''Dollman'' is a 1991 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films.
The Independent Film Channel said that Pyun "has carved out a unique niche as a director of low-budge ...
and starring
Tim Thomerson
Joseph Timothy "Tim" Thomerson (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the ''Trancers'' film series and for his work in numerous low-budget features and for his comedic television r ...
as the space cop Brick Bardo, also known as "Dollman"; he is only 13 inches (33 cm) tall. Bardo is equipped with his "Kruger Blaster", which is the most powerful handgun in the universe. The film also stars
Jackie Earle Haley
Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in ''Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and ''The ...
as Bardo's human enemy, Braxton Red. "Brick Bardo" is a character name used by Albert Pyun in films dating back to his second film, ''
Radioactive Dreams
''Radioactive Dreams'' is a 1985 post-apocalyptic science fiction-comedy film written and directed by Albert Pyun and starring George Kennedy, Michael Dudikoff, Don Murray, and Lisa Blount. The names of the two main characters are homages t ...
''.
The film was produced by
Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', ''Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as the film ''C ...
, who also worked with Thomerson on the ''
Trancers
''Trancers'' (also released as ''Future Cop'') is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by Charles Band and starring Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt, and Art LaFleur. It is the first film in the ''Trancers'' series. Thomerson plays Jac ...
'' series. It was followed by a crossover sequel in 1993 called ''
Dollman vs. Demonic Toys
''Dollman vs. Demonic Toys'' (on screen title being ''Dollman vs. the Demonic Toys'') is a 1993 American direct-to-video horror film. It is a continuation of three films released by Full Moon Features: '' Dollman'', ''Demonic Toys'' and ''Bad Cha ...
'', which is also a sequel to ''
Demonic Toys
''Demonic Toys'' is a 1992 American direct-to-video horror comedy film produced by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment and directed by Peter Manoogian. The film centers on a police officer who is terrorized by the title characters after a botch ...
'' (1992) and ''
Bad Channels
''Bad Channels'' is a 1992 American science fiction spoof direct-to-video film, produced by Full Moon Features and released by Paramount Home Video. It is about two aliens (Cosmo and Lump) who invade a radio station with the intention of capturi ...
'' (1992).
''Dollman'' also had its own comic series published by
Eternity Comics
Eternity Comics was a California-based comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as so ...
, who also made comics for other Full Moon films.
Plot
On the planet Arturos, a criminal takes hostages at a laundry. The crook is surprised when cop Brick Bardo defiantly enters to do his laundry. Bardo causes the overweight hostages to faint and pin down the criminal when he threatens to shoot through their bodies with his powerful weapon. Although he saves the hostages, Bardo, already suspended for his violent methods, faces further criticism from the mayor. News segments also air claiming he killed multiple hostages.
Bardo is ambushed and kidnapped. After Bardo wakes up on a desert plain, his greatest enemy, Sprug, reveals he intends to kill Bardo with his own blaster, which Bardo had used to reduce Sprug to a floating head. Bardo uses a magnetic field to retrieve his blaster and kills Sprug's henchmen. Sprug escapes in his ship, and Bardo follows. Sprug and Bardo pass through an energy band, which shrinks them and sends them to Earth.
In
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York City, Braxton Red and his gang run their neighborhood and kill any gangsters who intrude. Debi, a young Hispanic single mother, wants the police to do more. When Debi goes home, gangsters who know about her meddling – Hector, Wick, and Jackson – capture and threaten her. Before they can kill her, Bardo wounds Hector and kills Wick. Hector and Jackson run off, leaving Debi to wonder whether she is hallucinating. As she takes Bardo and his ship away, Braxton Red and his right hand man Armbruiser spot Sprug. Sprug says he has a powerful bomb they can use in exchange for helping to repair his ship.
Debi introduces Bardo to her excited son, Kevin. At the hideout, Braxton kills Hector in a fit of rage when Jackson says it was his idea to kill Debi. Braxton disbelieves that a doll-sized man could hurt anybody, but he takes Jackson and several other gangsters with him to Debi's place to find the alleged Dollman. Bardo kills all of the gangsters except Braxton, who is seriously injured while fleeing. Sprug recognizes Bardo's handiwork. After Braxton agrees to his demands, Sprug partially heals his injuries. When Sprug insists on taking over the gang, Braxton squashes Sprug. Though still wounded, Braxton resolves to kill Bardo.
Bardo overhears a commotion outside the apartment when Debi comes home from work. As Braxton and Armbruiser kidnap Debi, Bardo leaps out of a window and grabs onto their car as it speeds off. Bardo follows the gang to where the spaceships landed, where they plan to ambush him. Bardo uses an underground passage to surprise the gangsters and rescue Debi. A shootout ensues, and Bardo kills most of the gangsters by exploding their vehicles. Debi runs off, and Braxton follows. Feeling disrespected for keeping her alive for years, Braxton is about to shoot Debi, but Bardo distracts him and shoots off one of his arms. Debi stops Bardo from killing Braxton. Braxton uses Sprug's bomb as a last resort
murder-suicide, and Debi and Bardo run for cover. Debi, after seeing that Bardo is safe, smiles, and Bardo asks her if size counts.
Cast
*
Tim Thomerson
Joseph Timothy "Tim" Thomerson (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the ''Trancers'' film series and for his work in numerous low-budget features and for his comedic television r ...
as Brick Bardo
*
Jackie Earle Haley
Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in ''Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and ''The ...
as Braxton Red
*
Kamala Lopez
Kamala Lopez is an American filmmaker, actress, writer, director, and political activist. She has had starring roles in '' Black Jesus'', ''Medium'', ''24'', ''Alias'', ''NYPD Blue'', ''Hill Street Blues'', ''Miami Vice'', and ''21 Jump Street''. ...
as Debi Alejandro
*Humberto Ortiz as Kevin Alejandro
*
Nicholas Guest
Nicholas Haden-Guest (born May 5, 1951), known as Nicholas Guest, is an American actor who has appeared in various movie and television roles, including that of headmaster Patrick James Elliot in the teen sitcom ''USA High''. Since 2000, he has p ...
as Skyresh
*Judd Omen as the Mayor
*Michael Halsey as Cally
*
Frank Doubleday as Cloy
*Eugene Glazer as Captain Shuller
*
Frank Collison
Frank Collison (born February 14, 1950) is an American actor known to television audiences as the hapless telegrapher Horace Bing in the series ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman''.
Early life
Collison was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Peg, ...
as Sprug
Sequel
The Dollman character has a post credits cameo in ''
Bad Channels
''Bad Channels'' is a 1992 American science fiction spoof direct-to-video film, produced by Full Moon Features and released by Paramount Home Video. It is about two aliens (Cosmo and Lump) who invade a radio station with the intention of capturi ...
'', where he is searching for a girl called Bunny, who was shrunk to be about his size. This is changed to Ginger through editing in the next film, 1993's ''
Dollman vs. Demonic Toys
''Dollman vs. Demonic Toys'' (on screen title being ''Dollman vs. the Demonic Toys'') is a 1993 American direct-to-video horror film. It is a continuation of three films released by Full Moon Features: '' Dollman'', ''Demonic Toys'' and ''Bad Cha ...
''. That crossover sequel uses a lot of
archive footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
to tell the back story of the various characters. It pits Bardo against four evil toys in a warehouse, who are trying to resurrect their demon master. Bardo even gets himself a girlfriend called Ginger (a similarly shrunken nurse, returning from the movie ''
Bad Channels
''Bad Channels'' is a 1992 American science fiction spoof direct-to-video film, produced by Full Moon Features and released by Paramount Home Video. It is about two aliens (Cosmo and Lump) who invade a radio station with the intention of capturi ...
)'' and they help a normal sized police officer called Judith Gray to deal with the demonic toys once more, having already dealt with the nasty playthings before, in ''
Demonic Toys
''Demonic Toys'' is a 1992 American direct-to-video horror comedy film produced by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment and directed by Peter Manoogian. The film centers on a police officer who is terrorized by the title characters after a botch ...
''.
Releases
Dollman made its DVD debut in the 2005 box set "The Dollman/Demonic Toys Box Set". The film was also featured in the limited-edition boxed set "Full Moon Features: The Archive Collection", a 20th anniversary collection which featured 18 of Full Moon's most popular films.
On November 9, 2010, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released a triple feature set containing this film, ''
Demonic Toys
''Demonic Toys'' is a 1992 American direct-to-video horror comedy film produced by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment and directed by Peter Manoogian. The film centers on a police officer who is terrorized by the title characters after a botch ...
'' and ''
Dollman vs. Demonic Toys
''Dollman vs. Demonic Toys'' (on screen title being ''Dollman vs. the Demonic Toys'') is a 1993 American direct-to-video horror film. It is a continuation of three films released by Full Moon Features: '' Dollman'', ''Demonic Toys'' and ''Bad Cha ...
''.
Dollman was released on Blu-ray in the US on December 17, 2013, by Full Moon Entertainment.
Merchandising
* A four-issue comic book
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
printed by Eternity Comics.
* A set of
collectible cards.
Reception
Steve Simels of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' rated it C+ and wrote, "Unfortunately, while there's enough gross shoot-out stuff to mollify genre fans, the picture's miniature effects are mostly laughable." Commenting on its strange mix of genres, ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' rated it 3/5 stars and wrote "this droll and skillful effort merits a guarded nod".
See also
*
List of films featuring miniature people
There is a body of films that feature miniature people. The concept of a human shrinking in size has existed since the beginning of cinema, with early films using camera techniques to change perceptions of human sizes. The earliest film to have a s ...
References
External links
*
{{Albert Pyun
1991 films
1990s science fiction action films
1991 independent films
1990s crime films
1990s thriller films
American independent films
American science fiction action films
Films shot in New York City
Films directed by Albert Pyun
Dollman films
Full Moon Features films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films