THE ULTIMATE WEAPON (1998) **
Hulk Hogan stars in a rare turn in an R rated action flick. Hogan plays “Hardball” Cutter. And no, he’s not a moil. He’s a mercenary sent on “Operation: Shamrock” with his new smart aleck partner. They get duped into helping some IRA terrorists and The Hulkster gets some payback by blowing up their shipment of weapons. The bad guy doesn’t take kindly to that so he kidnaps Hulk’s stripper daughter. Things get complicated when she falls in love with Cutter’s partner.
Hogan looks pretty ridiculous with his short hair. He looks like a G.I. Joe action figure come to life. Because of that, it’s hard to take him seriously. Hogan does alright in the action sequences, but not so much during the “dramatic” scenes. The parts where he tries to reconnect with his daughter aren’t very involving and the Hulkster also gives what has to be one of the worst proposals in screen history.
I’m not sure Hogan was right for this role. They should’ve used The Ultimate Warrior instead. Can you imagine the trailers? The Ultimate Warrior IS The Ultimate Weapon! But I digress.
Don’t let the R rating fool you. The action is akin to something you’d see on one of those made for TNT Chuck Norris movies. The only reason it’s rated R is for some brief nudity in a strip club. With a couple of snips (amounting to about fifteen seconds), it would be ready to play on TNT or Spike. At least it moves at a breezy enough pace. Plus, it features a fairly over the top death for it villain (and henchman) so I can’t say I completely hated it.
Our friends at Comeuppance Reviews’ take on the film can be found here: http://www.comeuppancereviews.com/2010/08/ultimate-weapon-1997.html