The whole story of how this film came to be is covered in depth in the Synapse release, a dual-format edition containing both a Blu-Ray and a DVD. (Obviously watch the first option if you can; along with looking a lot better, it also has more exciting menus!) The transfer itself looks about as great as a Shapiro-Glickenhaus title from 1988 possibly could; as usual, the film stock doesn't allow for terribly deep blacks or a lot of saturated color, but it's a terrific HD presentation with a natural filmic texture and a thankful absence of any distracting digital tinkering. For reasons no one can quite sort out, the film was trimmed in most markets; the biggest cut was a scene involving a village attacked by flamethrowers, while a number of other tiny little edits (sometimes mere frames) were performed to the heads and tails of certain shots throughout the film. In any case, the Synapse version represents the longest available version of the film with the missing scene and the other little snippets stuck back in their rightful place. The exclusive DTS-HD MA audio track is also excellent, delivering where it counts with plenty of expansive use of all channels during the action scenes. The original stereo track is also included, likewise in DTS-HD MA; in a surprise move, optional English subtitles are also added for the deaf and hard of hearing, a very welcome gesture.
The audio commentary with Zito features myself so there's obviously no way of reviewing that one, but hopefully it will prove enjoyable as it covers the origins of the production, how it had to change shooting locations at a late date, the perils of working with live scorpions, and what Zito thinks of that period of his career turning out high-profile guy movies. Of course, this wouldn't be complete without some Lundgren, and the star appears for his own video featurette, "Hath No Fury: Dolph Lundgren and the Road to Red Scorpion," in which he talks about getting cast as a Russian (for the second time after Rocky IV), how he got his start in acting, and the path his career was taking at the time. Easily one of the most appealing action stars of his generation, he's still fun to watch as he covers one of his key titles. Incidentally, while the Synapse version may be the definitive Blu-Ray on the market, two earlier ones are also available. A German one amusingly released as part of "The Expendables Selection" is fine but definitely on the modest side, while the UK one from Arrow features a more worn-looking but good HD transfer and its own separate slate of extras including a different audio commentary with Zito and Howard Berger (the director of Original Sins, not the effects guy), which spends much more time on the political end of things. Lundgren also has a half-hour "All Out of Bullets" featurette, which covers some of the same ground but with a few variations of its own, while Chattaway has a 12-minute interview about his collaborations with Zito.
Anyway, back to the Synapse extras. Next up is the juiciest one and the big shocker of the set, "Assignment: Africa," in which Abramoff (who got out of prison in 2010 and penned a book about his experiences) delivers a thorough rundown of how he became involved in the film, the ways it slotted in with his other activities outside of filmmaking at the time, his memories of working with his star and director, and how he saw its political agenda aligning with his own. Amazing stuff. Finally FX maestro Tom Savini appears for "Scorpion Tales;" you won't really be able to spot his work until fairly late in the film (and many of his concepts never even made it before the camera), but he has plenty to say about going to Africa and generating some brief but memorable bits of bodily mayhem including a particularly grisly bit of business during the climax. Some behind-the-scenes camcorder footage from the set comes afterwards as well, including a few fun shots for those familiar with the movie. Finally you get a gallery of stills and artwork from the theatrical and video releases, a trailer, TV spots, a reversible cover (the back one reflecting the US poster art), and liner notes by Lundgren expert Jérémie Damoiseau, who covers everything from pre-production to the problematic theatrical release in a succinct but excellent history well worth reading before watching the actual film. If you're a Dolph fan, this release will be very tough to beat for a long time.
