Belly of the Beast (2003) (V)

Director:

Siu-Tung Ching

Writer:

James Townsend (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

A Father's Rage Knows No Limit

Plot:

An ex-CIA agent's quest to find his kidnapped daughter leads him on a trail of political intrigue, corruption, danger and betrayal; he will stop at nothing to save her.

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Dragon | Kung Fu | Apple | Body Bag

Cast

Steven Seagal	...	Jake Hopper
Byron Mann	...	Sunti
Monica Lo	...	Lulu
Tom Wu	...	General Jantapan
Sara Malakul Lane	...	Jessica Hopper
Patrick Robinson	...	Leon Washington
Vincent Riotta	...	Fitch McQuaid
Norman Veeratum	...	Suthep
Elidh MacQueen	...	Sara Winthorpe
Chau Siu Tung	...	Kong
Kevork Malikyan	...	Fernand Zadir
Pongpat Wachirabunjong	...	Mongkol
Alastair Vardy	...	Security Guard #1
Andy Adam	...	Security Guard #2
Shahkrit Yamnarm	...	Brice (as Shahkritt Yamnarm)
Max Ruddock	...	Russel
Martin McDougall	...	Tom Collins
Nicolas Rochette	...	Masked Man
Ian Robison	...	Tom Blake
Colin Stinton	...	Jim Cox
Akaluk Oisingo	...	Taxi Driver
Wannakit Sirioput	...	Tommy Taipei (as Wannakit Siriput)
Malin Moberg	...	Woman in Pool
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Ferguson	...	Security Guard (uncredited)
Erik Markus Schuetz	...	Security Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Siu-Tung Ching		(as Ching Siu Tung)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Steven Seagal		story (uncredited)
James Townsend		written by

Produced by
Jamie Brown	....	producer
D.J. Carson	....	co-producer
Danny Dimbort	....	executive producer
Randall Emmett	....	producer
George Furla	....	producer
Phillip B. Goldfine	....	co-executive producer
Gary Howsam	....	producer
Avi Lerner	....	executive producer
Steven Seagal	....	producer
Trevor Short	....	executive producer
John Thompson	....	executive producer
Charles Wang	....	producer

Original Music by
The Music Sculptors
Mark Sayer-Wade

Cinematography by
Danny Nowak		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David M. Richardson		(as David Richardson)

Casting by
Andrea Clark
Jeremy Zimmerman		(as Jeremy Zimmermann)

Production Design by
Trevor Murray

Set Decoration by
Anuradha Mehta		(as Radha Mehta)

Costume Design by
Katrina McCarthy

Makeup Department
Mark Landon	....	makeup artist: Steven Seagal

Production Management
D.J. Carson	....	unit production manager
Jonathan Shore	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob Warwick	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Wayne Brooks	....	sound designer
Wayne Brooks	....	sound effects editor
Greg Chapman	....	sound mixer
Mathew Knights	....	adr recordist
Chris Roberts	....	dialogue editor
Adam Sharpe	....	adr mixer
Anna Sulley	....	adr editor
Rowena Wilkinson	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Andy Adam	....	special effects technician
Phill Robinson	....	special effects technician
Alastair Vardy	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Larry Adlon	....	digital compositor: wire/scratch removal
Simeon Asenov	....	digital compositor
Scott Coulter	....	visual effects producer
Veselina Georgieva	....	visual effects compositor
Danail Hadzhiyski	....	digital artist
Veselina Haralanova	....	digital effects artist
Milosav Hugasian	....	visual effects coordinator
Inna Itkin	....	roto artist
Jivko Ivanov	....	lead animator
Velichko Ivanov	....	visual effects
Ekaterina 'Kuki' Korabelnikova	....	digital effects artist
Jordan Markov	....	visual effects editor
Maria Mavrova	....	3D animator
Peter Nikolov	....	visual effects support staff
Iasen Pisarov	....	visual effects
Ivan Sarov	....	digital artist
Ryan Smith	....	digital compositing supervisor
Kiri Stenberg	....	visual effects
Stefan Tchakarov	....	visual effects supervisor
Mark Tureski	....	digital opticals effects
Valia Zaharinova	....	digital artist

Stunts
Dian Hristov	....	stunt double: lead
David Ismalone	....	stunts
Erik Markus Schuetz	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Ross W. Clarkson	....	camera operator: "a" camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brie Thorpe	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Christopher Robin Bell	....	first assistant editor
Hsun-Wei David Chang	....	post-production assistant
Edward Joseph Douglas	....	assistant on-line editor
Ryan Hogan	....	final colorist
Bejhan Kalantar	....	post-production assistant
Mykel Thuncher	....	color timer

Music Department
Ashley Miller	....	music supervisor
Jon Paxman	....	music arranger
Steven Price	....	music programmer

Other crew
Marcin Borkowski	....	executive assistant: Steven Seagal
Siu-Tung Ching	....	action director (as Tony Ching Siu-Tung)
Siu-Tung Ching	....	kung fu choreographer (as Tony Ching Siu Tung)
Helen M. Ferreira	....	production secretary
Jennifer Ganton	....	production coordinator
Bencharat Labkim	....	production coordinator
Nikolette Orlandou	....	assistant to producer: Steven Seagal
Samavee Pummoung	....	production assistant
Roman Viaris-de-Lesegno	....	production financing

Production Companies

• Century Time (H.K.) Ltd.
• GFT Beast Films Inc.
• GFT Entertainment
• Salon Films
• Studio Eight Beast Ltd.
• Studio Eight Productions

Distributors

• Millennium Films (2003) (worldwide sales) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Art Port (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (Argentina)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (UK)
• Filmax (2005) (Spain) (all media)
• GAGA Communications (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (France)
• Seven7 (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Starmedia Home Entertainment (Germany)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Veronica (2006) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)

Special Effects

• Elliot FX
• Worldwide FX

Other Companies

• Cine-Byte Imaging  digital opticals
• Comerica Bank of California  financing

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Canada | Hong Kong | UK

Language:

English | Thai

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Century Time (H.K.) Ltd.

Trivia:

Dedicated to 'Trevor Murray' .

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The empty bullet casings dropped from a Humvee-mounted machine gun are the ones from blanks , not the ones from real cartridges. With a normal cartridge the casings would end with a large hole where the bullet was.

Quotes:

Bar Thug: Are you calling me a junior?
Jake Hopper: You look like a junior.

Movie Connections:

References The Matrix (1999)

Ong Bak - Stevie Seagal Version

From the director of Chinese Ghost Story and Naked Weapon (and collaborator in the action scenes from Hero and House of the Flying Daggers), we have a story about an ex-CIA agent who's daughter is kidnapped. Its not just any ex-CIA agent, but Steven Seagal. Yes !! Pony-tail is back, BACK WITH A VENGEANCE. (Sorry, I had to do that).

This is your typical action movie, usually based on some revenge/honor theme, where the hero has to take out dozens to hundreds of henchman and usually a "Boss" character, or several. The acting is atrocious and all we are left with is the action (and a lot of wire-work). Steven brought his typical dead-pan/Prozac acting along. This movie is not going to be on anybody's Christmas list, however, it is hysterical and very very light. I was laughing the whole way through the movie.

Steven Seagal is looking to do some major butt-kicking. Unfortunately, most of the serious butt-kicking is done by a much younger, thinner man (the stunt guy is actually wearing fake fat to look like Steven), who has a lot more physical talent than Steven had in his prime. This is further compounded by the fact that the stunt man performs stunts that Steven could never perform (jump kicks, jump spin kick, and all other stunts involving jumping high).

The movie seems to have been filmed entirely in Bangkok, Thailand and recruited what seems to be the entire cast of Onk Bak, minus Tony Jaa. The wheelchair boss and Don the drug dealer stand out in my mind.

There are somethings about the movie that bother me. Steven (who is the star of the movie) looks like he just woke up in Bangkok after weeks of binging on milkshakes and vodka, with no money and no change of clothes. He looks dirty and grimy. I wouldn't sit next to him on the subway if he looked like that. Next, what was up with the Steven's gun? He seemed to have a magic weapon. This weapon fires anywhere from 30-50 bullets and rarely needs another clip. Also Steven has become such a big star, he no longer needs to aim his weapon. He just fires in the general direction of his target. Steven's sex scene was certainly interesting. It made me quite nauseous. Shoving toothpicks under my fingernails is pleasurable as compared to watching Steven has sex. The cinematography was quite strange. I didn't realize the same guy who did certain Outer Limit and Star Trek episodes was still alive (tilt the camera 45 degrees). The wire action becomes ridiculous, especially when you are trying to make a somewhat realistic action movie (imagine what one would think if Tony Jaa jumped 10 feet straight in the air and did 2 full revolutions). I also like the variation on Thai boxing : Thai Transvestite Claws and High Heels Boxing. Not only that, what was the deal with all the mystical crap introduced 10 minutes before the end of the movie, complete with with a Thai Mako impersonator who had taken too much PCP ??

One may think from my review that I hated this movie. This is not true. This is the funniest movie I've seen since Shaun of the Dead, unfortunately that movie was trying to be funny. I do recommend this movie as a rental,a discount-bin purchase, or a late night cable session while completely wasted.