Striking Range

Though this movie is a little on the bloody side for me, it held my attention. Even though it's a low budget indie movie, the FX were pretty good and believable. The story line is easy to follow and suspenseful. All of the actors do a really good job of becoming their character. I have seen co-star Tom Wright in several movies over the years (including "World Trade Center")and he is becoming a staple to the industry. The fight scenes made me groan in pain. Ouch!!This is a better movie than some of the high dollar movies being made now and the quality and editing are really pretty good. It looks like the director, Daniel Millican, is working his way up the movie business ladder and hopefully on to bigger projects. I hope he does a variety of movies in the future. I loved Vash's car!

This is, without a doubt, one of Lou's worst film. "Red Water" was better than this. Just horrendous. Even Lou's acting was bad...and it is usually decent.

I love Lou like the next guy, but I could not tolerate more than 40 minutes of this film - and that was the most tedious experience I have ever felt while dealing with a shoot 'em up flick. Ever.

I can not in good faith recommend this film to anyone. I am sorry if the director reads this, or anyone involved with the project, but this movie was just bad.

The worst, most inane, dialog of all time. Shifty and lame script that is all over the place. Bad acting, as well.

Not a pleasant experience.

great actors (Lou Diamond Philips, Glenn Morshower) and good actors (Yancy Butler), mixed with good action, a stolid if mediocre and predictable plot, and an obviously low budget = something kind of sad. While there are no major disappointments in this flick, and there are several glimmers of something beyond the typical B movie actioner... it just doesn't quite manage to make it over the fence from B movie to A movie. Halfway through it you feel like you don't need to see the rest 'cuz you know exactly what's going to happen, though the cast does a great job with the thin material they've been given. Lou Diamond Philips seems to be one of those great actors that's terminally unable to distinguish good projects from bad, he just keeps cropping up in these roles (and movies) that are far below his talents.

STRIKING RANGE delivers what it promises, a shoot 'em up action flick packed with twists and exit wound gore. Lou Diamond Phillips gives a committed performance as a cash strapped gun for hire with a moral code that includes never challenging the US Government and never taking a bullet for a client (which is a good thing since most of his assignments appear to be protecting shady businessmen).

In STRIKING RANGE, Phillips and his three-person crew are charged with bodyguarding a "next generation" weapons maker who turns out to be an unscrupulous dealer who has no compunction against selling to the highest bidder. Naturally, squinty-eyed rogues, led by martial artist/actor Jeff Speakman, demand the latest weapons gizmo with a five-finger discount. This is where Team Phillips steps up to the challenge. However, a mysterious third party throws a hat into the ring putting the executive protection crew in a circle of crosshairs and ballistic mayhem.

The movie is a lot of fun, but by no means perfect. The opening sequence is a head scratcher as Phillips and his crew (including an excellent Tom Wright) casually banter about video games as they go on a search and destroy mission in an office building. The scene feels contrived and woefully unrealistic as we're asked to believe these guys need to alleviate boredom in the midst of a hostage rescue. And I'm still wondering what happened to Sharon, the poor executive they intentionally shoot to get the Bad Guy standing behind her. Quibbles aside, the low budget film looks great, shot in 35MM with fluid Steadicam moves, we also get nifty pyrotechnics, and a NRA member's wet dream in a variety of firearms. Thespians are first rate, giving us raw emotion in a scene where Phillips and Wright nearly come to blows as they argue about their failing executive protection business. Music cues nostalgically evoke 80's TV show "Miami Vice" at its highlight.

STRIKING RANGE doesn't offer anything new, but it gets its job done and it certainly gets a lot of bang for the buck.

Striking Range is a class C shoot em up film about a business man who creates a destructive ray gun that can revolutionize military combat. He needs more money than his backers are willing to give him and that sets off a fight to save the crooked business man from his angry backers as they try and steal the technology and kill the business man. A special force is called in to protect the business man but someone from the inside is helping the bad guys out. The business man's whacked out son adds some interesting twists, but is not carried off well in th acting department. This intrigue is readable from square one and leaves little to the imagination. The action is OK, but everything else is low quality. The relationship between the two stars is carried off in a pitiful manner by the directing. The actors are pretty experienced, so I don't feel comfortable assigning blame to them.