90 reviews
It's no secret Van Damme has lost much of what clout he once held at the box office when he's now reserved to doing leads in straight-to-video action flicks. I guess the hindsight is you could say that about any of the other big action stars. It's been awhile since Arnold really pulled in the audiences and even longer for the likes of Stallone, Norris and even good 'ol Steven Seagal.
So it wasn't the biggest surprise when Van Damme's latest 'Desert Heat' went straight to video. The strangest thing is it's leaps and bounds ahead of Universal Soldier 2 that got a theatrical release and Van Damme is actually pretty good when he's relaxed and having fun. With a few familiar faces in the supporting cast helping out.
This one finds Van Damme as a man at his emotional end. He believes he's got nothing to live for anymore and when we met up with him he's ready to commit suicide and end his life. What happens shortly after that is pretty basic, but fuels the rest of the story. A bunch of dirty people try to wax him and leave him for dead and he swears to make them pay in blood. So not entirely original. With more gunplay than there is martial arts - you have to decide if that's a good or bad thing for a Van Damme flick. It's a case of opinion and/or taste more than anything else. The atmosphere is light and everyone seems to be having fun. Which is great. This story couldn't have survived a single viewing if it took itself seriously.
I'm not recommending this outright, but I'm not saying stay away either. Love or hate Van Damme, this is a half-decent addition to his mixed slate of movies and if nothing else this movie contains one of the most unique sex scenes I've seen in an action movie in a really, really long while. It's both erotic and vaguely comical at the same time if you can believe that. You'll have to see the movie to know what I mean, but this all goes back to an earlier point. This movie never takes itself seriously and that's what keeps the movie enjoyable rather than being a pain to watch in the end.
So it wasn't the biggest surprise when Van Damme's latest 'Desert Heat' went straight to video. The strangest thing is it's leaps and bounds ahead of Universal Soldier 2 that got a theatrical release and Van Damme is actually pretty good when he's relaxed and having fun. With a few familiar faces in the supporting cast helping out.
This one finds Van Damme as a man at his emotional end. He believes he's got nothing to live for anymore and when we met up with him he's ready to commit suicide and end his life. What happens shortly after that is pretty basic, but fuels the rest of the story. A bunch of dirty people try to wax him and leave him for dead and he swears to make them pay in blood. So not entirely original. With more gunplay than there is martial arts - you have to decide if that's a good or bad thing for a Van Damme flick. It's a case of opinion and/or taste more than anything else. The atmosphere is light and everyone seems to be having fun. Which is great. This story couldn't have survived a single viewing if it took itself seriously.
I'm not recommending this outright, but I'm not saying stay away either. Love or hate Van Damme, this is a half-decent addition to his mixed slate of movies and if nothing else this movie contains one of the most unique sex scenes I've seen in an action movie in a really, really long while. It's both erotic and vaguely comical at the same time if you can believe that. You'll have to see the movie to know what I mean, but this all goes back to an earlier point. This movie never takes itself seriously and that's what keeps the movie enjoyable rather than being a pain to watch in the end.
- refinedsugar
- Aug 20, 2001
- Permalink
- claudio_carvalho
- Sep 5, 2004
- Permalink
What was this all about? To start with, I like Jean-Claude Van Damme, and many of the user comments here praise this as one of his better film. I totally disagree. I like Jean-Claude for what he does best, which is kicking along with well scripted one liners. Jean-Claude has shown that with a good script and larger-then-live action sequences he can bring us pretty good films, with Hard Target being my favorite. Other average but watchable films are for example; Universal Soldiers, Nowhere to run and Timecop. But Inferno is an oddity to me. It is true that we have some good humor from the support cast and the idea behind the story is not all that bad. However, I was at loss as to Jean-Claude's character. Why did he want to kill himself, and what was this mysterious relationship he had with the Indian. The mixture of reality and some dream-Indian-coyote world was awkward, and the love story unbelievable (He meet the woman for 5min, and from that point they were like a couple???). So all in all, pretty sad effort, but OK due to good support cast. 4/10
Wow, this movie is almost like a Road House for the late 90's. In other words, this is a good, no, GRRRREAT bad movie. Van Damme effectively plays another dumb guy / bad ass/ good guy. JCVD arrives in a small desert community populated almost entirely by abrasive creeps. Abrasive is putting it mildly, these guys snort crank/coke and verbally abuse old folks/hot waitresses around the clock. Of course Van Damme must help out the old folks and hot waitresses, probably because he's on some spiritual journey, or maybe he just wants to get laid, or maybe because he was planning suicide anyway. Whatever, the case may be, 2 old indians (one a motorcycle, the other an actual human being) help him get it done. The mullet adorned red necks and bikers which he awkwardly incapacitates are worth the price of admission alone. For my money this belongs amongst the best of Van Damme's entertainingly stupid body of work. Don't miss it!
- yellowstone
- Mar 8, 2005
- Permalink
I keep telling folks that it is not a good idea to remake Japanese movies. This is an attempt to do the 1962 film YOJIMBO again. It doesn't work, but that doesn't mean it not worth your time.
OK, so some very stupid yahoos decide to kick Van Damme around when he is severely depressed and suicidal and steal his gun and motorcycle. These boys are the local counterfeiters/drug dealers/village thugs. You can guess what comes next.
What sets this film apart is the inclusion of Pat Morita (154 films!), Danny Trejo (139 films, including the upcoming Grindhouse), and Trailer-Trash Queen Jaime Pressly.
It's really a very funny Van Damme movie and worth checking out. At least some passionate action returns.
OK, so some very stupid yahoos decide to kick Van Damme around when he is severely depressed and suicidal and steal his gun and motorcycle. These boys are the local counterfeiters/drug dealers/village thugs. You can guess what comes next.
What sets this film apart is the inclusion of Pat Morita (154 films!), Danny Trejo (139 films, including the upcoming Grindhouse), and Trailer-Trash Queen Jaime Pressly.
It's really a very funny Van Damme movie and worth checking out. At least some passionate action returns.
- lastliberal
- Mar 25, 2007
- Permalink
Let's be clear right up front: this is a lousy movie. From the acting to the action, dialog to music, it's all bad filmmaking. Yet there is something watchable about this slow motion train wreck.
JCVD can't act. Everyone else performs down to his level. If there was a director on the set, he wasn't directing.
The dialog is just bizarre. It sounds like one of those spaghetti western bad overdubs. Nothing anyone says makes the slightest sense.
Pacing is all over the place. Scenes plod along to no conclusion or race ahead to no conclusion, sometimes at the same time.
The actors are made of cardboard. Despite what the writers would have us believe, one dimensional weirdness is not a personality. The religious folks are only religious folks. The rednecks are only rednecks. The morons are only morons. The eye candy are only eye candy. And do on. You know what everyone is going to say and do before they do.
The closest films to this are the Golan Globus Chuck Norris cheapies. Those too are watchable, but if you stop and think about it you can't explain why.
Four stars.
JCVD can't act. Everyone else performs down to his level. If there was a director on the set, he wasn't directing.
The dialog is just bizarre. It sounds like one of those spaghetti western bad overdubs. Nothing anyone says makes the slightest sense.
Pacing is all over the place. Scenes plod along to no conclusion or race ahead to no conclusion, sometimes at the same time.
The actors are made of cardboard. Despite what the writers would have us believe, one dimensional weirdness is not a personality. The religious folks are only religious folks. The rednecks are only rednecks. The morons are only morons. The eye candy are only eye candy. And do on. You know what everyone is going to say and do before they do.
The closest films to this are the Golan Globus Chuck Norris cheapies. Those too are watchable, but if you stop and think about it you can't explain why.
Four stars.
- bitbucketchip
- Jul 26, 2021
- Permalink
I originally didn't really have any intentions of watching Dessert Heat. As much as I love a Van Damme film, the fact this is one of his released straight to DVD films did put me off. I only ended up purchasing it because I happened to come across it in the 50 Pence section of a DVD and Games store we have in the UK. I thought for 50p why not. And to be fair, I really enjoyed it.
If you can prepare to watch a movie and not take it too seriously then it's worth a watch to let the time pass and entertain you. Don't get me wrong, it's not Universal Soldier or Sudden Death. But Van Damme kicks ass in this.
If you can prepare to watch a movie and not take it too seriously then it's worth a watch to let the time pass and entertain you. Don't get me wrong, it's not Universal Soldier or Sudden Death. But Van Damme kicks ass in this.
What did you expect, it´s another Van Damme vehicle, so I´m not gonna moan about him not changing his pace with this one (although his celebrated kicks take considerable back seat here), BUT...let me just take a minute to point your attention to director John G. Avildsen, who has made a handful of decent movies. This DTV clunker comes close to being his worst yet, with strong competition from Karate Kid III. The film does have its hilarious moments, of course, like JC attempting to act drunk, Danny Trejo footmassaging JC(!) and Pat Morita rehashing his old Mr. Miyagi act. The film bears more than passing resemblance to Road House, Last Man Standing and Yojimbo (screenwriter Tom O´Rourke even has the audacity to salute the latter near the end). If this is your idea of a great video experience, go right ahead. But there are much better offers out there on the dusty shelves.
Anyway, you shouldn't compare this movie to either of the above. Although I haven't seen Yojimbo (pronounced Yo-Jimbo by one of the characters), but I'm sure it won't be fair to all of them.
This movie is an action movie, with Van Damme as the good guy, but it's not very serious. Sure, there are explosions and guns and kicks and a completely unnecessary sex scene and all that, but it seems like there are quite a lot comic relief moments and characters. Pat Morita and Bill Erwin reminded me of Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets, for one.
Van Damme plays an American, which meant that he talked very little and tried to talk in a raspy voice to disguise his accent. And you know what? It worked. The only thing that I couldn't let go is because I expected to hear his unique accent.
This movie is 95 minutes well spent. Don't go out of your way looking for it, but you don't have to avoid it either.
This movie is an action movie, with Van Damme as the good guy, but it's not very serious. Sure, there are explosions and guns and kicks and a completely unnecessary sex scene and all that, but it seems like there are quite a lot comic relief moments and characters. Pat Morita and Bill Erwin reminded me of Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets, for one.
Van Damme plays an American, which meant that he talked very little and tried to talk in a raspy voice to disguise his accent. And you know what? It worked. The only thing that I couldn't let go is because I expected to hear his unique accent.
This movie is 95 minutes well spent. Don't go out of your way looking for it, but you don't have to avoid it either.
- Just_Some_Guy
- Aug 13, 2006
- Permalink
I think this was a pretty good movie for Van Damme to make his come back from drugs in. It was the same formula as every single other Van Damme movie, but it was pretty entertaining, and Danny Trejelo (sp.?) was very good as his faithful friend Johnny Six-toes. I've certainly seen worse (the matrix, for example)! It's too bad that Van Damme has gone to straight-to-video movies now, since he is STILL a better action actor than a clown like Matt Damon in the "Bourne Mistake" or whatever! Damon is a puss, a bad actor, and a complete wienie! I had a hard time not LAUGHING at the thought of him as an action figure! Oh well.. I hope Jean-Claude Van Damme starts making better action movies again very soon, and gets one in the theater.
- jiggsmcgretzky
- May 16, 2005
- Permalink
As goofy a story line that "Roadhouse" had, why does Hollywood seem to regenerate the same laughable, inane plot? "Desert Heat" is a prime example - a big star (Van Damme) who is in desperate need of a new manager, "B" star Love Boat rejects from the 70's (Pat Morita, Vincent Schiavelli, etc) and lots of mindless shoot 'em up action - and you know, the audiences will love this stuff. Van Damme rides into town to bring a "gift" to one of his long lost friends; naturally, all outsiders in this desert community are evil and quickly the local rednecks dispense of our hero...or do they? Naturally, he rises like the phoenix from the ashes, kills many of the youngsters terrorizing the older folks, romances the local waitress and yes, has sex not with one, but two harlots he rescues from a local club. Oh, boy...the only saving grace is Van Damme is obviously enjoying the fact he is cashing a big paycheck for his role. Some humour punctuates the script, but the blood letting gets old and this is nothing different from a thousand other "revenge" flicks that are collecting dust on the bottom shelf of your local video store.
Hey, if you want art go to a museum. This thing is entertaining. Slow start but it makes up for that. Funny in understated ways. Vivid characters that weren't all made with cookie cutters. If the dialog had been witless the life would have drained out of this movie as easily as the bad guys die. But I'll wager the writer (Tom O'Rourke II) was awake and had some fun. I was too and I did too. Hats off to him.
We (viewers) made Hollywood (filmmakers) to have a steady source of diversionary schlock. This one delivers.
P.S. Should get an award for egregious miscasting: Vincent Schiavelli as a Sikh?
We (viewers) made Hollywood (filmmakers) to have a steady source of diversionary schlock. This one delivers.
P.S. Should get an award for egregious miscasting: Vincent Schiavelli as a Sikh?
Coyote Moon or Van Damme's Inferno(the title in Spain).Is one of the worst films that I've seen.The film doesn't have argument and the performance of Van Damme makes me laugh it's too bad.The film doesn't have more action or fights and the humorur is bad.The film is bored and the only thing good is Pat Morita perfomance,a good actor.
- bladerunner8910
- Jul 22, 2001
- Permalink
- tarbosh22000
- Oct 20, 2013
- Permalink
This is the third Jean Claude Van Damme movie I have seen. One, "JCVD", was brilliant...believe it or not. Another, "Lionheart", was good. And then there was this one!!!
"Inferno" (also known as "Deset Heat") is a Van Damme movie that is assisted by a nice assembly of supporting character actors. Pat Morita, Danny Trejo, Vincent Schiavelli and many others are nice additions, though I especially liked Bill Erwin as a very goofy and funny old codger*! However, no matter how nice these actors are in the film, it really is NOT 'Yojimbo" which it's reported to be...."Yojimbo" was a brilliant Kurosawa film. You'll see little brilliance in this picture...mostly a lot of explosions, expletives and macho histrionics which defy common sense.
When the story begins, Eddie (Van Damme) is in the middle of the desest--tired of living and in a funk. However, a gang of thugs attack him, shoot him and leave him for dead...and give him a new sense of purpose...to kill them! However, unlike most of the actor's films, he mostly shoots or stabs folks to death...which is much smarter than taking on every single one hand to hand. Unfortunately, it also suffers because after the initial confrontation, bullets never hit him and he can drive a motorcycle through a crowd of these armed thugs without getting hurt. Additionally, Eddie's bullets seem to often hit their target AND often makes things inexplicably explode!! Intellectual fare, this is definitely not!
So do I recommend the film? Not really. It's ultra violent, ultra crude and it's almost criminal to say or imply it's a remake or reworking of "Yojimbo"! In fact, it's pretty dopey.
*The characters playing the two religious fanatics were not only offensive but amazingly stupid. See the film, you'll see what I mean.
"Inferno" (also known as "Deset Heat") is a Van Damme movie that is assisted by a nice assembly of supporting character actors. Pat Morita, Danny Trejo, Vincent Schiavelli and many others are nice additions, though I especially liked Bill Erwin as a very goofy and funny old codger*! However, no matter how nice these actors are in the film, it really is NOT 'Yojimbo" which it's reported to be...."Yojimbo" was a brilliant Kurosawa film. You'll see little brilliance in this picture...mostly a lot of explosions, expletives and macho histrionics which defy common sense.
When the story begins, Eddie (Van Damme) is in the middle of the desest--tired of living and in a funk. However, a gang of thugs attack him, shoot him and leave him for dead...and give him a new sense of purpose...to kill them! However, unlike most of the actor's films, he mostly shoots or stabs folks to death...which is much smarter than taking on every single one hand to hand. Unfortunately, it also suffers because after the initial confrontation, bullets never hit him and he can drive a motorcycle through a crowd of these armed thugs without getting hurt. Additionally, Eddie's bullets seem to often hit their target AND often makes things inexplicably explode!! Intellectual fare, this is definitely not!
So do I recommend the film? Not really. It's ultra violent, ultra crude and it's almost criminal to say or imply it's a remake or reworking of "Yojimbo"! In fact, it's pretty dopey.
*The characters playing the two religious fanatics were not only offensive but amazingly stupid. See the film, you'll see what I mean.
- planktonrules
- Feb 18, 2019
- Permalink
- Scarecrow-88
- Jan 19, 2010
- Permalink
The words 'Jean Claude Van Damme' are synonymous with bad films, and this is no different. What is amazing is that he gets away with being so bad film after film, and playing the same character time after time without anyone in Hollywood cottoning onto him!
Were it Schwarzenegger you'd know it was just a parody of himself; but VD isn't that talented -- these are the only roles he can play.
VD is a ex military person of some sort [I was too bored to pay too close attention to the detail here] who comes to find his ex mate who he saved and ask for his permission to commit suicide. We're not talking Nobel prize for literature stuff.
On the way the bike he brought for his friend is taken from him and he has to get it back. Fill in the gaps yourself, it doesn't take a rocket scientist.
Don't see it, it is rubbish.
Were it Schwarzenegger you'd know it was just a parody of himself; but VD isn't that talented -- these are the only roles he can play.
VD is a ex military person of some sort [I was too bored to pay too close attention to the detail here] who comes to find his ex mate who he saved and ask for his permission to commit suicide. We're not talking Nobel prize for literature stuff.
On the way the bike he brought for his friend is taken from him and he has to get it back. Fill in the gaps yourself, it doesn't take a rocket scientist.
Don't see it, it is rubbish.
This Van Damme movie was a bit more of a renter than big screen material. Of course, this had some ad lib as well if you know what I mean. The cast have some well known stars. Pat Morita(The Karate Kid movies), Larry Drake(L.A. LAW, and Darkman 1&2), Danny Trejo(so many movies impossible to keep count) the same with others. A man left for dead, is typical, but when the heavy steal his wheels, that's grounds for seek and destroy! Eddie Lomax(Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes nuts in the desert, then his friend SixToes(Trejo) revives him. Going into town is where all the action and comedy starts and ends. Having slice of apple pie will definitely put a smile on anyone face. Because it's an all-American treat. My favorite part are the two Christian couple who give Lomax a room, and the old guy, had more concern about Lomax and the safety of others. Especially, when he got the two blondes out of the bar, and they got to shower and shave. It wasn't the blondes the couple should be worried about, Lomax got the thanks, he will never forget! In fact normally the woman wipes out the man during sex, in this case, he wiped out the blondes and Mrs. Reynolds felt confident that Lomax was a saint in his own way. Other than that, the movie was OK, after all. Good for fans of Van Damme, and I like the howling of the coyote in it as well. Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Oh well, why not wrap up a perfectly bad-movie-week in the company of the Muscles from Brussels? 'Inferno' (aka 'Desert Heat') wasn't exactly as bad as I hoped it would be. Loner-hero J.C. Van Damme, tormented by ghosts from the past, has a severe alcohol problem. Well, it's not really a problem, but actually a solution: Whenever he's drunk, he's not killing people. Naturally, he ends up killing a whole lot more of them in this movie. They even managed to cram Danny Trejo, Larry drake, Vincent Schiavelli and Pat Morita in this movie (well, actually, Morita ain't that big, so he fits in easily). Cutie-bonus goes to Jaime Pressly (who once again keeps her cloths on, *sigh* -- can anybody finally recommend me a movie were she does take something off?). Little bit of fighting, little bit of shooting, little bit of sex (loved those blond bimbos -- yes, there actually is female nudity in this flick), a little bit of killing... And all this in a movie that's got some sort of revenge-western vibe to it. Stupid attempts at humor, predictable 'til the last frame. Well maybe not exactly the last shots, because those kind of took me by surprise and really had me laughing, thinking "Sh!t, man, have I just been watching a ghost movie?". Oh well, JC might have seen better days, but I'm sure he's seen some worse too.
- Vomitron_G
- Jan 17, 2013
- Permalink
Yes, it's a cheesy film, but it's marvelous and mysterious in its own way. Toward the end when Pat Morita is whistling a tune, the melody is THE INTERNATIONALE, anthem of international Communism. No explanation for this is offered, nor does one seem obvious. It's hard to imagine adding much new to the remaking of YOJIMBO with Van Damme in place of Eastwood or Mifune, though motorcycles and exploding fuel tanks can't hurt. Not every action film can match the classics. But this one beats the pants off ROADHOUSE with Patrick Swayze, with a similar landscape. Such is, at least, my own opinion. And it's better than AVENGER with Sam Elliott, who was also in ROADHOUSE. But I digress...
- karastjepan
- Apr 17, 2006
- Permalink
I was curious for a while about this movie as apart from having Van Damme as the lead it has a lot of familiar supporting actors such as Vincent Schiavelli, Pat Morita, Bill Erwin and the always reliable Danny Trejo (who makes even bad movies look good) and also because from the poster it looked like an adventure movie.
In the beginning Eddie Lomax (Jean Claude Van Damme) drives all alone in the desert with his motorcycle and he is tired of living. After he has an allucination where he sees his friend Johnny Sixtoes (Trejo) some thugs attack him, leave him for dead and steal his bike. This gives Eddie a new sense in his life... to go after these thugs and kill them. When Eddie wakes up, he comes by a village that is used to the agressions by those delinquents and he tries everything he can to stop the bullies and get his bike back.
This is a very unusual movie for Van Damme as unlike in his most famous movies, he mostly shoots or stabs folks... as he usually kicks the bad guys in the groin. However most of his bullets at times hit the targets and often they make things inexplicably explode. And these scenes made me also laugh a bit.
Despite being very violent and a bit raunchy, this is a mildly enjoyable adventure movie that will please mostly people with low expectations or adventure movies' fans.
In the beginning Eddie Lomax (Jean Claude Van Damme) drives all alone in the desert with his motorcycle and he is tired of living. After he has an allucination where he sees his friend Johnny Sixtoes (Trejo) some thugs attack him, leave him for dead and steal his bike. This gives Eddie a new sense in his life... to go after these thugs and kill them. When Eddie wakes up, he comes by a village that is used to the agressions by those delinquents and he tries everything he can to stop the bullies and get his bike back.
This is a very unusual movie for Van Damme as unlike in his most famous movies, he mostly shoots or stabs folks... as he usually kicks the bad guys in the groin. However most of his bullets at times hit the targets and often they make things inexplicably explode. And these scenes made me also laugh a bit.
Despite being very violent and a bit raunchy, this is a mildly enjoyable adventure movie that will please mostly people with low expectations or adventure movies' fans.
- bellino-angelo2014
- Feb 21, 2021
- Permalink
Everything about "Desert Heat" seems forced, and the actors play caricatures not characters, that you have seen before in hundreds of similar low budget action films. The shame is that some really good character actors are badly wasted. Throw in a mystical angle to further weaken an already weak screenplay, and you have a recipe for the disaster that "Desert Heat" becomes. People we know nothing about, doing pathetically stupid things, equals crap of epic proportions. Any resemblance drawn between this garbage and "Yojimbo" or "A Fistful of Dollars" is total nonsense. I give this two stars only because some of the supporting cast try to make something out of the nothing script. Avoid this and rewatch "A Fistful of Dollars". MERK
- merklekranz
- Dec 18, 2020
- Permalink
I chanced upon this screen gem on USA as part of their Jean-Claude Van Damme summer movie marathon. Kind of a bizarre mix of "Mad Max", where a loner takes on thugs on motorcycles who are terrorizing the citizens of some out-of-the-way "town" ("town" as in five buildings and a law-abiding population of 12); "A Fistfull of Dollars"/"Yojimbo"/"Last Man Standing", where a loner pits two rival criminal organizations against each other; and gay porn (two sweaty men in their underwear massaging each other's feet!).
All of the supporting characters are campy caricatures and the interaction is comical. Gee, Rhonda's world famous apple pie was so good that JC took only one bite and left the rest... and apparently no one in the desert bats an eye at murder, or drinks water for that matter.
The action was OK for a DTV flick, but don't rent it if that's what you're looking for. Its real appeal is the campiness. "Desert Heat" is a good pick if you want something mindless and off-the-wall to kill a couple of hours.
All of the supporting characters are campy caricatures and the interaction is comical. Gee, Rhonda's world famous apple pie was so good that JC took only one bite and left the rest... and apparently no one in the desert bats an eye at murder, or drinks water for that matter.
The action was OK for a DTV flick, but don't rent it if that's what you're looking for. Its real appeal is the campiness. "Desert Heat" is a good pick if you want something mindless and off-the-wall to kill a couple of hours.