seveb-25179 I've watched this film many times now and somehow, despite it's many obvious shortcomings, I still very much enjoy it. This is one of those straight to DVD grade movies from Seagal's "Fat Steven" period. By this time he has become a huge whale, waddling from scene to scene, devoid of grace. Also he is unconvincingly overdubbed in many scenes throughout the film, for whatever reason. And yet for me, there is still plenty to enjoy. Firstly the director choreographs what action there is well, so that it is coherent, while still effectively disguising Seagals physical shortcomings, and in general I found the action scenes were shot with a pleasing artistic flourish. Secondly the locations are well chosen, providing the kind of exotic glamour that has been a mainstay of the James Bond franchise for decades. For example the industrial building where the children are taken is completely impractical and irrelevant for that purpose, but it makes for a fantastic B grade "Villain's lair". It's a huge hanger like shed and when the big doors rumble back it is impressive, unfortunately the villains abandon this promising location part way through, before any battle ensues. The wonderful white courtyard of the Politechnika Warszawska Main Building is not a credible residence for a human trafficker either, but to me, an indelibly memorable location. So wonderful in fact, that in my mind it makes up for any shortcomings in the climactic battle between the ponderous Seagal and the villain. The "Stalin building" used for the cocktail party scene and the University Library are further memorable locations to enjoy. Thirdly I also found the casting to be on the money, Matt Schulze is always an effective villain, the kids were appealing and the female police officer struck the right balance in projecting both attractive and competent. Many of the supporting actors didn't speak English well, maybe they don't act well either, but a Polish accent in a film set in Poland adds an authenticity that easily offsets that. The movie follows the Seagal tradition of presenting his character as a disillusioned servant of the military industrial complex, who has become a spiritual seeker, finding peace in communion with animals and nature. And also briefly introduces some facts around human trafficking, which is a real world issue, both are architypal Seagal traits, which I find endearing, provided they don't get out of hand and reach "On Deadly Ground" proportions… The script is not so great, but that is often not the deciding factor in the action movie genre. For me it is enough that the basic premise is sound, the vulnerable find a protector and are actually saved, rather than the hero just exacting empty revenge, as happens too often these days.

Comeuppance Reviews William "Billy Ray" Lansing (Seagal) is an ex-military, ex-government agent who now spends his time wandering around the woods of Alaska aimlessly and being a penpal to a 13 year old Polish girl. Seems like a natural career transition. When Billy Ray senses something amiss, he heads to Poland to see if Irina (Nowakoska), his penpal, is alright. While there he teams up with local law enforcement agent Kasia (Wagner)...and discovers a nefarious human trafficking operation led by the super-evil Faisal (Schulze). Luckily, he taught Irina how to create and read secret codes (which is perhaps why she signed on to this penpal program in the first place, why else would she?) - so they continue to communicate via code even though they are separated and he's hot on her trail. Will Billy Ray find her and take down the baddies in the process? Seagal's hair in this particular outing is just silly. It's a black, strange-looking mullet of some kind. Perhaps he caught it in the wilds of Alaska where he now lives. By "him" we mean Billy Ray, of course. This movie might even make an ideal double feature with Radical Jack, because that features one Billy Ray Cyrus. And it's not just his odd hair and choice of winter coats that's funny. A lot of his dialogue is overdubbed by someone who is clearly not Seagal. The guy they chose to do this voice-over work has a much higher-pitched voice, not to mention the fact that he speaks clearly and doesn't slur his words. So that's funny, and there are many scenes that are clearly not Seagal in front of the camera as well, most notably his "walking around in the woods" scenes. Did they think the audience wouldn't notice it's some other guy? But while the movie gets off to a very strange start, it eventually falls into a cross between Taken (2009) and the TV show To Catch A Predator, with a little Seagal on top for good measure. (Also, Seagal is some sort of master of disguise in this movie and goes by a bunch of different fake names, one of which is "Nikolai Rachenko". This is also Dolph Lundgren's name in Red Scorpion, 1988. Could this be just a coincidence? But if not, the writers really shouldn't remind the audience of a far superior action star). Schulze makes for a good baddie, and you know he's evil because A. He has evil blonde highlights, B. He plays chess and enjoys fencing and C. He seems to live in an M.C. Escher painting. But don't forget that there's an illegal Polish internet. And to never eat sushi without decoding the secret message invariably buried within the California rolls.But this is another slyly insulting title for a Seagal movie, along the lines of Belly Of The Beast (2003) and Shadow Man (2006). Who's titling these things? And are they getting a good chuckle? And is Seagal getting wise to it? Isn't it a bit too easy -- "Out Of Reach" -- for a sandwich? For a donut? Make up your own fat joke. And the fact that some of the movie was set in Turkey can't be an accident. The filmmakers probably asked Seagal where he wanted to shoot the movie and he just blurted out "Turkey". But odds are he was just going to blurt that out anyway and wasn't paying attention to what they were saying to him. But to be fair, there is some cool camera-work and good shots in this movie. But Out Of Reach needed more Martial Arts. Fencing battles and gunplay is all well and good, but we want to see Seagal do more of his classic slap-fighting. Isn't that why we're all really on board? In all, Out Of Reach is a pretty entertaining entry in the 2000's DTV canon of Seagal. There's enough out-and-out silliness to keep you engaged, and that's more than you can say for a lot of his other work.

Frederick Smith Steven Seagal is perhaps the King of the B films, but he is also a cause driven individual who likes to make films that center around real problems. Renowned for his ability as a martial artist and his "I don't take any $h!@ from anyone." attitude, Seagal's films have unfortunately become formulaic and predictable. Seagal plays the former agent who has become disenchanted with the agency (Which agency? Does it really matter?) Naturally, he is in the wilderness, this time on a wildlife preserve, and is sponsoring an orphaned girl in Poland. While there are some moments of emotion, most of the time Steven plays the role with a lack of luster and motivation, like he is tired of making the same film for the 100th time. Matt Schulze is the one actor in the cast who stands out. His portrayal of Faisal, the operator of the human trafficking ring, is one dimensional, but its the right dimension. If you're going to be a bad guy, be a really bad guy. Nick Brimble's brief appearance is good, but Nick comes off as the man behind the scenes and his threat to Faisal lacks the true tone of contempt anyone would show for a man in that business. Overall, the film is slow to the point of boredom, predictable as a clock, and just plain poorly done. Rated R for violence, language, and a few scenes in an upscale brothel. If you happen to see this one on the shelf at your local video store, I'd let it collect dust, unless you are a big fan of Seagal, and even then I would take a moment and think about it.

maddogdavies For those browsing the shelves of your local film rental establishment and perhaps entertaining the idea of renting this film, let me give a quick summary to save you any unwanted trauma (and wasted cash).This is basically the same Seagal film formula which has been applied to all of his recent movies: Seagal plays the usual ex-military/CIA/clandestine agency/secret hard bloke who has retired to the countryside, living amongst the animals, his house festooned in native American memorabilia, who for some preposterous reason ends up in Eastern Europe busting up a criminal gang (usually led by a corrupt businessman). And of course there is the obligatory love scene with an attractive girl thirty odd years his junior (who is he kidding)- please note, I'm writing this review before seeing the whole thing, but I'm fairly confident in it's predictability. The plot of this movie sees Seagal (as described above)somehow involved with a young Polish girl living in an orphanage whom he exchanges letters with. She gets kidnapped by a human trafficking gang and well, you can probably guess the rest.The most (unintentionally)amusing thing about this film is the dialogue. Half of Seagal's dialogue has been re-recorded by another actor with a completely different voice! I don't know if this was because he couldn't be arsed or whether the producers changed the story after filming (as with one of his others, can't remember the name), who knows.All in all, this film had a preposterous plot, abysmal acting, sub-standard fight/action scenes (Seagal is dreadfully out of shape and slow) and the overall production values worse than Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus! Coupled with the comical dialogue, this film was farcical from start to finish! For the record, I do enjoy Seagal's earlier films (Under Siege, Out For Justice), but to be quite frank he should have packed it in long ago!