Wake of Death (2004)

After his wife is brutally murdered, club enforcer Ben Archer wages war against the Chinese triads.

Director:

Philippe Martinez

Writers:

Mick Davis, Laurent Fellous

Stars:

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Simon Yam, Philip Tan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Ben Archer
Simon Yam	...	Sun Quan
Philip Tan	...	Han
Valerie Tian	...	Kim
Tony Schiena	...	Tony
Claude Hernandez	...	Raymond
Lisa King	...	Cynthia Archer
Anthony Fridjhon	...	Max (as Anthony Fridjohn)
Danny Keogh	...	Mac Hoggins
Pierre Marais	...	Nicholas Archer
Warrick Grier	...	Da Costa
Tom Wu	...	Andy Wang
Jacqueline Chan	...	Mamma Li (as Jacqui Chan)
Burt Kwouk	...	Tommy Li
Joon Chong	...	Kim's Mother

Storyline

Ben Archer is a thug/enforcer for a criminal organization. Tiring of the work, he tells his coworkers that he's ready to retire. His wife Cynthia is a social worker for the INS. She brings a Chinese refugee girl to their home. Soon, Sun Quan wants his daughter back. Cynthia Archer is murdered, and Ben's son Nicholas disappears, along with the Chinese girl. Ben must save the children and avenge his wife's murder.

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Plot Keywords:

handcuffed to a bed | female nudity | female frontal nudity | murder of a nude woman | murder | 

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Taglines:

Revenge is all he has left.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Bauer Martinez Studios Limelight Distribution [France]

Country:

UK France Germany Spain South Africa

Language:

Cantonese French English

Release Date:

19 January 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

After Death

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$456,148

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bauer Martinez Studios, UKFS, Frame Werk Produktion GmbH & Co. KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Ringo Lam left the project, Cess Silvera was brought in to direct, but was fired after two weeks of filming in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Goofs

During the motorbikes chase, in the mall part. Ben Archer's bike switch from Supermoto to Motocross when he jumps to the first floor from a ramp, then switch back to Supermoto for the rest of the chase.

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Quotes

Ben Archer: SUN QUAN! I'm coming for you!

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Alternate Versions

In Germany the uncut version didn't get a rating/approval at all (both rating/approval boards thought the film might violate §131, glorification of violence). Therefore the rental version is cut by 81 sec. with a JK/SPIO approval, while the retail version is cut even more (ca. 4 minutes) with a "Not under 18" rating from the FSK. The Dutch DVD also features this same cut version.

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Connections

Referenced in Making of 'Wake of Death' (2004)

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Soundtracks

Vibrato Tempest Blond
Performed by Sagat Guirey
Published by Cutting Edge Music Holdings
Written by Sagat Guirey
Licensed by Sagat Guirey

User Reviews

Van Damme is back!

It was great to finally see the new Van Damme movie. I enjoyed this better than his previosu 1 - IN HELL.

Acting by VD was very good, along with everyone else. Though, the editing was choppy in some places, everything else abiut the movie was fine with me. Despite the fact that 'The End' shows up, when I thought it was pointless to put that up. It could have gone straight to the credits.

This is still 1 of Van Damme's best movies in a while.

This is the best action movie of 2004. This really should have gone to theatres here, considering how much crap that Hollywood releases now.

This is a must see, for Van Damme fans & action fans.