Dolph Lundgren is best known for playing one of the main rivals to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky and to Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier, as well as the heroic He-Man in Masters of the Universe. The 80s and 90s may have been his hey-day, but he is still physically intimidating decades later. In fact, he’s so much of a threat that when burglars broke into his Spanish home in 2009, they did a sharp about-turn when they discovered whose house it was.
According to The Daily Mail; “Three masked raiders tied up the star’s wife and terrorized her into handing over cash and jewelry by threatening her with knives.” But once they saw a photograph of Dolph Lundgren with their children in the house, the burglars soon scarpered. Lundgren wasn’t at home in the exclusive Marbella district at the time – where his neighbors included Simon Cowell and Antonio Banderas.
The action movie star was 52-years-old at the time, and still training in the gym six days a week. Shortly before the robbery, he’d participated in an exhibition fight against a Russian wrestler and boxer. The Rocky series villain is 6 feet 5 inches tall and a black belt in karate, so the robbers wisely decided to retreat in case he came home.
The 2000s were something of a down-time in Lundgren’s movie career, but he’s since bounced back somewhat with roles in The Expendables franchise, and in Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning (2012), reprising his iconic role as Ivan Drago in Creed II, and popping up in Aquaman.
Our Expendables 4 review was not exactly fully of praise, as Anthony McGlynn calls it; “stupid, nonsensical, inane, cynical, and plainly boring” and adds that it’s “a limp entry in a franchise that should really pack it in.”
For a better time at film night, check out our guide to the best thriller movies and the best sports movies.