Blackjack (1998)

Absolutely Fantastic

The first must-see film of the year.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is definitely not one of John Woo's best movies. This made-for-TV American Canadian co-production was supposed to be a pilot for TV series under the same name with Dolph Lundgren as the star. Since the TV series were never made you can only guess how bad this movie is. It's hard to believe that Woo made this after the great "Face off". I guess Woo wanted to earn few dollars and had some spare time.The script is unoriginal , predictable , full of cliché characters and based on a nonsense that Lundgren is afraid of colour white. It's hardly the most exciting plot device in the world, because it's so stupid. This allows the movie for some laughable moments like a fight in the pool of milk. Other than that the script takes itself very seriously and there's no humor. There is no interesting villain either.The plot is silly and full of holes. The writers weren't even trying . The story is an excuse for action.The acting is lame and there is no chemistry between the characters. Lundgren tries hard , but there are serious moments when he is truly bad.The action feels uninspired. Woo is on autopilot here and If I didn't knew it was his movie , I could swear it was directed by some John Woo wannabe. The motorbike stunts are decent , but that's it. The movie was made by 10 mln of $. Where all this money go ? The whole movie feels made on very small scale.Not one of Woo's or Lundgren's finest moments. I give it 1/10.

Jack Devlin (Dolph) is a man handy with a deck of cards - and, being as tough as he is, he's a man you definitely want on your side. When he saves a young girl named Casey (Murphy) from a home invasion by hired killers, the two develop a father-daughter-like relationship. During the course of this fight, Jack's vision is impaired and he develops a phobia of the color white. Casey eventually comes to live with him in his NYC apartment, where Jack also lives with his manservant Thomas (Rubinek). Jack then becomes the personal bodyguard to up-and-coming supermodel Cinder James (Heskin). But there are still killers on the loose and Jack must do his best, despite his new disability, to take down the baddies. Can he do it? Apparently, Blackjack was meant as a pilot for a TV show about Jack Devlin, and you can totally tell. There's really nothing about Blackjack you wouldn't see on shows such as The Point Man, The Lazarus Man, Profiler, or any other action/drama programming on USA or UPN at the time. Sure, we still appreciate the stunt work - the scene in the forest is the standout - but the whole movie has a wacky vibe that will no doubt make you laugh, but is that really the point? Fred Williamson is in it for a criminally small amount of time (what this movie should have been is Fred and Dolph as cops busting heads in a gritty NYC scenario, not this silliness) and Rubinek adds to the silly tone with his eyepatch and accent. Even though this was directed by John Woo, it feels more like a parody of Woo than Woo himself. Blackjack needed to be shorter and snappier, not to mention grittier. As it is, it feels like watered-down Dolph. He does his usual charismatic job, but it's kind of hard to care. It seems like the whole vision plot was just an excuse for him to wear his awesome shades.There does seem to be a reference to Zatoichi and the Baby Cart series if you're looking for it, but on the whole this is pretty junky for John Woo, and the TV-movie vibe doesn't really help matters. Though it came out in the late 90's, it was reassuring to hear some classic 80's-style sax on the soundtrack. Dolph fans will always find something to love about the man, and Blackjack does have its moments (although most of them are silly moments) but it seems a different approach to the material would have helped immensely. It's not a bad idea, there's just something a bit wonky about the execution.

Blackjack (1998) was a made for t.v. movie that was directed by JOhn Woo and stars Dolph Lundgren. The budget purse strings were tight on this project and the filming schedule was short. But guess what? The settings were perfect for John Woo and he takes an ordinary run-of-the-mill action film and makes it work! The action scenes were shot quite well (Woo brings in his old cinematographer Wong Wing Hang) and pulls out every trick from his bag of goodies. The action is quite frequent and kinetic (for a t.v. movie). This is the type of films John Woo should be making. Cheap, on the fly projects instead of big bloated film projects that take forever to make a with no pay-off.Dolph Lundgren plays a former federal agent who know works as a personnel bodyguard. One day his buddy and his wife are killed and he takes custodian of the couple's precocious daughter. While on assignment (protecting a supermodel) a gang of ill mannered hit men chase him all over town. Who are they? Are they connected to the girl's parents or the supermodel he now protects? Who knows? To find out the answers to these pertinent questions you'll have to watch Blackjack! If you watch this movie make sure you see it on video. This version has all of the cool action that is missing from the one shown on the U.S.A. network. Despite the lack of a big budget and named actors, this movie actually works. I would rather see ten movies like this instead of one Mission Impossible 2 or Windtalkers.Recommended for fans of John Woo's earlier work.

There's something about Dolph Lundgren that makes him a likable actor. It may be because of his (seemingly) clean personal life, or that he has never tried to portray himself greater than he is (unlike actors like Steven Seagal.) Here, Lundgren gives one of his better performances. He seems very comfortable and assured here, giving off more emotion than he has in other movies. And it's always fun to see Saul Rubinek and Fred Williamson in a movie, and their presence boosts things.Other than the actors, all I can say in favor of this movie are that the production values aren't bad for a made-for-TV movie. This movie is a mess! Starting with the action scenes. Now, I know Woo was confined by TV censorship rules, but he clearly could still do a lot. Yet every action scene is horribly done - badly edited, improper use of slow-motion, and with the camera often in the wrong place and/or angle. You see the great potential in these scenes, yet Woo botches it each time. Seeing them, it's hard to believe this is the same guy who did the action scenes in HARD BOILED or THE KILLER.There are plenty of plot holes as well. For example, how does Lundgren get in the fashion show near the end when it's supposedly been tightened up with security? Where is the villain getting all these people to help him? Why does the villain retreat back to his hideout after the secrecy of it was blown? And on and on. But the worst thing about the movie is that it's simply boring. It's slow-moving, and filled with a lot of unnecessary things that easily could have been edited out. Don't "bet" on this one should you see it in the video store - it's a "bust"!