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Scott Wiper. Scott Wiper... The name doesn't ring a bell does it? Neither did it to me. I was browsing my friends DVD collection and came across this little gem. On asking him what was it like he said just watch it and see. So I did and found it highly enjoyable.

Scott Wiper is a young actor, writer, producer, director and has gathered himself a cast that would be at the top of any hollywood directors wish list. Joe Pantaliano, Lou Diamond Phillips, Natasha Henstridge and Andre Braugher. All involved in this movie are showing the acting talents that they are capable and are clearly having fun and this fun exerts itself over the viewer.

Scott Wiper is Boomer, a chicago cop, who becomes disenchanted with the big city life after a bust. He embarks on a road trip to get to former girlfriend, who still loves him, in the picturesque village of Cedar Falls. Then all hell breaks loss...

This film is notable for a few things. Wiper as lead actor, writer, and director, Joe Pantaliano in a typically strong performance as a bizarre one-armed detective named Flash, and how wiper has managed to create a movie that looks big budget on an obviously low budget. The fantastic locals and the brilliant action scenes hint at a director who could accomplish big things given the time and the money.

At times i was thinking that Boomer's day couldn't get any worse but this helps us in feeling more sympathetic towards him in his quest to get home.

Finally i highly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to any self respecting fan of the action genre. A definate winner 8.5!

When the movie started i thought that its gonna be just another one of those stupid ones where the most important thing is a car blowing up. That would be my guess but as the story developed after 15 minutes, the movie got better. A variety of good characters made it even better and a touch of humor even more. But this does not mean that things wont be blowing up. The story is also developing pretty good and it takes unexpected turns as the good guy turn bad and the bad ones turn good. The whole concept of a dude being in the wrong place at the wrong time is good and till the end you'll just be waiting for it to hit you with another new situation that you haven't seen before, nor later.

As a serious crime drama, this totally sucks. But if viewed as a spoof on the genre, it's quite amusing. Every cliche is squeezed into the plot; much of the action is over-the-top. If they were trying for a hard-core, gritty flick to be taken seriously, they flopped. But if seen as a less-slapstick variation on films like Clive Owens' underappreciated Shoot'Em Up, it plays a lot better.

A BETTER WAY TO DIE is hardly a B-movie gem, and yet it's certainly an entertaining time-waster, a star vehicle and labour of love for a director/writer/actor you've never heard of and a movie packed to the brim with chases and shoot-outs. In terms of pacing this is an unstoppable movie with all manner of crime clichés and violent events to propel the slim storyline.

In essence, star Scott Wiper plays a down-on-his-luck type who finds himself pursued by multiple bad guys, including gangsters, dealers and corrupt government agents. It feels a bit like a Tarantino flick, something like TRUE ROMANCE, in that there are multiple criminals and they're all battling against each other. Wiper is instantly forgettable as a leading man but I quite enjoyed his work as writer and director here.

Star actors are low on the ground, but viewers are treated to Lou Diamond Phillips giving a laidback turn as a corrupt cop, HOSTEL's Rick Hoffman as a thug, Natasha Henstridge (SPECIES) as the love interest and another decent role for Andre Braugher (THE MIST). The action comes thick and fast and I'll admit it, I had a ball with this one, even if it's not something you'd want to watch again once you know what happens.

I was pleasantly surprised with this flick, as it looked like a typical and un-original action film whereas it turned out to be fairly original and extremely entertaining. The central character is called "Boomer" and is played by Scott Wiper who is a very talented actor, director and writer and it seemed as though he put a lot of thought and effort into this movie, which really pays off. The opening scene is one of the best i've seen for a long time and is obviously influenced by the 'Quentin Tarantino' style of writing and film-making...which of course is a good thing. I was also surprised at the strength of the cast, which includes such hollywood names as Lou Diamond Phillips, Joe Pantoliano, Natasha Henstridge and Andre Braugher.

The highlight of this film has to be Andre Braugher's character 'Cleveland'. Cleveland is a fairly complex character and quite humerous, he's an assassin with a good heart and really makes the film much more entertaining (as do most of the characters). However, I was quite disappointed with some of this film as the big names such as Natasha Henstridge and Joe Pantoliano hardly get any screen time and I was very disappointed as I thought these actors/actresses would be significant characters, which they weren't. All in all 'A Better Way To Die" is an extremely entertaining action flick which takes you on a roller-coaster ride of action and surprises.