Inferno

I originally didn't really have any intentions of watching Dessert Heat. As much as I love a Van Damme film, the fact this is one of his released straight to DVD films did put me off. I only ended up purchasing it because I happened to come across it in the 50 Pence section of a DVD and Games store we have in the UK. I thought for 50p why not. And to be fair, I really enjoyed it.

If you can prepare to watch a movie and not take it too seriously then it's worth a watch to let the time pass and entertain you. Don't get me wrong, it's not Universal Soldier or Sudden Death. But Van Damme kicks ass in this.

Wow, this movie is almost like a Road House for the late 90's. In other words, this is a good, no, GRRRREAT bad movie. Van Damme effectively plays another dumb guy / bad ass/ good guy. JCVD arrives in a small desert community populated almost entirely by abrasive creeps. Abrasive is putting it mildly, these guys snort crank/coke and verbally abuse old folks/hot waitresses around the clock. Of course Van Damme must help out the old folks and hot waitresses, probably because he's on some spiritual journey, or maybe he just wants to get laid, or maybe because he was planning suicide anyway. Whatever, the case may be, 2 old indians (one a motorcycle, the other an actual human being) help him get it done. The mullet adorned red necks and bikers which he awkwardly incapacitates are worth the price of admission alone. For my money this belongs amongst the best of Van Damme's entertainingly stupid body of work. Don't miss it!

Oddly enough, then I have actually never seen the 1999 action movie "Inferno" (aka "Desert Heat") from writer Tom O'Rourke and director John G. Avildsen before now in 2022. And I grew up watching the action movies of the likes of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, and so forth.

I enjoyed "Inferno" for what it was, but this wasn't among the best of movies from Jean-Claude Van Damme. Sure, the movie was watchable and entertaining, but it was suffering from being a little bit too generic. But hey, at least it made for the type of entertainment where you just lean back, munch on the snacks and watch the action on the screen.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and they definitely had a good cast ensemble for the movie, with the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Danny Trejo, Pat Morita, Larry Drake, Jaime Pressly, Bill Erwin, Vincent Schiavelli and Jeff Kober to mention the most recognizable.

There is a good amount of action in "Inferno", and it is definitely the action that mostly drives the movie forward and carries it a great long way.

My rating of "Inferno" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Anyway, you shouldn't compare this movie to either of the above. Although I haven't seen Yojimbo (pronounced Yo-Jimbo by one of the characters), but I'm sure it won't be fair to all of them.

This movie is an action movie, with Van Damme as the good guy, but it's not very serious. Sure, there are explosions and guns and kicks and a completely unnecessary sex scene and all that, but it seems like there are quite a lot comic relief moments and characters. Pat Morita and Bill Erwin reminded me of Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets, for one.

Van Damme plays an American, which meant that he talked very little and tried to talk in a raspy voice to disguise his accent. And you know what? It worked. The only thing that I couldn't let go is because I expected to hear his unique accent.

This movie is 95 minutes well spent. Don't go out of your way looking for it, but you don't have to avoid it either.

Hey, if you want art go to a museum. This thing is entertaining. Slow start but it makes up for that. Funny in understated ways. Vivid characters that weren't all made with cookie cutters. If the dialog had been witless the life would have drained out of this movie as easily as the bad guys die. But I'll wager the writer (Tom O'Rourke II) was awake and had some fun. I was too and I did too. Hats off to him.

We (viewers) made Hollywood (filmmakers) to have a steady source of diversionary schlock. This one delivers.

P.S. Should get an award for egregious miscasting: Vincent Schiavelli as a Sikh?