Double Team

It's a shame to see Van Damme in more and more big budget 'B' grade movies that just don't cut it with what people expect in an action movie. His movies are becoming re-hashes of his and others past attempts and they get boring very quickly.

This time though they've brought in Dennis Rodman of Chicago Bulls fame to play the role of Van Dammes unlikely partner, Yaz. Does it work? Can diahrea be pinned to a wall?

Here's the basic plot and please stop me if you've heard it before. One good guy, one bad guy. Bad guy kills good guy but good guy not really dead. Half a movies worth of training and rehabilitation and then good guy finds and beats bad guy with the help of other not as good guy.

Now to the disc itself.

Ok, this is a great looking disc. I spent most of the time looking at the detail while reviewing this movie. It's one of the top 10 best looking discs that CTHV have pumped out in region 4.

What you will notice most is color definition. Even in the darker scenes you still see brightness in the colors that would normally be missing in a laserdisc or high quality VHS version. It really is a good looking disc.

It's a pity that the great video can't improve what we see on screen.

Is it a good sounding soundtrack. Yes and know. It sounds good to the ears but it sounds wrong to the action on the screen. It's exaggerated and exaggeration doesn't improve the movie.

Yes you will hear great surround and directional effects and you will feel some deep bass explosions. How's the dialogue. Put it this way, you can hear it clearly but can you understand it. Sylvester Stallone with a mouth-guard is more legible.

It's a pity that the good sound can't improve the dialogue or the plot.

2 features that are pretty much standard.

If you're a Van Damme fan, even then it might be a forced attempt on your behalf to sustain interest. I'm sorry but this is the first Columbia disc that I can't recommend even if the picture is this good.