The Babe Ruth of DTV action, Dolph Lundgren, celebrates his 67th birthday today, so we had to celebrate with this film, which came out in 2023 and has been sitting in my watch list all this time. With now 74 films on the site, he's the only one with more films than years on the planet--though Gary Daniels is close, with 60 films at 61 years old.
Showndown at the Grand features Terrence Howard as the owner of a small, struggling indie theater. In an attempt to boost revenue, he invites famed low-budget action star Claude Luc Hallyday (Dolph) to visit. While that sounds great, it may all be in vain, as a real estate conglomerate wants to buy the theater and tear it down for a massive apartment development. But Howard won't go down that easily, and with his friend and local pawn shop dealer John Savage, and new intern Piper Curda, fresh from earning her PhD in film, they keep things together long enough for Dolph to arrive--which is the exact moment that the real estate developers unleash their army of masked goons on the theater. Will Howard and company be able to fend them off?
This was definitely a fun time. It's a bit over the top (Stallone style), but that's by design, so you're either okay with it or you're not, and while I think there were moments where I wasn't, once we got to the end I just went with it, which I think was the right approach. The Dolph that you wanted was there, both in the footage of the fake films he did--which all look fantastic and would be great if they were ever made--to the shy, reclusive former star that he is, uncomfortable being in front of a crowd again after all these years, and then when he finally gets in front of the audience, extolling the virtues of Estonian saunas. Howard was also great as the lead, he plays the theater owner in a very believable way to start, so when he has to turn into a de facto action hero, I wouldn't say we believe it too, but at least we're willing to go there with him. The one area I thought this was lacking was in developing Piper Curda's character. It feels like they liked the idea of her, but didn't do anything with her, which was a waste. Overall though I appreciated what they were going for, and enjoyed myself.
At 67, Dolph plays a 67-year-old character here, which I thought was great. He leaned into his age, but also showed off his fitness level to be his younger self in the fake movie clips. He also leaned into his low-budget/DTV career, and that was something as a longtime fan really I connected with. It was almost like he was giving us this role as a gift to us. We always talk about his larger-than-life presence, which we see in the clips of the fake movies, but to then pull that back when the character is unsure about talking in front of a large group after all this time, only to find some of that old magic when the theater is under attack, was all great stuff showing his range as an actor. He makes this movie for me, and while it's not an all-time favorite of his--if you look on my Letterboxd list for Dolph, it just cracks the top 40--for a new Dolph film, it's a nice addition to his filmography.
This is our first time seeing Terrence Howard on the site, which I was surprised about, because I thought I reviewed The System, a film Ty and I did on episode 147 of the podcast, all the way back in February, but I guess I never got around to it. As I said above, the best part of his performance is how well he nails the struggling indie theater owner. The personality he gives that character feels so spot on. But then he's got to sell it when the thing goes over the top (Stallone style), which to be honest I think is easier to do that than it is to authentically nail the quirks of the indie theater owner earlier on. It looks like DTV is where he's living right now, so we'll definitely see him again, but the level of this performance also shows DTV is not where he should stay. There's gotta be a prestige TV show on a streaming network that could use him, where his talents could be better utilized.
As "The DTV Connoisseur," movie theaters don't come up as often in conversation, but seeing an old movie at a small indie theater is always a fun experience. Here in Philly there's the Ritz, which is now owned by Landmark Cinemas, but it has enough of that feel, and a few weeks ago I got to see Blade there. The problem is, the consolidation of the studio side of the film industry has had a similar effect on theaters, with this smaller pool of more powerful studios wanting to work with the major chains that can give them more screens and better amenities. One way that the smaller theaters used to compete was by showing older films on special nights--like Blade--which gets people in the door so they come back for other films. What Disney has done to hurt that market is vaulting their films--of which they have a lot more now that they own 20th Century Fox's catalog too. For example, this year's the 35th anniversary of Say Anything, which was a 20th Century Fox film, and in the past Fox was good about giving the rights for indie theaters to show it. Now, Disney often won't let them, because they don't want a Say Anything keeping people away from a Deadpool and Wolverine. It's one of the many ways Disney is trying to kill the film industry--while still pulling in almost $3 billion from two films this year--which I think from Disney's standpoint may seem like the right play, but in the long run has the opposite effect, as fewer people overall go to the theater over time.
Finally, before we get into our second Dolph paragraph, I wanted to mention that guy above. That's Michael Oblowitz, father to the film's director, Orson Oblowitz. Why is that important? He's directed Steven Seagal in two DTV classics, The Foreigner and Out for a Kill. How do you not love that?
Anyway, this is probably it for Dolph for a while. I know I've said that before, but at this stage we only have Small Apartments and Fat Slags for DTV flicks; Sharknado 5, which he has a small appearance in near the end; and then Expendables 3 and Expend4bles as two theatrical films that are fair game because I've reviewed the first two. I don't know that any of them are real priorities though. It looks like he also has a BondIt Media film in post production that also has Michael Jai White, so that will be a priority whenever it comes out. In the meantime though, even taking a hiatus, I don't see anyone catching him for most tags all time. Gary Daniels is the closest, and he's still 14 behind. So as he celebrates his 67th birthday, and 74th film on the site, we celebrate him too, as the best to ever do it, especially in the DTV world. Grattis på födelsedagen, Herr Jundgren, du är störst.
And with that, let's wrap this up. Right now you can get this on Pluto TV here in the States. It's probably your best bet, though Pluto is much worse on commercials than Tubi is. As a Dolph fan, I think this is a must see--even though, as a Dolph fan, aren't they all must sees?
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18115690
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