Black Dawn - Reviews

[Shirak]

Here is review from Reel Films.

Black Dawn (December 15/05)

The Foreigner marked Steven Seagal's first foray into the world of straight-to-video action flicks (he'd also appeared in 2001's Ticker, but was relegated to a supporting role there), and though he's appeared in almost a dozen films since, that movie remains one of his worst. It's interesting to note, then, that - out of the myriad of actioners he's made over the last couple of years - he's chosen The Foreigner as the first movie of his to follow-up since Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing in the original crying out for a sequel.

Seagal returns as Jonathan Cold, an ex-CIA agent who's now working for himself and offering his services to the highest bidder. This time around, he's been hired to break a dangerous arms dealer out of prison by the brother of said arms dealer. After clumsily impersonating a doctor, Cold walks away with the prisoner with alarming ease - kicking off a storyline revolving around Chechen terrorists, evil CIA operatives, and one bonafide nuclear bomb.

As mediocre as Black Dawn is, there's no denying that it's one of Seagal's more effective offerings in quite some time (Today You Die, released just a few months ago, was about on a par with this). The movie is certainly a huge improvement over its predecessor, which featured an impossibly complex storyline and some seriously incomprehensible action sequences (courtesy of director Michael Oblowitz, who disastrously blanketed the film with quick cuts and slow-motion cinematography). This time around, Alexander Gruszynski steps behind the camera, and though his style is mostly bland (except for a bizarre, Tony Scott-inspired opening sequence), the filmmaker at least maintains a vibe of coherence.

That Black Dawn is cliche-ridden from the get-go comes as no surprise, as screenwriter Martin Wheeler peppers the film with sneering villains, double-crossing good guys, and various other action-movie accoutrements. Seagal delivers a typically lazy performance, refusing to even participate in his own fight scenes - though the big guy does employ his trademarked wrist-snapping move early on. Make no mistake, Black Dawn isn't good by any stretch of the imagination - but it's certainly a substantial improvement over some of Seagal's more recent efforts.

2 out of 4.

Reviewed by David Nusair.

 

[latinojazz]

Poor.Well, patience and resignation

 

[Littledragon]

Just came back from Blockbuster, they didn't have it to buy so I had to rent it, I will probably buy it tomorrow at Best Buy. They had some promotional lobby cards for the film I asked if they were going to sell them and the guy said no.

Anyway after I view the film expect a full review from me as usual.

 

[Littledragon]

Amazon.com User Reviews.

Amazon.com User Reviews.

Seagal should retire now
with 99$ of the fighting scenes done by other stuntmen, and it looked so obviously not he himself doing anything but showed you a fat walking stiff, there's nothing worth watching in this brain-dead movie. 4 minutes to go up from the elevator to the roof, got into the chopper, still got time to talk with the stupid female agent, another couple of minutes flying out to sea, dropped the suitcase a-bomb with only 32 seconds left, then kept flying out with big orange mushroom behind. no electronic storm, radiation whatsoever, the chopper still could fly and fly.....what the hell?! then that's not done yet, got to put the fat seagal and the female agent in some unknown resort for 3 days , then finally, the fat guy walked away (the first time in real person instead of a stuntman) what the???? copying 007 crap? after every mission accomplished, got to have the woman be with him to chow some good food or love making? give me a break! what?
thank you president, yes, only one ticket to the white house....yeah, that's deep. even g.w. bush might show his middle finger again in front of the camera. bad script, bad directing (need director for this movie?)

A good Seagal film actually Dawns
Credit should be given when credit is due, and although there are naysayers that will be critical of Seagal no matter What he does, in all fairness, this film is good enough to merit the word "comeback", at least as far as his DTV releases. It is easily his best DTV release, which is saying alot, since he has released five films just this year. His last film was probably his worst, and this, I am happy to say, is one of his best. The casting, the acting, the editing, the music, even the fashion, is well done. It is well directed, and the story logic is well paced and put together. Seagal even looks better in this film than he has in recent memory. Not to mention, there are actually special features, which include the making of and an interview with Seagal, which are enjoyable. I would go as far as to say this film could have been easily suited for a theatrical release. Finally, he has found a director that has the aptitude that he needs. Also, his co-star, Tamara Davies, is an excellent actress, and has good chemistry with Seagal. My only complaint, and it is an ironic one, is that "Black Dawn" is probably Seagal's best DTV film, but there are virtually no martial arts sequences. Despite what his detractors say, Seagal is one of the martial arts greatest practitioners, so I wish they would have incorporated more, or even some of this, into the film. Thankfully, there is NO voice overdubbing which is a sincere relief. Those who love to hate Seagal will still be critical of this film, but in all fairness, this is a good film, and I am happy to see him back in good form.

Not a disappointment for the die-hard Seagal fans
Seagal (Jonathan Cold) is trying to stop Chechen terrorists from deploying a plutonium bomb in the US. In the beginning it's unclear who's on whose team, and there were several scenes with forced suspense that didn't quite feel as tense as it was obviously planned for, but overall this movie is better than some of the latest Seagal flicks.
I'd recommend it for the die-hard fans, although do not expect to see him fighting. He breaks a hand, shoots a few people, and drives like a maniac, but other than that there is no hand-to-hand combat (that Seagal engages in. The other actors did fight, though--if that's a consolation). Overall, a nice movie. Definitely not a blockbuster, but also not a one star by any means.

 

[Littledragon]

My Black Dawn Review!!

Plot:
I actually liked the plot on this film, as a sequel to The Foreigner, Jonathan Cold springs a dangerous arms dealer from prison and sets out to help a band of terrorists obtain a nuclear weapon only being undercover in the CIA, once the cover is blown, trys to save L.A. from ending up becoming a nuclear corpse. I thought the plot was pretty suspensefull and well written, I wish I could say the same thing about how they represented the film in the movie, but none the less, this plot was more well written and exciting then the most recent Seagal DTV releases.

The movie started off with some interesting effects, but it got kind of annoying with the repetition of the phrases and song. I did not see any great effects in this film, and the scenes where Seagal was hanging from the back of the truck and in the helicopter, it was very cheesy to see the obvious blue screen fakeness in the background which kind of made those scenes of the films just low budget. The suspense factor of the film did not live up to it's expectations though, I will admit there were some moments in the film where I though to myself, how is she or he going to get out of this situation, but other then that the film did not live up to the plot's well written and suspensefull story line.

Acting:
What should I have expected for this B movie DTV Seagal release? Not much, and especially not much interms of the acting. But I do find the acting in this film better then in his previous DTV releases. Of course there were the cliche lines and moments, but not as much as compared to his previous films. The acting actually had a pretty solid grasp on the film and pleased me, the acting wasn't to an extent as it made the film great, but one of the pros of this film was indeed the acting.
Now Seagal's acting on the other hand I was not pleased with. He does that half-assed southern accent again which I have no idea why he keeps doing. At moments in the film he would actually talk in his normal soft spoken voice then it would switch into Seagal using that infamous short toned southern accent he is accustomed to using now. You had some scenes which mimicked Seagal's trademark defiant attitude which I love, but we lacked to see any good one liners that stood out in the film this time from Seagal. Maybe the suit and the cut hair toned his attitude down just a little bit in this film eh?

Action:
Was the lady supposed to be the lead role in the film, because I think she had more action and stunts then Seagal had in this movie. Was there any action in this film? I mean besides the one in the ambulance where he deflects the gun with a wrist lock and chops the guys neck, was there any fight scenes in this film? If so I think I might have missed them because they were either too short, too fast, or there just wasn't enough of them at all. The action once again I was dissapointed, Today You Die had more short hand to hand combat scenes then this film. The gun fight scenes were ok but it is nothing we haven't seen again from Seagal before. The truck chasing scene and explosions we are all accustomed to so that is nothing new. I think this film has some of the least fight scenes in addition to Out Of Reach and Submerged. So interms of the action, I was very dissapointed. Maybe we are really seeing a sign of the times with Seagal's age and effort he is putting into the fight scenes now a days in his films.

Appearence:
It really pains me to see Seagal looking like this. I just can't help to remember the days when Seagal was in shape and looked like one of the baddes men in the world, now sadly he looks like a guy that wants to be tough. The cut hair just doesn't do it for me in this film, he is too old and over weight for his hair to look like that in my opinion, I need to see Seagal in a poneytail, or if he has short hair he needs to be much trimmed down. But I don't want to bash Seagal on his weight anymore.. To give him credit, I liked that he changed his wardrobe style up a little, he kind of looked like how he did in Out Of Reach, with a nice suit on. But overall I was not into Seagal's appearence in this film.

Dubbing:
I did not catch any dubbing at all in this film, I was very pleased about that, finally he comes strong on one thing in the film!

Doubles:
They actually did a much better job of hiding the doubles this time, there was probably only 3 scenes where I could notive the double but from a normal viewers view, they would not spot them. The camera angles and cinematography did a much better job to hide the doubles used for Seagal, so that was a plus for the film. There were no doubles for the fight scenes since there hardley wasn't any, and the stunts we knew Seagal did not do like jumping from the builindg and into the truck, etc... the doubles were not as obvious as they have been in his other DTV releases.

Special Features:
The Making of Black Dawn did nothing for me. Half the time when the director was taking about the film he put me to sleep and I could not understand him. However the short Seagal interview, I did enjoy that alot. He actually inspired me and touched me with some of the things he talked about, even though his weight gain, his apperance, and lack of pleasing films released so far, his words were powerfull enough to tough the fans and still admire him as a hero and someone who we look up to. That short interview with Seagal was very inspiring and pleasing to me.

Conclusion:
Overall I was bored with this film. I thought The Forienger was way better then this film without a doubt! This film had little to no action in it, and the way the script was written, it should have had alot more suspense. This film had potential yet again like all Seagal films, but they did not take advantage of it. This film I actually started to close my eyes. It had some scenes of suspense, but that was not enough to make up for the film. Overall this film is sub par with Today You Die and I can't really decide which film is better. This film is not a step back or forward in Seagal's career so far, mainley a film that did nothing for his career. This film is better then Out Of Reach and Submerged in my opinion, and on the same level with Today You Die. This film will be another film that will be added to my Seagal collection and might be taken out to watch on a snow day or a day that I have nothing better to do. I wasn't expecting anything from this film, merely just curious to see Seagal again. Into The Sun remains his most exciting and most pleasing DTV release to date.

Overall my rating for this film is a mediocre 3 out of 5 stars.

 

[sydneyalias1325]

Into The Sun remains his most exciting and most pleasing DTV release to date.

Overall my rating for this film is a mediocre 3 out of 5 stars.

Yeah, pretty close to what I gave this film for an average rating, I gave it around 6.5 average rating out of 10 and yours is 6 out of 10 instead of 3 out of 5 so like I said, it's an ok film but nothing special or anything good about it and yes, Into the Sun was his best DTV film.

 

[hofmae]

Plot:
I actually liked the plot on this film, as a sequel to The Foreigner, Jonathan Cold springs a dangerous arms dealer from prison and sets out to help a band of terrorists obtain a nuclear weapon only being undercover in the CIA, once the cover is blown, trys to save L.A. from ending up becoming a nuclear corpse. I thought the plot was pretty suspensefull and well written, I wish I could say the same thing about how they represented the film in the movie, but none the less, this plot was more well written and exciting then the most recent Seagal DTV releases.

The movie started off with some interesting effects, but it got kind of annoying with the repetition of the phrases and song. I did not see any great effects in this film, and the scenes where Seagal was hanging from the back of the truck and in the helicopter, it was very cheesy to see the obvious blue screen fakeness in the background which kind of made those scenes of the films just low budget. The suspense factor of the film did not live up to it's expectations though, I will admit there were some moments in the film where I though to myself, how is she or he going to get out of this situation, but other then that the film did not live up to the plot's well written and suspensefull story line.

Acting:
What should I have expected for this B movie DTV Seagal release? Not much, and especially not much interms of the acting. But I do find the acting in this film better then in his previous DTV releases. Of course there were the cliche lines and moments, but not as much as compared to his previous films. The acting actually had a pretty solid grasp on the film and pleased me, the acting wasn't to an extent as it made the film great, but one of the pros of this film was indeed the acting.
Now Seagal's acting on the other hand I was not pleased with. He does that half-assed southern accent again which I have no idea why he keeps doing. At moments in the film he would actually talk in his normal soft spoken voice then it would switch into Seagal using that infamous short toned southern accent he is accustomed to using now. You had some scenes which mimicked Seagal's trademark defiant attitude which I love, but we lacked to see any good one liners that stood out in the film this time from Seagal. Maybe the suit and the cut hair toned his attitude down just a little bit in this film eh?

Action:
Was the lady supposed to be the lead role in the film, because I think she had more action and stunts then Seagal had in this movie. Was there any action in this film? I mean besides the one in the ambulance where he deflects the gun with a wrist lock and chops the guys neck, was there any fight scenes in this film? If so I think I might have missed them because they were either too short, too fast, or there just wasn't enough of them at all. The action once again I was dissapointed, Today You Die had more short hand to hand combat scenes then this film. The gun fight scenes were ok but it is nothing we haven't seen again from Seagal before. The truck chasing scene and explosions we are all accustomed to so that is nothing new. I think this film has some of the least fight scenes in addition to Out Of Reach and Submerged. So interms of the action, I was very dissapointed. Maybe we are really seeing a sign of the times with Seagal's age and effort he is putting into the fight scenes now a days in his films.

Appearence:
It really pains me to see Seagal looking like this. I just can't help to remember the days when Seagal was in shape and looked like one of the baddes men in the world, now sadly he looks like a guy that wants to be tough. The cut hair just doesn't do it for me in this film, he is too old and over weight for his hair to look like that in my opinion, I need to see Seagal in a poneytail, or if he has short hair he needs to be much trimmed down. But I don't want to bash Seagal on his weight anymore.. To give him credit, I liked that he changed his wardrobe style up a little, he kind of looked like how he did in Out Of Reach, with a nice suit on. But overall I was not into Seagal's appearence in this film.

Dubbing:
I did not catch any dubbing at all in this film, I was very pleased about that, finally he comes strong on one thing in the film!

Doubles:
They actually did a much better job of hiding the doubles this time, there was probably only 3 scenes where I could notive the double but from a normal viewers view, they would not spot them. The camera angles and cinematography did a much better job to hide the doubles used for Seagal, so that was a plus for the film. There were no doubles for the fight scenes since there hardley wasn't any, and the stunts we knew Seagal did not do like jumping from the builindg and into the truck, etc... the doubles were not as obvious as they have been in his other DTV releases.

Special Features:
The Making of Black Dawn did nothing for me. Half the time when the director was taking about the film he put me to sleep and I could not understand him. However the short Seagal interview, I did enjoy that alot. He actually inspired me and touched me with some of the things he talked about, even though his weight gain, his apperance, and lack of pleasing films released so far, his words were powerfull enough to tough the fans and still admire him as a hero and someone who we look up to. That short interview with Seagal was very inspiring and pleasing to me.

Conclusion:
Overall I was bored with this film. I thought The Forienger was way better then this film without a doubt! This film had little to no action in it, and the way the script was written, it should have had alot more suspense. This film had potential yet again like all Seagal films, but they did not take advantage of it. This film I actually started to close my eyes. It had some scenes of suspense, but that was not enough to make up for the film. Overall this film is sub par with Today You Die and I can't really decide which film is better. This film is not a step back or forward in Seagal's career so far, mainley a film that did nothing for his career. This film is better then Out Of Reach and Submerged in my opinion, and on the same level with Today You Die. This film will be another film that will be added to my Seagal collection and might be taken out to watch on a snow day or a day that I have nothing better to do. I wasn't expecting anything from this film, merely just curious to see Seagal again. Into The Sun remains his most exciting and most pleasing DTV release to date.

Overall my rating for this film is a mediocre 3 out of 5 stars.

Cool review, im happy that you liked it in some ways like i did

 

[Flashgalaxy]

Damn... I was hoping for better. Y cant seagal team up with some real Hollywood directors!

 

[latinojazz]

Everybody here hope that team...But Steven a very controversial, unsettled, problem, multicolor(in Suzi words), weird and overweight guy.

Who would like to work with a guy with that specifications?
If I was movie producer, me not

 

[Administrator]

DVD Talk Review

The Movie:

What do you get when you team up the cinematographer from the Brian Bosworth classic, Stone Cold, put him in the director's chair, and cast the one and only Steven Seagal as a rogue CIA operative out to save the world? Black Dawn, that's what. Pay attention.

When we first meet Jonathan Cold (Steven Seagal), a former CIA agent who was thought to be dead after an incident in which he was responsible for killing five federal agents, he's busting a criminal mastermind out of a prison hospital. How does he do this? He has his generic team members Photoshop his head onto a security badge, puts on a lab coat, and wanders on in through all the security check points and armed guards. You see, Seagal is so cool that he can make stuff like this look easy. He's the man.

At any rate, once the guy is out of prison we find out that he's an arms dealer and that his brother has hired Cold to spring him from the big house. The arms dealer is so impressed with Cold's work that he hires him on as one of his men, offering him big bucks once he finds out that he's not only apt at busting people out of jail but also an expert in nuclear weapons. This comes in really handy when it turns out that this guy is in the middle of negotiating a deal with some Eastern European terrorists – he plans on trading them a nuke for a big bag of stolen diamonds.

Meanwhile, a CIA agent named Amanda (lovely soap opera starlet Tamara Davies), who was once Cold's protégé when he was still working for the feds, is on the case. She's been busy snapping pictures of everything showing a real talent for hiding behind cars and on rooftops without being spotted despite her noisy camera. When she sees and recognizes Cold, she figures something is up, even though he superiors instantly suspect that he's turned evil. She's not so sure – she knows he was a good man at one point and hopes that he's still got a little bit of that deep down inside his seemingly sinister heart.

Eventually, Amanda gets found out and it comes to pass that Cold isn't evil after all, he's actually working as an operative for a super secret part of the American government and has been involved in this all along because he's the only man who can stop the terrorists from blowing Los Angeles off of the map. Cold and Amanda team up to stop them, but will they be able to prevent the disaster before it's too late? And more importantly, will he get a chance to bang Amanda before the movie ends?

Black Dawn is pretty bad. While it's fun to see Seagal reprise the Jonathan Cold role from 2003's The Foreigner, there's really nothing redeeming about the film. The action scenes, aside from a genuinely good chase scene, are generic and poorly edited to hide the fact that most of the combat is being done not by Seagal but by his very obvious stunt double (made quite apparent by the fact that this guy is in way better shape than our slightly pudgy star). Seagal appears to be trying to channel some sort of DeNiro-Eastwood thing through his performance here, what with the mannerisms and penchant for soft speaking but it only makes him look goofy and uninterested in the material. This is made very obvious when he's forced to deliver lines like 'If you ain't got that, you ain't got ****' and 'That's what I'm talking about!' in some vein attempt to make his character seem hip. It doesn't work. None of it works.

That being said, Tamara Davies is alright in her supporting role and she's certainly fun to look at. While you'll constantly find yourself asking 'what does she see in him' as their relationship blossoms, she's at least able to deliver her lines with enough sincerity that you don't feel the need to laugh at her. The guys who plays the terrorists, sporting such generic names as Sergey and Nicholi, are about as cookie cutter as you can get but they at least attempt to bring some evil and sinister tones to their performances, even if they go over the top a little bit in a few scene (possibly in an attempt to make up for Seagal's complete and utter lack of excitement).

The direction and cinematography is decent enough and Black Dawn looks alright for the most part, though the finale is so laughably bad and so obviously shot against a poorly rendered green screen that it's hard not to snicker at what is supposed to be a serious and intense moment of action and suspense and when Seagal waddles off into the sunset at the end of the film, the tortured hero to the end, it's just the icing on a really crappy cake.
The DVD

Video:

Black Dawn is presented in a nice 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that, according to the packaging, has been mastered in high definition. Overall, things do look pretty good on this release. The colors appear to be intentionally muted in a few scenes, likely a stylistic choice on the part of the director or cinematographer, but the black levels are strong and deep. There's a decent level of both foreground and background detail present in the image and there aren't any mpeg compression artifacts. Edge enhancement is present here and there but is never overpowering and while you'll note some aliasing in a couple of spots, it's hardly a big issue.
Sound:

The primary audio track on this release comes at you in a fairly aggressive English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix that makes good use of the rear channels during the shoot out and action scenes but still manages to bring the quieter moments to life quite naturally as well. Dialogue is clean and clear and easy to understand, save for a few spots where Steve is mumbling, and the levels are well balanced. Background music and sound effects rarely overpower the performers and bass levels are fairly strong. An alternate Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mix is provided in French, and optional subtitles are available in English and French. Closed captioning is available for the feature in English only.
Extras:

The last few Sony issued Steven Seagal DVDs have been more or less barebones but this one has a couple of little treats for fans tucked away beneath the menus. First up is a Behind The Scenes segment. Clocking in at five minutes, it doesn't get that in depth but we do get some talking head interviews with the director and one of the female stars, both of whom praise Seagal to no end. The highlight is seeing some of the stunt footage and getting a look at how some of the fight scenes were choreographed. The man himself is up next as we're treated to a six and a half minute interview with ol' Steve, who sits in front of the camera looking like a little Buddha, dressed in his Asian style suit and trying to look contemplative. In between clips from most of the films of his that are owned by Sony we're treated to some strange rants about how he knew he'd really made it as a martial artist the first time he actually lost a fight, as it had taken him so long to get there that he knew he must be good. Say what you will about the man and his work, he's entertaining in his own right.

Rounding out the extra features are trailers for The Net 2.0 (which looks awful) and Stealth (which also looks awful). Chapter selection is available off of the menu as is a language setting option and there's an insert tucked inside the keepcase that advertises more Sony DVD releases that you can spend your hard earned money on if you so choose.
Final Thoughts:

Black Dawn has a few 'so bad they're good' moments, but it isn't an action movie masterpiece by any stretch. There are a few decent action set pieces and a couple of laugh out loud at Steven Seagal moments in here, but not enough to give it a whole lot of replay value. The movie looks and sounds pretty decent though the extras are nothing to write home about. A decent rental for action movie/Seagal die-hards is about as good a rating as this one is worth of…

Movie : 2/5
Video : 3.5/5
Audio : 3.5/5
Extras : 1.5/5
Replay : 1/5

Source : DVD Talk
Review by Ian Jane

 

[latinojazz]

What everybody expects about him.And a making off showing the stunt´s work...What a shame on him

 

[Fire Panda]

i liked the movie. i thought it was definetly better than "Today You Die". Tamara Davies definetly stole the show though. My one real problem was the ending. i think a better ending would have been something like Seagal says "Ok, i've managed to remove the plutonium, so this thing won't go nulcear, but it's still gonna be one hell of a blast. let's get to the helicopter."
i thought the Steven Seagal interview on the dvd was, interesting. all in all, 5.7/10

 

[latinojazz]

Thanks fire, I´m craving to watch the movie to review and critizise

 

[suziwong]

Ladies & Gentlemen,

diiinnnnnnininnnnnnnnngggggggg now its coming my review believe me I'll be very objective this time..

First of all ; Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..
Steven..Steven..Steven and again STEVEN !!!
This multicolor big guy is amazing always (ıhhh I am a little angry to him but he is really awesome in Black Dawn )!!!
I liked Steven in this film.. He was very energic and was very natural.. I believe he carried "Jonathan Cold" character very well.. I felt he likes this character also I liked too after this film !!!
His hairs and his costumes, his action was very well.. I saw that He is action super star (again) !!!

Also I liked story, players, effects.. It was really very good action thriller since Exit Wounds.. Just one thing I didn't like final scene Cold is going somewhere.. because it was not Steven from the back you can see easily....
May be we can find several mistakes but not important because this film is very good (Totally)...
I am not waiting Aikido lessons (if he does I never say NO or I don't want of course.. ) from him anymore and I am thinking Steven Seagal is fantastic action movie star.. He is working very hard for to make good things so he is doing very well..We know his background and we know who is Steven Seagal thats enough for us...Not necessary to declarate who is he again and again..

And Finally in my humble opinion;
Black Dawn is the best action movie after Exit Wounds.

My point is:

9.99/10 (-1 point is for final scene)
or 4.99/5

suzi

 

[hofmae]

Ladies & Gentlemen,

diiinnnnnnininnnnnnnnngggggggg now its coming my review believe me I'll be very objective this time..

First of all ; Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..Steven..
Steven..Steven..Steven and again STEVEN !!!
This multicolor big guy is amazing always (ıhhh I am a little angry to him but he is really awesome in Black Dawn )!!!
I liked Steven in this film.. He was very energic and was very natural.. I believe he carried "Jonathan Cold" character very well.. I felt he likes this character also I liked too after this film !!!
His hairs and his costumes, his action was very well.. I saw that He is action super star (again) !!!

Also I liked story, players, effects.. It was really very good action thriller since Exit Wounds.. Just one thing I didn't like final scene Cold is going somewhere.. because it was not Steven from the back you can see easily....
May be we can find several mistakes but not important because this film is very good (Totally)...
I am not waiting Aikido lessons (if he does I never say NO or I don't want of course.. ) from him anymore and I am thinking Steven Seagal is fantastic action movie star.. He is working very hard for to make good things so he is doing very well..We know his background and we know who is Steven Seagal thats enough for us...Not necessary to declarate who is he again and again..

And Finally in my humble opinion;
Black Dawn is the best action movie after Exit Wounds.

My point is:

9.99/10 (-1 point is for final scene)
or 4.99/5

suzi

Suzi, now im starting to love you again Nice to hear that you enjoyed Black Dawn... Did you notice, NO TURKEY BAD GUYS AT ALL

 

[SweetChinMusic]

I finally got a chance to watch Black Dawn last night, here's my review.

The movie had a good flow and an interesting story. It was cool how they tried to make you think Seagal was actually a bad guy early in the movie, even though we aren't that stupid it was fun waiting to find out why he was on the other side. I also really liked the editing and music. The casting was ok, I didn't like the female too much, but I did like all the bad guys, they seemed pretty believable. There was hardly any action in the movie and there were Seagal stunt men and walkers, can he not walk up a couple of stairs? The green screen stuff was pretty fake looking and the climax of the film wasn't very climatic, they tried to do something similar to the movie Outbreak but failed. And Steven was Steven, no emotion except for a few of his joke and laugh scenes and most of the film he just stood around looking like he was standing in an elevator.

The movie wasn't anything good but it was probably his 2nd best DTV

I give it * 1/2 out of ****

 

[cookie]

Just watched 'Black Dawn' thought it poor :-(

The best thing was the interview with Seagal in the extras

 

[Lonewolf]

man,I am really looking forward to receiving this DVD!!!!LOL
i like the cover of 'Black Dawn"!!!
it's god to bebackhere!Hi craig!!!

 

[lee nicholson]

I've just finished watching this movie, and i've gotta admit, that
it's a pretty good movie. It actually feels like a real movie (unlike
the jokey and cobbled together affair that was 'Today You Die', and
more importantly, Seagal seems to be enjoying himself, whilst not
forgetting the mood of the piece.

At first, the idea of making a sequel to 'The Foreigner' didn't appeal
to me, but 'Black Dawn' ups the action stakes a little, and isn't as
complicated. Seagal returns as 'Johnathan Cold', who finds his latest
employer is dealing with some pretty bad terrorists, intent of blowing
up half of America. Being a freelance is one thing, but killing
innocent people, forces the 'stout sensei' to rethink his game-plan,
and stop the terrorists (in usual Seagal fashion.)

Unlike other recent Seagal movies, this one doesn't have much filler,
so it's more simply plotted. The performances and actors are fine, the
direction is free of the rapid cutting techniques (that have ruined
some Seagal movies of late) and it has a pretty good truck chase
sequence.

Now to the bad aspects. I don't (and never would) expect Seagal to be
doing 'ninja-backflips' but the fight doubles are un-needed (surely, he
still has the speed?) and one fight double (near the end, in a building
stairway) is horrendous (the guy, even from behind looks nothing like
Seagal, he even has a different coloured coat, hair style, etc) and
some of the Blue-screen Cgi work is poor (without having to be) The
helicopter sequence near the end has some pathetic opticals (surely,
no effects company could charge people money for this work?)

But these minor gripes aside, 'Black Dawn' is a pretty straightforward
action picture, that moves along at a nice pace. Seagal performs all
his own dialogue (an unfortunate plus, in recent movies) and like i've
said, no pretentious 'filler' plot, to further complicate matters. I'd
be more than willing to see Seagal continue this character, as long as
he puts more effort into his abilities that got him noticed in the
first place.....i.e, amazing aikido!

All in all, a good movie (hampered, but not spoilt) by rushed/poor
technical aspects. Good to see (producer) Andrew Stevens play a cameo,
as the guard at the institute (he should have bigger roles, as i've
always found him a likable performer)

Big Lee gives this pretty good movie 8 out of 10

 

[slawek_wozniak]

I watched Black Dawn yesterday

What can I say. In the beginning there where a long but pretty good titles with good music (like in the rest of the movie). The plot is simple but I can stand it becouse it wasn't so bad like Deriled with Van Damme for example. Well now I will star to shout. The editors of this movie shoud make gardenig not film. It's some times horrible what those guys made from this movie. But it happpens. Why in the hell Seagal used fight double in that wherehouse. People I can do this fight without having black belt in Aikido. I don't know why, why, why. He even not lying on the floor but his stunt. Another thing. Can someone tell me what is this scene on the stairs. This guy had a longer and gray hair. He is not even wear the same suit. Once again editor made mistake (and Seagal too) I think it's from another movie becouse even the stair are not from the same building. For the final I liked this movie but for the first time I'm mad for Seagal for what he done in that wherehouse and stairs. This is his second movie (after The Ticker) i'm not pleased fully. I hope he finally get our line tapped here. And do something with his movies. I put a lot of in his new movies Mercenary and Shadow of The Past. Do not make mistake mr. Seagal. For your fans good.