callanvass (Credit to John Sacksteder)An ex-Navy commando (Mark Dacscos) is framed for a bungled mission to save hostages from terrorists in which he survived being shot 7 times by an assassin (Tony Todd). Years later, he is hired to protect a weapons distributor and his wife, only to have the same assassin kill them. This sets him on a mission with the assigned FBI agent (Carrie Anne Moss) to bring the killers and conspirators to justice. Graham Greene appears as Dacasco's former commander.I watched this a few months ago because of the cast. I've always thought Mark Dacascos was very underrated and exciting, and I love Tony Todd. I found it on You-Tube and figured, what the hell? It was a poor choice to say the least. Not only is this a bad movie, but downright mundane as well. After an exciting first 20 minutes or so, I started to get bored. There isn't much action. There is gunfire, but I wanted more. Dacascos's skills are wasted and underutilized. He does well, but I wanted more fights from him. Anne-Moss is OK, but unremarkable. Tony Todd's deliciously evil performance is the only noteworthy thing in this movie. The ending is pretty anti- climatic, angering me more than I already was. This is obscure for a reason. Don't trust the 6.0 rating! Avoid, unless you have to see anything with Dacoscis or Todd in it3/10

JaydoDre I am surprised less at the average score the internet gave this movie and more at the number of reviews given. The film features a cast of relatively known people and has a few innovative bits, yet the whole thing has faded into obscurity, not even getting its own cover on IMDb.If you judge the plot from the description alone it appears to be rather boring and cheap. Some ex-navy seal is mixed in a bunch of interconnected conspiracies with FBI, CIA and hit men all involved. In practice however, the movie manages to keep the plot above the trash (if you are into that sort of movies). The recurring theme is that of a game of chess where the main character whose surname happens to be Bishop, is taking part in the conspiracy game.The acting by Mark and Carie-Anne are average. The script written for them should take most of the blame as it can get shallow and cheesy at times, not unexpected for this type of movie.Nonetheless, there is a certain class that this movie has, which manages to keep it out of cheapness. The action is well paced and is not too aggressive or overabundant so that there is a feeling that some sort of chess game is going on and it is not just a sweaty guy throwing chess pieces around in dumb anger. At the same time it has a few memorable action scenes which have stayed with me all the way from childhood.If you like action movies and have not seen this one, I suggest adding it to your checklist, although the only place I have been able to find it is on VHS and youtube...a shame considering the kind of garbage they still show on TV on occasion.

greenflickerstick This is a fine example of the kind of films I like to see Mark Dacascos in. Mark plays an ex black ops leader. After being double crossed and left for dead, he resurfaces as a bodyguard for high profile political figures. After his client is assassinated he uncovers a web of arms dealing, corrupt cia officials and a strange link between his past as a black ops member and his clients murder. This film offers some of the earliest examples of the highly overused "bullet time " effect as well as some brief but well staged fight sequences. This is one of the best examples of a low budget film that pulls out all the stops.

Galand In my opinion, this film is a hidden gem. Although some may find the plot line a trifle tortuous, this is more than compensated for by the film's realistic feel and likeable cast.As the film is not effects-heavy (thanks to a lower than blockbuster budget) attention has instead been paid to creating a believable environment rather than a showy one. The film appears to have the benefit of a good military advisor - firearms & combat sequences are particularly well executed and accurately represented.Directional cues are used to good effect to allow us to follow the hero's train of thought in pivotal situations, and I was particularly pleased not to see the usual overindulgent "victim setup" sequences which tend to plague many films in this genre.Neither is this a film which plays down to the audience by stating and restating the obvious; it's refreshing to watch a film which actually credits the viewer with some degree of independent thought!Although "Sabotage" definitely inclines more towards Len Deighton than Ian Fleming, Mark Dacascos makes a very credible leading man, with his character having just enough background development to lend credibility to his actions, rather than swamping us with "flawed hero" cliches.This film was obviously never going to break any box office records, but it does show very clearly that you can still have a good film without resorting to the visual overkill of big budget effects.