The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008)

the audience applauded

Thanks for the memories!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

(Credit IMDb) A former New Orleans cop battles drug cartels and ex- Army Special Forces who are smuggling drugs from Mexico into U.S. through a Texas border town.I'm a massive fan of JCVD. I own almost all of his movies. Even though his work is mostly STD these days, I still watch every one that comes out. Unlike Seagal, he actually tries still. That being said, JCVD has churned out some forgettable crap as well. I wouldn't call this crap, but it's uninspired and mediocre to say the least. When you open a film with Van Damme feeding a rabbit with a carrot, you know it isn't going to be that good. Those expecting Vintage Van Damage will be disappointed. The fight scenes are tame, with only brief snippets of Van Damage. The main selling point here is Van Damme vs Adkins. They have a solid, if underwhelming scrap. I expected much more from two of the best in the world. The only other thing that stands out is a decent chase involving a bus. Van Damme is on auto-pilot here. His presence is there, but his heart doesn't seem to be fully into it. Sometimes he delivers, others he seems bored. I didn't buy into his pain with his dead daughter either. That's mainly because it is so vaguely written. Natalie J. Robb is entirely unconvincing in her role. She wasn't intimidating in her tough role at all. Adkins can play a henchman in his sleep. He should have been used better. This is one of JCVD's forgettable STD movies. It's somewhat dull, lacking in action, and has a poor story. It's not terrible, but certainly not very memorable. Unless you're a die-hard JCVD fan like I am, I'd pass4/10

Jack Robideaux (Van Damme) is a cop from New Orleans who comes to the small town of Columbus, New Mexico to start on their border patrol. It seems a gang of drug smugglers, including Karp (Adkins), are made up of former U.S. Soldiers gone bad. Now Jack, his partner Billy (McDonald) and Captain Ramona Garcia (Robb) have to get to the truth. Additionally, some folks in this dusty ol'town don't take kindly to newcomers, so Jack, and his pet rabbit, also named Jack (there's an explanation) must defend himself there from the locals. After some twists and turns in the plot, we finally get to the fight scene between Scott Adkins and Van Damme that we all want. Will human Jack and rabbit Jack get what they came to New Mexico for? We're happy to announce that The Shepherd is a winner! Overall this is a solid, entertaining, quality movie that delivers the goods. And why wouldn't it, as it was directed by the capable and dependable Isaac Florentine, whose name is becoming synonymous with satisfying action creations. This movie really should have gone to the theater in America. Sure, there's at least one scene that's a bit too long, and there might be some other quibbles here and there, but this movie is prime JCVD all the way.Naturally, Van Damme plays yet another guy with a French name. This harks back to past JCVD efforts, while references in the movie to hurricane Katrina, the war in Afghanistan, and of course, the issues surrounding the U.S./Mexico border firmly bring The Shepherd into current, relevant territory. It is somewhat lame that the bad guys are former U.S. Soldiers - what, they couldn't think of any other type of person that could be evil? - but we get it, they are "rogue" agents and all that. But it's puzzling why that's the place the writers went to. They even find time to sneak in some Punchfighting! Sure, it's unnecessary, but who cares? It's just fun. Of course, there's the prerequisite torture scene, which is just another excuse for shirtlessness. We love Scott Adkins, and he does a good job as one of the baddies, but we think he makes a better good guy. Someone we've always lovingly compared Adkins to is Gary Daniels, and it would be weird seeing him as a baddie (even though it has happened, mainly in the earlier part of his career). That aside, Adkins is a talented martial artist and has strong screen presence. His fight with Van Damme gives you what you want. They would team up again in the disappointing and inferior Assassination Games (2011). Also Van Damme has a pet turtle in that movie. Either a rabbit or a turtle, and Scott Adkins. But that's where the similarities between the two movies end.The Shepherd just goes to show that if you use Van Damme right, he's still a viable star. This can firmly be placed in Van Damme's win columnFor more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a border guard forced to fight Mexican drug runners in this adequate martial arts actioner that finds Van Damme in good form, and that has some really good fights. I'm not sure if this is Jean-Claude Van Damme's best direct to DVD effort but it certainly feels like it. The plot is of course negligible, the characters are thin as paper and the story is just an excuse to have Van Damme kick butt and showcase his martial arts. For a fan of such Shepherd:Border Patrol works as what it sets out to do, and it succeeds in a Bloodsport/Kickboxer/Universal Soldier way.In other words it feels like an late 80s/early 90s Van Damme flick and I was happy with such. Indeed Van Damme's one on one with Scott Adkins is great, the action is exciting and I had a lot of fun with this movie. This isn't of course as good as JCVD or even Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Universal Soldier, but it is Van Damme's most fun outing in a long time and Van Damme forgets the over the top melodrama (In Hell and Until Death) to deliver non-stop martial artistry. Sure the movie is stupid, but the pace is fast and it really does feel like a classic Van Damme movie, and really what's much better than that?* *1/2 Out Of 4-(Pretty Good)

It's really good to see Van Damme's film are slowly getting better of late and especially compared to C-grade flops "Derailed" and "Second in command" which were both tragic and not in a good way. The Sheperd: Border patrol is a good action flick with some really great action/fight sequences. It's good to know that Van Damme still knows how to kick seeing as his last film "Until Death" had no martial arts in it at all!!!That being said, this film is significantly inferior to "Until Death" which was a really good turn for Van Damme. "Until Death" lacked the over-the-top action of most Van Damme films but was dark and gritty and Van Damme's performance as an actor was surprisingly good in that film. Still, The Shepherd is definitely a film worth checking out especially for Van Damme fans or just action movie fans in general but if you're looking for a film with a bit more story line.....you may want to skip this one!I do believe that this film was done well enough especially on what little budget it would have been shot on. The only real problem I have with this film is the title; "The Shepherd"? I don't get it! I suppose "Border Patrol" just doesn't have the same ring to it without the word "Shepherd" in front of it!!!My rating for this film is 7 out of 10 but that's by Van Damme movie standards not in any other film category.i.e. It's good for a Van Damme film.