Bullet Points: Joshua Tree

Looking for a good meatloaf recipe? Well, you’ve come to the wrong place.

But if you are looking for the recipe to a quality action flick, then you’ll want to read my review of a Dolph Lundgren film that I believe doesn’t get the attention or credit it so richly deserves.

The movie I’m talking about is 1993’s Joshua Tree or as it is also known, Army of One.

• One Flawed Hero: Dolph Lundgren plays Wellman Anthony Santee. Santee is no angel. Santee’s father (played by Bert Remsen of Eye of the Tiger fame) was in prison while Santee was growing up. And as the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Santee started following in his father’s criminal footsteps at an early age, getting busted for the first time when he was just 16 years old. The cop who busted Santee took a liking to him and filled the void of Santee’s father in many ways… but unfortunately for Santee this cop was also dirty and used Santee as a pawn in his dirty cop dealings. As the movie begins, Santee and his buddy Eddie (Ken Foree) are transporting some exotic (and stolen) cars when they are pulled over by a motorcycle cop. Moments later another car pulls up in front of the tractor trailer Santee was driving.  When it is all said and done, Santee gets shot, the motorcycle cop dies and so does Eddie. The cop kill is pinned on Santee, even though he was completely innocent.

• One Tough Chick: As Santee is being transported to prison after spending some time in the hospital for his gun shot wound, the two guards who are transporting him decide to teach the “cop killer” a lesson, so they pull over in a remote part of the desert under the guise of a “piss break” and that turns into a “prison break” after Santee gets the better of them in their skirmish, nabs the key to his handcuffs and takes off through the desert on foot. Santee makes it to a gas station where he ends up stealing a truck owned by one Rita Marek (Kristian Alfonso). Santee doesn’t just take the truck, he also takes Rita hostage. What he doesn’t realize (due to the way she was dressed) is that Rita herself is a deputy sheriff! The Rita character is not only the movie’s tough chick, she also represents the audience. As she learns more about why Santee is on the run and his past, so does the audience.

• One Dirty Cop: George Segal plays Lt. Frank Severance, the cop who busted Santee when he was a teenager and the cop who is now using Santee’s skills in his own nefarious dealings with crime boss Jimmy Shoeshine. A dirty cop is one of the highest quality villains an action movie can ask for. Here is a person who is supposed to be devoting their life to law and order and instead they abuse their power. And if that isn’t enough reason to dislike Severance, you can always hate him for his hat. Severance’s equally dirty cop partner, Rudy, is played by veteran character actor Beau Starr. Action fans may remember Starr from such movie as Speed or The Perfect Weapon.

• Lots and Lots of Action: While Joshua Tree spends a portion of the movie  developing the backstory between Santee and Severance and revealing what really happened that day the motorcycle cop was shot and killed it does not skimp on the action. One scene in particular, where Santee goes to visit Jimmy Shoeshine (Michael Paul Chan of Rapid Fire fame) at Shoeshine’s warehouse of exotic cars is absolutely action packed! At one point Santee sets a guy on fire and then kicks him for good measure into some flammable liquids. He goes one on one with Random Task himself, Joe Son (Shootfighter 2). And some of the gunmen who are trying to kill Santee in the warehouse include George Cheung (Robocop 2) and the ultimate Asian henchman Al Leong (Die Hard). Things get taken up another notch when Severance and Rudy show up! Later they throw in a hot pursuit through the desert featuring a Ferrari and a Lamborghini as we race to the final showdown of the movie.

Over two decades later and Joshua Tree still holds up as a quality action film and in my opinion it is one of Dolph Lundgren’s better movies. It is also a movie that I would highly recommend any fan of the action genre to check out at their earliest convenience.

I’d also recommend you check out these bonus Bullet Points since you are already here…

• Familiar Faces: I’ve already mentioned some of the familiar faces featured in Joshua Tree, but I failed to mention the one and the only Geoffrey Lewis. Lewis from Double Impact and Only the Strong fame, plays Sheriff Cepeda, the local law enforcement working with the LAPD’s Severance to capture fugitive Santee… Another familiar face is that of Matt Battaglia. Battaglia plays Rita’s estranged deputy sheriff boyfriend Michael in Joshua Tree. Action fans may remember Battaglia as the guy who took over the Luc Devreaux role in the Universal Soldier TV movies.
• Disturbing Quote: “You can open the safe with your balls or without them.” – Santee
• Good as Gold: The music used in Joshua Tree was composed by Joel Goldsmith. Goldsmith is most known for composing the music for the Stargate television properties and he also provided the music for Shootfighter: Fight to the Death.