Kill Switch - Reviews

[ORANGATUANG]

Yet to get it out here in Adelaide but of course i will watch it ..no ponytail eh?.. oh well thats not the end of the world...he has changed alot lately becoming too goody two shoes like he is an puppet on an string and we all know whom is pulling them?.. time for him to cut them loose and get back to his old self..the girls know whom iam talking about ..that sh-devil he has clipped at the hip.. any way there is just that some thing lacking ..

 

[Littledragon]

If the fights scenes were shot the right way and without the obvious use of body doubles and dubbing, this could have been Seagal's best DTV release of all time.

I mean don't get me wrong the movie is exciting and I watched it about 3 more times, however the constant voice dubbing and terrible terrible editing and use of body double for the fight scenes just completely ruined the film. This is on the same level with Today You Die, but even the fights in Today You Die are better.

I hate to say it but this could have been his BEST dtv release, the fights were long and brutal but everything just went the opposite way of what we hoped for. This has to be his WORST movie of all time if you judge it just by the FIGHT SCENES. Ticker, Black Dawn, every movie has better fights than this film. Huge dissapointment because this really could have brought Seagal on the top, this film had so much potential but was ruined with the terrible terrible editing of the film for the fights. Man I'm so dissapointed.

 

[Kotegashi]

Finally saw the movie yesterday night and here are my findings.

Story
Pretty straight forward and written by Seagal.

He plays a cop who's brother got killed when they were kids and he saw it happen. This haunts him, but it also made him the cop he is today.

He catches a sadastic killer, but he is set free due to the excessive force used by Seagal in the arrest. And the hunt begins again.

But he is also on the hunt for the Grifter, another even more sadistic killer.

Although the haunting of his past doesn't aid the story very much, it gives his character some depth. Thankfully not many sidetracks in the story this time.

Overall I'd say it is a decent story for an action thriller.

Acting
To my surprise this was okay. No overacting, no characters were out of place, no silly accents (except Seagals) and all actors are putting in an effort.

Seagals voice and dubbing were a bit troubling, but mostly sounded like Seagal putting on an accent that just isn't him. The is dubbing, but it didn't bother me much, just didn't pay attention to it (tip for all of you).

Action/fights
There is enough action in this movie. The fights are for recent Seagal standards long, gritty, realistic and very brutal.

Although in almost every fight sequence Seagals double is very plainfully obvious I stopped worrying about it and just looked for the entertainment. I enjoyed them and..........

I think I figured out why they used a fight double. As I stated in another post there are numerous reasons for the use of a double, but after closely examining the fight sequences in KS I think this is the reason: The re-editting needed some re-shooting and Seagal wasn't available anymore.

Why do I think this? Simple, almost all fights in KS have a (pardon my french) ****ty editing except the final fight. In the final fight there is minimal use of a double and for techniques also used in other fights (performed by the double) this you can identify Seagal and there is more technique in this fight, more Seagal style.

I think that if Seagal was give a "carte blanche" on the fights it would have been all him (except for some over the shoulder shot as in UJ and PW), but now most fights just weren't Seagals style and way.

Cinematography
Editing during the fights really sucks, too many cuts and switching in different angels en re-showing bits and pieces.

The rest looked pretty okay, nothing fancy just plain filming.

Overall
Pretty good for recent Seagal standards. He looks in good shape (still a bit heavy, but overall good shape).

Watch it with an open mind and don't pay attention to or look for the obvious flaws (dubbing and doubles) and it's quite entertaining.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

peace

 

[Kotegashi]

This is on the same level with Today You Die, but even the fights in Today You Die are better.

I hate to say it but this could have been his BEST dtv release, the fights were long and brutal but everything just went the opposite way of what we hoped for. This has to be his WORST movie of all time if you judge it just by the FIGHT SCENES. Ticker, Black Dawn, every movie has better fights than this film. Huge dissapointment because this really could have brought Seagal on the top, this film had so much potential but was ruined with the terrible terrible editing of the film for the fights. Man I'm so dissapointed.

I have to disagree with you here. How you can say that TYD Ticker and BD had better fights is a complete mysterie to me.

Ticker and BD had almost no fights and even then they were filmed even more crappy the in KS (they were to dark to see anything and the double was even more obvious).

I know we are all dying for "old school" Seagal fights, but that isn't going to happen anymore. There is no budget in his films for the training of the other actors/stuntmen in aikido. This means he cannot use his aikido techniques very much (it would destroy the stuntmen).

Look at Exit Wounds and Into The Sun. Bigger budgets and better stuntcrew, more shooting time, more pre-production (read training) time. It all has effect.

Off course the double ruins the look of the fights and the dubbing is disturbing.......if you pay attention to it. I stopped paying attention to it after the first 15 minutes and then just had a blast watching it.

Peace

 

[mayaxe]

I still just wanna see the bloody thing!!

 

[rastafari]

I have to disagree with you here. How you can say that TYD Ticker and BD had better fights is a complete mysterie to me.

Ticker and BD had almost no fights and even then they were filmed even more crappy the in KS (they were to dark to see anything and the double was even more obvious).

I know we are all dying for "old school" Seagal fights, but that isn't going to happen anymore. There is no budget in his films for the training of the other actors/stuntmen in aikido. This means he cannot use his aikido techniques very much (it would destroy the stuntmen).

Look at Exit Wounds and Into The Sun. Bigger budgets and better stuntcrew, more shooting time, more pre-production (read training) time. It all has effect.

Off course the double ruins the look of the fights and the dubbing is disturbing.......if you pay attention to it. I stopped paying attention to it after the first 15 minutes and then just had a blast watching it.

Peace

PW has smaller budget and less shooting time but better fights

 

[bellyofb]

I have to disagree with you here. How you can say that TYD Ticker and BD had better fights is a complete mysterie to me.

to me also. all fights in bd were done by a double and horrible too
ticker has fight scenes? i can only remember one short hit and i am sure it wasn´t steven doing this.i haven´t seen ks yet but i think it´s on the same level as today you die because of the reshots and the obviously double.

Look at Exit Wounds and Into The Sun. Bigger budgets and better stuntcrew, more shooting time, more pre-production (read training) time. It all has effect.

please don´t compare exit wounds which was excellent, great actors, good action, very entertaining (also for non seagal fans) with into the sun. they shot the fights with steven and a double and mixed them.. horrible too. and reading subtitles is also annoying. but youre right, the oprical was a lot better than most of his other dtv efforts.

 

[Kotegashi]

please don´t compare exit wounds which was excellent, great actors, good action, very entertaining (also for non seagal fans) with into the sun. they shot the fights with steven and a double and mixed them.. horrible too. and reading subtitles is also annoying. but youre right, the oprical was a lot better than most of his other dtv efforts.

I didn't compare the two with eachother, I compared them to Ticker, Black Dawn, Today You
Die etc.

Both E.W. and ITTS had a substantial budget ($30 mil. +) which shows in locations, picture quality, fights, sfx etc etc etc etc.

ITTS fights were 95% Seagal himself, there are rumours of a making of video on the net somewhere which shows one or more fight sequences beeing shot and it is all Seagal doing it.

Since I live in Holland every foreign language is subtitled, so I don't mind.

 

[Kotegashi]

PW has smaller budget and less shooting time but better fights

Compared to which movie?

Peace

 

[bellyofb]

I didn't compare the two with eachother, I compared them to Ticker, Black Dawn, Today You
Die etc.

allright my friend

 

[MemphisBlues]

I hate to say it but this could have been his BEST dtv release, the fights were long and brutal but everything just went the opposite way of what we hoped for. This has to be his WORST movie of all time if you judge it just by the FIGHT SCENES. Ticker, Black Dawn, every movie has better fights than this film. Huge dissapointment because this really could have brought Seagal on the top, this film had so much potential but was ruined with the terrible terrible editing of the film for the fights. Man I'm so dissapointed.

I have to disagree as well. I found this movie to be highly entertaining for the main reason that it broke the mold of Steven's A-typical DTVs in recent years. The overtones are so much darker, and Steven's character doesn't have a mysterious, elite tactical warfare background that befuddles his opponents.

This movie is really a step up, and if all your are doing is basing your review on "FIGHT SCENES", you should really take a step back and look at the whole picture.

We all love to see Seagal kick ass and take names, but he also happens to be a great writer, and his talent really shows through in this film on many levels.

 

[Littledragon]

I agree with you on seeing Seagal as a great writer, etc... and that is why I stated for some odd reason it was entertaining. But lets be honest here, we all became a fan of Seagal for his martial arts, and that is the truth. People want to see Seagal for his A class martial arts ability, not his acting ability. That is the thing about Seagal which most people watch his movies is for his action fight scenes and his bad ass I don't give a damn attitude.

I have to disagree as well. I found this movie to be highly entertaining for the main reason that it broke the mold of Steven's A-typical DTVs in recent years. The overtones are so much darker, and Steven's character doesn't have a mysterious, elite tactical warfare background that befuddles his opponents.

This movie is really a step up, and if all your are doing is basing your review on "FIGHT SCENES", you should really take a step back and look at the whole picture.

We all love to see Seagal kick ass and take names, but he also happens to be a great writer, and his talent really shows through in this film on many levels.

 

[Littledragon]

Another thing I'll tell you why I was so dissapointed in this film, for a personal reason..

Steven Seagal filmed this movie in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and did that for the primary reason to give back money to the town. Before this movie finished, while it was shooting many people like Joe Halpin would share how much effort and passion Seagal particularly put into this movie. He wanted to bring this blues feel and his passion for his blues music into this movie. Seagal wrote the story, great writing, like the story. But like the fights, and everything the company did not project Seagal's views and expressions correctly in this film. People who are saying this is a golden film, in my opinion I don't agree. I believe Seagal is not happy with this film.

From all those reports we heard in the beginning, Seagal was very determined to make the film, to showcase his love of blues music, his love of writing scripts, and to help the city of New Orleans. So for anyone to say this was a great movie I disagree. I say it could have been so much better and it is the movie companys fault, regardless of budget. Seagal needs to be working with new people and studios because this is damaging his career. I don't care about the money or his age, this is really ruining his reputation.

He used to be known around the world as of the greatest martial arts action starts with this flawless flare on the silver screen. But the truth is, he is considered most a mockery to others, especially when his name gets brung up on shows like TMZ and other comedy shows like The Soup when they have their on segment on worst Seagal DTV movie award of the month.

It's not Seagal's fault, it is the studio's fault.

 

[southbound]

Littledragon,

Thank you for your outstanding fan trailer. I posted your link on CTK's fan site and I think about 200 of Chris's fans hit it at once. Sorry if it caused a problem.

I've been tied up with business the past couple of days and have still only seen limited footage but I agree that Steven looks great and this could have been his best DVD ever if not for the choppy editing. I like the dark atmosphere and mood of the film and of course, Chris Thomas King is excellent as Storm. The acting overall was good, no problems there, and I like the story, even if the editing would make it hard to follow for anyone who didn't know what it was beforehand.

As for Steven's Southern dialect. Steven has spent enough time in the South to be familiar with the way we talk, but somehow, in this particular instance, it didn't sound authentic. There is nothing more grating to a Southerner's ears than hearing someone try to talk with a Southern accent and can't. Steven's dialogue was MUCH better than some I've heard, but it just didn't quite ring true -- or wasn't Steven speaking the lines, I don't know which.

From what I've seen, it's a pretty good movie with the potentional to have been much better with better editing.

It's good to see Steven back in shape.

 

[mayaxe]

http://onlinewatchmovies.blogspot.com/2008/07/kill-switch-2008-hollywood-movie-watch.html

full link for entire move on line!!!! gonna watch it later.

 

[rastafari]

Compared to which movie?

Peace

compared to KS which had 30 days shooting time and 12M budget while PW had 10M budget and 17 days filming

 

[rastafari]

I have to disagree as well. I found this movie to be highly entertaining for the main reason that it broke the mold of Steven's A-typical DTVs in recent years. The overtones are so much darker, and Steven's character doesn't have a mysterious, elite tactical warfare background that befuddles his opponents.

This movie is really a step up, and if all your are doing is basing your review on "FIGHT SCENES", you should really take a step back and look at the whole picture.

We all love to see Seagal kick ass and take names, but he also happens to be a great writer, and his talent really shows through in this film on many levels.

i thought the screenplay was wuite poor TBH

 

[rastafari]

Another thing I'll tell you why I was so dissapointed in this film, for a personal reason..

Steven Seagal filmed this movie in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and did that for the primary reason to give back money to the town. Before this movie finished, while it was shooting many people like Joe Halpin would share how much effort and passion Seagal particularly put into this movie. He wanted to bring this blues feel and his passion for his blues music into this movie. Seagal wrote the story, great writing, like the story. But like the fights, and everything the company did not project Seagal's views and expressions correctly in this film. People who are saying this is a golden film, in my opinion I don't agree. I believe Seagal is not happy with this film.

From all those reports we heard in the beginning, Seagal was very determined to make the film, to showcase his love of blues music, his love of writing scripts, and to help the city of New Orleans. So for anyone to say this was a great movie I disagree. I say it could have been so much better and it is the movie companys fault, regardless of budget. Seagal needs to be working with new people and studios because this is damaging his career. I don't care about the money or his age, this is really ruining his reputation.

He used to be known around the world as of the greatest martial arts action starts with this flawless flare on the silver screen. But the truth is, he is considered most a mockery to others, especially when his name gets brung up on shows like TMZ and other comedy shows like The Soup when they have their on segment on worst Seagal DTV movie award of the month.

It's not Seagal's fault, it is the studio's fault.

this film was shot in vancover canada...not new orleans

 

[Timothy]

Hi guys,

It just saddens me to see that a film with so much potential is treated this way by whoever decides to release it like this.

It has a good look and feel, but the badly done fightscenes (although very long and brutal) and the dubbing (which I don't understand because he actually did say all his lines at least the one time they filmed it) bring the movie down.

Ijust don't understand why someone would decide to shoot all the fightscenes with a double, when you know that his fighting skills are one of the main reasons people watch his movies in the first place. He's still got it (PW and UJ proved that), so why don't they use it? Let him do the fight scenes the way he wants to, at least they will have the priceless footage of him performing the moves.

I'll be waiting for Ruslan; see how that turns out.

Regards,

Timothy.

 

[Kotegashi]

compared to KS which had 30 days shooting time and 12M budget while PW had 10M budget and 17 days filming

Ah..then I have to return to the reasons for using doubles and "killing" fights sequences. I think Reiné gave Seagal more freedom in the choreography of the fights and if I recall correctly there has been almost no re-editing on PW. KS has had lots of re-editing and had some re-shoots.

The last fight in KS I watched very close several times and here it is about 95% all Seagal.

Peace

 

[Littledragon]

I'm sorry my friend that is not true, it is not Segal at the end.

They did actually a better job of cutting to his face after he did the moves, there were probably 2 times Seagal actually did the fights in the end scene. One is when he grabs the leg when the guy kicks and slams him to the table, that was Seagal. Then there is a couple times when he blocks and moves out of the way and throws the guy. But other than that they would cut to Seagal's face and then back to the double to make it seem it was Seagal.

But the end had more of Seagal actually doing the fights than the whole movie, but no way was it 95% Seagal actually doing the fights at the end.

Ah..then I have to return to the reasons for using doubles and "killing" fights sequences. I think Reiné gave Seagal more freedom in the choreography of the fights and if I recall correctly there has been almost no re-editing on PW. KS has had lots of re-editing and had some re-shoots.

The last fight in KS I watched very close several times and here it is about 95% all Seagal.

Peace

 

[fakeshemp]

It's a shame to read about the dubbing. Steven's past two films seemed to be a sign that he was returning to making better quality films but from what I've read of this film it seems to be a return to lesser efforts. I'll watch it tonight or over the weekend and make up my own mind, but it doesn't sound promising.