ESSENTIAL: DOLPH LUNDGREN

The fourth instalment of the Rocky franchise also brought the biggest box-office receipts, thanks in part to the introduction of little-known hulking Swede Dolph Lundgren as the film’s imposing villain.

Rocky IV begins with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) on a career and personal high. When the Soviet Union enters the world of professional boxing through amateur champion Ivan Drago (Lundgren) former champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) challenges Drago to an exhibition bout, subsequently dying in the ring from the Russian’s brutal power. Swearing revenge, Rocky challenges Drago to a fight to be held in Russia, giving up his world title and placing his life on the line.

Essentially a revenge movie that also highlights the fear of Soviet communism felt throughout the Reagan era, Rocky IV showcases Stallone’s token character taking on a machine of destruction: a rigid, towering figure of Soviet aggression played well by Lundgren, who despite his limited acting ability and minimal yet memorable dialogue pulls off the role thanks to his impressive figure and cold demeanour.

Dolph Lundgren's first test as a leading man came when he donned the cape and loin cloth in Masters of the Universe, the first film adaptation of the popular toy line-turned-cartoon series.

Playing the role of the suitably named He-Man, an extra-buff and mullet wearing Lundgren leads a revolt against the tyrannical Skeletor (a game Frank Langella) for the fate of the universe, a mission that includes a budget-friendly adventure on Earth.

A case of right movie, wrong time, Lundgren does his best in a Masters of the Years film that didn't have the budget or filmmaking technology to adapt a fantasy adventure cartoon. Regardless, the sight of a hulking Lundgren laying various evil creatures to waste with broadsword has a charm of its own.

If there was ever a comic-book character that encapsulated the 1980s one-man-army action-hero, it would be The Punisher.

A perfectly cast Dolph Lundgren stars in The Punisher as Frank Castle, a cop turned vigilante who is five years into his one-man war against the same mafia that killed his family. With 125 kills to his name, Castle inadvertently causes a power vacuum in the criminal underworld resulting in Yakuza boss Lady Hideko Tanaka (Kim Miyori) overthrowing the mob and vowing to kill Castle, who is more than ready for the challenge.

Filmed in Sydney, Australia in 1989 on a modest budget of $9 million, The Punisher is suitably no-frills for its pre-pre-comic-book movie times, yet director Mark Goldblatt and writer Boaz Yakim do their best to elevate what could have been a schlocky action movie into a film with a little more grit and substance. Lundgren, in turn, delivers one of his best performances as a man whose grief-induced existence is fuelled only by an obsession to eliminate the corrupt and murderous elements of society.

Dark Angel separates itself from the B-grade action pack thanks to an intriguing sci-fi crossover element that pits Dolph Lundgren against an alien threat.

Lundgren stars in Dark Angel as Jack Caine, a dogged narcotics detective whose investigation of a drug syndicate turns personal when his partner is killed. Now paired with an obnoxious FBI agent (Brian Benben), Caine must also contend with the arrival of a menacing alien (Matthias Hues) who has his own devious plans for the drugs polluting the streets.

Directed by Craig R. Baxley, the independently made Dark Angel can often be tropey and sometimes ridiculous; yet it is never boring thanks to the films’ high-concept story that disrupts a buddy-cop action thriller with monstrous Martians gone wild.

Underrated B-grade buddy action film Showdown in Little Tokyo saw an in his-prime Dolph Lundgren team up with rising star Brandon Lee as detectives forced to work together in a bid to take down a ruthless Yakuza boss (the late, great Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.)

Lundgren and Lee deliver as a mismatched pair who trade barbs while taking on the criminal underground. A notorious line in which Lee compliments Lundgrens, uh, appendage, is one of the most surreal to be said in an action film.

It was a rare sight for action titans to trade fists on the big screen, yet the 1992 sci-fi actioner Universal Soldier did just that with the combination of Jean Claude Van-Damme and Dolph Lundgren.

The pair star as Luc Devareux and Andrew Scott (respectively), soldiers killed during the Vietnam War who are reanimated into super soldiers as part of a top-secret military project. When Andrew goes haywire, it is up to Luc to stop his reign of terror.

Directed by Roland Emmerich (Stargate), Universal Soldier delivers as a fun, high-testosterone action film in which Van Damme and Lundgren get to trade fists and suitably corny barbs to the delight of action fans.

Old school action ensemble The Expendables saw Sylvester Stallone create a consistently entertaining and unapologetically violent action magnum opus, where men are given free rein to blow shit up and beat each other down with extreme prejudice.

Among Stallone’s merry men of destruction was Dolph Lundgren in what would be there first reunion since trading punches in Rocky IV. Lundgren played the part of Gunner Jenson, a heavy weapons expert whose abuse of drugs and alcohol marks him as a liability and kicked out of the group.

Lundgren once again shines in a villainous performance, while his fight scene against Jet Lit is one of the highlights in a movie chock-a-block with action spectacle. Lundgren would play Jensen is the rest of the Expendables sequels, yet it’s his turn in the first that is the best.