Half Past Dead (2002)

Director:

Don Michael Paul

Writer (WGA):

Don Michael Paul (written by)

Release Date:

15 November 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The Good. The Bad. And the Deadly.

Plot:

This movie tells the story of a man who goes undercover in a hi-tech prison to find out information to help prosecute those who killed his wife. While there he stumbles onto a plot involving a death-row inmate and his $200 million stash of gold.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | FBI | Alcatraz | Death Row | Electric Chair

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Steven Seagal	...	Sasha Petrosevitch
Morris Chestnut	...	49er One / Donald Robert Johnson
Ja Rule	...	Nicolas 'Nick' Frazier
Nia Peeples	...	49er Six
Tony Plana	...	Warden El Fuego
Kurupt	...	Twitch
Michael Taliferro	...	Little Joe (as Michael 'Bear' Taliferro)
Claudia Christian	...	Special Agent Ellen Williams
Linda Thorson	...	Judge Jane McPherson
Bruce Weitz	...	Lester McKenna
Michael McGrady	...	Guard Damon J. Kestner
Richard Bremmer	...	Sonny Eckvall
Hannes Jaenicke	...	Agent Hartmann
Matt Battaglia	...	49er Three
Wiliam T. Bowers	...	Alcatraz Guard

Also Known As:

Halbtot - Half Past Dead (Germany)
Lockdown (USA) (working title)
The Rock (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for pervasive action violence, language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

99 min | Finland:95 min (25 fps) (short version) | Finland:106 min (25 fps) (long version)

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Venezuela:PG-13 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39349) | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Franchise Pictures

Trivia:

All indoor prison scenes were shot in an old STASI prison in Berlin/Germany.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): 49er One calls out for a rifle as he jumps into the electric chair pit, but his team did not bring any rifles to the island - only submachine guns.

Quotes:

Sasha: [Sasha confesses to Nick about who he is] I'm undercover. F.B.I.
Nick: But you passed the lie detector test.
Sasha: That's nothing man. Anybody can do that.
Nick: [with anger in his voice] All this time... y ou've been settin' up on me.
[aims his weapon at Sasha]
Nick: I believed in you. I trusted you. Brought you into my family...
[shouts]
Nick: I vouched for you! And you betrayed me?
Sasha: It's not that simple.
Lester: [places hand on Nick's shoulder] Don't do it.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Edited into Half Past Dead 2 (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hold On

Decent.

The story is a cool concept, but the choices for the acting's sake weren't cool at all. Ja Rule was an ignorant cocky character but Seagul was actual very likable. I felt as though this film doesn't get the respect it deserves because Steven Seagul was in it. The dialogue was mediocre, some parts though were really random though. The scene where "Twitch" blows up the door seemed dumb. As well as the scene where Steve and Morris fight in the chains. And did anyone else notice that no one ever hit the bullets they shot? Anyway, the female who played the Supreme Court Justice member was actually enjoyable to watch.

All in all, Half Past Dead is just mindless fun, pretty good.

7/10