Into the Sun (2005)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

mink

Writers (WGA):

Steven Seagal (story) &
Joe Halpin (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 May 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Only one man can stop the Yakuza.

Plot:

When a government official is killed, an American operative with experience in the Yakuza culture is brought into investigate.

Plot Keywords:

Yakuza | CIA | FBI | Japanese Mafia | Sword

Cast

Steven Seagal	...	Travis Hunter
Matthew Davis	...	Sean Mack
Takao Ôsawa	...	Kuroda
Eddie George	...	Jones
William Atherton	...	Agent Block
Juliette Marquis	...	Jewel
Ken Lo	...	Chen (as Ken Low)
Kosuke Toyohara	...	Fudomyo-o
Akira Terao	...	Matsuda
Eve Masatoh	...	Kojima (as Masatoh Eve)
Pace Wu	...	Mai Ling
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Ayako
Kanako Yamaguchi	...	Nayako
Namihiko Ômura	...	Takeshi
Daisuke Honda	...	Kawamura
Roy Oguri	...	Kenji
Sokyu Fujita	...	Investigator Maeda
Vikrom Suebsaeng	...	Chang Choudong
Tim Yan	...	General
Shôji Oki	...	Ishikawa
Mac Yasuda	...	Governor of Tokyo
Kairi Narita	...	Young Yakuza
Ginji Yoshikawa	...	Yakuza Ceremony Master
Joe Sagal	...	Tech #1 (as Joseph Sagal)
Hatake	...	Sword Buyer
Naoto Adachi	...	PR Man
Sotaro Yasuda	...	Maitre D'
Korokke	...	Club MC
Colorque	...	Comedian
Chiaki	...	Dancer
Kanae	...	Dancer
Seiko	...	Dancer
Chizuko	...	Singer
Sayo	...	Shamisen Player
Tomichiyo	...	Small Drum
Kouko	...	Large Drum
Yukari	...	Tattoo Parior Secretary
Tamaki Sakura	...	Tattoo Girl
Kittipong Subthawonpan	...	Tong Assassin
Saharat Suebsue	...	Tong Assassin
David Leong	...	Tong #1
Jimmy Moy	...	Tong #2
Takehiko Tsuno	...	Kurodas Men
Yoshihiro Inndu	...	Kurodas Men (as Yoshihiro Inadu)
Koichi Funayoma	...	Kurodas Men (as Koichi Funayama)
Ryuji Kasahora	...	Kurodas Men (as Ryuji Kasahara)
Eiji Morisaki	...	Kurodas Men
Masayoshi Deguchi	...	Kurodas Men
Jin Chikamatsu	...	Kurodas Men
Yuji Takatsuki	...	Kurodas Men
Shinji Sako	...	Kurodas Men
Shosaku Inoue	...	Kenjis' Men
Ruo Tanaka	...	Kenjis' Men (as Ryo Tanaka)
Masaki Kanô	...	Kenjis' Men (as Masaki Kanoh)
Kuniaki Suzuki	...	Chinese Men
Keiya Tabuchi	...	Chinese Men
Nobuyuki Obikane	...	Chinese Men
Kazuaki Kubo	...	Matsuda's Bodyguard
Taiki Ezawa	...	Matsuda's Bodyguard
Tomohiro Kato	...	Middle Aged Yakuza
Haruki Jo	...	Middle Aged Yakuza
Satoshi Kurihara	...	Middle Aged Yakuza
Naoyuki Yoshihisa	...	Middle Aged Yakuza
Ryuta Isomura	...	Middle Aged Yakuza
Takeki Matsuura	...	Yakuza
Kenichirô Tamayori	...	Yakuza
Ken Yasuda	...	Yakuza Soldier
Tetta Yoshida	...	FBI Agent
Laurence Lane	...	FBI Agent
Steve	...	FBI Agent
Jarrod	...	FBI Agent
Maki Sawada	...	Model
Hitomi	...	Model
Yukiyo Naraoka	...	Model
Rie Takeda	...	Model
Moeko Chiba	...	Model
Takatoshi Furukawa	...	Restaurant Staff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kazumi Nakamura	...	Voice over
Munehisa Fujita	...	Detective Meada (uncredited)

Directed by
mink

Writing credits (WGA)
Steven Seagal		(story) &
Joe Halpin		(story)
Steven Seagal		(screenplay) &
Joe Halpin		(screenplay) and
Trevor Miller		(screenplay)

Produced by
Erik Anderson	....	co-producer
Jim Begg	....	supervising producer
Binh Dang	....	associate producer
Cellin Gluck	....	producer
Phillip B. Goldfine	....	executive producer
Frank Hildebrand	....	line producer
Elie Samaha	....	producer
Steven Seagal	....	producer
Tracee Stanley	....	executive producer
Kevan Van Thompson	....	producer (as Kevin Van Thompson)
Kazutoshi Wadakura	....	producer: Japan
Mac Yasuda	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Stanley Clarke

Cinematography by
Don E. FauntLeRoy

Film Editing by
Michael J. Duthie

Casting by
Julia Kim

Production Design by
Peter J. Hampton		(as Peter Hampton)

Set Decoration by
Yoshihito Akatsuka

Costume Design by
Tim Chappel

Production Management
D.J. Carson	....	unit production manager
Michael Sarun Srisomsub	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dickey Beer	....	second unit director
Cellin Gluck	....	second unit director
Brian Kobo	....	second second assistant director
Chidchanok Plodripu	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Shinsuke Kojima	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Hennie Britton	....	foley recordist
Sandy Gendler	....	supervising sound editor
Nicholas James	....	sound editor
Michael Keeping	....	foley artist
Matt Temple	....	foley mixer
Matt Temple	....	foley supervisor

Special Effects by
Andy Adam	....	special effects key

Visual Effects by
Cosmas Paul Bolger Jr.	....	visual effects supervisor
David Emerson	....	optical supervision
Marco S. Paolini	....	digital compositor
Tommy Tran	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
Dickey Beer	....	stunt coordinator
Dian Hristov	....	stunt double: lead
Steve D. Yang	....	fight choreographer

Camera and Electrical Department
Nobuhiro Kuroishi	....	assistant camera
Yasushi Miyata	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera, Tokyo
Picha Srisansanee	....	director of photography: second unit, Thailand
Kanako Tanuma	....	film loader
Yuji Wada	....	gaffer: Japan unit

Casting Department
Caitlin McKenna-Wilkinson	....	adr voice casting
Patima Thampirak	....	casting associate

Editorial Department
Adam M. Duthie	....	first assistant editor
Chisa Saga	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Allison Wright Clark	....	music licensing
Michael Lloyd	....	music supervisor
Fredrik Sarhagen	....	music editor

Other crew
Kara Carmichael	....	assistant to director: pre-production
Harold De Jesus	....	title designer
David Ducar	....	business & legal affairs (2005)
Ray Felipe	....	script researcher
Jennifer Ganton	....	assistant production coordinator: on-location
Nukool Hnurod	....	set production assistant: Thailand
Jim Lau	....	voice actor
Kent Matsuoka	....	assistant: Steven Seagal
Samuel O'Toole	....	production assistant
Rebecca Poulos	....	script supervisor
Emily Rice	....	post-production accountant
Phattana Sansumran	....	set production assistant
Christian Storms	....	dialogue coach
Hanna Tower	....	production coordinator
Marcel Valcarce	....	title designer
David E. Van Houten	....	publicist
Smaranda Comanescu	....	assistant: Steven Seagal (uncredited)
Dan King	....	voice-over (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Aries
• Cine Bazar
• Destination Films
• Franchise Pictures
• Steamroller Productions

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2005) (Argentina) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• RTL Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing) (RTL7)
• Screen Gems (2004) (worldwide) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Act One Script Clearance  script clearance
• Momoco/Maguffin  main titles
• Protean Image Group  script translation

Also Known As:

Yakuza (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language, some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:18 | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (certificate #41247) | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 | Japan:R-15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Aries

Trivia:

In Kuroda's henchmen's apartment, a television is playing a scene with Seagal's daughter Ayako Fujitani in Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (1995).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Notes for the actor are clearly visible When Agent Block reads a note from Travis Hunter.

Quotes:

Travis Hunter: [Travis pulls out a sword and says in Japanese] This one is so sharp. I'll use it tonight. This kills very well.

Movie Connections:

References Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Girl It's Alright

Into The Sun Review

Action: Steven Seagal looks in the best shape he's been in since Exit Wounds. The action fight sequences unfortunately were few and far between. There was a fight at the mall that was superb, in my opinion this was great, but it was over too soon. This was really the only time where he truly showed off his hard to hand combat moves as well as his Aikido throws. The other fights later on were mainly sword based although there were a few punches. No care chases at all. The movie was certainly more plot based than we are used to for a Steven Seagal movie.

Characters: Steven Seagal get's a partner in this movie, but he is pretty much under-used. There's a few funny moments between them. The other characters are pretty poor too. William Atherton as the boss doesn't seem to interested in his role and the other Chinese and Japanese stars don't improve the movie much either. I sure miss the days when Steven Seagal made movies with a decent support cast.

Soundtrack: The radio stations and restaurants in Tokyo must all be tuned in to Steven Seagal FM, everywhere he went his music was playing - i heard a few of his tunes from 'Songs From The Crystal Cave' playing through the film. Overall i counted at least three of his songs including the credits song. The soundtrack was good though.

Direction: The movie begins with an action sequence in the jungle, which is not very well done. The opening credits begin and then some graphic work happens to show the movie is in Tokyo. When i saw this is reminded me other Michael Oblowitz's work in 'Out For A Kill' and i thought the worst, but after that panic it was certainly well directed. Good job mink.

Overall: Pretty disappointing, i was expecting much more for a budget of $35 million, i don't know where all this money was used as it seems rather excessive considering not much was blown up. It is certainly a better movie than 'Out For A Kill' and 'The Foreigner', but it is not better than 'Belly Of The Beast' and nowhere near as good as his earlier work. For a direct to video effort it is certainly above average though. I must admit i pretty much agree with the review form 'Ain't It Cool'.

Rating: 2 / 5