Cheap In Hell (DVD) (Ringo Lam) Price

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Customer Reviews of In Hell

Van Dammage
I've read some critical reviews of this movie, and I realize the frustration. People who pick up a Van Damme movie expect high-kicking martial arts, and 'In Hell' is not 'Bloodsport'. Naive viewers are inclined to downgrade the effectiveness of this film as a result, but let's try something different. Imagine for a moment that Van Damme is just a regular guy who suffers the agony of hearing his wife being murdered over a telephone line. He snaps--justly so. Now he's in prison. We're not talking an American prison with cable television and internet access. This is a Russian prison where Russians don't take kindly to Americans. The ensuing hour is a bloodbath of man vs. man in animal vs. animal display. Van Damme is not a martial artist, but he is a man pushed over the edge of sanity, and he snaps only to become more bloodthirsty than he ever was in Cyborg.

Ringo Lam is a brilliant director who's lost in the translation of B-movie Hell, but his vision is startlingly clear. 'In Hell' is his best film yet (and Maximum Risk was pretty impressive). Lawrence Taylor co-stars and shines as an insanely sane prisoner on a quest for justice. If you're a Jean-Claude fan, DO NOT pass this film up. 'The Order' sucked as did 'Derailed', 'Knock Off' and 'US2'. On a serious note, Ringo Lam brings you 'Maximum Risk', 'Replicant' and now 'In Hell'.

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Very good movie
This movie is alot different than van damme's usual movies. This movie has a more serious plot. Him and his wife are living in russia becasue van damme has to work there. his wife is murdered and when van damme takes the killer to court, they let the killer off, due to lack of evidence. Van damme comes out of the room takes a pistal and kills him right outside the court doors. He is sent to a jail where the people where the guards dont give a crap about the people in the prison. There are many fight battles. The battles come about when either 2 men want to fight against each other, or the guards want to pick 2 fighters. The owner of the prison bets on the winner and thats how he makes money. This movie has good acting, action scenes and realism. This is a must see, for all movie fans.

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Very good prison action/drama
I'm really sick of reading these negative 2 to 1 star reviews of this film by people who are pissed there are no high flying kicks. HELLO this is NOT a popcorn action film, it's more of a drama with REALISTIC depictions of prison fighting. It's like watching Keanu Reeves in "Something's Gotta Give," a romantic comedy, then being pissed he wasnt busting out guns or kicking people like in the Matrix. Give the movie a bad rating because it fails in some way, NOT because you think it should have more chop-socky fighting.

All that aside, I was very surprised by this film. After the unwatchable "Order" and tear-jerkingly horrendous "Derailed," I had lost hope for Van Damme, but "In Hell" is possibly one of his best films and one of the most effective prison dramas in the last few years. The cinematography and directing is great, thanks to Ringo Lam, a very underrated Hong Kong director, and the acting is very good as well. Van Damme has grown as an actor, and it shows in this film. Also look for a cameo by actor Paulo Tocha(Paco, the arrogant kickboxer from Bloodsport) as Victor.

Van Damme is Kyle, a man jailed in a Russian prison for killing the murderer of his wife. The wardens set up illegal fights inside the prison, and Van Damme struggles to survive inside while maintaining his humanity.

The fights are brutal and VERY realistic. They mirror real fights you would see in the streets or in UFC and other full contact events, which means elements of grappling and ground fighting are heavily utilized. This adds that much more to the realism of the film and shows Van Damme's versatility as a martial artist. In Derailed we saw some Ju-Jitsu and grappling from Van Damme, but he showcases these skills more heavily in this film.

Do not rent or buy this film if you are looking for mindless action and high flying split kicks like in other Van Damme movies, but DO rent or buy it if you want to see a gritty and well directed prison drama with some realistic and brutal fights.