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Maximum Risk
1996
After making several violent Hong Kong action films in the style that's come to be known as heroic bloodshed, Ringo Lam came to Hollywood to make his first American film with Belgian martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. MAXIMUM RISK, like Van Damme's previous DOUBLE IMPACT, is the story of twin brothers. Unlike the earlier .. Read more
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Stephane Audran |
|---|---|
| Director | Ringo Lam |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
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Maximum Risk
After making several violent Hong Kong action films in the style that's come to be known as heroic bloodshed, Ringo Lam came to Hollywood to make his first American film with Belgian martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. MAXIMUM RISK, like Van Damme's previous DOUBLE IMPACT, is the story of twin brothers. Unlike the earlier film--in which he played brothers with contrasting characters--here he's a French policeman, Alain Moreau, who takes on the identity of his dead brother, Mikhail. They were separated at birth when their mother, Chantal, played by veteran French film actress Stephane Audran, gave one up for adoption to a Russian diplomat. He grew up to become a member of the new Russian Mafia operating out of the Little Odessa section of New York City. When Mikhail is murdered in France after a wild chase through the streets, Alain goes to New York, where he's assumed to be Mikhail by everyone from the local Russian crime boss to his brother's beautiful girlfriend, Alex (Natasha Henstridge) Working with a seemingly unlimited budget for car crashes, Lam stages the action scenes with a kinetic flair and smartly knits them together with the help of sharp editing by Bill Pankow.
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Stephane Audran, Paul Ben-Victor, Zach Grenier |
|---|---|
| Director | Ringo Lam |
| Studio | UCA |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 36 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 40 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Subtitles | None |
| Released | DVD: 10 May 2004 Blu-ray: 25 Aug 2008 Production year: 1996 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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In Double Impact, we suffered the agony of two Jean-Claude Van Dammes for the entire movie. Here, thankfully, his twin gets bumped off in the opening few minutes. It's still hard work, but at least in the hands of Hong Kong director Ringo Lam (City on Fire) there are plenty of tremendous action set pieces to relish as Van Damme takes on the might of the Russian Mafia with the help of his late sibling's girlfriend (Natasha Henstridge from Species). French stars Jean-Hugues Anglade and Stéphane Audran are largely wasted, however.
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A standard Van Damme pic, competently assembled but with little of the manic edge found in director Lam's Hong Kong... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
TOP MOVIE !!!
Maximum Risk is an extremely violent movie with a very high body count. I lost track of the dead early on. While the plot is as thin as always (Russian mafia, twin brother, beautiful girl), Ringo Lam pumps it up with some nifty car chases (if you like that sort of thing) and provides the viewer with one heck of a ride as we step over the bodies. This is non-stop action from the get-go, and the fight scenes (yes, there are many) are hard-hitting and brutal, yet believable (almost a first).
For those that like Van Damme, this movie should be high on your list. For the rest of us, well, it is violent and even mean-spirited, but I ended up enjoying the ride, and the credit must go to director Lam. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Minimum Sense.
Not for the fist time, nor the last, does Jean-Claude Van Damme play two roles in this film. Luckily in this one he does not have to 'act' against himself. This is standard action for Van Damme, but way below par for Director Ringo Lam.
The plot for this one does not hold water, but hey, it is a Van Damme film. There is plenty of bone crunching action and Natasha Henstridge is at hand to brighten up the scenery. If you like your action films mindless and loud, then this will be right up your street. Sadly there is not enough Martial Arts action in this one for my taste. A school report would state, 'could do better'! -
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After making several violent Hong Kong action films in the style that's come to be known as heroic bloodshed, Ringo Lam came to Hollywood to make his first American film with Belgian martial arts ... -
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Maximum Risk
After making several violent Hong Kong action films in the style that's come to be known as heroic bloodshed, Ringo Lam came to Hollywood to make his first American film with Belgian martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. MAXIMUM RISK, like Van Damme's previous DOUBLE IMPACT, is the story of twin ...
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