Pistol Whipped - Reviews

Dmoj

Member
I thought that this was a probably his best effort since Into the Sun. But the thing that I was most impressed with was:
1. He actually wore t-shirts with no coat on.
2. No more trench coats.
3. The production on this was way better than all of his movies made in Europe even with such a small budget.
4. His wardrobe was also good in the movie as well(best since Fire Down Below)
So I have high hope for Kill Point and what ever the other movie he is making in Vancouver. And his fight scenes in Pistol whipped were done very well and shot at good angles with good editing. Highly recomend it.
 
Sorry. As much as I love Steven I just couldn't get into this movie. He's great as he always is,but the movie itself was boring.If Steven wasn't in it I would have turned it off. I loved Urban Justice where Steven got to kick butt.He did some in this but they could have had him do more.
 

Mystery Mom

Queen of the Mist
Excellent!

After a very long wait this finally arrived and under threat of a cruel and vicious death everyone left me alone to watch it in peace twice through.

Yes it lives up to the hype and horn tooting. Who care what holes are in the story line - this is only a moment in time from the character's life. Parts of the filming are too dark, yes. Yet there were plenty of outdoor shots to make up for that. I don't waste my time counting the number of fights or number of times someone is hit, beaten or kicked. This film had it's share of all of that. Car chases seem to be in big demand by most of the guys watching these films, well this one was quite brutal to several vehicles. The end scene in the graveyard must have cost a bundle with the massive explosion. Even an RPG hitting a vehicle would not have exploded as violently as this one did. Still, well done and certainly worth watching.

At least this character has some humanity to him. Sad, beaten, and near the bottom of the barrel, he manages to redeem himself. His interactions with Lydia Grace Jordan, the child who plays his daughter, were very well done. Apologizing to your child is not the easiest thing to do and there was a poignant honesty to the portrayal. Becky, the daughter reacted in typical kid fashion. Everything is all right now, so lets go on from here and by the way here is a sandwich. She even managed to get a chuckling laugh from him that sounded spontaneous.

There were even some 'normal' conversations with Drea (Renee Goldsberry). We have not seen those types of conversations between Steven and any other actress in any of his other films. These were the 'getting to know you' conversations. Usually, the conversations are all about cutting to the chase, tell me who, or do this or die type of thing. Yes, some of it was awkward, but I wonder if the awkward was us as viewers facing something different, or Mr. Seagal trying something new? In any case, for me it added a bit of humanity to the story line.

I was glad to see most of the clothing he has been hiding behind gone from this film. As in Urban Justice, he seemed to wear clothing much more appropriate to the role. There are probably a couple of other things I intended to comment upon, but I have lost the thought. Overall, this one is worth the investment in a disc.

I really enjoyed the film and plan on watching at least twice more this evening. I should have the script memorized by the end of the week - LOL.

Myst
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Iam glad you enjoyed it girl...i only have 27 days to go like i said to Sue all good things happen to those who wait ...dont wear it out now..
 
Got my copy of Pistol Whipped from Amazon. I set aside some time to watch it in the quiet, so no one would bother me...and guess what? I hated it!!!

What went wrong with this film for me?

The horrible camera work, zipping around all over the place.

The lame shoot out at the end.

The constant use of body doubles for him walking around.

The dialogue was awful.

The fact that his girlfriend and ex-wife were young enough to be his daughters.

The scenes of him walking around, scoping out his targets, only to have him shoot them in a location they've never been to??? Which makes the recon work pointless and a waste of time.

The ending where his double gets more assignments from Drea.

Th fact the great Lance Henriksen gets bugger-all to do.

The fact EVERYONE out acted our beloved hero.

Plus the plot holes:

Matt's Priest is killed. Matt turns up to the church, which is surrounded by police tape and cops, and he barely breaks stride to get in there. Wouldn't he of rushed in to see what's happened, fearing the worst???

No one ID's Seagal as the shooter behind the hits, even though they take place in public.

Plus the opening credits. They look like someone's kid did them on their PC.

Sorry to say this, but this film blew.

They'd have been better off concentrating on building a better story than trying to have flashy camera work to hide the film's shortcomings. What happened to the day when film makers just SHOT the film, not OVERSHOT it?????

Terrible. :(
 

rastafari

Well-Known Member
gunslinger;183688 said:
Got my copy of Pistol Whipped from Amazon. I set aside some time to watch it in the quiet, so no one would bother me...and guess what? I hated it!!!

What went wrong with this film for me?

The horrible camera work, zipping around all over the place.

The lame shoot out at the end.

The constant use of body doubles for him walking around.

The was awful.

The fact that his girlfriend and ex-wife were young enough to be his daughters.

The scenes of him walking around, scoping out his targets, only to have him shoot them in a location they've never been to??? Which makes the recon work pointless and a waste of time.

The ending where his double gets more assignments from Drea.

Th fact the great Lance Henriksen gets bugger-all to do.

The fact EVERYONE out acted our beloved hero.

Plus the plot holes:

Matt's Priest is killed. Matt turns up to the church, which is surrounded by police tape and cops, and he barely breaks stride to get in there. Wouldn't he of rushed in to see what's happened, fearing the worst???

No one ID's Seagal as the shooter behind the hits, even though they take place in public.

Plus the opening credits. They look like someone's kid did them on their PC.

Sorry to say this, but this film blew.

They'd have been better off concentrating on building a better story than trying to have flashy camera work to hide the film's shortcomings. What happened to the day when film makers just SHOT the film, not OVERSHOT it?????

Terrible. :(

im surprised id thought you would have liked it but going off reviews most people(including myself like it)

i disagree with you about the dialogue i thought i was way above most stv films

also yes he was doubled but it only had a 17 day shoot so that was expected.

also i dont thing seagal was out acted(im a big critc about seagals acting)

i thought he held his own and looked like he was trying in this and ill tell yhou what ill take another PW over any other seagal stv film apart from UJ
 
That's what I like about you, Rasta.I can have a sensible and civil debate about these things with you. I know some people are gonna love it, but it wasn't much to me. It wasn't completely awful and its light years ahead of Attack Force and Flight of Fury, but if Seagal wants to get back to theaters, he'll need to get a director who just shoots the films, not overstylizes the damn thing to the point we get motion sickeness.

Dolph's Missionary Man looked a helluva lot better than its budget and the fact he kept the camera still for most of the movie helped. Damn AVID editing software. :) :)
 

Martin01

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Bad camera work? LOL. It ways lot better than the last ones. And also some other points of your critic are laughable. I will ignore your reviews in the future.
 

thedude

New Member
Gunslinger,

I concur with a good portion of what you're saying. Go back 1 page in this thread and see what my thoughts are. My problem remains that I watch these movies expecting the type of acting performance I saw in Above the Law.

What really bugged me the most was that the previews and writeups portray our hero as an alcoholic, but the only problem is: He never took an actual sip of a drink! He ordered a couple of drinks (which many of us do when we go to bars), and he sat at home looking at his bottle, and he was sleeping on his couch next to a bottle. I know I am really being specific and nitpicky, but being described as a person who hits the bottle should actually involve drinking at some point. In contrast, Van Damme's performance in Until Death was actually effective. I know Seagal has the talent (as evidenced in Above the Law all the way to Exit Wounds), but I can't get past his motivation and desire :(
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
I agree gunslinger having young females in his movies may be the done thing but having that touch of maturity wouldnt hurt...doesnt hurt if the fans suggest this whats the worst that can happen they listen?..any way i will give my two cents worth when i have seen it ..
 

rastafari

Well-Known Member
gunslinger;183695 said:
That's what I like about you, Rasta.I can have a sensible and civil debate about these things with you. I know some people are gonna love it, but it wasn't much to me. It wasn't completely awful and its light years ahead of Attack Force and Flight of Fury, but if Seagal wants to get back to theaters, he'll need to get a director who just shoots the films, not overstylizes the damn thing to the point we get motion sickeness.

Dolph's Missionary Man looked a helluva lot better than its budget and the fact he kept the camera still for most of the movie helped. Damn AVID editing software. :) :)

TBH most cinema action films have the kind of camera work that roel reine has...by the way roel renie next film is a thetrical thriller/horror for lions gate and it comes out in july so he most be a decent director.

look at modern day action films though

bourne trilogy
shoot em up
transporter films
war
hitman
casino royale


all these have mtv style directing and the still camera is dead in modern day action pictures and its all about action and style nowadays
 
gunslinger;183688 said:
The horrible camera work, zipping around all over the place.


Terrible. :(



Are you kidding me? I liked the camera work when there are things keep moving at a good pace which is unlike other action movies out there today. With that kind of style does bring some nice memories from Seagal's earlier films. With that kind of camera work is almost identical to Alfonso Cuaron's style and Brian DePalma. The overall look of the film with good moving camera work is MUCH better than any recent Seagal's stv films even though there are few parts that reminds me of Into the Sun.

Wow...aren't you being sarastic?
 
The Bourne movies application of the "fast camera" and jump cuts were used much more successfully than this film. I enjoyed the parts that were simple, like Seagal laughing with his daughter, the bowling alley fight and the restaurant assassination. All the things that were good about this film had NOTHING to do with the over filmed, over stylized camera work that made it look like an extended episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

Andrew Davis has been the best director Seagal has worked with and none of the films they did together had any of this flashy, useless crap. Davis' last film, the superb Costner film, The Guardian didn't have the jump cuts or "look at me" photography and it worked just fine. The Transporter films had a little bit, but it was used properly.

I wasn't overly impressed with War, and Hitman was far better realised than Pistol Whipped, which had the disadvantage of being shot in 19 days on a shoestring. And besides, the direction of Pistol Whipped wasn't MTV. Michael Bay is the quintessential MTV director, and his films look skillful and well done. PW just looked like someone with epilepsy went crazy with the AVID editing software in places.
 
I thought the movie was alright -not his best -but not his worst. I did think it seemed a little choppy, I think if it had a bigger budget it could have been better, I would have liked to see more with the building of his character as well as some of the other characters. the fight scenes and the shoot out at the cemetary was great .
 

msmith

Member
Movie Review from Moviehole

Pistol Whipped (DVD)

Steven Seagal, Lance Henriksen, Paul Calderon, Blanchard Ryan

Is Steven Seagal just a weight-loss programme away from a comeback?

I reckon so.

Though the one-time action giant of the 80s and 90s had has a pretty dire run the last decade or so, headlining the types of direct-to-video actioners that Wings Hauser or Thomas Ian Griffith would’ve occupied back in the day, his latest effort, ''Pistol Whipped'', is a reminder that Seagal does have ‘’something’’ (even if you’re more of a Van Damme fan, you can’t argue that Seagal’s not a charismatic SOB), but more so, that with a good-enough script, some nicely choreographed fight scenes, and an interesting villain (or two), there’s the chance he may see the big screen again.

A lot of folks have made a big deal out of the last five minutes of the new Rambo movie – in which we see John J (Sly Stallone) re-enter the United States, somewhere he hasn’t been for quite some time. Forget that! The fact that Seagal is back on home soil in ''Pistol Whipped'' is an even bigger story – the man hasn’t made a movie on U.S soil since, well, near as long as Polanski’s been banned from stepping on it.

No Romania masked as New York this time folks, nope, ''Pistol Whipped'' is filmed (and I assume) set in the streets of Connecticut. And right off the bat, it helps the film significantly. The other recent Seagal films have fallen flat on their face within the first few minutes because they’ve tried to pass off some distant Eastern European Country off as America – and it’s most obvious. Granted, maybe if those films had had an as interesting script as the one here, and Seagal had performed just as well as he does here, ''Attack Force'', ''Shadow Ma''n and the rest-of-the-two-word-titled-films might’ve stood half a chance regardless of whether they were filmed.

Though it’s far from an ''Under Siege'' or even an ''Executive Decision'' (yes, the one that Steven Seagal was sucked out of the top of a plane within the film’s first half-hour), ''Pistol Whipped'' is quite an entertaining action movie. Seagal plays Matt, an elite ex-cop with a gambling problem and a mountain of debt. The only man Matt can trust is married to his ex-wife (Blanchard Ryan of ''Open Water'' fame) and has legal custody of his daughter. Even worse, Matt’s heavy drinking and excessive gambling continually ruin his attempts to be a decent father. Matt gets a chance at a fresh start when a mysterious man (Lance Henriksen, in a role that probably only took a day to film) pays his outstanding gambling debts. However, in return he becomes hired muscle for a crime racket to kill the city’s most notorious criminals. As Matt sinks deeper into the politics of the underworld, he soon realizes that there is more going on that meets the eye.

The man seems to be trying a little harder here to impress. He’s still about four times as heavy as he was when he played Casey Ryback, but the fact that he’s trying to act (there’s some nice ad-libbish scenes with his on-screen daughter that really impress) and is once again fighting for real – in his last couple of flicks, you’d be lucky to see him turn a door knob without the help of stunt-man – should see him win a few ex-fans back.

The direction, managed by Roel Reine (''The Delivery'', ''Adrenaline''), is a little over-ambitious at times (a little too much ‘slow-mo’ and ‘MTV-style quick cuts’, but generally works for the picture too – giving it more of a professional, polished look than some of Seagal’s previous cheapies.

One of the better Seagal vehicles in quite some time, ''Pistol Whipped'' should easily please those boys looking for a good beer-and-pizza flick to watch after a sweaty Saturday afternoon of moving furniture.

Extras – something there usually isn’t any of when it comes to these recent Seagal DVDs – include deleted scenes and trailers.

Rating : 3 stars out of 5
Reviewer : Clint Morris
 
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