Reviews: Mercenary For Justice

supertom

Disgruntled fan!
The film was pretty bad really, but the film overall had better action than his other DTV movies (BOTB and ITS aside). Everyone knows about the problems of MFJ and TDY in filming and clearly it shows on screen. The script was awful, and most of the acting was sub standard too, but pushing aside the plot and the acting, which aren't always the pre-requisite in these DTV films, the action wasn't bad. Seagal unleashed some classic moves although they weren't that well filmed or edited, lacking the slickness and simplisticness of Out For Justice and Glimmer Man for example. The editing wasn't very good here, needed tightening. I'm being quite harsh but I'm rating this in filmic terms, not just in DTV standards. Once again though there are too many uninteresting action scenes without Seagal in them. He;s once again only in 60% of the movie and not at all interested by the look of it. That's the shame of it though cause when Seagal was called upon to kick ass he did it well, good to see some classic aikido moves, even if the filming of them and editing could have been better.

What I will say though is that in this years DTV films this film isn't as good as Van Damme's Second In Command, which wasn't great itself, but it's better than The Cutter and also The Detonator with Wesley Snipes. I do think that we should be expecting far better from big papa and I hope he never works with those producers or that director again. I'm expecting far more from Shadow Man which I have good feelings about. I can definitely see why some people enjoyed MFJ though, considering Seagal was more involved.
 

latinojazz

Well-Known Member
supertom said:
The film was pretty bad really, but the film overall had better action than his other DTV movies (BOTB and ITS aside). Everyone knows about the problems of MFJ and TDY in filming and clearly it shows on screen. The script was awful, and most of the acting was sub standard too, but pushing aside the plot and the acting, which aren't always the pre-requisite in these DTV films, the action wasn't bad. Seagal unleashed some classic moves although they weren't that well filmed or edited, lacking the slickness and simplisticness of Out For Justice and Glimmer Man for example. The editing wasn't very good here, needed tightening. I'm being quite harsh but I'm rating this in filmic terms, not just in DTV standards. Once again though there are too many uninteresting action scenes without Seagal in them. He;s once again only in 60% of the movie and not at all interested by the look of it. That's the shame of it though cause when Seagal was called upon to kick ass he did it well, good to see some classic aikido moves, even if the filming of them and editing could have been better.

What I will say though is that in this years DTV films this film isn't as good as Van Damme's Second In Command, which wasn't great itself, but it's better than The Cutter and also The Detonator with Wesley Snipes. I do think that we should be expecting far better from big papa and I hope he never works with those producers or that director again. I'm expecting far more from Shadow Man which I have good feelings about. I can definitely see why some people enjoyed MFJ though, considering Seagal was more involved.

Do you know something, man?I like you guy, but you are only an B-action fan infiltrated in the forum of the best icon martial actor artist of the Hollywood box-office history waiting for I don´t know why.You are in the mood of the always mediocre Dolph¨unsucessfull¨Lundren that a really natural born superstar.
Please, take a look to the making of MFJ(Or another ****ing making off a Seagal movie)and see what all the people who work with Steven is fascinated by Steven, as his fans.Since Joel Silver to Dont E.Faunt Leroy.
MFJ is a pretty good Seagal movie because he is back to his trademarks roots: KICK ASSES.
That´s the point, guy.Oh man!!I always finished dissapointed with you

Love all the Seagal fans
 

supertom

Disgruntled fan!
The job of "makings ofs" is to make the film sound great and laud praise on the lead star. I've even seen some Lundgren films with highly praising making ofs, of both him as an action icon and also the film as being great, a prime example being Lundgrens film Detention, a real piece of crap but a very flowery making of. I'm shocked they managed to get comments from the producers and Seagal on this considering all the legal problems that went on after it. Steven is a legend but while he was once a solid number 3 behind Arnold and Sly in the box office and popularity wars, he's now slipping causeo f all the bad films. VD and Dolph are making far better stuff, any general aciton fan will tell you. Seagal can still offer so much more. He did good with the action in MFJ which is good but if they can get the rest of the areas up to par, his performance included we might see some films to actually rival is old days. Shadow Man has a great cast which will help and I think Steven would have gone into this one fresh, not caght up in multi picture deals.
 

supertom

Disgruntled fan!
marky96 said:
Just a shame that Shadow Man (2006) is the first in a 3 picture deal.

True, thankfully Shadow Man being the first means Steven will go into it fresh, but hopefully he's happy with the crews and the director and he's more involved in the films. If Shadow Man goes wrong then with the cast involved that would be very wrong, so hopefully this film will be a better standard. I like the idea of that film though, I just hope they abstain from using too much CGI, cuase some films, like Black Dawn and also Second In Command have used CGI in order to make the iflms look more epxensive but ending up making them look cheaper, cause they didn't spend enough time and money on doing it properly. Joe has got me exicted, it promises to have plenty of hand to hand, which I hope Stevo again performs himself. Anyway should be good. Not too sure about Harvester and Enemy Of The Unseen cuase of the themes, but if this director is good then that's certainly gonna help.
 

suziwong

Administrator
Staff member
My review is very short because I don't want to disturb you alot of.. :D

Finally I watched and liked it...

Seagal was very good.. he is fighting, shooting...etc.., story was different...

Steven Seagal is important for me and for the others...
really I am not interest..

shortly : Mercenary For justice is very very good Steven Seagal movie and my point is: 9.8/10 :D

byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D

suzi
 

ShotoScorpion

Child of the Night
So Funny

suziwong said:
yes .. he lost from his necktie.. I didn't like color !!! :D
heeeeeeeeeeeeee:p

LOL....you took off for the tie! Thats so funny :). I like the leather jacket better myself, but the suit is a refreshing change once in a while.
 

suziwong

Administrator
Staff member
supertom said:
That tie was pretty bad.

A color yes !!! was really bad..
ahhhhh I remember I like his hair this time.. He was very handsome again...
my point is 9.8+2/ 10 !!!! :D

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :p
 

supertom

Disgruntled fan!
I gave this another chance as I'd only seen that Romanion screener, but still it didn't do the business for me. Not anywhere near enough Seagal for a Seagal film (he does'nt properly appear until 12 minutes in!). PLus it had some diaboloical scripting with poor continuity and inane and meaningless dialogue. Seagal looked like he was going to nod off to sleep mid sentence too. That is clearly an example of how not to write a script. Even the toilet fight was limp because it was so badly filmed and edited.
I had to watch Under Siege 2 after, a proper Seagal film, a nice bit of cheesy fun with some good action.
 

Shirak

New Member
Another Positive Review !!!

Here is Review from N:Zone Movies.

Mercenary For Justice
Release Date: 04/18/2006 Rating: 3.0/5

- DVD-Video
- Region 1

Running Time
- 1:31min

Aspect Ratio(s):
- 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
- 1.33:1 Full Frame

Dolby Digital Formats:
- English 5.1

Subtitles/Captions:
- English Subtitles
- Spanish Subtitles

Standard Features:
- Interactive Menus
- Scene Access

Supplements:
- "Making Of" featurette
The Film

Steven Segal is an action icon. There was a time when every film he made was pure, popcorn, box office gold. For numerous cultural and world changes, the mindless action film has fallen out of the spotlight. Because of such a once great star now finds himself in direct-to-DVD films. Segal’s latest effort, Mercenary For Justice, is very much in the same vein as his other films and sure to please his fans.

You really don’t need to know much about the plot. In fact, the back of the DVD describes Seagal’s character perfectly: “Soldier of fortune John Seeger is the best in the business…the business of kicking ass!” I’m not making that up, it’s actually printed on the case. Seeger is blackmailed and has to undertake a dangerous mission involving a prison break in South Africa to rescue the son of a billionaire arms dealer. Inevitably, Seeger is crossed and the hell begins.

With a healthy dose of explosions, tanks, guns, and hand-to-hand ass-kicking, Mercenary For Justice never pretends to be anything other than what it is: a mindless action film that harkens back to an earlier age when all you needed for a successful film was a big name and 90 minutes of Hollywood violence.

The DVD

All of the menus are silent still shots. The disc is double-sided.

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 Full Frame. Despite budgetary problems that present themselves in the video, it doesn’t look bad. There are inconsistencies in quality, but it makes up for it in the surprising level of detail and good contrast. The worst problems, however, present themselves in the print. Grain and specks pop up frequently.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with English/Spanish subtitles. The film knows what genre it is in, and gets it right in the sound department. The entire film is filled with action exploding from all of the speakers complemented with robust subwoofer action.

The Extras

The only special feature is a 15-minute “Making Of” featurette that interviews the cast and crew. They discuss: working with Steven, implementing martial arts into the film, the story and characters, stunts, production design, and more. Throughout there is a lot of behind-the-scenes production footage. This is perfect for the disc; not too long, not to short.

Final Thoughts

Steven Seagal is Steven Seagal; either you like these movies or you don’t. Whichever is the case, Segal has not missed a step and continues to blow things up with the best of them. – Jeff Ritchie
 

bigchrisou812

Biggest fan ever!!
my opinion on the new ''merc. 4 justice"

so, on the day it came out i could only find two copies so i had to get one of them. and wow, what a far cry from the classic and heres some facts that ive found so far , i do have more research to do to make a final count and i'll let u know. I am a hugh segal fan, and own all the dvd's exept one
"executive decision" because u cant kill off segal and replace him w/ kurt russell and john leugasimo, that just cant happen thats not how a segal film works.now a segal film is supposed to have a hugh back-ground list of accomplishments, a even bigger amount of guns and explosives in some room or in a warehouse but did the new one have this, NO!. In fact, u didn't eve see segal till 4. min.inthe movie. and at the end of 15:00 min segal said 22 lines.and i know that sounds like alot i know but comparied to out for justice segal said 15 lines and kicked the a_ _ of one man, andended up in the front seat through the windshield to a stop on segal lookin through the windshield for an awesome intro. and all that took place in 3:31 (min./sec.). Hell it took segal 20:25 to even push a guy, and push one guy is all he did, weak. Now there r some classic scene'sbut the only one worth saying is the bathroom brawl, it included 12- hit's, 1-front kick, a step on a hand, a knee to the nuts, too a dragon-sleeper, too a neck break, this was nice and its almost worth the movie itself, the others are the wardrobe of pimp suits and the fact of seeing segal in another movie and can't wait for a new release and hope its more classic and less like a crappy-b-flick type movie such as merc. 4 justic
and 2 quick questions 1. hair-peice? 2. skin cancer?, oh and three, segal has a problem w/ showing his middle-finger to his africian-american co-stars. racist? I sure hope not but to judge for yourself check, merc. 4 justice, and the one w/ trech, to day u die" and i have picturs on my phone.thanks for listening,
 

Mama San

Administrator
BigChris,
Welcome to the board. We do hope
that you will like it here.

His name is SEAGAL, please!
Thank you,
God bless,
Mama san
 
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