Black Dawn (2005 Video) User Reviews

Not bad, but not very good.

[supertom-3 · 5/10 · 20 December 2005]

It's been a busy year for Steven Seagal, with almost innumerable films added to his CV. Many films, but a generally bog standard of movies, with Today You Die, rivalling last years atrocious Out Of Reach in the crappola stakes. Thankfully Black Dawn marks a vast improvement in thrills for a Seagal film and his best film since his big comeback, Exit Wound's a far, far away now, 4 years ago. This is also far better than the Foreigner, the film for which this is essentially a sequel to.

The film is very much in the style of the Bourne movies with the formula agency spooks and espionage stuff. It's very formulaic however the film is done with more intelligence than many of these kind of DTV nuclear/political conspiracy films, which albeit still doesn't mean it's all that intelligent. What I can say about this film, that sadly I haven't been able to say about recent Seagal flicks, is that there is a level of competence to the film and also Seagal himself doesn't stink up the movie as he did with the otherwise okay Submerged. The film is well shot and looks decent and although the editing is a little to flashy at times it generally is slick and gives the film a polished look. The cinematography goes for a naturalistic look like the Bourne films did. The score also ranges from decent, when it is ripping off John Powell's Bourne scores, to a bit lazy and average during action scenes and less important scenes.

As for the action: This is also a mixed bag with gun fights ranging from competent to lazily and quickly constructed. While the fight sequences, which are extremely few and brief, are poor. The poorness of the fights however are due to the fact that Seagal isn't present in any of them, even though his character is involved. They are poor because Seagal is hardly even used for inserts and his double is constantly being used so the director is attempting to hide this fact. As a result the fights are incredibly disorientating leaving you unsure if Seagal's character is even fighting. However there is a great car chase and the film also includes some impressive stunts. Stunt-Co-ordinator Dicky Beer certainly gives the film some excitement in periods and does a good job.

As for the big guy himself? Well Seagal it must be said is far more interested this time around. He at least performs all his own dialogue, as far as I was aware. However what is still evident is that clearly he isn't really enjoying himself too much. He also has that expected, but still annoying tendency to lazily and breathily whisper all his dialogue, with a "I hate this crap dialogue!" look on his face. There is still also the fact that Seagal regularly uses a stand in, as well as overworking his stunt double again. The film has a strange feeling to it in another respect and that is the sheer fact that overall Seagal doesn't have a lot of screen time considering he is the main lead. This means there is more focus, perhaps too much on the bad guys. Seagal disappears on occasion for up to 5 minutes. I would guess that Seagal was probably only involved in about 70% of the shooting schedule. Whether this fact is due to laziness, contract stipulation or other filming commitments (after all he does do 4 movies a year now!) I don't know, it just feels strange for the lead to go awol so often for so long.

The film is also blessed with a good supporting cast compared to other Seagal flicks. The bad guys aren't too clichéd while John Pyper Ferguson is a welcome casting, even though he seems to be putting on a bizarre accent (his character is British). Tamara Davies is hot and all round decent as Seagal's sidekick while Seagal's character is also slightly more interesting than usual cause Jonathan Cold I feel isn't a cut and dried good guy. This guy has his bad side unlike Seagal's usual goody two-shoes image.

Overall this is a marked improvement for Seagal. The first and last 20 minutes are pretty good and even though the middle section drags quite a bit the film still never had that feeling of being terrible like Today You Die. The film has it's own action too, not borrowing from other films and the car chase is excellent. Seagal fans will be pleased with this and I was surprised by my enjoyment levels for this especially after the diabolically bad trailer the movie had. Still though, Stevo has some work to do. Shadows Of The Past sounds like it has promise though. **

Not Bad for a "B" (direct to Video)

[dee4j · 5/10 · 3 January 2006]

Despite some awful editing, missteps in plot, obvious fluff scenes, this is actually not a "bad" movie. What makes it uncomfortable to watch is the now aging and overweight Seagal unable to do *any* of his own stunts! The terrorists are hopeless zealots but not unbelievably so. The CIA stuff is trite but not untenably unrealistic. The cast does what they can to keep the plot moving along...and it's usually enough. Seagal's dialog (in breathy monotone) is what too often slows down the action. Timothy Carhart is perfectly cast as the female agent's supervisor: he's the *real* question-mark re good guy vs bad guy. But then most of the actors turn in credible performances. Unlike some "B" movies I didn't feel the need to turn this one off halfway thru.

Who the Hell are you? I'm Steven Seagal

[ogdendc · 4/10 · 15 January 2014]

Who the Hell are you? I'm Steven Seagal playing Jonathan Cold, hired assassin, out to stop a group of terrorists from destroying Los Angeles with a compact nuclear device.

We get the usual mumbled laboured dialogue from Seagal, the slow motion movement. A stunt double was used for many scenes and the usual rule is, if it moves, it's the double.

I didn't find the supporting cast as irritating compared to other Seagal flicks. John Pyper Ferguson and Julian Stone make reasonable bad guys while Tamara Davies is easy on the eye and puts in a competent performance as Seagal's sidekick.

The filming is good, the plot is sensible, well sort of, and there is lots of shooting if you like that sort of thing.

Overall this isn't the worst Seagal film. The first and last 20 minutes are pretty good even though the middle section drags quite a bit.

Worst Stunt Double Ever

[shamusd · 1/10 · 16 January 2006]

There was a scene in this movie, Cold is running up the hotel stairs and fighting bad guys along the way, where the stunt double had different color hair, different color suit, wasn't as tall as Seagal, and they showed the his face in the scene, and he looked nothing like Seagal. I thought, "Who is this?" Then I realized it was supposed to be Cold. You mean, Steve isn't doing his own fighting scenes? Huh? This is a lame movie. IMDb requires 10 lines, so I must keep going, or fail to warn you about this movie. The plot was OK at first, but people start to do things that don't make any sense given their motives. The action is nothing you haven't seen many times before. There is this extremely awkward, and somewhat confusing scene at the end, where Cold and his apprentice are talking about nights spent together, but there was nothing like this in the movie. Was it supposed to be a joke? This was a terrible movie.

Ugh!

[argentobuff · 2/10 · 8 July 2006]

Steven Seagal returns in Black Dawn.Cool title.I cannot say the same for the movie though.It ranks as the Worst Seagal movie yet.Yes.It is worse than Out for a Kill.Did we really need a sequel to the Forigner that bad?

Steven returns as Jonathon Cold.Assassin for hire.This time he is out to stop a group of Terrorists and prevent Nuclier Bomb from hitting Los Angelas with the help of CIA agent Tamara Davies.

This idea seems okay.The Jonathon Cold character once again gives the big guy a chance to tarnish his clean-cut cinematic Image.You get the feeling with a decent director and production team this movie could have went somewhere.If this cost 15 million I wanna know where it was spent?It was not spent on the movie?!!

The action scenes are not bad.The movie was obviously shot like a Doug Liman flick.Its just that most of the Time Seagal is doubled so much you cannot take the movie seriously whatsoever.The script seems...what script?!Logic is Black Dawned for a dozen low-budget action movies.

Seagal is not too bad here for a whole 15 minutes he is engaging then goes about the sleepwalking that he has done for his last 2 movies.Whoever is doing his fighting is doing a commendable job.

The light that shines through is Tamara Davies as Cold's sidekick.She has the chops,skills,looks and drive that give Black Dawn a little kick in the action department.How she got in this movie is a riddle.She should be a bigger star.Nicholas Davidoff and John Pyper Feruson are not believable bad guys.

Whose idea was it to make a sequel to a bad movie in the first place? It did not set the world on fire to my memory.I can only hope they inject the next Forigner sequel with some class,imagination,Less stunt doubles and a livelier Seagal.If not then leave Jonathon Cold on Ice.

Atrocious garbage

[vandino1 · 7 January 2006]

Don't waste your time. This is simple-minded hackwork not worth noticing, unless you're a fan of necrophilia and thus enjoy the sight of Seagal, the walking corpse. He IS a sad spectacle, so there may be some twisted entertainment in watching his bloated, tired carcass wander through another cheapjack thriller that he's paid to plug himself into for what's left of his foreign market film sales value. Strange to see a former aikido master become such a lethargic hulk, so physically immobile from personal dissipation that he can't (or won't) engage in even the slightest fight scene on camera.

Otherwise, the film is just the usual Eastern European terrorist nuke stuff with lots of slimy operators playing each other off and brandishing an endless supply of guns for fire fights that somehow never involve Seagal even being grazed. His slow-moving Zeppelin-like bulk is somehow coated in God'sOwnMiracle Armor that wards off all contact with lead, knives or fists.... or acting ability.

once again he bombs

[irongiant1219 · 1/10 · 13 April 2006]

Here I was buying this DVD online figuring Seagal couldn't bomb again.I saw his last 3 movies and they stunk,this one was a total waste of industry money.Seagal needs to hang it up,yo Steve just go away,your wasting your time and my money.In this one it is so obvious he's not doing his own stunts,let alone he's not even doing any of his own moves,it's so bad you can even catch a glimpse of the stunt doubles face.Seagal looks like he's gain 20 extra pounds,he waddles.The way this guy is churning out these movies is a shame!If you want a true action star who is older get anything Jackie Chan i promise you will not be disappointed.I never write these comments ,it's just I feel the need to warn people about spending there money on this junk.

Steven Seagal is back?....

[mattressman_pdl · 2/10 · 29 April 2006]

Black Dawn (2005), The Great one is back in this recent effort(kind of an ironically bad word to use) which follows Johnathan Cold once again as this time he springs a terrorist from prison and appears to be helping in an upcoming attack. It was smart to try to make us guess whether or not he was on the bad side, but come on, we all KNOW he wasn't. I think that if he was, the movie would have been nine times better. The car chase, some decent gunfights and the presence of character actor Timothy Carhart elevate this above a one, but it is still very, very poor. People complain about Foreigner and Out for a Kill, but they both look like Oscar winners compared to this wretched piece of excrement. Steven Seagal is about in HALF of it and even that's a stretch. The fight scenes are NOT him leading me to believe we should give up on seeing the big guy fighting again. His screen presence is a draw, but not when he ain't on the freaking screen. At least he looked like he enjoyed Today You Die and did some fights himself. People, as a Steven SEagal fan, I know you want to see this. But trust me, he may return with a good movie like Belly of the Beast or Into the Sun, but this isn't it. I know you want to see it, but please trust a fellow fan and don't. You'll feel more secure in you're seagal liking if you don't.

Again Seagal with his former character of Cia agent battling against nefarious villains

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 17 November 2006]

The film focuses to Jonathan Cold an ex-Cia agent,now he helps to break out from prison at a dangerous mobster(John Pyper Ferguson).He gather together with his brother(Julian Stone),another vicious murderer.They contact with a group of the habitual Eastern Europen terrorist with the aim of obtaining a nuclear weapon into a case for the blowing up of Los Angeles.Meanwhile Cia agents(an attractive Tamara Davis and Don Franklin)are surveying them but another traitors agents(Eddie Velez)uncover them.

The movie turns out to be the following from ¨The foreigner¨ where Seagal returns with same personage and seems too similar to his previous films.In fact his last movies are of little budget as ¨Submerged,Belly of beast,Into the sun or Ticker¨, time has passed from average and high budget films as ¨ Under siege I and II,Executive decision,Glimmer man,or Fire down below¨. The picture packs lots of action,shoot out,violence and is quite entertained.The film contains the usual explosions,cars and trucks with impressive velocities pursuits and gets a nice look at those action sequences.Agreeable chemistry between Seagal and an enjoyable Tamara Davis is one of the worthwhile items in this sometimes stodgy rehash from anterior Seagal films.The motion picture is regularly directed by Alexander Gruszynsky(an usual and prestigious cameraman). Pointlessly energetic and occasionally entertained but only for the Steven Seagal devotee.

Oh Dear!!

[slightlymad22 · 3/10 · 25 July 2019]

Seagal returns in a sequel to possibly his worst movie!! Seriously!! Who thought this was a good idea??

I'm a bit confused, this movie has Jonathan Cold (Seagal) going undercover to stop a group of terrorists before they bomb Los Angeles. Was it ever disclosed in the first movie, he is ex CIA?? I do not think it was,but they all sort of blend together after Glimmer Man.

This was Seagal's 4th movie of 2005. Considering in his prime he pretty much released one movie a year (you can stretch it to 11 movies in 10 years if you go from 1988 to 1998) This was his 9th movie in 2 years.

And they are getting worse. This was a real slog to get through, I didn't enjoy the first one, but this is worse!! Ludicrous beyond words, badly acted (Tamara Davies is an exception) awful effects and just a waste of everyone's time, I can't even be bothered to write this review.

The blame can not fall at the directors feet, as the film is apparently infamous for Seagal not being involved in any of the fight scenes due to his leaving the film 18 days into a 30-day shoot. The director shot fights with stunt doubles and scenes that were to involve Seagal were replaced by his co-star in the film. That explains why Tamara Davies appeared to be the lead in this movie.

I do not think that is 100% accurate as some of it is clearly Seagal. It least there was no voice dubbing this time.

Black Dawn

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 22 August 2010]

Arms dealers. Young Russian terrorists. Crooked CIA Black Ops. Special Agent Jonathan Cold(Steven Seagal)has his hands full. It's all about Plutonium, enough to make nuclear weapons and Cold will have to contend with lots of opposition coming out of the woodwork. CIA agent Amanda Stuart(Tamara Davies), who was trained by Cold, will assist him in trying to stop the terrorists(and whoever else)from getting their hands on the Plutonium. James Donovon(John Pyper-Ferguson)loses his brother, Michael(Julian Stone), in a shootout where Cold(undercover as a corrupt rogue agent in order to earn the graces of the Donovan brothers), must break cover in order to save Stuart who was captured. Stuart discovers that her superior, Chief agent Greer(Timothy Carhart, wasted)is actually behind the whole Plutonium scheme, the terrorists a foil for his plans. Action fans hoping for martial arts will be disappointed with BLACK DAWN. No snapped wrists or pummeled bodies. Mostly exchanges of gunfire and excess plot. Seagal may get the top billing but Davies does most of the heavy lifting. Long-haired, bearded Pyper-Ferguson makes for a fun snarling villain, but Carhart should've had more to do.

A pretty neat Seagal thriller, less filler, but not without flaws.

[dolemite72 · 8/10 · 14 January 2006]

I've just finished watching this movie, and i've gotta admit, that it's a pretty good movie. It actually feels like a real movie (unlike the jokey and cobbled together affair that was 'Today You Die', and more importantly, Seagal seems to be enjoying himself, whilst not forgetting the mood of the piece.

At first, the idea of making a sequel to 'The Foreigner' didn't appeal to me, but 'Black Dawn' ups the action stakes a little, and isn't as complicated. Seagal returns as 'Johnathan Cold', who finds his latest employer is dealing with some pretty bad terrorists, intent of blowing up half of America. Being a freelance is one thing, but killing innocent people, forces the 'stout sensei' to rethink his game-plan, and stop the terrorists (in usual Seagal fashion.)

Unlike other recent Seagal movies, this one doesn't have much filler, so it's more simply plotted. The performances and actors are fine, the direction is free of the rapid cutting techniques (that have ruined some Seagal movies of late) and it has a pretty good truck chase sequence.

Now to the bad aspects. I don't (and never would) expect Seagal to be doing 'ninja-backflips' but the fight doubles are un-needed (surely, he still has the speed?) and one fight double (near the end, in a building stairway) is horrendous (the guy, even from behind looks nothing like Seagal, he even has a different coloured coat, hair style, etc) and some of the Blue-screen Cgi work is poor (without having to be) The helicopter sequence near the end has some pathetic opticals (surely, no effects company could charge people money for this work?)

But these minor gripes aside, 'Black Dawn' is a pretty straightforward action picture, that moves along at a nice pace. Seagal performs all his own dialogue (an unfortunate plus, in recent movies) and like i've said, no pretentious 'filler' plot, to further complicate matters. I'd be more than willing to see Seagal continue this character, as long as he puts more effort into his abilities that got him noticed in the first place.....i.e, amazing aikido!

All in all, a good movie (hampered, but not spoilt) by rushed/poor technical aspects. Good to see (producer) Andrew Stevens play a cameo, as the guard at the institute (he should have bigger roles, as i've always found him a likable performer)

Big Lee gives this pretty good movie 8 out of 10

Relevant

[pantagruella · 7/10 · 13 June 2007]

Interesting, very interesting. I checked out most of the IMDb comments on the film before buying. Many comments took the view, "I'm a die-hard Seagal fan but this is not very good." But I don't agree. ( Comic Strip reference. ) Recently I've been getting familiar with the 21st century conspiracy material and re-acquainting myself with the heroic deeds of the CIA since the War. I'm an admirer of the two Jason Bourne films, Enemy of the State. I re-watched Spy Game the other night and enjoyed it more for its depiction of the CIA as computer analysts, people no longer capable of acting in the field.

I think Black Dawn fits right on in there. It's competent and there is plenty going on, in the style of the Byzantine Empire.

Seagal is overweight? When we was he slender? I don't think his weight is relevant to his film persona. I don't associate Steven Seagal with martial arts fireworks. His approach to combat is the realistic one, "Get it over fast." As far as I'm concerned he's always just slapped people's faces and twisted their wrists. He's not like his perceived cohorts who're always trying to top their previous stunts. If you want to see a Westerner 'go for it' then you might follow Jason Statham. I think Steven Seagal's approach is more akin to Sonny Chiba's in the Streetfighter films.

Anyway Seagal's are not just about Steven Seagal, although they have a personal moral dimension.

This is a competent B movie that is not trying to be an under-funded action blockbuster.

would not recommend this movie to anyone.

[bmarsh-3 · 2/10 · 26 December 2005]

I thought some earlier Segal movies from 2004 and earlier 2005 were not good, like Submerged... they look great compared to this one.

Bad editing (several fight scenes should have been completely redone, right from shooting them, they reused footage in several fights),

Bad directing (or some really really bad acting out of people that normally can at least partially act) looking at the directors history, he has done some much better movies then this...

Bad script (well, some parts of the plot & writing aren't that bad... but some of the character swearing was downright out of place... maybe it was the fault of editing)

I don't know, I just can't recommend this movie to anyone, not even die-hard Segal fans.

Is Seagal even awake here?

[Sandcooler · 3/10 · 24 January 2016]

If I can start by saying something really positive about this movie: it doesn't waste any time in telling you it's terrible. The opening sequence is a really misguided attempt at being artsy, almost like the director didn't know he was making a Seagal movie yet. "Black Dawn" is a sequel to "The Foreigner", which essentially means they were too lazy to come up with a new name for the character Seagal plays in every movie (see also: "Under Siege 2"). They keep up that lazyness in every other aspect. The fight scenes are typical for recent Seagal releases: confusing cuts, extreme close-ups, because that way we won't know it's a fighting double. Every time Seagal fights (granted, that's not often in this movie) he suddenly loses 40 lbs. and has real black hair instead of that weird spray-on hairdo, all the bizarre jump cuts in the world can't hide that. The most hilarious scene is the one where Seagal's on a 'moving' truck though: worst green screen ever, it makes the infamous train scene from Jean Claude Van Damme's "Derailed" look state of the art.

P.S: It's nice to know the news can actually show a picture of the corpse when they're reporting a murder, great for the ratings. I'm pretty sure you can get in trouble for that.

More nonsense by the fat man of action

[octanejunkie454 · 3/10 · 14 August 2006]

Very poor effort from Seagal, who in recent times seems to be churning out films on a weekly basis. This is a conspiracy type movie involving a nuclear weapon falling into the wrong hands (yawn!). Seagals character is a mysterious ex agent with an unclear agenda (what again!). None of us watch Seagal films for his acting prowess, we want to see glib one liners and plenty of scrapping. There is precious little of either in this film and the action scenes that are in it are done by someone else. He doesn't even really feature as the starring role, leaving a bunch of stereotypical bad guys and hired goons to plod through what masquerades as a plot. As if what i've told you is not enough to keep you away from this drivel, it is also worth mentioning that the special effects are truly terrible as well. Finally, to sum up, this film features Luke Goss from that vomit inducing band Bros as the lead bad guy. Watch this and you'll gouge your eyes out.

Jonathan Cold Returns!...Why?

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 12 May 2010]

"Black Dawn" is one of the weakest Seagal movies. This is a sequel to "The Foreigner". There's no reason to make this except that it's another paycheck in the big man's pockets. In my opinion, Seagal will probably never make another good movie like "Marked For Death" or "Above The Law". Those days are behind him.

The "plot" is about Russian gangsters in Romania who have a nuclear device. Jonathan Cold (Seagal) has to stop them. Seagal is barely in this and he doesn't do anything, and I mean ANYTHING: fighting, acting, or exercise He has to find better scripts, or at least a director who needs to realize that Seagal is the draw, not some nameless Romanian.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

The sequel nobody asked for

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 8 April 2016]

BLACK DAWN is the sequel to THE FOREIGNER that nobody asked for. Steven Seagal returns as special agent Jonathan Cold, who must tackle a terrorist gang with plans on America. As anybody familiar with Seagal's work over the last fifteen years will know, this means that there's lot of low rent dialogue, doubling, cheesy action scenes, and general inanity.

Half the cast have British or foreign accents and seem to be struggling with the dialogue they're given. Seagal appears constipated throughout and is obviously doubled in all of his fight scenes. The film as a whole lacks the kind of familiar faces that show up in a lot of his other work, so it's more tiresome to sit through. It does pick up at the mid point for a surprisingly well mounted truck chase before descending back into ineptitude afterwards.

LMFAO LOL ROTFLMFAO Some brutal visible Stunt doubles

[robbieadams1969 · 1/10 · 5 November 2020]

Ok... Just when you thought low budget 'action' flicks had some of the worst visible Stunt doubles because of poor editing in hiding it?

Welcome to this movie.

If you thought all his previous movies were bad at this. This movie takes the crown :p

You will love this movie if you're high on some good weed and watch it for pure comedy purposes.

Fattie does it again with one of his worst movies in his sorid straight to Russian prodi yion made movies to video

Very bad, very bad indeed.

[spwspw · 1/10 · 17 September 2019]

Never been a Segal fan, still not. Don't know who convinced Segal he could act, but he can't. It's like all his other stuff with lots more shooting (no one can hit worth a damn), more cussing than there used to be, poor CGI... just not worth watching in my opinion.

The anti-climax of movies!!!

[rynlarson · 5/10 · 28 December 2005]

What happened to this movie? This latest Seagal D.T.V effort had high hopes and falls short in a big way. This film starts out solid with Seagal breaking an arms dealer out of prison posing as a doctor. Lurking in the background are these terrorists planning to blow L.A. sky high...and the arms dealer plans on trading plutonium with the terrorists for diamonds. Staking out all this is Tamara Davies taking photos of Seagal and the arms dealer. Her cover gets blown as does Seagal's as it comes to pass that Seagal is working for some high level, unknown part of the government as he reprises his Jonathan Cold character from 2002's lackluster "The Foreigner". Sounds promising, and for a D.T.V it is shot nicely. As a viewer this Seagal flick appears to be his best film since "Half Past Dead". Lots of action, gunfights, explosions, etc. The truck chase is well done. As the film heads towards its awful conclusion, 1 hour & 25 minutes into the movie as a Seagal fan one should be pleased with the exception of a horrible staircase scene in which the camera focuses in on Seagal's stunt double who is wearing a lighter shade of the same suit Seagal is wearing in other scenes. Then comes the helicopter sequence, which shot with a blue screen background, was the most awful display of special effects I have ever seen. Early 80's B-movies had better FX than this, and this didn't have to be. I have to wonder did no one in post production see this in the editing room? If you don't have the budget for the digital effects, why not change the script for an alternate ending? I gave this a 5 out of 10 for the beginning and middle, but the final act made me cringe.

Decent Effort!

[Gizmo_01 · 10/10 · 27 March 2006]

Steven Seagal used to be the most consistent action star working as far as quality was concerned. His movies were always great, but I will be the first to admit that they have definitely dipped in quality in the last few years. Now, the good ones are few and far between.

Black Dawn is a sequel to "The Foreigner," which is often considered by die-hard Seagal fans as his worst movie. Of course, that was compared to the movies he had been up to that point in time and since then he has made several worse efforts, like "Today You Die" or "Out for a Kill," and now it doesn't seem so bad in retrospect. Still, it seems an odd choice to make a sequel to it.

The first good news is that the awkward dubbing of Seagal's voice that has become a trend in his recent efforts is not present here. It seemed to be his own voice throughout the whole movie. Secondly, since it was getting rather ridiculous to watch painfully obvious stunt doubles trying to pass themselves off as Seagal, this movie just throws the fights scenes out the door. There is action, but it's mostly all gun battles. This movie is a lot more plot driven than the usual Seagal effort.

The plot focuses on Jonathan Cold who is an ex-CIA CIA undercover officer, (Got that!), who is trying to stop a group of rebellious teenagers from blowing up the city. The whole thing moves swiftly enough and has some good supporting performances. Seagal is also better than usual. He also appears to have cut his hair. When Seagal's hair gets longer it looks really frizzy and unhealthy and it's hard not to be distracted by it. Seriously, it looks like a bad wig sometimes. Also, he has lost a bit of weight since "Belly of the Beast" which is nice. I hope he's trying to get back into shape for the rumored "Under Siege" sequel that is supposed to be in the works. It would be awfully nice to see Casey "f**king" Ryback kicking butt again real soon. If there is one thing to be learned from "Crocodile Dunddee in Los Angelas," its that it is never to late to finish off a trilogy.

For now I guess I'll just be waiting patiently. His next movie, "Mercenary of Justice" looks promising enough and his second album comes out soon too. Go Seagal!

"It's a bad day for you".

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 14 September 2016]

Not knowing anything about this film I tuned in because of Steven Seagal, but it was quite the disappointment. I like to see him do his martial art moves to take out the bad guys, but there was none of that here. In fact, a minor twist in the film makes it look like Seagal's character Jonathan Cold, is a bad guy himself. I knew it couldn't be, and when it looked like CIA operative Stuart (Tamara Davies) was about to get taken out, he had to blow his cover to make the save. So I saw that one coming.

Just like I saw the ubiquitous coffee mug as a plutonium smuggling device whenever McCabe (David St. James) made his way through the security screener. I must be seeing too many of these kinds of flicks, there didn't seem to be any surprises.

The only thing is, and I've wondered about this before, but how do small time terrorists expect to get away with stealing a nuclear weapon, much less building one themselves? I guess we're approaching the day when something like that might be possible, so who knows? In the meantime, it's not likely we'll ever see Jonathan Cold again. Let's hope his self-exile at the end of this story keeps him under wraps for good.

Worst of the bunch.

[tardigrade81 · 1/10 · 6 January 2009]

OK so I decided to go too blockbuster the other day and get a movie, and remembered Black Dawn was a Seagal movie I had yet to see. So I thought might as well give it a chance, thats if they even carry it. Anyways they had it for sale for 7 dollars. WORST 7 Dollars I have EVER spent.

First of all Steven DOES NOT FIGHT AT ALL!!! I think there might be one scene where he throws a karate chop to a guys throat and that is it. A 90 minute movie and he throws one hit.. The rest is all a stunt double (if you get the courage to rent this you will see what I mean) the gun fights were horrible as usual..... Fire off 50 rounds and not hit a single bad guy..... Seagal is also the heaviest he has ever been in this movie. This guy loses weight for some projects and gains it back for other projects..... this one he just looks flat out in bad shape.

Anyway from beginning to finish is the worst thing I have ever seen.... My friend wants to watch it with me, and I just don't think I will be able to sit through it again... One thing I will say is, it is good for a real laugh.... seeing the stunt double work and the horrible hair on the stunt double, and the loss of 40 pounds haha its painfully obvious... TERRIBLE MOVIE!!!!

Steve! don't do this again

[bogusz_d · 3/10 · 26 July 2006]

At the beginning I would like to say, that I'm a big fun of Seagal and his movies.

But not this one. I'm sorry but Seagal is too fat in this movie ! Too fat for an action star. In that shape he can't play super secret agent, but only a Santa Claus. Anyway the worst thing in this movie are fight scenes.Seagal is doubled in fight scenes by another actor. It is very sad for me ,because I practice martial arts and I admire Seagal's Aikido abilities . I think that he is cheating his fans doing something like this. Blacdawn is very boring, small budget B-movie .What else? Bad acting and horrible story. And the finale of this film with helicopter and a bomb....

NO COMMENT !!