Dolph: Unbreakable is a documentary covering Dolph's life from his tumultuous childhood with his abusive father, to his introduction into martial arts, which led to him meeting Grace Jones, through which he met Sylvester Stallone, and from there rose to stardom, only to fall off in the 90s and 2000s (the time we know him best for here), then come back with The Expendables. Throughout this, we're also looking in the present and his battle with cancer, that looked like it was going to take his life, if not for a second opinion from an oncology doctor in LA who prescribed him a different medication. We also get a series of interviews with people who worked with him, like Stallone, Van Damme, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Dolph gets introspective and talks about his divorce and the demons he was dealing with from his childhood.
This was a really compelling film, and while for our purposes we may have wanted to get more of the DTV stuff--and even more on films like The Punisher and Showdown in Little Tokyo--the insight we get into who he is and what his life was like, even at the times he was making those movies, was worth the price of admission. We'd also heard stories about how he met Grace Jones, but to hear from him exactly how it all happened, that he was in Sydney for graduate school, and worked security for a club Grace Jones was at, and provided personal security for her as well, and then from there they went to New York. By the time he had the Fullbright Scholarship to MIT, he had been in these elite celebrity circles to such an extent that that he no longer wanted to pursue that scholarship, but he talked about how a Fullbright is such a big deal it was hard from him to turn it down. The other interviews were great as well, especially with Stallone and what it was like working with him, but also his daughters, who were candid and thoughtful in discussing their father and their relationship with him. If you're someone like me who celebrates Dolph's birthday, this is a perfect choice.
We're now at 78 movies for Dolph, and in some ways this may have been the perfect film for his 80th, because it is so personal and tells us so much about him, but once I saw it was available, I wanted to get it reviewed on here as soon as possible. The one thing that came through for me was his background as an international scholar, because you really see that in his interviews, and it's not easy to reconcile with both the action lead we know him as, but also the person he's describing who had issues with drugs and alcohol and partying. It's different from celebrities who go to school after they had some level of success and fame as an actor, etc., because they still retain that pre-education celebrity element in the way they carry themselves; Dolph's the opposite, he's a celebrity who carries himself as this highly educated individual. Even when he's doing his TED Talk on the abuse he suffered as a child, he doesn't sound like the usual TED Talker, if you think of that cadence a lot of them use, he's someone who had given talks before TED Talks were a thing. We always talk about him as this Fullbright Scholar before he got into acting, but to see it in action was another thing. Beyond that, I think the introspection he gives us, and his transition from the Viking warrior who wants to die in a blaze of glory, to now being the wise older Viking warrior, I think it's what you want from a movie like this, and was all great to see.
There was another reality though, and that is how this film treats the films we've celebrated him for on this site. We've always had a tongue in cheek relationship with the movies we cover--I mean, my desktop wallpaper is the screenshot of the nuclear launch screen from The Peacekeeper, with all the countries as targets listed, complete with Chile spelled "Chili." We all have fun with it, but we don't really think, "how would Dolph have felt making it?" And part of making it was being away from his family, which ultimately played a part in the end of his marriage. It's a reminder, the same way it was a reminder when I found out that Albert Pyun read my reviews, that there are human beings behind these productions, even in the big stars like Dolph. I don't think it means we can't have fun with them like we've always done, because I think that's part of the charm of these movies, and I also think part of the reason people come to the site; but, as I've grown throughout the nearly 20 years we've been doing the DTVC, it is possible to be more thoughtful about the people we're discussing, while still having the fun we've always had.
In our Randall Scandal documentary review, we established the rule for tagging people in documentaries, after we saw file footage of Steven Seagal. I decided then that file footage isn't enough for a tag, that people need to actively participate in the documentary, either as an interviewee, or at the very least a producer or another part of the crew. With that in mind, we could tag Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Couture, and Van Damme, because they were all interviewed specifically for the film. The biggest one was Stallone, who talked at length about Rocky IV and the other films they worked on together. Probably the most interesting tidbit was from Arnold, who told us he met Dolph while he was making Conan the Destroyer with Grace Jones, and said had he known Dolph wanted to act they would've cast him in that. And then I think biggest for our purposes, Van Damme getting a tag puts him at 38 movies, which means we're only two away from the 40 Club for him, and with Swelter and Welcome to the Jungle out there to be reviewed, it's only a matter of time now.
Finally, it's the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia, which is from the Creed II footage they used in the movie. That was in 2018, which means Dolph was here shooting that movie while I was living here! This was during that hiatus period I had, so I wasn't as plugged in and had no idea. Perhaps if I had, I may have shot down there to see if I could get a look at the shoot! A couple thing about this, you'll notice this statue is down away from the actual Art Museum steps. It was put here at that time because the people who ran the Art Museum thought it wasn't museum-y enough to have it at the top of the steps in front of the actual museum. Sometime later when the statue of Joe Frazier, an actual champ who existed and won championship fights in real life, was created, it was relegated to down near the Sports Complex area, a place people barely saw. When I was on the LAMBcast episode on sports movies, I talked about this, saying it was an example of Philadelphia being more like Boston, if you know what I mean. They have since corrected all of this, the Rocky Statue is at the top of the museum steps, and the Joe Frazier statue is here where the Rocky statue was once located, so if you're ever in Philly you can see both. And if you're looking for a cheesesteak after, go east and hit Shay's Steaks on Race Street, one of the best ones in the city.
And with that, let's wrap this up. It looks like rent VOD is the way to go right now, but I think if you have the extra money, or have a coupon like I do, this is worth it, especially if you want to watch something for Dolph's birthday.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16114052
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