Book Review: SILENT TRIGGER: SHOOTING THE FILM – A Look At Russell Mulcahy’s Dolph Lundgren Actioner
Simply put, Australian director Russell Mulcahy is a monumentally under-appreciated filmmaker. Not only has he made such visually arresting films like Razorback, Highlander and The Shadow – but Mulcahy has also directed some of the 1980s’ most iconic music videos: Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles), Vienna (Ultravox), Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes), Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Bonnie Tyler) The Wild Boys and Rio (Duran Duran), I’m Still Standing (Elton John) and countless others. Big or small, every project Mulcahy makes has interesting visual verve – and his 1996 Dolph Lundgren starrer, Silent Trigger is no different.
Now, at first glance, a book on a somewhat forgotten Dolph Lundgren film from the 1990s might not appear to be high up on anyone’s wish list, but Danny Stewart’s Silent Trigger: Shooting The Film is the book you never knew you wanted about a film you never knew you needed to see. In fact, Stewart is becoming something of a modern-day B-movie archaeologist, dusting off forgotten films and presenting them to a modern audience (see his books on Paul W.S. Anderson’s Soldier and David Peoples’ The Blood Of Heroes).
A hitman thriller, Silent Trigger sees Lundgren’s crack-shot ruminating about his past and future as a killer for hire as he sits in a high-rise building with his spotter (Gina Bellman). It sounds like it might be a staid piece of filmmaking, but Mulchay’s visual panache and use of editing cross-cutting keep things moving along at an intriguing pace. It also helps that there’s a good smattering of well-shot action throughout!
Danny Stewart gets under the Silent Trigger‘s bonnet and does a deep dive into how it was made and the careers of those who made it (it features mini-biographies of Mulchay, Lundgren, Bellman and co-stars Conrad Dunn and Christopher Heyerdahl). Stewart also looks into the film’s composite parts – the music, cinematography, visual effects and editing. This is all nicely augmented with interviews with Mulchay (always a great interviewee), composer Stefano Mainetti, cinematographer David Franco and a host of other behind-the-scenes talent. You couldn’t ask for a more comprehensive overview of how Silent Trigger was put together. As a writer, Stewart is really good at looking at the minutiae of a film – as well as where it sits within its genre.
Silent Trigger: Shooting The Film might be a niche book about a pretty niche movie – but if you’re fan of Dolph Lundgren or if ever stumble across Silent Trigger and find yourself captivated by how well put together it is, then you need to pick up Danny Stewart’s book.
<
p style=”text-align: center;”>
