Born To Raise Hell - Reviews

[lee nicholson]

Just watched BORN TO RAISE HELL, and i've got mixed feelings about it.
I won't bore you with the plot (partly because they wasn't much of one, anyhow)

But first off, let me say the cinematography was good. The locations and camera work were crisp, sharp and better than most DTV releases. It could have done with less of the (as VERN calls them) "Avid Fart" techniques (of jump-cuts, speeded up, slowed down shots)

Seagal was ok (extremely foul-mouthed, i might add) but (and as usual, with these Eastern European releases) he only had about 70% screen time (as the rest was filled up, with either semi-naked female dancers, "Avid Fart" stuff, or other random characters)

The dubbing (as previously mentioned) is rife throughout (not as bad as ATTACK FORCE, but almost) The doubles are also there, in the movies 4 (or so) fight scenes, for nearly every shot of Seagal fighting, there's another 'Below the neckline' or 'From behind' shot to match it. And it's all the more infuriating, because Seagal does some fast handywork, punch kick and flip combos himself, in this movie...so the doubles weren't really needed. The fight scenes also consist of a lot of fast (close-up) edits also.

The plot (like i previously stated) is waffer-thin....which consists of Seagal leading a strike force police unit in Romania...getting the drop on some drug dealers, who rat out an even bigger criminal (a 'home invading rapist/murdering psychopath) to get a lighter sentence. Then Seagal teams up with another mobster, and they both go after the psychopath.......The end.

Despite the fact, that this is a by-the-numbers Seagal effort (nowhere near as good as A DANGEROUS MAN, URBAN JUSTICE or DRIVEN TO KILL) it does have a few interesting points. The plot (however slim) has parallels to early 70's Italian 'Polizia' movies (in that it shows the Law teaming up with the lesser evils to bring down the greater ones)

And Seagal adds real police procedures to the 'raid' and 'arrest' sequences (probably picked up from his stint as a real life deputy) A mixed bag for sure, but not without interest....but a step back from A DANGEROUS MAN. The one good thing about a less than memorable Seagal movie, is that, when i watch it again (in about 6 months time) i'll barely remember a thing about it (thus, it's like watching a new movie) and chances are, i'll either see something i didn't notice before, or it'll just plain grow on me. Either way, it's far from the turkey it could have been, but could have been better. I suppose it's A DANGEROUS MAN's fault, for being so good

Enjoy the pictures, anyhow

 

[rastafari]

Never heard of it.?

its called Dragon Eyes and its directed by john hymes(who did the dreadful universal soldier remake last year)

its got a 18M budget so higher than alot of his recent films

maybe its a STV film but with Joel silver i think it will get a cinema release

 

[ORANGATUANG]

Thanks for that Lee i do agree with you i think that things have to change when it comes to the storylines to his movies ..some one said to me the other day even i have
better storylines then his at the moment the first thing i thought when that person said that was sh.it what are you saying..no way are mine that good ..that person better duck and weave ..i can put up with Steven having doubles BUT this dubbing sh.it has to end we all pay good money to see Steven and hear his voice not some other twits..noo not saying Steven is an twit now an silly goose yes for doing that ...BUT as always i will watch it ...when and if comes out here good pics by the way..( -.-)

 

[lee nicholson]

If anyone wants anymore pics, let me know, and i'll post them up (sadly, whilst using the photo capture on my DVD drive extensively, i've got tons of stills of the fight doubles)

But hey, lets not get too negative about the movie. It wasn't bad.....Just not as good as his last few.

 

[lee nicholson]

Here's a few more:

 

[Kotegashi]

Although by now many of you have seen it, I still wanted to make a trailer for this one.

[youtube]XY-Rdn0x5HE[/youtube]

Peace

 

[lee nicholson]

Kotegashi

Awesome trailer, my friend. If you're not already involved in the film-making industry, you should be. That trailer was better paced and edited than the official trailer. I like the whole 'Calm before the storm' approach.
Nice work amigo

 

[Kotegashi]

Kotegashi

Awesome trailer, my friend. If you're not already involved in the film-making industry, you should be. That trailer was better paced and edited than the official trailer. I like the whole 'Calm before the storm' approach.
Nice work amigo

Thanks for your kind words, Lee.

I'm not in the professional film making industry (yet). But in all my film work I try to imagine what people would want to see and then try to put that on the screen. Perhaps this is a good tip for certain studio's and directors?

Peace

 

[suziwong]

Another bad movie !!! dark scenes, cheap crew, cheap and ugly women, bad director, bad places in Romania so what can I say.. I didn't like it and I lost my hopes for Mr.Seagal's acting and movie carier !!!..

suzi

 

[SeagalMovieFan]

Another bad movie !!! dark scenes, cheap crew, cheap and ugly women, bad director, bad places in Romania so what can I say.. I didn't like it and I lost my hopes for Mr.Seagal's acting and movie carier !!!..

suzi

I am also very sad about that. If only he did a bigger film with some famous co-stars, decent budget and crew next year.

 

[suziwong]

yeah right!!! Steven was celebrity, was a star, was an action movie idol but I believe he finished himself with this kind movies. He has already die hard fans all over the world like me but all his movies ( after Exit wounds)these are cheap and primitif. I am really sorry for him and for us. what we are talking about his poor films !!!!
This guy is not Steven Seagal !!!

I am also very sad about that. If only he did a bigger film with some famous co-stars, decent budget and crew next year.

 

[Kotegashi]

Yesterday Half Past Dead was on Dutch TV. Compared to Seagals recent DTV efforts I must say HPD was a pretty good film and way better then anything he did on DTV.

But for a DTV, BTRH is pretty decent.

Peace

 

[Martin01]

yeah right!!! Steven was celebrity, was a star, was an action movie idol but I believe he finished himself with this kind movies. He has already die hard fans all over the world like me but all his movies ( after Exit wounds)these are cheap and primitif. I am really sorry for him and for us. what we are talking about his poor films !!!!
This guy is not Steven Seagal !!!

I don't see the problem, there are a lot of much worse Seagal movies than BRTH (and you found some of them pretty good, I can remind me that you gave a 9/10 for Attack Force, who is probably his worst movie ever), and the last ones (Driven to Kill, The Keeper and A Dangerous Man) were pretty solid. The trailer for his new series looks even very good.
Surely, BTRH is not good, but not bad either (in my opinion).

 

[bacurrie45]

i can honestly say this is seagals best film in a long time.the fight scenes were longer than usual and amazing with plenty of aikido. the storyline was good too. overall this was a great film and its nice to see steven doing his own fight scenes

 

[outforamovie]

I just watched the film and I have to say it was really, really good!! I really liked the dark storyline and the locations helped give the film a dark, mysterious feel to it...The thing that surprised me the most was the acting especially by the actor who played Dimitri. Amazing acting, he gave the character a really human and tortured aspect which is something you dont see a lot in DTV films...He was really good, and i loved the interaction between Seagal and Dimitri, another uncommon thing, since we had plenty of scenes with them together and i though they were really well done.So for the first time in years, i noticed the acting in a Seagal film, and i attribute that to Lauro Chartrand who proves that he not only can shoot decent action scenes, but he also has an eye for good acting.

In the action departement I wasnt blown away, but satisfied to say the least. The fights were pretty good, Steven was VERY fast in his movements (as always!), but the fight scenes werent anything special or something we hadnt seen before. Still after the botched fight scenes of Dangerous Man it was nice to be able to SEE all the action again. Also i liked the use of different martial arts, and the fact that even though a few doubles were present, they remained well hidden.

Finally, another thing I really liked was how Dimitri and Steven's character were so much alike and had a lot of simmilarities which were not clear in the beggining, but they were evident as the movie progressed especially in the final scene, another highlight of the film in my opinion.

So overall, i FULLY recomend it to all of you, its the best DTV film since Pistol Whipped in my opinion, it has good fights, plenty of action and, surprisingly, good acting and chemistry between the hero and the "villain". Overall,a really good film 8/10

 

[lee nicholson]

after the botched fight scenes of Dangerous Man

The fight scenes in A DANGEROUS MAN were much better than the fight scenes in BORN TO RAISE HELL. In fact A DANGEROUS MAN is probably Seagals second best movie (behind URBAN JUSTICE)

I don't understand the hate for A DANGEROUS MAN at all?

 

[Martin01]

After watching the movie again I must say the only pretty good thing in this movie is the action and the fights (Unfortunately, there aren't that much fights). The storyline is extremly dumb and boring, even for a Seagal movie, the actors pretty bad, Shahlavi as a talented fighter underused and the editing just horrible.
I would give a 5/10 in maximum now. Clearly better than Attack Force-stuff, but miles away from solid films like Pistol Whipped, The Keeper or A Dangerous Man. Probably I will watch this movie never again, unlike the previous 3 films.

@lee: I never understood outforamovie's hate for A Dangerous Man, too, but it's his opinion. The only thing I didn't liked was the confusing storyline.

 

[rastafari]

The fight scenes in A DANGEROUS MAN were much better than the fight scenes in BORN TO RAISE HELL. In fact A DANGEROUS MAN is probably Seagals second best movie (behind URBAN JUSTICE)

I don't understand the hate for A DANGEROUS MAN at all?

A DM has a better story and look and a better support cast but i think BTRH has far better fight scenes

i like DM alot and i tihnk its one of the better STV seagal films but the fights are badly editied and too dark in DM

 

[outforamovie]

The fight scenes in A DANGEROUS MAN were much better than the fight scenes in BORN TO RAISE HELL. In fact A DANGEROUS MAN is probably Seagals second best movie (behind URBAN JUSTICE)

I don't understand the hate for A DANGEROUS MAN at all?

The fight scenes in themselves were fine, nothing extraordinary again, but the editing was horrendous and it destroyed most of them because quite simply, you couldn't see ANYTHING. And that is the main reason I dislike DM also I find it to be boring and done-before, and I just didn't connect with the movie at all

 

[photomouse14]

When does BTRH come out in the US??