In Hell

In Hell isn't quite the Oscar winner, but compared to Van Damme's last couple movies (who are we kidding, almost all of his movies), it is a pot of gold. Sent to life imprisionment for the murder of his wife's killer, he is thrown into the violent world of prision fighting run by the guards. What happens? Watch the movie. In Hell is shockingly well made due to it not being the typical Van Damme-fare. He shows a wide range of emotion while holding back his martial arts and instead getting beat up in over half the movie. The main reason to see In Hell is to see a damn good Jean Claude Van Damme movie. 8 out of 10

The movie with the story is less than good However, The reason why I give it ( 1 / 10 ) is because of the director who didn't know how to choose his soundtrack .. !! It was stupid & ignorant selection !!! Shame on you ... !!! He should know what I mean ,, !! He is trying to be smart and creative , but in fact , dirty minded ....... You could've made it better . ! !

Van Damme movies have never been smart. They will not be remembered in the future. They just have been an entertaining....to kill an evening... But this one...Oh my... It's getting worse and worse, and probably should be humiliating to Russians (50-year old music and 100-year old dancing are really irritating, not to mention his awful haircut). Even fighting is not fancy anymore. Don't know what to expect from coming "Kumite" Oh well...

OK so whoever referred to this as a B movie is delusional. A 'D' movie is more like it. The first 47 minutes of the movie literally had no action save the skinny American kid (who came to the prison wearing a T shirt with the American flag on it) getting raped every night. It was just VanDamme moping around the prison mourning his wife. Almost 50 minutes into the movie the prisoners come across a land mind and a prison jeep gets blown to smithereens. Then Vandamme quits moping, does push-ups and pull ups in his cell and becomes the champion fighter in the prison.Typical low budget Vandamme movie but not one of his best.

In Hell, you will find a different Jean-Claude Van Damme. Absent are the overused splits, jump kicks off walls, flips, and his infamous, head-snapping, ballet-like 360* degree jumping spin kicks (I still like them). Instead you find him just using ordinary street fighting techniques, wrestling and getting slammed around half the time. Everyone knows the old saying that a person is the sum of his or her experiences. Well, Van Damme proves it. Kyle LeBlanc (Van Damme)is an American resident alien worker at a Russian engineering plant who plans a vacation with his wife. Tragically, things come crashing down that same evening when his wife is brutally murdered. After the trial results in the killer's acquittal, Kyle, in a fit of rage, guns him down and the guard (by accident). The Russian court unjustly finds him guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment. This is one example of how often too many times politics is thrown into the legal system, American or Russian. Once Kyle sets foot in Kravai (the most notoriously brutal and corrupt prison in Russia), he instantly bears witness to man's inhumanity toward's his fellow man. After being accosted by both violent inmates and sadistic guards, Van Damme slowly turns into a savage monster. The evil warden and his cohorts notices that and forces him to participate in an illegal fighting program. Van Damme not only has to fight for his life, but to also retain his humanity and sanity. I think for a DTV movie Van Damme proved he could be a great actor. He did not play the one-dimensional shallow superhero. In Hell shows us how cruelty can build and at the same time undo a man physically, mentally and spiritually. Here is man who just about reaches the end of his rope, yet he has something to fight for: the memory of his wife still shines on him, in the form of a moth. NFL great Lawrence Taylor does a great job as 451, giving the film the philosophical context. Taylor's 451 reminds me of an ancient proverb: those that harm can teach. While 451 was outwardly a remorseless psychopath, he had in fact held on to what humanity he had left (you will find out how 451 ended in Kravai later). While In Hell is not a silver screen film, it still a great film.

Mr Van Damme gives an oscar performance...No Way! It seems he hasn't been working out for years. A long time ago he used to take off his shirt and make his splits in every given occasion. Why IN HELL is he the only person who's keeping on his shirt? By the way Jean Claude, get a new hair cut! I think the plot was written on a piece of toilet paper: Wife gets killed, husband turns into SAVAGE, is thrown in prison and beats up the bad guys. He is supported by the wise black guy with his worldly wisdoms. The so called 'martial arts'sequences could have been from a bud spencer movie. And what the heck is wrong with the moth? Is there any paranormal spirit beyond? Not to mention the jets flying over the jail! To sum up: Bad script, bad effects and an overall bad performance by the former brussel steel machine! Better luck next time...

The authors know nothing about Russians prisons, the movie is absolutely cockamamie, has nothing common with the reality. They also don't that the foreign prisoners in Russia have a special prison so the foreigners NEVER live together with Russian criminals. The uniforms in this movie look if they were stolen somewhere in Latin America. Prisoners in Russia also don't work outside the prison. Each kill in Russian prison is a subject of investigation so the prisoners kill each other only if there some very important reasons. Playing soccer is also forbidden in the prisons, contacts between the prisoners are very restricted, no chance for bloody combats etc etc etc. So this movie has Nothing common with the reality.

Finally Van Damme has done it! After the (train)Disaster movie derailed. he has something he can be proud of. This is one very underrated prison movie,with some nice special FX and a very decent story! the acting is also solid(Van Damme is pretty convincing)and even one of the best performances i've seen in years(in an Action movie)By Mister Lawrence Taylor(one of the greatest Football players ever!!) Who did a great job with the voice over,his voice is very gritty and full of life!!The direction is also very solid(as expected) Ringo Lam is a very good action director, Who always comes up with very clever camera work and usual very innovative fight scenes!!! This is Must See material(once again) for all the Van Damme\prison movie Fans