Now available from Arrow Video is a collection of more obscure B-movie cult titles that can now be enjoyed in a higher quality of presentation. While the great Blu-ray distribution label has done some great stuff with more popular, recognizable titles, they have also turned their attention to the smaller titles that you may also find at the video store. Hence, the new pack being given the moniker — Enter the Video Store. This five-movie pack includes titles like Ministry of Vengeance, The Final Alliance, R.O.T.O.R., Hangfire and Joshua Tree. Today, we’ll be taking a look at Joshua Tree, which stars Dolph Lundgren and has the alternate title, Army of One, which is also an extended cut that is featured on the Blu-ray.
So, first and foremost, I was vaguely aware of a Dolph Lundgren movie titled Army of One, but I had no idea it was actually a film called Joshua Tree until I saw that an Army of One cut is included on this Blu-ray. Joshua Tree looks like it’s more of a movie on Lundgren’s resume that would premiere on an HBO Thursday Night Prime, which was hosted by Brandon Lee. The movie is directed by Hollywood stuntman and stunt coordinator, Vic Armstrong. Armstrong is a seasoned veteran of the business and he definitely brings his strengths to this movie. We’ll get to that in a bit.
In Joshua Tree, Lundgren plays a former race car driver named Santee, who had since turned into a getaway driver, but he would be put away by crooked cops and eventually have an assassination attempt on him. However, he gets away and is on the run with a female hostage, played by Kristian Alfonso. George Segal plays a lieutenant in charge of leading the hunting party for the fugitive.
Joshua Tree would come out in 1993, which felt like the tail end of Lundgren’s action career in the spotlight. Just a year before, he did get to star opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier, where he got to chew plenty of scenery as the psychotic villain. Lundgren didn’t seem to headline as many theatrically released movies after that and Joshua Tree feels like the last gasp of a product in a dying era. It has a standard action plot of an anti-hero who is on the lam and is accompanied by a beautiful co-star (who even has the gratuitous shower scene) and she starts to fall for him. The movie reveals that a gang of corrupt cops are the true villains and Santee must fight to clear his name and take down the real criminals.
If I saw this movie when I was younger, I think it would’ve joined the list of other nostalgic action films that I still have a guilty pleasure for. However, since I have just now seen it, I can say that there were entertaining moments, but it is nothing truly special for its era. If you are a fan of these types of lower-budget action flicks, I would definitely recommend a viewing. It’s got the familiar story beats and fun bad acting, but where Joshua Tree really shines is its practical action sequences.
Vic Armstrong doesn’t have a huge resume for directing film, but with this movie, it feels like they had the elements they needed for a few spectacular action scenes. As Lundgren’s character is a former race driver, there are plenty of thrilling, fast-paced car scenes. The highlight of the film includes a high-octane chase between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Another standout sequence is when Lundgren meets up with a squad of henchmen in a car warehouse, and he has a full-on John Woo “heroic bloodshed” gunfight, complete with dual-wielding guns and sliding-through-the-floor action. The squibb work in this scene is among the most gory I’ve seen since Robocop and was just a pleasure to watch. The only thing that was missing was slowmo and doves.
Even though the movie isn’t remastered in complete UHD, I imagine that this is the best it’s ever looked. Without having seen it before, the picture quality is pretty darn crisp, with its grain, sharpness and detail. Even in 2K, it felt like it was likely the highest presentation this movie has seen thus far and Arrow Video has done another bang-up job with its transfer.
You get a lot of special features that highlight director Vic Armstrong, including new interviews. There is also an archival behind-the-scenes retrospective of the movie with cast and crew, but it is actually from only 13 years ago. If you wanted to know about the making of the film, you’re pretty well covered with these extra materials.
I hesitate to think that Joshua Tree has a huge fanbase and that’s likely why it’s released as part of a pack, with other films of the same caliber. If you’re right in the demographic for these movies or you’re a true fan of them, I recommend this release if you can swing it. Especially since you also get the Army of One cut. You can buy a copy HERE.