Guilty pleasure, all the way! I can't put down this movie cause it was a lot of fun to watch it, the director kept it simple, with some wrong doings but those can be excused. It's generic and almost dumb but you'll feel good through the whole thing.

"Pentathlon" transforms Dolph Lundgren (oh, in the 1990's, the best of times to watch him!) into a super gold medalist during the Cold Era who defects from East Germany to the U.S., much to the anger of his demanding coach (David Soul),during the Seul Olympics. Living in America, he's a complete nobody, working as a cook but with the help of his boss he has a chance to return to his passion: being an athlete But after the collapse of the Soviet regime and the reunification of Germany, the coach - now allied with a Neonazi group - goes to America to join Nazi group in America, and if possible, to recruit his former athlete to the cause (terrorism, obviously).

I think you've already drowned into the amount of absurd throw in just this basic plot line, but to hell with it. As an action flick is quite good, except for the insanely goofs here and there (the one with the gun is amazingly laughable, with the bad using a Walter PPK-like pistol that sounds like a revolver and with a silencer that doesn't work),and some shameless plot holes as well - what bothered me the most was the inconsistence concerning David Soul's character. How in the world someone so loyal to the Communism becomes part of a Nazi group? Nevermind. Works better as a comedy vehicle with positive scenes with Dolph's boss turned to coach, played by Roger E. Mosley. Laughs are granted with this dude. And if neither that can help you, at least the movie offers a quality camera work capturing the splendid and hunky leading man.

A severe case of a movie so bad that it's good. Enjoy it. 6/10

Dolph Lundgren just may be the greatest living human. He can sing, dance, act, produce, direct, do martial arts, all while doing a rockin' drum solo. He excels in every sport he tries, and according to his bio, he received a Master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney in Australia and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. So he's light years away from his legions of meathead imitators.

Keeping his Superman status in mind, here, in Pentathlon, Lundgren portrays Eric Brogar, a Pentathlete (yes, it's a real word),who is trained in East Germany pre-Berlin Wall falling to compete in the Olympics by tyrannical jerkbag Heinrich Muller. Muller wants to use him as an example of East Germany's greatness, but Brogar is actually a sensitive soul who wants more out of life. He loves America, so he risks it all to come to the USA, using the American Olympic team to help him. He thinks he escapes Muller's iron fist forever.

Now in L.A., Brogar has hit the skids. He drinks, smokes, eats greasy food and lives in a dive. He even works in a greasy spoon. His boss John Creese (Mosley) is a kind, charismatic man that tries to get to know Brogar. When he discovers Brogar used to be a Pentathlete, he takes it upon himself to train him and get him back into shape for the Atlanta Olympics. Meanwhile, Brogar romances fellow Olympian Julia (Coleman). Things are starting to look up for Brogar, but then Muller, who now is the head of a neo-Nazi organization, tracks him down. Brogar must fight to protect what he now has, his bright future, from the shadows of his dark past. Can he use his Pentathlon skills to fight in real life? A Pentathlon is an Olympic event that consists of Shooting, Fencing, Swimming, Horse Riding and Cross-Country Running. Surprisingly, it took until 1994 for someone to make an entire movie around this concept. The natural choice for star was Ubermensch Dolph Lundgren. He's pitch-perfect as Brogar. It's impossible to imagine anyone else playing this role. But really, Pentathlon is a weird movie. It's pretty offbeat for a Lundgren/action film. It's sort of a sporting movie, with the pain of the Berlin wall experience thrown in, and some Nazis, and some romance, and some training, and Dolph fighting the baddies. It's certainly different. But in this case, different is good. We liked Pentathlon. It's not a cookie-cutter action flick. It strives for more, much like its hero Eric Brogar.

We thought fencing movies started and ended with Ring of Steel (1994). But we were mistaken. Chapin's got nothing on Eric Brogar. David Soul is also great as the Nazi Muller. He really throws himself into the role and you hate him. He wants to crash the "Never Again" rally condemning Nazis and terrorists. Naturally the featured singer is some hippie singing "Peoplllleee are the saaammeee...." There is an inexplicable, hilarious scene in the greasy spoon featuring one of Muller's goons towards the end of the film. You'll know it when you see it - we don't want to give it away, but trust us, you'll be laughing. Hint: it involves a boombox.

Pentathlon is surprisingly different for a Dolph vehicle. Check it out soon.

Pentathlon is not an enjoyable experience, and despite the fact that I dig Dolph as an action hero, I was bored silly during this movie. It's clearly inspired by Rocky, only Rocky didn't have a lack of action, a poor story and horrible dialog to sit through. One of the worst things about this movie is David Soul's performance as the villain. He is WAY too over the top and laughably campy, he ruined much of the experience for me and he didn't mesh well with Dolph at all. As I said I'm a Dolph fan, he's far from a great actor but his charisma and presence is awesome to say the least, so when I found this for 2 dollars at a VHS blowout sale I decided to pick it up. Dolph's rigorous training scenes are impressive and the bantering with Roger E. Mosley as Creese was somewhat fun, but the action is clearly lacking. I'm a film buff, but I enjoy B-movies and low-budget movies as well, I'm very open-minded, but Pentathlon has nothing out of the ordinary and to be honest it was a waste of 2 bucks.

Performances. Dolph Lundgren tries really hard, but his accent works against him and some of his dialog is absolutely awful. He has charisma to spare but that can only take him so far. David Soul is laughable as the villain. On more than one occasion I wanted him off my screen for tarnishing the quality, he obviously knows he is in a below average movie and disgustingly tries to camp it up. He's better than this, much better, watch Magnum Force to see what I mean. Roger E. Mosley is fun as Creese, but did test my patience with his act sometimes. Renée Coleman is pretty wooden as the love interest.

Bottom line. Definitely one of Dolph's lesser works and not even enjoyable for B-movie value. It's boring and will annoy you to no end. Avoid it.

2 1/2 /10