Dangerous Men — Dangerous Men( DVD + Blu-ray)
The film was made over a period of twenty two years by Iranian film maker John Rad ( real name Jahangir Salehi)- he pretty much did ever thing on the films production, including scripting, directing, filming, and scoring the film. In the 1980’s Rad fled to the Us from Iran to escape his birth country when Ayatollah Khomeini came into power. Seemingly straight away he started work on Dangerous Men; then over the ensuing years he added to the film as & when he had money to do so, finally completing the film around 2003/2005. So really this is the ultimate labour of love- sadly he passed away in 2007 just after the film had got fairly ltd release( with Rad hiring theatres himself for it to play in).
Normally when reviewing a film one would discuss it’s plot etc first, then go onto talk about the film makers, but with Dangerous Men it’s important to understand the film maker first, as this plays a huge part in the films look, feel, and flow. By any rational/ normal definition of film-making Dangerous Men is a text book example of bad film making: the acting is mostly appalling and wooden( at one point one of the ‘actors’ reads off a script on the table in front of him), the dialogue is stilted & bland, the music cues are badly place/timed, the plotting is confused & often darting sometime focusing on minor characters with little reason. But if you take into context both Rad’s early life in Iran, his impression of action films, women, men, and US culture in general- the film really makes perfect bizarre sense, and is a great ride from start to finish
The films opening plot focusing in on a women whose fiancé is killed and she is nearly sexually assaulted- the a woman becomes an avenger of the night seeking to kill all dangerous men who would harm women. Meanwhile, her fiancé's cop brother also seeks to bring down the biker gang associated with the murder. But really as mentioned above the plot darts around all over the place, at times with seemingly little reason or sanity. And really that’s what makes Dangerous Men such a rewarding, re-watch-able & distinctive film. I won’t go onto trying to detail or unravel the films flow, individual scenes or plot anymore than above, as this really has to be experienced for one self.
Drafthouse Films have really presented the film in great form- with the DVD & blu ray disc coming in a clear blu ray case that features double sided artwork- with the original Rad poster artwork on one side, and new artwork on the other. Extra wise we get a very informative & amusing commentary from Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly (co-authors of Destroy All Movies), a short feature about the film & Rad himself, and a interview with Rad himself on a local Tv show. You also get a glossy 16 page inlay booklet, featuring stills & text. As well as a download card.
All in all if you enjoy ‘bad’/ distinctive film-making Dangerous Men has to be high on your list of must-see films!. And it’d great to see Drafthouse giving this such a classy & well put together release of this truly one-off celluloid experience