Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Winifred
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
SnoopyStyle
Anthony Stowe (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a bitter heroine addict. He's also a New Orleans police detective. His undercover sting to get his former partner turned drug lord Gabriel Callahan (Stephen Rea) goes terribly wrong. Two cops are killed. Back at the station, he turns in a fellow cop for trying to help his drug dealing nephew. His estranged wife tells him that she's pregnant by another man. His life is a mess. Callahan ambushes him leaving him in a coma.Van Damme is trying to do some deeper material. I like some of the first half even though it is still solidly a B-movie. The action directing is trying to be edgy but it's somewhat flailing around. The actors are mostly subpar. Van Damme does an admirable job but then the movie does an 180 in the middle. He goes into a coma and his character is swapped. The first half is a B-movie with potential. The second half turns it into a muddle.
kankawin25013
I think everyone (including me) have got the biggest surprise on Jean-Claude Van Damme. Until Death maybe his first-ever movie which he doesn't show his martial art skill as same as his famous 360 degree karate kick. Likewise, Van Damme radically changed himself from his famous character as 100% handsome and gentle hero to become the narcotic and crooked cop who was too nasty to intimate. I highly appreciated withVan Damme due to his ability to go on his role in this movie. Until Death didn't show any "hero-charcter" of Van Damme in many previous films, so it could be noted that "No more gentlemen in this film!" Full dark side character (in the first half time of the movie) and no more martial arts fight, but gun fight instead, even he could show some skill in some scene. (liked he show his skill to Van Huffel in the middle of the movie) However, Van Damme could show everyone that he wasn't only good in fighting or he can does only the fighting-action movie, but he could played the drama role too. His character was very amazing, a bad guy was changed himself after the shot to coma. I truly believe that Van Damme is one of the greatest actor in the Hollywood as same as Until Death is one of his greatest film in his acting career.For other one, Stephen Rea did a good job, he looked very nasty for his role as Anthony Stowe's former partner who later became the drug kingpin. His look liked many heinous villain in the movie, motor mouth, ruthless and no mercy. Selina Giles, Mark Dymond, William Ash and other also OK with their role. Although, I think William Ash should have more role because after he helped Anthony Stowe, he didn't have much role and then he was shot during the big police's raid. As of all, I think the cast is very good.For the plot, I think Until Death is the great movie. The plot of the dirty cop who turned later to be the good cop after a shot to coma is very interested, especially when the guy who received this role is the hero-character guy liked Jean-Claude Van Damme. In my opinion, the fast-paced telling of the movie is very clear to understand about what happened with Anthony Stowe at first and after he was shot and recovered from the coma status. Every scene looked realistic and reasonable. I also liked how the crew didn't put some women's hurting by men scene in this movie, I hated that stuff even it had to put in the movie for realistic because it looked nasty. Thus, Until Death is the very good film to show that some action movie didn't have to put Women's Hurting in their movie. I appreciated it.However, some scene in Until Death was corny. Several black and white scene about the incident occurred during Anthony Stowe's coma is uncleared. What happened? It should have some explanation or talking by some character in the movie because it could make many one confused and it looked like the unnecessary scene. Furthermore, many body maybe not like the climax scene which shown the non-stop action because it didn't get to extreme and looked mediocre. Nonetheless, I think the climax scene could be like that because Until Death wasn't the fighting-action movie. I had a chance to watch both style of ending, North America version or European version. I was OK with both ending because the director and the crew maybe have their reason to make two versions of ending.For the summary, I think Until Death is one of the great drama-action movies you should watch. The new style of Jean-Claude Van Damme's acting and the drama scene are the reason why you ought to find its DVD. Until Death is Great!
Stephan Klose
I really was pleasantly surprised by this little movie. I guess most of you know the plot already. Van Damme is a pretty good, but sadly heroin addicted cop. His wife is gonna leave him. Everything is turning south. Then he get's shot and falls in a coma for 6 month. Then he awakens and rebuilds his life. Sadly his old nemesis hasn't let go. So it all comes to the inevitable showdown. What sounds like the plot to a nice little action movie is actually more a drama/thriller than just a simple action movie. To be exact, there isn't really that much action in the movie. Is it still worth watching? Definitely. Especially because Van Damme really delivered in this movie. Some of the other cast sadly seem a bit lost during the whole thing. Aside from that the movie is really compelling and you can really get into it. It's a real departure from the regular JCVD movies. The movie has a few negative aspects too, sadly. First and foremost the production value seems really low. The movie cost about 15 Million but actually looks even cheaper. It really shows that most if it was filmed in Bulgaria. Many people have complained about the end of the movie. I saw the European version which had the dramatic ending, not the mega happy ending. So I was pleasantly surprised that the ending even made me feel something. Final words: If you are looking for a cheap action movie, you better go with a recent Steven Seagal Film. This one is actually a compelling Drama with action Elements. Definitely worth watching.
KHayes666
Growing up in the 90's it was almost routine to watch a Van Damme movie where he jump kicks everyone into oblivion and does a split in the process. This movie is quite different for he plays the vigilante crooked cop for once, maybe its either his age or the role but it was far from what I've gotten used to....and may I say this is for the better.In this caper, Van Damme plays a down on his luck crooked cop who is gunned down by his former partner and put into a coma. When he comes out of it he realizes the error of his ways and vows to take out the man who put him in this position.As the film progresses its unnerving to see Van Damme in a role that hit so close to home with his real life drug addiction, but still its quite a difference from his pretty boy savate kick days of the 90's.Stephen Rea rocks the role he plays, but the real star was Van Damme for once. As he gets older his days of diving through windows and taking on Bolo Yeung are over, so roles like this should become more common.The movie itself is a decent flick if you're into the darker cop genre so its worth a look 6 out of 10