A Good Man (2014 Video) User Reviews

A Decent B-Grade DTV Action Flick

[ActionFan-Reviews · 4/10 · 19 August 2014]

We all know what to expect when watching a direct to video Steven Seagal movie. "A Good Man" may not be like "Marked For Death" or "Under Siege" but it definitely rates as one of his better DTV movies I've seen. I myself partly watch these movies for the comedic value of course to see Seagal's acting/cheesy plot and as a B-action film fan. Of course a movie like this you don't expect a great story but lots of action and Seagal kicking the bad guy's ass in the most unconvincing and bloody way possible. The movies good for that and lots of naked babes are a bonus too. Seagal definitely doesn't seem as lazy/careless in his acting as he usually seems in his DTV movies which was a surprise. Tzi Ma was good as a villain, he pretty much plays the same role he did on 24. I also thought that his partner wasn't so bad in the movie. Could he be the next potential DTV action star??.....maybe. Overall, better than the other dozens of crap DTV Seagal movies that have came out and that will within the year. A good watch for the B- action film fan who know's what to expect and for the few Steven fans out there.

4.5/10

Second film of the John Alexander trilogy is a messy vigilante actioner

[shakercoola · 4/10 · 21 September 2018]

An American action thriller; A story about a former U. S. Special Operations soldier living off-the grid in Eastern Europe after a covert operation in Russia ends in disaster. This is a prequel to Force of Execution (2013) which showed John Alexander as a crime lord in New Mexico. The film has a well-worn plot, a retired toughman expert utilising old skills for a neighbour under threat. The trouble is it barely touches on character development or gritty drama so when Seagal as the lead doesn't figure much in the showpiece action sequences it is a major flaw for an action movie. The well choreographed fighting sequences feature other characters. Nevetheless, the prologue sequences set the tone well and the final scenes raise it half a notch. Pity about the middle.

Seagal meets The Man from Nowhere

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 31 October 2015]

A GOOD MAN is the Steven Seagal version of the South Korean action classic THE MAN FROM NOWHERE. You know, the one about a retired special ops executive who happens to live next door to a young woman and her daughter who are at risk from thugs and local gangsters. Before you know it, Seagal's wading into the mess and kicking Russian gangster backside with aplomb.

Well, that's the idea, but this low rent, low budget film from Seagal's regular director Keoni Waxman is in every respect a lesser work. Shot on the cheap in Romania, it feels serviceable as an action film, and has a string of nicely violent fight scenes, but overall is a very average viewing experience. The fight choreography is average - and Seagal is STILL being doubled, even though he must know people hate that - but the story is messy and unfocused, with too many supporting characters who add little to the plot. Who's the real protagonist here anyway, Seagal or the father character who has a few good fight skills of his own? You won't know and, like the majority of Seagal's output these days, you won't really care either.

Seagal has become a fat old fart with a potty mouth

[tonghua2005 · 1/10 · 9 September 2014]

I used to love Seagal's movie, his fighting style, even over the years, he is getting old, his movie is getting old, but it is OK, I still enjoyed it.

But, this movie is killing me....throughout the movie, the most said line by Seagal is mother...er,

the fight scene is joke, other actors has to get in the position and pause so Seagal can do his move... They probably got his sword from a dollar store judge by its look. The most expense on the equipment could well be the remote airplane they called drone in the movie.

And the actors, omg, if I didn't know, and I didn't start from the beginning, I would thought it was a low budget porn movie without the porn.

What can I say?

You are warned.

Horrid

[bruce-129 · 22 April 2016]

First, the credits went on so long I almost fell asleep.

This movie was so cliché it was laughable, but it was not funny, just sad.

They kept using the trick of shooting some bad guy, and they did it a lot, and the guy would fall against the wall where they was already a big splatter of blood, red paint, behind him. In other words cheap effects.

Seagal himself, it was hard to figure out exactly what he was or where he was coming from as a character. He spoke in a ghetto dialect so it was kind of hard to figure out if he was supposed to be a brother or what.

The military operations they portray were also laughable as you have your spotters and agents on the ground telling control what to do, but control decides to launch a missile anyway, with their men in the target area.

Then, in almost everything else this movie is so over to the top violence. In one scene the bad buy gang runs down a mark who they are running a protection racket on, who says he paid, and they literally punch, kick, throw, slam him until if this was a real scene he would be dead, i.e. unable to pay or ever pay.

This movie is just unbearable, in fact I think it is kind of psychologically toxic and I would stay away from anyone who says they like this movie. Maybe report them to the FBI because they probably have very violent tendencies and something wring with them psychologically. This movie really has no redeeming qualities, and not even good effects.

Seagal's goatee even seems cheap and fake. Very sad.

There are better movies to watch. Don't waste your time.

[robertasmith · 2/10 · 13 October 2016]

There is something very creepy about Mr Segal's character being attracted to the young lead actresses character and she with him. One is 64 and the other is 29. I know it can happen but it is just unbelievable as portrayed in this film, and once there is one daft strand, the rest of the film falls and fails. This could have been a half decent film but the dialogue is poor, the acting wooden and the action scenes poor. The goodies recover from violent beatings far too easily, and the baddies always lose quickly. Why are the baddies always such poor shots. I am a fan of Mr Seagal but this film lets him down, as a few others have and I just wish he would stop making them.

Tropic Thunder ?

[thomasdavasa · 2/10 · 17 November 2020]

OMG, why is Steven Seagal talking with a fake ethnic diction in this movie? What a farce and I could only think of Tropic Thunder. Overall action, plot, and acting are very subpar. After 30 minutes, I realized that A Good Man was a very bad movie.

But Seagal is Not a Good Man

[lukem-52760 · 1/10 · 7 December 2019]

Just terrible & no entertainment value at all!!! Even for a cheap low budget straight to dvd B-movie!!!

Some of Seagal's cheap flicks have been very good but "A Good Man" is completely horrendous & depressing to watch.

Also Seagal is not a good man here or in real life as we all now know!!!

I like lots of his fairly good DTV films & I'm probably too forgiving with them but this one was so poor, so cheap looking & so tacky that it was a stupid mess!!!

For some good one's of his DTV films checkout, Driven To Kill, A Dangerous Man, The Keeper, Belly of the Beast, Code of Honour, Kill Switch, Into The Sun among others.

Terrible storyline with average action! 2/10

[leonblackwood · 2/10 · 23 May 2015]

Review: This movie is pretty awful! The acting is really bad and the storyline was all over the place. Its about a special force officer (Seagal) who is trying to take down a rich arms dealer. After slipping through his fingers, he tracks him down in Europe but he is dragged into a Russian mafia war after trying to save his next door neighbour. He then realises that the Russian Mafia are connected to the arms dealer and with the help of his next door neighbours brother, they end up in a bloody war with loads of casualties. Personally, I didn't really like the flow of the film and the action was pretty terrible. Seagal goes missing through a lot of the movie and the other characters weren't that interesting. The beginning wasn't bad, when Seagal was trying to take down the arms dealer with the special forces but after such a big build up, I ended up feeling quite disappointed with the whole thing. 

Round-Up: My expectations for this film wasn't that high because a lot of Seagal's latest work is pretty bad. I did enjoy the movie with Steve Austin but the rest of his films have terrible story lines and low class actors. I'm sure that Seagal will release more of these straight to DVD movies, just to pay the bills, but he really does need to question his career, which has become a real disappointment. Luckily enough, his style of fighting doesn't take that much physical movement so, at 63 years of age, he can carry on coming out with these type of movies for his selected audience but I personally won't be renting another one anytime soon.

Budget: $7milion Worldwide Gross: N/A

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action movies about Seagal trying to take down a Chinese arms dealer. 2/10

A decent B-movie actioner, and an improvement over FORCE OF EXECUTION

[brchthethird · 6/10 · 11 October 2014]

Steven Seagal returns to the screen in this story about a former black ops warrior who gets caught in between Russian and Chinese gangs in order to save the sister of his neighbor, whose brother is in debt to the Russian mob. Truth be told, while one could call this a Steven Seagal movie, his character occupies a position that simultaneously is and isn't the center of the story (much like his previous effort FORCE OF EXECUTION). However, unlike FORCE OF EXECUTION, the story is better, more thought out and has better action sequences. Even the acting is better this time around, which is a plus. Story-wise, Seagal plays a variation on the character he plays in almost every movie he makes: that of the reluctant hero. He puts himself into a self-imposed retirement after a terrorist hit goes wrong, and a young girl dies while one of the bad guys gets away. Cut to the present day, and he's living a quiet life in Eastern Europe. His neighbor (Iulia Verdes) works at a strip bar (but she's just a bartender) run by the Russian mob while her half-brother (Victor Webster) pays off a debt owed by his father. However, when some men are killed and money meant for the Chinese mob goes missing, the neighbor's little sister is kidnapped and Alexander (Seagal) goes back into action. I thought that the story, while nothing original at all, was at least executed rather well within the confines of what constitutes a Seagal movie. The performances were also decent for this type of movie, with Tzi Ma probably doing the best out of the cast. Also of note is the improved fight sequences, which aren't completely edited to hell this time. The camera-work still has a hand-held feel to it, but the action is more comprehensible than a lot of Seagal's recent DTV output and you can tell that it's him a lot more of the time. They also varied the types of fighting. Sure, they had the typical gunplay and close quarters hand-to-hand combat, but Seagal also got to use a short sword for several scenes which was a nice change of pace (and provided some gruesome kills). Still, as always it wasn't all great. This movie was filmed on the cheap in Romania and it shows in the bleak cinematography and sparse sets. There was also some digital augmentation in a few scenes that stuck out pretty badly, and a couple of obvious uses of stock footage that wasn't at the same quality as the movie itself. And while some might count this as a positive, there was a bunch of gratuitous nudity which was only in there because some scenes happened to take place in a bar. There's also an awkward "sex" scene with Steven Seagal and Iulia Verdes which could have been left out completely. When all is said and done, Seagal fans should be pleased, as this is a return to form of sorts, at least when limited to his DTV work. As always, though, everyone else should probably find something else to watch.

Lack of action moments, but fairly good story.

[Aodhanrooney · 5/10 · 30 December 2014]

This won't take long:

Anyone who's concerned with clichés and prefers to avoid them then maybe this isn't the movie for you. Continue reading if you may.

Steven Seagal, probably one of the worst actors but fine action stars, is back to his usual tricks of never taking a beating and playing either an ex- soldier, agent, marine, black ops operative - whatever! The point is his movies are as clichéd and dull as any movies ( theatrically or Direct-to-DVD release ) and he coincidentally proves otherwise in this movie. The best movie he's appeared in DTD is probably 'Maximum Conviction.' He stars alongside Steve Austin the former wrestler, and the acting, storytelling and action scenes were brilliant. I gave it a 8/10 rating as it was well deserved. 'A Good Man' manages to bring a huge standard of stability to its storytelling as well; the only downside: hardly any action. That aside the performances from most of the actors were splendid and kept the movie watchable. At times it felt like elements of the screenplay might start to slip, but the actors keep the spirit of the movie alive.

As an action movie fan I hate say, but this movie I would suggest only recommendable if you feel only good storytelling would put you in the right mood to enjoy this flick. If you desire action and wouldn't want to waste time watching something with hardly any action then this isn't the movie for you. I wouldn't recommend buying it either; there's way better action movies.

This was a well made movie.

[iceblast-2 · 8/10 · 27 August 2014]

This was a well made movie. The movie felt polished, and thought out. I have seen most every Seagal movie made, and he did a really good job with this one. His sword work looked really well done.

If you like Seagal, and you would like to watch a good movie, then this will do. I didn't expect much from this movie when I sat down to watch it, but I'm really glad I did. I see myself rewatching it at a later date.

Victor Webster does a good job as well. Had some good fight scenes in it.

Iulia Verdes was good, as the good looking girl who needed protection. I've never seen her before, but I wouldn't mind seeing her in more movies.

Really, all the characters in this movie did a creditable job, and I didn't notice any bad acting, for a action movie.

Not bad for a Seagal DTV Movie!

[stabester0406 · 6/10 · 20 August 2014]

Look, this movie is never going to win any awards, the acting is acceptable in places, wooden (to say the least)in others but everybody does look as if they are interested which compared to some DTV films is a blessing.

Steven Seagal plays the ex Special Forces guy retired when Women & Children are killed on an spec-op he was on etc. He then flushes out his original target by assassinating various members and bag men from the Russian syndicate who are laundering money for said target, working for said syndicate is Sasha played by Victor Webster to clear his dead fathers debt, he has 2 sisters who are also being drawn into the debt repayment scheme via the usual 'Oh she looks fit can we use her to repay part of the debt' etc. Victor Webster is clearly talented in Martial Arts and does hold an unbeaten record in a couple of Martial Arts, his acting however is not as good but for B-Movie fare he is fine.

The only real issue with the film is the ending, Steven Seagal who is 62 (and doesn't look a day over 68) is playing alongside a 24 year old who Seagal all the way through protects more in a father figure type way, when these 2 end up together in what is quite clearly not a Father and daughter type clinch it's very wrong.....very wrong indeed.

a so bad - pretty good Seagal movie

[jimanuel12 · 5/10 · 5 May 2017]

i have seen a lot of Steven Seagal movies over the years and in the past several years - most of his movies goes straight to DVD - but this one is really pretty good. the action and fight scenes are really good - i could do without all the profanity - but i guess that is par for the course for most movies today. Seagal is a special ops guy who is really haunted by his last raid and retires to Europe where he tries to live a normal life. of course that is not going to happen when he runs afoul of a bunch of mean Russians mob types. of course like all his movies - he saves the girl and saves the day at the end - so that is OK. the very last scene could have been better but all in all - a pretty good movie.

Sofia Nicolaescu and Lulia Verdes Steal The Show

[slightlymad22 · 5/10 · 3 November 2019]

I just watched Force Of Execution (2014)

I have to say, I didn't hate this one, it was a more than watchable Seagal flick, he is his usual former Special Ops whatever named Alexander (again) is this a sequel to the other one where he was called that? (he is always the same character anyway, so it doesn't really matter) who has retired and lived off the grid in Romania. When his hot neighbours sister is kidnapped (by the guy who he failed to kill on his last mission) he goes to get her with some help from a fighter named Sasha.

While the voice doubles and stand-ins are still here, they seem less egregious because we were reasonably entertained by the movie as a whole. Plus, they're now an indelible part of the Seagal experience, so you might as well sit back and enjoy them. Additionally, he's surrounded by some quality on-screen talent: Victor Webster has some nice fighting moves and a good screen presence and Tzi Ma is also noteworthy as the philosophical bad guy. But I think the best acting comes from the two sisters, Sofia Nicolaescu and Lulia Verdes The two had to deliver a large amount of dialogue and emotional scenes. Both were an absolute joy to watch on screen. Actually all of the acting in 'A Good Man' was pretty good, which is rare in this type of movie.

The fight scenes have some decent moments and the whole outing is not quite as stupid and brain-numbing as you might think it would be.

As usual there is plenty of seni naked women, and one of the most awkward sex scenes I have ever seen on screen between Seagal (62) and Verdes (27)

It Can't Get Any Worse ...

[adabsiz · 1/10 · 10 February 2022]

Someone should give Segal an honourary Romanian citizenship as a reward for all the free service his films have contributed to the Romanian economy and tourist industry !

Somehow, an American ex-op (whatever that means) retires to Bucharest (and speaking fluent Rumanian of course !) fights a Chinaman (who is also fluent in Rumanian) and who happens to be the biggest drug lord of that country !! And most of this yarn happens at night ... I found this film a good antidote to sleeplessness !

I sincerely hope that the producers of this disaster got their money back eventually !

Seagal does Taken light.......

[FlashCallahan · 6/10 · 23 August 2014]

After his special ops career ends in disaster, Alexander goes off the radar and attempts to lead a quiet life as a handyman at an apartment complex.

But when one of his tenants and her family fall foul of a Russian gangster, Alexander is dragged into a war between rival Chinese and Russian gangs.

This forces him to not only defend the family, but brings him face to face with a long forgotten enemy......

After seeing the debacle that was Maximum Conviction, it took me maximum conviction to see another film starring Seagal. I've always been a fan, but in the last ten years, he has really made some terrible movies, like Attack Force, and Against The Dark.

Here we have a meat and potatoes action movie, that is your typical straight to DVD fodder. It's set somewhere in Eastern Europe to keep the budget low, and even though Seagal is the main draw, he is a secondary character in the arc of the story.

The story and narrative surrounds a guy whose family are under the power of the Russian mafia, and this is where the film raises similarities to the first Taken movie.

We discover its all about human trafficking, and mild mannered handyman Seagal won't stand for it, so he and his stunt double go all out for the attack.

And here lies the main problem, Seagal hasn't aged well, and no matter how good he is at twisting arms, you cannot help but thinking he has wondered in from the ZZ Topp movie, he looks awful, and it's totally obvious with the editing and cuts, he doesn't perform in any of his fight scenes, which is the main draw for the film, it's certainly not the story, or production value.

But still, its the best thing he's done in five years, and it still gives one hope that he has that one last action vehicle in him.

But the bloke is pushing 60, and he's looking more and more bloated.....

Seagal shows some interest.

[howardc-106-775235 · 8/10 · 13 September 2014]

A Good Man is definitely one of Seagals better efforts of recent times.There is no noticeable dubbing and the action scenes are authentic.Black Dawn having the worst Seagal stunt double of all time. The story is easy to follow with Victor Webster showing some neat moves and taking up a large part of the fight scenes. Mr Chang is the villain of the film and when Seagal and Webster go after him the film clicks into top gear. If don't eat steak don't order it and if you don't like Seagal don't watch it-you know what you are going to get.He is a modern John Wayne who takes out the bad guys-looking forward to his next movie now.I award this movie eight out of ten-non Seagal fans maybe will score it 5.Either way it is a good effort.

Not So Bad

[Joropukki · 7/10 · 26 September 2015]

I've seen most of Seagal's films. Director Waxman seems to have found a way to direct him. I won't go into storyline details, just commenting on the production will suffice here.

What I liked the best here was the atmosphere. It's gritty and effective, well backed up by music. I wonder why some commentators complain about the amount of action. I think there is enough gore. Most actors are not too great and a sturdy Seagal isn't exactly your special-ops type physically, but on the whole the story carries on well enough. Romania makes for a great place to shoot grit like this. I'll give it seven.

Enjoyable, good directing.

[destroyerwod · 7/10 · 16 November 2014]

At this point in his career, you know what type of movie you're in when you watch a Steven Seagal movie. A B-action movie with some of his trademark aikido and fast cuts and camera angles in a way you don't see much of Seagal actually doing it. If you are down with that, then you can go and watch his movies. Not like the guy is trying to fool his audience.

But honestly, i think this movie was overall pretty well done. When Seagal is on screen the fights are interesting, it does not look like his stunt double at all, and it look pretty brutal.

Victor Webster also does a fairly nice job. I don't know if the guy has any background in martial arts, but he looked like he could fight in this and it looked realistic. Either this is a side of him i didn't knew, or the director/fight choreographer did a very good job in making it look good on screen.

What about the story? Its OK, kept me interested til the end, but there is not anything particularly stellar either. I would rank it slightly above the usual Seagal script of the post 2000s.

The movie did had its share of "meh-eh" situations here and there, but nothing to make you cringe too much. Definitely a good effort from Seagal. And just like Maximum Conviction and Force of Execution where he more or less gives the lead to his co-star, he gave a fair share to Victor Webster in this, but still keeping a little more screen time than the 2 previous ones i named. So it really feel like a Seagal at the same time.

So much better than you think.

[uajx · 8/10 · 26 November 2021]

Well I will agree Seagal has made some real "winning" films over the last 15 years, this was actually very good. Set in Eastern Europe, you get a great amount of location shots, good action, and the script was halfway decent.

Passable, At Best!

[namashi_1 · 6/10 · 5 October 2014]

'A Good Man' is a passable fare, at best. It works fairly as a Steven Seagal film & as a fan myself, I wasn't entirely engrossed or disappointed with this one.

'A Good Man' Synopsis: After an illustrious special ops career ends in disaster, Alexander (Seagal) goes off the grid and attempts to lead a quiet life as a handyman at an apartment complex in Russia. But when one of his tenants and her family fall under the thumb of a local gangster, Alexander is dragged into an all-out war between rival Chinese and Russian gangs; forcing him to not only defend the family, but bringing him face to face with an old foe, and giving him one more chance to reconcile his past.

Keoni Waxman's Screenplay delivers a predictable storyline, but luckily, the brutal action-sequences along-with a mostly consistent pace, make 'A Good Man' a watchable, if not a memorable affair.

Waxman's Direction is standard. Action-Sequences are all-out gruesome, but effective & sharply executed. Cinematography & Editing lack finesse.

Coming to performances, Seagal is in his element. Iulia Verdes is seductive & nicely restrained. Tzi Ma is a convincing baddie, while Massimo Dobrovic has his moments.

On the whole, 'A Good Man' isn't without its share of highs & lows. Watch it if you must.

Not bad after all

[andersonchris17 · 7/10 · 18 August 2014]

I watched it. Me personally I thought The director did fairly good on this one a lot better than force of execution. I felt as it the story actually made a lot of sense & me personally it kept me interested even when other actors were on the screen they were still fairly interesting. I thought the action was actually really good seagal had a couple of moments where he had a bad add fight scene & as well as adding a little humor to the movie seagal made me laugh a few times with some of the smart a$$ remarks he has in the film which i thought was really a step up. Victor web wasn't bad at all. & Seagal kinda seemed like he liked doing this movie he didn't seem that lazy or carefree when he talked he had a lot of moments where you could tell he was into it & also moving extremely fast when in shootouts or fighting. I honestly loved this movie because there was also no dubbing its all seagal %100 of the way!! One thing that gets me excited is waxman said absolution is darker & better than this one well if his words are right then its going to be one heck of a movie because this one wasn't half bad at all definitely going to watch it a few more times

I LOVE STEVEN SEAGAL MOVIES!

[plasmapilot · 8/10 · 22 July 2021]

Unlike many women I know I enjoy violence in films & live vicariously through them! Seagal never fails to thrill me because his retaliation has a basis in spirituality. The violence isn't gratuitous, but always a response to wrongdoing on the part of others! I appreciated the plot & care taken to provide a logical conclusion. Perhaps a bit unbelievable, but afterall it's JUST A MOVIE! The acting was superior & the action scenes were gratifying. Sorry it took so long for me to find this great action flick. Time very well spent!

A Fairly Enjoyable Movie Despite the Anti-Climatic Ending

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 14 April 2016]

After an assignment to eliminate a high-value terrorist target goes badly, a government assassin named "Alexander" (Steven Seagal) decides to essentially retire in a quiet village in Eastern Europe. However, when the Russian mob moves in and begins to do business with a Chinese arms merchant who had eluded Alexander in the past, his interest in keeping a low-profile becomes less important. This becomes especially true when the Russian mob begins to make trouble for his next door neighbor named "Lena" (Iulia Verdes) and her young daughter, "Mya" (Sofia Nicolaescu). Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a fairly enjoyable movie by and large. I especially liked the hard-hitting action scenes involving Steven Seagal and to a lesser extent those featuring Victor Webster (as Lena's half-brother, "Sasha"). Admittedly, however, I didn't particularly care for the ending, Alexander's low-class vernacular or the overall low-budget feel of the movie as a whole. Still, it was good enough for a rainy day I suppose and for the previous reasons mentioned I rate this film as slightly above average.