swedzin You know, love Steven Seagal films, especially his older films. From that time when he was somewhat tolerable, and he was thin and charismatic. He had a screen presence and star power. And his characters, no matter how they look all the same, the were, again, more tolerable. But from the beginning of 2000s... That one was pure mistake. Look at him, he is fat, not that super, boring, slow, disgustingly decadent... Just like every new character in straight to DVD films. Now, the story is simple just like in every Seagal's film, he is the former operative, they kidnap his daughter, he goes after her, blah blah blah... He wins in the end he saves her, everyone's happy, except for the villains, blah blah... This film offers really dumb martial arts scenes, Seagal very rarely uses Aikido, he turns more to some Ta Chi, or Kung Fu.. Wtf? Seagal is constantly dressed as a Buddhist monk, only because you are a member of that religion, doesn't mean you need to do it your films. But, alas, Seagal being stubborn when it comes to his views of the world, he always plays himself, so don't expect some good performances, not from him, not from anyone. Everything is plain bad in this film, action, music score, cinematography... Very amateurish. There is a scene, where Seagal is attacked by a transvestite fighter, I don't know what did they try to do with that. What was the point in that scene? let's put some bizarre opponents in this film, and they were just there, they had a fight, nothing more... No charisma no development, nothing new within these characters. Also, this is the funniest stuff in the film. There's a Buddhist temple, from where Seagal draws power to fight (yes, that happens in the film. The power of Buddhist monks), also the villains have their own dark Buddhist monk... What a hell?! I think that Seagal, not only that he wants to promote his own world views (just like he did in "Fire Down Below", or in "On Deadly Ground"), but he also decided to promote his own religion. Remember, when you promote religion, or force it to your audience, that can only turn bad and repelling. So, I don't recommend this film, because it's a silly Buddhist-action film with no characters and meaning. Mindless garbage!

Comeuppance Reviews Who's naming these movies? I think the title department at Sony has a vendetta with Seagal. That has to be the only reason - all of Seagal's titles sound like his present weight condition. "Out Of Reach"?.....for a sandwich. "Today You Die"? Just add a T at the end of the title. "Submerged"? ....in fat. OK, I'll stop. But it's so addictive. Seagal could stand to lose a few pounds. He's wearing muumuus now. Just take a look at any recent picture of the man."Belly Of The Beast" has a bad title, but it's an entertaining movie. Jake Hopper's (Seagal) daughter is vacationing in Thailand when she is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. Now Jake has to find her and stop the madness within.What's good about "Belly of the Beast" is that it looks like Seagal cares about this particular outing. He puts a lot of effort into the fight scenes. He's using wires and a stunt double, but he's trying. Seagal as an actor? He needs improvement but who watches his movies for the character development and dialogue? You can't hear what he's saying anyway. You need closed captioning and even that doesn't work sometimes."Belly Of The Beast" is junky fun at it's finest.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Celticnationalist BELLY OF THE BEAST - while being an awful title it isn't actually THAT bad, it probably takes the mantle of Steven Seagal's best DTV release to date - mind you, this was a 2003 release, and in the years since then Seagal's Direct-to-DVD output has been pretty terrible.This time around Stevie plays an ex-CIA agent who gets told his daughter along with her Friend (A Senator's Daughter) have been kidnapped - Pretty much the same story as his woeful 2006 release SHADOW MAN, but this time the story is tighter and much easier to follow and the action is not a badly edited blurry mess, and instead of the rather drab areas of Bucharest shot on the cheap, we are in the beautiful surroundings of Thailand and we even get some mysticism thrown in.Seagal is thinner here, and there's plenty of well directed and at times exciting action with a very high body count along with some pretty good acting by all (apart from the Seagal that is - but to be fair Seagal does seem to be more interested in the proceedings here despite some obvious dubbing in one particular scene and gets into the action a bit more than later releases)Stylishly Directed by Hong Kong Fight Choreographer Siu-Tung Ching, who brings a touch of class to the thoroughly B-Movie plot and is FAR superior behind the Camera than Michael Keusch & Michael Oblowitz who have FIVE pretty appalling Seagal Flicks to their name between them, so it's a shame that this is his only Seagal flick.

dolce_knights43 ... is so big you would swear that you saw a stuntman with a ponytail perform his "robbery" scenes. but that's what I like about this film baby!! this movie is a nonstop Steven seagull film from first scene to the last!!!! See seagal jump from one building to another like Jason Bourne! You thought "casino Royale" was tough??? This movie would turn James bond into a whimpering Girl! this movie has everything an action fan needs:shootouts(always bloody,with seagal not getting hit),martial arts(including a fight with a transvestite),disturbing sex acts(seagal with a woman obviously younger than him) and the well awaited final showdown where seagal fights for his life!! For the first time in history, Bangkok is really dangerous!!! a father's rage knows no limit???? seagal acts like his DAUGHTER HASN'T BEEN KIDNAPPED AT ALL!!! Very brilliant.Watch also for the mystical overtones that haunt seagal throughout the picture .It's the stuff of legend.Go on. Hate this film. If you can find a better cross-cultural film than this that is!!