The Shepherd

Unlike many of his action "contemporaries" (uh, you know who) Van Damme has at least been trying to improve himself as an actor with his direct to video films, while working with better directors. Many have been attempts at something different, like the somewhat surreal "in Hell". This is applaud able, but who really wants a Van Damme movie with little or no action? The Shepherd is a throwback to his 90's films where plot was minimal and fights and other action scenes took centre stage, where everyone knew they were making a pot boiler and had fun doing it. And thank God, because while no biggie plot wise, this movie delivers everything you'd want from a Van Damme movie. Great if happily familiar martial art fights (it even opens in that old action movie stand by, a diner)lots of guns and explosions, and even a torture scene for our boy. It's also well directed, starting with a great sense of humor then turning dead serious when it needs to. The last 15 minutes or so are wall to wall boom boom.

For pure action, for what Van Damme does best, this is absolutely his most entertaining film since he went DTV.

Jean claude van damme, scott adkins and director issac florentine-this had the chance to be better then undisputed 2 but for some reason they just don't get it right. Van damme's fight scenes are nothing more than a couple of front kicks and roundhouses, nothing spectacular-just average. The movie is low budget and the supporting actors aside from scott adkins all need acting classes but I could have looked way beyond that because all I wanted to see was jean-claude doing what he used to do best and MAN! was I let down. Maybe van damme should go to a couple of pilates classes to try and regain some flexability. I think he still has the makings to have a comeback, He just needs to find the right project.

the director was great. I think the screenplay was horrid. It's just that there were so many loop holes and unexplained things, and a lot of the stuff didn't really make sense. The direction was good for an action movie.

It seems that Van Damme is finally getting some good direction with his films.

You can expect to have a pretty good time. Eh you might be kinda bored with the dialog but the action makes up for it. scott adkins was excellent. can't wait to see more of him. great action.

This movie should have been put into a wider release than how it is. It would have made a few bits more money.

Well...it's about time! Van Damme is back and kicking in this action thriller that's his best film in recent years. The plot isn't too inventive but the whole border patrol theme is interesting and the ex-marines as drug smugglers twist is cool. But what makes this movie awesome is the fact that Van Damme is back to doing martial arts again. His latest films have been more acting oriented, but in "The Shepard", JCVD is back to dropping the bad guys and looks to be in excellent shape. There are some impressive fight scenes and Van Damme shows he can still pull out the old famous 360-spinning heel kick. For being a low-budget action movie, it does have good sets and great stunts. Van Damme says some humorous lines and shows that he's improving as an actor. I'm glad he's back to dealing out some Van Damage...i've been let down by the lack of fighting in his recent films. Scott Adkins is great in his role and Van Damme and him have a 1 on 1 showdown at the end. Overall, it's one of Van Damme's better films and it will keep you entertained. A must rent for JCVD fans. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for another martial arts epic like "Bloodsport" or "Kickboxer". Nok Su Kow!

anybody that would come on here and check this page on "the shepherd: border patrol" is no doubt a van damme fan like me.....I have seen all of his movies (i own all of them) and love allot of them. I was so excited the other night when i got the link to "the shepherd" and was hoping for the best.... but unfortunately this one is weak...actually its budge! The action scenes are OK ... van damme does kick a chair at a guy in a restaurant and it looks wicked... but the gun fights are lame and so are the characters... it a very dark film... dark as in no budget for shooting at night kinda dark..lol I was hoping for a DTV movie like "wake of death".. which was frikin wicked for a direct to video..... But don't worry its still better than "second in command".. but how can it not be lol........ ( I have nutting against DTV movies ... (i love cheesy action movies) anyways they should have just called it border patrol.... because that is what the movie is about..(Why is it called "the Shepard?").. plus it sounds much better as a van damme movie title..(he has some hilarious titles) I really tried to find things about this movie that I liked but its below average unfortunately........... the town thats supposed to be some Texas town .. is jokes.. its a ghost town........ most likely in some country across the world.. and van damme might say a total of 50 WORDS in the entire movie........SERIOUSLY!!

And van damme's pet rabbit... and all of the flash back stuff is wack!! so is his partner........ the female boss was o.k what can i say about this movie...... its pretty bad.. it had no budget ( it looks cheap) ......... I thought it was gonna be a wicked movie man was i disappointed........................ I am as big a fan as anyone.