Golgo-13

24 May 2012

Believe it or not!

Believe it or not, this little Van Damme vehicle isn't too bad.Basically, the story revolves around a man who kills his wife'smurderer (who got off because of family connections) and is then sentto a tough prison and must learn to survive and deal with an assortmentof colorful characters. The warden stages fights to bet on andeventually VD becomes involved, all the while losing his morals. Thefights are not the usual VD style; there are no flying kicks or specialkung fu maneuvers…it's just brutal street fighting (with a side ofwrestling). For being a direct-to-video release, the production allaround is quite decent, despite a couple cheesy plot points. If you'rea fan of prison flicks, you'll probably enjoy this one.

24 May 2012

Van Damme is washed up.

All of Van Damme's latest movies seem to be weak, and this is just another one with weak storyline and fights. I used to be a big fan of this guy back in the early 90's cause of movies like Blood Sport, Kickboxer, Lion Heart, and Double Impact. Those were some good flicks by him at the time. I was a little kid and I used to watch Kickboxer, and Bloodsport all the time, and I thought he was the coolest. Now he's just all washed up. His fighting scenes are boring, and he doesn't have the intensity anymore like he used to. His career seems like it's about to be over or something. His movies are just played out to me, cause I've been more of a Hong Kong action fan.

filmfreak-5

22 May 2012

Well, an ok surprise..

Well, I must say I've found Van Damme to be quite a disappointment overthepast ten years.He had a very good run with several quite decent films in the 80'ies,topping his career with "Universal Soldier" which, to my mind, is one ofthebest action films still...since then it's been all downhill and 1/10ratingsI'm afraid.When I stumbled across this film I thought "Van Damme back in jail", wow,another ripoff - this time of "Death Warrant", right?Wrong! Actually this movie was not all bad! It is the first film where IseeVan Damme actually acting, big surprise, but it IS actually possible itseems.The story is quite predictable, but still has a lot of good pointers - tomethis COULD be the sign of a new era for Van Damme, maybe he WILL actuallystart making better movies.It does, however, have a training sequence that reminds me alot ofStallone's Rocky films, however I find it to be OK - atleast Van Dammekeepsaway from his old kung-fu wannabe ballet dancing moves, which is by nowmoreridicolous and clicheed than they are good looking.Sadly - I'm a hard judge when it comes to this man, mainly due to earlierletdowns, but I'll give this a 4/10, and it probably deserves a bit more,but I choose to wait and see if the future holds more failed attempts forVan Damme or what else is in store.With that said - I recommend this film if you're into a decent actionfilmmixed with a bit of drama.***MILD SPOILERS***He gets a life sentence for shooting his wifes killer when he is foundnotguilty. NOW, in real life - during the circumstances, wouldn't be havegotten off with a plead of temporary insanity? Just a little mindbarkler...

22 May 2012

always a fan of in hell

I don't know what it is about "In Hell" that I've continued to like all these years. I don't watch alot of fight movies by jean-claude, or by anyone as a matter of fact...but this one sticks with me. it's your typical tough guy fight movie, acting is okay, plot is pretty straightforward, as most action/fighthing movies are.I gave this movie 4 stars because I believe it was well done, the action scenes made up for the dry plot! Definently a must see. Obviously, it's more of a guys movie. Yeah.

lastliberal

19 May 2012

The new Van Damme is worth watching.

He will never be mistaken for an "A" list star, but Jean-Claude VanDamme is certainly showing improvement in his acting ability. Despitethe fact that this is your standard prison film, with lots of violence,there is an undercurrent here that makes it a good story, and Van Dammedoes a good job as a man who gets off track and finds his way back.Like 451 says, "Without evil, we would never recognize good." LawrenceTaylor, formerly of the NY Giants, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, theShaft remake and Wrestlemania, did a credible job as 451, the lifer whophilosophizes and, in the end, helps Kyle.One would certainly ask California what they have been smoking afterseeing this, as they are going to integrate their cells. Yeah, that'llwork! Plenty of laughs provided by Juan Fernández and his gypsy band oftransvestites.Come on, check it out, you know you want to.

Ralf_Solo

19 May 2012

A good B movie

Jean Claude is back for the better . After have made some low z movies, he is back with this good movie . we see him more "human" than usualand we are in his side at once than the movie starts and it is VERYIMPORTANT , I saw some other movies lately than I didn't care much forwhat was going on , but in this movie you want to know what will happento him.After have cross the desert , it sounds like He has take someexperience of life and , and we can see it try to act more better , Igive a 7 , the movie deserve it .I like this movie and I wish he will make others from this same brand ,I recommend also REPLICANT , a satisfying SF thriller movie with JeanClaude from the same movie company.

18 May 2012

To hell with Van dam

The first striking impresion is the three times that the islamic prayer was played as a background for three violent scenes, one of which a prisoner was raped by another one. It is very clear the racism and the unti-islamic view of which van dam comes from. I promise him that I and 250 million muslim in the arab world will ban his film and all other new films. I lost my respect i had for this actor for good. I really loved his films and raised him above all suspicions, but now it is all ended. I hope this comment would reach him so he could know his worth from now on. Van Dam, go to hell with all your racists that supported your film.

nana_cottura@hotmail.com

17 May 2012

He did it..

I saw this movie and I think he finally did it. He succeeded once moreafterthe movie Replicant..During the movie Van damme played good in character.Ringo Lam and Jean Claude Van Damme works excellently together. I'm lookinforward to see more Van Damme movies, directed by RingoLam.Everyone has to se this film...so therefore i give this movie10/10...

16 May 2012

WAY OVERRATED

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT VAN DAMME'S MOVIES COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE. AFTER GUNNING DOWN THE MURDERER OF HIS WIFE, KYLE [VAN DAMME] GETS SENT TO PRISON FOR LIFE. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THE WARDEN FORCES THE PRISONERS TO FIGHT AGAINST EACH OTHER TO THE DEATH FOR PROFIT. VERY VIOLENT AND VERY BORING. VAN DAMME JUST ISN'T WHAT HE USED TO BE. THE MOVIE STARTS OUT OK, BUT IT QUICKLY RUNS OUT OF STEAM. ALMOST ALL OF THE ACTION SEQUENCES ARE DOWNRIGHT BORING. THIS MOVIE IS DEFINITELY PROOF THAT VAN DAMME'S BEST DAYS ARE WAY BEHIND HIM. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, FORMER NFL STAR LAWRENCE TAYLOR HAS A ROLE IN THIS MOVIE. ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES OF VAN DAMME'S CAREER. WHEN YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, IT'S JUST AN ACTION VERSION OF ''THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION''. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR YOUR MONEY ON THIS TIME-WASTER. AND IF YOU STILL DECIDE THAT YOU WANNA SEE IT, DON'T SAY YOU WASN'T WARNED.

lanaihil

16 May 2012

shtty movie

the movie can be summarized in a few words, its sh*t. don't waste yourtime. watch lion-heart or kick boxer or even cyborg would be timebetter spent than this RC*p. i'd give it a zero if i could. and since ihave to give 10 lines to this movie, which is not worth one, i willhave to describe this awful movie. it takes place in a prison, where hehas to fight, cuz everyone picks on him and so on. there is the"enlightend" prison mate there who sort of narrates this awful movie.he the is introduced to some fighter who's pumped up on steroids, whomhe refuses to fight. he therefore becomes a sort of a leader in therebellion against the practice of fighting prison mates. i now have 10lines, watching "OZ" would be a much better experience than thisgarbage.

cmivie

12 May 2012

A good film.

If you are a Van Damme fan, then you will like this movie. While the storyis territory he has covered before (Death Warrant), their are also otherelements that In Hell has make it a good film. First, Van Damme is not afighter, he is an engineer who is working a job in Russia. His wife ishomesick and she misses her husband. Well, hubby decides to take a few daysoff from work to spend time with the wife but a terrible act occurs thatchanges everything. His wife is raped and murdered. However, when justicefails him, Van Damme's character decides to take matters into his own handsby blowing the guy away right in the courthouse. He gets sentenced to lifein prison without parole. Yeah, this movie does not have the action in it that most other VAN Dammemovies have, but I don't think that is what director Lam and JC had in mind.This movie is about a man who loses everything: his wife, his job, hissanity. Then, he is placed "In Hell" which is the prison. There, he has todecide whether or not he wants to be a victim or fight to stay alive.This movie is not typical for JC. His character is not arrogant, or cocky,or a chick magnet. He is a simple man and I applaud Van Damme for doingsomething different. He doesn't rely on his martial arts to sell the movie.He is not a bad ass. He is a guy trying to survive.

JimmyCamel

12 May 2012

Jean Claude is the name revenge the Game!

Finally Van Damme has done it! After the (train)Disaster moviederailed. he has something he can be proud of. This is one veryunderrated prison movie,with some nice special FX and a very decentstory! the acting is also solid(Van Damme is pretty convincing)and evenone of the best performances i've seen in years(in an Action movie)ByMister Lawrence Taylor(one of the greatest Football players ever!!) Whodid a great job with the voice over,his voice is very gritty and fullof life!!The direction is also very solid(as expected) Ringo Lam is avery good action director, Who always comes up with very clever camerawork and usual very innovative fight scenes!!! This is Must Seematerial(once again) for all the Van Damme\prison movie Fans

ianlouisiana

05 May 2012

Garbo Laughs!...Harpo speaks!...Van Damme acts?.............

When did you last see a prison movie where the cons put their headsdown and did their bird,getting full remission and returning to thebosom of their families refreshed and ready to got out thieving again?Iwould venture to say it's been a while.How much more interesting towatch a bunch of degenerates hammering the sh*t out of one another anddoing unspeakable things to the weaker of their brethren in the privacyof their cells. Having watched "In Hell" I would certainly think twiceabout upsetting the Old Bill in the C.I.S.Have we counted them all backfrom the Champions' League Final this year?Are there any Man Utd orChelsea supporters languishing forgotten in some hellhole?I wouldcertainly like to think so. Monsieur Van Damme,the Beast of Belgium,isrefreshingly un beast - like as just a regular American guy servinglife without - as they say - "In Hell" or somewhere approximatingit.Disowned by his country,forgotten and unwanted he is also not verybig and so proves a natural target for the prison bullies(about 99.9%of the population,apparently).As he bears a marked resemblance to GaryGlitter he is less likely than most to be turned into a "bitch" but hecertainly isn't going to do easy bird. He pals up with a winsome youngthing with a pert botty who is soon on the receiving end of some roughmanly love. These cons spend an awful lot of time hanging out in TheYard where the devil makes work for idle hands. A bit heavy on codphilosophy and psychobabble it may be but you can't deny the movie haslots of shots of M.Van Damme not actually fighting. I'm not sure youcould call what he was doing "acting",but it certainly wasn't fighting.Lots of well 'ard geezers with No. 1 s shout and scream and the tattoocount is very high. In a series of events of increasing unlikelihoodthe way is made clear for our Claude to escape and we heave a sigh ofrelief as he drives his stolen BMW to.....where,actually?Dressed in aRussian officer's uniform he might be just a leetle conspicuous at thefirst border he comes to. But,hey,no one ever said "in Hell"wasserious,did they?

Stephen Bailey

05 May 2012

I hope JCVD actually reads these reviews

I've seen several of Van Damme's movies and I thought they were all CRAPwith the possible exception of Sudden Death, and that was only saved bythedelicious performance of Powers Booth. So, my wife forced me to watch InHell and I wasn't looking forward to it.Wow. Was I ever wrong. It's actually a pleasure to admit that at myage(40)I can still revise long-held opinions. Jean Claude Van Damme CAN act!!!Notonly that, he's bloody good. This movie is on a par with the original DieHard in showing a "normal" guy forced into (very) abnormal behaviour justtosurvive. The plot (unlike ALL his previous movies) is solid and the'peripheral' characters are actually believable. I was rooting for himthroughout. Why the hell has it taken him so long to find such 'depth'??IfMr Van Damme can star in a couple more films of this calibre then he couldwell end up being a real Star, and I'd like to see that.I'd (highly) recommend this movie as it came as such a nice surprise tome.

05 May 2012

The return of the Silence of the Lam

This review is from: In Hell (DVD) Van Dammage depicted in a bloodfest, raw with carnage and insanity. If you want a synopsis for this film, you can read any number of reviews below for they all pretty much tell the same story. However, for you doubters, rest-assured, this is NOT a martial arts flick. Van Damme never pretends to be a former world-champ. He's average Joe stuck in purgatory. What separates this film from his others is the uncustomary violence and grotesque display of inhumanity taking place In Hell. He's your friendly neighbor turned savage after the last of his sanity is stolen through careful diligence of the black world around him. His retribution is taken out upon those around him, and be warned that every player in this film eventually winds up a beast, laden with blood. Ringo Lam does another phenomenal job--out-doing Replicant with imagery and action.No, this is not Bloodsport or Kickboxer. This is humanity dragged to its lowest limits--the bowels of Hell. Van Damme might never win an oscar for acting, but he is forever entrenched within the memory of Hollywood. If you are a Jean-Claude fan or a fan of dark drama, don't pass over this flick.

04 May 2012

A Masterpiece!

Brilliance is achieved once again by Jean-Claude Van Damme! "In Hell" is about Kyle LeBlanc, a man sentenced to life in prison after he killed his wife's murderer. Yes, blissful nirvana is addressed in this simplistic yet brutal prison drama. Only an actor like Jean-Claude Van Damme can perform with such versatility! He refused to eat that savage food and lay next to all of that sewage! What kind of man is LeBlanc for turning into a beastly creature to become the number one contender in those yard fights! Dog saliva rejoice, as inmates fight for their lives and sleeper holds are the most dangerous weapon! Forget the Sandman, you have the bald man to worry about this time. But of course, Van Damme wins because he's Van Damme. "In Hell" is one of the best Van Damme movies and he was once again robbed of all awards.

barbarossa-3

02 May 2012

Absolutely ridiculous

The authors know nothing about Russians prisons, the movie isabsolutely cockamamie, has nothing common with the reality. They alsodon't that the foreign prisoners in Russia have a special prison so theforeigners NEVER live together with Russian criminals. The uniforms inthis movie look if they were stolen somewhere in Latin America.Prisoners in Russia also don't work outside the prison. Each kill inRussian prison is a subject of investigation so the prisoners kill eachother only if there some very important reasons. Playing soccer is alsoforbidden in the prisons, contacts between the prisoners are veryrestricted, no chance for bloody combats etc etc etc. So this movie hasNothing common with the reality.

davideo-2

02 May 2012

The Shu?I have shus in my cupboard

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A MealInstead*Avoid At All CostsIt's Death Warrant re-visited for Van Damme in his latest action thriller,inwhich he plays Kyle Lord,the boss at a petroleum engineering plant who isreturning home from work one day,only to discover his wife being raped andmurdered by an evil stranger.When the man is aquitted by some friends inhigh places,Kyle decides he will have to take the law in to his own handsand kills the man in front of a packed court house.He finds himselfsentenced to life without the possibility of parole in a maximum securityprison,surrounded by croc infested waters where the guards organize fightsbetween the convicts.With his physical and mental health repeatedly crushedby the system,Kyle strives to find a way out before he can take nomore.A vaguely interesting set up ultimately serves to masquerade somestereotypical,cliched characters (everything from the scared,vulnerableyoung,21 year old inmate,the surly,bold headed bully and the quiet,reclusivepsychopath who ultimately emerges as more clever and enlightened than anyonewould have thought),a wavey,cohisionless story and a disappointingshortcoming of any actual exciting action,extremely odd for another JCcollaboration with director Ringo Lam.There are a few arousing inventive touches here and there,as well as anengaging lead performance from Van Damme,who,were he trying to make amendsfor the beyond appalling Derailed,certainly succeeds.Then again,anythingwould.**

tommy61986-1

02 May 2012

van damme big comeback

after bloodsport,which is still the best van damme movie on my list,vandamme made a lot of bad movies since bloodsport.made a good one "suddendeath"..but "in hell",we finally see him in non-martial arts role and adown to earth prison,beat me up role..the only few things that i didn'tlike ,was his hair.everybody got a clean haircut except vandamme,why??i don't know.it was like watching a ultimate fighting payper view.i was waiting the the big matchup between van damme and thebig man (remind me of mel Gibson in mad max 3:beyond thunderdome).noway van damme could have beat him up..but in movies any thing canhappen..lawrence taylor's role was shocking and silent but itwork.midnight express go into extreme in Russia and this movie deliverand makes van damm into a real actor..no Oscar but at least he earn hispaycheck better than seagel

tingnting

01 May 2012

Nice try, but no shawshank

A man sentenced to life in a Russian prison has to overcome immensehardships to survive, including torture. He is forced to fight otherinmates for the wardens pleasure and it turns into a psychologicalbattle as well as a physical one. Will he survive? This movie doesn't know whether it is an action movie or a prisondrama. Ultimately it delivers neither. It doesn't work because VanDamme is too old to be anaction hero and too talentless to act.The movie does however succeed in conveying the prison'ssoul-destroying bleakness and the sense of death constantly being roundthe corner. I also have to add that, although the acting is awful,there are a few convincing moments that Van Damme manages to muster. Heis also in exceptionally good physical condition for a man nearing 50years of age This movie is the product of a fallen action hero, whoonce had a plausible movie career, but now lives in movie Hell.Good try, but no shawshank.