The Order

Honestly, I bought this movie at Wal-Mart, as it was in the $5.50 bin and it looked like something that I would enjoy making fun of. It sat around for quite a while before I eventually popped it in to view it and to have a field day making fun of it. However, I didn't hate it. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. Yes, the film is filled with all sorts of different action cliches, but it is an enjoyable film if you don't try to analyze it and just enjoy it for what it is. The film has some good heart to it and the filmmakers themselves give off the impression that they enjoyed making this movie too. I would not advise anyone to go out of their way to see this, but if you stumble onto it, watch it with low expectations and you won't be let down.

I heard many bad reviews on this film, but i decided to "blind buy" it on DVD anyways (only five bucks).

The story is cheesy, but different than the usual van damme fare. The setting was great, and some of the locations that the makers shot at were amazing to see. The action was great as well, and there were plenty of fight scenes to keep us van damme fans satisfied. after all, the fight scenes are what van damme fans are looking for in the first place, right? the fighting was well done, and van damme gives you all the classic kicks you can think of. For a DTV van damme action flick, you can do MUCH worse. I put in the movie expecting nothing, but after it ended, i had a smile.

RATING: 7/10

I needed a DVD to test out whether the DVD reader in a laptop I was fixing was working, so I grabbed "The Order" out of a pile my father had left me to use. As I was playing the disc, I got hooked. I agree with the consensus of previous reviewers before me. This movie is nothing special, with thin plot, thin characters, and low-budget sets (when they're not using real locations). But what the movie has going for it is spectacular scenery, compliments of the Holy Land, decent chase scenes and stunts, and a very appealing Van Damme, probably at his most relaxed and confident. If you see it playing anywhere on cable, be sure to check it out. It's not cerebral, but it's entertaining and watchable (and short).

I just finished watching this movie and I have to agree with one of the other user comments: Van Damme's acting is definately getting better. He can actually handle more than two words and some grunts. I think he's still got a lot of room for improvement, but the acting is definately not such a joke anymore. I also thought the action was good in this. One thing I didn't like about Replicant was the amount of action. It only had a bit at the beginning and end and they didn't do enough with it, it was too short. The Order, on the other hand, had plenty of action from start to finish. Definately the way to go for a Van Damme movie. I mean, isn't that why people watch them? Anyway, I gave this movie a six. I think it's definately worth more than the 4.6 it has now. As with all Van Damme movies, don't go watch it with high expectations, just sit back and enjoy it for what it is: brainless action. On that scale, it certainly delivered.

p.s. is it just me, or is Van Damme not as big as he used to be? Maybe it was just the lighting :)

These days, I never know what to expect from a Van Damme film. Is it going to be the old high-kicking style, the awful Dennis Rodman-era stuff, or completely different ("he's an actor!") stuff like his most recent and very good film "The Replicator."

I had the same reservations about "The Order". What to expect? Well, the answer is somewhere in the middle. For Van Damme it's a return to his fighting roots with plenty of martial arts and action with less emphasis on acting (which is a good thing).

The plot is a bit lofty, but moves very quickly with some genuinely good fight sequences. The characters, while not Oscar material, are interesting in their own way and include a very sexy leading lady (in tight tube tops!), the guy from "X-files" as a villain, and Charlton Heston who plays a spunky old professor and gets killed far too quickly.

While there may be a few too many things going on (ie. a secret sect, a bomb, a buried treasure, a kidnapping, a heist, an expensive egg, etc.), overall, this film provides good comedy-action entertainment and is not a bad way to spend two hours. Just leave your thinking cap at the door, buy an extra-large tub of popcorn, and enjoy. 4/5 Stars.