Six Bullets

This is without a doubt one of the better Van Damme movies in the entire course of his career. Why? Well because it is not the average generic movie that he usually makes, where he is sort of a lone underdog hero who is fighting an uphill battle against overwhelming odds, and with some miraculous force he manages to singlehandedly emerge victorious at the end, even after having received a beating that would normally drop dead a prize-winning bull.

"6 Bullets" is a great story-driven movie, in which Van Damme plays Samson Gaul, a mercenary who is working in Eastern Europe to infiltrate human trafficking rings and rescue underage boys and girls, and bring them home to be reunited with their families after these horrible ordeals. However, during one such a mission, something goes horribly awry and two innocent young girls end up dead. Haunted by the apparitions of these dead girls, Gaul ends up seeking solitude and salvation at the mercy of alcohol while trying to make a living as a butcher. A young American girl is kidnapped from her hotel and the parents seek out Gaul for help. But can Gaul redeem himself of the past and step up to the task at hand? The storyline in "6 Bullets" was really interesting and captivating, as human trafficking is, sadly, every day events in parts of the world. So with that in mind, then this story really takes on a personal approach and becomes more than just mindless martial arts entertainment.

Plus, the storyline is really helped along by some powerful performances, not only by Van Damme, who really stepped into character and showed a great acting side, but also by Joe Flanigan (playing Andrew Fayden).

The movie was nicely shot, the dialogue was good and it moved at a great pace. There was a fair amount of drama in the movie, spiced up with martial arts, of course, and also gun fights. This is really one of the better Van Damme movies that I have seen in a long, long time, and it is good to see that he is back in the game.

There were just a couple of things in the movie that I didn't really understand. In the opening sequence, how did Gaul manage to plant all that explosive in the cars parked outside the building when there was all that much security personnel around? And also when he wanted a phone number traced, it started with 555, which is a number associated with Hollywood movies, so we must assume that it is an alleged American fake-movie phone number, so why was it showing up on an Eastern Europe phone? And finally, why would most people in Eastern Europe opt to speak English first whenever addressing strangers? Wouldn't it make more sense to speak in their native language? Anyway, these touches are just small flaws that don't really have much impact on the movie. I just happened to notice this and wonder about it.

"6 Bullets" is a great addition to movie collection for fans of Van Damme. And it is also good entertainment, even if you are not particular a fan of him.

Let me be as direct as possible: this movie rocks!!! I know most people are expecting a cheap movie with flat dialogues and average acting but this film will certainly surprise many.

OK, you won't have Academy Awards performances but the actors did a good job. The action is well executed and the plot line captivating enough.

I believe that Joe Flanigan made his character believable and convincing enough. Plowman was also decent as the mum looking for her kidnapped daughter.

Overall I give "6 Bullets" a solid eight. It is good fun. Van Damme is BACK!!!

Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in another above-par DTV outing, and proves that he's still relevant (at least more relevant than Steven Seagal). There's nothing too special about the story, seeing as it's been done before in various forms (e.g., TAKEN). Even the cinematography isn't too unique, and has a washed-out palette that is all-too-common in these types of movies. But unlike TAKEN, this movie actually takes the time to develop its characters and give you reason to care about them. In other words, it's not all ass-kicking and one-liners (and in fact, there really isn't any humor). The run time is a little overlong (by about 15-20 minutes), but it's spent with characters you can identify with and a story that has some dramatic impact. Definitely for JCVD fans, but also for anyone looking to branch out beyond the middling action fare that Hollywood churns out nowadays.

Finally ! Van Damme seems to be getting his act together and putting out a better product. This is one of the best "straight to video" movies he has done, kind of on par with Desert Heat and Legionaire, and dare I say almost good enough that it could have had a theatrical release. The plot borrows heavily from "Taken" and a few other movies but is pulled off well and JCVD is in good physical shape for this film, despite his haggard face. Could have used a bit more hand to hand fight scenes, but what we are given is filmed well. Definitely worth a view if you are a Van Damme fan, something that couldn't be said for most of his movies made in the 2000s. Let's hope he can maintain this momentum and have a bit of career resurgence like Stallone.

This is a Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick.

I've seen a number of his similar films over the years and feel that they have all been better than average. Meaning that if you like action movies, Van Damme delivers with ones that you will probably watch again sometime.

Like Assassination Games (2011), this one features his son and daughter (his daughter also produces). No, his kids won't win any acting awards either, but they turn in credible performances for their characters. For his part, Van Damme acts better than I have ever seen him act before as a troubled ex-mercenary who has built a reputation finding and returning kidnapped children. He also seems to have built one for leaving a lot of bodies behind, including innocents. Unlike most of his other movies where he does no wrong, this one has him a lot more fallible and even negligent. His realizations have him showing lingering regret that really spices up this plot.

While this film is vaguely similar to Taken (2009), there are more differences than similarities. It also shows what amoral lengths the family of a kidnapped child might be willing to go to to get their kid back.

This is a good action flick with some thought provoking moments about consequences and choices. I recommend it.