''Half Past Dead'' is a 2002 American
action film
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
written and directed by
Don Michael Paul
Donald Michael Paul (born April 17, 1963) is an actor, director, writer, and producer.
Biography
He starred in the films '' Heart of Dixie'' and '' Rich Girl'' with Jill Schoelen and appeared in '' Aloha Summer''. He wrote the screenplay for ...
in his directorial debut. The film was produced by
Elie Samaha
Elie Samaha (Arabic language, Arabic: إيلي سماحة) is a film producer in Los Angeles, with production credits beginning with ''The Immortals (1995 film), The Immortals'' in 1995. He has produced over 83 works, primarily films along with ...
,
Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens (born Herman Andrew Stephens; June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor.
Early life
Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble ...
, and
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...
, who also starred in the lead role.
The film co-stars
Morris Chestnut
Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''Boyz n the Hood''. He has appeared in feature films such as ''G.I. Jane'', ''The Brothers (2001 film), The B ...
,
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...
,
Tony Plana
José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban-American actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video ga ...
,
Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...
, and
Nia Peeples
Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the TV series ''Fame (1982 TV series), Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama ''Pretty Little Liars''; ...
.
It tells the story of a criminal who infiltrates a prison to interrogate a prisoner about the location of a fortune in gold while an undercover
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent has to stop him.
Distribution and copyrights were held by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
. ''Half Past Dead'' was released in the United States on November 15, 2002, by
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...
. The film was panned by critics, and only grossed $19 million worldwide against its $25 million production budget. ''Half Past Dead'' was Steven Seagal's last
widely released film before he shifted to several
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
films in many years
until 2010.
Plot
In
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, FBI agent Sasha Petrosevitch goes undercover as a Russian car thief and is brought in by criminal Nick Frazier to work for crime boss Sonny Eckvall, who apparently shot and killed Sasha's wife. After some time, FBI Special Agent Ellen Williams and her team show up to nail Nick, but things go wrong, and Sasha gets shot.
After eight months of recovery following his brief bout of being clinically dead from the shooting, Sasha is incarcerated along with Nick in the newly reopened Alcatraz prison. Run by the charismatic warden, Juan Ruiz "El Fuego" Escarzaga, the place is known for its new state of the art death chamber where the condemned can choose from five different ways to die: lethal injection, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad, or electric chair.
Lester McKenna is the first death row prisoner brought to the new Alcatraz and also the first prisoner scheduled to be executed. An older man, he stole $200,000,000 worth of gold bricks in a heist that resulted in five deaths and hid the loot at an unknown location. Federal Bureau of Prisons head Frank Hubbard and Supreme Court Justice Jane McPherson have arrived to witness the execution, which is a result of Jane sentencing Lester.
But she's not the only one interested in Lester. A small but well-equipped team of terrorists who call themselves the "49ers" have parachuted onto the Alcatraz island and gained control of it. Led by 49er One, a.k.a. Hubbard's assistant Donny Johnson, and 49er Six, the team finds Lester, and they want him to give up the location of his hidden stash of gold. When Lester will not tell them, Donny shoots a nearby priest and threatens to kill others if the information is not delivered.
Donny's plan is disrupted, however, when Sascha decides to step in and fight back. At this point, Sasha's true identity is revealed and he used Nick to get to Sonny Eckvall, whom he seeks revenge on for the death of his wife. When Sasha rescues Lester, the 49ers strap Jane to the electric chair and threaten to kill her, all while Ellen and her team prepare a rescue plan from the mainland.
With the help of Nick and some of the other inmates such as Twitch and Little Joe, Sasha sets out to rescue Jane and bring Donny down, before Alcatraz becomes everyone's final resting place. The conflict culminates in the 49ers taking McPherson and Lester on a helicopter and departing with Sascha in pursuit. Donny attempts to buy time by throwing MacPherson out of the helicopter, but Sascha dives after her and manages to save her, while Lester reveals that he was previously given an improvised bomb vest of grenades that he sets off, killing himself and Donny. Sasha subsequently leads the investigators to the gold, Lester having told him its location before his death.
A month later, Nick, having previously learnt of Sasha's reasons for hunting Donny, is still recovering in prison, but is informed in a meeting with Sasha that he is being released early for his role in the hostage crisis.
Cast
*
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...
as FBI Agent Sasha Petrosevitch
*
Morris Chestnut
Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''Boyz n the Hood''. He has appeared in feature films such as ''G.I. Jane'', ''The Brothers (2001 film), The B ...
as Donny Johnson "49er One"
*
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...
as Nick Frazier
*
Nia Peeples
Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the TV series ''Fame (1982 TV series), Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama ''Pretty Little Liars''; ...
as "49er Six"
*
Tony Plana
José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban-American actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video ga ...
as Warden Juan Ruiz "El Fuego" Escarzaga
*
Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...
as Bernard "Twitch"
*
Michael "Bear" Taliferro as Joe "Little Joe"
*
Claudia Christian
Claudia Christian (born Claudia Ann Coghlan, August 10, 1965) is an American actress, known for her roles as Commander Susan Ivanova on ''Babylon 5'', as Captain Maynard on Fox's ''9-1-1'', and as the voice of Hera on the Netflix series '' Blo ...
as FBI Special Agent Ellen Williams
*
Linda Thorson as Judge Jane McPherson
*
Bruce Weitz as Lester McKenna
*
Michael McGrady
Michael McGrady is an American theater, film and television actor. He portrayed Tom Matthews in '' Beyond'' and voiced and provided the motion capture for Rusty Galloway in the 2011 video game '' LA Noire''. He is also an artist.
Life and work
...
as Guard Damon J. Kestner
*
Richard Bremmer
Richard Bremmer (born 27 January 1953) is an English actor.
Early life
Bremmer was born and brought up in Warwickshire.
Career
Bremmer first began his career in the short film of ''Couples and Robbers'' before being in his first full-length fi ...
as Sonny Eckvall
*
Hannes Jaenicke as FBI Agent Hartmann
*
Mo'Nique
Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress. She debuted as a member of The Queens of Comedy and earned recognition as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. In 2 ...
as Twitch's Girl
*
Stephen J. Cannell
Stephen Joseph Cannell (; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and The Cannell Studios.
After start ...
as Frank Hubbard
*
Matt Battaglia as "49er Three"
* Wiliam T. Bowers as Alcatraz Guard
Production
The film was at one stage known as ''Lockdown'' and was shot in Germany.
Release
Home media
The film was released on DVD in the US on March 4, 2003.
Reception
Box office
''Half Past Dead'' was released on November 15, 2002, in the United States, where it grossed $7.8 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $15.5 million in the US and another $3.7 million outside the US, for a total worldwide gross of $19.2 million.
[
]
Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. It was ranked number 61 in a ''Rotten Tomatoes'' editorial on the 100 worst movies of all time.
Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
wrote, "''Half Past Dead'' is like an alarm that goes off with nobody in the room. It does its job, stops, and nobody cares."
Seagal was nominated for Worst Actor at the 2002 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles–based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year.
The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and R ...
and the 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards
The 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards were held on March 22, 2003 at the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica, California to recognize the worst the movie industry had to offer in 2002 in film, 2002. ''Pinocchio (2002 film), Pinocchio'' became the first for ...
.
Sequel
''Half Past Dead 2'' was released direct-to-video on May 15, 2007. The film does not feature actors Steven Seagal or Ja Rule, though they appear in the film via archived footage from the first movie. The starring characters were Twitch (Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...
) and Burke (Bill Goldberg
William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...
).
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Don Michael Paul
2002 films
2002 action films
2002 directorial debut films
2000s American films
2000s English-language films
Alcatraz Island in fiction
American action films
American gangster films
American prison films
English-language action films
English-language German films
Films about race and ethnicity
Films about terrorism in the United States
Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Films directed by Don Michael Paul
Films produced by Elie Samaha
Films scored by Tyler Bates
Films set in Berlin
Films set in prison
Films set in San Francisco
Franchise Pictures films
Screen Gems films