Boycott SEAGAL!!

Mason

Well-Known Member
Personaly I suggest that we not gonna buy any of Seagal's upcoming movies untill he meets our demands. He has been milking us enough for our hard earned money for the last 10 - 12 years with his crappy movies, and its time we take action and let him know we NOT gonna stand for it any longer!!

I hope as many of you as possible will join in so we can get the good Old School SEAGAL back in action instead of having to settle with this Overweight Dried up Parody of an *Once A Great* action hero.

A facebook page has been created (for those who use FB) to get the online campaign started. We also have the support of a FB Steven Seagal page, and other things is in works.

Link - Boycott Steven Seagal:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Steven-Seagal/429588203800447

We got fight for what we want, we have to let our voice's be heard!!
 

Administrator

Administrator
Staff member
This site used to get loads of visitors in the popular days when we first launched around the time Exit Wounds was just gone from the cinemas. Now site visitors are down massively from those early days. It is the same deal for his movies, i would expect that sales are getting lower and lower with each release. It would be good to see what figures they get for each release so we could track them.

So overall there already has been a major boycott of Steven Seagal.

As for the points on the facebook website.

01. Loose alot of weight (not less than 12 - 15 pounds).

For me he has lost some weight in the last few months. I never expect him to get back to his younger size as it is a lot harder to lose weight that you have put on as you get older. His weight has not really slowed him down any either, so for me i don't mind his weight issue.

02. Go back to make only Theatrical Movies.

First he would have to have supporting roles as he would not be popular enough to headline an action movie on his own anymore. Arnie and Sylvester's recent movies were not massive box office successes in the US. Steven Seagal would have less chance unless he builds his way back.

03. Get a great Director instead of those Direct-To-Video crappy directors.

Agreed. Would like to see him make another movie with the likes of Andrew Davies, Joel Silver, etc.

04. Get a great script.

Agreed too. Something different too instead of cop, cia, elite special forces.

05. More fightscenes in the movies (not less than 5).

Agreed.

06. Do your own fightscenes (NO stuntdoubles) and NO voice-dubbing.

If well done these should be standard for all movies. I understand a stunt double is required for high risk car chases, jumping onto a train, etc, but not for walking down a street!
 

Mason

Well-Known Member
This site used to get loads of visitors in the popular days when we first launched around the time Exit Wounds was just gone from the cinemas. Now site visitors are down massively from those early days. It is the same deal for his movies, i would expect that sales are getting lower and lower with each release. It would be good to see what figures they get for each release so we could track them.

So overall there already has been a major boycott of Steven Seagal.

As for the points on the facebook website.

01. Loose alot of weight (not less than 12 - 15 pounds).

For me he has lost some weight in the last few months. I never expect him to get back to his younger size as it is a lot harder to lose weight that you have put on as you get older. His weight has not really slowed him down any either, so for me i don't mind his weight issue.

02. Go back to make only Theatrical Movies.

First he would have to have supporting roles as he would not be popular enough to headline an action movie on his own anymore. Arnie and Sylvester's recent movies were not massive box office successes in the US. Steven Seagal would have less chance unless he builds his way back.

03. Get a great Director instead of those Direct-To-Video crappy directors.

Agreed. Would like to see him make another movie with the likes of Andrew Davies, Joel Silver, etc.

04. Get a great script.

Agreed too. Something different too instead of cop, cia, elite special forces.

05. More fightscenes in the movies (not less than 5).

Agreed.

06. Do your own fightscenes (NO stuntdoubles) and NO voice-dubbing.

If well done these should be standard for all movies. I understand a stunt double is required for high risk car chases, jumping onto a train, etc, but not for walking down a street!

In terms of his weight-issues he can deffenetly loose more than he has lost now. I too do not expecting him to look like he did when he was in his younger day, as long as he just took his belly off and the chubby face-weight.

In terms off stunt doubles, I too think they are required for high risk scenes, no doubt. But if high-risk scenes mean stretching his leg, throw a punch or (as you say) walking down the street, then he might as well retire. If he cant handle those few simple demands in the making of a movie, he is not fit to be an actor anymore.

Personaly I'm not gonna take this anymore, I'll rather save my money for good movies than his crappy stuff.
 

Terrorvator

New Member
No one's really defined the terms of the actual boycott yet. I expect this includes not buying the movies, but what about renting or borrowing or downloading them?

Additionally, does Seagal have to meet all or just a few of the listed demands before this boycott is lifted?
 

JoshStern

Active Member
No one's really defined the terms of the actual boycott yet. I expect this includes not buying the movies, but what about renting or borrowing or downloading them?

Additionally, does Seagal have to meet all or just a few of the listed demands before this boycott is lifted?

The boycott involves everything that puts money in his pocket, that includes Buying and Renting his movies. You are not supporting him by Borrowing them from a friend or Downloading them, so thats okay.


A couple of us have been talking and decided to remove one of the terms, mainly be couse he still can make great movie even though they are going Straight To Dvd, as long as he follows the other terms below.

Loose alot of weight.

Get a great Director instead of those Direct-To-Video crappy directors.

Get a great and exciting script, not the usual boring stuff that involves Europe. We want to see the movies take place on U.S. soil.

More Martial Arts=fightscenes in the movies (not less than 5).

Do your own fightscenes (NO stuntdoubles in ethe fightscenes) and NO voice-dubbing. We want to hear YOUR voice!
 

Mason

Well-Known Member
The boycott involves everything that puts money in his pocket, that includes Buying and Renting his movies. You are not supporting him by Borrowing them from a friend or Downloading them, so thats okay.


A couple of us have been talking and decided to remove one of the terms, mainly be couse he still can make great movie even though they are going Straight To Dvd, as long as he follows the other terms below.

Loose alot of weight.

Get a great Director instead of those Direct-To-Video crappy directors.

Get a great and exciting script, not the usual boring stuff that involves Europe. We want to see the movies take place on U.S. soil.

More Martial Arts=fightscenes in the movies (not less than 5).

Do your own fightscenes (NO stuntdoubles in ethe fightscenes) and NO voice-dubbing. We want to hear YOUR voice!

Remember to update the Facebook site buddy.
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Personaly I suggest that we not gonna buy any of Seagal's upcoming movies untill he meets our demands. He has been milking us enough for our hard earned money for the last 10 - 12 years with his crappy movies, and its time we take action and let him know we NOT gonna stand for it any longer!!

I hope as many of you as possible will join in so we can get the good Old School SEAGAL back in action instead of having to settle with this Overweight Dried up Parody of an *Once A Great* action hero.

A facebook page has been created (for those who use FB) to get the online campaign started. We also have the support of a FB Steven Seagal page, and other things is in works.

Link - Boycott Steven Seagal:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Steven-Seagal/429588203800447

We got fight for what we want, we have to let our voice's be heard!!


What the hell??? ...have to have my rant now i guess iam just ONE fan whom cant see what the big deal is he will do as he pleases and if WE the fans cant be patient and wait and see what his next step is then WE should buggar off now and dont bother coming here at all sure Steven has some BAD points BUT his GOOD points always come through ..and as for saying 'once great' oh come on thats hitting below the belt i will ALWAYS be an fan and be supported of him and NOT because iam female that has nothing to do with it i just appeciate him and think the world of him and if thats an crime then thats tough...people soon loose sight of the GOOD in him and focus on being shit heads ...RANT OVER !!!
 

Terrorvator

New Member
I won't call anybody names, but this petition strikes me as misguided. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy if this actually came to the attention of Steven and at least made it clear to him what some of the more troubled features of his regular output are, but then again, I'd be surprised if the points came as a surprise to him.

Most of the points of the petition indicate a belief that Seagal is in complete technical and creative control of his movies - that he alone decides or at least can powerfully influence the state of his pictures. I disagree. Not only has history shown that producers have the power to change the entire premise of his movies in post-production and make them less watchable with excessive second unit work and editing (i.e. Attack Force), but as I've stated in another post, the head of Voltage Pictures has announced that Seagal's movies (among others) are outright *planned* to be made cheaply and be released DTV so as to finance the theatrical films of the company.

This influences the work of the director. The petition makes references to "Direct-To-Video crappy directors," when in fact the vast majority of directors who've directed Seagal's DTV work have award nominations and/or wins to their names. Do you assume they just coast through their Seagal projects? I can't say for certain, I haven't asked them, but it seems like almost every director who undertakes a DTV project seems automatically troubled by the cheap DTV-isms we see in Seagal's movies. It's true across the board: even an Oscar winner like John Avildsen looks like a nobody when he does stuff like Desert Heat. Again, do such directors decide to coast through these movies, or is their work sabotaged by indecisive producers?

I too would love to see more fights and less doubling, but this is a DTV-wide problem not exclusive to Seagal. When I mention other action heroes having the same issues in their movies, some folks have argued that I'm diverting attention away from Seagal, but look at the big picture, guys. Pick up almost any DTV action flick and you'll almost certainly find unsatisfying fight scenes. Van Damme does next to no fighting in Until Death and Lundgren is visibly doubled at least 50% in his fights in The Package, and those are but one of many examples, yet it's only Seagal who I've heard said "doesn't care about his fans" for these reasons. I'm not assuming everyone on this forum watches other action heroes, but the parallels are there.

Can't really comment on the weight thing. I have no problem with it, but it seems to really bug some folks. Each to his own.
 

marky96

Active Member
This sounds like an excellent idea, Seagal is just a shell now, a shadow of the great action star he once was and yet it could all be different if he put some effort in and actually cared about what he was doing. As people here have pointed out if walking down a street and speaking simple dialogue needs doubles, it's time for him to retire.

I agree with Craig that site numbers are down and that sales of Seagal's DVDs are also probably down too. That's why I think the studios are using other action stars to prop up his films like Steve Austin in 'Maximum Conviction' and Danny Trejo and Ving Rhames in the upcoming 'Forces of Execution'.

I take you're point Terrorvator that Seagal doesn't have complete creative control over the films he makes. However as the main (up until recently) draw of the film he must have some say. That means he could action several of the points in this boycott. Before he signs on he should ask the question 'who is the director, and what have they done before?'. In most cases before he signs on he will have read a script. If he's not happy with it and there are not enough fight scenes then he should pass on it. That only really leaves his weight. To me it's an issue when it's not believable that he's an action star so for me he does need to lose some. I don't expect him to look like he did in 'Above the Law' of course but something approaching 'Exit Wounds' seems reasonable when you consider the physical shape of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis.

This of course all assumes that the faults with many of Seagal's films lie with the film makers and not Seagal. We should of course remember that Seagal himself writes many of the scripts and judging by many of them they all come from a basic core story involving a former CIA/special ops/police agent taking out the trash so to speak. Seagal is also well documented as meddling in the production of several of his films. And if I was a producer and I had a martial arts star like Seagal I would want as many martial arts scenes as possible. It makes financial sense after all. So then the question has to be asked as to why there are so few? On the commentary for the directors cut of Ticker, Albert Pyun explains that Seagal was very unhappy at being asked to do the films only martial arts scene and decided he would make it difficult for the already tight production by insisting on his own very expensive fighters and choreographers.

I know that the issues we see in Seagal's films which form the basis of this boycott can be seen in the DTV releases of other action stars. However Seagal has been doing this now for 11 years. Isn't it about time that the issues stopped? And if Seagal isn't being offered decent films then maybe he should do some quality control on himself and just not make the film? I can't imagine that be is that strapped for cash that he couldn't wait for one decent film to come along rather than making 3 substandard ones?

Oh and ORANGATUANG, I'm really not sure you're outburst was at all helpful. Calling people who quite clearly care about Seagal 'shit heads' isn't going to help this discussion or yourself now is it?
 

marky96

Active Member
marky96, you should write your points down in a textdocument and sent it to Seagal's agent and tell him to deliver it to Seagal personally. You have some very strong points that Seagal needs to read.
Or mabe you could post it on his Twitter page, his team on twitter are pretty active .. If you find a way to contact Seagal's agent or Seagal personally, let me know and PM me.

Thanks man that means a lot! I'm not sure anything I say is really worthy of actually being sent to Seagal, I just write about the way I'm feeling about the whole situation. Saying that though I would like him to know how we as fans are feeling. You've made some good points too Boyd as have others here and they are all points that Seagal needs to hear.
I'm on twitter quite a bit so I might look into sending him something or finding another way of contacting him. If I do I will definitely let you know though feel free to PM me anytime always good to make a like minded friend!
 

Mason

Well-Known Member
You all make some good and strong points.
And Boyd thats a good idea you got there about dropping a few lines to Seagal.
 

TheDean!

Member
It should be easy to get the ideas to Seagal, don't some of you have contact with Lauro Chartrand, Joe Halpin, Voltage?
 

Terrorvator

New Member
I take you're point Terrorvator that Seagal doesn't have complete creative control over the films he makes. However as the main (up until recently) draw of the film he must have some say. That means he could action several of the points in this boycott. Before he signs on he should ask the question 'who is the director, and what have they done before?'. In most cases before he signs on he will have read a script. If he's not happy with it and there are not enough fight scenes then he should pass on it. That only really leaves his weight. To me it's an issue when it's not believable that he's an action star so for me he does need to lose some. I don't expect him to look like he did in 'Above the Law' of course but something approaching 'Exit Wounds' seems reasonable when you consider the physical shape of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis.

This of course all assumes that the faults with many of Seagal's films lie with the film makers and not Seagal. We should of course remember that Seagal himself writes many of the scripts and judging by many of them they all come from a basic core story involving a former CIA/special ops/police agent taking out the trash so to speak. Seagal is also well documented as meddling in the production of several of his films. And if I was a producer and I had a martial arts star like Seagal I would want as many martial arts scenes as possible. It makes financial sense after all. So then the question has to be asked as to why there are so few? On the commentary for the directors cut of Ticker, Albert Pyun explains that Seagal was very unhappy at being asked to do the films only martial arts scene and decided he would make it difficult for the already tight production by insisting on his own very expensive fighters and choreographers.

I know that the issues we see in Seagal's films which form the basis of this boycott can be seen in the DTV releases of other action stars. However Seagal has been doing this now for 11 years. Isn't it about time that the issues stopped? And if Seagal isn't being offered decent films then maybe he should do some quality control on himself and just not make the film? I can't imagine that be is that strapped for cash that he couldn't wait for one decent film to come along rather than making 3 substandard ones?

marky96, good points in turn. However, we still have disagreements.

I think Seagal does take an interest in his directors, at least more than folks seem to believe. He's mentioned openly about how he enjoys working with Keoni Waxman, and Roel Reine's claimed in an interview that he had discussions with Seagal before they began making Pistol Whipped. This doesn't prove anything for the majority of his movies, sure, but it may be a moot point to begin with since I really don't think that DTV action stars have very much say in who directs their movies. A rule of thumb in movie-making is that you only have such control if you're financing a film entirely by yourself. Seagal is but one of several producers in all of his movies and he's under contract to a company: he probably has *some* influence, but these aren't situation where one person can slam his fist down on the table and demand his will.

I wish the matter of the scripts was more defined in the petition terms. I'm not sure what constitutes a "great and exciting script," but the CIA/special ops/police issue is mentioned. Where this is concerned, remember that Seagal has indeed pursued alternative storylines, but so few of them have seen the light of day. Among the ones we have seen are Machete and Against the Dark, but then there are those like Shadows on the Sun and Prince of Pistols which were talked about publicly before being lost. Attack Force would also have been pretty out-of-the-ordinary had it not been altered. In the past, Seagal wanted to play Genghis Khan. Writer Joe Halpin has indicated that most film stories do originate at least partially with Seagal, but I think the aforementioned shows that Seagal does in fact take a balanced interest in alternative storylines. Why don't these get produced? I'd speculate that studios aren't comfortable taking too many chances with Seagal.

The average number of fight scenes is again something I can only speculate on. I haven't heard the Ticker commentary, and it would be shame if that were the case, but I don't think it's the best example: Seagal wasn't the star of that picture, and the single fight felt very shoehorned in, like a last-minute decision. I'd find it hard to believe that Seagal doesn't want to do fights, period, since he still has an obvious love of the martial arts, but he - like Van Damme - probably isn't content with a "martial arts guy" image and may push for fewer onscreen brawls. I don't know. Again, the decision may not be up to him entirely, and who knows what a producer thinks is good?

"However Seagal has been doing this now for 11 years. Isn't it about time that the issues stopped?" Maybe, but again, this is assuming that Seagal controls his pictures with great discretion, which I think there is reason enough to doubt. Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren have been making DTV pictures for longer than Steven, and their issues haven't stopped, even when the latter began directing his own films. Again, you see 'problems' like these across the board, and it seems to make little difference whether the star has a squeaky-clean record or was ever accused of tampering with scripts.

My advice to the author of this petition is to not only send this Seagal's way, but also to Nicolas Chartier, the head of Voltage Pictures. He's the one who claimed that he's only making DTV action flicks to finance his bigger films. If you can convince him to place more emphasis on his lower-budget output, Seagal will be in a better position to address the points the petition demands.
 
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