50 opiniones
So about a year ago I set out on a fallacy-ridden quest to watch every movie that Seagal has ever made, and while this has not exactly made for much high-quality entertainment, it has definitely given me a unique perspective on the evolution of Seagal's storied career. Although one of the first of Seagal's new generation of films that I watched was Urban Justice, which showed an aging and widening Seagal lurking around Los Angeles seeking a two- dimensional revenge for his son's murder, and Driven to Kill, as indicated by the title, is pretty much about exactly the same thing. Except this time the son is a daughter. Oh and he's a NOVELIST. Did I mention that? Did Stephen King write this thing?
My initial response to learning that Seagal plays a successful novelist was shock that they actually took my advice and tried to top Against the Dark for stupid story ideas, but it actually turned out to be one of the best things in the movie. The funniest things, anyway. Don't get me wrong, I have much more respect for Seagal than most people do. I have always been a fan of his films ever since I was a kid and he was making hardened action movies and I even still enjoy them now that they are growing less and less distinguishable from each other. But seeing Seagal's considerable mass parked in front of a computer while his meaty hands prance across the keys was quite a spectacle indeed. I would venture to guess that Seagal has never sat in front of a keyboard in his life!
Sure this is a digression, but it calls into question his logical thinking in the movie's opening scene. He is sitting with his daughter, to whom he is still the greatest man on earth, and she asks him to explain how he does that old trick with the three upside down paper cups, one of which has a metal spike in it. She moves the cups around with all possible slowness, challenging him to lose track of it, and then he slams his hand down on one of the cups, which smashes harmlessly. "How do you do it?" she asks incredulously. "The trick," he says, "is to just not give a f#%k."
Or, more likely, the trick is to not understand that one false move and your writing career will be in grave danger because your sluggish typing will now have to be done with one hand.
The plot from Hard to Kill is recycled into this one. Seagal plays a former Russian mobster named Ruslan, and when an attack leaves his daughter barely clinging to life, he insists that her attackers can't know she's dead in order to aid his revenge plot, which takes up the rest of the movie. Complicating matters is the fact that her daughter is set to marry the son of Ruslan's former gangster arch-enemy, who may have been behind the attack in the first place. Ruslan is torn from a charming life of living in his sun-drenched beach-house and meandering his fingers across his keyboard and back into a life of crime.
Seagal's performance is uninspired at best, but he has made a career out of uninspired performances. Or at least his career has fizzled out into one uninspired performances. Van Damme has done the same thing, but he changed everything in the outstanding 2008 film JCVD. This is what Seagal needs to do now to win back his respect as an actor, make something real and quit pumping out the lumpy, direct-to-DVD cheeseballs.
The rest of the actors are beside the point, they run distant second billing to an actor who passed his prime nearly 15 years ago (it happened in 1996, in case you're wondering), and so don't really merit being mentioned here. But a bigger problem is that the movie does that maddening thing where there are foreign characters, Russian, in this case, who switch back and forth at random between speaking Russian and speaking bad English. If you're going to make a movie with foreign characters, just start it out in their language and then casually switch to English for the rest of the movie, like in The Hunt For Red October, or just have them speak their own language for the entire movie and subtitle it. Switching back and forth just calls attention to it.
More importantly, the action is badly screwed up. There is nothing quite so boring as these stupid shoot-outs where a lot of guys take turns spraying machine gun fire at each other, taking turns pumping all their bullets into the walls and then hiding so the other guy can shoot his gun equally harmlessly. It's like a road where every single car is blowing it's horn. No one really pays attention anymore, it just becomes noise.
But if nothing else, you gotta watch the movie for the scene in a strip club. Seagal and the bad guy's son go to a strip club and go to a private room together with a stripper, and you should see how uncomfortable Seagal looks it is HILARIOUS!
My initial response to learning that Seagal plays a successful novelist was shock that they actually took my advice and tried to top Against the Dark for stupid story ideas, but it actually turned out to be one of the best things in the movie. The funniest things, anyway. Don't get me wrong, I have much more respect for Seagal than most people do. I have always been a fan of his films ever since I was a kid and he was making hardened action movies and I even still enjoy them now that they are growing less and less distinguishable from each other. But seeing Seagal's considerable mass parked in front of a computer while his meaty hands prance across the keys was quite a spectacle indeed. I would venture to guess that Seagal has never sat in front of a keyboard in his life!
Sure this is a digression, but it calls into question his logical thinking in the movie's opening scene. He is sitting with his daughter, to whom he is still the greatest man on earth, and she asks him to explain how he does that old trick with the three upside down paper cups, one of which has a metal spike in it. She moves the cups around with all possible slowness, challenging him to lose track of it, and then he slams his hand down on one of the cups, which smashes harmlessly. "How do you do it?" she asks incredulously. "The trick," he says, "is to just not give a f#%k."
Or, more likely, the trick is to not understand that one false move and your writing career will be in grave danger because your sluggish typing will now have to be done with one hand.
The plot from Hard to Kill is recycled into this one. Seagal plays a former Russian mobster named Ruslan, and when an attack leaves his daughter barely clinging to life, he insists that her attackers can't know she's dead in order to aid his revenge plot, which takes up the rest of the movie. Complicating matters is the fact that her daughter is set to marry the son of Ruslan's former gangster arch-enemy, who may have been behind the attack in the first place. Ruslan is torn from a charming life of living in his sun-drenched beach-house and meandering his fingers across his keyboard and back into a life of crime.
Seagal's performance is uninspired at best, but he has made a career out of uninspired performances. Or at least his career has fizzled out into one uninspired performances. Van Damme has done the same thing, but he changed everything in the outstanding 2008 film JCVD. This is what Seagal needs to do now to win back his respect as an actor, make something real and quit pumping out the lumpy, direct-to-DVD cheeseballs.
The rest of the actors are beside the point, they run distant second billing to an actor who passed his prime nearly 15 years ago (it happened in 1996, in case you're wondering), and so don't really merit being mentioned here. But a bigger problem is that the movie does that maddening thing where there are foreign characters, Russian, in this case, who switch back and forth at random between speaking Russian and speaking bad English. If you're going to make a movie with foreign characters, just start it out in their language and then casually switch to English for the rest of the movie, like in The Hunt For Red October, or just have them speak their own language for the entire movie and subtitle it. Switching back and forth just calls attention to it.
More importantly, the action is badly screwed up. There is nothing quite so boring as these stupid shoot-outs where a lot of guys take turns spraying machine gun fire at each other, taking turns pumping all their bullets into the walls and then hiding so the other guy can shoot his gun equally harmlessly. It's like a road where every single car is blowing it's horn. No one really pays attention anymore, it just becomes noise.
But if nothing else, you gotta watch the movie for the scene in a strip club. Seagal and the bad guy's son go to a strip club and go to a private room together with a stripper, and you should see how uncomfortable Seagal looks it is HILARIOUS!
- Anonymous_Maxine
- 8 may 2009
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Yes, this is another boring Steven Seagal film, with another dumb revenge plot, weak characters and other typical things in these straight to DVD films. Seagal is typical himself... with bad performance, slow, no emotions and other things. What is interesting here (in negative sense), Seagal plays a Russian. Wow! A Russian! Are you sure that you can trust Seagal to play a Russian. He didn't even sound like a Russian, he was just himself, but there was nothing that looks even closely Russian on him, he spoke Russian in some scenes, but he didn't even try to pronounce the Russian words more precisely, and when I remember... that Schwarzenegger put some effort in "Read Heat" and he sounded pretty good while speaking Russian, and he even tried as much as he can to have a Russian accent. And that's what I appreciate... But, Arnie is no actor too. Now, back to Ruslan... the fight scenes in this film are the only thing that justify everything else, meaning, the fight scenes were good and they are the only thing worth watching here, well on moments they looked funny, and they were filled with this Russian balalaika music, and that made scenes even more funny, I expected Seagal to stood up and dance to this music, having a good dancing rhythm, but not fighting rhythm. And it's also good that Seagal is using Aikido again... properly.
- swedzin
- 21 oct 2012
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This is easily one of Seagal's better DTV efforts. Its on a par with Urban Justice but not as good as Belly of the Beast. To compare it to his earlier movies would be unfair as he makes much smaller budget movies these days. First off if you are a veteran of Seagal films of the last ten or so years you can tell if he cares about the movie or not and he certainly seems to be putting a bit of effort into this one. No body doubles of bad dubbing in this which is good. The story is very generic, a basic revenge movie. Not unlike the movies Charles Bronson made when he was a similar age to Seagal now. The action scenes are well done with some good shoot outs and fist and knife fights. The acting is a little hit and miss although the bad guy who will be familiar to people who seen the awful Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was very good. So worth a rent on a Friday night but i really wish Hollywood would give Seagal another big budget action movie. Hell lets get another Under Siege movie out before its too late.
- LuboLarsson
- 20 jul 2009
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- face_of_terror
- 29 abr 2009
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It's fair to say that Seagal has been making some mixed films as of late, and quality by now isn't exactly important when it comes to churning out film after film. But DRIVEN TO KILL is definitely one of the worst I've seen of his lately, a film that's ruined by one sole factor: the music. Seagal fans invariably watch his movies for the action sequences, yet every fight scene in this one is accompanied by some absolutely ridiculous musical accompaniment that ruins any enjoyment. The ludicrous decision to play some upbeat, jaunty, East European accordion folk music while Seagal beats the hell out of his enemies has to be one of the most criminal mistakes in B-movie action history.
Otherwise, the film is bland with little to differentiate it from a dozen others these past few years, with Seagal going after the Russian gangsters who attacked his family. He spots one hell of a fake tan (and fake accent) here, and looks pretty bored with the proceedings. The action could have been good without that music – and things do pick up for one extended showdown at a hospital that reminded me a little of HARD-BOILED – but in the end this film's a non-starter, one destined for the bargain bin.
Otherwise, the film is bland with little to differentiate it from a dozen others these past few years, with Seagal going after the Russian gangsters who attacked his family. He spots one hell of a fake tan (and fake accent) here, and looks pretty bored with the proceedings. The action could have been good without that music – and things do pick up for one extended showdown at a hospital that reminded me a little of HARD-BOILED – but in the end this film's a non-starter, one destined for the bargain bin.
- Leofwine_draca
- 10 mar 2011
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- tarbosh22000
- 26 ene 2014
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Not been able to see a preview before I saw this made me a little worried, but I thought, what the hell? Seagal rules. I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. The only flaw was that at times I couldn't understand Seagal. It also appeared as if he did most/all of his fighting and that was nice. It was a pretty good story. It's was your standard revenge flick. It's nice to see Seagal go after bad guys that messed with his family. It was like Urban Justice in a way. I was glad it wasn't that European package crap or conspiracy from the early 90's or 2000's. This was way better than Kill Switch and of course that vampire crap. But not as good as Pistol Whipped.
- rockdalecop
- 27 may 2009
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- poolandrews
- 13 ene 2011
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Forget is enormous shape, the man can still kick your ass. Yes, he could afford loosing weights, I will give you that it would make him more credible. Other then that, Seagal is offering good fight scenes. Plus for once, he is not using any double to cover his own stunts. He demonstrated martial arts skills. Not sure why using the Russian background for the story but it is good to see him not done!!!
The movie is good entertainment, nothing more, nothing less but looking at his past few awful movies, he definitely deserves a 10!! No more cliché then the usual, Seagal is in control. This is best JOB since ''Urban Justice''. Hopefully, the next movie will be at least as good as this.
The movie is good entertainment, nothing more, nothing less but looking at his past few awful movies, he definitely deserves a 10!! No more cliché then the usual, Seagal is in control. This is best JOB since ''Urban Justice''. Hopefully, the next movie will be at least as good as this.
- BenBabou
- 30 may 2009
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Former Russian diplomat and assassin Ruslan (Steven Seagal) is forced to reimmerse himself in the gang culture he thought he left behind when his family is attacked by his old cohorts at his daughter's wedding.
One of the first scenes of the film finds Steven Seagal seated across a table from a gorgeous babe (of course). Babe asks Steven to close his eyes. It's not as if you'd be able to tell, Seagal's face is constantly in a contorted squint. He doesn't seem to ever actually pronounce a line, just whisper his way through the film. Perhaps he thinks a Russian accent is a whisper?
"Driven to Kill" is not a driven film. For instance, why that title? Is Ruslan driven? It doesn't seem so. No one in the film seems to know exactly what it going on, not excepting the star. It is an uninspired, lackadaisical, but certainly not lazy film that makes an bizarre addition to the revenge genre.
All of the characters confuse themselves for each other until the film starts to resemble particularly runny porridge. Seagal's ex-wife and his daughter look the exact same age. The villains are all similar and none too smart but at least aren't all named "Ivan". The detectives are excruciatingly bad actors that make Steven Seagal look like Marlon Brando.
The cinematography is surprisingly decent. Overall the film doesn't outwardly look like a low-budget flick. It was surely filmed on the cheap in Canada and made to look like the United States. The action and fighting isn't terrible and kept me interested to see how our aging hero would take down the next baddie.
"Driven to Kill" is the epitome of a low-budget, fairly intriguing action movie ideal for late night viewing and late night reviewing. If you're a fan of Seagal or a fan of cheese, add it to your queue.
One of the first scenes of the film finds Steven Seagal seated across a table from a gorgeous babe (of course). Babe asks Steven to close his eyes. It's not as if you'd be able to tell, Seagal's face is constantly in a contorted squint. He doesn't seem to ever actually pronounce a line, just whisper his way through the film. Perhaps he thinks a Russian accent is a whisper?
"Driven to Kill" is not a driven film. For instance, why that title? Is Ruslan driven? It doesn't seem so. No one in the film seems to know exactly what it going on, not excepting the star. It is an uninspired, lackadaisical, but certainly not lazy film that makes an bizarre addition to the revenge genre.
All of the characters confuse themselves for each other until the film starts to resemble particularly runny porridge. Seagal's ex-wife and his daughter look the exact same age. The villains are all similar and none too smart but at least aren't all named "Ivan". The detectives are excruciatingly bad actors that make Steven Seagal look like Marlon Brando.
The cinematography is surprisingly decent. Overall the film doesn't outwardly look like a low-budget flick. It was surely filmed on the cheap in Canada and made to look like the United States. The action and fighting isn't terrible and kept me interested to see how our aging hero would take down the next baddie.
"Driven to Kill" is the epitome of a low-budget, fairly intriguing action movie ideal for late night viewing and late night reviewing. If you're a fan of Seagal or a fan of cheese, add it to your queue.
- Bob_the_Hobo
- 28 nov 2012
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"Driven to Kill" (originally, and more appropriately, titled "Ruslan") is one of the best Steven Seagal flicks in a long time. Now, after total crap like "Kill Switch" and "Against the Dark," almost anything in focus would seem good. But D2K actually has a lot to recommend it--it has a strong, engaged bada$$ performance by Seagal, one with no obvious body/stunt doubles or voice dubbing, a straightforward story, and the kind of action you'd expect. The direction, while not splashy, is competent (a rarity for recent Seagal flicks).
Now, to be honest, it would take a few more million dollars, a lot of retakes, some recasting of supporting roles, and a car chase or two to make this into a theatrical action-exploitation flick along the lines of "Taken." But for a DTV movie Driven to Kill is actually quite exceptional. And for a Seagal DTV this is up there near the top of the heap with Urban Justice and better than Pistol Whipped. It reminds me of a Charles Bronson low budget mid-80s movie like Murphy's Law. However, the shortcomings that affect all direct to video movies with their short shooting schedules and low budgets also brings D2K down a bit as well. The biggest problem is that about half of the supporting performances are embarrassingly lame--the female police officer and the oily lawyer in particular. And there were also some really strange choices made for the film's score. Upbeat Russian folk music during dramatic and violent beatdowns? Seems odd to me. In fact, sometimes the music behind the action is so ill-fitting that it seems like we're listening to a placeholder score that the filmmakers intended to replace. They might as well have said "hey, get that old polka album--we'll use that music for the part where Ruslan cracks the guy's neck!"
But, despite these flaws, I really enjoyed D2K. It has a small scale old school action vibe that I could get into and little to none of the unintentionally comedic incompetence we have come to expect from Seagal's output over the past decade.
Now, to be honest, it would take a few more million dollars, a lot of retakes, some recasting of supporting roles, and a car chase or two to make this into a theatrical action-exploitation flick along the lines of "Taken." But for a DTV movie Driven to Kill is actually quite exceptional. And for a Seagal DTV this is up there near the top of the heap with Urban Justice and better than Pistol Whipped. It reminds me of a Charles Bronson low budget mid-80s movie like Murphy's Law. However, the shortcomings that affect all direct to video movies with their short shooting schedules and low budgets also brings D2K down a bit as well. The biggest problem is that about half of the supporting performances are embarrassingly lame--the female police officer and the oily lawyer in particular. And there were also some really strange choices made for the film's score. Upbeat Russian folk music during dramatic and violent beatdowns? Seems odd to me. In fact, sometimes the music behind the action is so ill-fitting that it seems like we're listening to a placeholder score that the filmmakers intended to replace. They might as well have said "hey, get that old polka album--we'll use that music for the part where Ruslan cracks the guy's neck!"
But, despite these flaws, I really enjoyed D2K. It has a small scale old school action vibe that I could get into and little to none of the unintentionally comedic incompetence we have come to expect from Seagal's output over the past decade.
- curtis-8
- 2 may 2009
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After some very mediocre work in features and STV crap I wasn't expecting anything but horror from this flick. It turns out that there is nothing like a good old violent revenge movie to get some life out of Steven Segal. This is not an amazing movie as it still has a very low budget and Segal still can't act, but at least in this one it seems as it's actually him throwing the punches and shooting the guns, which is a step up from some of his previous work. Not amazing but an entertaining ride for Segal fans.
- bastos
- 23 ago 2020
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As you would expect from a straight-to-DVD effort, there is little in Driven to Kill to lift it from the cesspit. There are however two factors that make this movie unintentionally hilarious:
1. Segal does a Russian accent. It's terrible. And very, very funny. 2. Segal's character Ruslan is supposed to be a novelist. It's hard enough believing this meat-fisted lunk can read, let alone write, but Segal has been detached from reality for some time now.
As pointed out by one of the previous reviewers, Segal's computer keyboard control is astonishing - and even more impressive than the death-by-gun-barrel-in-the-eye sequence.
Is this enough to make the movie good? Hell no, it has Steven Segal in it for a start. But if you've got nothing (and I mean *nothing*) better to do for 90 minutes, this may just about fit the bill.
1. Segal does a Russian accent. It's terrible. And very, very funny. 2. Segal's character Ruslan is supposed to be a novelist. It's hard enough believing this meat-fisted lunk can read, let alone write, but Segal has been detached from reality for some time now.
As pointed out by one of the previous reviewers, Segal's computer keyboard control is astonishing - and even more impressive than the death-by-gun-barrel-in-the-eye sequence.
Is this enough to make the movie good? Hell no, it has Steven Segal in it for a start. But if you've got nothing (and I mean *nothing*) better to do for 90 minutes, this may just about fit the bill.
- Your-Mum-13579
- 4 sep 2016
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- tjordan45
- 29 may 2009
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I can't say I wasn't somewhat interested in Driven to Kill. Is this the first time Seagal has played a non-American? If not well I'm pretty sure it is the first time he tries a foreign accent. It's not bad, but again he doesn't quite suspend your disbelief. In terms of acting ability, this is still the same Steven Seagal who first appeared on the big screen twenty years ago, only he is fifty pounds heavier and he doesn't fight as well. In the end, Driven to Kill is pretty boring.
Seagal is a former Russian mobster, now an author in California. He flies over to the east coast to attend his daughter's wedding, but someone takes a knife to her before she can leave all dressed in white to be married. Miraculously she is unconscious but not dead, Seagal teams up with his son-in-law (whose father is head of the local Russian mob) to get revenge in kick-ass fashion.
There is too much gun play and not enough martial arts. The fights in Driven to Kill are very uninventive, except maybe one, where Seagal has a 5-1 knife fight. Personally I'd like to see him Kick-butt, not shoot it. He isn't that exciting with a gun. The climax is a typical case of an amateurishly, thrill- ridden hail of gunfire, which may put you to sleep. The only thing less impressive than Seagal's body is his mouth. The guy really needs to speak up, you can barely hear a word he says now, and I don't think it has to do with the semi-Russian accent.
Enough said, I would skip this one.
Seagal is a former Russian mobster, now an author in California. He flies over to the east coast to attend his daughter's wedding, but someone takes a knife to her before she can leave all dressed in white to be married. Miraculously she is unconscious but not dead, Seagal teams up with his son-in-law (whose father is head of the local Russian mob) to get revenge in kick-ass fashion.
There is too much gun play and not enough martial arts. The fights in Driven to Kill are very uninventive, except maybe one, where Seagal has a 5-1 knife fight. Personally I'd like to see him Kick-butt, not shoot it. He isn't that exciting with a gun. The climax is a typical case of an amateurishly, thrill- ridden hail of gunfire, which may put you to sleep. The only thing less impressive than Seagal's body is his mouth. The guy really needs to speak up, you can barely hear a word he says now, and I don't think it has to do with the semi-Russian accent.
Enough said, I would skip this one.
- Samiam3
- 6 may 2010
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Recently, I was reading a review of another Steven Seagal movie, and in it the reviewer commented to the effect that it was just the same as his other movies. Watching "Driven To Kill", I got the same feeling. Oh sure, there are a few minor changes, like making Seagal a Russian (which leads to some unintentional hilarity, hearing Seagal's wheezy and pause-filled whisper doing a bogus accent.) But with the rest of the movie, you will see nothing new. Seagal is still fat, and he continues to wear heavy coats to mask his weight, and is mostly filmed from the chest up. (There is a very funny moment when we see him run for several seconds - he can barely do it.) It should probably come as no surprise that there aren't that many martial arts moments here compared to his early films, and they are rapidly edited and filled with shots of what appear to be doubles doing his work. The gun battle scenes are also equally hard to make out as well. The general production values (cinematography, set decoration, etc.) are passable, and that's about all that's positive I can say about this.
- Wizard-8
- 10 feb 2010
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Driven to Kill: 3 out of 10: I have no hope of ever being Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian no matter how much I work out; And no amount of dedication will ever give me the moves of a Chuck Norris or a Bruce Lee. But Steven Segal??? I can do that. Find me an all you can eat buffet next to a tanning salon and I will be in Segal shape in no time.
Whether it is Liam Neeson rescuing his daughter in Taken or Harrison Ford taking on the bank robbers in Firewall or those geriatrics in Lethal Weapon 4 there is plenty of room for action heroes that are more AARP than Tai Kwan Do.
So I am not going to harp on the fact that Stephen Segal’s film reminds one of an alternate past where Orson Wells had starred in Good Guys wear Black. Nor will I point out that his hand eye coordination is so out of whack he can’t even type at a keyboard convincingly on camera. Heck I won’t even mention his Costner-esquire* mastery of a Russian Accent.
I want to know why this is considered a return to form for Segal by some critics. (Segal is back and he is hungrier than ever crows one.) The revenge plot so simple Charles Bronson would have blushed. The movies idea of a plot twist is a character who practically wears a t-shirt that says I’m a bad guy ask me how... turns out to be “gasp” a bad guy. The fist fights remind me of Blazing Saddles (You Brute You Brute) and the gun fights are right out of Top Secret (Two guys five feet from each other hiding behind crates.)
I could go on but good lord this film is cheap. Throw in some CGI gargoyles and this wouldn’t be out of place on the Sci-fi Channel. The actress that plays Segal’s ex-wife (Inna Korobkina) is a year younger than the actress that plays his daughter (Laura Mennell). They put an old lady wig on her and hopped no-one would notice. (On another strange side note IMDb also has Ed Anders as thug #3 and Mike Desabrais as thug #5 but no word on the fate or identity of thugs 1, 2 and 4.)
I admit I have liked some Segal films in the past such as Under Siege and have found others unintentional laugh riots (On Deadly Ground is one of the funniest most entertaining bad films I have ever scene.) Driven to Kill is unfortunately not bad enough to be entertaining and lord knows it certainly isn’t good enough either.
*Kevin Costner in Robin Hood set the standard for the disappearing reappearing never right in the first place accent.
Whether it is Liam Neeson rescuing his daughter in Taken or Harrison Ford taking on the bank robbers in Firewall or those geriatrics in Lethal Weapon 4 there is plenty of room for action heroes that are more AARP than Tai Kwan Do.
So I am not going to harp on the fact that Stephen Segal’s film reminds one of an alternate past where Orson Wells had starred in Good Guys wear Black. Nor will I point out that his hand eye coordination is so out of whack he can’t even type at a keyboard convincingly on camera. Heck I won’t even mention his Costner-esquire* mastery of a Russian Accent.
I want to know why this is considered a return to form for Segal by some critics. (Segal is back and he is hungrier than ever crows one.) The revenge plot so simple Charles Bronson would have blushed. The movies idea of a plot twist is a character who practically wears a t-shirt that says I’m a bad guy ask me how... turns out to be “gasp” a bad guy. The fist fights remind me of Blazing Saddles (You Brute You Brute) and the gun fights are right out of Top Secret (Two guys five feet from each other hiding behind crates.)
I could go on but good lord this film is cheap. Throw in some CGI gargoyles and this wouldn’t be out of place on the Sci-fi Channel. The actress that plays Segal’s ex-wife (Inna Korobkina) is a year younger than the actress that plays his daughter (Laura Mennell). They put an old lady wig on her and hopped no-one would notice. (On another strange side note IMDb also has Ed Anders as thug #3 and Mike Desabrais as thug #5 but no word on the fate or identity of thugs 1, 2 and 4.)
I admit I have liked some Segal films in the past such as Under Siege and have found others unintentional laugh riots (On Deadly Ground is one of the funniest most entertaining bad films I have ever scene.) Driven to Kill is unfortunately not bad enough to be entertaining and lord knows it certainly isn’t good enough either.
*Kevin Costner in Robin Hood set the standard for the disappearing reappearing never right in the first place accent.
- juliankennedy23
- 23 may 2009
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I thought that this was an OK film with the usual violence and action which accompanies all Steven Seagal films. In this one Steve is a former Russian Mafia villain who comes back into town after being invited by his ex-wife to see his daughter get married. However, his return into town is not met with approval from the local Russian Mafia boss whose son is in fact the guy who will be marrying Steve's daughter. Steve's ex-wife is then murdered and his daughter is badly hurt which is the cue for our hero to seek revenge. Fist fights, knife fights and shootings are a plenty as Steve rips apart the bad guys. Although Seagal films are not expensive glossy productions action fans should enjoy this one.
- MrOllie
- 29 jul 2012
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- anduriled4553
- 11 mar 2013
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there's a pattern starting to emerge here. follow me his direct to DVD movies are getting better and better, yea sure there were many clunkers like attack force.. just a horrible film,, but they are getting better,, Belly of the Best , and Pistol Whipped come to mind,, in this one he plays a retired Russian Mobster, turned novelist,, his wife is dead,, and his daughter is either killed or kidnapped not sure.. so he goes after the bad guys in typical Seagal fashion, lot's of Aikido in this one,, his skills are mind numbing what he can do with his hands.. kinda wish you would see his movies in the theatre again,, like Rambo and Rocky revivals of sorts. I didn't care for all of the lousy dubbing again,, accents are way off of the mark,,i think Seagal has found something here and is on the track to regaining credibility in the acting world again very soon. not a bad picture at all.
- kairingler
- 6 jul 2013
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Mysterious Russian Ruslan (Steven Seagal) is an L.A. crime novelist. His ex-wife Catherine calls. He returns to New York to meet his daughter Lanie's fiancée, Stephan Abramov, who turns out to be the son of a Russian mob kingpin. Gunmen kills Catherine and brutalizes Lanie. He goes on a revenge rampage taking along Stephan with him.
I don't like Seagal anymore and that's very fitting for this character. He's not a nice guy and that's fine. He's a borderline bad guy taking out even worst guys. This should be easy but the movie tries to make it hard. While I like Goldstein's reveal, the rest is a bit too messy. I'm not sure that Lanie could be doing what she is secretly doing. There seems to be a conflict of interest which would make her job impossible. Also, life insurance is one of the first things that cops would check for. It's a ball of yarn that could unravel if a loose thread is pulled. The non-stop shooting may help to distract from asking too many questions.
I don't like Seagal anymore and that's very fitting for this character. He's not a nice guy and that's fine. He's a borderline bad guy taking out even worst guys. This should be easy but the movie tries to make it hard. While I like Goldstein's reveal, the rest is a bit too messy. I'm not sure that Lanie could be doing what she is secretly doing. There seems to be a conflict of interest which would make her job impossible. Also, life insurance is one of the first things that cops would check for. It's a ball of yarn that could unravel if a loose thread is pulled. The non-stop shooting may help to distract from asking too many questions.
- SnoopyStyle
- 27 mar 2020
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Driven to Kill(aka Ruslan) is the latest Steven Seagal film.Like all his other films for the past 7 years, this is once again a straight to DVD feature.Now by hearing this, you would not expect much after seeing that the majority of the newer Seagal films suck.However there are a few exceptions such as "Urban Justice", "Pistol Whipped" and this film, which in my opinion is not only his best straight to DVD film, but it ranks up there with his classics from the 90's.The acting is not all that great, and I did not find Seagal to be that bad of an actor back in his "Under Siege" days.Here, he sports a semi-Russian accent which is not very convincing.The acting from the others, especially the Russian mobster is fairly good though.The film is about a retired Russian mobster, who is now a novelist.After his wife is killed and his daughter is injured in an assassination of sorts, Seagal reverts back to his old ways and tries to find out who did this.The plot may not be the best but the most important thing about Seagal films is the action! In this category, it does not disappoint.I'm actually surprised it was Rated 14A in Canada because this is easily one of Seagal's bloodiest films.We also see Seagal use aikido again, as in we see him breaking people bones! Any fan of Seagal should check this movie out!
- gangstahippie
- 31 oct 2009
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Well ; as an aikido instructor from Turkey, like any one practicing Aikido a lot of people like Segal. We want more and more aikido from him. Nothing happened since Under Siege series which I wish was not his top point.
Again well, by this film, he actually got something. While watching Segal after Under Siege series I tell myself, something please not to turn of or not to forward to fighting scenes. As we all know he is really a good fight actor.
This film in that sense is I think the first watchable film of Segal after quite time. He at last make a watchable film. Good music in some instances. And at last he is not a cop :) Of course after that handy cam film of Zombies.. I told myself I can shoot better of Segal..:) Also the Russian thing reminded me of some little eastern promises. which was a quite good film. Anyway, a good film to enjoy and also last wishes More aikido segal please mooooreeee...
Again well, by this film, he actually got something. While watching Segal after Under Siege series I tell myself, something please not to turn of or not to forward to fighting scenes. As we all know he is really a good fight actor.
This film in that sense is I think the first watchable film of Segal after quite time. He at last make a watchable film. Good music in some instances. And at last he is not a cop :) Of course after that handy cam film of Zombies.. I told myself I can shoot better of Segal..:) Also the Russian thing reminded me of some little eastern promises. which was a quite good film. Anyway, a good film to enjoy and also last wishes More aikido segal please mooooreeee...
- ejderkelebek
- 10 may 2009
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- nogodnomasters
- 2 ago 2018
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An American action film; A story about a former Russian mobster turned author of hardboiled pulp fiction novels. He returns home for his daughter's wedding but, shortly before the ceremony, she is assaulted by his arch-enemy, prompting him to join forces with her fiance and set off in pursuit of her attackers.
A far-fetched, poorly written action thriller, gratuitously brutal and occasionally barbaric. Steven Seagal doesn't commit fully to his Russian character. Usually he is a man of few words but this time round due to poor sound mixing he is of even fewer. While there's plenty of action, the story is unconvincing and quite flat, and tension leaks out of the prolonged finale.
- shakercoola
- 16 sep 2018
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