he next starred in joseph zito's "red scorpion" in 1989, opposite m. emmet walsh, al white, t. p. mckenna and carmen argenziano. the plot centers on lundgren's character nikolai, a soviet spetsnaz-trained kgb agent who is sent to an african country where soviet, czechoslovakian and cuban forces support the government's fight against an anti-communist rebel movement. nikolai is ordered to assassinate the movement's leader, but eventually switches sides. the film was partly shot in namibia and it was claimed that grace jones joined him during production in swakopmund, insisting on staying in a $3000-a-month villa, even though his girlfriend at the time was reported to be paula barbieri. the film was poorly received and has an 11% "rotten" rating at rotten tomatoes. stephen holden of "the new york times" said, "dolph lundgren's pectorals are the real stars of "red scorpion," an action-adventure movie set in the fictional african country of mombaka. filmed from below so that one has the sense of peering up at a massive kinetic sculpture, his glistening torso, which over the course of the film is subjected to assorted tortures, is the movie's primary visual focus whenever the action slows down. and since mr. lundgren remains stone-faced, rarely speaking except to issue commands in a surprisingly hesitant monotone, his heaving chest actually communicates more emotion than his mumbling lips."