Blackjack

Ex-FBI agent Jack is taken on to protect the daughter of his friends from mobsters. Years later his friends are killed in an accident and Jack is left to look after Casey himself. He is also brought into a protection case by his old friend Jim. Cinder James is a model who is being threatened by her ex-husband. However the killer discovers Jack's weakness and uses it against him. Jack has a phobia of the colour white.

Yes…you heard me. The hero is scared of the colour white! That fact alone is a good indication of the film as a whole – silly nonsense that is almost laughably poor at times. My favourite scene is the one where our `hero' is rendered almost totally helpless by the sight of spilt milk! The story makes about as much effort to make sense. The opening 15 minutes just seem to be an excuse for a gun fight – the friends are killed off quickly and Casey is relegated to background character.

The main plot is silly and full of holes….if Cinder's husband is working alone (indeed he's the only one they're looking for) then who are all those guys on motorbikes who come racing out of nowhere every time there's an action scene? It's holes like this that tell you that the writers aren't even trying – all they want is a few action scenes and an excuse to make them happen! The action scenes are average at best – if I didn't know this was Woo I'd have assumed that it was someone ripping him off badly. Occasionally we have a bit of slow-mo diving around – but other than that it is pretty lacking of style.

Lungren isn't terrible, it's only in the `serious' scenes where he has problems. In the other scenes he looks like he's enjoying himself and not taking it too seriously – that helps us relax and enjoy! Heskin is an empty blonde as Cinder – didn't anyone want to give her a character?! Likewise MacKenzie doesn't have much to do as Rory – he seems lie the most interesting character in the film but he gives in to hamminess too often. Jim is a nice cameo from Fred Williamson but that's about it!

Overall this is daft, lazy and totally lacking in the style that Woo has build his reputation on. The TVM sets and actors just make it worse. To me the point where I knew for sure that this was a `bad movie' was when the doctor (played by the Z-grade Vernon) told Jack (with a look of total seriousness) that `your sunglasses are the only protection from all the white out there'. Rubbish – makes you realise how good things like `Die Xue Shuang Xiong' and `Lashou Shentan' are!

Put simply, Dolph Lundgren is the real one man army!!



Swedish-born Lundgren is Jack Devlin, a bodyguard for hire who holsters guns all over his body and uses playing cards as deadly projectiles. He can take out an group of at least a dozen men armed with automatic guns with only the use of his pistols. Talk about unbeatable. This guy could teach Rambo lessons! Devlin's got one weakness, though, and that is the color of pure white. This is done so he's not portrayed as a complete superman!



"Blackjack" is a prime John Woo film, which is filmed in an expertly way. But that doesn't mean it's perfect. This film has a lot of drawbacks!! For example, Devlin has an unlimited supply of ammo, meaning he never had to reload his guns! That was an error that should have been corrected. But the dumbest mistake in this film is the fact that Devlin has a phobia of the color white! That is the dumbest fear ever since being afraid of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth (I'm not kidding!!) Plus, there were instances where Devlin touched a couple of white objects (i.e. doors) and he didn't react to them! Those were one of the weirdest and most boneheaded doozies ever shown on TV, and with a master director like John Woo, they should have been corrected!



But, despite all those miserable errors in this film, "Blackjack" is really a very enjoyable action flick, with great stunts, great performances (especially of Lundgren's, this has to be his best role for a very long time) and cool action sequences, which is typical John Woo-style adrenaline rushes. Watch this movie if you're in the mood for a guilty pleasure!

First and foremost this was never intended as a movie. So I do think that should be taken into consideration when viewing.

This was a TV pilot for a show that was never picked up.

After this the pilot was restructured and released DTV to capitalize on Dolph Lundgren's popularity in DTV market.

It probably had the opposite effect and really harmed his career.

Although it got released before, Blackjack (1998) was filmed after Dolph Lundgren's two previous films, Fallen Knight (1998) and Sweepers (1998), that he had made back to back earlier that year (1997).

This 'movie' as an hour long TV pilot would probably be quite fun. It's mostly set up and introducing us to the world of Jack Devlin played by Dolph Lundgren, a U. S Marshal who protects high-profile clients when it comes to a matter of security.

The character Jack Devlin is hit with a strange phobia - fear of white color.

It's a very silly premise but Dolph Lundgren is quite charming in the role. We get introduced to characters that would have been recurring characters in a TV show.

The action for a TV show at the time is actually handled quite well.

'Alias' and 'Dark Angel' would come out a few years later so there was clearly a market for this type of TV spy thriller.

Sadly we will never know if this could have worked as a TV show.

This is more of a curiosity for Dolph Lundgren fans. It would have been fun to see him pursue a TV career as 'Blackjack' seem to represent a real downtrend in his output and popularity.

I do think this film harmed his career and it is evident in the movies he did after this. The quality of his output declined.

I don't think I would recommend this but, if you have low expectations and view it as a curiosity in both Woo and Lundgren's careers you can enjoy some of the action.

It's very slow and unnecessarily long.

1.5/5 stars. Fans only.

This is differant for Dolph Lundgren, usually he only does B-Grade movies, but this one is a little differant. Its an enjoyable John Woo film with great action and great acting, But what the hell is up with him not being able to look at the colour White, that was a bite stupid. anyway I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone.

7/10

I can only assume that this is the work of a completely different John Woo, i.e. some vodka-sodden squinting tramp by the same name who managed to get caught up in some kind of top-quality mistaken identity farce. If not, then Dolph Lundgren may as well throw himself out of a top floor window right now, because if not even John Woo can make you look cool, you don't stand a chance.

In fact, what's the exact opposite of 'cool'? That's the only way to describe this film. I saw it on TV, and I'd still have felt cheated if I hadn't been laughing so much. How my sides ached at the sight of Dolph Lundgren sitting in a big lake of milk, trying to look all serious and pained as another meaningless flashback kicked in to further the cause of the most hilariously stupid cinematic premise in the history of everything in the world ever. "Oh yes, I've got this phobia of white things, but only sometimes when the bullets stop flying and we need to stop the audience from changing channels." And even that doesn't work.

He looks old, as well. If they're going to do (snigger) Masters of the Universe II, they'd better (snort) hurry up and get on with it...

Ah, me. The only advice I can give you is this: if you don't start laughing within the first ten minutes of Blackjack, give it up.