Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There is something about this B-movie that I like, its hard to pinpoint as the film is so ridiculous and belongs in a cartoon realm. I guess its the quaint 'Twilight Zone' charm of the plot and the cheesy yet fun effects mixed with some great hammy acting.Pyun regular Thomerson gives his best 'Dirty Harry' performance here as 'Brick Bardo' (great name) complete with silly shades and a long trench coat. His strong gritty voice barking out silly dialog left right 'n' centre to the wonderfully clichéd baddies and gang members lead by a young over acting J.E. Haley.This film does seem to have a cult following (nowadays, upon release not so much) and its easy to see why as its highly enjoyable with its highly nonsensical premise. A classic lead character, terrific bad guys and brilliantly hokey effects. Pyun's best film along side 'Cyborg' most definitely, which I'm sure came as a shock to him.8/10

Brick Bardo (Tim Thomerson), a tough cop from the planet Arturus, pursues his evil nemesis Sprug (Frank Collison), a living disembodied head on a flying machine, across the far reaches of space to Earth (the South Bronx, to be precise) where he discovers that, by Earth standards, he is the size of a doll.But as the saying goes, size doesn't matter, and after Sprug teams up with the local gang who have been terrorising the neighbourhood, Bardo becomes a miniature Dirty Harry crossed with Paul Kersey from Death Wish III, blowing away the scum and punks with his powerful side-arm.Dollman is so cheap that it lifts special effects shots from the cheesy 70s/80s TV series 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century', but producer Charles Band and director Albert Pyun are no strangers to movie-making on a shoestring and still manage to provide a reasonably diverting time despite the obvious budgetary limitations.Early scenes feature some neat full-body explosions, Bardo's gun being capable of blowing people completely apart; Thomerson puts in a fun performance, delivering his Eastwood influenced one-liners in a suitably gruff manner; and there are some truly daft moments that are just too ridiculous not to enjoy (Bardo's dive through a window and onto a moving car is hilarious!).

While I was kinda surprised to see ex bad news bears star Jackie Early Harley as the villain, I found myself quite entertained by the story. Tim Tomerson has to be the best of the b action stars. Whether the good guy, like in Dollman and the Trancers series, or a villain in Nemesis, Tomerson has that relaxed cool aura about him that very few actors have. I saw this movie a few years ago late night on HBO, and mainly began watching it mainly because Thomerson was in it. Why this movie hasn't seen the light of day since is mind boggling, considering that slew of just awful movies that Sci-Fi channel shows. This is another must have for b movie fans, as is the Trancers series.

And if you love them, and Tim Thomerson, you'll love this movie. The'sequel' Dollman vs the Demonic toys, is little more than tape together of the left overs of a half dozen other films (and is quite funny in it's own right if you recognize this). But, Dollman is a heroic effort of a miniature intergalactic cop, with a very big gun. If you like these sort of movies, this is a definite "WATCH".