BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

PodBill Just what I expected

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

ctomvelu1 "Damage" is a remake of a Charles Bronson flick, "Hard Times," which in turn was remade some years later with J.C. Van Damme. Steve Austin plays an ex-con who gets involved in the murky and illegal world of bare knuckle fighting. A hokey subplot has our hero trying to raise enough money to obtain a new heart for the daughter of a late acquaintance. Walter Goggins plays Austin's sleazy but likable manager and the very pretty Laura Van DerVoot is Goggins' partner. Several veteran actors were cast as well, including Donnelly Rhodes, to support Austin, who in fact isn't all that bad as the soft-spoken, hard-hitting tough guy. Casting several veterans in a film like this is nothing new; it has been used with folks like Chuck Norris, Ah-nuld and Steven Segal, none of whom started out as actors. The fights are clumsily staged, which in a strange way befits an ex-pro wrestler. "Damage" doesn't begin to touch the Bronson version, but it is watchable, especially for Goggins, who reminds me of a young Tom Cruise.

Scarecrow-88 Well, one thing's for certain, this bare-knuckle slugfest lives up to the title..men do indeed damage each other. World Wrestling Entertainment's pro wrestling icon Stone Cold Steve Austin both deals out and is on the receiving end of damage. Stone Cold stars as a recently released convict, John Brickner, out on parole after serving time for manslaughter(we later learn it was self-defense), given a new found freedom thanks to the victim's widow, Veronica(solid, heartfelt performance by Lynda Boyd). Veronica demands that John come up with 250,000 dollars, the necessary monetary sum for the heart transplant for her daughter. After working both as a construction worker and bouncer, John meets Reno Paulsaint(Walton Goggins)through the waitress, Frankie(the lovely Laura Vandervoot), at the bar which he is employed. Reno is on the inside of an underground fighting circuit and can arrange for John to be introduced as a new participant. Reno, however, needs to build John's credibility, and through a series of hard fought, and brutal, fights might just be able to get him in on the big-money brawls. It won't be easy, that's for sure, as John continues to collect numerous cuts and bruises, while always on the verge of making the appropriate funds needed for the child's heart transplant operation. Reno has his share of financial troubles(he has debts owed to a number of associates), including a huge cash amount he must have soon(150,000)or else his life may be in danger. A secret in regards to Frankie is revealed eventually(it is established that the major money debt Reno must pay concerns Frankie)and a certain act on John's part in how he saved a no-good boss' life after firing him for no reason both play a hand in the tumultuous cyclical process of coming close to achieving the ultimate goal set at the beginning of the film: the struggle to get the money John needs and the hurdles he must overcome in order to do so. Donnelly Rhodes is old man Deacon, the one who orchestrates fights and often negotiates bets. With all the plot, and this movie has a dead-serious tone, it's still all about two men beating each other to a bloody pulp. An amusing recurrence is John's visits to his parole officer, each time his face more worse for wear(quite annoyed at the parole officer, John doesn't like how he barely even acknowledges his presence). Veronica's difficult situation is never forgotten in the plot, though, no matter how often we spend with the trio of John, Reno, and Frankie. The filmmakers want us to keep her plight on our minds and hearts. I saw several similarities to the Jean Claude Van Damme action flick, Lionheart, also about a stoic hero with a kind heart who finds himself in violent full-contact underground fights with muscular behemoths.

callanvass Damage is surprisingly an entertaining no holds barred, old school Action film. What I admired a lot about Damage is it's tenacity. It's always straight up in your face with great fight scenes, that are unrelentingly brutal. I am a die hard "Stone Cold Steve Austin" fan. He is without a doubt the greatest WWE superstar of all time and now he's taken on the acting world. Like The Condemned|which I love| he has a certain presence that you can't take your eye off of. He's certainly not a great actor,but his potential to be one of Hollywood's biggest action stars is certainly there,he's loaded with charisma and could land similar success like other action stars who were soft spoken|Seagal,Van Damme,etc|. One of the main key's that made this one of the better direct to video Actioner's i've seen,is the relationships with the characters. Especially the trio of John,Reno,and Frankie. We are able to care about them all,even if Reno's a bit of a weasel,and I just think that helped a lot.I also approved of Steve's enthusiasm to this project. Any less of an effort would've resulted in your standard straight to DVD flick,but Steve put his all into the film,making sure to give us riveting fight sequences and a decent overall storyline,but mainly I give that credit to Frank Hannah. I have seen many straight to video Actioner's and i'll be pretty blunt,most of them flat out suck,so I was really pleased by the effort of this film. Damage is certainly not original by any means,it rips off Big Brawl,Lionheart,among others..but it managed to entertain me for a 100 minutes or so and that's really all I can ask for.The Performances. Steve Austin is a physically gifted performer. He is a marvel in the action sequences,with major charisma to boot. He certainly won't win any Oscars with his acting,but he won't stink up the screen either and for limited experience,I thought he did some pretty decent work. I must say though what was the point of having Steve try to be emotional?. Everyone knows Steve is a redneck with a good heart,but he's hard as nails,and well he came across as looking silly more then anything else. Nevertheless I thought Steve was fabulous and I look forward, to his future projects,he's got big time potential. Lynda Boyd got on my nerves more then once with her cold character. That was one of the script's biggest mistakes,she's supposed to make us care about with the situation with her daughter,but she came across as a selfish lady who is putting too much pressure on John. Her chemistry with Steve also felt forced. Walton Goggins is a weasel but a likable one at that. He's able to make us care for him,we feel sorry for the situations he gets into,even if he partially deserves it. Laura Vandervoort is cute as a button,and manages to be quite likable,I enjoyed her performance.Bottom Line. Damage is one of the better DTV Actioner's that seem to come out like crazy now a days. It certainly won't make you go wow,it's not anything original,but it's certainly pretty entertaining. I wholeheartedly recommend Damage for a good night of entertainment.7/10

nightshift31 This is my first review i felt so strongly for this film i had to wright one. I checked out this movie not knowing only that Steve Austin was it i think hes a good actor so i may be bias. I like watching movies that i know nothing about cause well i enjoy watching the show truly unfold in front of you. The movie starts out with Steve getting released from prison event then take him to the underground fighting world where he must win to save a life. Its a fight movie but it has more then you typical fight movie it had a great plot good script and all the actors showed up. For a B movie this was worth every minute spent watching i would recommend this to anyone who is a Steve Austin fan or like UFC or just likes a good story driven movie. There is something for almost everyone to enjoy