Til Death

I used to like Van Damme movies as a child, then when I grew up I realized he wasn't such a great actor, just charismatic at the most. But at least for his early movies he had the lack of experience, but for this one there is no excuse. An extremely simple plot and role, yet he managed to play it so bad it's unrealistic to the core. Bad lines, bad acting, redundant characters and scenes, and worse fight scenes than the early wild west movies. Not to mention the movie is predictable to the very end, including the final "twist". Guess it is true what they say, that you see one Van Damme movie and you've seen them all.. Why he keeps trying is beyond my comprehension.

Though packaged and marketed as just another schlocky direct-to-video actioner, Until Death slowly reveals itself to be a much more low-key (and distinctly slow-paced) affair - with star Jean-Claude Van Damme tackling a character that's a far cry from those he's portrayed in the past. Van Damme stars as Anthony Stowe, a dirty, almost ridiculously grizzled cop who is uniformly loathed by everybody around him (that he spends his off hours having rough sex with prostitutes and getting high probably has something to do with this). Left for dead by his villainous ex-partner (Stephen Rea's Gabriel Callaghan), Stowe instead falls into a coma and awakens months later with a thirst for revenge. Director Simon Fellows generally does a nice job of playing up the more dramatic elements within Dan Harris and James Portolese's screenplay, though there's little doubt that the film's overlong running time is occasionally just a little too pronounced (Stowe's post-coma recovery, for example, seems to go on forever). The inclusion of a few genuinely thrilling action sequences certainly goes a long way towards keeping things interesting, however, with a prolonged shootout within a diner an obvious highlight.

Im inclined to think that all the people who gave this an average of 8/10 must be the cast & other crew who worked on this movie. Im astonished that this almost awful movie has got such kudos from the voters so far - did these people view a different movie to me?? because the one I sat through was poorly directed & poorly acted by all involved. The story sets out to make you dislike Van Damme's character, it does this, but not in the way the I think that the director intended. I guess the intent was to reveal this character later in the movie as a reformed man & give us all a glimmer of hope that we can all better ourselves no matter what we've done - sadly, due to the way that the movie unfolds this 'feel good factor' ending misses the target by miles and you could'nt care less about Van damme's character because of this. In all honesty, its a tough roll to play - it requires a great deal of skill to pull it off & I think it was a little beyond Van damme's capabilities. In my opinion, this is more of a Nicholas cage or John travolta type of roll & Travolta would've been my pick - though with the script & poor direction he & Cage would'nt have touched this howler with a 10 foot clown pole! Perhaps with better direction this could've been a blockbuster - the story, despite its flaws, is'nt that bad - if Smokin Aces can excell then its not inconceivable that Until death could too. Van damme's accent is quite hard to understand too, there are parts of the movie where I missed the dialogue due to this - which is very frustrating because you really need to hear what the LEADING character is saying because, after all, the story is about him! Disapointingly, the entire cast are all weak in this, the bad guys are laughable, Selina Giles acting contains more wood than a rainforrest and Gary Beadle's attempt at a stereotypical angry black police captain wont be winning him any Oscars either. I have to say, the supporting cast seems to have been picked at random on a $50 budget, a very poor choice indeed. And what was Stephen Rea thinking when he accepted his roll in this? I know he's not the greatest actor in the world but he just was'nt convincing enough warrant his fee for this movie. Van damme is so very different in this movie, there's no over exaggerated fight scenes, he does'nt do the splits or throws his legs & arms around like you would expect him to - this is a little weird. I liked the idea of casting Van damme in this way and was really hoping he could nail this part, but his final effort seemed hollow & unpolished. I would like to see more of Van damme in these type of rolls because he is due a great movie part & although his career has never been a shining one he has been with us now for such a long time and he really deserves a great movie roll to top his career off nicely. I don't think he wants to go down in Hollywood history as the European Steven Segal with nothing but 'B' movies under his belt. Its a real shame that Jean Claude has had such poor rolls throughout his career & has been overlooked so many times. To summarise, go see/rent this only if you are a die hard Van Damme fan or you are a budding film critic with needs to practice your skills - you'll find it easy to pen a 1000 word article on this film. I've only briefly scratched the surface with my comments & from what I have seen with regards to the high score this has received from other viewers votes, I seem to be in the minority with my low opinion of this film.... But did I expect too much from a Jean Claude Van Damme movie?.....

I have been a fan of Jean Claude Van Damme since i saw him for the fist time in Black Eagle. I have always considered Jean Claude Van Damme as a great physical actor. His movement when in action or his body language out of action is unique and of a high quality. However, as much as i am ashamed to say being a dedicated fan and all i have always held a view of his acting as if it is a "pointless pretend". I use the word pretend because its what an amateur performer would use of how to be a character. I watched Knock Off and to be honest the title says it all, i started to loose faith in my hero, my god. To think i call my self a true fan, i felt like Jeasus, when he had been persuaded by the devil to jump off a cliff, i had sinned. I decided that no matter how bad the acting became i will always watch any of Jean Claude Van Damme films and love them so i bought legionnaire and sat back and just watched. What i couldn't stop thinking about, was the end of the film it was so powerful and such a small part of the film. I was shell shocked but it was still not enough for me to change my mind but it certainly opened my mind. The following films that he brought out put me at ease again, Legionaire was just a glitch nothing had changed especially after seeing him as Eddie Lomax lol he was a good character though. Then for me Jean Claude Van Damme disappeared for a bit and all of a sudden replicant hits our screens. It was alright a bit different but still nothing to change my original thought of him. The order came out and i loved it he was doing one of his usual fun-free characters he was back but the films he brought out next i never expected this result. I mean the films was slow especially In Hell, not a lot happened but that Legionaire ending was all coming back to me, were we all just about to witness a change in the winds or will it be just another glitch as i stupidly call these affects of Jean Claude's acting. In derailed J.C. showed a great love and care for his family that must be true in reality for it was too strong and moving. I couldn't wait for the next film i was literally on the edge of my seat and then it happened Wake Of Death. its a very dark and intense film but worth while. Jean Claude Van Damme was expressing himself in such a passionate way yet aggressive in manner. this was not a glitch this was acting i disregard my view of pointless however i keep the "pretend" as i need to see more of Van Damme in this way. Now the next two films Second In Command and The Hard Corps. they were not as powerful as the last few however they had great moments one of which ill share with you. the scene when J.C. pins the actor William Tapley up against the wall in Second In Command that was good. Now i don't know about you, i am amazed about Until Death my view of J.C. being a "pretend" actor was blown out of the water he becomes the character which is something the best actors in Hollywood struggle to do today. Jean Claude Van Damme has done a 360 split kick and knocked us all on our bums and put us on the edge of our seats enjoy this film the acting is mental it is amazing have some Van Damage!!!!!!!!!!!

I see a lot of positives here about this new Van Damme film. I was really wanting it to be a success but its riddled with flaws that cannot be ignored. the acting is sub-par, even for Van Damme who looks like he's at least trying to be good actor. The writing is just not very good as can be seen by all the little holes in the film. I thought it was a good effort but ultimately it was a bad film that was horribly slow and boring with the same old storyline rehashed and spewed out. And what the hell was Stephen Rea doing in this film? I don't blame anyone for the tragedy that is this film because it is not Van Damme's fault that he is unable to make a good dramatic film. He's only good when he's kicking but.

In New Orleans, the abusive narcotic detective Anthony Stowe (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a dirty cop, addicted in heroin and booze, hated by his colleagues and divorcing from his wife Valerie (Selina Giles). While trying to arrest his former partner and drug lord Gabriel Callaghan (Stephen Rea), the mission fails, two undercover officers are killed and the drug, the money and the monitoring tapes vanish. Later, Tony is shot by a criminal in the head and miraculously does not die. After months in coma, he wakes up trying to fix the errors of his past life. After many bad movies, Jean Claude Van-Damme finally makes a very good film. His character is very well developed in a story that uses clichés, but is also interesting, full of action and without a final redemption with a happy end. When the viewer sees this movie, wait for the credits because there is an important footage of the missing surveillance tapes, disclosing what happened in the house and how the officers were killed. I hope this movie be a milestone and a second chance in the career of Van Damme, and like his character and Phoenix, he raises from the ashes to please his fans. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Até a Morte" ("Until the Death")

This is the greatest Van Damme movie i have seen in years. This is probably his best STV effort right next to In Hell. There is no classic Van Damme martial arts but the acting is insane! Def the best acting of his career. The last couple Van Damme movies sucked (SIC & Hard Corps.), so i had low expectations. But WOW...was i surprised at how well this movie was made compared to his recent crappy STV films. Seeing Van Damme play a totally different character was entertaining and reminded me of why i love Van Damme flicks so much. I lost faith in him after Wake of Death, but after watching this and having his next film be a martial arts packed film co-starring Scott Atkins (The Shepard) i have total faith in Van Damme once again. The acting is great, the plot is new for Van Damme, the action is better than expected (no martial arts though), and Van Damme looks awesome. The editing is great, the direction is good, and luckily the film does not feel cheesy or STV-like. Emotional film. It is a must see for Van Damme fans. You will be surprised by it. And it is a MILLION times better than anything Seagal has done STV.

Okay lets just for a second forget that Van Damme is playing here(cause most of the people will thing of me as another JCVD fanatic fan which i am not).Themovie has a killer plot, but a few things missing.So the story goes that Anthony Stowe is a bad cop playing it good.And he is really a hell of a cop except for his drug abuse , which messes everything.He finds out that trying' to fix things after the awakening isn't easy.In the end he not only makes a wrong wright but makes other people see the light as well.The first one was a longer runtime , cause obviously the script was cut or edited to fit the time.Second a little more budget.And third a more dramatic ending.A dramatic ending would have made this movie great.But the movie is better for me than the so haloed "300".So i have an advice for all you good movie lovers(that's wright not action movie lovers)go see this movie.It's not great , it's not flashy but it's never the less a nice movie to watch.

This was a dramatic and interesting film. It has its usual Jean Claude standards though such as Graphic Violence, Language, Sex, and Drugs. But hey, that's why I and a lot of other fans watch these movies. I thought Van Damme was a vigilante on the loose in this, especially when he came out of that coma. Stephen Rea is also playing his usual confusing and mean character who likes to screw up people's lives just like in Fear Dot Com, which was a stupid movie unlike this one. I had hight hopes for this movie and it came through well. Since I was little I have always loved watching Van Damme and Steven Seagal movies, I just hope that they keep up the good work! 8 out of 10

Until Death