Pistol Whipped (2007/Steven Seagal/Sony DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Feature: D

 

 

Maybe it is time for Steven Seagal to retire.  Heavier and more tired-looking than ever, he got away with his last few straight-to-DVD flicks being passable, but Roel Reine’s Pistol Whipped (2007) is an inept embarrassment where he sadly waddles through his action scenes in this unbelievably bad would-be Gangster Action rip-off with zero believability, action or point.

 

Seagal is a cop with debts from gambling who is still stuck with his past and unfinished business.  Boy is this bad, but it just gets worse and worse and shriller as it goes along, making it the worst thing Seagal has done to date.  At times, I thought he would honestly collapse.  Isn’t it time for a trainer?

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image looks poorly shot, whether it is because it is shot on film and/or this is one of the worst internegatives we have seen in a while, it is a mess.  The maker’s attempts to make this look like a martial arts film when Seagal hardly moves are the worst.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix only shows how bad the mix is, with poorly recorded dialogue and generally bad soundfield.  The only extras are deleted scenes, which one cannot tell from the footage in the final product.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo