प्यार की आग

I'll be the first to admit that the super butt kicking action was not the only thing I appreciated in Jean-Claude Van Damme's films back in the day. His own butt was an excellent plus. Timecop and Cyborg? I was there. I tried to hang on after that but... JCVD twins, Dennis Rodman, science gone bad? It was all too cartoony and the action wasn't enough to hold my interest. I turned my attention East and... Salvation! The wonders of Hong Kong film.

Looking to pack a recent weekend with as much action and gunplay possible, I found "Wake of Death" and decided to give JCVD another try. I'm glad I did as I found it to be a fine film. It doesn't have the American film clichés - a hero with a heart of gold, selflessly protecting orphans and widows, while throwing off quippy one-liners and never sustaining anything more than a few strategically placed scratches.

This is a man with a questionable and likely criminal past, but we're not back storied into seeing how he is really just a misunderstood hero. It is up to the viewer to make their own judgment about this man and his actions. This film is not for those who like their action mindless.

I agree with all the comments about Jean-Claude's acting skills – he has definitely earned to communicate emotion and real character depth. He is a long way from the stone-faced Muscles from Brussels.

This woman gives the film 2 thumbs up! Now go kick some ass!

Well, what can I say? Straight to video releases are always looked at strangely. I myself are guilty of thinking "The movie cant be that good if it didn't get shown at the Cinema!". I was totally Wrong with Wake Of Death...

This is a great Movie! Van Damme is basically "EXCELLENT". Lisa King who plays Cynthia Archer, Van Damme's wife is quite poor and the Cheapo acting kind of shines in her scenes. She is very basic and really, isn't very good.

Your Probably thinking "This don't sound too good from what I've said but wait, let me continue!".

The Action is excellently balanced in the Movie. The Story is constantly moving in the right direction and you never really lose feel of where things are going! Also, the camera work reminds me of some great flicks like "Face Off" and the Driving scenes could be mistaken for clips from "Fast and the Furious". I ain't kidding, they are really good! This Movie is on par with some films that have been on at the Cinemas! However, if you cant stand rubbish acting, bare with it until his Wife gets killed as the quality shown in her scenes does sound cheap (like TV Soap acting). After that, its all revenge and thats entertaining! Lastly, with Films like "The Punisher" not living up to my Expectations, I rated Wake Of Death better than Punisher! Thats how good I thought it was...

It was great to finally see the new Van Damme movie. I enjoyed this better than his previosu 1 - IN HELL.

Acting by VD was very good, along with everyone else. Though, the editing was choppy in some places, everything else abiut the movie was fine with me. Despite the fact that 'The End' shows up, when I thought it was pointless to put that up. It could have gone straight to the credits.

This is still 1 of Van Damme's best movies in a while.

This is the best action movie of 2004. This really should have gone to theatres here, considering how much crap that Hollywood releases now.

This is a must see, for Van Damme fans & action fans.

I have always wanted Van Damme in a french style action-noir movie, like the old Alain Delon movies, I was very pleased when I saw Philippe Martinez mix Jean-Pierre Melville classic anti-hero lead with "MTV" camera work. It works perfectly. Van Damme makes his best performance to date, he really acts. The guy have taken some great amount of heat in his past due to his accent. This time around you can't blame or bash Jean-Claude for being stiff. The action scenes are suitable to the story, the fights are short and bloody. No need for fancy 360 kicks, a punch to the jaw and empty the clip in the chest. Classy. The cinematography is one of the best I have seen in a action movie, within this budget, and that is all thanks to the work by Emmanuel Kadosh. The music works really good for the emotional scenes and the sound is clear and top notch.

JCVD has never really thought of his movies as anything more than entertainment, he was once asked which of his movies was good, he replied "have I ever made any good movies?" He really makes an effort in this one, and to be honest he generally makes better movies than Steven Seagal, who always has to make a point of letting everyone know he speaks Japanese etc. Bit lame now Steven! The movie is a excellent effort, but lacks good supporting actors. JCVD isn't Sean Penn, but then again we all know that Sean isn't that good a fighter (although he does try, well used to anyway). So, JCVD really needs excellent support actors to raise his game, and sadly there aren't any here. Everyone is over serious. But hey, it's only entertainment you say. But I can't help thinking that with a few seriously good support male actors like Biehn or Madsen, the whole thing would have gone down much better. On the whole though if you like action, this is defo for you.