If they tried to play it straight, this movie would have failed miserable. Between DMX's decent, yet unspectacular star turn and Seagal's inability to express anything outside of constipation, there would not be much joy to be had. What I did like were Seagal still had the moves, and also how he could make fun of himself. At one point he points towards his head and says "This is my happy face." That is a brilliant line, possibly the best in the movie.

Andrzej Bartkowiak is making a habit of teaming up martial arts stars with music stars and creating a glossy, if shallow, exercises in action excess. His style would have fit well in the 80's when there were a plethora of films being put out by Seagal, Van Damme, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger. His films all seem to have a certain look to them, but never quite make the leap to greatness, otherwise they seem to prefer to wallow in their own mediocrity. And for some reason, I still like them.

Video. It is presented in it's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced. It is serviceable yet unspectacular. Everything seems to be muted and flat, nothing really pops out at you. I have seen worse from major releases, but a top notch transfer would have enhanced the replayability of this title.

Audio. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, it sounds pretty good, levels all seem to be right on. It is not spectacular, but it serves the content well.

Extras. It's not a full fledged special edition, but it has a couple of extras.
-Making of Featurette. Runs nearly twenty minutes and is primarily fluff, but we get some interesting looks at Seagal learning the wires.
-A Day on the Set with Anthony Anderson. Runs about 8 minutes as we follow Anthony who talks us through a typical day, his personality carries what could have been a rather dry bit.
-Music Video. DMX's "No Sunshine" video from the soundtrack.
-Trailer, lastly we get the theatrical trailer, presented in widescreen.

Bottomline. This is not a must own by any stretch, but it is a fun movie for anyone who is a fan of the cast members, or is looking for a mindless action film to spend an evening with. I liked the movie, and I stand by that statement!

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