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:

CIA | CIA Agent | Demon | Terrorist | Monk

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
Siu Tung Chan	...	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)
Thomas Fenton		uncredited
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
Mark Sayer-Wade

Cinematography by
Danny Nowak		(director of photography)

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

Casting by
Andrea Clark
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	....	digital effects artist (as Veselina Haralanova)
Veselina Georgieva	....	visual effects compositor
Danail Hadzhiyski	....	digital 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
Jon Paxman	....	music arranger
Steven Price	....	music programmer
Michèle Spoonley	....	music coordinator
Ashley Waldron	....	music supervisor (as Ashley Miller)

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)
Patrina Couling-Bell	....	production assistant (as Pat Couling)
Helen M. Ferreira	....	production secretary
Jennifer Ganton	....	production coordinator
Marilyn Jang	....	assistant production accountant
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

• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Eagle Films (2003) (Lebanon) (all media) (Middle East)
• Art Port (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• GAGA (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Filmax (2005) (Spain) (all media)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Seven7 (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Veronica (2006) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Splendid Film (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (????) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (????) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (UK) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (????) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Starmedia Home Entertainment (????) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Elliot FX
• Worldwide FX

Other Companies

• Hyperactive Broadcast  editing equipment
• Cine-Byte Imaging  digital opticals
• Comerica Bank of California  financing
• Film Finances  completion guarantor

Also Known As:

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Century Time (H.K.) Ltd.

Trivia:

Dedicated to 'Trevor Murray'.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At many points in the movie Steven Seagal and others fire unrealistic numbers of shots from their weapons without reloading. One of the most obvious of these is when he fires 10 shots from his trademark weapon, the Colt M1911, which holds 7.

Quotes:

Jake Hopper:I liked you a lot better as a bitch.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Bad Movie Beatdown: On Deadly Ground (#1.8)" (2009)

Not great but much better than Seagal's films have been of late

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.