Phase IV - Spiel des Todes

Dean Cain plays an ex high school football star turned journalist with Navy Seal training. Yes, seriously. I can't make this up. He stumbles upon a conspiracy when his doctor friend is accused of a murder, but then is killed himself. Further digging reveals college students linked to the dead doc, diseases and the bent pharmaceutical industry.

Brian Bosworth is the crooked detective in charge of making it all go away and tying up loose ends. Canadian actor Nigel Bennett (Forever Knight) plays the flicks corrupt politician tied to the drug company. The story pulls no punches while offering up the standard checklist of car chases, foot chases, few explosions, expendable supporting characters, a bad line or two of dialog.

Halifax, Nova Scotia stands in for New England, USA so quite a list of recognizable locations to be spotted for anyone who's ever lived there. Otherwise being a fan of Cain, Bosworth or willing to shut off your brain and enjoy this nonsense is a must. A pretty standard dtv actioner of it's day nothing is super painful, but also not many surprises on hand.

One of my guilty pleasures is The Marine. Not a great movie, but fun nonetheless. This is not The Marine, as Heather Mathieson is no Kelly Carlson. Dean Cain is certainly no John Cena either, but he did give a credible performance as an ex-jock (and Navy Seal) who was now a journalism student working on a college paper when his lifelong buddy dies.

Conspiracy theorists would have a field day with this film about a cure for AIDS that is covered up by multiple deaths so the pharmaceutical companies can go on looking for cures and selling pills.

There are some exciting car chases and crashes, lots of killings, some good explosions, and bad guys galore. Cain is all alone in fighting them all off to find the truth and save his family.

Oh, have some popcorn and enjoy.

I don't really understand all the positive comments for this movie.

Aren't people tires of slow-mo car chases ? Those might be

technically good, but they are inserted in the action without subtlety

and in a way that screams "nineties direct-to-videos !". Why start

with a car chase, when we have no idea who is being chased and

can't root for him without any background, when a poor ordinary

schmuk pursued by total strangers could be an interesting angle.

Besides, it is just an ordinary "Man who knew too much" kinda

story : bystander suddenly gets on a secret, a conspiracy wants to

shut him up, he has to get to the bottom of things to avoid being

killed. It's a sent-up of "The Fugitive" style manhunts, aloso

explored in Andrew Davis' "Chain reaction". Here, the only thing is

to find a corporate villain - here pharmaceutical companies.

Granted, this one is not the worse of the crop and Dean Cain is

convincing, but it's really a run-of-the-mill thriller with a few ideas

thrown in. Still, I have to watch it again to see if I missed

something.

This seemed like pretty standard B-movie fare when I decided to see it. Dean Cain and Brian Bosworth pretty much guarantee a mediocre movie at best. But I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie. I am not saying this is a great movie or a must see, but I did enjoy watching it.

The premise is kind of standard, guy's best friend does something to get into trouble with the really powerful bad guys. So this guy ends up having to defeat the bad guys. Dean Cain plays the hero and does a fairly good job. Brian Bosworth is the head thug and was quite surprising. As an actor he has come a long way (although he did start way behind so that isn't saying too much).

Anyway, if you are into this kind of movie, you might just enjoy it. If you don't like this particular genre, the best steer clear, because while it is fairly good, it won't win any converts.

I enjoyed the movie. Think of why a company, with stockholders, is in business. They are in business to produce a profit, which means to provide a consumable item, and continue to have "repeat" consumers. Drug companies are the same. They also have a lot of money, power, and a powerful lobby. It has been said that they control the FDA. There are cures for virtually all diseases, however, not by FDA definition. Cures can only come from "drugs". Natural herbs can not be a "cure" because they can not be patented, and therefore be a cure. No one is going to spend the billion dollars to get FDA approval for a herb that costs pennies or a couple dollars. Spending 1 billion to create a drug which has a slightly different make up, and selling it for $20+ per pill, only makes financial sense for a drug company. So, if they stumble on a cure, you can bet your bottom dollar, it will never see the light of day. You have to wonder how many government officials are shareholders of drug companies and have influence. Don't believe the drug ads too much, except the part they have to list the "complications" that may arise. So, I believe this movie to be one to open the eyes of the viewer. Much like Erin Brockovich and other "expose" movies and books.