Attack Force (2006) (V)

User Rating:

2.6/10   

Director:

Michael Keusch

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

5 December 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Humanity's greatest hope... Faces his greatest battle.

Plot:

Marshall Lawson loses his strike-team in a cold-blooded and seemingly random attack. After this he takes...

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Forehead | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Steven Seagal	...	Cmdr. Marshall Lawson
Lisa Lovbrand	...	Tia
David Kennedy	...	Dwayne Dixon
Matthew Chambers	...	Seth
Danny Webb	...	Werner
Andrew Bicknell	...	Robinson
Adam Croasdell	...	Aroon
Mark Dymond	...	Phil
Del Synnott	...	Carl
Cheryl Ko	...	Admiral's Aide
Ioan Ionescu	...	Soldier #1 (as Ioan Andrei Ionescu)
Tomi Cristin	...	Ambassador
Florian Ghimpu	...	Tourist #1
Evelyne Armela O'Bami	...	Reina
Emanuel Parvu	...	Detective Lambert

Also Known As:

Harvester (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

Australia:94 min

Country:

Romania | UK | USA

Language:

English | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Castel Film Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Castel Film Romania

Trivia:

Screenwriter 'Joe Halpin' is quoted in the book "Seagalogy: The Ass Kicking Films of Steven Seagal" as saying that "Attack Force" had originally been written and filmed as "Harvester," a sci-fi/horror movie with Seagal and his men battling an invading force of vampire space aliens. After Seagal, Halpin and director Michael Keusch had delivered the finished sci-fi film, the production and distribution company decided to eliminate the sci-fi space-alien elements and replace them with another plot having about a super-addictive drug that turns its users into superhuman killers. They called back a few of the lower-paid actors for re-shoots, re-dubbed the majority of Seagal's dialog via ADR, totally re-edited the film and changed it into the "Attack Force" we know today. Seagal and Halpin were not involved.

Goofs:

Continuity: Flipped shot: the large cut Lawson inflicted on the Queen moves from the left side of her chest to the right side.

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Rave On The Black Sea

Horrible!

Attack Force has a horrendous title, and can almost certainly be judged by it's awful cover, because the film is horrible! A mish-mash of plot lines, a choppy mess, and a horribly stagnated pace, make the film hard to watch start to finish. I managed this and I'm proud. As a fan of Seagal's work (mostly of his old days), it's painful to see him star in such tripe. True Seagal's last half dozen movies or so, have sucked a lot, but some of them at least had some redeeming features. Attack Force is a mess. From conception to delivery this film has undergone many changes, from an alien plot line, to the current one about a highly addictive super drug, about to be unleashed on the Romanian (the film has several settings, none of which are Romanian, but all look like Romania because they are in Romania!) populace. The film is tacked together with little regard for whatever state the original shooting script was. Plot-holes and loose ends are abound in the film that's for sure. That's been a problem in Seagal's last few films as well, but never has the result been so boring. There's a whole plot line about the water supply being poisoned with CTX (that's the drugs cool name) that is never resolved!

Of course in recent years the plot's haven't been the main draw in the Seagal canon so there was a big onus on the other departments, especially the action. Before I regard the action though, all the other departments are poor. The direction is poor, or perhaps better put, made to look poor. Who knows how director Michael Keusch originally intended this film? Between him finishing his job, the re-shoots by stunt man Tom Delmar, and the editing, a coherent auteur vision is completely lost. The best way to describe the film is that it's just all over the shop! The cinematography is dull, nearly inducing sleep, while the droning score (sounding like it was produced on the cheapest of cheap synthesizers) does nothing to excite matters. The cast too are poor, unable to salvage anything here. Seagal looks bored beyond recognition, and is dubbed through much of the picture, clearly when plot-points are being changed. He looks tired and overweight, and lethargic, unlike he's looked in previous pictures too (remarkable as the aforementioned have been key complaints in Seagal's recent pictures). The only redeemable cast member is Adam Croasdell as one of the villains, doing a slimy Brit routine. He seems to be a throwback to the alien plot line, because he's playing it inhuman. He seems like a cross between a body snatcher and a vampire (ditto to the lead villain played by some hot chick who appears on occasion, seemingly waiting for her husband… Dracula).

Finally the action. Well it's poor. Poorly conceived, poorly shot. There's not much either, and there's even less featuring Seagal. Stevo doesn't really bring out the stunt double here, because there's so little to do. There's even a lengthy (repetitive and boring) action scene on the hour mark that inter-cuts occasionally with little flashes of Seagal's stand in because clearly Seagal wasn't there while the scene was being shot, and they wanted to have him feature in the action scene. Seagal eventually appears in person to shoot two guys in the head. Seagal has a producers credit here and a script credit, but from what I understand the film has been altered behind his back to the current state it's in. Seagal will apparently not be working with these people again, or with Castel Studio's who continue to deliver horrifically sub-Nu-Image (that's saying something), material.

Overall this is one to avoid if you are not a Seagal fan. Seagal fans can also be safe in the knowledge that the big man probably won't want to do anything this bad again. Unfortunately his next film which has already been shot, with the same people, promises to be even worse than this. *