Maximum Risk (1996)

Great Film overall

Blistering performances.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A surprisingly complex thriller from Ringo Lam, a noted director in the action genre, making his first western film. The amount of sub plots help to make this one more interesting than most, as throughout the film Van Damme is being chased around by four or five different groups of people, this makes for entertaining viewing. Loyalties change, baddies come and go, and the film flies by with many varied and exciting action sequences filling out the time. I liked it a lot.Thankfully, the film is not solely full of martial arts or just plain shooting. It's a mixture of both. The various shoot-outs are well staged and choreographed, while Van Damme gets to deliver some really hefty kicks to his enemies. And it's a memorable group of baddies this time around, including corrupt FBI agents, Russian assassins and the Russian Mob. One blond-haired hulk is virtually indestructible, and the three or four fight scenes between him and Van Damme are probably some of the slickest, neatest fights that Van Damme has ever put on film. The final battle in the lift is great.The characters in this film are slightly more fleshed out than usual, and the baddies at least have a reason to want Van Damme dead. There are also plot threads, including a romantic one between Van Damme and Henstridge, although thankfully this is kept to a minimum. Also, we get to see some surprisingly poignant moments, which are not necessarily laughable (although you may scoff). Jean-Claude Van Damme looks pretty old and tired in this film, but I guess that's because he was suffering from the cocaine addiction thing at the time. Still, he's as powerful and agile as ever (or is that the stuntman?), jumping through windows, falling from heights and generally being an all-round action man (but more believable than most, thanks to his everyday hairstyle and clothes, this Van Damme is closer to reality than in his other films). Natasha Henstridge is adequate as the love interest, but quite shallow really. The rest of the villains are all memorable and eminently hissable.However, the acting is not really the main priority with Van Damme's films. It's the action people watch for, and this film does not disappoint. So many different things happen in so many places (the film keeps shifting location), and there are some inspired set pieces (the entire bank thing is memorable), and even a fight between Van Damme and a chainsaw-wielding villain at the end. What more could you possibly want? I know Van Damme is not one of the most popular stars, far from it, and the general consensus is that his films are cheesy, but I'm just finding these early ones to be better and better as time goes on. MAXIMUM RISK is criminally overlooked and deserves far more respect than it currently has.

Maximum Risk (1996) is honestly one of my favorite Van Damme movies. I used to own this movie on VHS was the first Van Damme movie I had on VHS. Until I throw it in the trash last year. So I bought this movie on Blu-ray. Van Damme plays completely different character than we know and It is pretty good. Natasha Henstridge is completely unknown actress in this movie and I like her a lot. I love this movie to death! It was one of the movies with Van Damme, I have grown up. I think Jean-Claude Van Damme is a great underrated actor and a great martial artists action star. Maximum Risk (1996)was the movie that my mom bought me on VHS tape when I was a child. I bagged her for this movie, she fulfilled my wish and I got the tape. I kept watching it and I love this action movie. In my opinion it is a huge improvement over Sudden Death. This was Van Damme's serious role I have ever saw. His character Alain Moreau is serious. He is a French cop who was in a military.Jean-Claude Van Damme is in his seriously double role again as Mikhail Suverov and Alain Moreau. In the opening scene we see Van Damme been chased by these guys, one of them is Paul Ben-Victor, the two guys and nice foot chase Van Damme's character jumps from the building on the balcony that is hanged in front another building and hangs him self on the fence, tries to move him self up but the balcony breaks down and Van Damme falls down. Than he runs steals some motorcycle and crashes and falls in to another car's windshield, his character is dead. But than we see again Van Damme, Alain is at a funeral that is being held for a fellow cop, when Alain's partner Sebastien (Jean-Hugues Anglade) shows up, and requests for his presence at a crime scene. When they arrive, Sebastien shows Alain a dead body of someone that looks exactly like him. They discover that his name was Mikhail Suvorov, who was born on exactly the same day Alain was. As it turns out, Mikhail is the twin brother Alain never knew he had.So now Alain traces his brother's steps back to New York City, Alain travels to New York City to find more about his brother and he discovers that Mikhail was a member of the Russian Mafia, who was chased down and killed when he attempted to get out. Of course, now Alain is mistaken for Mikhail, who was also mixed up in a series of affairs concerning the FBI and the Russian mafia. With his only real ally being Mikhail's fiancé Alex Bartlett (Natasha Henstridge), Alain sets out to avenge his brother's death, which is complicated not only by the Mafia, but by two corrupt FBI agents. You have nice martial arts in here, great action sequences. Realistic gun shots fire, like Van Damme pulls his gun on the van and fire at the assailant, killing the man with one shot. The van explodes while Van Damme saves his partner's life and the bad guy Ivan Dzasokhov (Zach Grenier) get's killed. I liked the ending scene where Van Damme fight's off the henchman rogue FBI agent Paul Ben-Victor who try's to kill him with a chainsaw. That scene was a bad ass.Ringo Lam did made a great job directing Maximum Risk with Van Damme, it was their first movie working together. In the future they worked together in Replicant (2001) another Van Damme twins movie in which a retired FBI Agent is chasing a serial killer (Van Damme) with the help of his clone. I always liked that movie, but I love this one so much better! And In Hell (2003) another different prison movie with Van Damme in it. I think they both did a solid job directing and filming this martial arts action flick! Natasha Henstridge was really a beautiful girl as Mikael's girlfriend, I been a fan of here. I absolutely loved her in Species and Ghosts of Mars. I always watched Species the original movie, but I have never watched the sequels. Natasha Henstridge is very gorgeous sexy and beautiful in this movie.Maximum Risk is the 1996 action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Alain Moreau, a cop working in Nice, France, who discovers that a body at murder scene is the twin brother he never knew he had. Upon further investigation, Alain finds out that his twin was part of the Russian mafia and had a fiancée (Natasha Henstridge) and then finds himself on the run from the mobsters when he's mistaken for his brother. The film was helmed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, who would later collaborate with Van Damme for 2001's Replicant and 2003's In Hell. That is the basic plot. I am giving this movie a 10, of one of my all time favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme movie.

This movie stars Van Damme who has been in many B-movies and is known as a b-movie action star.I believe thats why this movie gets this low rating. This movie is an a-movie and one of the best action movies and one of my favorites.The rating is simply ridiculous.Van Damme may not be a first rate actor but can he hold his own in this kind of material.Everything else in this movie is first rate.The plot is interesting,there are all kinds of chases and action scenes,All the action scenes are terrific and there's plenty of them.The bad guy is one impressive dude,makes for some really awesome wrestling scenes with Van Damme. The girl is the gorgeous Natasha Henstridge.In my book this is one fine action movie.

This has to be the best Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie he has made. It has it all, and it has it in spades. This movie is 100 minutes, and 95 of those are pure action.You have great car chases through the streets of Nice and New York.You have a whole lot of people the Government is not going to have to arrest and try because they will not be around.You have three, count them three outstanding fights between Jean-Claude Van Damme and the biggest, baddest dude you can imagine.And, you have Natasha Henstridge in the bathroom making love and giving us a view we will long remember.What more can you ask for?