5 Questions: Ballistica

I am not 100% certain but I believe the first time I learned of the existence of the movie Ballistica was while watching Sniper: Special Ops. Paul Logan has a small supporting role in Sniper: Special Ops and I was trying to figure out where I had seen Logan before and that is when I noticed Ballistica in Logan’s filmography.

I am not 100% what it was about Ballistica that spoke to me, but I knew that one day our paths would cross. What I could not predict was the questions that would come to mind as I watched Ballistica for the first time…

1. Who is the villain of the movie? 

I wanted to go into Ballistica as fresh as possible, so I avoided any serious research and my only knowledge of the film was from what I could gather from the Ballistica poster. I safely assumed that Paul Logan (The Horde) was playing the hero of the movie and that he was the CIA’s Most Dangerous Weapon. I incorrectly assumed Logan’s character name was Jack Ballistica (the actual character name is Damian Sloan).

But when I saw the names Martin Kove, Robert Davi and Andrew Divoff on the Ballistica poster, I had to ask myself who played the villain in the movie? Was it one of them? Two of them? Was it all three? If it was all three it would be the action movie equivalent of the Axis of Evil.

Fortunately for Damian Sloan he did not have the herculean task of taking on all three. Davi and Kove actually play Damian’s superiors at the CIA, Macarthur and Riley respectively. Andrew Divoff got the nod as Ballistica’s baddie playing an evil Russian character named Dragomir. Damian’s disdain for Dragomir is both personal and professional. We learn that Dragomir planted a bomb at a U.S. Embassy some years earlier that killed Damian’s wife and son.

2. What is the deal with Martin Kove’s vest? 

Martin Kove’s Riley spends a great deal of the movie wearing a vest. I’m not even sure I can form the words to properly describe this vest. I will say it looked out of place on Martin Kove but I think it would look perfect on Beatrice Arthur.

3. What in the world is ballistica? 

I already told you that ballistica was not the last name of our hero. I can also tell you that ballistica is not the name of the operation to retrieve the lethal “micro pulse bomb” from the evil Dragomir. So if it is not Jack Ballistica and it is not Operation: Ballistica… what in the blue hell is ballistica?!?!

Ballistica was probably best described in the movie as “kung fu with guns”. This unique fighting art was developed by an old KGB weapons master who eventually defected to the United States and trained a select few before his death.

The go to ballistica move seems to be to stretch your arms out wide with a gun in each hand and twirl at a moderate speed, shooting the whole time, while at the same time being able to effortlessly avoid enemy gunfire.

The practicality of this fighting art was very confusing, but I think Damian Sloan summed it up best when he said, “Ballistica could be studied for a lifetime and never truly learned.”

4. Where is the nudity?

With so many attractive women in Ballistica (my personal favorite was Lauren Mary Kim as the bad girl named Fang) I was more than a little shocked that there was no nudity in the movie.

There was plenty of violence, I’m pretty sure I heard some adult language in there, but the closest thing we get to nudity is when Alexa takes a dip in Damian’s pool wearing only her bra and panties.  After some making out in the pool, it is  inferred that Damian takes a dip in Alexa’s pool, if you know what I mean.

Alexa, played by C.B. Ferrari (or is it C.B. Spencer?), was the scientist that Damian was forced to team up with in order to find and deactivate the lethal “micro pulse bomb” that had gotten into the hands of Dragomir by nefarious means.

5. What kind of final battle was that? 

I have to admit I was a little let down as I was watching Damian duke it out with Dragomir. Here was Damian’s opportunity to unleash some major vengeance on the man that killed his family and the whole fight seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. I was left wanting more. But there was a good reason the Damian/Dragomir fight did not get the final battle treatment… it was not the final battle! The true evil had not yet revealed itself.

I won’t spoil the identity of the surprise villain, but the true climatic clash of Ballistica had enough bells, whistles and car chases to more than make up for the disappointingly brief Damian/Dragomir duel.