Belly of the Beast | | Cast : | Steven Seagal, Byron Mann, Monica Lo | | Director : | Siu-Tung Ching | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | December 07, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 30, 2005 | | Summary | Who is the Beast? | Content
 | Greetings fellow fans of Lord Steven!
Why do fans call Seagal Lord Steven? Because of his rampant, out-of-control, massive ego, why else?
This film is often considered by Lord Steven fans to be the best of his newer films (aka the post-mafia era of Seagal, for any true Seagalologist). I will start off by saying that I disagree. Before I say why, let us have some preliminary commentary:
First of all, this film is a handsomer production than many of Seagal's other recent outings, and the exotic locals in Thailand certainly add to the proceedings. Seagal also here seems to care a bit more about the quality of the film than he has in other recent offerings (excepting Into the Sun).
The action in this film was helmed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung, who also worked on such masterpieces as Hero and Dragon Inn. As Mark Pollard at Kungfucinema.com states, this is probably Seagal's greatest action makeover. Now, with that said, what you end up thinking about this film will probably depend on whether you like this treatment or not. Kungfucinema.com, for example, considers this to be Seagal's greatest film. I do not. Here's where we differ:
Unlike many of Seagal's other recent films, all of which had little-to-no fighting whatsoever, this one has quite a lot. The thing is, it is not the Seagal we all know and love. What we have here is the Matrix version of Seagal, with tricky editing being used to paste a bunch of over-produced fight scenes together after-the-fact. Lord Steven can even slow down time in this one, as you will see in the ridiculous and nutty climax. In one scene, the marketplace fight, Seagal is seen using only one arm to fend off a man with a meat cleaver. If one watches this weapon in the man's left hand one can see it disappear and reappear in his hand as Seagal hits him several times. Why does the weapon undergo this vanishing act? The answer is because we are not really watching Lord Steven block and counter, block and counter, but are really watching a bunch of isolated movements edited together to make it look like Seagal is still fast. So, gripe one: the over-editing.
Gripe two: wirefu. I don't know about you guys, but I like Seagal's fight scenes because they tend to be more realistic than many other martial art fight scenes in movies (even though Aikido is pretty darn impractical in an actual fight, but oh well). If you yourself practice martial arts then you can likely affirm what I am about to say: In a real martial arts fight you are not going to see a lot of leaping, jumping, twirling, or high kicks. The reason is simple, if you do any of these things, you're gonna get your a$$ handed to you, because you are either leaving yourself open to your opponent, turning your back to your opponent, or leaving the ground, and if your opponent knows his a$$ from his elbow he will take advantage of such things. (For a lesson on why one should never jump in a real martial arts fight, watch The Prodigal Son, in which Sammo Hung teaches Yuen Biao such things.) With that said, some of us like Seagal's fight scenes precisely because, by watching them, it is obvious that he really knows not only martial arts, but how to use it in a real fight. This movie destroys that, showing Seagal relying on overediting and wirefu (which is growing extrememly tiresome in ANY action film-blame The Matrix).
Gripe three: It's been awhile since Seagal has gone up against an able fighter in the climax of one his films. He is usually in "takin out the garbage" mode, fighting baddies that have the reflexes of crash test dummies. In this film he does go head-to-head with another martial artist, but it is readily apparent that for about half the entire fight, it is not actually Seagal we are watching! Yes, for many of the fights in this film, Seagal utilizes a stunt double that is more than half his size, and effect is that the fights look like something from the later episodes of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, after Carradine would no longer film his own fight scenes. The sad thing is, Seagal is no where near as old as David Carradine!
Of the martial arts in this film, one nice thing should be said: In this movie we definately see Seagal using more than Aikido and Karate. It seems he's been toying with Tai Chi, which adds a nice flourish to some of his fights. Acting issues, editing issues, and fight choreography issues aside, it is safe to say that Seagal is still a great martial artist. And by the way, all the critics out there who make fun of Seagal's "slapping," you simply know nothing about martial arts. There are far more ways to strike someone than punching, such as striking with the base of the back of the hand, the palm, with straightened fingers in a stabbing motion, etc.
All-in-all this is better than most of Lord Steven's other post-mafia films. However, it is not better than Into the Sun. I and many others are sick and tired of wirefu, which looks like crap and is not how a martial arts fight looks in real life anyway. For a better, recent Seagal film where Steven also seems to care about the quality of the film (meaning he bothers to dub his own lines-though some of that nonsense is present in Belly of the Beast), and with way more realistic fight scenes, check out Into the Sun, which was far superior.
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| Rating | | | Date | May 02, 2005 | | Summary | about the movie belly of the beast....... | Content
| This story is basically about how a terrorist group is being crushed. It contains a good number of action or fighting in this movie/film. A good recommendation to those whom are interested in this genre of movie/film. Enjoy....
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| Rating | | | Date | April 13, 2005 | | Summary | or an alternate title "THE BEAST WITH THE BIG BELLY" | Content
| No doubt the "BELLY" of the beast refers to Seagal's ever expanding body. With all the hype we hear these days of hollywood types starving themselves, hiring trainers so they'll look good, you'd think ol' Steve would get a clue and shove himself away from the trough occasionally.
Alas, that is soooo obviously not the case. Seagal lumbers through scene after scene displaying his mediocre acting ability to the fullest. If anyone else did the same freakin' movie over and over (just different titles, folks) he'd be really good by this time. Not Seagal.
Is his ego so big that he thinks no one will notice the stunt doubles? Oh, sure, I believe that is really him climbing up the side of the house....without the benefit of a derrick. The camera cuts away from his face so often a person could get whiplash. I remember oh so long ago when he did the stunts and it was worth watching. Now a really bad Jackie Chan (and there are some stinkers) has better action than anything Seagal does.
This "let's not even bother trying to sell it at the movies, but go straight to video" waste of film has Seagal as the same character he always plays. Doing the same illegal things he always does, but not as well. Trying to be THE macho hero, which is impossible considering what he's working with these days. The plot is thin, the dialog is worth muting, and the hero should retire while he still has some imagined shreds of dignity left.
Last night I watched OUT FOR JUSTICE. Pretty much the same storyline, but with some excellent action scenes. Add that with a couple of superb actors, William Forsythe and Gina Gershon, and you got a decent movie going. The camera backs up when Seagal goes to work and you see some good stuff going on. And, you know it's him doing the job. With UNDER SEIGE he had the basics for a great career in movies. Apparently that's over. He's just sliding along, taking the money, and not caring about the quality of work that is being done.
As for the BELLY, if you must watch this thing, keep an eye out for the monk. He is what even allows this movie to get a one star rating.
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| Rating | | | Date | February 26, 2005 | | Summary | Is The Title Referring To Seagal? | Content
| Ol' Slabface is back and still doing his thing, only recently it's all been downgraded to the direct-to-video market(like we didn't see this coming years ago). Steve plays an ex-CIA agent who has to jump back in action after a ten year......oh, hell, who cares? It's Seagal being Seagal, who gives a rat's behind if he's ex-CIA, a cop, a SEAL, a cook, a dance instructor, etc? In this film he gets bit by the Bronson bug as his daughter is kidnapped by terrorists in Thailand. He teams up with an old CIA buddy turned monk(actually a very cool character that upstages Seagal), and go on your typical B action film rampage to get his daughter back. You get the bad techno music, the good guy who's really the bad guy, Seagal's irritating way of cocking his head from side to side when he speaks, the gang of thugs who start a fight with Seagal in a bar(or in this case a dance club)for no real reason other than to show another Seagal action sequence. And speaking of Seagal action sequences, the process of film editing has become Seagal's best friend as it tries to hide his lack of physical speed. This is done by speeding up the film when needed as well as going into slow motion. By the climax of the film a supernatural element is thrown in at the last minute in the form of a Steven Seagal voodoo doll! The final fight scene has Seagal and villian shooting at one another(Seagal with gun, villian with bow) in a hallway and it's done with that crappy Matrix "bullet time" technique. I thought it looked silly in the Matrix, but this has to be one of the most inane things I've ever seen. If you can make it through the final battle without laughing, you're a much better man than I. But as much as I rip on Slabface, I have to love him or else I wouldn't bother watching these films. Just keep it under your hats, people. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 02, 2005 | | Summary | Belly of Seagal | Content
| If you ever had the morbid curiosity or even the love of Seagal films, then this entry should get a few laughs.
Seagal is now firmly in straight to DVD territory, now over 50 and with an ever-expanding face. He's getting paid quite well to make the same film over and over and over again, now with Asian directors and other assorted action hacks who are experienced at making the same film over and over and over again.
The story, plot, etc, are totally irrelevant. This one takes place mostly in Thailand, and looks to have been photographed there, so we have exotic locations as one drawing point. However, you may have difficulty figuring out where the action is happening because the direction and editing are appalling--the film is borderline incomprehensible, and probably for the better.
As for the action, it's quite funny. Seagal nows seems firmly dedicated to avoiding any and all stunts except for very amusing shots of him sliding across the floor (being pulled by wire hoisted by at least four men, I bet) or a quick tumble in the frame. The action scenes are all the same. A lot of constipated closeups of Seagal grunting, squatting, and moving his hands around martial-arts style that, though probably just a bit theatrical, is downright funny. People fly through the air like Crouching Tiger, making a lot of faces before being dispatched by Seagal, or rather his stuntman. The violence is not the brutal, wrist-snapping, bone-crunching spectacles of his American films, which seem like masterpieces of cinema compared to this, but rather the more fluid, theatrical fight scenes of a Jackie Chan, except everybody (presumably) dies after being sliced, smacked, and thrown through walls and other convenient pieces of the set. And there's always a nod towards Seagal's ridiculous ego and absurdity, which he is apparently unaware of. Go ahead and count the number of times Seagal's character is shown in a fight scene with his head cut out, followed by a closeup of Seagal, followed by a shot of his 'character' flying through the air, which only heavy duty wires could accomplish even if it was Seagal.
Seagal would actually be perfect for an hourly TV show like this, sort of a Walker Texas Ranger show with international spies as the gimmick. Your TV may have difficulty accomodating the countless closeups of Seagal's bloated, tanned face, but it would be good fun and many chuckles on a weekly basis.
Only die-hard and extremely morbid Seagal fans need apply to this one. There is too much to talk about here, from the cheap titilation to the absolutely unacceptable hints of a Seagal love-scene, with a Thai prostitute of all people. Oh, and don't forget the Buddhist sub-plot. The man should really be applauded for trying. |
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