Merchant of Death (1997) User Reviews

Tricks of Yossi....

[face_of_terror · 3/10 · 22 December 2008]

First of all, a question to you - have you ever seen any of Yossi Wein movies? If no, then you might end up liking "Merchant of Death". Michael Pare looks tough enough, portraying a likable hero, and Linda Hoffman in my opinion? is very cute looking doctor, who is trying to help Pare with his problems.

Now, if you are familiar with Y. Wein's work.... you'll probably be angry as hell, and end up throwing your notebook away or breaking your DVD player in half. Because about 40-45% of this movie is EDITED from 4-5 other Yossi Wein movies. I kid you not. Footage from Cyborg Cop 3 (1996), Cyborg Cop (1993), Project Shadowchaser 4 (1996), Warhead (1996) and Never Day Die (1994) was used for almost ALL action scenes, except for those when we see Pare running / shooting or talking.

I don't know whether this was done because of budget constraints, or pure laziness, but i was really upset with this effort. They probably could afford Michael Pare for only 1-2 days, so they shot the needed scenes and added everything else later. Due to bad editing, you can actually see other actors (Frank Zagarino from Shadowchaser 4 footage, B. Genesse in a car chase from Cyborg Cop 3, old warehouse shootout from Cyborg Cop, etc) in the footage used here. So, if you haven't seen any of the movies mentioned here, you will probably like this no-brainer. Otherwise, please avoid it.

Well, what do you expect from a NuImage Movie ?

[Burnout-4 · 5/10 · 8 July 2000]

"Merchant of Death" AKA "Reckless"delivers solid action-sequences, thats all. Plot and acting are poor and common. It is the typical B-Movie you'll see on late-night-Television. The next morning you will not remember this movie. It's really embarrassing and laughable to see director Yossi Wein using footage that had to be seen in other "Nu-Movies" like "Warhead" or Hard Justice" before. Give it 4 out of 10 stars.

Worth your time, if you like to watch for goofs...

[IdleHand · 1/10 · 15 September 2000]

Ishtar, move over... This is one of the worst movies that I've seen. This movie is filled with goofs, blunders and unexplained exploding victims. At least in that respect, it was entertaining.

The plot slowly develops only after about 2 dozen people get killed. Michael Pare is the least of the problems with the film, although his character is akin to Superman dodging the bullets from dozens of machine guns while he shoots his way through.

If you are looking for a serious, semi-believable "shoot-em-up" don't bother with this one.

Not Pare's best...but decent.

[ManBehindTheMask63 · 9 August 2006]

The film has a low-budget but the action isn't that bad. Especially the opening scene. A boy's family is killed by bad guys and he grows up to be a cop. He has blocked out the memory all of his life, but when a series of events triggers him to remember his dark past, he must get vengeance for his family. Decent acting and okay action. The budget effects the quality of the film but if you can get past that its an okay action-thriller. I bought this film on DVD for like 5 bucks and i had high expectations, but i actually enjoyed it. If you like Pare then it's worth a glance. If you don't like PAre or know he is, don't bother with it.

Pathetic waste of Portland and Pare

[matt-96 · 2/10 · 22 January 1999]

Almost laughable production, but still basically just plain bad. Impressive fire shots are almost "Backdraft" quality. Score rips-off "The Rock" except it lacks energy, just like this lame film.

Merchant Of Death gets Reckless!

[Movie-Misfit · 6/10 · 25 November 2014]

I like Michael Pare. He's a great looking guy with decent acting chops, and enough on screen presence as a leading man. As his career moved through the nineties though, Pare seemed to fall into the B- movie market, taking a seat in the hit-or-miss roller-coaster in a huge number of dramas, horrors and action flicks, including lately, most of Marmite director Uwe Boll's projects!

Throughout his career though, there has been a number of gems that highlight the very best of this fan favourite. Merchant Of Death is one of those...

In a nutshell - With a cigar chomping performance from star Michael Pare, we are given a great mix of Hannibal from the A-Team and Chow Yun Fat's awesome Tequila from Hardboiled, in a mish mash of crazy action scenes and heavy drama that looks like its stepped right out of Hong Kong cinemas golden years!

In my opinion - While far from perfect, and apparently containing a host of shots cut in from the directors previous projects (although not confirmed), Merchant Of Death is a messy film, packed full of action scenes, dramatic moments and characters that come and go as they please... Much like that of cult Hong Kong classics. On the positive side, this allows us to having a glorious action packed, explosive and stunt filled opening that rivals most Hollywood features closing ten minutes and look like John Woo crept on set for the day!

If anything, it is the second third of the film that throws you off after hooking you in with said introduction. Playing as a heavy drama, things slow down for some time leaving you slightly bored and reaching for the remote. But if you get through that, you are once again hooked with an action packed end battle that saves this little gem from becoming just another typical Hollywood film.

Worth the watch, but leave your brain at the door!

pure action nothing more nothing less

[ghostman16 · 9/10 · 1 April 2007]

action and more action that is what this movie is all about action. this is my first Michael pare film and the only one i have seen of his work but this film has certainly made me think about seeing more of his films. first of all the plot Michael pare plays Jim Randell a renegade cop who as a child saw his little sister and both his parents murdered.years later he wants revenge for the slaying of his family with the help of a sexy psychiatrist and a fellow cop Jim is out for blood. now i said it before but i will say it again this movie is all about action forget the plot the acting forget all of those things and focus on the action because this is one very fun enjoyable no brainer men only action movie you get action packed shoot outs edge of your seats chases you get every thing. rent it or buy it if you are a action junkie because this more action packed then so called action films like the rock or the island get it now 9 out of 10