MamaGravity
good back-story, and good acting
Caryl
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
callanvass
An agent named Jacques (Van Damme) is forced to do a job on his birthday, much to his family's chagrin. He boards a train to protect a woman named Galina Konstantin. Jacques gets a surprise visit from his family with a birthday surprise, but his wife thinks he's cheating with Galina. Terrorists hop on board with a deadly virus, which is unleashed. Jacques must not only save his marriage, but save everybody on boardThis comes across like a hybrid of Under Siege II & Cassandra's Crossing. This movie was once on the bottom 100. While it is pretty bad, I've seen MUCH worse and even worse Van Damme films (Second in Command & Black Eagle come to mind) the problem is that it's much too cheap and dull for its own good. The ending is filled with laughable stock footage, and I just cringed. It also has a pretty bad moment where Van Damme commandeers a motorbike, and rides it on top of the train. The only good action scene in this movie is a decent car chase scene in the beginning. They pad it with pointless scenes, such as a cowboy (John Bishop) and a hunk (Binky van Bilderbeek) shooting the breeze, and getting drunk in the process, which proves to me that not much thought was put into this movie. Don't expect much vintage Van Damage. He doesn't do many of his patented moves, and we even get the annoying split screen thing with a fight. Believe it or not, the acting is pretty good. Jean-Claude Van Damme may not do many fancy things, but he gives a solid performance. He's not phoning it in, and gives it his all. He makes for a great hero, and has an impressive emotional scene at the end. I've always been a huge supporter of his, and he's really improved with his acting over the years. Laura Harring is breathtakingly sexy. Her manipulative character was a highlight for me. Tomas Arana is rather bland, but effectively sleazy I suppose. He did an OK job as the villain. Kristopher Van Varenberg pulls these funny angry faces, and doesn't really convince, but he does a really neat spin kick at the beginning of the movie. Shades of his dad! Susan Gibney is pretty good as the wife. I liked her. Final Thoughts: I've seen it many times, because I'm such a huge Van Damme fan. I paid 30$ for it when I first got it (Seriously) That should tell you how big of a fan I am. I regret paying that much for it, but it needed to be a part of my collection. It's a terrible film for the most part. Don't do what I do. See it once if you're a huge Van Damme fan and then forget it even exists. 3.7/10
lone-wolf-007
A train full of terrorists. A biological weapon. Sound familiar? Well it is due to the fact Derailed borrows most of its ideas and scenarios from other movies. Jean Claude Van Damme stars as a special agent trying to get a thief and her cargo from one point to another. Mode of transportation is a train and like most action fans will immediately think of is Under Siege 2. Of course that movie utilized this idea much better but we are working on a much lower budget. The cargo happens to be vials of a toxic nature that so happen to be wanted by the bad guys. This movie is strictly for hardcore Van Damme fans only. Essentially he is the only real saving grace of the movie as is Laura Harring who plays the thief. The biggest problem with this film? Everything else. Borrowed story, terrible editing, horrible cheap effects, sound design that needs to be heard to be believed. For i'm certain movie fans can pick up sound effects from other things that are used in certain spots throughout. JCVD should have skipped this one but he didn't and his fans get treated to this mediocre film. Not his fault of course but as a loyal Van Damme fan myself, even I thought this film was bad. Even if you can get passed the minor gripes and try to enjoy the movie, the editing and effects will make you think twice. Everything looks cheap and shoddy.The bad guys are stereotypical in every form and their deaths in some cases are over-exaggerated. Everybody makes bad films from time to time and this is at the bottom of Van Damme's filmography. It would have been a lot better in someone's else hands who understands how to use Van Damme and his talents correctly. Still just off of Van DAmme alone I'm giving this a 4 out of 10. The movie will pass some time if you are looking to kill some but you will be wondering how this movie derailed so bad.
FlashCallahan
NATO operative Kristoff is summoned into action, to track down Galina Konstantin, who has stolen an extremely dangerous top-secret cargo.Finding her doesn't take long, and he must wrap up the mission by returning her and the contraband to his superiors by train.Galina's ill-gotten gain is three vials of SP-43, an ultra-virulent strain of smallpox, that contains several other pathogens.A group of terrorists, led by Mason Cole, intend to hijack the train and steal the virus for their own ends....Even though the film is silly and defies belief, it really doesn't deserve the poor rating it holds on here. The effects are bad, and the models look like models, but it's Van Damme, and he always delivers.It's basically Under Siege 2 with the flu and a very stereotypical cowboy and Brit, but it entertains.The bad guys are ridiculous, especially Coles lead henchman, who just sneers throughout the film and looks like Seal.Van Damme himself has been better, but he's bee worse, and if you want a typical straight to DVD film with Van damme, you know what to expect.all in all, not great, but a fun little movie.
Claus von Horstig
Oh my god! I watched it late on cable and the TV-Guide said it's about a train-ride between Bratislava and Munich. Might be fun, I thought, to see some action-flick made in my area. But what the hell was that??? OK,the train was of European kind, even though was the location. But it was like in Mission Impossible 1, where the TGV runs on a single track, without overhead wiring(the TGV is a ELECTRIC TRAIN, dummies!!) towards the tunnel between England and France. The train in this flick did almost the same, running on single tracks, wrong stock, wrong looking area, without talking about the funny Hollywood-Germish mentioned before, this is at least entertaining. "Keepen Sie of the Grass"The story is really a mix between Cassandra Crossing and Under Siege 2, but thats OK, because i think this was a straight to video gig. But the producers should be aware that people from the suppose to be area are watching these movies and I know that some research could help. It's not expensive as well. This flick is fun, maybe Friday night, after work when you through thinking, having some beer before you crash.
