Diamond Dogs (2007)

Diamond Dogs: Directed by Shimon Dotan, Dolph Lundgren. With Dolph Lundgren, Nan Yu, Xue Zuren, William Shriver. A mercenary is hired to protect an expedition group while they search for a Tangka, a Buddhist artifact worth millions of dollars.

“Judging by the comments here on IMDb, public opinion on this movie is divided into 2 distinct camps. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFirstly you have the salivating fans for whom the mere presence of Lundgren is enough to make any film a work of cinematic genius. If thatu0026#39;s all it takes to please you, then no comment on here will change your mind. Thatu0026#39;s fine, enjoy your Dolf – try not to drool on him. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThen you have those who expect, nay DEMAND that any movie which features plot elements such as relics, temples and gunfights follow the big budget Hollywood formula of intricate death traps, load bearing treasure and near superhuman heroics which made the Indiana Jones movies, Mummy series and Tomb raider so successful. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is where I begin to have a problem. The aforementioned films derive most of their entertainment value from witty one liners, flashy special effects and slick choreography. Diamond Dogs on the other hand goes in the opposite direction, moving the focus of the film away from elaborate action and adventure, on to the characters and their survival. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe majority of the film appears to have been shot on location and most of the characters (played well by a less than famous cast) lack the exaggerated personalities and convoluted motivations youu0026#39;d find in a Hollywood blockbuster. The result of this shift is that the whole film feels more u0026#39;National Geographicu0026#39; than u0026#39;National Treasureu0026#39;. The sporadic action is fast and lethal, no fancy footwork and no coming back with multiple wounds for one last shot. The u0026#39;bad guysu0026#39; are bad as opposed to villainous and the u0026#39;good guysu0026#39; are played straight, behaving in a practical and decidedly un-heroic manner. I for one found the lack of comedy quipping a refreshing change. In fact the only thing that bothered me in the whole movie was William Shriveru0026#39;s portrayal of u0026#39;Chambersu0026#39; which WAS admittedly slightly over the top toward the beginning of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll the above waffle basically boils down to this; You want an action adventure romp, packed with booby traps, wisecracks and villains? Go watch something else. If however you think you could appreciate something a bit different, with beautiful scenery, an unusual soundtrack and a sizable (but rarely flashy) body count, then you could do an awful lot worse than Diamond Dogs.”