Leofwine_draca A cat and mouse game between a heroic sniper and sinister assassins, all set in a super high-rise building miles above the ground, directed by Russell Mulcahy, the man who gave us that '80s cult classic HIGHLANDER. It's a premise that can't go wrong, right? Wrong, unfortunately, as Mulcahy yet again proves himself to be a one hit wonder with this watchable but disappointing story that suffers from a slow pacing, a lack of decent action, and a budget that really hurts. You know the film is in trouble when there are only four cast members and the story is set in one location, but despite this, there are flashes of style and inspiration to keep you watching and wanting more. For a start, the camera-work isn't bad at all and manages to make the setting pretty interesting, if bleak; a deserted and run-down building soaked by the constantly pouring rain and covered in grime, littered in dirt.Into this setting comes all-round action man Dolph Lundgren, one of the more dependable actors in the straight-to-video crowd whose work I'm quite fond of; his highs may not be as high as the high points in Van Damme's and Seagal's respective careers, but at least he usually hits the mark more often than those two with his movies and rarely lets his audience down. Here, we see Lundgren putting in a solid performance as the conscience-ridden sniper with a background; although his character is kept mysterious throughout, Lundgren's subtle (let nobody call it wooden) portrayal keeps his Waxman character interesting, whilst still proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the various action bouts.Unfortunately the rest of the cast attempt to match Lundgren at his game but their bids do not pay off. Partly at fault is Gina Bellman as the contact Clegg; her character is perhaps even more mysterious than Lundgren's but she fails to connect with the audience, even when emoting; her character always seems cold and distant and never really explored as well as it could be. Then there's George Jenesky as Klein, a security guard with a surprising secret that only comes out in the latter stages; his acting is barely existent with only the odd emotion flickering across his face about every twenty minutes or so. The opposite can be said of Christopher Heyerdahl, who at least puts in an enjoyable if over-acted performance as drug-addicted guard O'Hara, a vile would-be rapist who hallucinates that killer spiders are out to get him.Most of the action sequences take place in flashback, and prove to be brief but well-staged. They're also exceptionally violent, with deaths occurring in slow motion and loving zooms on blood erupting from human bodies and necks being slashed open with knives. In fact in this respect it's actually gorier than many a horror film I've seen and certainly a surprise to see such violence on terrestrial television. After an incredibly slow first hour (which introduces and explores the characters to a minimal level, whilst they walk and sit around a lot) there is one major set-piece towards the finale which provides something of what I was expecting from this movie, but it really isn't enough and the end result is that I'm left feeling a little cheated. A waste of Lundgren and a bare minimum of an entertainment value, SILENT TRIGGER is recommended for dedicated drama fans only, as its cold atmosphere makes it seem more like an art-house movie than the action flick which it masquerades as.

Maziun If you are interested in the technical aspect of movie-making this is an interesting movie. It's an low budget picture that looks really good. The lighting is spectacular and director Russell Mulcahy deserves a praise for this. This movie utilize some of the best lighting I've seen. They've used lots of colored, cleverly placed, spotlights to enhance the walls. This level of professionalism is unusual for a B-class movie.Unfortunately EVERYTHING ELSE sucks. The acting , the action , the dialogues , but mostly the plot. Some of the over excited Lundgren fans compare this to "Reservoir dogs" and say that this movie has a very clever plot. I'm sorry , but what plot ?! There is no explanation for what is going on and why. Who was assassinated in the flashback and why ? What's with the road massacre ? Why give another assignment to a person that failed you before ? The movie tries to put some existentialism in it , but it feels flat and unconvincing. I appreciate the ambition , but it just didn't work out . The movie is shallow and no fun.I give it 1/10.

oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx Heaven knows why I fall for this picture. But I do, hook, line, and sinker. The deadpan delivery from Lundgren and Bellman makes this a truly post ironic classic. Gina Bellman is difficult to watch, being from the UK I'm acquainted with her later (emetic) sitcom work, and seeing her try to hold down a serious role is very funny. She's clearly very sensual though, so she has to be let off.It's also pretty intriguing on an existential level to see the sniper Waxman (Lundgren) pondering what his duty is and whether he can ever be redeemed. But asides from all the post irony and existentialism it's downright atmospheric. Mulcahy found some pretty extraordinary landscapes to film. The title scene, is of a man running through some sort of estuary set to a nice bluesy piece of jazz. What it has to do with the plot is anybody's guess, but it was brilliant. Most of the film is set in the penthouse of a skyscraper (the Algonquin) at night time during heavy thunder and rain. It's a great looking piece of architecture, and very atmospheric. The rest of the film is shown in flashbacks of Waxman and his spotter's exfiltration following an abortive assassination attempt. The Algonquin is described in this movie as 'a piece of techno-crap', it's an unfurbished incomplete neo-Gothic skyscraper that no-one seems to be bothered to finish. It's an uninhabited shell that makes a great eagles nest for sniping. It's all quite amusing, quite why the powers that be want a VIP in an armoured limo travelling at high speed to be assassinated so publicly, so flagrantly, and so spectacularly by a sniper using armour-piercing explosive rounds from an incredibly difficult one-mile away shooting position, is anybody's guess. Just for your interest my friends I have looked into why Mulcahy has named the skyscraper 'The Algonquin'. It seems the literal translation of the root of this word (whose definition is an Indian tribe) comes from the Micmac meaning "at the place of spearing fish and eels". How pretentious is that? Good though.In true B-movie tradition we have a freak, Christopher Heyerdahl, as the night-shift security guard in the Algonquin. His body is tattooed with his 'buddies' a load of spiders who seem to urge him to commit wanton acts of sexual violence, especially after he's snorted a bit of white. He's really very creepy indeed.The few action scenes in the movie are quite effective, but action fans may find the longueurs in between to be unpalatable. This one is more for the B-movie mavens.Plot-whores don't really like this movie because it is a bit discontinuous, for example why on earth is Waxman given a second chance after his first failure to complete his assignment? But Silent Trigger is perhaps the most entertaining movie I have ever watched, and I could see it again and again. For the true connoisseurs of tripe from this period it is an interesting debate whether or not to prefer Van Damme or Lundgren, in my opinion this film marks Lundgren out as the top banana. Can you imagine how excited I was at the tender age of 12 to find out that they were appearing in the same movie (Universal Soldier). Food for thought my friends.

bob the moo A shooter and his spotter lie high in a church tower. When the green light comes he is unable to shoot and his spotter is order to kill him. Before she does, they are ambushed and escape across country. Years later the same two are unwittingly paired for another job and realise that those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.It starts well – better than expected, the only weakness of the first 20 minutes or so are some very poor computer graphics. However after that it slows right down and, even though I still expected something more from it – it never really delivered. To keep the story going while they set up their shot, we rope in a crazy security guard to keep the story doing something. When the action does finally come it doesn't convince and doesn't totally hang together.The problem is partly that nothing is explained for the whole film – not for tension but just for convenience. They work for an unnamed agency, their jobs have no motive, the flashback story is set in an unnamed country etc. Suddenly at the end we're expected to care about whats happening even if we don't know why it's happening.It's a shame because Lundgren is actually OK in this – I'm not a big fan but he's OK. Bellman is so-so, but she sounds like she's surpressing her voice and sounds weird. I couldn't place her the whole film – then I realised she's from the UK and is from the series Coupling. The director has done some OK action movies and did some cool shots with this. It's just a shame that most of it is so dull and without tension – even the nice ending is spoilt by what went before it.Overall good start, reasonable ending but the bit in between could, nay should, have been much better.