lastliberal I keep telling folks that it is not a good idea to remake Japanese movies. This is an attempt to do the 1962 film YOJIMBO again. It doesn't work, but that doesn't mean it not worth your time.OK, so some very stupid yahoos decide to kick Van Damme around when he is severely depressed and suicidal and steal his gun and motorcycle. These boys are the local counterfeiters/drug dealers/village thugs. You can guess what comes next.What sets this film apart is the inclusion of Pat Morita (154 films!), Danny Trejo (139 films, including the upcoming Grindhouse), and Trailer-Trash Queen Jaime Pressly.It's really a very funny Van Damme movie and worth checking out. At least some passionate action returns.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) This Van Damme movie was a bit more of a renter than big screen material. Of course, this had some ad lib as well if you know what I mean. The cast have some well known stars. Pat Morita(The Karate Kid movies), Larry Drake(L.A. LAW, and Darkman 1&2), Danny Trejo(so many movies impossible to keep count) the same with others. A man left for dead, is typical, but when the heavy steal his wheels, that's grounds for seek and destroy! Eddie Lomax(Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes nuts in the desert, then his friend SixToes(Trejo) revives him. Going into town is where all the action and comedy starts and ends. Having slice of apple pie will definitely put a smile on anyone face. Because it's an all-American treat. My favorite part are the two Christian couple who give Lomax a room, and the old guy, had more concern about Lomax and the safety of others. Especially, when he got the two blondes out of the bar, and they got to shower and shave. It wasn't the blondes the couple should be worried about, Lomax got the thanks, he will never forget! In fact normally the woman wipes out the man during sex, in this case, he wiped out the blondes and Mrs. Reynolds felt confident that Lomax was a saint in his own way. Other than that, the movie was OK, after all. Good for fans of Van Damme, and I like the howling of the coyote in it as well. Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Bogmeister One of the later samples in the Van Damme repertoire of mindless mayhem, this one probably went direct-to-video, which is where Van Damme's career seems to be going, going...gone. Old Jean-Claude had been an action star for 10 years at this point and was in a curiously pathetic position - not as muscular as Ahnuld, not as mean as Seagal, not as seasoned as Willis or Chuck Norris. He was in some odd fading action star zone from which there seems no escape - no way to avert a downward slide. I've heard advice about getting rid of that bump on his forehead - maybe that's a start. Anyway, this flic finds Van D. in the middle of a desert, getting his motorcycle stolen by a trio of yahoo bros who are the sons of the local kingpin (Drake). They leave him for dead - an error, of course, and, with the help of some mystical Indian mumbo-jumbo about a coyote spirit, Van D. gets back on his feet. It's only after this that the knowledgeable film viewer realizes this is a slipshod remake of "Yojimbo"(61), which had already been remade as "A Fistful of Dollars"(64), and, more recently, as "Last Man Standing"(96), starring Bruce Willis. It's that old plot: stranger comes to town and sets the two local gangs against each other. I never really absorbed just who Van D. is supposed to be (a war vet?) and I guess it don't matter. Once one gets past the meaningless sex scene (which is there just to prove what a stud Van D. is) and his kicky fight scenes, you have to admire the audacity of average filmmakers attempting the re-telling of a classic. Even if it's a lame attempt. When I saw this, it was called "Desert Heat."

Libretio COYOTE MOON (UK: Inferno) Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalA disillusioned ex-soldier (Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes to the desert to commit suicide, but instead gets drawn into a small town plagued by thuggish drug runners.Van Damme's career continued its downward slide with this routine actioner, inspired by YOJIMBO (1961) and bolstered by violent set-pieces and a gallery of eccentric supporting characters (played by Pat Morita, Danny Trejo, Larry Drake and Vincent Schiavelli, amongst others). Tom O'Rourke's screenplay springs few surprises, but director John G. Avildsen (THE KARATE KID) keeps the pot boiling in between scenes of gunfire and hand-to-hand combat, and Van Damme strikes something of a god-like figure in his skintight vest and clinging jeans (it's doubtful he ever looked sexier than he does here). Undiscriminating action fans will lap it up, though it doesn't really amount to very much. Released to video in the US as DESERT HEAT.