by Tom on 27 Sep 2008, 11:15
Good review mate. I was really disappointed with The Shepherd. It could have been so much better, especially action wise. Don't know if you saw Florentines previous film, Undisputed 2, but the fights in that film were outstanding. They brought back the choreographer from that film, as well as kicking sensation Scott Adkins, but the result was just very mundane choreography, and the end fight was a major letdown (Adkins and JJ Perry wanted the fight to be a certain way, Van Damme didn't, and Van Damme wins that argument). I most definitely agree that Maximum Risk was underrated. Watched it on Blu-ray the other day and it's a cracking action film. Not bad script, Van Damme plays a grounded character who actually seems like a real person, and does so well, and then it looked great, had good music, and a cracking mix of action. That elevator fight is one of my favourite fight scenes ever. It's just brutal, and makes use of it's surrounding. The film also has some good foot chases and car chases. Great locations as well.