Pentathlon

1994 "Just do it... or die!"
4.3| 1h41m| en
Details

When East German Eric Brogar wins a gold medal in the pentathlon, he escapes to freedom in the west with the help of a beautiful American athlete. But his demanding coach, Heinrich Mueller vows revenge and Eric's best friend and his father pay the ultimate price for his freedom when they are killed by the Secret Police. In Los Angeles, Eric starts to train for the gold again. But when Mueller comes to America, Eric must win the most deadly game of all… the fight for his life.

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Also starring Renée Coleman

Reviews

Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
adonis98-743-186503 An Olympic gold medalist escapes to freedom in the US, only to be tracked down by his sadistic ex-coach. This movie might have some of the dumbest storylines i have ever heard in my entire life and even Dolph Lundgren can't save it. I saw a little bit from it and i turned it off completely fast because it wasn't worth it at all. Now this isn't as bad as let's say 'The Minion' but it's still pretty bad regardless and despite Lundgren's attempt on saving the movie? It's a complete waste of him, the viewers but also the good money that could have been spend otherwise. (4/10)
Leofwine_draca This is below standard, even for a straight-to-video Dolph Lundgren flick. PENTATHLON is an action thriller which offers up very little in the way of action - a couple of fights, a few chases, and of course the explosive finale aside - but instead seems to be some kind of "human drama". Long sequences show Lundgren training with his new boss, played by Roger E. Mosley. Now while I appreciate the introduction of a little bit of characterisation into a film - something so often lacking with these kind of flicks - this stuff takes up a full half an hour before we get back to the plot again. The film doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, and by introducing lame action scenes it just doesn't cut it. Perhaps if they had got rid of the action altogether and concentrated on the human relationships then it would have been easier to watch.Now, on the good side, at least the plot is fairly original and not just another DIE HARD clone - that counts for something. On the bad side we have Lundgren giving what has to be one of his worst, most wooden performances as the German athlete, failing to instil his character with any kind of respect or appreciation from the viewer. He's just wooden and blank. On to the other extreme, with a hammy David Soul playing a Neo Nazi with a terrible accent - this was the kind of stuff which helped to kill of Soul's "career", something which had been dwindling since the '70s. To be fair, his extremely amusing performance is one thing which makes this movie easier to watch. It always makes me laugh, the way that producers of these films manage to team up current actors with some old has-been from the '70s. Aside from these two, there's a likable turn from Mosley and an instantly forgettable role for the love interest, played by a bland Renee Coleman.Now, while the human side of the story may be okay and unexpected, this film has a big problem with pacing. Nothing much happens for an hour or so only to have the final showdown taking place in the space of 15 minutes - and feeling extremely rushed as a result of this. While the fight scenes are okay, the actual violence itself is very boring and predictable, with a couple of people getting shot in the chest and that's it. PENTATHLON gets a star each for the film and Dolph Lundgren, and an extra star for watching David Soul chew the scenery time after time.
bd119-2 I found this movie a big disappointment. This is sad because it has good actors, good production values and a fine plot. But after awhile it just becomes another dull thriller that runs out of ideas. Dolph is the German gold medalist in the pentathlon who flees to America to get away from his mad Nazi coach (David Soul). Some years later, his coach comes after him and the action starts. David Soul is very good as the coach, and plays the part menacingly and convincingly. Dolph is very good in his role too, and gives one of his best performances ever. There are some good action scenes, but apart from that the whole thing begins to go downhill. This was a pity considering it was released after the excellent Army Of One, which I think is Dolph's best movie by far. Pentathlon is still a good flick, just not as good as I expected. It's still a great movie to watch to kill time. Overall I would recommend you get Army Of One instead though, it's much better.
indyronin Being a big Dolph Lundgren fan, I was surprised to see a completely different side of him in this one, portraying him as being a pathetic, injured burnout who flips burgers for a living, while walking down dark alleys with no company beside his portable TV and his beer. When he is menaced by a group of hoodlums, they laugh at him when his trick knee gives out and he can't chase them. This struck me as being very odd, because it was Dolph acting like a regular guy, rather than the sarcastic killing machines he's typecast as. Sadly, as enjoyable as all of the footage of him being a loser (and his inspiring comeback into grade-A Pentathalon runner material), it sort of abruptly switches gears, turning into one of his usual action movies with a nonsense subplot involving neo-Nazis. It's a shame that the whole thing couldn't have been like the first two acts, or this would be by far his best performance, in a close tie with GR13 from Universal Soldier.