Jason Statham

Video: Trailer for ‘The Expendables’ With Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke

BrianTT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:47:04 -0600

CHICAGO – Since its was announced, Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” has promised to be one of the more over-the-top, ridiculous action movies in years. The film unites some of the most high-profile action stars in the business including Sly, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and more. Don’t miss this preview and mark your calendars for Aug. 20, 2010.

Editor’s note: We have been contacted by Lionsgate with a request to remove this trailer. Per the request, we took this trailer down at 11:16 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2009. It leaked from the Venice Film Festival. We will post the Lionsgate-authorized trailer for “The Expendables” when it is released.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 20 Prize Packs For ‘Crank High Voltage’ With Jason Statham, Amy Smart

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:02:13 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have a special giveaway with 20 “Crank High Voltage” prize packs where each winner is awarded a themed T-shirt, shot glass, movie poster and batteries! “Crank High Voltage,” which opens nationwide on April 17, 2009, stars Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam, David Carradine, Clifton Collins Jr., Ling Bai, Corey Haim and Efren Ramirez.

To win your “Crank High Voltage” prize pack courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is be one of the first 20 people to submit your adrenaline story in our confidential, Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The poster for “Crank High Voltage” with Jason Statham and Amy Smart.
Image credit: Lionsgate

Here is the synopsis for “Crank High Voltage”:

In this high-octane sequel, hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) launches himself on an electrifying chase through Los Angeles in pursuit of the Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart.

“Crank High Voltage” is written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor – the duo behind the 2006 hit film “Crank” – and the upcoming “Game” starring Gerard Butler. Jason Statham (“The Transporter,” “The Bank Job”) returns to star as Chev Chelios.

Reprising their roles from the 2006 original are Amy Smart (“Road Trip,” the upcoming “Mirrors”) as Eve, Dwight Yoakam (“Sling Blade”) as Doc Miles and Efren Ramirez (“Napoleon Dynamite”) as Venus. Rounding out the cast are Clifton Collins Jr. (“Capote,” the upcoming “Star Trek”) and Bai Ling (“Red Corner,” the upcoming “Love Ranch”).

To secure your free “Crank High Voltage” prize pack, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail is required to win this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup.

Next, simply submit your adrenaline story. You must submit your adrenaline story using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Please do not comment in this Hookup. Your entry will be invalid if you do so. Please only submit your adrenaline story using this submission form.

You must include your e-mail address, name and physical mailing address in your submission. Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential and is only for us to mail winning posters. Your personal information will not be sold or shared elsewhere.

Submit your adrenaline story now!

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 20 people to submit a adrenaline story win! The 20 “Crank High Voltage” prize packs will be mailed to the winners at our expense.

In addition, there is a national sweepstakes that is now live for “Crank High Voltage”. The basic premise is for contestants to call into a toll-free line where they are guided through instructions on how to enter to win a $1,000 cash grand prize or movie tickets for the film. Winners will be notified after the film’s release. The phone number to call is below.

“Keep Chev alive and you could win! Call 1-877-9-Crank2!”

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Transporter 3’ With Jason Statham Speeds to High-Definition Nowhere

BrianTT — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:26:52 -0600

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – If you’re a big Jason Statham fan, you can move on to another Blu-Ray review. After the pain inflicted on critics in 2008 with the trifecta of “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” “Death Race,” and “Transporter 3,” you won’t read many kind words about him in this one. Yes, “The Bank Job” almost makes up for it but that film really just further proves that Jason can actually act when he chooses to and makes his films that much more intolerable when he speeds through them like “Transporter 3,” now on Blu-Ray.

The thing that blows me away about “Transporter 3” is the producer’s refusal to do ANYTHING new or interesting. If you’ve seen the first two movies, it’s literally more of the same. It’s like a band who just remixes their own songs and tries to sell it to their fans as something new. Practically anyone who has seen “Transporter” and “Transporter 2” could have written something more creative than “Transporter 3”.

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

The critical villain of 2008 returns as Frank Martin, the legendary driver-for-hire. In the third movie, Martin gets stuck in the middle of a plot-hole-riddled scheme to kidnap Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), the daughter of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe).

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

Both Frank and Valentina are strapped with explosive devices that go boom if they get too far away from Martin’s vehicle and then they are sent on a ridiculous wild goose chase from Marseilles through Stutttgart and Budapest to Odessa on the Black Sea. It’s an interesting travelogue, but a stupid plot.

It turns out that an American (Robert Knepper) is behind the kidnapping because he is trying to get the EPA to allow toxic waste into a foreign harbor. Why the American had to come up with a ridiculously complicated scheme involving Martin and a trick explosive is not very clear. Along the way, the kindly Inspector Tarconi (Francois Berleand, an excellent French actor who actually puts a little effort into his part) tries to save Frank and his package, by which I mean Natalya, of course.

It’s all just a set-up for martial arts choreography by Corey Yuen, ridiculous car chases that are harder to follow than watching someone play a racing game through a dirty window, and a semi-hot Russian girl to flirt with Frank and eventually fall in love. Yawn.

The action in “Transporter 3,” the only reason most people are going to rent or buy it, is all something that you’ve seen before and done better (except for perhaps a car meets train scene at the end of the flick).

Statham is as boring as he was in the first two movies - long gone is the actor who showed actual range in “Bank Job” - and Rudakova is simply awful. She’s so grating and obnoxious that every line of hers brings the film to a halt. I kind of wanted Frank to stop driving and for them to explode just so she would shut up. A scene where she gets high and chatty is among the ten worst of 2008.

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

Yuen does bring the film to occassional life with a tongue-in-cheek sequence of punches and kicks and the movie is never so bad that it’s offensive (like the other two entries in Statham’s trilogy of 2008 junk). It’s just forgettable.

Action always does well on the home market and Lionsgate knows that “Transporter 3” will be one of their bigger titles of the season, so they treat the film well on Blu-Ray. This is another case where the Blu-Ray treatment of a movie is better than the film itself.

“Transporter 3” is presented in 1080P HD and with a booming English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio track. The audio is spectacular. These reviews are meant to judge the Blu-Ray, not just the film. A ratings point and a half for the final grade of “Transporter 3” is literally just for the audio track. If you have neighbors that make you angry, turn this one up loud. It’s the only way to watch a movie like it.

A nice collection of special features include “Special Delivery: Transporters in the Real World,” an audio commentary with director Olivier Megaton, “Behind-the-Scenes Bonus Footage: Storyboards - Sets/Production Design - Special FX,” “Making of Transporter 3,” MoLog (a BD-Live functionality that allows users to insert and animate shapes, test, audio, and other graphics right into the film), and a digital copy of the film.

Good video, great audio, and as extensive a collection of special features a fan could possibly ask for. If you like Jason Statham, “Transporter 3” will probably appeal to you. But, then again, if you like Jason Statham you probably haven’t read this far.

‘Transporter 3’ is released by Lionsgate Home Video and stars Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Robert Knepper, Jeroen Krabbe, and Francois Berleand. It was written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Olivier Megaton. It was released on March 10th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Death Race’ Movie Loses, Blu-Ray Wins

BrianTT — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 10:00:07 -0700

CHICAGO – The Blu-Ray release of “Death Race” with Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson tests the critical concept of reviewing the movie itself or purely its home presentation.

“Death Race” is easily one of my least favorite movies of 2008, an absolute train wreck of an action film that solidifies Paul W.S. Anderson’s standing as a cinematic criminal, but the Blu-Ray presentation of the disaster is nearly flawless.

I can’t possibly recommend a single thing about the film to anyone who hasn’t seen it, but if you’re somehow a fan of the Jason Statham bloodbath then you will be thoroughly satisfied by how well Universal has treated you with their presentation of “Death Race”.

“Death Race” is a loud, ridiculous, annoying movie that is more abusive than entertaining. The set-up is so inherently stupid that one would expect Anderson, the same man who gave the world “Mortal Kombat” and “Resident Evil” and set the bar incredibly low for video-game-to-screen adaptations, to turn “Death Race” into a tongue-in-cheek thrill ride. But he honestly believes that this mess is an action commentary on our current desire for bloodlust in entertainment.

The set-up for “Death Race” is that the country is plunged into chaos in only a little over three years and to distract the depressed masses and lower prison populations the most infamous jail in the world starts the Death Race.

Led by Warden Hennessey (a shockingly mis-cast Joan Allen), the Death Race makes millions off its most popular character, Frankenstein. If he gets one more victory, he’ll be set free. Small problem - Frank was killed by Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson) in the last race and the Warden needs a new masked man. Enter Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), a man who the Warden frames just to get behind the wheel.

To call “Death Race” brutal would be an understatement. Anderson believes that the volume should be as loud as possible, sound effects need to be damaging, and every shot is better if it’s herky-jerky and nauseating. There’s honestly not one single, truly well-made action scene in the film.

And the dialogue? Allen, an Oscar-nominated actress, says “F*ck with me and we’ll see who sh*ts on the sidewalk.” The sad thing is that if there were more hilariously over-the-top lines like that than the film might have been more effective as B-movie fun instead of just morally corrupt torture.

“Death Race” is presented in 1080p high-definition widescreen with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and accompanied by an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that suits the film perfectly. Nothing Anderson has ever done has been subtle. His motto might be “turn it up” and that fits perfectly with the clarity of Blu-Ray audio.

My feelings on the film itself are crystal clear, but there’s no fault to be found with how well Universal has treated fans of “Death Race”.

First, the interactivity on the Blu-Ray release is remarkable. Fans can chat with buddies while they watch the movie (ten bucks says most of that chat is about how hot Natalie Martinez is) and even record their own movie commentary to share. Just what we needed - fan-driven audio commentaries. Honestly, most viewers could probably improve on the dialogue in “Death Race”.

“My Movie Commentary” and “My Chat” would be impressive enough, but they’re just the beginning of the “Death Race” experience. With the great U-Control, fans can watch picture-in-picture, scene-related featurettes and interviews as the movie plays and even access “Tech Specs,” which provide all the details on the characters, cars, and races as they’re going on in the film.

RELATED READING
Adam Fendelman’s Theatrical Review of ‘Death Race’

“Death Race” includes two Hi-Def featurettes - “Start Your Engines: Making a Death Race” and “Behind the Wheel: Dissecting the Stunts” - and a commentary from Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt on the unrated version, which runs six minutes longer than the theatrical one.

Six more minutes of “Death Race” sounds like a threat to me, but fans won’t possibly be dissatisfied with one of the more thorough Blu-Ray releases of the season.

‘Death Race’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Jason Statham, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen, and Natalie Martinez, and was written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It was released on December 23rd, 2008.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 13-Image Gallery For ‘Transporter 3’ With Jason Statham

BrianTT — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:00:00 -0700

CHICAGO – This 13-image slideshow contains official press images for “Transporter 3,” which stars Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, and Natalya Rudakova from director Olivier Megaton. The film opens on Nov. 26, 2008.

“Transporter 3” features the return of Statham’s Frank Martin, a driver for hire. Frank finds himself pressured into transporting Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Frank has to deal with deadly Russians, the evil Americans behind the plot, and the general resistance of his kidnapped passenger. The film opens on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008.

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. Unless otherwise noted on an individual photo, all photo credits for this slideshow belong to Magali Bragard.

transporter3_1: Jason Statham stars as Frank Martin in Transporter 3.
transporter3_2: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) and Johnson (Robert Knepper) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_3: A scene from Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin.
transporter3_4: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) and Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_5: Tarconi (Francois Berleand, right) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_6: Jason Statham stars as Frank Martin in Transporter 3.
transporter3_7: A scene from Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin.
transporter3_8: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_9: Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_10: Johnson (Robert Knepper) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_11: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_12: Director Olivier Megaton on the set of Transporter 3.
transporter3_poster: Theatrical Key Art.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

In Purely Exploiting Gratuitous Violence, Paul W.S. Anderson’s ‘Death Race’ Remake Kills All Comedic Value

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:56:45 -0600

CHICAGO – While 2008’s “Death Race” makes no secret about being a remake of 1975’s “Death Race 2000” with David Carradine as the title character Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone as his archrival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, what’s perhaps less obvious but still clear is how the film steals from others.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Though the “Death Race” story has a different book cover, Jason Statham’s character as Jensen Ames and then the masked Frankenstein can be directly correlated to (as just one example) Nicolas Cage’s character in 1997’s “Con Air”. We’ve certainly seen this before: a man who’s supposedly in the slammer innocently and has a monster axe to grind.

While films today can be rewarded for being quality remakes of compelling yesteryear memories, 2008’s “Death Race” not only disappoints in its unoriginal ripping from other films but ultimately loses face in its mission merely for unadulterated and gratuitous violence.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Death Race” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Death Race” image gallery.

“Death Race” is yet another film along the lines of so many second-rate Hollywood products we see today feeling pressured to blow stuff up bigger and badder while servicing the human need to fantasize in the utterly ridiculous.

All the while, a weak story is slapped on top of what essentially just amounts to an anthology of big booms.

Sometimes films succeed in being pure entertainment and don’t attempt to have underlying meaning or instigate inspirational change. When they do, though, they’re most successful when their fundamental purpose at least has some redeeming value.

The unfortunately simple message of “Death Race” merely says we’re living in a time and place where financial corruption can allow us to prostitute ourselves to charge $250 to watch one guy violently off another for our viewing pleasure. In the film, 70 million morbid viewers take the plunge.

“Death Race,” which is written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, stars Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez, Ian McShane, Max Ryan, Jason Clarke and Frederick Koehler. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 22, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Death Race” review.

Navigator Case (Natalie Martinez) arrives from the women’s prison in an action-thriller set in the near future with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Takashi Seida

Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) drives Frankenstein’s Monster in an action-thriller set in the near future with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Takashi Seida

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Death Race” review.

Filled With Political Blackmail, ‘The Bank Job’ Pays Dividends

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:32:41 -0700

CHICAGO – Done properly, the classic heist or caper film is a welcomed genre of suspense-filled locations, stereotyped experts and the big cash payoff. Based in speculative part on the true story of a robbery in a vital London safety deposit vault, “The Bank Job” adds the spice of political intrigue as an underlying factor to the actual crime.

Action movie star Jason Statham plays Terry: the leader of the wankerish gang of thieves who’s recruited because his former criminal colleague, Martine (Saffron Burrows), knows of an alarm shutdown in the vault and easy assess to it.

What Terry doesn’t know is that Martine is working for a shadowy operative named Richard (Tim Everett), who forces her into coordinating the bank job in exchange for the elimination of her felony drug charge.

Click here to read Patrick McDonald’s full review
of “The Bank Job” in our reviews section!

Click here for our full “The Bank Job” image gallery!

Jason Statham in “The Bank Job”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Saffron Burrows in “The Bank Job”.
Photo credit: IMDb