That was an excellent one.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I recorded this movie from a movie channel I subscribe to, mainly because Jean-Claude Van Damme was in it. I thought that if he was in it, the movie, direct to DVD or not, would be above average. Think again. It seems most of the budget was blown getting Van Damme, who only has a limited number of scenes that were probably knocked off in three or four days. The movie looks really cheap, with non- existent production values that look even more horrible due to the fact the movie is shot through colored filters and with other techniques that make every shot look UGLY. Though a good blame for the failure of the movie also falls on the script; among other things, it's hard to get a handle on the hero, there are several plot turns that are somewhat difficult to understand, and the rest of the plot is both extremely familiar and painfully predictable.There are a couple of redeeming qualities to this overall sorry movie, however. The fight scenes aren't that badly done, being both bone-crunching while feeling plausible. Also, I appreciated that the lead protagonist is not portrayed as being perfect both with fighting as well as his other actions. That was believable as well. So the movie isn't totally awful, but I still would not recommend it, even to rabid action fans.

Dragon Eyes is a Yojimbo remake but a bad cheap looking one with all close up shots, yellow filters and colorization which all cheap straight to DVD films have these days.It stars MMA fighter Cung Le who has few lines but gets to do a lot of fighting. Jean Claude Van Damme appears in a cameo as a prison inmate/mentor of Cung Le.Dragon Eyes sees Cung Le turn up into a town called St Jude where he plays off different gangs against each other and crosses path with a Mr Big who is also a corrupt police chief called Mr V (Peter Weller).The fight scenes are well staged but nothing special. The story is actually confusingly realised, strange given its inspired by a Japanese classic remade so many times.Director John Hyams is the son of renowned filmmaker Peter Hyams and he clearly lacks his father's skills.

Like everyone who most likely saw this flick, I saw it cause Jean Cluade Van Damme was on the cover of the DVD, but when I saw him at the end of the list of cast, I knew right then he wasn't the main attraction.But he was the best part of the movie. Jean Claude has some pretty good scenes as a master marshal artist, who teaches his cell mate how to kick ass and take names. Peter Weller was also impressive in the movie as the bad guy. It's too bad Van Damme was not the protagonist. Cung Le played the protagonist, an ex-con trying to make his life right. The guy can fight really well, no problem there, but he does not have the personality needed to lead a movie. the movie reminds me of Blood & Bone in story arch, but Michael Jai White is the perfect combo of action and action.Seen better.

This feels like a collage movie. There are so many scenes that seem to be drawn from other movies, it makes it impossible to get immersed in the 'story'(such as there is one). The effect is jarring, like experiencing a sequence of superficial deja vus that bring to mind the superior films they were channeling. Particularly notable is Peter Weller's horribly camp cartoon villain which stood out as a very poor impersonation of Christopher Walken's Vincenzo Coccotti (from True Romance).Overall, a really poorly written film. Even after an hour and a half, you don't feel as though you've come away with an understanding of any of the characters, including, problematically with the protagonist,Hong (played by Le) who basically spends the duration of the movie in an ambiguous pursuit for redemption, acting out vaguely motivated duties for the pleasure of his mentor Tiano (Van Damme). Hong clearly shouldn't be the brains of any operation because the culminating tone of 90 minutes of his machinations is akin to walking out of room filled with your significant others trumpeting an especially tempestuous fart. Having said that, Cung Le wasn't bad, struck me as an interesting presence deserving to be in a better movie, reminding me of a more youthful Bolo Yeung.As for Van Damme, it seems that they only had him for afternoon or so. He's just basically there to phone in the role of a generic fight coach/zen master. In any case, its always good to see that guy, though not at the cost of watching this movie again.One to miss.