Ultimate Dolph

I think the movie was a little cheesy and some ideas were kinda lame. The main problems it has, is the length, some of the drama is a little off because the acting isn't great. Woo's movies have never had a great deal of drama unless it's something like "The Killer" which is very emotional. There it works well. Blackjack I feel, the little girl was quite annoying sometimes, the plot didn't allow for the disposal of too many bad guys, the thing with the "white" was drawn out a little bit too much at the end, which was kinda predictable and anti-climatic.
Overall I think if this was a DTV movie instead of a proposed TV pilot or TV movie then it woulda been a lot more violent, probably shorter and packed more of a punch. The house scene is a little "gimmiky" but I love the scene with the cars and bikes, classic Woo. I'd like to see Dolph re-team with Woo or Issac Florentine NOW because I think they could come up with something interesting. Goodness knows why Woo wasn't utilised properly in Hollywood, but then again, Chinese directors never are. Instead of getting him to direct a Michael Mann style cop flick with tonnes of balletic shooting, they had him doing Paycheck. No wonder he's away back to China. Hollywood can stick with their superhero bullshit, until they grow some balls.

CZ TV ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_pxOTbEYgI

German DVD back cover

Czech DVD

I like the cover to the check dvd and to be honest I kinda liked the film also, yes it was now where in the same vain as face off etc but the opening scenes at the house were promising (minus the girl) its a shame that I think was killed it was in fact the bad guy who was basically crap!

The original trailer

Wow!! Never seen that trailer before, pretty fuckin' awesome!!

I had posted it on Youtube a couple of years ago (but took it down with all the trailers I had when I started to have issues and warnings about copyrights)

Japanese LD

I got around to watching this again, and yes, while it is pretty lame, and the acting is laughable, you can't help but enjoy the action sequences... I was just curious as to the history of the film. If anyone could help me out, I'd appreciate it...

Basically, it is my understanding that it was filmed as what was to be a television pilot... Anyone have an idea as to what channel it was going to be sold to? The film, especially the opening title sequence reeks of made-for-TV... How did John Woo become attached? He had been having a relatively successful career in America after HARD TARGET and BROKEN ARROW; odd that his next project before FACE/OFF would be a television pilot... And last, but not least, was it put out on video to recoup something after it wasn't going to be sold as a TV series...??

Like I said, if anyone can help me out, that'd be great. BLACKJACK is just so bad it's good. Kind of a bizarre little film that I'd love to learn more about its history. Thanks!!

It was a pilot for a series that would have aired on the USA Network. In the late 90's they had a few action-oriented shows, like La Femme Nikita, that did well so I'm sure they thought a project from Woo was a good bet.

Woo did BLACKJACK after FACE/OFF. I'm sure he was thinking that he'd direct the pilot to give it a little star power and then if the show stuck around for a few seasons he'd reap the rewards as an executive producer. He did the same thing with the pilot for Once a Thief which did end up running a year in syndication.

Don't really know the specific reason that USA passed on the pilot, but at some point the Weinsteins got the rights to it because Dimension ended up putting it out on video. They probably got the rights because they made some coin putting out MEN OF WAR and HIDDEN ASSASSIN prior to BLACKJACK.

BLACKJACK was produced by the same company who did ONCE A THIEF and John Woo had to honor his contract because he had signed for another pilot. So he did it right after FACE/OFF even though he was working two or three major projects at the same time, and he didn't have much to do with the post-production once it was in the can...

I don't think the video release has to do anything with USA Networks not to pick up the series, which I think came up later as they did air it a couple of months after the video release (which was pretty quick after it was finished).

While he was writing his own projects during the production, Woo kinda ripped off his own movies (the lesser knowns) in some of the action scenes, like the first one in the mansion is almost shot by shot a remake of the showdown in JUST HEROES and the girl freeing herself with the milk echoes a scene with the kid in HEROES SHED NO TEARS etc.

i can't help but post a comment. it hurts my feelings when u say it is lame. Blackjack is such a good movie. i watch it over, and over, and over againg - like Command Performance. i love the dance and everything. this movie is anything but lame. i love it. maybe it's just geared more towards girls than guys, but it is certainly not lame.
love u Dolph.

Dolph looks soooooo delicious here, yum yum yum yum. i wish i was that girl dancing with him. Thank you Jox, my favorite scene from the movie. P.S. thank you also for re-posting the 'Melodifestivalen' show - i like to watch the 'Ola Svennson' and 'Linda Pritchard' songs, my two favorite from the show.