I don't get it why people hated Until Death it's easily one of Jean Claude Van Damme's best performances ever in a straight to DVD movie. I mean it he plays 2 roles in this film one is a corrupted junky cop and the other is a vegetable man that tries to win his family back after he ruined his life and his family. The movie has also an amazing ending that i totally did not see it coming and it worked perfectly with a very nice soundtrack. It's sad that Van Damme can't make movies like this anymore i mean he's not Schwarzenegger or Stallone but if you ever want to see a cheesy 80's or 90's action star he's always there. If you haven't seen Until Death please do it's a really good movie.

Anthony Stowe (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a bitter heroine addict. He's also a New Orleans police detective. His undercover sting to get his former partner turned drug lord Gabriel Callahan (Stephen Rea) goes terribly wrong. Two cops are killed. Back at the station, he turns in a fellow cop for trying to help his drug dealing nephew. His estranged wife tells him that she's pregnant by another man. His life is a mess. Callahan ambushes him leaving him in a coma.Van Damme is trying to do some deeper material. I like some of the first half even though it is still solidly a B-movie. The action directing is trying to be edgy but it's somewhat flailing around. The actors are mostly subpar. Van Damme does an admirable job but then the movie does an 180 in the middle. He goes into a coma and his character is swapped. The first half is a B-movie with potential. The second half turns it into a muddle.

Yes, I watch dumb movies, sometimes finding intelligent ones. This happens even in porn, though the slog through is rough going.Violent movies are porn, pure and simple. Segal, Van Damme, Conner, are simply action toys for three and four year old boys and viewers who wish they were. But this is a bit different. No, it blazes no new ground; in fact the notion of a late in life "coming of age" film with little violence has been well plowed. But its something rather important to see someone who we know is actually dumb and violent singularly shift his career path and do one.The story is simple: broken man, broken heart. Very, very bad guys out there that he is singlehandedly battling, over the obstructive but typical black chief. (Is there a more prevalent film type than the honest, caring but tough black police boss?) He nearly dies, then revives, and settles the score. But instead of the simple "good guy is stronger so beats the bad guy's butt," we have a similar dynamic but with presumed growth. That seldom happens. The folding of battling with marriage and battling (the bad parts of) society is clear.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I watched this on DVD today and was stunned to see that it's a nearly scene for scene remake of one of my favorite Hong Kong films, the 1995 crime melodrama Loving You (ok, bad title) directed by Johnny To that starred Lau Ching Wan and Carman Lee. I don't understand why the original Hong Kong flick is mentioned nowhere in the credits but nearly every single scene and plot element and much of the dialog comes directly from the Hong Kong film. Until Death wasn't bad, but the problem is that Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't half the actor that Lau Ching Wan, the star of the original is and director Stephen Fellows is no Johnny To. The love story between the recuperating police officer and his pregnant wife is handled much more effectively in the original. I highly recommend that anyone who enjoyed Until Death (and can tolerate watching movies with English subtitles) seek out the original version, which was released last year on DVD in Hong Kong and can purchased from places like Ebay. It's a much better movie.