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Belly of the Beast
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Belly of the Beast (2003) (V) More at IMDbPro »

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Belly of the Beast (2003) -- 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.

Overview

User Rating:
4.4/10   2,547 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 34% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Siu-Tung Ching
Writer:
James Townsend (written by)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Belly of the Beast on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 February 2004 (South Korea) more
Genre:
Action more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
It's Seagal vs. Vamps in Against the Dark
 (From Dread Central. 2 December 2008, 6:49 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Not great but much better than Seagal's films have been of late more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.
Runtime:
91 min
Country:
Canada | Hong Kong | UK
Language:
English | Thai
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Filming Locations:
Bangkok, Thailand more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Dedicated to 'Trevor Murray'. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When the two armed gunmen are coming up the stairs in the first scene to kill Steven Seagal, in one shot they are both carrying pistols. In the next, one clearly has a submachine gun which he wasn't carrying earlier. more
Quotes:
Bar Thug: Are you calling me a junior?
Jake Hopper: You look like a junior.
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Movie Connections:
References The Matrix (1999) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
24 out of 27 people found the following comment useful:-
Not great but much better than Seagal's films have been of late, 10 April 2004
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

Jake Hopper is ex-CIA who retired from the job after a bad shooting incident, although he still does work on the side for an old Agency buddy. When his daughter is kidnapped along with her friend (a Senator's daughter) while on a backpacking holiday in the far east, Jake's contact tells him. With official channels working to get the girls' back, Jake joins up with his old partner and begins trawling the underworld looking for the gang that has his girl.

Despite getting consistently burnt, I keep on coming back to Steven Seagal films - I can't help it. I always go to the video store (for that is where Seagal now resides) looking for something to veg out in front of that will entertain me without challenging or stimulating me; it is a sad condemnation of Seagal films that they rarely manage to do even that most basic of requests. However, in some regards, Belly of the Beast is actually a reasonable film. The plot is pretty standard and relies on nonsense to move it forwards - stuck with no clues, a girl approaches Jake with a mystery tattoo on her naked chest that only appears when she gets wet! Talk about an excuse for nudity! This sort of plot device is over used; too often the film has things just happen for a way of moving the plot forward.

The plot is poorly developed and it also has elements that just seem to have been thrown in in order to fulfil the formula. The love interest is one good example of an element that is silly and simply doesn't work. What does work is the action. For once in recent Seagal films, the fight scenes are actually pretty enjoyable even if they do overdo the slowmo effects. Seagal himself is quite effective; despite his weight gain he manages to move quite well here - even if most of it involves upper body work rather than full motion.

As an actor though, Seagal is about as bad as ever: his emotional range is rubbish, as seen in his reaction when told his daughter has been kidnapped (`you don't say' he blankly emotes!). He even is blank when kissing the gorgeous Lo - so what hope is there for him? Having said that, the worst moment in the film is one that is another actor's fault. In one scene Seagal is dubbed by an actor who sounds nothing like him - it is a laughable moment and a sad comment on the effort Seagal is putting into his films now (unable or unwilling to show up for ADR). Luckily for him, his support cast is OK. Mann's sidekick is good and Wu makes for a decent bad guy despite having very low screen time. Monica Lo is very beautiful and sexy - just a shame that her scenes where she gradually falls for Seagal make more for laughter than passion! Even these few good performances are still pretty basic though and the standard is no better than Seagal's usual stuff.

Overall, if you watch Seagal films a lot, then this will probably be better than you are used to, despite not actually being that good a film. The acting, script and plotting are as poor as you would expect but it is in the action stakes where this film improves upon his recent efforts. Understand that this is still not saying a great deal in my opinion but it still makes the film a lot better to have well choreographed and quite exciting fight scenes. If you have to watch a recent Seagal film, then this is probably the one to pick.

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sliding across the floor at the beginning fourletterfury
He's lost it zxcult
Anyone else notice Stevens voice was dubbed? one800frank
have u heard this guy sing? andyparry109
The point of no return DrMario
What sort of wood.. andyd-1
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