Highly Overrated But Still Good

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Our old buddy Seagal plays Robert "Bobby" Samuels, an agent for the "IDTF", or International Drug Task Force, in Romania. When a psycho named Costel (Shahlavi) begins going around raping and killing people, not only does this upset Bobby, but it also tees off a criminal overlord named Dimitri (Badarau) whose toes Costel is stepping on. Despite initially being rivals because they're on opposite sides of the law, Bobby and Dimitri enter into an uneasy alliance so they can both achieve their aim: stop Costel. Will they accomplish  their goal, or will they succumb to the depression of Eastern Europe? Dare you find out...? In 1994, Motorhead, Ugly Kid Joe, and Ice-T all teamed up for the song "Born To Raise Hell", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Airheads, released that same year. Presumably they weren't singing about Steven Seagal, but there are plenty of airheads in this run-of-the-mill latter-day Seagal DTV yawner. Perhaps Seagal himself is still bitter he wasn't invited to perform on the track, as he is a musician, don't'cha know. He's really got the blues. One minute he wants to be an Asian Martial Artist, the next minute a Black bluesman, the next minute a Southern "Lawman". Anyone but himself. Our working psychological theory for now is that Seagal is constantly running from his true self, which is why he constantly uses voice and body doubles as well. What he's running from, we don't know.  But he should run more often (we'll try to keep the fat jokes to a minimum, but no promises).As for the movie itself, it has that bleak Romanian DTV vibe regular viewers will recognize by now. To its credit, it doesn't hide the fact that it was shot in the land of Vlad the Impaler and pretend it's New York or something, but Seagal more closely resembles Count Chocula than anyone else more fearsome. Maybe his next movie will be a ghost story where he takes on the title role of Boo Berry. Born to Raise Hell just presents us with more depressing, soulless brutality served up as undemanding entertainment for less discerning viewers. Sure, it's all tempered by the fact that we can now gauge the BMI of Seagal's stuntman and Seagal himself is always shot with these bizarre shadows on his face, but none of this muck is really floating our boat as viewers. Seagal (or whoever is doing his ADR) is a bit more animated and less whispery this time around, but you'll still need the subtitles on the DVD if you want any hope of knowing what people are saying.It's loaded with those quick-cut editing effects that are inexplicably used by movie makers of the modern DTV era. Unless it's all a conspiracy by LensCrafters and Pearle Vision Centers working behind the scenes with them so we all need glasses after watching a few DTV's, there's no reason for them to exist. They're not cool, they're just annoying. The same could be said for the dumb dialogue said in this movie, and what Seagal says is not tough-sounding, and doesn't add to his image. It just makes him look like a cross between Eddie Munster and a walrus in an oversized leather coat. He ends most sentences with the words "boy" or "man". Evidently he is judging how mature you look, which is just creepy.  After the second half of the movie, it just spins its wheels, nothing noteworthy happens and you're mentally checked out and thinking about what you're going to be eating for dinner that night. Not unlike...well, you get it.While we appreciated the presence of fan favorite Shahlavi as the baddie, and perhaps the quick-and-silly fight/action scenes, we just thought it was typical crude oil from the Seagal spigot. Seagal fans may defend this one, as they are wont to do, but we just weren't feeling it.

Here we go again, another Seagal DVD, made in Romania where low taxes mean it's cheap to film there. Steamroller Productions/Voltage Pictures have been cranking out these low-budget, time-killers quickly and because I've been watching Seagal's movies since I was a kid, I can't resist renting them, when they pop up at the video store.Born To Raise Hell is not an improvement over Seagal's recent DVD releases but it does have its good points. It has a more structured plot and better music than some of his previous work. The fight scenes were a little short but adleast Seagal was more involved in them than his body double. The obligatory climactic fight was also over pretty quickly and the main bad guy didn't meet a very satisfying death. The shoot-outs were okay. I liked the gun-smoke in the air during the climactic shoot-out, but there was absolutely no recoil or kick when Seagal fired his shotgun. For such a powerful weapon, this looked a little odd.These formulaic films always leave room in the budget for a small explosion or a car crash or both. In Born To Raise Hell a balcony blows up sending two guys to their death and as far as stunts go it looks okay.If you didn't like the look of Seagal's previous DVD efforts, then this movie will not win you over. If however, like me, you've become used to the look and style of these films, then you know what to expect. So just go along for the ride and take it for what it is. A low-budget, formulaic Seagal action film. The Storyline--Seagal is a drug enforcement agent in Romania. He's going after a fairly sadistic mid-level drug trafficker, named Castel, who enjoys bashing, raping, robbing and killing rich people. Using information from a low-level dealer and also a high-level trafficker, Seagal closes in on Castel. As expected in these type of films Seagal's partner is killed, making his mission more personal.I'd also like to mention Seagal's body double again. I've noticed in a lot of these DVD's that Seagal will be talking to somebody, then a rear head camera shot will reveal the body double, before the camera cuts back to Seagal's face. You don't need sharp eyes to spot this because the double's hairstyle never quite matches Seagal's hair. I'm pleased to say that in this movie the double is less obvious because Seagal wears his jacket collar pushed up. This hides the neck and hairline making the double less of a standout. This was a good move on the production teams part to help hide this annoying problem. There is also a little bit of voice dubbing in the film, mainly at the start, but adleast the voice sounds similar to Seagal, unlike some other films of his.P.S---I hadn't watched Seagal's first movie 'Above The Law' in quite a while, so I decided to put it on the other night. I noticed that his hair looks like it's balding from the front, his hair also looks very thin. His hair these days is very thick and full as if he's wearing a hair piece or uses spray on hair, maybe he had some kind of surgery? His hair is just so thick and fake and he doesn't have the high forehead, thinning hairline that he had back in 1988.Also in 'Above The Law' Seagal sure could run and he looked thin, healthy and fit. Nowadays he can only manage a short lumbering jog and his face and stomach are bloated. Sometimes his face is so puffed up that it looks like he's had an allergic reaction to some bad shell-fish.Well enough about that. Lots of people put on weight as they get older. I like Seagal and I'll continue to watch his DVD's and other projects he brings out. He is less than a year away from turning 60 years of age and I wish him all the best for his future endeavours.

Just watched BORN TO RAISE HELL, and i've got mixed feelings about it. I won't bore you with the plot (partly because they wasn't much of one, anyhow)But first off, let me say the cinematography was good. The locations and camera work were crisp, sharp and better than most DTV releases. It could have done with less of the (as VERN calls them) "Avid Fart" technique (of jump-cuts, speed-ed up, slowed down shots)Seagal was OK (extremely foul-mouthed, i might add) but (and as usual, with these Eastern European releases) he only had about 70% screen time (as the rest was filled up, with either semi-naked female dancers, "Avid Fart" stuff, or other character plots)The dubbing (as previously mentioned) is rife throughout (not as bad as ATTACK FORCE, but almost near enough) The doubles are also there, in the movies 4 (or so) fight scenes, not particularly noticeable, but for nearly every shot of Seagal fighting, there's another 'Below the neckline' or 'From behind' to match it. And it's all the more infuriating, because Seagal does some fast handy-work, punch kick and flip combos himself, in this movie...so the doubles weren't really needed. The fight scenes also consist of a lot of fast (close-up) edits also.The plot is (like i previously stated) wafer-thin....which consists of Seagal leading a strike force police unit in Romania...getting the drop on some drug dealers, who rat out an even bigger criminal (not to mention psychopath) to get a lighter sentence. This Psychopath likes to commit 'home invasions' on rich couples, and rapes the wives before killing them both.Then Seagal teams up with another mobster, and they both go after the psychopath.......The end.Despite the fact, that this is a by-the-numbers Seagal effort (nowhere near as good as A DANGEROUS MAN, URBAN JUSTICE or DRIVEN TO KILL) it does have a few interesting points. The plot (however slim) has parallels to early 70's Italian 'Polizia' movies (in that it shows the Law teaming up with the lesser evils to bring down the greater ones)And Seagal adds real police procedures to the 'raid' and 'arrest' sequences (probably picked up from his stint as a real life deputy) A mixed bag for sure, but not without interest....but a step back from A DANGEROUS MAN. The one good thing about a less than memorable Seagal movie, is that, when i watch it again (in about 6 months time) i'll barely remember a thing about it (thus, it's like watching a new movie) and chances are, i'll either see something i didn't notice before, or it'll just plain grow on me. Either way, it's far from the turkey it could have been, but could have been better. I suppose it's A DANGEROUS MAN's fault, for being so good

After seeing A DANGEROUS MAN I almost said I'm through with Steven Seagal movies but then I decided to pick up this one in the hope Seagal could be redeemed, it turns out this film was one of his more solid DTV efforts aside from the fact that it was still flawed, it had the dubbing problem but not as much as his other films, Seagal's fight scenes were edited a bit fast although there were shots that showed him actually doing the fight scenes and Seagal wears a thick coat to hide his weight now I regarded that as one of his trademarks so I didn't really give that much thought.The best moments of the film were the shootouts, they were very well done and also pretty tense, something I haven't seen from a Seagal movie in a long time, the acting was surprisingly good this time even from Seagal himself but there are two other actors that stand out, Darren Shalavi who was ideal for the part of the villain and Dan Badaru who plays a Romanian gangster out to get revenge for the death of his wife and son.Also now that I thought about it, this film features a brief love scene between Steven Seagal and a woman possibly young enough to be his daughter but she does look legal and very attractive, after seeing that scene and remembering Seagal also wrote the script, I reckoned this is one of the interesting things about being a writer and an actor, you give your own character a story and a hot little number and you add a steamy love scene between the two of you, now that's a different kind of fantasizing right there only Seagal puts it down on paper and it gets put on film with him in the scene, "sigh" some guys have all the fun.Overall, its one of the better Steven Seagal DTV entries but it is way too flawed to measure up to the caliber of a Steven Seagal classic like UNDER SIEGE.