WAR DOG is a long-forgotten and insanely violent Swedish action film with a plot similar to that of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, although it came first. The story sees the macho protagonist looking into the death of his brother and coming across a sinister plot to breed a new type of super soldier, bent on death and without emotion. The film kicks off with an incredible slow-motion massacre scene in which innocent civilians are gunned down, and it features the bloodiest squib hits I can ever remember seeing. The rest of the story follows in the same vein, a mixture of violent and gruesome action and the usual melodrama and character work. The ending descends into slasher territory but is still amusing, while there's a funny stand-off made as a homage to the famous showdown in Sergio Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.
9 Reviews
Wardogs is a winner!
tarbosh2200021 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
We loved Wardogs! Its unabashed celebration of over the top violence really earns the viewers' admiration.
Charles Stewart (Earle) is a Vietnam vet who wants answers about his brother Rick's death. He teams up with Dean Daniels (Ernblad), a reporter interested in missing Vietnam soldiers. It turns out the evil Spacek (Fridh) started a training camp in South Africa to pump out SuperSoldiers. These brainwashed, emotionless, unstoppable killing machines are now on the loose, brutalizing anything in their path. Will Charles' wife and son be next? Wardogs is an extremely enjoyable Swedish production that seems to go out of its way to seem "American". It has some funny dubbing and the characters have "American"-type names. There are constant references to Coca-Cola, Corn Flakes, Marlboro cigarettes and the then-current L.A. Olympics. Rick even resembles Barry Williams of The Brady Bunch fame. However, simply from the imaginative and commendable cinematography, we can tell this is a European production, among other clues. It also makes the absolute best of its low budget in ingenious ways.
Our hero in Wardogs isn't a musclebound meathead with a lot of slick dialogue. He is a tubby everyman that the audience can relate to. He's not a superman - and since the audience truly fears the utter ruthlessness of the Wardogs, for every kill and victory of our hero, the audience says "Yeah!" This makes Wardogs a great popcorn/beer movie, if not for the whole family, for a group of bloodthirsty film fans.
On that point, Wardogs seems like an action movie made by horror film fans. In fact, the last 15 minutes abandons action entirely and goes all-out horror. It totally works! A minor masterpiece of blood and violence, Wardogs is an underrated gem worth seeking out.
For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
Charles Stewart (Earle) is a Vietnam vet who wants answers about his brother Rick's death. He teams up with Dean Daniels (Ernblad), a reporter interested in missing Vietnam soldiers. It turns out the evil Spacek (Fridh) started a training camp in South Africa to pump out SuperSoldiers. These brainwashed, emotionless, unstoppable killing machines are now on the loose, brutalizing anything in their path. Will Charles' wife and son be next? Wardogs is an extremely enjoyable Swedish production that seems to go out of its way to seem "American". It has some funny dubbing and the characters have "American"-type names. There are constant references to Coca-Cola, Corn Flakes, Marlboro cigarettes and the then-current L.A. Olympics. Rick even resembles Barry Williams of The Brady Bunch fame. However, simply from the imaginative and commendable cinematography, we can tell this is a European production, among other clues. It also makes the absolute best of its low budget in ingenious ways.
Our hero in Wardogs isn't a musclebound meathead with a lot of slick dialogue. He is a tubby everyman that the audience can relate to. He's not a superman - and since the audience truly fears the utter ruthlessness of the Wardogs, for every kill and victory of our hero, the audience says "Yeah!" This makes Wardogs a great popcorn/beer movie, if not for the whole family, for a group of bloodthirsty film fans.
On that point, Wardogs seems like an action movie made by horror film fans. In fact, the last 15 minutes abandons action entirely and goes all-out horror. It totally works! A minor masterpiece of blood and violence, Wardogs is an underrated gem worth seeking out.
For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
Decent Low Budget Action Effort
Rapeman1314 December 2008
Before Universal Soldier there was War Dog, a low budget Swedish action flick that shares a lot of similarities with the aforementioned Van Damme vehicle.
Charles Stewart is unwilling to accept that his brother Rick died in 'Nam, so with the help of a friend he begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding his brothers missing-in-action status. His buddy puts him in touch with journalist Dean Daniels who makes a living on the side helping people track down relatives presumed MIA.
Dean shows Charles a videotape documenting a political assassination, and amongst the hit men Charles recognizes his brother and his former commanding officer, Spacek. Now motivated by the fact that his brother is still alive, Charles sets out to discover what exactly was going on in that video and who is behind it all.
War Dog is a surprisingly bloody actioner that utilizes its limited budget to the fullest. The opening scenes depict an over-the-top massacre wherein assassins indiscriminately slaughter young children and senior citizens who get in their way. It's not often in an action film you get to see a child shot to pieces in slo-mo.
Some slight drawbacks to the film are where the beginning and ending are all-out action, the middle section slows things down a bit which gives it a somewhat uneven feel overall. In addition some of the acting is rather stilted and the horrendous dubbing - despite the fact the original language is English - can make for some unintentional comedy.
Minor shortcomings aside, I found War Dog to be a pretty decent low budget effort with enough blood, guns 'n' explosions to sate the average exploit/action lover's appetite.
Charles Stewart is unwilling to accept that his brother Rick died in 'Nam, so with the help of a friend he begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding his brothers missing-in-action status. His buddy puts him in touch with journalist Dean Daniels who makes a living on the side helping people track down relatives presumed MIA.
Dean shows Charles a videotape documenting a political assassination, and amongst the hit men Charles recognizes his brother and his former commanding officer, Spacek. Now motivated by the fact that his brother is still alive, Charles sets out to discover what exactly was going on in that video and who is behind it all.
War Dog is a surprisingly bloody actioner that utilizes its limited budget to the fullest. The opening scenes depict an over-the-top massacre wherein assassins indiscriminately slaughter young children and senior citizens who get in their way. It's not often in an action film you get to see a child shot to pieces in slo-mo.
Some slight drawbacks to the film are where the beginning and ending are all-out action, the middle section slows things down a bit which gives it a somewhat uneven feel overall. In addition some of the acting is rather stilted and the horrendous dubbing - despite the fact the original language is English - can make for some unintentional comedy.
Minor shortcomings aside, I found War Dog to be a pretty decent low budget effort with enough blood, guns 'n' explosions to sate the average exploit/action lover's appetite.
Not in Falkenberg - It's in Varberg
johanneshirv28 June 2010
Before I tell anything about what I think about the movie. - This movie is set in Varberg and Veddige, not Falkenberg!!! Falkenberg is 30km far too south and is a smaller town than Varberg. This is my neighborhood and I've been on most of the places seen in the movie. So trust me, I know for sure.
And now for the movie... I saw this together with some friends a few years ago because we'd heard rumors about the movie and that it actually was shot in Veddige, the small village where we're from and that some of our teacher's and a few others locally well-known persons could be seen in it. So we watched it. It was actually really fun when you saw a new place or a person that you recognized, but everything between that was seriously really boring. As far as I remember it the movie was pretty 1980's action movie stereotype, but if that's what you expect - enjoy!
And now for the movie... I saw this together with some friends a few years ago because we'd heard rumors about the movie and that it actually was shot in Veddige, the small village where we're from and that some of our teacher's and a few others locally well-known persons could be seen in it. So we watched it. It was actually really fun when you saw a new place or a person that you recognized, but everything between that was seriously really boring. As far as I remember it the movie was pretty 1980's action movie stereotype, but if that's what you expect - enjoy!
Some funny things
bookguy5 September 2006
The whole film is massively cheesy, and completely without irony. Which is fun.
There are some particularly hilarious moments - I like the main character's naggy wife and her tarty neighbour, the fact that all of the cars in the car chases are Volvos, the killing at the fairground where a dead guy gets caught on some kid going down a flume and the frankly bizarre Once Upon a Time in the West pastiche towards the end.
Not really worth sitting through a very poor Universal Soldier clone for two minutes of laughs, though.
Another thing, what's up with these Swedes and their children? This film has them exploding all over the place...groovy.
There are some particularly hilarious moments - I like the main character's naggy wife and her tarty neighbour, the fact that all of the cars in the car chases are Volvos, the killing at the fairground where a dead guy gets caught on some kid going down a flume and the frankly bizarre Once Upon a Time in the West pastiche towards the end.
Not really worth sitting through a very poor Universal Soldier clone for two minutes of laughs, though.
Another thing, what's up with these Swedes and their children? This film has them exploding all over the place...groovy.
Low Budget Action Which Will Entertain For A While!
mange-317 October 1999
This is actually a pretty good low budget action flick. It is amazing that the directors managed to complete this film on such a tight budget. It is fascinating to establish that it was shot in Sweden. I believe on the Westcoast in Falken-berg/Varberg. The special effects are very good and the story is - in view of the circumstances - quite ok. This is an action cult movie and of course the demands should not be that high, since it is not Hollywood mainstream. Nevertheless, it is worth a look for people interested in cult action flicks. Nowadays films like this are hard to come by, since most of the films in this category were made during the eighties. Therefore it is time to say to future Swedish action directors: Come out, come out wherever you are!
Not very good....
linkan-326 May 1999
Not very good at all. Pretty crap if you ask me. Poor acting, lousy script, unconvincing from beginning to end. First of all, it was shot in Varberg, Sweden. Which would explain why it doesn't look at all like America, where the film takes place. Second, half of the casted actors are Swedish. There's nothing wrong with, they're good actors, but some smart b*****d decided to use the wonderful invention that is voice-over, which makes it ridiculous to watch. Third, the story is a little TOO simple. A guy, finds out his brother didn't die in Vietnam as he thought, he was captured and trained to be a "War Dog". Ooooh! Creepy! Or at least it could have been. If it wasn't for the non-American scenery, the voice-overs, the story, and the fact that the budget on this film must have been... just about nonexistent.
Jan Lundberg
MartinTernander20 March 2006
I know the "actor" Jan Lundberg, he was my English teacher in 7th to 9th grade (in the Swedish school system that is). Offcource we pupils got to know about this movie quite fast and all the time we begged to see it.
I had a good relationship with him and when a friend of mine found a copy of the film we were going to watch it but somehow I never saw it anyways which I regret very much now.
I'm thinking about calling Jan up and get hold of the movie now that I've read your posts.
Do you by voice-over mean that the version you've seen have a voice telling the story or that the entire movie has been dubbed? What I know they spoke English in the original so that it would have been dubbed seems kind of stupid to me.
I'll update you when I find out more about this.
I had a good relationship with him and when a friend of mine found a copy of the film we were going to watch it but somehow I never saw it anyways which I regret very much now.
I'm thinking about calling Jan up and get hold of the movie now that I've read your posts.
Do you by voice-over mean that the version you've seen have a voice telling the story or that the entire movie has been dubbed? What I know they spoke English in the original so that it would have been dubbed seems kind of stupid to me.
I'll update you when I find out more about this.
Great lowbudget!
SchmollywoodBabylon26 June 1999
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