7 Seconds (2005)

the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The acting in this movie is really good.

In the early part of this decade Hollywood turned it's back on Wesley Snipes, he had at one time been someone you could trust to be in a good film, and made a pretty cool action star, but then he just started taking bad movie after bad movie and they all went straight to DVD and with good reason...they suck! This of course is one of those movies, Its just your average low grade action movie chocked full of explosions, gunfights, car chases and bank heists but don't let that suck you in, because if you watch the trailer for this film you have seen all you need to see.I mean come on people, action movies are suppose to make you get excited, they need a good guy and a great bad guy. They need a plot that makes you give a damn and this movie had nothing. I have seen this movie a million times under other titles with different actors, same ole 'who cares' dry action.Save your time and watch a real action film that will excite you and entertain you. The car chase did have its moments, but it still didn't convince me into rating this movie with more than a 2 out of 10 stars.

I have no idea why so many want to bash this film.....because it's Wesley Snipes? Because it's straight-to-DVD? This movie "7 Seconds" isn't that bad.....it's got some decent one-liner dialog, and some good thrills and some rad car chases.Since his trademark series "Blade" came to a close in 2004, Wesley has been really almost hitting rock bottom since then. He's been getting the same fate as Seagal and Van Damme only because no on likes martial arts anymore.....so sad. Its actually even more enjoyable to watch than seeing Rambo pick up a rocket launcher or firing those bomb arrows. And even more than Arnie getting his hands on a freaking machine gun and saying "I'll be Back" in a dramatic fashion. Martial arts is more worth watching because it's something that can be done and its a practice.So Snipes, Seagal and Van Damme seem like they would rather allow their careers to tank than give up their martial arts skills, and i praise all of them for that.Even though the starting scene might be a rip-off from the one in "Heat" (and yeah, they even take the hockey masks, lol), and the flashbacks are shown a little bit too much, but i guess its for a reason, to show who the characters are talking about, i guess.And also, Alexsie, that Russian gangster guy with Cerebral Palsy, is also a pretty interesting character, cause the actor does a good job of getting into him, and boy, was he INSANE.So come on, people....just give it a chance and give Wesley some of that recognition he deserves back. 'cause he doesn't deserve to be in this position.....

It's all about Bang Bang, and it's really so good at it. (Martin Wheeler)'s script is highly smart (a master thief who has been stolen), it's fast-paced and well-structured in the same time, the action is above average regarding being a D-T-V movie or not, the car chases are awesome (just the continuous fake back-projections annoyed me), but surely this movie for me is a Video Blockbuster !.The worst thing would be the climax as it wasn't up to all the non-stoppable action before it. And the rest of the criticism will go for points like a non-needed flash-forward for Outhwaite's character before her car being kidnapped by the lead ; it ruined some of the thrill for being slightly cool!. The fact of some fight happening at the bus station (clever one by the way) while no policeman or police camera is watching. And the title (7 Seconds !) whereas it's catchy but got nothing really to do with the story.Despite handling the action perfectly, on the contrary the dramatic scenes looked like TV ones through these very close close-ups. And with the absence of catchy music, saner editing, or rich sets it missed the touch of being that dazzling. But again that's comparing to the American summer flicks. Because as a product of the "7 Second Film Co. Ltd." Company (!) it is fair.(Tamzin Outhwaite) is an enjoyment apart, with a magically beautiful presence all along. She actually "performed" her character while she's in a flick that demands no such efforts !, she was extremely sexy, starting from the way she speaks to the way she moves with that tall lissome hot figure of her. Not to mention some chemistry with the lead as well.(Wesley Snipes) was and still is one of the creative action heroes when it comes to memorable fist-fights or complicated combats on the screen. I remember one of Hollywood's action choreographers talking on a TV program about 3 stars who don't satisfy about themselves unless they added something of their own to the fight scene to make it different; these are (Bruce Willis), (Mel Gibson), and (Snipes). The good part (and the bad part also !) is the fact of Snipes as originally a good actor who hadn't any chance to act a bit in movies like this one.So with nearly seven D-T-V movies during the period between 2005 till 2008 we must ask why he made them in the first place ?. I think mainly because he took "New Line Cinema" to court with the other producers of "Blade: Trinity" for allegedly failing to pay him his full salary ; One kiss of death in Hollywood where you could be doomed forever if you touched the untouchables and sued the "Holy Producer" !!, or maybe he didn't wait to be treated this way ?, or maybe because he got tired of Hollywood, loving his job this away from it, owning much freedom or a space to make what he wants as he wants ? (The reason why Jackie Chan is still traveling to Hong Kong to make movies away from USA), or maybe it's the green, that he receives in complete these times, without much taxes ?!. I don't know, but what I really know that some of these movies, despite any lower look you may feel, have wonderful potentials and they are solidly entertaining, sometimes superior than ones were on the big screen itself. But a voice in you will somehow remonstrate that (Snipes) meets the fate of (Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal,.. ) making only a Bang Bang direct-to-video works while he's better actor by all means.At last I have one question : why there isn't any awards for the Direct-to-Video movies till now ? I believe one day we may have at the list of the greatest movies ever some of those flicks !

This movie hinges on 3 things: 1} Wesley Snipes 2} Two really great car chases 3} the Bucharest backdrop.Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu bulldozed thousands of poor peoples houses in the centre of Bucharest to make room for his megalomaniac palaces and other bloodsoaked buildings. It's no surprise that he was the only Eastern European dictator to die a violent, publicly televised execution.But Bucharest serves very well now as a backdrop for movies, be it action or otherwise. Now that the buildings are there, they might as well be used as money-making tool for Romanian local business, and acting talent. Not that Ceauşescu's will benefit directly from this, but still ...The movie itself is very fast paced in the beginning, and for a non-Hollywood production, read: low budget, no experience, it sure looks good. The car chases are beyond violent, and surely one of the best in filmed in Europe. Only big budget productions like French Luc Bessons bastard child Taxi comes to mind and the in France shot Ronin.This is much harder in Europe, where there is not a abundant supply of cheap cars to be trashed, and really a lot of red tape about EU safety regulations and Landmark rules about all the monuments and stuff.So kudos to the production dudes.Yeah, so the acting was bad, especially the martial arts guy, but hey?! Who cares? Cool Jamaican-Romanian rap at the end.