JayDee's Movie Musings

Really looking forward to Van Damme season, as you know, I love me some Van Damme cheese. I actually rewatched two of his lesser known, but still solid films recently: Nowhere To Run and Maximum Risk. Interested to hear your thoughts on these two, as well as many others.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

Plot – Darren McCord (Van Damme) is a former fireman who has suffered setbacks in his life, both professional and personal. Now divorced from his wife, he tries to have a nice outing with his two kids at game seven of the Stanley Cup. Able to get tickets for the game as he is working at the stadium, McCord is going to be called into action before the night is out. Unbeknownst to McCord and everyone in attendance, the main drama will not actually be taking place on the ice. A former government employee (Boothe) has led a group of terrorists in a ploy to hold the Vice President and others hostage with the objective to ransom their lives for a large amount of money. Placing bombs all over the stadium and threatening to blow them up at the end of the game if his demands aren't met, the only thing that's now standing in his way is Darren McCord.

The Godfather Part 2. Schindler's List. Lawrence of Arabia. Apocalypse Now. Mulholland Drive. I could go on. All classic, highly acclaimed films that I've yet to watch, and yet I've decided to go with a Jean Claude Van Damme season! And yes, to answer the question many of you will be posing, perhaps I am insane! Anyway, while I knew that I loved this film, I had forgotten just how much I loved it. As far as action films go this is pretty damn awesome. And I'd say it's probably the best of the Die Hard clones, this one of course being 'Die Hard in a stadium.' Throughout this review I'll also be comparing the film to another of the Die Hard clones; Under Siege, which I reviewed just recently.
In Under Siege (aka Die Hard on a ship) I noted how Seagal seemed damn near indestructible, in fact throughout the film I was expecting his skin to get cut at some point, revealing that underneath he was actually a Terminator a la Schwarzenegger. He could not be stopped. There was never any danger of him not winning the fight. Here however the makers of the film go to great lengths to try and humanise Van Damme, making him seem like a normal and vulnerable character. They give him a tragic backstory where he has failed as a fireman, losing the life of a young girl right at the start of the film. We now find the character divorced from his wife, removed from active duty and struggling to connect with his kids. It's not just in his personal life that we get a sense of vulnerability but in terms of the physical stuff. He doesn't shy away from having to run away from and avoid his adversaries when the odds aren't in his favour. And in his first fight. Van Damme gets his ass kicked for the majority of it - by a girl! And not just any girl, but one dressed as a f**king penguin!!! Yes, beaten up by a woman dressed up as a sports mascot in a goofy penguin costume. Somehow I can't imagine that happening to Seagal's Casey Ryback. Oh and it is an awesome fight scene by the way, probably the best the film has to offer actually.

Speaking of action that's one element where I think Sudden Death massively trumps Under Siege. That had Seagal mostly just blowing guys away with an assortment of guns. Here however Van Damme displays his athletic ability, and dispatches his enemies in various creative ways – killed after getting caught up in a dishwasher, stabbed in the neck by a chicken bone, shot by a dart from an improvised device hidden up his sleeve, thrown through the roof onto the scoreboard etc. The action on the whole is pretty damn awesome! The whole enterprise just feels a lot more epic than Under Sjege, it's scope is really quite impressive, a lot of that down to its setting. There are some great examples of practical effects and stuntwork, none more so than in the show-stopping conclusion. We see Van Damme tussling with some of the goons on top of the stadium roof when the roof starts to retract, leaving a gaping hole. Inevitably they fall through the gap, landing on platforms and grabbing onto wires to save themselves with Van Damme leaping between wires to reach the villain. And as if that wasn't enough it all ends with a helicopter falling out of the sky, through the gap in the roof, into the stadium before crashing down onto the ice rink in a massive fireball! Thrilling stuff. And adding to the large scope is the large numbers of hockey players and fans that are present as the action unfolds around them.

Film trivia - The first draft of the script was penned by Randy Feldman. According to him he actually wrote the film as a spoof comedy of the action genre, with that original tone eventually being lost. The only scene that remained in the final film was the fight between Van Damme and the penguin mascot.

The one area where I would actually give Under Siege the edge is in its villains. As I said in my Under Siege review Busey and Tommy Lee Jones were terrific, with nice support from Colm 'the bloke from Star Trek' Meaney. This film has an entertaining villain in former government employee Joshua Foss, but that's it really. His henchman remain pretty faceless and unmemorable. It doesn't pull off the trick that great action films do, films like Die Hard where every villain sticks in your mind as a colourful character either because of their appearance, their weapon of choice, the words they say etc. Anyway, that entertaining villain is provided by Powers Boothe. He seems to relish the role of Foss, doling out threats to the FBI agents while offing one hostage after another. It may not be up to the heights of Alan Rickman in Die Hard, or the Jones/Busey combo in Under Siege but he does bring a good deal of charisma and entertainment to the role. Van Damme meanwhile provides quite an endearing and likeable performance as the man trying to foil his plans, while his kids actually give quite nice showings as far as kid actors go.

The film really does stick spectacularly closely to the Die hard formula. You've got a vulnerable hero suffering from a misfortune in his personal life, who finds himself in a horrible situation. He finds himself trapped in a building with a group of terrorists and he's the only hope for every innocent life in there, first learning of and then attempting to sabotage their masterplan. And he has a personal stake in the situation; in Die Hard it was McClane's wife, here it's McCord's daughter. He's up against a smart, business-looking adversary leading a group of goons with the aim of robbing hundreds of millions of dollars. The film mixes plenty of thrilling action with some welcome humour throughout. As a result of all this it really is almost identical to Die Hard but for the setting. And for me it is probably the best of the Die Hard clones.

Oh I nearly forgot what is probably the film's high point when it comes to ridiculousness. At one point to try and escape his pursuers, McCord runs into the locker room and dresses up as a goalie. He then skates out onto the ice to replaced an injured player and actually keeps goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals! Sheer nonsense! But good fun.

Conclusion – I'm sure my score and positive slant on this film will have a lot of you rolling your eyes, shaking your heads and muttering “what the f**k?!” to yourselves. But I'm not going to apologise for that, I love this film. I was about to describe it as a 'guilty pleasure' but I don't really consider to be one, that's just me feeling the societal pressure to term it that. I don't fell any guilt over loving this film. As far as action films go I think it's fantastic.

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Plot – Homeless war veterans are disappearing off the streets in New Orleans. When Natasha Binder (Butler) comes looking for her father she discovers he is one of the missing. Hiring a local drifter by the name of Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme) to try and locate him, they uncover a deadly game run by entrepreneur Emil Fouchon (Henriksen). Rich men pay for the privilege to hunt human beings who 'volunteer'; with homeless war veterans desirable both for the challenge their training provides and the fact that no-one will miss them. Fouchon and his lieutenant, Pik Van Cleaf (Vosloo), have not banked on one thing however – Chance Boudreaux!

Now here's some primo cheese! This is a film absolutely ripe with cheese! Indeed if you suffer from lactose intolerance you might want to give it a miss else you suffer some extreme gas; it's that cheesy!!! It's hard to pin-point what exactly is the film's cheesiest element. Is it some of the acting? Some of the ridiculous action? Or how about the moment where Van Damme beats up a snake! No really. He grabs a snake and punches it! He knocks the f**ker out! And then he bites off the tail to silence it's rattle so he can use it as a weapon against those chasing him, placing it in a tree as a trap. Literally one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen! In fact the phrase 'punching the snake' should be used in the same vein of 'jumping the shark', except this time to indicate sheer awesomeness!

This film takes the complete opposite approach to Van Damme's character from Sudden Death. They've ditched any attempt at making him seem vulnerable, and given him a very mythic quality. He's like a wise mystic, dispensing ass kickings and musings of wisdom in equal measure. And Woo often captures the character in slow motion with some heroic music over the top just so we're left in no doubt that this is someone special. The character actually reminded me of all those TV shows – Walker Texas Ranger, Incredible Hulk, Renegade, The Fugitive, Kung Fu etc – which featured a heroic figure wandering the earth, frequently finding themselves in a small town where some dodgy activities are taking place and our hero would save the day, before moving on to another place. And Van Damme fits into this role pretty well. Is he a good actor? No. But I think he has quite a strong screen presence. Not up there with the likes of Bruce Lee, Schwarzenegger or Stallone but a presence none the less. And I do just find him to be quite a likeable personality.

Film trivia – Along with Woo imparting the film with many of his directorial trademarks and nods to his previous movies, he also throws in references to a number of other movies. He saw the ear-cutting scene as an homage to Reservoir Dogs, while the vicious character of Van Cleaf is so named because of the actor Lee Van Cleef; who played the sadistic Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Sadly the performance of Yancy Butler is pretty poor. She looks quite hot, and has a slightly endearing little girl lost, doe-eyed quality to her but the acting is rather dodgy at best. And you know you've not had a good time of it when you're shown up by The Plank (as I believe Rodent dubbed him ). Though to be fair to her maybe she wasn't that bad, it's just that I struggled to really focus on her acting as anytime she appeared on screen I couldn't take my eyes off her eyebrows! They're incredible. So thick and bushy. They should have been given their own credit! In fact at the top of this post I should have written that it was “Starring Jean Claude Van Damme / Yancy Butler / Jean Claude Van Damme's mullet / Yancy Butler's eyebrows!”

One of the film's big successes is it's realisation of the villains, and how it captures that classic 2 villain set-up. It's got the slimy business man as the leader, with his psychotic no.2 to do the dirty work. As the leader and entrepreneur of this ghastly business venture is Lance Henriksen. He's terrific as the slimy Emil Fouchon. He's just the embodiment of pure evil, sacrificing lives without recourse as long as the money is right. And as his henchman, Pik Van Cleaf is Arnold Vosloo. He's a brutal, animalistic killer. He's like a wild dog on a lead, straining at the leash to get after his prey. While he my frequently proclaim to be a 'professional' the scariest fact of all is that he seems to enjoy the killing, he relishes it. This isn't just business for him, it's pleasure. Oh and special mention for Wilford Brimley in the role of Uncle Douvee. He only enters the film as it nears its conclusion, but in his short time he certainly makes a memorable impact. Largely down to him employing one of the thickest accents I've ever heard in my life. I honestly had to rewind the film a few times, and play it again with subtitles on as I had no idea what he had said.

Some of the action is pretty awesome, even if it is completely over-the-top. Probably the best example of this OTT nature is Van Damme firing a gun at some goons while standing on top of a speeding motorbike, riding it like a surfboard. That scene and others showcase some great stuntwork. The shoot-out which closes the film is pretty damn epic as Van Damme takes on 20+ guys single-handedly in a huge warehouse. Without a doubt my favourite part of this warfare was the fact that Van Damme would shoot the bad guys about 20 times in the chest and they'd still be standing; what would really put them down and kill them would be a Van Damme spin kick! And the actual hunts themselves are really quite well done, very atmospheric and creepy. Indeed the film opens very strongly, placing us right into the middle of one of these nightmarish hunts that the rich b**tards go on, gripping me right from the off.

Conclusion – Just a highly entertaining, and over-the-top piece of dumb action. With Van Damme trying to be at his most bad-ass, two great villainous performances from Henriksen and Vosloo and John Woo's excessive style all coming together into one nice package I just think it's pretty great stuff.

Sudden Death is my favourite Van Damme flick, mainly because, like you said, Van Damme is a vulnerable hero. I also liked the premise and JCVD was surprisingly great in it, as well as Powers Booth delivering a wonderfully nasty performance as the villian. I still think Inder Siege edges it out in the villian area, as well as the humour area, but Sudden Death is just so damn ludicrous.

Also love Hard Target. Van Damme at his most badass.

Thanks Tyler, glad you're enjoying them so far. When I was issuing my warning about the upcoming Van Damme reviews, I said it was down to wanting some brainless fun but I forgot to say it was also partially inspired by your countdown of action flicks putting me in the mood.

Anyway that's two very positive Van Damme reviews; how many readers have I lost? Or are we still friends?

Should be another Van Damme review up soon.

I've spoken out in defence of Hard Target many times. I still like it more than Face/Off. There again, I don't like Face/Off, so that's not hard.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Yeah I thought I remembered you being quite the fan of Hard Target. Is that a John Carter avai you're rocking by the way?


Oh and for anyone who has never seen the film, here is that ludicrously brilliant moment I talked about from Hard Target. Jean Claude Van Damme fights a snake! Kicks off around the 50 second mark

Another great review, as usual, but am curious about your rating system. How can you rate 4 stars a self admittedly extremely cheesy movie?

Because it's a personal rating based on how much he enjoyed the film - I rate the same way. I can't speak for JD but I'm happy to admit I just don't yet know enough about the technical aspects of film to make an accurate judgement in those areas.

Well, personaly, if I thought a movie was cheesy, I wouldn't give it a high rating ( otherwise, it would appear to be a glaring contradiction ) but, then again, that's one of the reasons I don't like to rate movies by some conventionaly established standard.
The review stands on it's own merits without the rating. After reading the review, all the rating does is beg the question.

I don't have a problem with the ratings, as Skepsis says, it's personal feelings rather than a cold rating of the film. I do agree that the review stands on its own, though. With a mini or quick review, a rating can be helpful, but really, ratings are just another marketing tool.

Thanks man, glad you liked it. And as for your question Skepsis and Honeykid have pretty much nailed the reasoning behind the scores. As I've said before, when it comes to the score I'm always trying to find the delicate balance between the quality of the film and how much I actually 'liked' it. And for the most part I veer towards my personal enjoyment.

For example, I don't know if you noticed it or not but just above Death Warrant there was a review of another Van Damme flick, Sudden Death. I gave that film a rating, while the film just before that (LA Confidential) only got -. Now in no way whatsoever am I saying Sudden Death is the better film. In every possible category Confidential comes out on top - acting, directing, writing, cinematography, editing etc. (Well Sudden Death maybe takes the 'stunts involving helicopters' category! ) However at the moment I would say I loved Sudden Death more, though that may change when Confidential gets more viewings.

And then there's trying to take into account the fact of rating a film on its own merits. You can't rate all films the same, and for a film like Hard Target there is absolutely nothing wrong with a big dollop of cheese!!!

Plot – Detective Louis Burke (Van Damme) is one hell of cop. As a highly thought of cop, Burke is assigned to go undercover in a prison as an inmate. The prison, Harrison Penetentiary, has been the setting for a series of unexplained of deaths of late. With the aid of an attorney posing as his wife Burke infiltrates the prison and attempts to learn the truth. To get to this truth, Burke must adjust to prison life while navigating his way through a series of dangerous characters. These dangerous characters include a killer by the name of The Sandman (Kilpatrick), a man that Burke shot and captured sixteen months earlier; and The Sandman hasn't forgotten.

I've got a confession to make. I love action films. That's not the confession. I'm not just talking about films that are generally well respected such as Die Hard, Point Break, Terminator 2 and the Jason Bourne series. I can enjoy a really good bit of trash when it comes to action flicks. And they don't come much trashier than this early 90s Van Damme effort. The film piles on one prison movie cliché after another. Now in a sane world I should find that to be a negative, but I don't. For some reason I find it to be quite comforting in its familiarity. So we've got the racist divide between the inmates; we've got prison guards who are real evil b**tards; there's a 'big man' who can get you anything you desire; the constant threat of rape or murder, rival gangs, transvestite inmates and on and on.

The prison is populated by a series of really colourful and eccentric characters. There's the snake-eyed Priest, the man who is like the godfather of the prison world. He can acquire anything you desire...for a price. His domain is an incredibly large cell down in the basement depths, festooned with numerous objects giving the place a real boudoir feel. And Priest is surrounded by his harem of transvestite inmates, all of whom are also available for a price. There are also quite a few familiar faces you'll have seen countless times on TV or in moves such as Art LaFleur and Armin Shimerman. And then there's Burke's nemesis, The Sandman. He is such an unbelievably over-the-top, vivid villain. He kind of reminded me of the type of serial killer that Dexter Morgan frequently finds himself pitted against; a character with a unique look, a comic book style moniker and then there's the fact that he seems damn near immortal. It doesn't matter that Burke shoots him point blank numerous times, he keeps coming. Hell it doesn't even matter when Burke kicks him into the prison's furnace. After a considerable time in the flames he emerges, ready to fight once more.

And to bring this character to life they got just about the perfect choice in character actor Patrick Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick, a veteran at playing villains in films such as Replacement Killers, Last Man Standing, Under Siege 2 etc, just has a terrific look. He really is quite a terrifying sight to behold with his gargantuan frame, wild hair and even wilder eyes. In a way it's actually a real shame he doesn't feature more prominently in the film. He has a brief appearance at the beginning of the film before returning for the film's final stretch, which includes a pretty bad-ass smackdown with Burke. I would actually have loved to see a whole film where these two were just going at it in a game of cat and mouse; a cop chasing a serial killer on the streets in the vein of Harry Callahan vs Scorpio in Dirty Harry.

I always enjoy it when you find a real pro plying their trade in a piece of trash such as this, especially if they actually give it a real go. So people like Peter Falk slumming it in Undisputed. In Death Warrant the old pro is Robert Guillaume, perhaps best known for playing Benson in the classic sitcom, Soap, and then on his own spin-off series. The character he plays is actually another strong prison cliché – a seasoned long-term inmate who is both curmudgeonly, but gentle in his own way. The only disappointment is that he's not called Doc; perhaps it's just my imagination but I feel this kind of character is always called Doc. With one dead eye but kindness in his heart he becomes a reluctant friend and aid to Burke, and Guillaume brings a real steely warmth to the character.

While the film is undoubtedly very standard stuff, the story is actually fairly intriguing with a few interesting elements thrown into the mix. For the most part it's quite dark and grimy stuff so the scenes that feature Cynthia Gibb working with a geeky young kid (who happens to be a computer hacker) are a welcome break at times, both for the break from the bleak interiors of the prison and the injection of humour they bring as this gauky kid seems to think he has a chance at getting with this hot woman. And after being gritty for the majority of the time the film does end on a moment of pure cheese. During his battle with The Sandman they are surrounded by dozens and dozens of prisoners all cheering on The Sandman. After the fight however the prisoners who had moments earlier been baying for Burke's blood now stand aside out of respect and allow him to pass. It's like the end of Rocky IV where Rocky's courage and toughness win over the oppressive crowd.

Conclusion – Ok unlike Sudden Death, this one actually is close to a guilty pleasure. I am under no illusions about it being a particularly good film, there's a lot of garbage on show here. However I just find it to be quite rough and pulpy bit of entertainment. Certainly worth checking out if you're a fan of the Muscles from Brussels.

Plot - Carter Nix (Lithgow) is a child psychologist who appears to be becoming increasingly obsessive about the raising of his own daughter, much to the conern of his wife Jenny (Davidovich). He almost seems to be using her as a guinea pig for research purposes. A distraction from this worrying development keeps her detained however; the return of an old flame she was having an affair with. Rekindling the affair, she turns a blind eye to the worrying signs until a series of child kidnappings plague the local area, forcing her to confront her husband who appears to be trying to recreate the experiments of his father, experiments that Carter himself was a part of. Experiments that fractured his psyche into multiple personalities, including the devious Cain.

The main draw for me seeing this film was the chance to take in another villainous turn from the great John Lithgow. The dual role of Carter and Cain that Lithgow takes on gives him the opportunity to showcase the two screen personalities we've come to associate him with, or at least that I associate him with. As Carter Nix we see the neurotic, rather bumbling side that he displayed on the classic sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun for six years. And then as his 'brother' Cain, we are presented with the evil b**tard that Lithgow has delivered so memorably in films such as Cliffhanger, and on the TV show Dexter. It's not in the same territory as The Trinity Killer from Dexter however, a character and performance that thrilled and amazed so much. While that was quite a quiet and sinister character who was really chilling, this is a much more hammy creation. Lithgow really is on some fine over-the-top, scenery-chewing form. He also displays one of the creepiest smiles I've ever seen; it's so unsettling that whenever it spread across his face I felt a shiver go up my spine. Lithgow just seems to be having a ball of a time jumping between all the characters he puts on show here.

Lithgow is the best thing about the film by a country mile, and as a result, whenever he's off screen for an extended period of time I found my interest in proceedings waning. Though as his wife Jenny, Lolita Davidovich is just about able to escape from Lithgow's shadow with an appealing performance. And Frances Sternhagen gives a highly entertaining performance as Dr Lynn Waldheim, the rather kooky cancer-stricken doctor who once worked with Carter's father and is brought on to help with the interrogation.

In a number of ways the film feels very much like an homage to the work of Alfred Hitchcock (with one scene a direct nod to Psycho), and in particular I was reminded me of the Hitchcock flick, Marnie. In both films the accuracy of its psychology is a bit on the iffy side to say the least. It feels like a bit of trashy, exploitative nonsense in line with the kind of crap we get served on TV from supposed 'doctors'; and like many of those shows do for people it does have some guilty pleasures. But still nonsense! Truly ludicrous stuff. Indeed some of the logic throughout seems rather weak and flawed, probably none more so than when Carter Nix is down at the police station. Brought in on the charge of attempted murder and for questioning over his daughter's whereabouts the cops see no problem leaving him alone in a room, uncuffed with a civilian with just one officer sitting outside. Surprise surprise that he escapes.

It's all a bit of a bewildering mess to be honest, particularly in the first half. We have a series of flashbacks, dreams and delusional hallucinations all thrown at us, crashing together and blurring the line between fantasy and reality. For the first half it is quite thrilling, but the longer the film went on I found my patience being worn thin. Despite all the cheats and trickery that De Palma employs much of it is rather predictable, and as I was waiting for the mysteries to unravel and its characters to catch up to where I already was I found the film starting to lose me.

The film actually looks pretty good, probably better than it actually needs to; De Palma's direction is very stylish visually, and the cinematography provides the film with quite a nice sheen. However it's a little unnecessary I felt, it could have been done on a cheaper budget, resulting in a grubbier and grimier aesthetic that would have worked just fine for the tone. However some of De Palma's direction is undeniably thrilling, none more so than with the set-piece that closes the film with slow motion capturing the dramatic conclusion of our story with a baby being dropped and falling from the sky.

Conclusion – What a pile of schlock this is! Really tacky, gaudy and perverse; but occasionally in an entertaining manner. It's far from a good film; but with a few cheap and lurid thrills, and John Lithgow mugging delightfully for all he's worth, the film just, and I do mean just, about earns itself pass marks.

I like Death Warrant as well, I'd say thats one of Van Damme's best, story-wise.

Raising Cain looks interesting.

I understand what you mean and that's why I'm not into rating.
Maybe, we should have a new universal movie rating system. Actualy, there should be two of them: one based on personal enjoyment and the other on movie merit as compared to other movies. My suggestion would be from 1 to 10, 10 being the best.
For example Hard Target you could then grade an 8 for personal enjoyment and a 6 for overall merit. That distinction being made, cheesy could be in, no problem.

Raising Cain is a silly mess of a movie and, yet, I love it. It's a lot of fun.

Lohn Lithgow plays a great psycho. That's why they offered him that role in Dexter.

That's why mark often includes a rating for the type of film and one as 'his rating'. That said, there's rarely more than a popcorn between them.