Derailed (2002)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Derailed is another poor movie that did no favours to Van Damme's career that had been heading downhill since the late 1990's. The entire story is derivative, the action is not enjoyable, the stunts are rubbish, and the acting is the worst of it all.In a nutshell, Jean Claude Van Damme is NATO operative Jacques Kristoff who has been tasked to track down Galina Konstantin played by Laura Harring (Mulholland Drive), who has stolen an extremely valuable and dangerous top-secret cargo. Kristoff manages to find Galina and in order to complete his mission he must return Galina and the stolen cargo to his superiors via train. The stolen cargo turns out to be vials of SP-43, a biological weapon. Along with Kristoff and Galina, for some unknown reason Kristoff's two children are traveling with him on the train as well. Why you ask? Don't bother racking your head asking why.A group of terrorists led by Mason Cole played by Tomas Arana (Gladiator) hijack the train and have released the virus, infecting the passengers on the train. It's no surprise that it is up to Kristoff to single handedly take on the terrorists and save the passengers including his family. Derailed seemed like a combination of Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) and Outbreak (1995) and its no wonder why the entire movie felt so derivative yet it was done poorly. Everything was just bad about it.I'd ask for a refund but it would be futile.Certainly one to forget for Jean Claude Van Damme.1/10.

A train full of terrorists. A biological weapon. Sound familiar? Well it is due to the fact Derailed borrows most of its ideas and scenarios from other movies. Jean Claude Van Damme stars as a special agent trying to get a thief and her cargo from one point to another. Mode of transportation is a train and like most action fans will immediately think of is Under Siege 2. Of course that movie utilized this idea much better but we are working on a much lower budget. The cargo happens to be vials of a toxic nature that so happen to be wanted by the bad guys. This movie is strictly for hardcore Van Damme fans only. Essentially he is the only real saving grace of the movie as is Laura Harring who plays the thief. The biggest problem with this film? Everything else. Borrowed story, terrible editing, horrible cheap effects, sound design that needs to be heard to be believed. For i'm certain movie fans can pick up sound effects from other things that are used in certain spots throughout. JCVD should have skipped this one but he didn't and his fans get treated to this mediocre film. Not his fault of course but as a loyal Van Damme fan myself, even I thought this film was bad. Even if you can get passed the minor gripes and try to enjoy the movie, the editing and effects will make you think twice. Everything looks cheap and shoddy.The bad guys are stereotypical in every form and their deaths in some cases are over-exaggerated. Everybody makes bad films from time to time and this is at the bottom of Van Damme's filmography. It would have been a lot better in someone's else hands who understands how to use Van Damme and his talents correctly. Still just off of Van DAmme alone I'm giving this a 4 out of 10. The movie will pass some time if you are looking to kill some but you will be wondering how this movie derailed so bad.

NATO operative Kristoff is summoned into action, to track down Galina Konstantin, who has stolen an extremely dangerous top-secret cargo.Finding her doesn't take long, and he must wrap up the mission by returning her and the contraband to his superiors by train.Galina's ill-gotten gain is three vials of SP-43, an ultra-virulent strain of smallpox, that contains several other pathogens.A group of terrorists, led by Mason Cole, intend to hijack the train and steal the virus for their own ends....Even though the film is silly and defies belief, it really doesn't deserve the poor rating it holds on here. The effects are bad, and the models look like models, but it's Van Damme, and he always delivers.It's basically Under Siege 2 with the flu and a very stereotypical cowboy and Brit, but it entertains.The bad guys are ridiculous, especially Coles lead henchman, who just sneers throughout the film and looks like Seal.Van Damme himself has been better, but he's bee worse, and if you want a typical straight to DVD film with Van damme, you know what to expect.all in all, not great, but a fun little movie.

If you saw this movie and enjoyed it, I can only feel sorry for you. This review does include information pertaining to the plot because I want to point out obvious plot holes. So watch your step, here we go. The movie starts out with a burglary of a bio-weapons lab. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays, Kristoff, a spy-dad who gets the assignment to escort the thief played by Laura Harring on a slow train out of the country. The fight scenes are all poorly choreographed from a fight sequence in a theater with wire harnesses in blurred effects to armed soldiers that just stand in line waiting to be punched by the hero. About 13 to 16 minutes into this movie 90 percent of the special effects budget was spent. The rest was done using old toy models from the Godzilla movies.After horsing around with secondary characters the first plot hole shows up about 30 minutes into the movie. Mrs. Kristoff and kids show up on the train unexpected to wish dad a happy birthday. Even if Mrs. Kristoff knew the train he was going to be riding, how did she find his room? That's right, he had it switched when he got on board as a precaution. Now the "bad guys" show up and hijack the train. I guess you need an army to remove one person from a train heading down a track from point A to point B. In pure "evil genius" fashion the utterance of this man's name Mason Cole just sends shivers down everyone's spines. I was thinking, who? Yes, and Mr. Cole needs to hijack an entire train, with an army of men, and helicopter to retrieve just one person.After more secondary and unknown actors are killed. The bio-weapon, a fast-acting air-born virus is released on the train. Which leads us to plot hole number two. Any first year med student would tell you that if the virus is air-born it is floating off the train contaminating the country side as well. But as the vile breaks the evil Mason Cole says, "We can make a cure with the remainder.". Excuse me? Does he hold a degree in biotechnology? Sometimes cures are not always easy to come by and this is a bio-weapon, they make them to kill people not cure them.Some more pointless dialogging, shooting, and Mrs. Kristoff tending the sick people on the train, we have the infected Mr. Kristoff jump off the train on a motorcycle and Mason Cole is informed that Kristoff is no longer on the train. Kristoff catches up to the train and jumps back on unknown to all. Meanwhile Mason Cole finds out that Mrs. Kristoff and Mr. Kristoff are related and announces over the PA that he will kill his family unless he surrenders. This plot hole makes Mason Cole look very psychic.During hostage negotiations there is another train piloted by a drunk, right down to a bottle in his hand, on a collision course for their train. The wreck is terrible the two trains fly apart and yet somehow they continue down the tracks unabated. The men in the control room says, "It must have just clip the tail.". Not from what I saw. Both miniature trains flew off the tracks. Oh wait! That was the models not real trains. Now we come to the part where the hero disconnects the train from the engine. We see a clear gap between the two sections as they slow the train cars. But as the model train comes into view the gap is gone and the whole train proceeds across the bridge. There is absolutely no gaps in the model yet it continues to exist in the shots of the three men as they turn the handbrake.I don't expect Hitchcock or James Cameron quality from an action flick. However I do expect action which this movie didn't have. This was a serious low budget turkey that wasn't worth the time to view. It will put you to sleep with its lack of action.