Jaime Pressly Movie:

				Salesrank: 167360
		Used Price: $30.25
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Versatility, thy name is Van Damme! So Arnold cries in End of Days? Hah! In this relentless revenge actioner, Jean-Claude not only cries, but has a drunk scene, suffers suicidal despair, does a little slapstick, and still manages to flash his ubiquitous butt. Which, of course, is what his legion of fans want to see him kick plenty of (other people's butts, that is; not his own). Van Damme may no longer generate any box-office heat (like 1998's Legionnaire, this bypassed theaters to go straight to video), but he at least gives his fans what they want. Originally titled Coyote Moon, Desert Heat recalls that guilty pleasure Road House, as Eddie Lomax (Van Damme) comes to the rescue of a gallery of colorful characters terrorized by slobbering, drug-dealing bikers and rednecks in a dilapidated desert town. And this time, it's personal. As one denizen ominously observes, "There's trouble on the hoof and it's coming this way" for the three ill-fated bullies who beat up and shot Eddie and left him for dead. Despite its desert setting, Heat is an oasis for great character actors who pick up Van Damme's considerable slack. They include Danny Trejo (Con Air) as Eddie's Native American friend Johnny Sixtoes, Pat Morita (The Karate Kid), Larry Drake (Darkman), Vincent Schiavelli (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ghost), Bill Erwin (Candy Stripe Nurses), and luscious Jaime Preslly as Dottie the waitress. The director is credited as Danny Mulroon, a pseudonym for John Avildsen, the Academy Award-winning director of Rocky. His career, too, seems to be on the ropes, but he keeps punching with some welcome eccentric touches. At one point Johnny gives the recuperating Eddie a foot massage (didn't he see Pulp Fiction?). And the script offers such goodies as a lovelorn bus driver (Tom's brother, Jim Hanks) inviting Dottie to see Yojimbo, and one biker's plea for mercy from a local tough: "Jessie, we were in high school together. I signed your yearbook." --Donald Liebenson

Inferno [Region 2] Reviews:
OK Van Damme vehicle
2009-10-08 -
DESERT HEAT
[Coyote Moon]

(USA - 1999)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital

A disillusioned ex-soldier (Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes to the desert to commit suicide, but instead gets drawn into a small town plagued by thuggish drug runners.

Van Damme's career continued its downward slide with this routine actioner, inspired by YOJIMBO (1961) and bolstered by violent set-pieces and a gallery of eccentric supporting characters (played by Pat Morita, Danny Trejo, Larry Drake and Vincent Schiavelli, amongst others). Tom O'Rourke's screenplay springs few surprises, but director John G. Avildsen (THE KARATE KID) keeps the pot boiling in between scenes of gunfire and hand-to-hand combat, and Van Damme strikes something of a god-like figure in his skintight vest and clinging jeans (it's doubtful he ever looked sexier than he does here). Undiscriminating action fans will lap it up, though it doesn't really amount to very much.


A small town drug gang against JCVD? JCVD on a motorcycle?! Gimme a break, it's over already
2009-05-30 - The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)

1. Who is he? Eddie Lomax, decorated but troubled former soldier who is tired of life, and looking for salvation through a bottle and a pearl-plated pistol
2. Which family member/friend must be avenged? Make no mistake, this is about revenge...but it's personal this time
3. Does he take his shirt off? This movie has JCVD in the desert. What do you think?
4. Does he have sex with a C-List actress? With the gorgeous Jamie Presley in the cast, I had high hopes. Instead he sets his eyes on beautiful local waitress Rhonda Reynolds (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), and also picks up two exotic dancers on the side (at the same time).
5. Is there a tournament? Nope.
6. Is training needed for this tournament? All the training he needs was obtained in the Army.
7. Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? No splits in this one. I think he was on the bike too long and it hindered his flexibility.
8. Does he punch someone in the balls? Nope, but he proves that a cowboy boot can drive a man's vas deferens into the small intestine.
9. Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? Not a series, but there is enough to make it fun.
10. Is his enemy unbeatable? Just a group of wannabe outlaws, desert renegades with carte blanche over the small town of Inferno, Nevada.
11. Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? He gets beaten and shot, left for dead. It's up to his Indian friend Johnny Six Toes (Danny Trejo) to help him heal and get on to the revenge.
12. Does he win? Not only does he win, but he finds love and turns a desolate desert town into a booming stop on a UFO sight-seeing tour.

Stuck between a criminal, drug-dealing Hogan family, and a petty dirt-bike gang called the Heathens, the town of Inferno, NM is in anarchy. When Eddie Lomax wanders upon the town, he soon meets up with those he will soon vanquish. Along the way he gets help from Six Toes, a handyman named Jubay Early (Pat Morita rehashing his Miyagi role but with a Brit-accent), and a hilarious old codger named Eli Hamilton (the legendary Bill Erwin) - who owns the local gun-shop - to rid the town of vermin.

This is not JCVD's best, but it's solid nonetheless. It's the typical good-guy beating down bad-guys to save the day. With a very solid supporting cast, the build-up is brief and sufficient. In no time at all JCVD is kicking, shooting, punching, and sexing-up the town. A few genuinely light-hearted, comical moments are present when Morita and Erwin interact with one-another, and Trejo is believable as an Indian, but somewhat underused. The scenery and special effects are minimal; instead, concentration is on the development of the Lomax mystique and the town's struggles.

Great movie.
2007-09-10 - Surprised bought this movie by mistake. Was really good. Im looking for a van damn movie with the same bearded big guy that was with him in blood sport. I remeber girls in bikini's in a empty swimming pull but cant remeber the name of the movie.

His best flick
2005-08-23 - I've never been a big Van Damme fan but I have to admit this movie is fun. It's another retelling of Kurasawa's classic Yojimbo much like A Fist Full of Dollars (Clint Eastwood) and Last Man Standing (Bruce Willis), this however, is like the trailer park version. It's a little less classy and has nowhere near the same caliber acting. What it does have is Mr. Miyagi, Danny Trejo and a couple other surprise faces. Van Damme even comes across with a hint of self-depreciating humor (probably unintentional) that sets this flick apart from the rest of his stuff. Nobody takes Van Damme seriously, he should make more movies like this with ensemble cast and maybe his career would turn around.

Trash-funny action movie
2005-07-22 - I never stop being amused by some audience demands for great (o'k, good) acting from Van Damme. It sounds like entering BurgerKing and asking for a rack of lamb (and being dissapointed that they do not serve it). For me this movie is attractive enough not so much because of VD character and action (though he is surprisingly funny too) but mostly for the surrounding hilarious characters. Just the elderly Japanese gentleman who gleefully giggles packing yet another body (provided by VD's hero) into cellophane and dumping it into a ravine, would have been enough to enjoy the movie but there are others as well, equally hilarious. I believe it would be the best to approach that movie not as a serious action flick, but rather as a black trash comedy - that everything falls into its proper place.