1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Pentathlon
"Play to win. If you lose... you die."
1994 1h 41m EN
💀
4.4
SKIP
★4.4TMDB · 52
ActionThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
When East German Eric Brogar wins a gold medal in the pentathlon, he escapes to freedom in the west with the help of a beautiful American athlete. But his demanding coach, Heinrich Mueller vows revenge and Eric's best friend and his father pay the ultimate price for his freedom when they are killed by the Secret Police. In Los Angeles, Eric starts to train for the gold again. But when Mueller comes to America, Eric must win the most deadly game of all… the fight for his life.
“Play to win. If you lose... you die.”
Cast
Dolph Lundgren
Eric Brogar
David Soul
Heinrich Müller
Renée Coleman
Julia Davis
Roger E. Mosley
John Creese
Evan James Malmuth
Offerman
David Drummond
Hundt
Daniel Riordan
Jürgen Reinhardt
Philip Bruns
Vic
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Bruce Malmuth
- Writers
- William Stadiem, Bruce Malmuth, William Stadiem
- Languages
- English, German, Korean
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Korean.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Bruce Malmuth, shot by Mikhail Suslov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Joseph Gutowski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Dolph Lundgren and David Soul and Renée Coleman carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "Play to win. If you lose... you die.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt0110805 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Bruce Malmuth directs. Mikhail Suslov behind the camera. Joseph Gutowski cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German, Korean.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 232 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Korean.
- 4Directed by Bruce Malmuth, shot by Mikhail Suslov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Editor Joseph Gutowski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Dolph Lundgren and David Soul and Renée Coleman carry the top of the cast.
- 7Marketing tagline: "Play to win. If you lose... you die.".
- 8IMDB entry: tt0110805 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Only 52 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Mikhail Suslov
- Editing
- Joseph Gutowski
- Production design
- Jaymes Hinkle
- Costume design
- Alexandra Welker
- Makeup / hair
- Voni Hinkle
- Stunt coordinator
- Buddy Joe Hooker
- Runtime
- 101 min · 1h 41m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $4,000,000
- Original language
- EN
Also by
Bruce Malmuth
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- iluvdvds
A fun and very entertaining sports / action film that's truly underrated! Dolph Lundgren - star of a whole bunch of epic actioners from THE EXPENDABLES to RED SCORPION - is on fine performance as this Pentathlon player. Is there nothing this man can't do?! What we have here is a slightly different Lundgren vehicle - it's less about shooting up baddies and more about competing...with Nazis, naturally. Instead what we get is Dolph film in which his character is not only a powerful and strong bad-ass, but sensitive and very funny at time. PENTATHLON is a mighty fine sports film which is perfect for the Olympics fever that's spreading around with the build up to the 2012 event. Acting along side Dolphy is the brilliant Mr David Soul (from SALEM'S LOT, STARSKY AND HUTCH and the hilariously offensive JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA). His performance is equally great, in which he plays a cold, evil Nazi hell bent on winning at any cost. And I mean ANY cost! PENTATHLON is a fantastic film for any and every action and sports fan. The perfect piece of entertainment for the Olympics build-up too. The new Anchor Bay Blu-ray is presented in glorious high-def, this release is the best you'll ever see it!
Production companies
Who made it
- PF
PFG Entertainment
Live Entertainment
US
Key crew
- StuntsDanny Epper
- StuntsKenny Endoso
- StuntsErik Rondell
- StuntsPat Romano
- StuntsDick Ziker
- StuntsJophery C. Brown
- StuntsTony Brubaker
- StuntsJeff Dashnaw
- Second Unit DirectorBuddy Joe Hooker
- Stunt CoordinatorBuddy Joe Hooker
- ProducerMartin E. Caan
- Co-ProducerJason Clark
- Associate ProducerDeborah Gilels
- Executive ProducerDolph Lundgren
- Associate ProducerRob Stull
- Executive ProducerCarol H. Thompson
- Executive ProducerRonna B. Wallace
- Associate ProducerMikela Walter
- MusicDavid Spear
- EditorJoseph Gutowski
- EditorRichard Nord
- CastingRick Montgomery
- CastingDan Parada
- Production DesignJaymes Hinkle
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- berlin, germany
- olympic games
- coach
- defection
- east germany
- pentathlon
- seoul, south korea
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1994-07-08
Also known as
International titles
- ÖttusaHU
