Barnes & Noble

One of 2002's most action-packed films, this ultra-stylish thriller owes much of its appeal to the pairing of Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu, who invest their stock characters with attitude and charisma to spare. Banderas is Jeremiah Ecks, a former FBI ace coaxed out of retirement after losing his wife and going to pieces. Liu is Sever, a rogue Defense Intelligence Agency operative intent on killing a onetime comrade, Gant (Gregg Henry), who is looking for a top-secret weapon that might have fallen into the wrong hands. The action unfolds in and around Vancouver, visualized by director Wych "Kaos" Kaosayananda as a bleak, grayish metropolis illuminated mainly by the explosions that occur with metronomic regularity: Ballistic is nothing if not a grandly appointed shoot-'em-up. Elaborate action set pieces flash across the screen every few minutes, and sequences involving hand-to-hand combat are extremely well choreographed. The stars do many of their own stunts, and Liu's martial arts training makes her exceptionally convincing in the fight scenes. She makes Sever an enigmatic opponent whose motivations are always suspect, and Banderas's brooding sensuality takes on an air of melancholy as he pursues her. Ballistic is wildly improbable, but it offers so much slam-bang action that few will pause to question its believability. For expertly staged mayhem and edge-of-the-seat thrills, it can hardly be beat. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Two former government agents square off as they search for the most deadly new weapon on Earth in this white-knuckle thriller. Sever (Lucy Liu) was once a top agent with the Defense Intelligence Agency, but she quit when her son was killed in a bungled raid organized by Gant (Gregg Henry), and has sworn to take vengeance against him and his colleagues. When Sever learns that Gant and his team are in possession of a remarkable new weapon -- a microscopic device injected into the victim's bloodstream which is benign until triggered, then kills immediately without leaving a trace -- she is determined to get her hands on it, whatever the cost. However, Gant has turned rogue, and FBI agent Julio Martin (Miguel Sandoval) has been ordered to find him and recover his new weapon. Martin needs the best man he can find for the job, and calls upon Jeremiah Ecks (Antonio Banderas), a former FBI tracker, to do the job. Ecks quit the Bureau when his wife was killed, but Martin informs Ecks that his spouse is actually alive and in hiding, and if he can bring in Gant, she will be returned to him. But Ecks has to face the most formidable adversary of his life in Sever, a master of mayhem bent on revenge. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever was the first English-language feature from Thai filmmaker Wych Kaosayananda (aka Kaos), whose first feature Fah was a box-office blockbuster in his homeland. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 085392341627
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:31:00
• Sales Rank: 23,222

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