Half Past Dead (2002)
It’s Die Hard…
on Alcatraz, again! A newly reopened Alcatraz that is.
Is the main character an average Joe?
He’s an undercover FBI agent posing as a car thief played by Steven Seagal, making this his 4th Die Hard clone and clear winner. Of course he has a shadowy past and knows how to kick ass. In short: no.
Sidekick?
Ja Rule, he gets to act tough, but never convinces.
Any personal problems?
Sasha (Seagal) has a wife who was killed by a crime boss. He also was briefly clinically dead after being shot in the opening sequence, but both “problems” never pose to be one in the rest of the film.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
He is incarcerated due to his own doing and for a long time, so no.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
Only his buddy Ja Rule. And the rest of the inmates but he doesn’t care about them.
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
In a weird departure of the usual money it’s now Gold the bad guys are after. One of the inmates who is about to be executed never gave up the place where he hid his stash of stolen gold bars. On the night of the execution the bad guys take over New Alcatraz to extract the location of said loot. The authorities are of course on Alcatraz but are all taken down.
Any charismatic villains?
Morris Chestnut, sidekick to Seagal in Under Siege 2, now gets to work against the man instead of with him.
Is it any good?
No it’s not. It received bad reviews and is the last movie of Steven Seagal that was released theatrically. It did get a DTV-sequel that features a supporting character from this movie in the lead role. That movie deals with a prison riot, so it isn’t a Die Hard clone.
They are planning a remake, I would go for Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Joe Manganiello, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom Welling, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Runner, Derek Theler, or D.J. Cotrona as Gabe Walker; and Billy Zane, Kevin Spacey, Dominic Pace, Alec Baldwin, Gil Banks, Hugo Weaving, Robert Knepper, Brian Van Holt, Travis Fine, Skeet Ulrich, or Dash Mihok as Qualen.
I think there is a way to improve The Taking of Beverly Hills, like instead an undercover Fed helped crippled a militia group and imprisoned many members including their leader. But the leader’s brother and a few members of the group plant bombs all over Beverly Hills, and threaten to set them off if the leader is not released, and the undercover fed seeks out the bombs while his partners buy him time.
Blast is good, but it would be worthwhile to note that, Agent Lisa Reed (Vivica A. Fox) finds out that Michael Kittridge (Vinnie Jones) is actually a mercenary named Skyler Talbot and had killed the real Kittridge and stole his identity to throw off authorities.
I would like to see Christmas Rush. Anyone know where to find it?
There are some sites that list it as streamable, but I don’t know how legit they are. If you own an XBMC player I would advise you to look on that network.
What is an XBMC Player? I have never heard of one.
In most cases they are mediaplayers running Android. Because they run Android they can download an app named XBMC from Google’s Play Store. XBMC allows you to search and stream movies
Don’t forget the other scenarios like Terminal Rush, Interceptor, Crash Dive, Counter Measures, 12 Rounds: Reloaded, 12 Rounds: Lockdown, Project: Shadow Chaser, Command Performance, Demolition University, Cyberjack/Virtual Assassin, Final Voyage, and Air Rage.
For Speed 2: Cruise Control, it should have been Direct to Video, and not a sequel to Speed. The lead villain should have been a pirate instead of soft ware designer turned mad bomber trying to blow up a ship.
Every time I see “Air Force One” I remember that in the Tom Clancy novels, the character of Jack Ryan becomes president. This film could have been part of the saga starring Harrison Ford, if he had continued it.