Into the Sun (2005)

Director:

mink

Writers (WGA):

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

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

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:

Continuity: When Kuroda is informing his men of Travis Hunter's existence for the first time, the henchman with the brown hair and goatee is holding an MP3 player and leans forward while his boss speaking. In the shot that immediately follows, however, he has a cigarette to his mouth and is reclining with his back against the couch.

Quotes:

Travis Hunter: I'm going right through the front door!

Movie Connections:

References Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Don't You Cry

"This one is so sharp.....I'll use it tonight......This kills very well!"

INTO THE SUN was supposed to get a limited cinema release, i don't think it would have fared well on the big screen? The beginning is good, the ending is great, but the mid section (as with most recent SEAGAL movies) felt a little padded. SEAGAL (great as ever) plays TRAVIS HUNTER (great name) ex CIA Yakuza expert, sent to Tokyo, to solve the case of a murdered governor. SEAGAL meets up with his (soon to be) young bride, and makes his peace with his old sensei, but the Yakuza are on to Hunter (and his rookie partner) and plan to take them, out of the picture......BIG MISTAKE!!

On paper this sounds fine, but i just wish that the director had given SEAGAL more to do than spend an hour, questioning people, or driving around. When the fight scenes do come, they are very good (i've watched it slo-mo, and looks 100% genuine SEAGAL.......so why all the quick cutting?) and SEAGAL still has amazing hand-speed (the sword fights are awesome) and i quite liked some of the Yakuza scenes (but it's in this mid-section, that SEAGAL is rarely on screen, or even forgot about) but with more fight scenes, this movie could have been a classic. As it is, it's a million times better than the (rather dull) OUT OF REACH, but still nowhere near the giddy heights of BELLY OF THE BEAST (the perfect combination of SEAGALism and kick ass action) Director MINK (eh?) does a good job with the action scenes, and tries to inject the movie with flashy visuals, from time to time. I'll give them credit, however, for using music tracks from SEAGAL's album (SONGS FROM THE CRYSTAL CAVE) throughout this movie. The sword fighting scenes are quite bloody as well (take note QUENTIN!) and the movie has a more 'polished' look than previous SEAGAL epics. The bottom line is this, people expecting another UNDER SIEGE need not watch this, but fans of 70's Yakuza flicks will enjoy seeing the old cliché's on display.

It was rumoured that this picture was meant to be a remake of sorts to 1975's classic THE YAKUZA (with ROBERT MITCHUM) but the blood soaked climax aside, it bears little resemblance.

Final thoughts; Good movie, solid fight scenes (when they come) OK performances, crisp photography, great soundtrack (that i'll bet is never released anywhere) No voice doubles and some violent bloodletting, make INTO A SUN a (slow) step in the right direction for STEVEN SEAGAL, still the baddest man on the planet known as 'action' 8 OUT OF 10