Yes folks, "Mumbles the Wrist Snapper" has struck again. Seagal has perfected the art of playing CIA operatives with different names--he's quite the versatile actor. (Though let us not forget that Seagal claims to have been a CIA operative in real life.) Seagal has stated that as his early films were produced by the mob, he was often forced into making films he really did not want to make. This, he has stated, explains some of the low quality of his earlier films. Now, he asserts, he's free to make whatever type of film he wants. Apparently, now that the man seems to have lost his mind and thinks he's some type of reincarnated Eastern religious figure (which he really does, I kid you not), the types of films he wants to make are incoherent messes with little-to-no fighting, unintentionally bad dialogue, some of the worst editing ever scene in film ("The Foreigner," for instance, was one of the worst films I've seen in my life), and filled with liberal doses of cheap, shallow, dime-store philosophy quotes that make fortune cookie sayings sound like propositions from Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Despite all this, his films still have surprisingly high budgets and he still receives salaries in the millions. He states that he keeps making films for his fans, and surprisingly, he still does have an ardent following. I say this because whilst he claims to be "doing it for the fans," when watching his films of late one is left with the feeling that he really doesn't give a crap anymore. He virtually sleepwalks through his roles now; he's out of shape; in some of his films he uses stunt doubles that weigh half what he does; he can't even bother speaking his own lines in half his newer films, and unfortunately, many of his fight scenes now are constructed solely after-the-fact in the editing room. Anyone who doubts this should watch the marketplace fight in "Belly of the Beast," in which, while he is using only one arm fighting a man with a knife, the weapon in the man's left hand keeps disappearing and reappearing--obviously the sign the tricky editing.
Why, why, oh why does Seagal let someone who sounds like a knock-off Benicio Del Toro dub his lines? Someone explain this to me please! Of his last film, "Out of Reach" (which was an abysmal dung heap), Seagal arrogantly stated that he hopes the film will provide lots to contemplate. What!? What exactly are we to contemplate about this film? Should we contemplate how Seagal knows his pen pal's been kidnapped without ever hearing about it? How the villian somehow knows Seagal's coming for him without ever hearing about it?
Of his earlier films, one could complain that many of Seagal's moves only work if the opponent charges you head on--lucky for Seagal he fights uncoordinated fools that only know how to attack by blindly charging while yelling out loud. Of his new films, one could complain that Seagal really just stands there and kills people with that Buddhist magic called "film editing"--some sped up hands (a.k.a. "death by paddycake"), cut to a skinny stunt double, cut to someone being pulled away by a wire, cut to a dead bad guy. (It would be nice to see Seagal make a movie in which he makes fun of himself, comes off his ridiculous pedestal, maybe plays somebody's has-been uncle who once owned a dojo, and then has to get back into shape to prove himself again. That would be good.)
My readers may be wondering why I am not reviewing "Into the Sun." Well, I was merely setting up the review, so to speak. "Into the Sun" is a step above Seagal's other recent films. In fact, it is Seagal's best film--by far. It seems to have even perhaps been a labor of love for the star. He wrote it, produced it, stars in it, performed many of the songs in the background (and his music, by the way, is excellent), does not rely on a stunt double in the action scenes, and even bothered to dub all his own lines.
The pacing of this film, sans the nonsensical intro, is brooding and seemed intentionally slow. This was to me, however, quite effective in building up to the excellent climax. Those complaining that the film seems, at first, rather bereft of action will be quite pleased by the last 30 minutes or so of the film. Seagal and his small entourage take it upon themselves to wipe out the local young leaders of an emerging alliance between the Yakuza and the Tongs. The action in these scenes is extremely well-paced, well-mounted, and is set to an excellent soundtrack (Japanese drums). The sword fights at the end of this film are very, very nicely done. It should be mentioned that "Kill Bill" seems to have perhaps served as some of the inspiration for this film, though the duels in "Into the Sun" are much, much more realistic and authentic than anything in "Kill Bill," which relied way too heavily on the increasingly annoying fad of "wirefu." So, while "Kill Bill" may have in part inspired Seagal to pick up the old samurai sword, it should be mentioned that the fights in this film are more akin to classic chambara films than to Tarantino's opus. In fact, the duels at the end of "Into the Sun," as brief, brutal, and realistic as they are, are wonderful. In short, the climax to this film is downright beautiful. There are also a couple hand-to-hand fights in the film, which are both better-handled than any of Seagal's other fight scenes in recent years.
I do not know why Seagal has such a bad rap. He's a good martial artist--and his fight seens (Excepting "Belly of the Beast," "Exit Wounds," and the idiotic "Half Past Dead," regularly look more realistic and more authentic than dozens of fight scenes of other, more popular martial arts stars (including Jet Li). The main trouble here is, save for the nice climax, there is really nothing else going on in this film, except watching Seagal drive around Tokyo and talk on a cell phone. For a straight to video flick this movie had a pretty big budget--my main complaint is that the whole movie could have easily, easily been much better. For starters, that whole nonsensical, corny intro that looks as though it was filmed for another movie altogether should have been cut from the film. It would have made much more sense to have simply begun the movie with the assassination, which I suspect, from the shoddy appearance of the bizarre intro "jungle scene," was the original plan in the first place. To conclude, if you're a Seagal fan, this film is easily his best. Pick it up.
Great Action/Spirituality Combo
In the tradition of a film like "Citizen Kane" (no, I'm not joking), "Into The Sun" expresses the filmakers' sense of how he sees himself and the world around him. By writing, producing, acting, and even composing some of the music, Seagal is able to show us a world where the human spirit is real and exists even beyond death. Plus the action scenes are strong, especially the fight in the marketplace. Warning : it has to be viewed more than once to "get" the somewhat complicated plot. But still an outstanding film. I really enjoyed it!
THIS MOVIE IS SOOO BAAD, IT STINKS!
FOLKS, BE FOREWARNED. THIS MOVIE IS TRIPE. IT IS SO BAD THAT I DON'T THINK I CARE TO SEE THE REST OF IT - I HAD TO STOP HALF-WAY.
I CAN'T GET INTERESTED IN A MOVIE THAT HAD SO LITTLE THOUGHT INTO MAKING IT. A CHILD COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
IMAGINE THE YAKUZA, ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL CRIME SINDICATES IN THE WORLD, WORRIED ABOUT ONE AMERICAN WHO GREW UP IN JAPAN.
ANOTHER THING WAS THE JAPANES/ENGLISH MISH MASH DONE IN THIS MOVIE. ONE MOMENT SEGAL SPEAKS JAPANESE WITH JAPANESE PEOPLE AND THE NEXT MOMENT HE IS SPEAKING ENGLISH WITH A JAPANESE WHO IS NOT VERY PROFICIENT IN ENGLISH. WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE? ALL ENGLISH OR ALL JAPANESE? MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
SEGAL ACTS AS BAD AS IN ALL HIS MOVIES BUT HE HASN'T GOTTEN THE MESSAGE YET THAT PEOPLE MOSTLY WATCHES HIS MOVIES FOR THE ACTION - TO WATCH HIM FIGHT! IN THIS MOVIES HE FIGHTS VERY LITTLE. IN THE HALF MOVIE THAT I HAVE SEEN SO FAR HE FIGHTS ONLY ONCE WITH A STREET PUN IN A SCENE THAT MAKE AS MUCH SENSE AS WET BREAD. ALL IN ALL THIS IS BAD AND STUPIT AND BORING!
Prophetic lines to say the least, uttered by Gary Daniels in the beginning of the movie, almost as if he knew what crap that is Submerged was going to 'surface' from Anthony Hilcox.
I think most of the reviews already got it the high points of the film. The supporting cast (some of them) is the movie's only saving grace of 2 stars.
Heres some hilarious things to look out for if you dare watch this malady:
-Seagal's odd Cajun accent, which he ONLY uses for some reason in the beginning of the film! Its like he forgot to do the Cajun bit or just said to hell with it. Some future classic lines such as, "Where my crew?", "What if he not?", "Who the f--- is this?" and of course, "Theres... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Anthony Hickox DVD Release Date: Released the 31 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Gee another Steven Segal BOMB, wonder what this guy is thinking about??? The story takes place in Poland and a little girl whom Seagal has befriended via penpal has been kidnapped for prostitution purposes.Seagal arrives in Warsaw and single handedly fights the Turkish mob which is behind the above mentioned prostitution ring.The finale is laughable as Stevie being fat and old as he is, proceeds to kill the bad guy witha sword!!!!
Steven it is time 2 retire my boy. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Po-Chih Leong DVD Release Date: Released the 20 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Do not, do not purchase this movie. I just finished seeing it for the first time recently, and I can say hands down that this was far and away the worst movie that Steven Seagal has ever made. Although I am not a prude, the language was disgusting with Mother F***** this and Mother F****** that every 10 seconds. The plot went nowhere and it was filled with unnecessary violence. Most of his old movies went somewhere, but this one was one violence, bad language filled scene after scene after scene. If you liked the old Steven Seagal movies, you won't like this one. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steven Seagal DVD Release Date: Released the 13 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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the camera work in this film is excellent and the action sequences are as well
the storyline is more serious than some Van Damme movies and he handles it well More Info about this DVD Director(s): Philippe Martinez DVD Release Date: Released the 28 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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IF YOU LIKE SEAGAL'S MARTIAL ARTS AND LOTS OF BAD GUY CRUNCHING, YOU'LL LIKE THIS MOVIE... MANY POOR REVIEWS, AND I WONDER WHY... THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST NIT PICKING.... IT'S A MOVIE, WHICH IS MEANT TO ENTERTAIN... DON'T DISSECT IT, JUST WATCH & ENJOY... WORTH THE DVD, DEFINITELY More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steven Seagal - Byron Mann - Monica Lo Director(s): Siu-Tung Ching DVD Release Date: Released the 10 October 1990 Usually ships in 24 hours
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