I admit I was excited seeing this but I was also very wary. Robert Deniro is a legend and I often like John Travolta too in certain roles so the potential of them together in a survival/action/horror was intriguing but straight to video...red flag right there!! The reviews for this film were awful and most of them were so angry that the film was so historically and politically inaccurate and I will fully admit ignorance on the matters of Bosnia and Serbia and the entire war and conflict going on there so for me it wasn't about what facts were right or wrong. I had no choice but to watch this for entertainment. It was twisted and disturbing and violent and had a really graphic message about morality and war that I think made the film had at least some depth and complexity. This was NOT a bad film whatsoever. It wasn't done perfectly that's for sure and it had some ups and downs but it was a solid action/horror/thriller. It was really the perfect length because you could only watch the power shift between the two actors so many times before it started to feel just a little stale but the action scenes were well done and the script was very good.
Robert DeNiro could probably make almost any film good. I actually think he's hit a stride now even in his senior years because the guy is just electric on screen. Both of the main characters in this film are incredibly flawed and twisted men for various reasons. Neither is truly the hero. DeNiro scenes are terrific especially his speech at the end of the film which was moving and powerful. It seems a lot of reviewers are really hating on John Travolta and to each their own but he's a versatile actor who has had a lot of ups and downs. I think his performance in this film was solid. His accent seems really awful at times but I don't know the dialect from that area so I don't know if he really nails it or if its horribly done. The character is still captivating and determined and him and DeNiro actually have really great chemistry together which certainly helps the film. With any two lesser actors this could have been far less interesting but the two of them are great and I'm standing by that!!
I do agree that a much more talented director might have added some serious depth to the film. Mark Steven Johnson is a mainstream director who likes to slap things together if you go by Daredevil or Ghost Rider although Simon Birch was a brilliant film based on a brilliant book. I think he loves his action scenes and sometimes forgets that the story is important too. The ending of the film is almost a little too neat and tidy and yet at the same time I liked how it ended as well. I think just a little more to it and it could have been far more effective. The special effects in the film (in particular the scenes where Travolta and DeNiro's face are super imposed on younger bodies to show scenes from the past) were really done awful and lowered the standard of the film. But the fight scenes are some truly grotesque scenes of torture were very effective. There was a lot of potential behind this movie but in my books they didn't screw it up entirely and I enjoyed it for what it was. Basically I suppose I enjoyed it for watching two Hollywood icons duke it out in a low budget film but it worked. IMDb reviewers are WAY too hard on this one!! 7/10
Robert DeNiro could probably make almost any film good. I actually think he's hit a stride now even in his senior years because the guy is just electric on screen. Both of the main characters in this film are incredibly flawed and twisted men for various reasons. Neither is truly the hero. DeNiro scenes are terrific especially his speech at the end of the film which was moving and powerful. It seems a lot of reviewers are really hating on John Travolta and to each their own but he's a versatile actor who has had a lot of ups and downs. I think his performance in this film was solid. His accent seems really awful at times but I don't know the dialect from that area so I don't know if he really nails it or if its horribly done. The character is still captivating and determined and him and DeNiro actually have really great chemistry together which certainly helps the film. With any two lesser actors this could have been far less interesting but the two of them are great and I'm standing by that!!
I do agree that a much more talented director might have added some serious depth to the film. Mark Steven Johnson is a mainstream director who likes to slap things together if you go by Daredevil or Ghost Rider although Simon Birch was a brilliant film based on a brilliant book. I think he loves his action scenes and sometimes forgets that the story is important too. The ending of the film is almost a little too neat and tidy and yet at the same time I liked how it ended as well. I think just a little more to it and it could have been far more effective. The special effects in the film (in particular the scenes where Travolta and DeNiro's face are super imposed on younger bodies to show scenes from the past) were really done awful and lowered the standard of the film. But the fight scenes are some truly grotesque scenes of torture were very effective. There was a lot of potential behind this movie but in my books they didn't screw it up entirely and I enjoyed it for what it was. Basically I suppose I enjoyed it for watching two Hollywood icons duke it out in a low budget film but it worked. IMDb reviewers are WAY too hard on this one!! 7/10