a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

But for its insubstantial ending, this drama would have had enough to justify its running time. It doesn't have as many action sequences that audiences will have come to expect from a Steven Seagal formula. The story was adequate and plays to a belief system and cultural interest close to Seagal's heart but these hang heavy at times in the story when tension should have been honed. The cinematography of the Montana landscape is beautiful and it keeps the interest because it has good direction, but it was a below par effor when judged from the story end.

Steven Seagal, though not the greatest actor, has appeared in many good movies such as Above the Law (1988), Hard to Kill (1990), Marked for Death (1990), Out for Justice (1991), and Under Siege (1992). His career took a hit with the preachy and vanity project On Deadly Ground (1994) which was also his directorial debut. He had mixed results with Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), Executive Decision (1996), The Glimmer Man (1996), and Fire Down Below (1997). The Patriot (1998) was wisely seen as distributors as a direct to video release, and it proves to be a very good decision. Without question this movie movie was terrible. The Patriot also marked the beginning of the end of Steven Seagal's career in which his box office appeal has all but disappeared and a majority of his movies released direct to video where he is a shadow of his former self.The Patriot (not to be confused with the Mel Gibson/Heath Ledger blockbuster released in 2000) is about a respected small town doctor and immunologist Wesley McLaren (Steven Seagal) who must race against time to cure a virus unleashed onto the town by an unstable militia extremist leader Floyd Chislom (Gailard Sartain) who has also infected himself with the same virus. Floyd Chislom and his militia have taken over the hospital where Dr McLaren works in order to find a cure but conveniently, Dr McLaren effortlessly dispatches the militia members with his martial arts skills (how convenient) and Dr McLaren is able to escape along with his daughter Holly (Camilla Belle). From there, Dr McLaren is predictably able to find a cure in the most unconventional way which will leave many viewers groaning with disbelief. I'm still shocked at the pathetic solution and ending years later.Steven Seagal seemed to have taken a different direction in his career with this rubbish all the while preaching peace amongst humanity and the nature is our friend. If I wanted to hear that I would have gone to attend a health retreat (no disrespect intended to those that enjoy the naturalistic lifestyle). But for crying out loud, for a Steven Seagal movie this is terrible. This is also notable for the only Steven Seagal movie with minimal action scenes and less violence.Gailard Sartain as the unstable militia leader Floyd Chislom serves no purpose nor does he have any strong intentions for unleashing the virus apart from the fact he is hating life as well as the US Government.Director Dean Semler (who also directed the 1998 box office flop Firestorm) must have got the hint that he should stick with cinematography (Mad Max 2, Dances with Wolves, We Were Soldiers) as he has had bad luck as a director. He has not directed a movie since The Patriot.The Patriot is one of the worst movies for Steven Seagal which has since seen him stuck in direct to video hell since. Although he did reappear with cinematic releases such as Exit Wounds (2001), Half Past Dead (2002) and Machete (2010). Unable to recapture his former glory, all of his movies since have not seen the light of day in the cinemas nor does it look he will ever make a triumphant return to the cinemas unlike Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Rourke. If that ever happens, that would be a miracle.Unless you are a loyal Steven Seagal fan which I was once, avoid this movie like a virus.1/10.

It's almost unfathomable nowadays, but there used to be a magical time when Steven Seagal movies going straight to video was a big deal. Seagal was a highly bankable star throughout the 90s, his career seemed about as invulnerable as his characters were. In English: we all figured he could release just about anything and get a theatrical run. That's why "The Patriot" was so intriguing, how badly did he screw up on this one? Well, "The Patriot" is basically "On Deadly Ground" without the action, the funny bad dialogues and the Michael Caine. The villain of the movie is a deadly virus, a baddie with a very high tolerance for aikido. So Seagal barely fights at all, he just strolls around his lab trying to find a cure. Eventually his Native American (an obsession of Seagal's) assistant does the work for him and finds a cure, leading to a truly fantastic non-climax that consists of the highly trained, fully equipped army...picking flowers. Not making it up. "The Patriot" ought to get some credit because at least Seagal tried to expand his range a bit, but he's much too limited an actor to salvage a movie that's just talking heads for 90 minutes. And while saving the environment is a noble cause, the man really jammed it down our throats back in his heydays. A direct to video-release seems fair to me.

I think this movie is given a bad wrap because it does not have non-stop bone crunching action and because the villains are stereotyped and the plot lines are predictable and ridiculous. Anyways, Seagal is Dr Wesley McClaren, one of the best immunologists in the USA. But he works as more of a nature medicine practitioner in a small mid-western town. His best friend, Frank, is a cowboy style guy played by L Q James. McClaren also has a daughter and a father who is full blooded Indian and lives in an isolate cabin in the mountains. The arch villain here is the neo nazi white trash survivalist, Floyd Chisolm, played by Gailord Sartain. Chisolm is strangely able to get a hand on a super potent biological weapon, and assuming that the anti dote they have will keep them safe, he unleashes this stuff on his own townspeople. Immediately the army is alerted and seal off the place. So Seagal retreats to a super secret laboratory in the mountains (sick!)where he battles to find an anti dote. Not surprisingly the anti dote turns out to be a herb flower that indians has used for centuries. Not much action yet, and not much you will get until Chisolm gets desperate and sends his "soldiers" to kidnap Seagal and his daughter. Supposedly McClarens daughter is immune because she has native blood. Frank is killed in this process, leaving Seagal no choice but to put Chisolm out of his misery. This is done in a pretty interesting scene where Chisolm invites the kidnapped Seagal for a glass of Bordeaux wine. Seagal responds by talking calmly about what a piece of trash Chisolm is before breaking his wine class with his thumb and index finger and forcing the broken glass into the man's skull. Priceless! To end it off on a high note the army does not go house to house delivering anti dote in capsules or syringes, no, they sprinkle the flowers out from helicopters hovering the town. The director is Dean Semler, the man behind so diverse films as Bruce Almighty, Dead Calm, Young Guns and Cocktail. If it was not for Seagal and the director this would be a piece of trash too, but strangely, I liked it.