The Steamiest Van Damme Ever
Added 4/18/2009
Director Ringo Lam and Executive Producer Roger Birmbaum bring us one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's most adventurous, erotic thrillers. "Maximum Risk" is Van Damme at his maximum best. This high budget, lavishly produced, emotionally packed action film has a great plot with numerous chase scenes and daredevil stunts unfolding against a background of exotic locales. All are highlighted by a suspenseful score form Robert Folk.
Van Damme is police officer Alain Moreau who is investigating the death of his estranged twin brother, Mikhail Suverov, in the South of France. His investigation leads him to New York City and his brother's girlfriend, Alex Minetti (model/actress Natasha Henstridge who was the alien femme fatale in "Species"). She works at a club operated by Russian mobsters. Mistaking Alain for his twin, the mobsters soon try to kill him. Corrupt FBI agents are using him to find a safe deposit box that can expose their illegal operations. Meanwhile, Moreau is falling in love with Alex. Held captive by Russian mobsters inside a hotel room, fearing for their lives, they make passionate love against the bathroom sink.
Also hot on Moreau's trail is Red Face (Stefanos Miltsakakis), a blonde, muscular grim-faced hit man, who is an unstoppable fighting machine. They engage in sweaty hand-to-hand combat inside a burning Parisian office building; they grapple with a knife in the cramp confines of a bank's elevator; and they kick box in a steamy Russian bath house. Famous for his bad guy persona, Miltsakakis has appeared in several of Van Damme's films including "Lionheart," "Cyborg," and "Derailed." He had a major role in "Bloodsport: The Dark Kumite."
"Maximum Risk" is a must have for fans of the "Muscles from Brussels." If you're not a fan, this is a great introductory film. After watching "Maximum Risk," you will want to see more of Van Damme's action adventures.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Action, Good Bodies & More Action
Added 3/24/2009
This Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle gets good marks for sound, low profanity, some very good action scenes and some interesting characters that keep your attention. It loses marks for excessive violence, too much "Rambo" mentality (good guys don't get hit despite a barrage of bullets) and, yet, another modern-day film in which the FBI is corrupt.
Despite too much action, some of the scenes such as car chases, fires and explosions are so well-done you have to admire the great stunt work in here. Man, those stunt men earn their money!
You would be hard-pressed to find two leads in any film with the bodies of Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge and neither are shy about showing them off, so you have the usual gratuitous sex scenes, but they are brief, as is the profanity. This is a loud film. If you have good speakers, be ready to have the room shake with lots of bass.
Overall, it's about 100 minutes of mindless-but-entertaining diversion.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
If you don't like this, you don't like action movies
Added 1/14/2009
The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)
1. Who is he? At first he's a Russian guy named Mikhail Suverov, then he's a French Policeman named Alain Moreau
2. Which family member/friend must be avenged? When Suverov gets capped by the Russian mob, JCVDx2
3. Does he take his shirt off? In the most homoerotic of all places, a Russian bath-house, but he makes up for it later...
4. Does he have sex with a C-List actress? JCVD has never attained a higher level than Natasha Henstridge, who looks absolutely stunning
5. Is there a tournament? There is no tournament. But since there are two JCVDs, that wouldn't have been fair anyway, now would it?
6. Is training needed for this tournament? No training needed
7. Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? No splits are done
8. Does he punch someone in the balls? An early knee to the sack is delivered just for the checkmark
9. Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? Most definitely
10. Is his enemy unbeatable? The Russian mob and the FBI are formidable, but far from unbeatable.
11. Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? He gets stabbed early on, but `tis a flesh wound.
12. Does he win? It's like pouring a gallon of win into a shot glass.
Opening with the greatest "mobile fruit stand being pursued by the Russian mafia"-chase scene in cinema history, JCVD teams up with director Ringo Lam for his first completely jaw-dropping JCVD experience - they later paired up for Replicant (another JCVDx2 venture) and Wake of Death (JCVD's best acting job). From the very beginning, there is no doubt that awesome-factor 10 is about to ensue.
The plot is typical of Van Damme movies and soap operas: A relative of JCVD gets killed (i.e. JCVD #1), it turns out to be his twin brother, and it's up to JCVD to spin-kick and ball-punch his way through the Russian mafia for the answers. Without going to deep into it, this is tied for first place for all JCVD movies. A few reasons why:
- Natasha Henstridge completely nude, multiple times
- Claustrophobic car chase on narrow European streets
- The only JCVD movie to feature strippers
- Three of the best fight scenes in cinema history against a Russian behemoth (who looks like NFL-bust Brian Bosworth):
a) best fist fight inside a fiery inferno in cinema history
b) best elevator knife fight in cinema history
c) best non-gay bathhouse fight by two guys in nothing but towels in cinema history
To top it all off, I'm completely convinced the game Crazy Taxi (released in 1999) and Mel Gibson's character from Conspiracy Theory (1997) - conveniently one year after Maximum Risk - were completely plagiarized from an insane New York cab driver from this movie.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Good Movie!!
Added 7/14/2008
This movie didn't get enough credit in my opinion. Lots of action and a good story.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
good film, bad dvd
Added 7/11/2006
This is a very good van damme action film. Too bad its only out in a full frame version now. Maybe the widescreen version will appear again in the future.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
The Steamiest Van Damme Ever
Added 4/18/2009
Director Ringo Lam and Executive Producer Roger Birmbaum bring us one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's most adventurous, erotic thrillers. "Maximum Risk" is Van Damme at his maximum best. This high budget, lavishly produced, emotionally packed action film has a great plot with numerous chase scenes and daredevil stunts unfolding against a background of exotic locales. All are highlighted by a suspenseful score form Robert Folk.
Van Damme is police officer Alain Moreau who is investigating the death of his estranged twin brother, Mikhail Suverov, in the South of France. His investigation leads him to New York City and his brother's girlfriend, Alex Minetti (model/actress Natasha Henstridge who was the alien femme fatale in "Species"). She works at a club operated by Russian mobsters. Mistaking Alain for his twin, the mobsters soon try to kill him. Corrupt FBI agents are using him to find a safe deposit box that can expose their illegal operations. Meanwhile, Moreau is falling in love with Alex. Held captive by Russian mobsters inside a hotel room, fearing for their lives, they make passionate love against the bathroom sink.
Also hot on Moreau's trail is Red Face (Stefanos Miltsakakis), a blonde, muscular grim-faced hit man, who is an unstoppable fighting machine. They engage in sweaty hand-to-hand combat inside a burning Parisian office building; they grapple with a knife in the cramp confines of a bank's elevator; and they kick box in a steamy Russian bath house. Famous for his bad guy persona, Miltsakakis has appeared in several of Van Damme's films including "Lionheart," "Cyborg," and "Derailed." He had a major role in "Bloodsport: The Dark Kumite."
"Maximum Risk" is a must have for fans of the "Muscles from Brussels." If you're not a fan, this is a great introductory film. After watching "Maximum Risk," you will want to see more of Van Damme's action adventures.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Action, Good Bodies & More Action
Added 3/24/2009
This Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle gets good marks for sound, low profanity, some very good action scenes and some interesting characters that keep your attention. It loses marks for excessive violence, too much "Rambo" mentality (good guys don't get hit despite a barrage of bullets) and, yet, another modern-day film in which the FBI is corrupt.
Despite too much action, some of the scenes such as car chases, fires and explosions are so well-done you have to admire the great stunt work in here. Man, those stunt men earn their money!
You would be hard-pressed to find two leads in any film with the bodies of Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge and neither are shy about showing them off, so you have the usual gratuitous sex scenes, but they are brief, as is the profanity. This is a loud film. If you have good speakers, be ready to have the room shake with lots of bass.
Overall, it's about 100 minutes of mindless-but-entertaining diversion.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
If you don't like this, you don't like action movies
Added 1/14/2009
The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)
1. Who is he? At first he's a Russian guy named Mikhail Suverov, then he's a French Policeman named Alain Moreau
2. Which family member/friend must be avenged? When Suverov gets capped by the Russian mob, JCVDx2
3. Does he take his shirt off? In the most homoerotic of all places, a Russian bath-house, but he makes up for it later...
4. Does he have sex with a C-List actress? JCVD has never attained a higher level than Natasha Henstridge, who looks absolutely stunning
5. Is there a tournament? There is no tournament. But since there are two JCVDs, that wouldn't have been fair anyway, now would it?
6. Is training needed for this tournament? No training needed
7. Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? No splits are done
8. Does he punch someone in the balls? An early knee to the sack is delivered just for the checkmark
9. Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? Most definitely
10. Is his enemy unbeatable? The Russian mob and the FBI are formidable, but far from unbeatable.
11. Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? He gets stabbed early on, but `tis a flesh wound.
12. Does he win? It's like pouring a gallon of win into a shot glass.
Opening with the greatest "mobile fruit stand being pursued by the Russian mafia"-chase scene in cinema history, JCVD teams up with director Ringo Lam for his first completely jaw-dropping JCVD experience - they later paired up for Replicant (another JCVDx2 venture) and Wake of Death (JCVD's best acting job). From the very beginning, there is no doubt that awesome-factor 10 is about to ensue.
The plot is typical of Van Damme movies and soap operas: A relative of JCVD gets killed (i.e. JCVD #1), it turns out to be his twin brother, and it's up to JCVD to spin-kick and ball-punch his way through the Russian mafia for the answers. Without going to deep into it, this is tied for first place for all JCVD movies. A few reasons why:
- Natasha Henstridge completely nude, multiple times
- Claustrophobic car chase on narrow European streets
- The only JCVD movie to feature strippers
- Three of the best fight scenes in cinema history against a Russian behemoth (who looks like NFL-bust Brian Bosworth):
a) best fist fight inside a fiery inferno in cinema history
b) best elevator knife fight in cinema history
c) best non-gay bathhouse fight by two guys in nothing but towels in cinema history
To top it all off, I'm completely convinced the game Crazy Taxi (released in 1999) and Mel Gibson's character from Conspiracy Theory (1997) - conveniently one year after Maximum Risk - were completely plagiarized from an insane New York cab driver from this movie.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
