Running Red (1999)

RUNNING RED is another straight to video action thriller from the team at PM Entertainment. This one stars the hulking and bearded Jeff Speakman as a Russian who defects to America and begins a new life, only for his past to begin catching up with him as he's tasked to assist some very shady types in a sinister job. What follows is low rent in the extreme, merrily ripping off footage such as the bus chase from RED HEAT (again!) and offering the usual gamut of brief martial arts interactions, explosions, and shootings. It's fair to say that Speakman is on autopilot here while Angie Everhart has the thankless role of his wife. It's one not of PM's best, that's for sure.

Gregori (Speakman) is one of the toughest dudes in the Russian military. Previously loyal to Mother Russia, after his brother is killed during an assault on a Spanish chemical plant, Gregori renounces it all and relocates to Sherman Oaks, California. After eleven years in the States, we see that he now has a hot wife named Katherine (Everhart), and even a precocious young daughter, Amanda (Ray) To fully complete the transformation into a U.S. citizen, he grows a beard and puts on some weight, seemingly in an attempt to strongly resemble TV's Richard Karn. He cleverly changes his name from Gregori to Greg, but even that doesn't stop his past from coming back. When Russian operatives enlist him to do "one last job" because "he's the best", "Greg" can't resist the lure of the classic clichés, and he actually wants to get revenge for his brother, now that he's offered a chance to kill his murderer, a guy named Mercier (Braverman). Also he gets involved in the political assassination game as it relates to a politician named Chambers (Miano). Will Greg be running away...or RUNNING RED? In our opinion, Running Red is the best Jeff Speakman movie. It doesn't have any of the fat, boredom, or mind-numbing stupidity of his other works. PM is the ideal place for him, and they used him perfectly. Sure, we would have preferred more Kenpo and less gun-shooting, but in the absence of the actual Kenpo he does wear an oversized shirt that reads Kenpo Gear, and the back says "Show some respect". Because it's PM, it's bright, well-lit, has a nice pace, and there are some classic blow-ups, car chases, car flips (even a double-car flip), gunfights, and well-choreographed action. It's all very professional and works well. Director Jacobs has been hit or miss for us in the past; we loved A Dangerous Place (1995), but thought Freedom Strike (1998) was lame. Running Red puts another one in the win column for Mr. Jacobs.The title could refer to the fact that Greg is running from his red past, or the running of blood, or be a subtle reference to Everhart's hair. It's also the color of his daughter's Game Boy Color. Coincidence? Part of the plot even involves Greg's wife wanting to drag him to her high school reunion because she "wants to show him off to her friends". Presumably she's going to tell them she's married to Richard Karn. But another possible title could be "Running Red Heat", because, like Rangers (2000), the bus chase from Red Heat (1988) is interpolated into the movie. If Running Red and Rangers can afford this footage, it must be going at fire sale prices. But didn't PM realize that action fans would likely recognize what they saw? Maybe they were banking on the fact that the whole outing feels a bit...familiar. But still, it's Speakman at his best.The guy who plays Mercier looks a lot like Joe Mantegna, fan-favorite Robert Miano has a small but noteworthy role (was he contractually obligated to be in every PM movie?), and instead of a drug deal gone wrong, there's an arms deal gone wrong. Instead of a wacky taxi driver, there's a wacky exterminator. The daughter is cute in the classic Sarah Dampf style (bet you didn't know there was a classic Sarah Dampf style), and she loves soda and hamburgers. She also eats a cereal called Crispy Rounds. If action heroes didn't have daughters, what would get them up in the morning? Running Red is the perfect place to start if you've never seen a Jeff Speakman movie. It might be all downhill from here (though his other films do have some of their own individual merits, to be fair) - but Running Red is a winner, and quite possibly the best DTV actioner of 1999.

I guess that when it was obvious that considerable film footage from the Guvernator's Red Heat it was decided that Jeff Speakman's Running Red wasn't worth a theatrical release. It was deservedly consigned to direct to video status.Footage from Red Heat may have been used but some of this plot is ripped off from the Sidney Poitier/River Phoenix movie Little Nikita. We get a Russian prologue here where Speakman is part of a hit team led by Stanley Kamel on refinery in Spain which is protected by mercenary Bart Braverman. Braverman personally kills Speakman's brother.Flash forward to 13 years later, the Soviet Union has fallen and Speakman, Kamel, and Braverman are all doing well. Speakman is living the American dream with wife and daughter, but Kamel and Braverman have really found America to be a land of opportunity. Only Kamel has slightly more legitimate veneer to him.Kamel summons Speakman to do a job which involves getting Braverman. Only he has quite a bit more in mind for him.Plot taken from one film, scenes from another. Should tell you how original Running Red is. For fans of Speakman's martial arts skills only.

While Steven Seagal is my favourite action hero, Jeff Speakman is a close second. He has a powerful screen presence, a good voice and suitably calm manners for a man of action. He has made some excellent actioners in the past. His first starring role was in "The Perfect Weapon" which almost lived up to it's title - it was indeed nearly perfect. Two years later he returned on screen in "Street Knight", another excellent action film. Since then, he has starred in numerous low-budget actioners.Although his later films are not up to the standards of the first ones, I have liked many of them. I even liked "Land of the Free"! I had a pretty good idea what to expect from "Running Red" but unfortunately it disappointed me in a few key areas.Speakman stars as Gregori, a Russian professional soldier who's brother is killed by the enemy. Because of this and his sadistic commander, he quits the army and starts a new life in the USA. Now calling himself Greg, he has a new job and a family. His life gets an unexpected turn when his former superior locates him and asks him to kill three men or his family would get hurt.The plot is nothing special but it isn't embarrassingly bad either. It's pretty much what one expects from these films. And the film does have some good points. The first one is of course Speakman himself, he still has a strong screen presence. Also he handles the scenes with his family pretty well. His wife is played by the beautiful Angie Everhart. While Everhart has already been in several low-budget films (like "Executive Action"), she still brings a touch of class to any production she's in. Also there are some other familiar faces in the cast you might recognise.And now for the bad news. For an action film, there's surprisingly little action here. PM Entertainment has done excellent car chases before and they continue that tradition here. But the gun fights unfortunately lack the budget to make them special and considering Speakman's skills, there's very little fighting here. The lack of martial arts-fights is especially disappointing since Speakman's fast and furious fight scenes are always fun to watch.Also, there are some scenes which are taken from other films. For example, the entire bus chase uses footage from Arnold Schwarzenegger/James Belushi-film "Red Heat" (an excellent film, by the way) and in some scenes you can actually see the James Belushi-character in his grey suit in the bus which Speakman is supposedly driving alone. I wish they wouldn't have used that footage at all and instead would have replaced the bus chase with a good fight scene.One of things which was a personal disappointment to me was the score. Speakman's first films had a terrific music score ("The Perfect Weapon" by Gary Chang and "Street Knight" by David Michael Frank.Anyway, the lack of plot, acting or originality probably won't surprise anyone and won't disappoint the target audience. But this film desperately needed more energetic fights. Some might think that the low level of violence and lack of nudity are good things but I couldn't disagree more. If you're a fan of Speakman and this is on TV, feel free to watch it. It isn't -that- bad. But if you want to see a good action film, rent Speakman's "The Perfect Weapon" or "Street Knight". This one gets only a 5.