like it or not, Seagal keeps `em coming . . .
Added 7/21/2009
Steven Segal has probably produced more action films in the last decade than just about anyone. Regardless of what his critics may say, the man does what he does, and expecting an improvement in the level of quality of his work, is perhaps unrealistic. If anything, as most of Seagal's recent films have gone the direct to video route, many have come to expect less from Seagal, as age, weight gain, diminished fighting skills, and lower budgets factor into the production.
Out For A Kill (2003) finds Seagal in an atypical role as Robert Burns, an archeologist and expert in Asian artifacts, whose problems begin, when the Tong use artifacts from his dig in China, to smuggle drugs. In escaping the drug runners, his aide (Elaine Tan) is killed. Seen as a threat, the Tong then blow up Burn's home in New Haven, Connecticut, taking the life of his wife (Kata Dobo). Vowing to destroy the gang, the trail takes Burns to Bulgaria, trailed by a pair of narcotics agents, Tommie Ling (Michelle Goh) from Hong Kong, and American DEA agent Ed Grey (Corey Johnson). From there, the final trail leads to Paris.
The premise to setup the action is shaky like Jell-O, but it is sufficient to set Segal on his mission of revenge, although it is over 28 minutes in before Seagal has his first fight scene! From there, hell does break loose in a rather fun way. Seagal appears to do most of the fighting himself, and the action sequences are not bad, with well done editing cuts helping to create the illusion of speed and fluidity. Segal also does some work with swords, and executes a few of his classic bone snapping maneuvers. Things like wire work, and slow motion effects, while not realistic, provide a change of pace. There are a couple of lame action sequences, but overall the action scenes are quite serviceable, and work better than some of Seagal's whispery dialog.
The dark and serious tone is meant to be suspenseful, and while it may be semi-successful at establishing that mood, another result is that dumb plot elements just seem more stupid and humorous. The villains are very comic book, with the leader Wong Dai (Chooi Kheng Beh) presiding at meeting after meeting, repeatedly pronouncing that the `gwilo' (Burns) must die, as their numbers continue to dwindle. Ed Grey is a one dimensional know-it-all, and a conflicted and empathetic Tommie Ling becomes Burns ally, and also contributes some non-essential narration. Burns' final confrontation with Wong Dai, provides a rather anticlimactic conclusion this serviceable action flick.
This revenge tale without a lot of emotion, is probably better than the ratings here or at IMDB indicate. And being just average, is not necessarily a bad thing for a Seagal film.
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O Seagal, Where Art Thou?
Added 8/25/2008
Oh boy...what can I say I had an urge for bone crushing Seagal, and what do I get...A huge over weight Seagal that can barely get his words out of his mouth; seriously, no wonder they dub Segal's lines now, you can barely hear what the heck he is saying, usually he is mumbling or speaking very low. Not only that the trench coat is so annoying. I mean they say if you wear Black you will look thinner, sure its true, on someone who is thin...Not someone who is nearly 300 pounds...come' on Stevie you should know better. And to mention that Seagal plays an Architect in this movie, oh give me a break; I can accept A cop ,C.I.A. Operative, Mercenary or even an oil rig take out fire expert, but an Architect ,please it's like saying Jim Carrey could play Indiana Jones.
The movie starts right away with Seagal working in a dig with a fellow lady architect. After his find he is given an award for his work and excellence (yeah right) in another dig Seagal notices something strange; and he is right because someone is smuggling drugs into his artifacts. Anyhow to make things short Seagal's partner gets killed and he is blamed for it, he is sent to jail somewhere in i don't know where...funniest thing is Seagal trying to be gangsta. He meets a jail mate that so happens to become friends with him in the short periods of stay in the cell. The way that scene ends is so laughable, it's pointless and the character is only seen once and is never mentioned again.
Another interesting notion is the action sequences, unlike future DTV releases of Seagal's films, here he does approximately 89% of his fights, and he barely has stunt doubles, so that's good. But...ugh..Seagal's fat, he looks horrible fighting...fighting, what am I saying, I mean patty cake; that's what he does on screen, slap fight around his victims, and somehow his opponents fly miles away from a simple punch..WTF? Oh and not to mention one of the concluding fight scenes; he water fists a guy, it's hard to explain, but it's true. Seagal runs up to the bad guy (of course the guy who runs is a double) and as they're about to hit each other, the fists meet (aw how sweet) and voila water, miracle appears..
So do we have a miracle here due to Seagal's water fist? Nope more like an atrocity. trust me there is more worse things that happen here, a fight in a Barber shop in Chinatown with a man who.. uhm.. fights like a monkey and another fight in a temple of some sort with monks who have these swords that look like they're made of aluminum foil...its all B.S. the storyline is plain unoriginal, the fights have no creativity whatsoever, Seagal' can barely get a sentence through, his face looks more bloated then ever, and in the end Seagal saves the day...I guess. please don't buy this, not even rent, unless your a Die Hard Seagal Fan like me; and to think the torture I am gona have next week watching the other 3 Seagal DTV movie I bought. Definitely not worth it.
MY PERSONAL RATING: 1 ½ OUT OF 5
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The Obese Downward Spiral Continues from Steven "Panda Bear" Seagal
Added 8/16/2008
We'd have to say this effort from Seagal feels like it us below the belt. It's quite apparent that many years of chini buffet and boatloads of wild turkey chased with busch beer have not been good to the old boy Steve. Half the time when he's on the screen we can't tell if it's him or an equally obese stunt double until he begins to speak. The things that come out of his mouth are so muffled by his cheek fat that they're nearly inaudible and most likely not part of the english language, or any language for that matter. Once you do find a sentence or two you can understand you'll wish you didn't. In Out for a Kill this is just about all there is to find. The extreme lack of action is so overshadowed by the bizzare dialogue that you really aren't sure whether to turn it off or not. It's almost hypnotic but in a very very bad way.
Out for a Kill begins with Archeology Professor Robert Burns (Seagal), yeah he seriously plays an archaeologist, as he is heading up a dig in Eastern Chini. We suspect he was searching for prehistoric egg rolls but come to find he is there to discover someancient Chinese artifacts. In tubby's findings he sees that the Chinese mafia is smuggling drugs inside these artifacts which naturally he makes his business pissing off a bunch of chinese maniacs. They wind up killing Seagals assistant and planting the drugs on him while crossing the border sending him to prison where his only call will be spent dialing a 976 number or the overeaters anonymous hotline. While in jail nothing cool happens. There is not one prison fight, no escape attempt, or anything you expect from a typical action packed Seagal session. All you get to watch is a pathetic overweight archaeologist/washed up actor as he ponders better times where he didn't have to walk sideways to fit through a doorway. After a couple days the DEA decides Seagal will be a great value in bringing down the Chinese mafia and let him loose. Now that he is out the Chinise mob has a price out on his head and also has threatened the life of his wife. This sends Seagal into panic mode where he must unlease the inner beast. The only trouble is the inner beast put on 207 extra pounds which make it's fury a bit sluggish. The one scene that stands out is when Seagal busts into a barber shop where he unloads of a few Chinese guys until they send out their secret weapon. It's some little guy that moves really odd yet very similar to Tang from Journey to the West. This guy soars through the air, climbs up and down walls, and does all these obsurd things sending the film to new hieghts of martial arts B. As much a the human panda tries to catch him he just can't. Tang is way to quick and Seagal is just too damn fat. After minutes that feel like hours go by Seagal grabs a sheet and wraps the little guy up then snaps his neck. Following this we get a few more hilarious fight scenes as he climbs the ladder to get to the mob leader. Despite his chubby nature Seagal still single handedly takes down the Chinise Mafia making him yet again a great American hero.
After this one we just kind of looked at each other wondering what is happening to Seagal. The guy has always been laughable, even in his early really decent efforts, but now it's just getting sad. This one appears to be the start of the downfall where he starting pumping out film after film just to earn some extra dough to pay off his huge escort service bill. Now despite the extreme panning of this one in no way, shape, or form will we stay away from Seagals films. We still have about 130 to go and plan on watching and reviewing them all no matter how bad they get. We're professionals and will not back down from any B no matter what the cost.
6 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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"There is no mirror, there is no dust, there is no darkness. Only the mind is light"
Added 7/11/2008
I can only conclude that the production of "Out For A Kill" must have been as big of a disaster as the finished movie was. I figure that all e-mail, errand boys, telephones, and bullhorns were out of service during filming, because it's hard to think that there was anything but the barest of communication going on between the writers, director, cast, and editors, each of whom seemingly had their own idea about what kind of film they were making. To break it down, "Out for a Kill" is part detective drama, part Hong Kong action flick, part "Godfather", part The Yakuza, and part Steven Seagal vehicle. Without a doubt, this is one of the most clueless films I have ever seen, and certainly among the worst offerings ol' Steven has put out during his DTV career.
The plot revolves around university professor Robert Burns (Seagal), who is framed by the Chinese mafia for the death of his assistant during an archaeological dig. Caught up in an underworld operation spanning the continents, he promises revenge after his wife is also assassinated, and with two DEA agents (Michelle Goh and Corey Johnson) on his tracks, he sets out to take down the heads of the Tong.
While no single thing drags down this film on its own, one of the most damning of faults is the movie's pacing: whether it was scripted that way or just happened to turn out as such, the film alternatively shifts gears, backs up, slams on the brakes, and crashes into walls through the overuse of flashbacks, quick cuts, and the rehashing of footage. While it helps that "Kill" doesn't have as many sub-plots and tangents as several of Seagal's other features, this doesn't save a movie that was seemingly spliced together on a dart board.
Since this an action movie, there's a chance that it might've been salvaged by way of some dynamic fight scenes or car chases...but these, I'm sorry to say, are lacking as well. The action is nothing if not ambitious, though: if Seagal's not fighting a two-on-one battle against sword-wielding assassin-monks, he's trading barbs with a monkey fighter who literally scales the walls of the barber shop they're in (think Belly of the Beast on a smaller scale, Seagal fans). While all fights are fast-paced, include liberal amounts of wire-fu, and for once feature Seagal doing his own moves, the lot of these scenes - including shootouts and chases - lack a finesse that would've saved them from looking as sloppy as they do.
A number of other glaring faults continue to bring down the movie: lackluster cinematography (the wide-shot, unmoving camera type), poor acting and dialogue (Kata Dobo and Ray Charleson take the cake), several amateurish CGI backgrounds, and way too many off-screen voiceovers are all steps on the stairway to doom for this movie. The entire production has a very wannabe-stylish gloss to it, but again, miscommunication appears to have taken place: someone wanted a spy-film overtone (with the date and location of each scene typed onto the screen), someone else had a straight-forward kung fu movie in mind, while yet someone else decided to throw in an underground pop soundtrack - all of which made me wonder what the heck I was watching while I did my laundry in front of the TV.
In a word, "Out For A Kill" is messy - more so than any other film that Master Steven has been involved in. While there is some fun to be retained through the muted fights and Seagal's dull-but-straight performance, it quickly evaporates in the presence of overriding production buzzkills that should be beneath anybody setting out to make a movie.
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not his worst, but pretty close...
Added 9/7/2006
While I was tempted to give Out for a Kill 1 star, I gave it 2 stars for a couple of reasons. At least Seagal's character was something other than an ex-CIA/special forces guy...OK he was Chi Kung master, but at least he was something else! Another reason for the upgrade to 2 stars is the plot. Yes. There was nothing special with this plot, but at least it is one that can be followed. Unlike most of Seagal's most recent storyline, this one makes some sense. Again, it's certainly no Academy Award winner, but it's much better than some of Seagal's most recent efforts. Perhaps the biggest reason for giving this two stars is that 1 Star should be saved for his truly atrocious films such as The Patriot or Submerged. The fight scenes were decent but I'd love to see Seagal get back to more of the Aikido that he used in earlier films.
As was the case with the last Seagal film that I watched, the sound quality was awful. Rather than raising and lowering the volume to hear the dialogue, I simply turned on the subtitles. I'm more a fan (or simply a glutton for punishment) than my wife. She stopped watching after 15 minutes!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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like it or not, Seagal keeps `em coming . . .
Added 7/21/2009
Steven Segal has probably produced more action films in the last decade than just about anyone. Regardless of what his critics may say, the man does what he does, and expecting an improvement in the level of quality of his work, is perhaps unrealistic. If anything, as most of Seagal's recent films have gone the direct to video route, many have come to expect less from Seagal, as age, weight gain, diminished fighting skills, and lower budgets factor into the production.
Out For A Kill (2003) finds Seagal in an atypical role as Robert Burns, an archeologist and expert in Asian artifacts, whose problems begin, when the Tong use artifacts from his dig in China, to smuggle drugs. In escaping the drug runners, his aide (Elaine Tan) is killed. Seen as a threat, the Tong then blow up Burn's home in New Haven, Connecticut, taking the life of his wife (Kata Dobo). Vowing to destroy the gang, the trail takes Burns to Bulgaria, trailed by a pair of narcotics agents, Tommie Ling (Michelle Goh) from Hong Kong, and American DEA agent Ed Grey (Corey Johnson). From there, the final trail leads to Paris.
The premise to setup the action is shaky like Jell-O, but it is sufficient to set Segal on his mission of revenge, although it is over 28 minutes in before Seagal has his first fight scene! From there, hell does break loose in a rather fun way. Seagal appears to do most of the fighting himself, and the action sequences are not bad, with well done editing cuts helping to create the illusion of speed and fluidity. Segal also does some work with swords, and executes a few of his classic bone snapping maneuvers. Things like wire work, and slow motion effects, while not realistic, provide a change of pace. There are a couple of lame action sequences, but overall the action scenes are quite serviceable, and work better than some of Seagal's whispery dialog.
The dark and serious tone is meant to be suspenseful, and while it may be semi-successful at establishing that mood, another result is that dumb plot elements just seem more stupid and humorous. The villains are very comic book, with the leader Wong Dai (Chooi Kheng Beh) presiding at meeting after meeting, repeatedly pronouncing that the `gwilo' (Burns) must die, as their numbers continue to dwindle. Ed Grey is a one dimensional know-it-all, and a conflicted and empathetic Tommie Ling becomes Burns ally, and also contributes some non-essential narration. Burns' final confrontation with Wong Dai, provides a rather anticlimactic conclusion this serviceable action flick.
This revenge tale without a lot of emotion, is probably better than the ratings here or at IMDB indicate. And being just average, is not necessarily a bad thing for a Seagal film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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O Seagal, Where Art Thou?
Added 8/25/2008
Oh boy...what can I say I had an urge for bone crushing Seagal, and what do I get...A huge over weight Seagal that can barely get his words out of his mouth; seriously, no wonder they dub Segal's lines now, you can barely hear what the heck he is saying, usually he is mumbling or speaking very low. Not only that the trench coat is so annoying. I mean they say if you wear Black you will look thinner, sure its true, on someone who is thin...Not someone who is nearly 300 pounds...come' on Stevie you should know better. And to mention that Seagal plays an Architect in this movie, oh give me a break; I can accept A cop ,C.I.A. Operative, Mercenary or even an oil rig take out fire expert, but an Architect ,please it's like saying Jim Carrey could play Indiana Jones.
The movie starts right away with Seagal working in a dig with a fellow lady architect. After his find he is given an award for his work and excellence (yeah right) in another dig Seagal notices something strange; and he is right because someone is smuggling drugs into his artifacts. Anyhow to make things short Seagal's partner gets killed and he is blamed for it, he is sent to jail somewhere in i don't know where...funniest thing is Seagal trying to be gangsta. He meets a jail mate that so happens to become friends with him in the short periods of stay in the cell. The way that scene ends is so laughable, it's pointless and the character is only seen once and is never mentioned again.
Another interesting notion is the action sequences, unlike future DTV releases of Seagal's films, here he does approximately 89% of his fights, and he barely has stunt doubles, so that's good. But...ugh..Seagal's fat, he looks horrible fighting...fighting, what am I saying, I mean patty cake; that's what he does on screen, slap fight around his victims, and somehow his opponents fly miles away from a simple punch..WTF? Oh and not to mention one of the concluding fight scenes; he water fists a guy, it's hard to explain, but it's true. Seagal runs up to the bad guy (of course the guy who runs is a double) and as they're about to hit each other, the fists meet (aw how sweet) and voila water, miracle appears..
So do we have a miracle here due to Seagal's water fist? Nope more like an atrocity. trust me there is more worse things that happen here, a fight in a Barber shop in Chinatown with a man who.. uhm.. fights like a monkey and another fight in a temple of some sort with monks who have these swords that look like they're made of aluminum foil...its all B.S. the storyline is plain unoriginal, the fights have no creativity whatsoever, Seagal' can barely get a sentence through, his face looks more bloated then ever, and in the end Seagal saves the day...I guess. please don't buy this, not even rent, unless your a Die Hard Seagal Fan like me; and to think the torture I am gona have next week watching the other 3 Seagal DTV movie I bought. Definitely not worth it.
MY PERSONAL RATING: 1 ½ OUT OF 5
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The Obese Downward Spiral Continues from Steven "Panda Bear" Seagal
Added 8/16/2008
We'd have to say this effort from Seagal feels like it us below the belt. It's quite apparent that many years of chini buffet and boatloads of wild turkey chased with busch beer have not been good to the old boy Steve. Half the time when he's on the screen we can't tell if it's him or an equally obese stunt double until he begins to speak. The things that come out of his mouth are so muffled by his cheek fat that they're nearly inaudible and most likely not part of the english language, or any language for that matter. Once you do find a sentence or two you can understand you'll wish you didn't. In Out for a Kill this is just about all there is to find. The extreme lack of action is so overshadowed by the bizzare dialogue that you really aren't sure whether to turn it off or not. It's almost hypnotic but in a very very bad way.
Out for a Kill begins with Archeology Professor Robert Burns (Seagal), yeah he seriously plays an archaeologist, as he is heading up a dig in Eastern Chini. We suspect he was searching for prehistoric egg rolls but come to find he is there to discover someancient Chinese artifacts. In tubby's findings he sees that the Chinese mafia is smuggling drugs inside these artifacts which naturally he makes his business pissing off a bunch of chinese maniacs. They wind up killing Seagals assistant and planting the drugs on him while crossing the border sending him to prison where his only call will be spent dialing a 976 number or the overeaters anonymous hotline. While in jail nothing cool happens. There is not one prison fight, no escape attempt, or anything you expect from a typical action packed Seagal session. All you get to watch is a pathetic overweight archaeologist/washed up actor as he ponders better times where he didn't have to walk sideways to fit through a doorway. After a couple days the DEA decides Seagal will be a great value in bringing down the Chinese mafia and let him loose. Now that he is out the Chinise mob has a price out on his head and also has threatened the life of his wife. This sends Seagal into panic mode where he must unlease the inner beast. The only trouble is the inner beast put on 207 extra pounds which make it's fury a bit sluggish. The one scene that stands out is when Seagal busts into a barber shop where he unloads of a few Chinese guys until they send out their secret weapon. It's some little guy that moves really odd yet very similar to Tang from Journey to the West. This guy soars through the air, climbs up and down walls, and does all these obsurd things sending the film to new hieghts of martial arts B. As much a the human panda tries to catch him he just can't. Tang is way to quick and Seagal is just too damn fat. After minutes that feel like hours go by Seagal grabs a sheet and wraps the little guy up then snaps his neck. Following this we get a few more hilarious fight scenes as he climbs the ladder to get to the mob leader. Despite his chubby nature Seagal still single handedly takes down the Chinise Mafia making him yet again a great American hero.
After this one we just kind of looked at each other wondering what is happening to Seagal. The guy has always been laughable, even in his early really decent efforts, but now it's just getting sad. This one appears to be the start of the downfall where he starting pumping out film after film just to earn some extra dough to pay off his huge escort service bill. Now despite the extreme panning of this one in no way, shape, or form will we stay away from Seagals films. We still have about 130 to go and plan on watching and reviewing them all no matter how bad they get. We're professionals and will not back down from any B no matter what the cost.
6 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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