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 | slit throat | 

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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

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

In the final confrontation Ben's son is being held directly to the chest of the villian. In one shot though he is gone to show the damgage, in the next shot he is back where he was before and it becomes appearent that Ben would have had to shoot his son in the head to hit the villian where he did.

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Quotes

Mac Hoggins: [tied to a chair] What the fuck is this? I mean, what the fuck do you want?
Ben Archer: [calmly] Who killed my wife?
[he remains silent]
Ben Archer: Who's Sun Quan?... Who killed my wife?... Who's Sun Quan? Where is he?

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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

Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen
(uncredited)
from DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lyrics by Emanuel Schikaneder
Heard during the massacre in a Chinese restaurant

User Reviews

A mature action film from a maturing actor

I'll be the first to admit that the super butt kicking action was not the only thing I appreciated in Jean-Claude Van Damme's films back in the day. His own butt was an excellent plus. Timecop and Cyborg? I was there. I tried to hang on after that but... JCVD twins, Dennis Rodman, science gone bad? It was all too cartoony and the action wasn't enough to hold my interest. I turned my attention East and... Salvation! The wonders of Hong Kong film.

Looking to pack a recent weekend with as much action and gunplay possible, I found "Wake of Death" and decided to give JCVD another try. I'm glad I did as I found it to be a fine film. It doesn't have the American film clichés - a hero with a heart of gold, selflessly protecting orphans and widows, while throwing off quippy one-liners and never sustaining anything more than a few strategically placed scratches.

This is a man with a questionable and likely criminal past, but we're not back storied into seeing how he is really just a misunderstood hero. It is up to the viewer to make their own judgment about this man and his actions. This film is not for those who like their action mindless.

I agree with all the comments about Jean-Claude's acting skills – he has definitely earned to communicate emotion and real character depth. He is a long way from the stone-faced Muscles from Brussels.

This woman gives the film 2 thumbs up! Now go kick some ass!

Details

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:

$521,918

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