User reviews

I am a huge movie buff, and have enjoyed IMDb.com for years. This is the first time i have bothered to register to voice my opinions- and it is with good reason. I am a huge Van Damme fan, but i am also a realist. His last few films have not been great - particularly Derailed & Knock Off. However credit to Jean Claude for TRYING to do other things such as IN HELL and WAKE OF DEATH. Unlike his co-action hero's Steven Seagal who can't even be bothered hanging around to loop his on voice on his movies- VAN DAMME is making a comeback.

This film marks a great, stylish, action movie- driven by revenge in a yakuza environment. It reminded me of early John Woo movies, Seagal's Hard to Kill and early dirty harry films. JCVD's acting is only getting better with age, the action is short,sharp & powerful. Bloodsoaked action scenes & being hardcore (women shot in the head/guy is shot in head by shotgun) shows this is ANYTHING but "standard/watered down/pg action" that is all to common today. Do yourself a favour and SEE IT THEN OWN IT! If you are a JCVD fan & have been disappointed by his recent films, give this one a go- you will enjoy. Cheers, Dan

"Jean-Claude Van Damme is back", we all have probably heard this statement about hundred times ever since his career took a turn for the worst. Ever since then Jean has been trying to resurrect a career that saw him at the top of Hollywood's revenge, action films of the 80's and early 90's. Trying to win back fans Jean has been going the straight to video route hoping that one of the films will strike gold. And I believe Jean has just found that with Wake of Death. Van Damme IS back and this time he has the acting chops to go along with the cool action. Why this film is rated so low in this site I will never know. This has to be one of the best straight to video releases of last year. The action is great, Van Damme is in it, and the story is pretty good. It's not just your run of the mill revenge movie, it has a great story to it and the film is a success when it comes to the revenge plot. It did it better then some of the big budget Hollywood movies that came out this year, one that totally comes to mind is The Punisher. If your looking for a great action film with Van Damme and this movie is not at your local Blockbuster I suggest you spend a few extra bucks a purchase the film, you will not be let down.

I have read that some people were let down by the films climax stating that it's far too quick for some. What I like to tell those people is that they need more of an imagination. This film is great because of factors like that, the film doesn't sit back and explain every little thing like most movies do now a days. This movie leaves you do use some imagination and that's what made the movie so good. It made the viewer feel more apart of the film and not like a complete idiot that needs everything explained and told to them.

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...

This is the first time that I'm going to write a review for a movie just because it was one of the best recent action films that I have seen and the rating is far below what it deserved. It's a movie set in a dark environment with some true jeanne claude action and some of the best acting I have ever seen him do. The action and violence is intended for mature audiences as it can get somewhat gruesome at times but that is what I liked about this film, it wasn't hollywoodized and comes at you raw. After the movie I felt like it was 2 hours well spent and for being a major movie critic that rarely happens to me! For some reason it just all came together nicely and I definitely recommend this film especially if you enjoy action movies and are a van damme fan!

All too often in Van Damme movies (or any action movie, for that matter), the action is dumbed down or spread out along a goofy story that is clearly only an excuse for gunfights and car chases. Wake of Death has a moderately clever story and is moderately delivered, but much more emphasis is put on the action. It's gritty and unapologetic with its violence, clearly trying to effectively capture the mob world in which it takes place, and also features what might be Van Damme's best actual acting performance of his entire career. There's an emotional scene in the movie that is so intense it's almost difficult to watch, so I don't want to hear any more from these people who are constantly whining that Van Damme can't act. I'd like to see any of YOU show me anything close to what he did in this movie!

Van Damme stars as Ben Archer, an aging mobster who wants to get out and have a normal life with his family. Of course, his family doesn't know what he really does for a living, as far as they know, he is in the "bar" business. Claiming to be tired of the noise and the smoke and the drinking, he tells his incredulous superior that he wants out, and then heads home. Having seen this set-up a dozen times or more, we know that nothing good can come of this.

Ben's wife, Cynthia, is a social worker, and soon finds herself with the problem of a boatload of Chinese refugees, all of whom must be detained and shipped back to China. Strangely, though, they are refugees from Hong Kong. I didn't know there were many refugees coming out of Hong Kong in the early 21st century. In fact, I can't think of a time in modern Chinese history when there were refugees coming from Hong Kong.

Clearly, this is unimportant to writers Mick Davis and Laurent Fellous, who seem to be just going on the assumption that, because of Mao Tse-tung's brutal, murderous regime, there have pretty much always been refugees coming from China. The ones in the movie definitely look like mainland Chinese and not people from Hong Kong, except for the little girl, who looks Korean and is even named Kim. I can tell you one thing, out of almost 1.4 billion people in mainland China, not one of them is named Kim!

Anyway, Cynthia sees this young girl and decides she's too cute to be shipped back to the horrors of Hong Kong, so she risks her job and reputation to take the girl under her wing. Unfortunately, she is the daughter of Sun Quan, a Chinese mobster of the triad variety (you remember them from the Infernal Affairs movies). Quan, clearly, is not happy about his daughter living with some white people ("foreign devils," as they were called back when people really were trying to flee from China), so he sets out to find her, killing anyone who gets in his way.

At this point, the movie becomes astonishingly violent, even for a Van Damme film. The movie violence is serious here, like in serious gangster movies. The profanity is thick and the movie is not afraid to shoot older women in the face, showing us her exploding head. I had never seen anything like that in any of Van Damme's movies. Quan kills Cynthia, and Ben's grieving her loss is one of the best scenes in the movie, and one of the best examples of Van Damme's acting ability from his entire career.

The soundtrack is suitably depressing when it needs to be, such as in the opening credits, which features one of those god-awful moody soap-opera-ish love songs, like the worst of the Bond themes. There is a major slip-up as the little girl doesn't speak a word of English and then, in the same second that Cynthia starts speaking Chinese (she explains that her grandparents are Chinese, as if language was hereditary), Kim busts out with her perfect American English. Nice. I've been teaching English at a University in central China for two years now, and let me tell you, it is almost impossible to teach them to speak English with any accent other than a Chinese one. For that you have to have been raised in America (or Canada, as it were).

The movie is not a cognitive workout, of course, but it is definitely a solid action movie that deserves more recognition than it got. Sadly, like the great Bruce Campbell, Van Damme is a little bit of what they call "box office poison," although I would like to suggest that the reason for this is because of the bad press that he gets from people who jump on the bandwagon, uniformly criticizing his acting and his movies without even really knowing what they're talking about. No, he's not Orson Welles, but he stands for important things and, for all of the shallowness that we've seen in his films, occasionally he takes it upon himself to prove to us that yes, he can act.

The problem is that all too often his target audience doesn't require him to, we just want to see his kick the hell out of some bad guys. Wake of Death is the most violent movie he has ever made, and is proof that he is better than most people think he is. I hope one day he really gets the respect that he deserves!

Fans and non-fans of Van Damme are gonna Like Wake of Death.It baffles one why Van Damme had not been making these types of movie earlier.He might still be the mid-level star he was.

Gorgously shot,WoD finds Van Damme a retired enforcer named Ben Archer with revenge on his mind after a knife-wielding Triad Boss(Simon Yam)brutally KIlls his wife and in-laws.He goes back to the mob way for some Damme action.

What seems like an average revenge flick is an action lovers flick:Bike chases,car chases,Gun fights,Fist fights,Drills,Shotguns to the face,and a scene that would make Tarantino proud.

Van Damme surprises here by rising above his usual monosyllabic self.He emotes!Very well.Its a welcome change to see him with such acting chops.Yam is mostly on the sidelines,letting his goons do the hard work.He underplays San Qaun at times,but he always comes off cool,collected,and evil.Rest of the cast is mixed.The mob cronies are the best:Tony Scheina has a lot of presence as JC's mob buddy and could easily go on to be a good action star.Anthony Fridjohn delivers some pretty hard-boiled lines as the kingpin.Fellow enforcer Claude Hernandez is likable and quiet.But hes all action when need be.Valerie Tian is engaging as Kim; San Quans Daughter.

Bad:Choppy style.Lack of character background.I wonder if there is another cut to WoD.A lot of questions needed answers.The ending is too open-ended.I wish Ringo Lam would have stayed on.But whatever little perks are missing, Philippe Martinez makes up for it with visuals,style,and a great soundtrack.

But all in all a great revenge flick that rivals Man on Fire.And great acting from Van Damme.Your on your way back!

One word for this movie - 'AWESOME' Quite simply put, Nobody to my knowledge comes close to this guy, Van Damme, hes a breathing legend in his own right , trying dissuading us JCVD fans otherwise.

I saw all his movies in the late 80s and then from there went on to watch some of the movies he was in , in the 90s, and personally his presence on the big screen has almost always been memorable ones, in that all his movies are a big part of my 90s experience at the cinemas, or at home watching movies.

When I saw this movie I was probably over treated to the slick production, cool style, directing was VERY good too for this kind of movie, lot of directors fail but not this director JCVD astounded me with his gift of on screen martial arts and athleticism, a living testament to how to remain in good shape even in your 40s, and trust me i may be 27 but I'm no where near the level of this guy and i cycle/jog/ play soccer a lot.

To confess to being an action movie junkie and then to give this movie a miss would be sin, and your loss - as it has all the right ingredients one would except to see in a top quality spanking good action movie.

Its not just the action that this movie excels in depicting on screen, I thought J. Claude van Damme acted as good as any body prancing around on those over budget less than thrilling modern day big screen flicks in which all you get is a guy prancing around with a few corny lines to say and a weak plot.

J. Claude van Damme's character was played exceptionally well, the acting was 10/10 by him, i thought the movie was gripping, but more so extremely entertaining and enjoyable and satisfying to watch on a giant 56 inch plasma TV with my girl friend and a couple of beers beside us - Friday evenings just don't get better than this !

Shes no J. Claude van Damme fan, prefers some guy named Vin Diesel or something, never heard of him but anyway - she too was in confession of admitting that this movie was as good as any action movie she'd seen in the last quarter of the decade or so.

Great action scenes, cool story line, good character depiction on screen great acting - all in all a GEM of an action movie, MISS this movie at your own peril ! 9/10

Man, what an improvement! Wake of Death is just what I needed after a series of flops at the box office in 2004. 2004 really was a bad year for theatrical releases, especially the one called Blade: Trinity. In my opinion, Van Damme saved the last quarter of the year. Who would've known Philippe Martinez could direct a Van Damme movie!! The movie delivered a strong emphasis as well as wicked action. It's about time a strong R-rated film made its presence felt. With an estimated budget of $20,000,000, the film looked more than its worth. It didn't feel cheap at all, and you could actually see what it's trying to convey to the audience.

Van Damme's portrayal of his character is very serious and shows that he is becoming a versatile actor. The reason why Hollywood producers aren't giving him a chance is because they like to out "P.O.S." trash movies with enormous budgets. Hollywood is reducing the fan base of any genre period. It looks like low budget, independent films are the way to go nowadays. This is the Van Damme that is going to hit the theaters hard pretty soon. The 90's Van Damme was strictly action with limited emotion, but there was nothing wrong with that. Presently, Van Damme is committing to great things. His charisma in Wake of Death was smooth and played very well throughout the movie. Simon Yam, who plays the villain, is his usual self, and I appreciate him playing alongside Van Damme. I look forward to seeing great things from him in the future also.

The action was very well mixed into the movie. There is no overuse of it, and it seemed like Van Damme wanted to take that approach. Apparently, Van Damme kept the action to a minimum. It smoothly mixed in with the drama of the film, and he knew how to control every element within the movie. His style of choice for martial arts in the film was basic. Mixing gun-play is productive when making a film noir type of movie. I like how Van Damme uses other martial artists to depict other characters in the film. Tony Schiena, who plays Tony, shows some promise as an up-and-coming actor or action star. I prefer for him to be an action star. God knows we need "REAL" martial artists in the film industry. Van Damme proves to Hollywood that he can make a smaller but effective film.

Overall, Wake of Death, proves that Van Damme is getting better at making small budget films, as well as making them effective. I will always be a fan of his and recommend this film highly.

Final Judgement: ****/****

Classic Van Damme movie, true 90s action movie. Great action and fight scenes. A bit cheesy action movie, but cheesy was well done.

If you are looking for a refined big budget production, please don't watch this so you can avoid giving a bad rating.

In my opinion, this is by far the best Van Damme film. The acting is superb and first rate. The story is nothing new but it's done very well. The directing and the editing is first rate too. All about this film is first rate. There is maybe a few glitches but that's it. The fights are awesome as well. What I think makes this film superior, it's how well it was made. You actually feel "something" for the characters. I loved Max and Raymond. The actor who portrayed Max is awesome. Tony was very cool as well. My feeling is that if someone like Bruce Willis or another big time movie star played the main role of Ben Archer, the film would've been a theatrical box office success. Jean needs to stick to films like this.

I have seen a lot of Van Damme films and his recent ones have been pretty poor. I didn' think he could actually make a good come back. The last good film he did was Hard Target. I didn't expect a lot from this, expecting this to be like the other he has done but i was wrong. This had to of been one of the best action of 2004. It was brilliant. I think Van Damme has finally realised what a good script is and a good film is. I have never really seen Van Damme act properly and in this film he really shows he can act. He gives a brilliant performance.

It has a lot of great things in it like brilliant cinematography, great music, brilliant action sequences and great acting. I thought the storyline was very good. Good to see a different story. As for the action i thought it was brilliant. They didn't go over the top with it and have rubbish action sequences. They were all really good and were well balanced. I would of liked to of seen more fighting from Van Damme. I thought I was going to see plenty of but probably saw about 1 minute of it. That is the only criticism i have about it. Everything else about the film is brilliant.

This film is must see action film and a must see fr all you Van Damme fans. You will be pleased to see that Van Damme has made a good film. It ashame this film didn't go to the cinemas because i'm sure it would of done well.