Into the Sun

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Not what it could have been..., 2008-03-29
In Steven Seagal's AE Biography, he was very upbeat about his (at that time) upcoming feature, "Into the Sun". He touted it as the movie he had always wanted to make, his triumphant return to Japan for a big-budget Yakuza vs Seagal movie...so I had high hopes...which were dashed soon after the film began. br / br /The movie wasn't his worst, but it was not anywhere close to his best efforts, and isn't worth buying, in my opinion, as it doesn't bear repeated watching the way "Out For Justice" or "Hard To Kill" does. br / br /

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Swing A Sword, Steven!, 2008-03-16
Rumor has it that "Into The Sun" - Steven Seagal's third action offering of 2005 - was originally penned to be a rework of Sydney Pollack's cult picture, "The Yakuza". As interesting as it would've been to see 54-year-old Seagal in the role of Robert Mitchum, he manages to throw together a fairly decent story of his own with this little straight-to-DVD bit of actionery, centered around the exploits of a CIA agent tracking down Yakuza crime lords responsible for the assassination of a Tokyo governor. br / br /Yes, it's practically the same story being told for the umpteenth time, and Seagal continues to portray the only repetitious character he knows how to, but unlike the sloppy DTV debacles that were "Ticker", "The Foreigner", and "Out For A Kill", "Into The Sun" shows promise in being the most firmly-molded Seagal feature since "Exit Wounds". Sure, it's got a handful of thoroughly useless characters, the number of fight scenes is limited, and the plotline is a bit too complicated for its own good, but for a Seagal film, it shows a lot of promise. br / br /Steven Seagal is Travis Hunter - a best-of-the-best CIA agent who's tired of his job, and accepts his latest assignment only under the condition that it will be his last. Paired with a thoroughly clueless partner (Matthew Davis, "Below"), he returns to the streets of his adolesence home, Tokyo, to seek the Yakuza- and Tong (Chinese mafia)-associated assassins (Takao Osawa and Ken Lo) responsible for the killing of a campaigning governor. Along the way, he rediscovers his past as a master swordsman, his benign relationship with the Yakuza of old, and an old flame (Kanako Yamaguchi, in her first and only role). br / br /As any other kind of action film, I might've rate this film lower, but as a Seagal-starring feature, it's more than passable. Effetively hiding his gut underneath a trenchcoat, Seagal is surprisingly nimble in some pretty decent hand-to-hand and sword fights, and the brutality of these encounters is realistic enough to show that Seagal isn't playing around anymore - like he was in "Out For A Kill". The story itself, while occassionally going off on useless tangents (Seagal's relationships with his doomed girlfriend and a female agent only distract from the plot), is solid and comprehensive enough to appeal to the "Seagal standard". The other actors pull their weight as well, with Takao Osawa standing out as particularly effective as a young, coldhearted crime lord. br / br /While not dynamic nor refined enough to measure up to the likes of his earlier features, "Into The Sun" offers a satisfying high for Seagal-fans starving for their next fix. It's a shame to think that Seagal followed up this fun little exploit with the atrocious "Submerged" and "Today You Die", but inconsistency is something that we fans of Master Steven have come to live with. I wholeheartedly recommend giving "Sun" both a rent and a purchase.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Judged unfairly by most..., 2007-07-12
This is the first Steven Seagal movie I've ever seen, I bought it at Kmart for 5 dollars on sale. Normally, I wouldn't have bought this movie, but I was in the mood for an action movie (cheesy or otherwise) and for only 5 bucks it seemed like a good buy. br /After reading the reviews and watching the movie, I must say that I don't have the buyer's remorse. It wasn't the best action movie I've ever seen, but it's a far cry from being the worst. br /Although it was direct to video here in the states, it did show up in theaters abroad, and it's not low budget either. It's filmed rather well, has an okay story, and the acting is good. br /While the villans in this movie are all overly cliched Japanesse Mob bosses and henchmen, and it doesn't really fit that Travis Hunter (Steven Seagal) seems to know everything about the Japanesse underworld even though he did grow up in Japan, the movie flows pretty well and (although a little sad) had a good ending. br / br /Maybe it's just because this is the first Steven Seagal movie I've ever seen, so I can't compare it to his other movies, but I liked this movie, and I don't regret buying it. Heck, I can even see myself watching it again... br / br /Now let's talk about the rating... br /I usually don't agree with the MPAA's ratings, namely because they're always a bit off in my opinion. Yes, this movie is rated R and that is a proper rating due to the ammount of swearing violence. However, on the back of the box, it also mentions nudity and sexual situations, which aren't that prevalant... It should've said "brief partial nudity" due to the fact that the only nudity you actually see depicts 2 women swimming topless in an oversized fish tank at a club, some 50 feet away from the camera for about 10 seconds. br /Also, there's only one sex scene, and it's down right mild compared to the scenes you'd see in other R rated movies. Honestly, it's about 7 seconds long, showing Hunter and his fiancee kissing each other, then it shows the sun rise outside of their house, them waking up together, then it jumps to another scene. br / br /The violence, while there aren't alot of fight scenes in this movie, is still enough for it to merit an R rating. And the F*** word is spoken many times throughout the movie. br / br /Pros: A good action movie, can be a little corny at times, but still good. br /Good acting. br /Well coriographed fighting sequences. br /Good musical score for the most part. br /While the story villans are slightly generic, you won't find yourself saying, "It's been done." br / br / br /Cons: Camera has been sped up slightly to make the action appear more exciting, but it doesn't work... br /The main bag guy, Kurado, is WAY too overly cliched. A young, arrogant, overly aggressive man, who makes Hunter's job alot easier by killing most of his own men! br /Why does hunter know everything about the Japanesse underworld? I'm an Italian-American, and I don't know anything about the American underworld except for what I've seen in the movies... br /On the cover, it shows Hunter walking away from an exploding area with a grenade launcher strapped to his back. (neither of which appear in the movie... No explotions, no grenade launcher.) br / br /Overall, I think this movie was judged unfairly by others... Although it's no 5 star blockbuster, this is a decent action movie in my opinion, and worth the cheap price they're asking for it if you're in the mood for an action movie. br / br /Overall rating: 3.8 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Yakuza Duck and Cover, 2007-03-07
I like movies dealing with the Yakuza. This Steven Seagal vehicle is not bad. This is no BLACK RAIN but Seagal's strong silent type with an understanding for most things of Eastern origin, especially martial in nature, seem to work to the film's advantage. Having seen better days or not, this Seagal film is entertaining. br /

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

the bad guys get iced, 2006-06-15
Well I like to see a one-man army lay waste a wall-to-wall cast of hoodlums and devastate Japanese restaurant sets (tongs, yakuza, mafia, and terroristas are all good kendo fodder), but this film just gathers together every action flick cliche there ever was and manages to dumb it down from there - the dialog is dire, the humor pancake flat, and there is not enough action to justify getting out of bed for and it is as badly shot as any kung fu hustle I ever saw. get real