Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Robert W. I have this strange and unhealthy fascination with Dolph Lundgren's terrible films. There probably is a reason he's never broke into main stream films and The Defender is another example which he not only stars in but helms the picture as well. Frighteningly this was his first directorial film and I kind of thought it might be worth seeing being that he has always had this passion for action flicks that maybe he could direct his way into a great action flick. I mean The Defender is not the worst movie I've ever seen and if you like guns well The Defender might be the greatest film you've ever seen. From start to finish it's a giant shoot out for an hour and a half but as cool as that might sound there isn't even a wiff of a story around that. They try...I think...but it falls flat and makes no sense whatsoever. They even throw in some sort of attempts at twists to the story but you don't really care and by the time they try to throw some story at you, they just go right back to blowing each other away with guns. A handful of bodyguards in a castle systematically take out an entire army of trained marines. Sounds like a Dolph Lundgren movie.The aforementioned Mr. Lundgren stars as former Armed Forces soldier Lance Rockford who was held and tortured as a P.O.W. and now works as a Secret Service bodyguard. His back story is half decently interesting and there isn't any problem with his acting per se but the story or lack thereof doesn't support any good characters really so it's all about him shooting people...and is it just me or does he hold his handgun really weird in this film? It's like on an angle or something. Jerry Springer, yes THAT Jerry Springer, has a small role as The President of The United States. Actually Springer does a pretty decent job in the very small role. I might have even liked to have seen more of him. It's unfortunate that the plot made no sense because it might have made his character even more important. Shakara Ledard, Thomas Lockyer, Gerald Kyd, and Ian Porter are the main supporting characters and Lundgren's team inside the castle. I lump them together because whether or not they have talent as actors you wouldn't know from this film because none of them have any stand out moments or even personalities. Just a complete mess of bullets flying.I'm really trying to find something redeemable here but there isn't much. I mean there is plenty of action but it's so empty because the meager plot that exists makes such little sense. Even if you are a Dolph Lundgren fan...for the few of you out there or if you're like me and just can't look away...like a car wreck well do your very best to skip over this one because it's one big long shoot out with nothing in the end to satisfy you at all. The Defender is dud. 4/10

Frank Markland Dolph Lundgren stars as Lance Rockford, a secret service agent who protects a politician from a terrorist group called "The Patriots" who see the President's view on terror as underwhelming to say the least. So Dolph is thrown into a fight where nothing is ever as it seems. I generally review these type of movies when I see them on TV because I generally don't see straight to video movies. For instance I reviewed Bridge Of Dragons because I saw it on HBO some night awhile ago and I happened to have my notes. I actually rented The Defender because I saw that it had Jerry Springer in it and the thought of him as the President of the United States had me curious to say the least. I was expecting a movie of magnitude ineptitude and was indeed surprised to see that Lundgren was a competent director and that the action sequences were fairly well staged and suspenseful. The story was (As expected) stupid and full of plot holes but I for one found this to be far better than I expected it to be.* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty good)

udar55 Okay, confession time right off the bat - I like Dolph Lundgren movies. I can't explain it. I know there are other people out there just like me. A great philosopher (or maybe it was Hulk Hogan) once said, "For people who get it, no explanation is necessary. For people that don't get it, no explanation in the world will convince them to get it." So if you "get it" then please feel free to continue. Anyway, Dolph's output in the last few years has been erratic to say the least. He will occasionally sneak in a good film but the bad weigh down the scale. So imagine my shock when this film, his directorial debut, is his best work in years. The President (Jerry Springer...yes, Jerry Springer) has set up a clandestine meeting between his NSA chief and a Bin Laden type terrorist leader to call a truce. Of course, there are nefarious U.S. Government officials who don't want an end to the "War on Terror" and conspire to stop this from happening. Lundgren is the leader of Secret Service assigned to protect the female NSA head. As always, stuff goes wrong and bullets start flying. The film has a real ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 feel as Lundgren and his crew fight off mercenaries at a remote hotel. Lundgren is actually a better director than half the guys he's worked with in the last 10 years. He has a sense of style, tight pacing and isn't afraid to throw around the red stuff. The plot also has a few nice twists I didn't see coming. So, if you "get it" than this gets the highest rating.

Fernando Guerrero I don't like action movies all too much but I got this film and it was very good. I haven't seen many Dolph Lundgren movies except Rocky 4 and He-man but El Protector was a very good film. If all his films are like this I shall watch more.The idea is quite good, involving terrorists and quite brave for todays current situations. The film has a strong plot which helps because it is almost all action. It never stops. Lot's of gunfights, punching and kicking and explosions. This is good fun.Dolph Lundgren is quite a good actor for the genre he works in I must admit. He's still also in excellent shape considering Rocky 4 was 20 years ago.I also must say I liked the music. I am a musician myself and would like to get into the movie industry through that, and the score in this film is interesting.This is overall a good movie, worth your time.