Van Damme's Upcoming Movies.

It looks amazing, dark and gritty, kinda like some sort of a Horror movie.
Is this the final cover? (I guess it is) I expected that English dude's name on it and something in the vein of "From the Writer of Superman Returns? Or something like that.

But overall it's pretty good, yeah I'll buy it.
 
You might be right, as long as they put just put it on there.
People will probably read it, and might pick it up faster then they would have if it didn't include that little note.
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Not an bad cover at all... i will let one of my brothers know he has an new movie out who knows i might even take an peek .
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Just saw 'Derailed' not bad at all actually at least there was no dubbing or doubles not that i could see..love it when they split the screen so you could see the chicks fight and blokes fight..
 

DiDa

Super Moderator
Staff member
I'm also looking forward to Van Damme's next movie, which is filming right now. It's called The Shepherd. Van Damme will be fighting against Scott Atkins (undisputed 2) in this movie. Director is Isaac Florentine (Bridge of Dragons and Undisputed 2)....
 

SweetChinMusic

big gulps huh
ORANGATUANG;173769 said:
Just saw 'Derailed' not bad at all actually at least there was no dubbing or doubles not that i could see..love it when they split the screen so you could see the chicks fight and blokes fight..

so you're the one person who liked that movie ;)

"Derailed" is easily the worst movie he's ever made, and I hated when they did that split, YOU DON'T SPLIT SCREEN VAN DAMME, especially for some chick who can't fight.

and BTW VAN DAMME movies don't have bad doubles or dubbing...that's a Seagal speciality.
 

SweetChinMusic

big gulps huh
J.J. Loco Perry Fight and Stunt Choreographer for The Shepherd

we are almost finished w filming the shepherd, if you were not a jcvd fan, you will be after this movie! and if you were a fan, this movie will take you to the next level of fanhood!!! issac florentine is a true action master, the style of this film will rock your world. ross clarkson our camera wizard has outdone himself, and the highflying turbocharged scott adkins will leave you in awe. all i can say is fasten your seat belts, you will have a wild ride when you watch the shepherd!!! jj LOCO perry (fight choreographer)
 

SweetChinMusic

big gulps huh
Until Death aired on Romanian TV yesterday, here are some reviews. You'll read them complaining about the cuts but that was because it aired on TV, all the violence and sex was cut heavily. The DVD will be full of the good stuff.

I think it's time to start this topic.
I read what Krom wrote and I agree with him in every aspect.
The Pro Tv channel like always (at least in the last 3-4 years)butchered the movie.The sex scene that we all saw in the first trailer is cut(I've seen only a second of it).All the action scenes have cuts,more and less.The first action scene at the beginning beeing the most cut,the others have just little cuts here and there.
How do I know about cuts?First of all the cuts are poorly made.And even if the cuts were well made you still notice that something is missing.
Enough with the cuts,but I'm pretty pissed right now.
For all of you who said that they love the "new and improved Van Damme" now it's time for you to talk.
Because in Until Death it is a "new and improved Van Damme" no doubt about it.
The movie is a Police Drama like Krom wrote.A well made drama.
I'm not going to post spoilers.I can only say that I can't believe that Fellows directed Second In Command and Until Death.I mean SIC is an awfull movie and UD is awsome.
The gunfights were great and realistic,especially the one in the end.I can't wait to buy the DVD.
Van Damme's acting is pretty good ( he's not Pacino anyway LOL),but at least he is one of the fews action guys who tried to do something different than "bag bang bang kick kick".
I was very affraid of this movie and now I'm very happy and proud fan.
Probably Van Damme's best DTV movie along with Wake Of Death and Replicant.
The movie doesn't look cheap at all and you don't have the feeling that you're watching a DTV movie.
That's it.
One more thing:Van Damme looks so bad and scary in the first part of the film .The makeup team did a very good job.
The other actors in the movie did very well their part too.


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Hey Guys,

Now are commercials and i couldn't wait the end of the movie to post my review.
Some of you remember my reviews back to 2003 IN HELL world premiere and SIC negative review, etc.

First of all this is by far his best movie since REPLICANT!!! Since that year all of his movie, except part of WOD and IN HELL, were steps backwards in Van Damme's career, i'm talking abotu enjoying a movie, a quality one.

But i'm very upset that i'm watching this version because idiots from PROTV butchered the ENTIRE MOVIE, they cut all the action/violence/sex scenes, but the movie still is very very very good.

Jean Claude is starting to be a very good actor, his skills were improved starting IN HELL and Simon Fellows did a GREAT suprise to us after his amateurish style in SIC.

In few second the commercials will be finished (around 10 minutes) in the middle of the movie.

I'll be back with my final thoughts.

Well well well...

UNTIL DEATH was on PROTV, a close captioned version, it's finaly a real widesecreen movie, NO CHEAP TV FEELING like in THC, SIC, etc.

The movie is a POLICE - DRAMA pretty well done, very nice script!

I say again, the movie was butchered but still very very nice.

I love it!

...still missing good old days but this is the kind of movie that will bring JCVD back to the big screen!

I can't wait for the dvd release;)


BUY IT!

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saw the entire movie. Some short snippets from my complete review which I will post tomorrow since I have some things to do tonight.

1) The movie looks very, very well, it has very good cinematography.

2) With the exception of one short moment the movie felt as if it was entirely filmed in the USA, it has that kind of look and feel.

3) The soundtrack, or at least the version on the cut of the movie I saw was very, very simple and inneffective, it was very bland and made the movie feel...well less emotional than it was, less BIG movie and more TV movie. I really don't get what they recorded at Abbey Road, I didn't like the soundtrack very much. Wake of Death had a much better soundtrack.

4) Only one bad CGI moment, but it's not that important that the CGI looked bad, it does not affect the quality of the movie.

5) The actress that plays Van Damme's wife is one of the wors actresses in the world, very few moments of quality.

6) Van Damme is tremendous, better than Stallone in Rocky VI.

7) The movie is 90% drama, 10% action and Pro TV cut out the violent scenes (Van Damme shoots a guy but we only see him point the gun, we hear the shot, but we do not see the impact). Also the rape/hard sex scene was missing, it was removed, but I am 100% sure it will be in the DVD version.

8) Van Damme's character is called Anthony Stowe, but his cop buddies call him Tony, really cool, he really looks like a mix between and Italian and a Cajun (if that's what u call a New Orleans native) in the movie.

9) The final shootout is really, really cool and emotional and explains a lot about the story also.

10) The storyline is really, really cool, it could have been a sequel to Miami Vice the movie which had a cool tagline which fits to UNTIL DEATH too, something about WHEN YOU GO UNDERCOVER YOU MAY FORGET WHICH SIDE IS THE RIGHT SIDE.


11) Simon Fellows does a much better job at directing than on Second in Command, he is really good here and does some really cool things with the camera, yet, the movie could have been one amazing movie had it been directed by another, more experienced director.

12) The OPENING CREDITS are 100% quality

In the end, the soundtrack brought the movie down, there were some weird editing choices, but that could have been due to PRO TV cutting the movie, the acting was average from everyone EXCEPT VAN DAMME.

In fact, give it a better soundtrack and the movie would be good enough to go to cinemas.

It's as good if not better than Rocky VI as a character drama.

VAN DAMME IS THE BEST ACTOR IN THE MOVIE AND I SAY THAT WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE MAJORITY OF DTV ACTORS. In a movie in which everyone is pretty good, Van Damme shines and is amazing.


A little bit of emotional impact is missing, but it's a really good movie that should have gotten more love and care and it could have been released in cinemas.

A complete and VERY long review tomorrow guys, for tonight that's it as PRO TV is also showing THE WICKER MAN with Nic Cage and I haven't seen it yet....

BYE.


ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE BY VAN DAMME - REJOYCE!!!!
 

Le-Martin

New Member
I'm from Romania so I managed to see Until Death on TV. Here's my review.

MY REVIEW OF UNTIL DEATH


Ok, before I saw the movie I had no idea it would be so different from what Van Damme has done in the past. Guys, this movie is completely different from anything he has ever done. The movie is 90 – 95% drama and 5-10% action, yup, it’s more of a drama than an action movie and it has a great story.

Until Death could have easily been made as a sequel to Miami Vice or similar movies since, although it has less action, it has the same type of story and the same kind of drama. The movie’s main character is Anthony Stowe, a Narcotics cop who was once partnered with Callahan, a man who has since become one of the most important drug dealers in New Orleans and who began his involvement in the drug business during his time as a cop. Stowe, still a cop is now after Callahan, his former partner. The great thing about this story that is similar to others that we’ve seen in the past is the fact that we don’t get the whole story, only parts and pieces of it while the main story of the movie deals with the final part of the cat and mouse game between Stowe and Callahan. The final few days, the final trap, the final chase, the last chance for redemption for both of them.

THE VISUALS:

The movie looks great, in fact with just 3 exceptions, 3 scenes that are classic DTV low quality stuff, everything looks great, as if it was expensive, as if the people behind the movie cared about the final result. The 3 exceptions are 2 CGI scenes of bullets in which the CGI is of a low quality and one scene in which we can see that a background seen out of a house’s door is a picture instead of real houses. BUT, these 3 scenes amount to only 15 seconds, or around that, so they can be easily overlooked.

The opening credits are amazing, they make the movie look expensive and BIG. And the most interesting thing of all is the fact that they chose a high quality font in which to write the names and the title. It looks like a proper movie title instead of the poor style in which the titles to most of his recent movies (Wake of Death, Second in Command, The Hard Corps) were written in. It does NOT make the movie better, but it helps set up a mood in which you expect quality and don’t directly think of a DTV movie being of low quality.

The make-up on most of the actors is amazing. Van Damme really looks like the drug using, alcohol abusing, law bending cop he portrays. No cheap jobs here, everything looks great.

Simon Fellows is clearly a beginner at directing. In Second in Command he tried to create a feeling of revolution/war/chaos through the camera movement, but he failed because he overdid it, he tried too hard and in the end he made some viewers hate the camera movement and the overall style. Rest assured that he has improved tremendously with Until Death. BUT, I can’t say he has achieved a high level of quality, there are still some things missing from his directorial style. One thing is the fact that he has very little ability to choreograph a camera moving around action. It’s a good thing that Until Death has very little action in it because Fellows can’t seem to figure out where to place the camera to better capture the action.

Also, one of the major problems of Second in Command was the fact that Fellows didn’t capture the emotional impact of the scenes properly. He didn’t understand the fact that the camera is a tool, a sort of actor on its own that is meant to portray certain emotions and sensations to the viewer. The same scene filmed from different angles and in different styles can be seen as funny or scary or dramatic and Fellows can’t do this YET, he has the potential, but he is not there YET. In Until Death he has improved A LOT, but he does the same thing, sometimes, some scenes feel flat, less filled with emotion than how they should be.

BUT, overall, the good outweighs the bad and Fellows brings a lot of good stuff to the table. He does some interesting camera moves that actually improve scenes and which ARE METAPHORS FOR THE STORY. YES people, FELLOWS IMPROVES some scenes WITH THE WAY HE DIRECTS. The way the camera is placed or the way the camera moves makes some scenes feel more important, bigger and BETTER than they are and enhances their emotional impact. If only Fellows would learn how to do the same for action, he would then be a much better director.

The cinematography and Van Damme’s latest movies was on and off at times. Wake of Death was amazing visually, so were In Hell and Replicant, but Second in Command looked like a cheap DTV movie and only parts of The Hard Corps had a high quality look. And yes, I agree that some of the blame MUST lie with cinematographer Douglas Milsome and I say this because this guy made action movies like Breakdown, The Legionnaire (one of Van Damme’s finest movies), The Sunchaser and even crap like Dungeon & Dragons look big and high quality and did great jobs on the lighting and color setup, but he also made Second in Command look like crap and couldn’t keep the coloring and lighting at the same constant level throughout The Hard Corps. I don’t get how he could make parts of The Hard Corps look great and parts look like they are part of another, cheaper, worse movie.

So I was worried for Until Death, well I was worried for nothing because ALL of Until Death looks amazing and high quality and looks like a big budget action movie. Everything looks great and the colors are great.

THE SOUND

Ok, I was happy when I read that Until Death was going to have its soundtrack recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Unfortunately I can’t see why they spent the money. Everything sounds computerized and electronic and FAKE as in not played by real instruments. Also, a soundtrack is supposed to enhance a movie, enhance the emotional impact of the scenes and also establish a feeling for the entire movie, a theme. Well, the soundtrack of Until Death does NOTHING. It’s almost as if it wasn’t there since most of the time all the other sounds were MUCH louder than the soundtrack, but don’t try too hard to focus on the MUSIC, since there isn’t any. The Soundtrack seems to be composed with sounds that don’t form melodies, there is no melody, no theme, no coherence, just sounds and few attempts at music here and there. I was very disappointed in the soundtrack since a good soundtrack can make a bad movie look good and a good movie look great.


THE ACTORS

Van Damme has drastically improved as an actor in a very short time. And with Until Death he hits another one right out of the park, he gives a great performance, at a level at which others have won Oscars at and I am not joking. Unfortunately this is both good and bad. It’s good because he can impress the audience and easily carry the movie and it’s bad because EVERYONE else looks like an amateur when compared to him. Stephen Rea is GOOD, but he clearly did this movie for the money so does not try very hard, it’s what they call a phoned it type of performance and it shows. Compared to V for Vendetta, in Until Death Stephen Rea seems to be taking it easy. He is still naturally good, but not at his best level. Everyone else is good, better by far than what you usually see in DTV movies, just like the case was with The Hard Corps. But very much like with The Hard Corps and with Wake of Death before that, there is ONE actor that brings the whole movie down from the level it should be at. In Wake of Death, the actress portraying his wife was not as good as Van Damme was and that showed. In The Hard Corps, Viv Leacock seemed like a second hand version of the streetwise/hip-hop/villain he was supposed to portray and that brought the movie down. In Until Death it’s the same situation as in Wake of Death, the actress portraying the wife is awful, she couldn’t deliver any EMOTION, any impact along with her lines. EVERY single word she said sounded forced and fell flat, no impact no relevance and she had the annoying habit of smiling even when she was supposed to be sad. Her role was VERY IMPORTANT in the movie and her acting was very, very terrible, you can tell she must be an amateur (which is not the case) or not at all interested in the movie, which is what really happened since actress Selina Giles has a long list of acting jobs on her resume. Unfortunately her performance is the weakest of them all and she brings the movie down by quite a lot. It is interesting to see the best actor in the movie (Van Damme) and the worst actor (Selina Giles) at the same time on screen.

Also, Adam Leese’s character has pretty big and important role and Leese handles it well with two exceptions. First, he seems to be smiling in the very first scene we see him, yet he is supposed to be sad for losing someone close and second he seems to have an Australian accent yet the movie takes place in New Orleans. Otherwise he did a great job and his role was very surprising in the end.

CONCLUSIONS

The movie is a drama, a cop drama, a drug drama, a family drama with little sprinkles of action. The movie is well directed (although there was room for better) and well acted (with the exception of Selina Giles) and is another good movie by Jean Claude Van Damme. Unfortunately I can only say a GOOD movie, why? A bad soundtrack and some poor acting by Selina Giles are the major reasons why this isn’t a GREAT movie.

Had UNTIL DEATH had a better actress in the role of THE WIFE, a good soundtrack and a more emotional style of direction it could have a 10/10 movie, as it is at the moment it’s at 8.5/10.

It is a completely new and different role for Van Damme and I can understand why Sony would not want to release this movie in cinemas, it has small amounts of action compared to his older movies and it is a DRAMA, a type of movie that people might not want to see Van Damme in. It actually has a better chance on DVD because it can help Jean Claude find a new audience and make a name for himself AS AN ACTOR, a serious dramatic actor with real talent.

What Until Death did to me was to tell me a great story, a great dramatic story, it showed to me that Van Damme can carry this type of movie and it also gave me a lot of hope for THE SHEPERD (provisional title), Van Damme’s next movie which will be filled with action and which is directed by Isaac Florentine (Undisputed 2) and produced by the same people with most of the same important people behind it.

Fellows was a great choice for a drama movie while Florentine is a great choice for an action movie with Sheldon Lettich a great choice for a mix of the two. This shows me that Van Damme still has a real talent at finding and working with directors (he brought John Woo to the U.S. and worked with Roland Emmerich on his first big U.S. movie) and has created an interesting list of people to have around him that when given the proper resources can make really good movies like Wake of Death, The Hard Corps and Until Death. Van Damme clearly has created a place for himself and is alongside Dolph Lundgren the most interesting action star out there, as Steven Seagal’s star has long since (since Exit Wounds) faded little by little. Seagal is at the point where something like Flight of Fury is considered a success (and it really had potential) for the man who once starred in great movies like Out For Justice or Under Siege. Seagal is making movies which he would have never looked at during his glory days while both Lundgren and Van Damme are at their high points, they are NOW at their best making what could be called their best movies. Van Damme has the lead in the acting department as he clearly has become a better actor than all the other action stars COMBINED, perhaps only Stallone has better acting chops (CopLand is still an amazing performance by any standards), although Van Damme isn’t far behind.
This is why I respect Van Damme, he has grown as an actor and has created and put in place all the necessary elements to make quality movies. He has improved himself even if he is a DTV star, he keeps in great shape, has become a great actor and can still do some cool action, although he has evolved away from the action filled extravaganzas of the past (which is a good thing). Any new Van Damme movie is guaranteed to be good and interesting and the very nice fact is that his fans are disappointed when his movies fail to be GREAT and are JUST GOOD (as was the case with Second In Command).

Dolph Lundgren has built a great career as a director and has made his best movies with The Defender and The Mechanik. He has known a resurgence, a rejuvenation and has managed to get some great scripts for his future movies. He has managed to be reborn in the eyes of the public and his future is looking great.

Unfortunately Steven Seagal is off the map at the moment. The Steven Seagal of Out For Justice would have spat on movies like Attack Force and would have laughed at movies like Flight of Fury. The man has charisma and talent, but he has lost interest and the will to make movies, not to mention trying to make good ones. He loves music more than movies at the moment so the question remains - Why ruin your reputation by making low quality movies like Attack Force? His only WATCHABLE movies since Exit Wounds (2001) were Belly of The Beast, Into The Sun, Shadow Man and Flight of Fury, but the Steven Seagal from his glory days would have considered these movies CRAP and would not have made them and that is the saddest thing. He’s made 4 watchable movies out of a total of 15 DTV movies. Not a good track record. Also, he seems to be surrounded by people who don't care about him or the quality of his career or movies. Perhaps he will stop making movies and focus on his music (he really is talented), but I still hope he will make a GOOD movie before the end of his career.

Wesley Snipes could come back easily, but the talented people of the world aren’t really interested in working with him at the moment and that is a shame as the man is an extremely talented actor and action star at the same time, a rare combination. His best movie since Blade:Trinity has been CHAOS and that was a simplistic version of Inside Man (the Denzel Washington movie). He has been in 6 DTV movies so far (Chaos could still be DTV in the U.S. despite the announcement that will go to theatres in April) and he’s only been in one good movie – Chaos and he’s also managed to make his worst movie ever – The Marksman. Things are looking up for him, but recent scandals (tax evasion charges and such) are making him into a growingly less interesting actor for producers and studios.


Van Damme has made a damn good movie with Until Death. It’s a great drama and it could have been released into theatres without any shame. I recommend this movie to ANYONE without any exceptions, it’s that good. It’s perhaps the most important movie he’s made so far and it can be argued that it is his best (depending on how you view the man himself). Keep an eye out for this movie when it comes out and rent it/buy it because it is definitely worth it.

Also keep in mind that I saw an edited version so the DVD might have more scenes, more action (a tiny little bit more), a better soundtrack and an even better visual quality as I saw the movie on TV in a TV format and aspect ratio. The DVD version could be drastically better, but even if it isn’t this is still a movie I would recommend to anyone who loves a great drama, a great COP drama and some cool action from a classic star of the genre who has reinvented himself and who gave his best acting performance, a performance that I dare say is great by ANY standards.


8.5/10 on any scale…


P.S. A BETTER TAGLINE THAN VENGEANCE IS HIS WOULD HAVE BEEN REDEMPTION HAS A HIGH PRICE IT SUITS THE MOVIE PERFECTLY, THE vengeance ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE AT ALL!!!!
 

SweetChinMusic

big gulps huh
some on the set photos from The Shepherd
 

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