Rachenko infiltrates the rebel movement and to get within striking distance of his target, he stirs up trouble in the local bar and gets arrested for disorderly conduct.

Disgraced and tortured by his commanding officers for failing his mission, he breaks out of the interrogation chamber and escapes to the desert, later to be found by native Bushmen.

Nikolai obtains an experimental assault rifle from the armory, confronts his corrupt officers and hunts down Colonel General Oleg Vortek, who attempts to escape in a Mil Mi-24 Hind, only to be shot down after takeoff.

The film was produced by Jack Abramoff, a Republican Party lobbyist known for promoting the Reagan Doctrine and U.S. aid to anti-communist guerrilla movements such as Jonas Savimbi's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola during the Cold War.

The film allegedly received financial aid from South Africa as part of its propaganda efforts to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress.

[3][7] The Namibian reported that the South African Defence Force provided military equipment to use during the production, including captured Soviet T-54 tanks.

[10] Red Scorpion screened at the 1988 MIFED film market, and was first released theatrically in South Korea in late December 1988, then the Philippines,[11] West Germany, and Japan in January 1989, then in the United States on April 21, 1989.

[14] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described it as "a numskull live-action comic book" that, despite showing Lundgren's charisma, is likely to hurt his career.

Club gave a more positive review, stating that "If Abramoff’s intention was to make the case for military intervention in communist-controlled countries, then Red Scorpion falls well short.

But if he wanted to prove that America is the world leader in awesome pop trash, then the closing-credits soundtrack of rock ’n’ roll and artillery fire says it all.