My first exposure to Silent Trigger was renting it was first released, which, given it's 1996 release date, would make me somewhere from the ages of 10-12, depending on when it made it's way to UK video rental outlets. I thought Dolph Lundgren was awesome, so basically rented random movies with him in them on a regular basis. I thought it was pretty boring. So you might wonder why I bought it on DVD then? fact is, it was cheap, and my tastes as a child weren't always perfect(I thought Army of Darkness was crap when I was a kid). Upon further inspection, this is actually regarded by many as one of Dolph's best movies, and it's lead actress has a career bookended by roles in terrible British TV shows (Grange Hill and Coupling), yet somewhere in the realm of time known as 1996, she was a goddess.


Anyway, Silent Trigger follows an unamed 'Shooter'(Lundgren - Universal Soldier), whom the credits lists as being called Waxman, who is called in to do one last job before retiring from 'the syndicate', or 'the family'.
He takes his position in the top of an unfinished skyscraper, where he is to meet his 'spotter', whom the credits lists as being called Clegg(Gina Bellman - Married/Unmarried). However, this comes as a shock to both parties, as they were last paired on her first mission, years ago, when Waxman refused to fire on their target, obscured by a child, in Eastern Europe, leading to the pair being chased accross the country by enemies. Clegg was ordered to kill him for disobeying orders that day, which she bottled, but it's clear that this time she has been instructed to do something other than spot for him.

What basically follows is the two waiting all evening for 8am when they are to strike, spending the time falling for each other, having flashbacks and dealing with the sleazy, junkie security guard intent on raping Clegg. Eventually it turns out that both of them have been double crossed, and they must fight to escape the building, the syndicate and for survival.

Yes, that's actually as deep as Silent Trigger's plot goes. Lot's of time is spent waiting around, having flashbacks and generally doing nothing. It has plot holes the size of Dolph Lundgren, such as why Waxman is still working for this agency if they want him dead so badly, yet the most bizarre fact is that while watching the movie, you don't actually seem to notice it has so little going for it, and it actually comes off as being quite entertaining. It's only afterwards when you think about it that you realise how bad a lot of it is.
It only really has 2 action scenes, both of which are, admittedly very well done, and Dolph has done enough of these movies to know what he is doing, and these scenes are not only easily some of the most graphic and violent action scenes I've seen in a while, I'll be damned if they aren't also some of the best. It's just a shame they are so little in terms of numeracy, and divided by about 70 minutes of sitting about, a lame love scene and talking.
Maybe not noticing the flaws can be credited to director Russell Mulcahy, of Highlander and The Shadow fame, who does very well at making the most of the movie's limited setting, making it look interesting and futuristicly gothic in some parts.
He has to really though, because any time any form of effects orientated shot takes place, the movie looks dreadful. Some of the matte work here almost put me in mind of Yongary: Monster from the Deep. Yet, with that said, the completely OTT gore in the action scenes is, if OTT, pretty real looking.

The acting is actually, on the whole, rather impressive. Dolph is basically playing the character he plays in most action movies, the hardman with a conscience, but Bellman is rather good as the naive, yet determined to cover it up spotter, and as I say, is an absolute treat on the eyes. Support is provided by Conrad Dunn(Death Warrant) and Christopher Heyerdahl(The Peacekeeper) as the two security guards, one calm and one a crazy cocaine user who in one scene has a trip and imagines giant spiders running around, and both actors do well with their roles.

The movie has a pretty pounding and exciting score, and while I wouldn't go as far as dubbing it catchy or brilliant, it does stand out as being of a suitable nature and high standard for this type of movie.

In terms of coming up with a general stance to take on the movie, Silent Trigger leaves me in a situation few movies do, where I'm almost completely lost in terms of how to rate it. The movie's quality, as in production quality, is, aside from the effects, of a high standard. The sets look nice, Lundgren's gun looks awesome and in general the movie's look and sound is of real quality. The acting is good, but the complete lack of plot to justify 90 minutes, padded by not only the flashbacks, but you feel the crazy security guard was only inserted to actually give them something to do and pad out the runtime.

The movie looks a lot better than the average B-Movie action flick, and in many ways it is, yet at the same time it lacks a certain charm that movies built around action sequences have, yet it still feels more like you are watching a quality movie. Given that it's good and bad points seem to balance out, I reckon 3-Stars is a fair award for Silent Trigger. I'm also going to recommend it, but really only for fans of Dolph Lundgren, because it isn't exactly a movie it is easy to get overly excited about if you don't have any interest in it's star. However, if you are a fan of the man, it is by all means worth checking out, and given the very good look of the film, augmented by some excellent lighting, and will certainly go some way to washing the bad taste left by dreadful movies like Sweepers.

Year: 1996
Titles: Silent Trigger
Sniper

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day