Red Scorpion

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Red Scorpion is a 1989 film starring Dolph Lundgren. Future lobbyist Jack Abramoff wrote the script and was a producer of the film together with his brother Robert Abramoff, which is one of the film's few claims to fame.

[edit] Plot

The plot centres on Lundgren's character, a Soviet agent called Nikolai who is sent to an African country where Soviet and Cuban forces are helping the government fight an anti-communist rebel movement. Nikolai is ordered to assassinate the movement's leader but eventually turns against his government. He is abandoned in the desert and found by native people. He soon learns about them and their culture and later leads an attack after a massacre at the rebel stronghold.

The fictional country is clearly modelled on Angola, where the Marxist MPLA, supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, fought a long civil war against UNITA, which was backed by South Africa and the United States (see Angolan civil war). The character of the anti-communist rebel leader appears loosely based on the founder of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi.

The film has a strongly anti-Communist and anti-Soviet message, and goes to great lengths to depict the sadism and violence of the protagonist, as well of as his superiors, prior to his conversion, including a scene in which chemical weapons are used on civilians. Nikolai is also portrayed as a mindless automaton, who then learns to smile and laugh later in the film.

[edit] Production and controversy

The film was made on location in South African-occupied Namibia, and the South African Defence Force provided soldiers as extras as well as military vehicles and equipment. Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid condemned the production for breaking the international boycott against South Africa. The film was allegedly financed by the South African government as part of its propaganda efforts to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress (see International Freedom Foundation).

Abramoff later claimed that he did not intend the film to contain so much violence and profanity, blaming the director. He established a short-lived "Committee for Traditional Jewish Values in Entertainment" to release films more in line with his values, but later abandoned the project, feeling it would be unfeasible.

When a reporter said to Abramoff that he'd seen half of the movie, Abramoff replied, "You got through half of it? Wait until you see 'Red Scorpion 2'!"

There is a sequel, Red Scorpion 2, although the story is largely unrelated to the first installment, and like the first it was widely ignored and panned. Abramoff executive produced the sequel also.