it didn't have for its original viewers. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
N L May 4 Are you out of your mind?!?! No... Just out of bullets... See more Pedro Henrique C @Pedro2005 04/28/2024 The explosion in this film is no joke, it has a terrible script and very exaggerated action. See more William D @Williams0604 12/11/2023 This was an okay movie. This should be watched once but remember it was made in Namibia which was ruled by South Africa during Apartheid and because of that it does diminish the film some. See more David W 09/18/2023 As 80's one man army flicks go this is actually pretty damn good. The plot such as it is has a Russian Spetsnaz soldier (Lundgren) develop a conscience and side with the local Africans (Swaziland) against Russian oppression. Dolph hadn't really developed his acting skills at this point (his Swede playing a Russian accent in English is all over the place) so he's wisely not given too much in the way of challenging dialogue but he handles the physical action scenes very well. Its very much a Dolph movie vehicle but the great M. Emmet Walsh, in a supporting role, predictably steals the show from an acting perspective. Director Zito had Missing in Action on his CV by this point and whilst this isn't as good in my opinion and the Reaganomic politics are in full view, it's still rock solid action fare. Dolph essentially does a Russian Rambo 3 or Ramboski if you will. It's a guilty pleasure, switch off your brain, action genre movie that I actually really enjoy. Very much a manly man, not the feminised screen wimps of today, product of the late eighties and there's nothing wrong with that in my book. If you've got a retro action itch to scratch then this should do the job surprisingly well, just don't over analyse it. See more Jimmy P 01/20/2023 Director Joseph Zito kind of disappeared after this film. See more brendan n 03/31/2021 Red Scorpion is one of those one man army films that came after the success of the Rambo series. The film isn't a classic by any means, but its not a total train-wreck either. I grew up with this film and was worried that my revisit wouldn't be a worth while one, similar to the American Ninja series. The key to Red Scorpion is the action scenes and they succeed where the acting and story fall done. Dolph's accent comes and goes throughout, it even completely vanishes with that final line in the film. I caught the Arrow Video transfer and must say they've done a great thing with that film. It looks incredible and service what is an almost forgotten film. This is a guilty pleasure film and I had a lot of fun revisiting it. 30/03/2021 See more Read all reviews
Red Scorpion

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
War Party 0% 76% War Party Watchlist The Fourth War 64% 27% The Fourth War Watchlist Red Heat 67% 38% Red Heat Watchlist Navy SEALS 15% 42% Navy SEALS Watchlist Invasion U.S.A. 22% 52% Invasion U.S.A. Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Tattooed by a Bushman, a Soviet officer (Dolph Lundgren) leads an overthrow of Soviet/Cuban troops in Africa.
Director
Joseph Zito
Producer
Jack Abramoff
Screenwriter
Arne Olsen
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 19, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.5M
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now