The Order

I've always been a fan of Jean-Claude van Damme, so I've been mad that his recent movies haven't got theatrical releases, while the latest Adam Sandler and the current breed of gross-out teen movies have. I'd much rather see van Damme on the big screen than another teen movie. Although THE ORDER is far from his best or my favorite of his films (those would be HARD TARGET, SUDDEN DEATH, MAXIMUM RISK, and LEGIONNAIRE), it's still pretty good, even if it does drag in some places and has some hard-to-understand accents. But you can understand enough to know the basic idea of the movie, so it doesn't really matter. Written by van Damme, the story moves had a decent pacer, but the direction could have been a little tighter in some scenes. Van Damme is particularly good, and though it's not his best acting (that would be MAXIMUM RISK), it's better than some of his earlier ones.

The film makes good use of its Israeli locations, sexy newcomer Sofia Milos makes a feisty heroine, and co-stars Ben Cross and Brian Thompson offer good support in roles that are smaller than they should be. Unfortunately, however, Charlton Heston is wasted. I kept saying to myself, "Why go to all the trouble to get a famous big-name veteran screen star to play such a teeny, tiny little role?" His part would have been better suited for the unknown who played van Damme's father, with Heston playing the father. That would have been much better. As I said, some parts tend to drag a little bit, but the action scenes are well-done, my favorite being the entire climactic sequence in the underground tunnel system. There's even some funny bloopers that run before the end credits, though only a few; some more would have been nice.

All-in-all, one of van Damme's better movies storywise, and though I'm not sure if I would actually buy the DVD, I would probably make it an occasional rental. Then again, I'm a big van Damme fan, so I'll probably buy it next time I see it just to have it.

This movie is an action comedy. I don't it really was supposed to be a serious action movie. Most people criticize the movie, claiming that it didn't deliver and the fact that it wasn't one of Van Damme's worst movie. In respect to the movie, it is a action comedy in a lighter aspect. I admit though, the movie did have its flaws, and some of van damme's dialogue was too simplistic and cheesy. However, the had its moments, and van damme is still in top shape. I also liked how Van Damme used some of his old co-stars from previous movies (The Quest, Cyborg). Overall, this movie should satisfy any van damme fan. This movie could've produce a lot more, and the Charlton Heston character was unnecessary.

Final Judgement: **1/2/****

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

Well, I'm a fan of Van Damme & always will be. I rented this 1 after really enjoying REPLICANT, which was Van Damme's darkest film. I'll be buying this when it comes to buy on video. The action scenes with Van Damme were good, its great 2 see him in action again. I was happy when Van Damme did his helicopter kick in a fight in the end. It also was cool 2 see the big Mongolian guy from THE QUEST in this 1 & that bad guy from DOUBLE IMPACT with the ninja-star shoes. But I will complain about that the movie was edited badly at several parts. & the big bomb explosion was quite fake due 2 stupid CGI. & Van Damme trying 2 b funny at times was kind of a dumb idea. Overall this film was good but not great like his earlier films. Its decent effort. S. Lettich directed this, but LIONHEART & DOUBLE IMPACT were better films.