The universal soldier of the 1990s turns 68 today

Dolph Lundgren's career is a clear example of how unreliable Wikipedia is when it comes to film. For example, for those who've never seen Dolph in a film, the article will likely dismiss him as a second-rate actor who's never delivered a truly good performance.

One example: regarding "Universal Soldier," it cites the late film critic Roger Ebert's opinion that "it's a thankless job to play dumb musclemen who fight throughout the film, exchanging monosyllabic nonsense." Ebert's negative reviews of Lundgren are cited repeatedly, which raises questions about the source. After all, Ebert was a fan of intellectual cinema, particularly the German arthouse filmmaker and one of the founders of the German New Wave, Werner Herzog. So how could he have liked the Lundgren of the 1990s?

Підписуйтеcь на наш Telegram-канал Lenta.UA - ЄДИНІ незалежні новини про події в Україні та світі

In fact, for Ukrainian audiences in the 1990s, "Universal Soldier" was one of their favorite films, and the role of the "dumb jock" was written for Lundgren in the script—so what else could a chemical engineering major and Fulbright Scholar from MIT, which, by the way, now outranks Harvard and Oxford, have played?

One thing is certain: in the 1990s, Lundgren possessed exceptional physical attributes (he was 198 cm tall, weighed 120 kg, and had impressive musculature) and athletic achievements, having been a British and Australian Kyokushin champion (a tough karate style created and promoted by its founder, Masutatsu Oyama, as a return to its original source – martial arts).

With such physical attributes, plus his 100% Nordic appearance, Lundgren was simply destined for the roles he played – villains at the beginning of his career, but later, positive ones. Whether he was successful as an actor in them is not for the late Roger Ebert and Wikipedia to judge, but for the tens of millions of Lundgren fans worldwide.

Moreover, over the past two years, it has become clear that Lundgren possesses not only the body but also the character of a true fighter. It was revealed that he had been suffering from kidney cancer since 2015, yet despite this, he continued to star in action films. He decided to take a break in 2021, when the cancer also spread to his liver. And late last year, Lundgren announced on Instagram that, after a long (and presumably expensive) course of treatment, he had beaten the disease.

So it's safe to assume that the phrase "birthday" refers to him literally.

Photo: Wikipedia