''The Defender'' is a 2004 British-German

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

starring and directed by

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

in his directorial debut. The film also co-stars

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' from 1991 to 2 ...

, Shakara Ledard, Thomas Lockyer and Caroline Lee Johnson. The film was released on

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

in the United States on October 18, 2005. Dolph Lundgren plays Lance Rockford, who must set aside his values and patriotism to protect the life of the world's greatest

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

so that he does not become a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

for his cause.

Plot

The global war on terror rages on. The United States will not give an inch against terrorists, especially Mohamed Jamar, who is considered to be the worst of them all. Jamar has been missing for months, but his network continues its functions. The President stands firm before the world, but behind the scenes, his teams are working to find the final solution. Jamar represents a paradox: he can never be killed, because if he was found dead, he would become an instant martyr. If caught he must be tried. If he is found guilty he would become a martyr and further inspiration to acts of terror. If acquitted, the policies of the entire western world would be destroyed. So he must remain invisible. Roberta Jones, the head of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

, is working to ensure he remains invisible, forever. Under the guise of attending an Eastern European conference on Terror in Romania, she attends a secret meeting with Jamar at a secluded hotel outside Bucharest. No one knows about this meeting, and her goal is to buy his invisibility. Her only companions are her security team of six, headed by her personal bodyguard, Lance Rockford. They are the best of the best, former military special forces personnel capable of anything. When they arrive at the hotel for the secret meeting, they are ambushed. No one is supposed to know about the meeting, but someone wants it stopped. They have to fight for their lives against an unknown attacker. Lance, a man of highest integrity with an impressive record of service for his country, is forced into a situation which challenges his very beliefs. Throughout the crisis, it is revealed that Jamar and his loyal bodyguard were actually undercover agents from the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

who have uncovered evidence against high-ranking military officials involved in a conspiracy to topple the President to continue

war profiteering A war profiteer is any person or organization that derives unreasonable profit (economics), profit from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term typically carries strong negative connotations. General profiteerin ...

, and Rockford's trusted agent, Kaye was the mole involved in the conspiracy. With all of the members of the team, as well as the undercover agents dead, a wounded Lance kills Kaye with a thrown combat knife. The conspiracy is toppled by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

as well as

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

, while Lance voluntarily leaves his bodyguard duties.

Cast

as Lance Rockford *

as President of the United States * Shakara Ledard as Kaye * Thomas Lockyer as Stevenson * Caroline Lee Johnson as Mrs. Jones * Gerald Kyd as Morgan * Ian Porter as Newell * Howard Antony as Parker * Geoffrey Burton as Jamal * Iddo Goldberg as Scripts * James Chalke as Lee * Leigh Zimmerman as Reporter * Steven Elder as Tech #1 * Radu Florescu as Aide * Ovidiu Niculescu as Officer

Production

Filming

The film is set and filmed in Bucharest, Romania and Washington, D.C., on January 5 and February 4, 2004.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defender, The 2004 films 2004 action films 2004 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films American action films Films about terrorism Films directed by Dolph Lundgren Films set in the 1990s Films set in Romania Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Bucharest 2000s American films English-language action films