The Foreigner - A review by 'Ethan

J.Lucas

Active Member
Review

"The Foreigner" - A Review by 'Ethan'

My love for Michael Oblowitz is very well known. I think that his abilities in terms of low-budget filmmaking are outstanding. His abilities are outstanding because he manages to shoot watchable direct-to-video action thrillers that suffer no apparent shortage.

His latest opus THE FOREIGNER is a perfect example. This film belongs to the new batch of Elie Samaha funded Seagal flicks that are made for less or around 25 million budget which means they are not eligible for Warner Bros release. The first of these films was HALF PAST DEAD which suffered many shortcomings in every department.

One of the shortcomings is the fact that director Don Michael Paul wasn`t able to stage meaningful action sequences on a low-budget. Some of the scenes are well executed but if you take a closer look to the film, you realize that some locations (most of the prison scenes) simply lack competent direction. This is because these locations were shot when the crew ran out of cash.

Oblowitz` THE FOREIGNER is a whole other ballgame. It was made for video and never graced the big screen. Too bad, because it belongs to Seagal`s top work, right up there with MARKED FOR DEATH, ABOVE THE LAW, UNDER SIEGE & UNDER SIEGE 2.

Of course, as you look at these Franchise non-Warner pictures, you realize that the budget was miniscule and that loads of money were saved by East European locations.

But Oblowitz is very well used to these conditions. Look at his Hungarian located vampire mayhem THE BREED with Adrian Paul, Bokeem Woodbine and the Chinese chick form RED CORNER.

First off, Oblowitz is the master of iconography. His characters look cool. His characters deliver lots of badass coolness. At the same time he manages to take some simple shots and make them feel like exploitation. He shoots a woman. And he makes that shot feel kinda special. Kinda cinematic. With these shots he buys time, so that action doesn`t take too long.

And when action starts he does his best to make it visceral. The fights are short, The bullets are shot rapidly and yeah bullets hit ****in` flesh. People bleed in Oblowitz films. Oh, yeah. He does a great job in the slenced gun routine that was perfectly aranged in Dick Donner`s ASSASSINS. He can`t top that but he`s very good in that situation. He also uses slo-mo when characters die. And he uses it in a smart way. He doesn`t rip anyone off. He just uses slo-mo as part of film grammar.

The script is tight. It seems muddled at times because it`s plot-heavy which is great since the only way for indie actioners to attract any intereset is to rely on plot. The plot and characters definitely don`t belong to the best writing I ever encountered but it sure feels better that writing we get in Hollywood theatrical releases. This inflation of twists reminds me of another Franchise feature-Mamet`s HEIST.

Seagal is still chubby and his hand-to-hand fighting technique is fading. But in this film he doesn`t say much, he really does good job in the dangerous silent type routine since in this one he is silent and dangerous. He shoots bad guys well and his dominating badassness is consistent. In other words, this character doesn`t spare no villains in some half-cocked attempt at humanity.

Above all, Oblowitz understands the Seagal esotherics. For example, he knows the typical Seagal Climax secret. The Seagal Climax is always short and Seagal character kills the main villain like his goons, short and sweet. Recent Seagal releases lacked this knowledge and Oblowitz came back to kick some butt and restore order with this piece.


Not too bad of a review....
John

source:http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/t030402a.htm

close.jpg


Has a nice wah-guitar solo in the middle......
closing track for 'The Foreigner'(have no idea what the songs name is)
 

J.Lucas

Active Member
Added a pic and the closing track to the review above.....
Suzi...I sent you a larger copy of the pic above.....check e-mail....
John
 
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