Into the Sun (2005) User Reviews

Into The Sun Review

[Robo-19 · 4/10 · 16 January 2005]

Action: Steven Seagal looks in the best shape he's been in since Exit Wounds. The action fight sequences unfortunately were few and far between. There was a fight at the mall that was superb, in my opinion this was great, but it was over too soon. This was really the only time where he truly showed off his hard to hand combat moves as well as his Aikido throws. The other fights later on were mainly sword based although there were a few punches. No care chases at all. The movie was certainly more plot based than we are used to for a Steven Seagal movie.

Characters: Steven Seagal get's a partner in this movie, but he is pretty much under-used. There's a few funny moments between them. The other characters are pretty poor too. William Atherton as the boss doesn't seem to interested in his role and the other Chinese and Japanese stars don't improve the movie much either. I sure miss the days when Steven Seagal made movies with a decent support cast.

Soundtrack: The radio stations and restaurants in Tokyo must all be tuned in to Steven Seagal FM, everywhere he went his music was playing - i heard a few of his tunes from 'Songs From The Crystal Cave' playing through the film. Overall i counted at least three of his songs including the credits song. The soundtrack was good though.

Direction: The movie begins with an action sequence in the jungle, which is not very well done. The opening credits begin and then some graphic work happens to show the movie is in Tokyo. When i saw this is reminded me other Michael Oblowitz's work in 'Out For A Kill' and i thought the worst, but after that panic it was certainly well directed. Good job mink.

Overall: Pretty disappointing, i was expecting much more for a budget of $35 million, i don't know where all this money was used as it seems rather excessive considering not much was blown up. It is certainly a better movie than 'Out For A Kill' and 'The Foreigner', but it is not better than 'Belly Of The Beast' and nowhere near as good as his earlier work. For a direct to video effort it is certainly above average though. I must admit i pretty much agree with the review form 'Ain't It Cool'.

Rating: 2 / 5

Into the Sun

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 1 August 2010]

CIA agent Travis Hunter(Steven Seagal)must thwart the efforts of young Yakuza(who have abandoned the "principles" of their ancestors in favor of monetary wealth and prestige)who have aligned themselves with Chinese Tongs in not only trafficking heroine, but monopolizing the trade. Kuroda(Takao Ôsawa)is the young Yakuza who wants to rest all the power from aging boss Ishikawa(Shôji Oki)and his second-in-command Kojima(Eve Masatoh). Travis purposely ignites a turf war in the hopes that Kuroda will be conquered before he gains too much control which could be dangerous for not only Japan, but America as well. But, ultimately, Travis will have a bone to pick with Kuroda after his lady love Nayako(Kanako Yamaguchi)and FBI partner Sean Mack(Matthew Davis)are targeted by the Yakuza and his thugs. While strong on plot, INTO THE SUN lacks enough real action which, I think, will not satiate the appropriate audience this is geared towards. It does have the bloody finale as Travis goes after Kuroda in his Tachikawa Village, with plenty of Yakuza scum for him to slice and dice with his Samurai sword. Davis is the partner who follows leads which implicate Kuroda, but at a heavy cost. William Atherton is Seagal's boss, stationed in Tokyo, his agent Block always trying to keep up with Hunter's whereabouts. There are only two scenes with Seagal engaged in hand-to-hand combat(including a market fight with a few hapless street punks)and one major shootout(at the beginning, which shows Seagal and former Tennessee running back Eddie George in a village with a job to take out some sort of shady character; this is puzzling in that it has nothing to do with anything else in the movie). The ending in Kuroda's village really is the only true action sequence of any true worth. Very mediocre when it could've been far more entertaining..a film which has plenty of Yakuza to kill, you'd think such a plot would provide Seagal with ample opportunities to carve up a body count. Alas, such is not the case..

Same Steven. Same plot.. Less quality.

[thesociety · 5/10 · 6 January 2005]

It's the billion dollar formula, the cop on his last investigation, loses his new bride to bad guys and swears revenge. You hope there's something new, in the flair, the setting, or maybe the bad guys. Not in this movie. The grouchy FBI boss was toothless, the rookie recruit wasn't likable and the wife didn't even get to struggle.

The bad guys weren't believable or scary, and neither was the violence. Steven has slowed down a step or two, looks more like David Carradine. Maybe they expected Steven's competent Japanese to give him character. The violence was cheap, very cheap. No one dies in any exciting way. The blood is so terribly fake. A movie about Yakuza and made by Yakuza Productions Inc.

Don't quit your dayjob, Seagal!

[sveknu · 3/10 · 27 November 2005]

I really mean it. If "The (by now not so) Great One" isn't able to make better movies than this, he definitely should quit the movie business. Each time a new Seagal movie is released, I'm hoping it will be better than his last movies, but I tend to get disappointed every time. "Out of Reach" was in fact a small step into the right direction, but with "Into the Sun" Seagal is back in the sewer. The movie has a plot that sometimes is hard to follow, at least to hard for a movie like this. There are not that many fight scenes, and they are also too short and overall just uninteresting. The most interesting part of the film was when we got to see a short snapshot from one of the newer Gamera-movies. That says it all, doesn't it?

Average modern Seagal, but why did they mess the languages up so badly?

[Anonymous_Maxine · 4/10 · 10 November 2008]

So it's well known that the movie takes place in the actual neighborhood where Seagal grew up and studied martial arts, and also that he speaks fluent Japanese, but why have Japanese terrorists that are always speaking English? Isn't it just a little off-putting that the American hero is constantly speaking Japanese but the Japanese and Chinese guys all speak broken English to each other? Of course Seagal would want to show off his Japanese, since he almost never gets a chance to do it in his movies, but if they're going to go for that authenticity, they should at least include it where it really belongs as well…

As far as a Seagal film, it's about average as far as the films he has been releasing for the last ten years or so, none of which have really been all that impressive. But I still get a great kick out of his movies, even when they're not good. If nothing else, I can even enjoy the cheesy acting and paper-thin plots, and if even those fail at least Steve is always good for smacking around some bad guys.

But in Into the Sun, other than a brief skirmish near the beginning, it's a good hour into the movie before anything happens. Before then, we get a tirelessly developing but uninteresting plot about the Chinese and Japanese versions of the Mafia and how they are developing a massive drug corporation, with Seagal entering the mix investigating the murder of a government official.

Worst of all, however, is that the movie spends so much time developing the totally unnecessary and unconvincing romantic story, in which 54-year-old Steve in his floor- length leather trench-coat falls deeply and madly in love with a tiny, dainty Japanese girl who can't be more than 22.

Needless to say, my favorite part was when he sheepishly explains to her, "You know, I've never had the best luck with women. In fact, you could probably say I haven't had any luck at all…"

What's that, he's a virgin? Is he asking her to go easy on him in the sack?

But stay tuned, at the end of the movie this impressive team of filmmakers utilize an unbelievably complex and difficult bit of cinematic trickery to make the wife disappear from Steve's grasp. I noticed this particular bit of movie magic because I did the exact same thing in a six-minute movie I made with a $250 video camera when I was taking an Intro to Film class at Fresno City College in 1998. They really spared no expense with this movie!

The other problem is the bad guys themselves. They are such tired clichés that it's impossible from frame one to take any of them seriously, particularly the leader of the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia). He's your typical, b-movie villain – slicked back hair, fishnet t- shirt, arm always slung over the chair he's slouched in and a lot of guys standing around him that jump to attention and do things for him when he snaps his fingers. Yawn.

The guy is so unimaginative and so unimpressive that he makes the movie seem longer because I'm just waiting to see him get killed at the end. Evidently, however, they knew when they were making the movie that some serious ingredients were missing, so they tried to cover up the gaps with things like the sound effects that make it sound like whenever someone gets cut with a sword they spray out a fountain of blood all over the place. Nice.

In the movie's defense, it's true that Steve does look good for his age, although he has certainly lost the hardened appeal that he had in his earliest movies like Hard to Kill and Out For Justice. At least he looks a lot better than he looked in Urban Justice, but unfortunately that's not saying a lot.

The movie is a bit of a curiosity piece because Seagal wrote and performed a lot of the music on the soundtrack, and he actually sings the song during the closing credits. It's a little disturbing to listen to, but I recommend you wait and check it out because it's not disturbing because it's so bad, it's disturbing because it's actually pretty good. Too bad the rest of the movie isn't quite as pleasantly disappointing

S10 Reviews: Into the Sun (2005)

[suspiria10 · 5/10 · 14 March 2005]

Steven Seagal once again return to straight-to-video hokum as a high-level American operative who is lent out to Japan to investigate a Yakuza hit on a top Japanese government official. Is the new generation of Yakuza out for world domination since they seem to no longer be content with just the drug trade? Will Seagal be able to defeat them all on his own and most importantly will you care or bother to continue watching?

Sadly Seagal's career is pretty much DOA. I really enjoyed many of his older films (Above the Law, my personal favorite Hard to Kill, Marked for Death and Under Siege). But sadly his films of late (The Foreigner, Belly of the Beast and now Into the Sun) just don't cut the grade. Never the most energetic and kinetic action stars, Seagal of late seems to have slowed down further and at times appears to be way out of shape. The scripts represent the dartboard method of writing with tired combos that fall flat.

Awful Awful Awful

[Mr5STARRVD · 1/10 · 16 February 2005]

Look up awful and you'll find the picture of a wig wearing bloated bodied martial artist. This movie just like everything else hes put out in the last few years just plain stinks. Its filled with bad action, bad acting, bad script, bad everything. I don't know how this guy still gets work, he must have put some kind of hypnosis on his fans.

I wish he would take some career advice from Van Damme and get his career out of the gutter. But hes too busy counting his money and buying new wigs.

I give this movie 1/5, and unless your going to use it as a torture device don't even think about buying this load of garbage.

As a Seagal fan I disliked it...

[MikeyMo_nl · 4/10 · 3 March 2005]

weren't the late 80's and first half of the 90's great people? We have this guy who can't act but sure as hell kick a punch in movies with mostly no plot at all except for him kicking ass for 90 minutes long. OK, so they did have a little plot but the movies were all about Steven kicking the butts of bad guys. Steven would hit, kick, run, jump etc etc and people would get there bones broken in the nastiest ways. Who can forget the guy with the meat cleaver in "Out for Justice"? The way that was handled: pure testosterone filled ballet! Now it's the new millennium and the only decent thing our aikido hero has released was Exit Wounds (with lots of help from wire-fu, funny script, good co-stars, a good director, Steven who went to the gym etc etc). OK so Belly of the beast was decent, but not when you consider Steven had a body-double in tons of scenes.

So here is Into the sun, the latest fight fest from Steven and what does it contains:

-An openings scene which has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie. It works for James Bond but not here

• Steven doing pinkypink with his soon-to-be-wife (lame!) About one aikido fighting the first hour of the movie (against a couple of street kids)

• The rest is sword fights to the end

• Unimaginative baddies (I miss those guys from Under Siege 1 & 2, Hard to kill etc)

• Too much uninteresting plot too little fighting.

All Steven needs is a simple plot for him to go on a one-man-rampage across a lot of different locations fighting lots of men to get to his goal... Nothing more, nothing less. That never happens in Into the Sun. Steven just goes from friendly contact to friendly contact to get some info and that's basically it. Only in the last half hour the flick turns into a revenge-story and we get to see a toned down version of Hard to kill. What was the use of getting all that info in the first hour when the baddies get taken down by Steven out for a revenge motive? Next time someone writes a script for Seagal, just kill someone he loves in the beginning or drop some terrorists in the same location he is. Then get him "a shotgun and a patrol car" and he'll do the rest.

And make sure he went to the gym before the filming starts... those really close up aikido fights are not very exciting...

Steven Seagal now as a tough agent in the country which he truly lived

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 6 February 2006]

Governor Tokio is murdered and an agent , Travis Hunter , (Steven Seagal) and his partner (Matthew Davis) are assigned by CIA Chief (William Atherton) to resolve it and going to track down the responsible terrorist , a Japanese version of the Mafia (Yakuza) . However , the terrorist killing is only a string part of violence and corruption . A new leader Yakuza is planning a scheme to create an enormous dealing drug organization with the Chinese Mafia (The Tongs) . Thus , Travis Hunter along with his pal must detain the operation and remain alive . This new generation of Yakuza along with Tongs are getting into big business and interfering business old Yakuza . There were rules Yakuza respected and followed in the past but these rules do not apply to the new generation . For introducing themselves into gangsters spheres , they simulate being a master or ¨sensei¨(Seagal) and his pupil or ¨deshi¨ (Davis) . Besides , getting into neighbourhood where Seagal actually grew up and he explains that all organised crime gathers and does their things there , all kinds of organised crime (Tong, Yakuza) they are all centralised , there is major struggle for turf and for power , most of that power comes from heroin or ¨shabu¨ as they call it there .

It's a westernized oriental action film with an interesting mingle of suspense , buddy movie , martial arts , ancient ritual with typical code of honour and actual Japanese places . Abundant fists fights as swords struggles in which arms and body parts are slice off here and there and limbs are slit open everywhere or blasted apart . Cruel and savage murders make only recommended for those adults no squeamish and with strong stomach enough to take it . The motion picture was professionally directed by Mink . Rating : Passable and entertaining.

Surprisingly Entertaining.

[himboy32 · 11 June 2005]

Steven Seagel returns as Travis Hunter, a former CIA agent who's brought out of his retirement as a sword-smith in Tokyo to help with an investigation involving a pact between The Yakuza and The Triad.

Soon Travis is under threat and he must use his deadly skills in the martial arts and the blade in order to take down the Yakuza and the Triads who are both out to end his life.

This movie really surprised me, I'm not a huge fan of Seagel's recent efforts but I was so impressed with Belly Of The Beast that I decided to give this a try.

First off, Seagel actually looks like he wants to be in the movie, going as for as to give some effort in the acting. Te story isn't all that great and there are some very cliché moments but overall it was enough to keep my interest through out.

The action was well paced and nicely choreographed, Seagel's fight with Ken Lo being a highlight but it was good to see they didn't hold back when it came to the sword fighting as he cuts his way through various sword wielding thugs in order to get to the final showdown, there's lots of blood on offer there.

I was nice to see Seagel being backed up by a strong supporting cast, even going as far as the let the Asian actors speak their native languages instead of making them speaking very bad English, I have to say as well Seagel's Japanese was way better the his Thai in Belly Of The Beast.

To finish off I have to say I'd like to see Seagel make more movies like this in the future, it seems mink* new what he was doing when he directed this as he gave the movie a nice level of flashiness without making it look like an MTV music video.

So if Seasgel decided to make more hack and slash type movies, I'd definitely be interested.

An improvement! Getting there Steve, but a long way to go son!

[supertom-3 · 4/10 · 13 June 2005]

A few people may quietly utter the words "Seagal's comeback!" under their breaths for this one but despite the fact it looks far more professional than his recent works, this is still a lame dog, totally eclipsed by the comebacks of fellow action men Van Damme (Wake Of Death) and Dolph Lundgren (The Defender, which is best of the lot by far!).

This had a good budget and to add to that, Seagal seems more enthusiastic to say the least, but enthusiast still doesn't hide the fact he is clearly to past it to carry on these types of movies. Credit goes to him for adding a minimal amount of character to his performance, whereas other films we see Steven being dubbed by someone else and half asleep. For all that Into The Sun looks pretty polished it still reverts back to tried and tested Seagal plot lines. Seagal here isn't cop or environmentalist he is a CIA man once again. The story is nothing new or remotely interesting but thankfully steers clear of that horrible preachy vibe some Seagal films can have. What the film really lacks though is the most important element of this type of flick, action! The action is pretty sparse. After the obligatory opening the film never steps into high gear until the last 20 minutes when we are treated to some nicely done, but all too brief Sword play. We realise Seagal can't run about as much as before but this is ridiculous. If the sparse action was more than merely competent than it could perhaps be forgiven but there are no stand out action scenes, which is disappointing considering the budget. You watch Lundgrens upcoming Defender, that filming is virtually all action for the entire last hour, and decent action to boot. That was shot for 6 million dollars!

Although Into The Sun marks a step up for the big man, it is still a let down. Seagal is slowly chugging away to last chance saloon and with Submerged also pretty lame he has a possible 3 new films out this year that have to pull something out the bag. If at not even one of those is half decent his fans will eventually walk out on him. **

"This one is so sharp.....I'll use it tonight......This kills very well!"

[dolemite72 · 10/10 · 24 February 2005]

INTO THE SUN was supposed to get a limited cinema release, i don't think it would have fared well on the big screen? The beginning is good, the ending is great, but the mid section (as with most recent SEAGAL movies) felt a little padded. SEAGAL (great as ever) plays TRAVIS HUNTER (great name) ex CIA Yakuza expert, sent to Tokyo, to solve the case of a murdered governor. SEAGAL meets up with his (soon to be) young bride, and makes his peace with his old sensei, but the Yakuza are on to Hunter (and his rookie partner) and plan to take them, out of the picture......BIG MISTAKE!!

On paper this sounds fine, but i just wish that the director had given SEAGAL more to do than spend an hour, questioning people, or driving around. When the fight scenes do come, they are very good (i've watched it slo-mo, and looks 100% genuine SEAGAL.......so why all the quick cutting?) and SEAGAL still has amazing hand-speed (the sword fights are awesome) and i quite liked some of the Yakuza scenes (but it's in this mid-section, that SEAGAL is rarely on screen, or even forgot about) but with more fight scenes, this movie could have been a classic. As it is, it's a million times better than the (rather dull) OUT OF REACH, but still nowhere near the giddy heights of BELLY OF THE BEAST (the perfect combination of SEAGALism and kick ass action) Director MINK (eh?) does a good job with the action scenes, and tries to inject the movie with flashy visuals, from time to time. I'll give them credit, however, for using music tracks from SEAGAL's album (SONGS FROM THE CRYSTAL CAVE) throughout this movie. The sword fighting scenes are quite bloody as well (take note QUENTIN!) and the movie has a more 'polished' look than previous SEAGAL epics. The bottom line is this, people expecting another UNDER SIEGE need not watch this, but fans of 70's Yakuza flicks will enjoy seeing the old cliché's on display.

It was rumoured that this picture was meant to be a remake of sorts to 1975's classic THE YAKUZA (with ROBERT MITCHUM) but the blood soaked climax aside, it bears little resemblance.

Final thoughts; Good movie, solid fight scenes (when they come) OK performances, crisp photography, great soundtrack (that i'll bet is never released anywhere) No voice doubles and some violent bloodletting, make INTO A SUN a (slow) step in the right direction for STEVEN SEAGAL, still the baddest man on the planet known as 'action' 8 OUT OF 10

Flawed, Full of Clichés, But Very Entertaining

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 2 June 2007]

When the governor of Tokyo is killed in his campaign for election, the former CIA agent Travis Hunter (Steven Seagal) is assigned to find the responsible working together with the rookie FBI agent Sean (Matthew Davis). Travis was raised in Japan, has great connections with the underworld of the streets and is a master in sword and martial arts, trained by a former member of Yakuza. Travis discloses that there is a war between the old and traditional members of Yakuza and the new generation leaded by the deranged and sick Kuroda (Takao Osawa), who has associated to the Chinese Tong mobster Chen (Ken Low) in a powerful drug dealing business. When his fiancée Nayako (Kanako Yamaguchi) is brutally and cowardly murdered by one of Kuroda's men, the mission of Travis becomes a personal issue and he seeks revenge.

"Into the Sun" is the best of the recent works of Steven Seagal. The story is flawed, full of clichés, but also very entertaining. Steven Seagal does not have the same agility of his first movies, but the plot is well supported by magnificent landscapes, wonderful soundtrack and a great cast. I really have not understood why he alternates speaking in English or Japanese; there are some dialogs that the Japanese characters speak in Japanese and Travis speaks in English, in a complete mess. But in the end, I liked this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Operação Sol Nascente" ("Operation Rising Sun")

Read this *spoiler* before your day is *spoiled*

[neo-214 · 1/10 · 22 September 2005]

I have always been a fan of Steven Seagal. I know he is not as fast as Jet Li or as insane as Jacky Chan but he is by far meaner then the 2. I often describe the way he fight as a giant chewing-gum with hammer. He touch you, you stick to him..he hammers you. BUT... "Into the Sun" has put an end to it. It is by far the worst Steven Seagal movie ever. Heck its probably the worst movie this lifetime. I was so worried about the stunt fighters when they punched Seagal. To punch someone with that much FAT can easily twist your wrist. And half the time I was worried that Seagal was gonna fall asleep half way through his conversation with his new partner. And what is wrong with the director. I can say its more of the director's fault then the actors/actresses. The Japanese lady Seagal falls in love with in the movie can't act to save her own life. In fact the acting was so bad I wonder why it wasn't in the Guinness Book of Record.

Heres my verdict (as if that wasn't enough...). Take the money you were thinking of spending on this movie...change them into coins....and throw them into the lake. It might prove to be more entertaining. By the way...I was the only idiot in the cinema watching this movie.

On a scale of 1-10..I'd say this movie owes me points.

"Into the Sun" is definitely action-packed, but it still fails to deliver classic Seagal fun

[reservoirdogs07 · 29 March 2005]

What is so amazing about Seagal's direct to video movies are that they all have similar problems. You would think that after making a mistake on one movie, the next would improve in quality, and continue to do so until they are enjoyable films. Jean Claude Van Damme is doing it, so you really wonder why it is so much harder for Seagal. He has always been a bigger action star then Seagal ever was; and there is no doubt he has always had more hits. Still, Seagal fails with all of his Direct to Videos to do one thing: bring a certain level of quality and entertainment to his fans.

To be fair, "Into the Sun" is probably the best movie Seagal has put out since 2001's "Exit Wounds". For some, that's not saying much, because reviews have always been mixed on the movies he has made in his later career. All of his post "Half Past Dead" projects have had three major problems.

1. Lack of a Coherent Storyline 2. Stunt Doubles 3. Voice Overs

"Into the Sun" had a 35 million dollar budget, and was intended to be released theatrically, so it does look a little better than his other films, but not much better. The stunt doubles are still here, along with the choppy editing and hole-filled plot. But this does have a little more violence then Seagal's more recent films, so maybe bloodthirsty fans can appreciate it more.

Seagal is a CIA-agent who is assigned the task of investigating the "yakuza", better known as the Chinese mafia. Anyway, Seagal gets tangled up in a war between the "yakuza" and "triads", and ends up having to use his own brand of justice to settle things.

Extremely formulaic, Seagal really is in a stupor for most of the film. He is still overweight, and there is no reason to assume he will ever get back into decent shape ever again. Still, the film was an okay rental, and Seagal's performance was a little better than it has been lately. The Asian locale was nice as well, but I think Seagal should return the United States or at least Canada if possible.

Honestly, this film was pretty bad. Yes it was an improvement, and I could tolerate it, but it is still embarrassing to watch Seagal work in these conditions. Once a hardcore Seagal fan, movies like these have turned me off from the man, and I am hesitant to even rent his later movies. The most frustrating thing is that Seagal could do better, he just doesn't. Overall, I will probably never pay money for a Seagal film again,at least not without careful consideration first.

Poorly Written

[joey5687 · 3/10 · 19 March 2005]

This movie was poorly written, directed, and cut. Steven Segal has continued to get worse every flick he is in, and this proves it further. Various panning shots with continual cuts of the back of Stevens' lasting almost a minute in length must have been put in the final cut as the actor refused to re-shoot the scene using his actual verbiage. The movie is complete with an Asian setting that truly defines 70's "Kung Fu". Dialog that doesn't match the actors mouths adds to the constant chaos that viewers must deal with as well. I cannot stress enough that there are much better flicks out there to put your money towards. On a good note, as if there is one, there are a few scenes in the movie, trust me only a few, that kept me entertained long enough to say I watched the whole movie. I would have to say though finishing the movie was more painful than the $3.00 that I regretted spending to rent it.

Seagal films are slowly becoming the porn flicks of the sickly action film industry ...

[p-rodriguez-1 · 3/10 · 25 June 2006]

Steven Seagal films are slowly becoming something of the porn flicks of the action genre ... you pretty much know what you get bi-anually when you're holding a Seagal DVD in your hands (do they actually make it into the cinema in the US? In Europe they tend to go straight to plastic ...).

Well, of course the film needs to start off with the Seagal character being a soldier trying to rid the world of the danger of opiates by gunning down some opium-bandits in the jungle. The opening scene virtually adds nothing - apart from establishing the aging Seagal as veteran - but, probably as manditory as the lion roaring at the beginnings of old MGM movies ...

From there it goes to Cyber-Tokyo of 2004. It is there revealed that Seagal has actually grown up in Tokyo - not just Tokyo but the China Town of Tokyo. Viewers are more likely to buy a rotten fish, than that ...

Sad is such: when dwelling over Yakuza-classics such as 'Yakuza' (with Robert Mitchum) to 'Black Rain', the Yakuza gangstaz here are portrayed more like Ottaku. Cyber-freaks, Amikan-oh-wanna-be punks who pretty much imitate, well, villains from earlier (and better) Seagal movies. No more 'asian mystique / philosophy within the scoundrel', the days of the clean-cut, samurai sword swinging gangsters are gone. Well, until the end, where naturally suddenly all thugs (and heroes) swing those shiny Japanese blades, having all over suddenly replaced (or lost?) their 20th century guns. Can you imagine how the film ends? If this film had a budget, it might well have become Steven Seagal's 'Terminator 3' ... & Adios, mujajos. But I figure, Seagal still has two, three good years ahead of him. Which would translate into 4, 5, 6 or even 7 more flicks in which he gets to mime the unbeatable hard-ass. Ah, but fortunatley, all times go by and there are often ways to avoid the next Seagal-flick ...

Worst movie (if you could call one that) Stevel Seagal ever made..

[splix · 1/10 · 23 July 2005]

I think I've seen at least 10-12 of SG's movies. Why? I'm usually bored, and SG knows how to fill up that 1½ hour with brainless violence, big naked tits and poor stories. As a student of many different marshal arts forms, Aikido included, it's sometimes fun to watch these kinds of movies. SG knows how to fight, he knows how to make a movie interesting just by the fight scenes alone. But when I (thank god) had the opportunity to see "Into The Sun" by lending it from a friend I knew I had seen SG's rock bottom one. The poor story, the hour of endless meaningless conversations almost put me to sleep. When there is action, it's done by people who can kick and throw a punch, but the acting skills... Hey, there ain't none.

As always our good SG wants to "say" something to the viewers, "Save the wilderness", "save the rain forest", "remember the slaughter of the native Americans" so on and so forth. But this movie don't say a thing, it's a endless wobbling through "china town" scenery and filled with Asian people who can't pronounce English better then I can say things in let's say Japanese. (I'm Swedish, FYI) If you can avoid this, do so. If SG is your greatest idol and you're he's biggest fan. Sorry kid, this movie still sucks. I voted 1, there ain't no lower choice on the scale...

A confusing mess

[jaroslaw99 · 3/10 · 4 January 2022]

The women and scenery were often beautiful but I only had the vaguest idea what was going on in the movie. Since Seagal has been in so many movies, as the producer of this I would think he would know how to make a coherent one. All I can say is I'm glad it was free with the subscription service I have. Would be mad if I had to pay extra.

A WELL MADE ONE OF SEAGAL'S DTV FILMS, DECENT THRILLER

[lukem-52760 · 4/10 · 3 March 2020]

A pretty good Steven Seagal Thriller, a good looking well shot film set in Tokyo. Seagal played his usual role but this time was more at home with the culture of Tokyo & used a Samurai sword to do his killing of the deadly Yakuza. The look of the film was very good & it was made very well for a low-budget Thriller & the action scenes, when they finally come, are pretty good & gruesome with some very gory sword swipes & stabbings. Seagal is on the trail of the deadly Yakuza & is hunting them down through the murky down town streets of Tokyo, that's basically the story & it does have a very early 90's feel to it, which i really liked. Seagal looks good here as he's in better shape & looks cool with his long leather jacket & he actually acts abit more here too. "Into The Sun" is a slower paced Thriller than the usual Seagal flicks & is much less action orientated & more about story. It's a good film & Seagal is very good here in his role but it's still nothing particularly special or exciting but it's quite good. Could've been a better Action Thriller & Seagal has made some way better straight to dvd flicks, like "Driven To Kill" & "Renegade Justice" & "Belly of the Beast" & "Submerged" but Still this is a well filmed & well made film with a very Cool & very "At Home" Seagal (He lived in Tokyo) & some Cool sword fights but nothing amazing. I still checkout Seagal's flicks & am still a fan of his as i grew up watching his 90's Action Classic's & i genuinely just enjoy his easy watching DTV flicks, most of the time you pretty much know what your getting.

Not his best, but it's getting better

[scorch4321ic · 7/10 · 18 February 2005]

I've watched many Seagal movies and his latest ones in the past 4 years or so have really been downers. Although they were fun to watch because you could always get your kicks out of the cheap acting, unrealistic gun battles and pathetic plot. I rented this movies looking forward to laughing more than paying attention. However, I must say, I was quite surprised because this movie is definitely much better than the other ones he's released lately. It's not near a 10/10 because it's simply put a low budget film and the whole 22 year old girl and Seagal getting engaged was a bit disturbing. But yeah, other than that it was a much better movie this time around.

Crap Crap Crap

[exntrc1 · 2/10 · 17 February 2005]

Let's see... it starts out bad and goes to worse. In the opening scenes his army buddy gets killed because Seagal's character (who is supposedly a top-notch operative) does not seem to grasp the concept of "covert mission."

Then we have the FBI supervisor William Atherton who had better lines in Real Genius, and calls in Seagal to investigate a power struggle in the Tokyo underworld. Apparently, nobody in any local law enforcement organization understands the Yakuza like Seagal.

They totally wasted the fabulous Chiaki Kuriyama - but maybe it's better for her that she was not more visible in this dog.

The clichés are hard to keep track of, here are just a few: 1. Alienated loner teamed with rookie 2. Rookie killed trying to impress the IL' tough guy 3. Loner has finally found love with young hottie, which only serves to get her killed (again because of that covert deficiency) 4. Multiple family murder-revenge story lines 5. The clash of the traditional gangster who lives by a code of conduct and the modern ultra-violent criminal with no respect for anyone or anything

For as long as Seagal has been making movies you'd also think he'd learn a thing or two - maybe even work on a second facial expression. Also, he seems to have lost the ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality. In both he imagines himself to be a Japanese sensei and reluctant samurai, and this conceit is getting old, old, old.

Its one of his best films in recent times....

[michaelchannon-1 · 9/10 · 14 June 2005]

OK first of all if you are a Seagal fan you will love this movie. Secondly, if you are a martial artist you should enjoy this film. Now for the rest of the potential viewers. I feel that as a whole Seagal's quality like Van damme has got worse over the past five years. This is obviously because of the fact that as an actor he has a limited realm and correct me if I am wrong but America has practically black listed him since he decided to increase his ' healthiness' shall we say!

Compare it now to the old 'Under Siege', 'Marked for Death' and 'Out for Justice' days and its probably not as good, but I don't think you can compare this film with those. I actually prefer the fact that this film is set in Tokyo, having some very real elements to it and it maintains a lot of the traditional elements of the Japanese (e.g. traditional ceremonies like private remembrance service, Yakuza ceremony). If you have any appreciation of Asia and specifically Japan, and if you have visited Tokyo you will enjoy this film from the point of view that you will recognize a lot of the venues. Tsukiji fish market, O-daiba, Roppongi and Asakusa. That in itself is refreshing because most movies just use a standard studio or set to film in.

I also believe that there is a prejudice against Asian cinema's and directors. To be quite honest I think Seagal has taken some real risks with his choice of directors (multiple Asian countries) in the past five years or so because of his exclusion from the USA, but then good on him I say. If he still has fans and he still wants to make films why should the US movie industry control this ability for him to make films, Stuff 'em !

I short I think this movie has gone ' a little way' in restoring his credibility as an action hero again, based purely on the martial arts sequences and the more 'real life ' based scenario than some of his recent 'unbelievable' story lines.

I did also like the way they tried to bring in a Chinese gangland element into it as well which goes to show that Chinese and Japanese can actually work together in film. This is quite rare to see in modern day action cinema. Notably also the mix of Asian producers used in the film shows that Seagal is actually building up a good network for acting across Asia and giving the opportunity for Asian producers and Directors to use an American 'big name' where most other American actors wouldn't even go near Asia with a bargepole. This show promise that he will continue to pump out films via Asia, I just hope they remain good enough quality!

Surprisingly good Seagal

[allenk752 · 6/10 · 3 February 2008]

If you've been disappointed with some of Seagal's film of late, don't let that stop you from seeing this one. Some people just think Seagal's a joke and hate everything the guy does. But this movie is never boring, it's very violent (like his films back "in the day" were), and the direction by "mink" (huh?) keeps the film moving at a brisk pace. The authentic Asian locations help a lot too.

While far from perfect, this movie rocks: it pours on the blood, the fights, the moments of zen "calm" -- all the things one expects from a Seagal film. And this one delivers!

Seagal wrote and performs some of the music for the film too. It's great stuff: he's a decent singer and a fine guitarist.

Keep crankin' 'em out, Steve!

This is a very bad movie

[the_oak · 2/10 · 15 March 2005]

I recently saw the Seagal movie, The Patriot, and I thought it was good entertainment. But The Patriot is from 1998, and has a good director. Then I saw 20 minutes of Into the Sun, and I could not watch more. It is directed by an Englishman called only Mink. Seagal has written the script. Mink is now making Mortal Combat - Devastation. Matthew Davis and Steven Seagal pair up in Tokyo to catch some alleged terrorists, but the acting is extremely bad here. It feels as if they just go through the motions because they want to get home and play golf or read a book or something. The 20 minutes I watched were extremely stereotype trash action movie stuff. Seagal accidentally has a brush with some low life as they walk a Tokyo shady area, and soon he is back with 5 of his low life friends, and Seagal sends them to the intensive care unit. Take my word for it, this movie is not worth watching. It is boring and utter trash. I do not understand why Seagal on his home page talks about how spiritual he is and how he is friends and favorite actor of the Swedish king Karl XVI Gustav and still he pollutes the movie world with this kind of utter garbage.