If nothing else, "Body Count" deserves credit for proving how utterly cool Sonny Chiba still was in the 1990s (and in his 50s). He is "officially" the bad guy of this film, and he certainly kills a lot of people, but when you think about it it is really the fault of someone else - you don't hire a Japanese hit-man to do your dirty work for you and then screw him over when it's payday! The stupendously leggy Brigitte Nielsen, who plays his partner (yes, it's an unorthodox pairing), has an awe-inspiring introduction in veeeeery short shorts and deeeeeep cleavage, but almost nothing she does in the rest of the movie matches that sequence, and her climactic catfight with a female FBI agent is especially disappointing. Robert Davi and Steven Bauer basically sleepwalk through the film, but they do have enough presence to make some moments work. "Body Count" runs too long at 95 minutes, but it does offer some decent stunts and action sequences - even a bus gets flipped over! Sonny Chiba fans, in particular, may want to take a look. ** out of 4.
6 Reviews
Good cast, bad film
nitflegal10 January 2003
It's actually worth watching for the cheese. See Sonny Chiba slumming! See a 5'4" shrimpy actress beat-up 6'1" amazon Brigitte Nielsen! See the most exciting 3 mph trolley fight in cinematic history! See Brigitte Nielsen wearing boots, then heels, then boots again, then heels, then tennis shoes (nice job, continuity editor!) in the climactic battle where she gets squashed by the slowest lowering lift in history (remember the steam-roller in the first Austin Powers?)!
See 90 minutes of your life gone, never to return.
Matt
See 90 minutes of your life gone, never to return.
Matt
The problem is that the movie isn't wacky enough or different enough - it's just kind of standard fare.
tarbosh2200011 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Eddie Cook (Davi) and Vinnie Rizzo (Bauer) are not just two of New Orleans's finest, they're also best buddies. But their jobs are about to get a heck of a lot more challenging now that Makato (Chiba) and his partner Sybil (Nielsen) have come to wreak havoc in the Big Easy. Makato is a sly and crafty hitman and expert marksman. We as viewers know this because he has a special assassin hat. Further complicating the lives of Cook and Rizzo is the entrance of their new supervisor, Special Agent Janet Hood (Ambuehl). Will Makoto and Sybil's killing spree ever end?
Body Count is yet another victim of what we call the Lone Tiger Effect. For those who don't know, this is when a movie gets a great cast of B-movie faces together and you think you can't lose as a viewer - and then you do. Perhaps it's a classic case of "too many cooks", but despite the stellar cast, Body Count just doesn't deliver the goods.
That's not to say there aren't some high points - someone walks away from an explosion in slow motion, Davi and Bauer have good chemistry together, and there's a very impressive PM-style car flip/explosion. There should have been more moments like these. Additionally on the plus side we have a competent, classic-90's video store look and some nice New Orleans locations. This includes, almost apropos of nothing, a stereotype Southern Sheriff. But the movie doesn't really hook you in, and the pacing seems off. The police station has a poster for The Terminator (1984) right there in the squad room, so it shows the local cops have a nice sense of décor.
As for the cast (besides the aforementioned fan favorites Davi and Bauer), we have Brigitte Nielsen, who was given a much meatier role in Mission of Justice (1992). It was nice to see that Sonny Chiba was all over the movie and not just in a small role. He got to show off his physical prowess and had a bunch of great outfits to boot. Jan-Michael Vincent had a glorified cameo, and even in a small role appeared a little tipsy. Ambuehl, last seen in Dark Breed (1996) was primarily eye candy despite the fact that the scriptwriters attempted vainly to make her more than that.
The problem is that the movie isn't wacky enough or different enough - it's just kind of standard fare. You'd think the cast could make more out of the material, but even they can't really pull that off. Comparable movies about a Japanese-American crime-ridden culture clash include Red Sun Rising (1994) (better than Body Count) and Double Deception (2001) (actually worse than Body Count).
Featuring the song "All Woman" by Mark Ferrari, Body Count left something to be desired.
Body Count is yet another victim of what we call the Lone Tiger Effect. For those who don't know, this is when a movie gets a great cast of B-movie faces together and you think you can't lose as a viewer - and then you do. Perhaps it's a classic case of "too many cooks", but despite the stellar cast, Body Count just doesn't deliver the goods.
That's not to say there aren't some high points - someone walks away from an explosion in slow motion, Davi and Bauer have good chemistry together, and there's a very impressive PM-style car flip/explosion. There should have been more moments like these. Additionally on the plus side we have a competent, classic-90's video store look and some nice New Orleans locations. This includes, almost apropos of nothing, a stereotype Southern Sheriff. But the movie doesn't really hook you in, and the pacing seems off. The police station has a poster for The Terminator (1984) right there in the squad room, so it shows the local cops have a nice sense of décor.
As for the cast (besides the aforementioned fan favorites Davi and Bauer), we have Brigitte Nielsen, who was given a much meatier role in Mission of Justice (1992). It was nice to see that Sonny Chiba was all over the movie and not just in a small role. He got to show off his physical prowess and had a bunch of great outfits to boot. Jan-Michael Vincent had a glorified cameo, and even in a small role appeared a little tipsy. Ambuehl, last seen in Dark Breed (1996) was primarily eye candy despite the fact that the scriptwriters attempted vainly to make her more than that.
The problem is that the movie isn't wacky enough or different enough - it's just kind of standard fare. You'd think the cast could make more out of the material, but even they can't really pull that off. Comparable movies about a Japanese-American crime-ridden culture clash include Red Sun Rising (1994) (better than Body Count) and Double Deception (2001) (actually worse than Body Count).
Featuring the song "All Woman" by Mark Ferrari, Body Count left something to be desired.
Corny,B movie fare,
nextgenpp128 October 2005
I knew from the cover box at the video store, this was going to be a cheap one,(a sexy woman with a gun in her hand). I waited till it was on TV one night and I'm glad I did. Cheap fight scenes,poor script,and weak directing tried to hold this joke together. The only draw was Bridgette Nielson. I was curious to see how she came along since her marriage with Stallone fizzled. I don't think the Academy is going to be calling anytime soon.
Unless you are a die-hard Brigette Nielson or Sonny Chiba fan don't be in a rush to see this. Robert Davi and Jan Michael Vincent round out the cast in what could have been a much better movie if some more care and effort had been put in to it. Something to have on in the background while you're doing something else.
Unless you are a die-hard Brigette Nielson or Sonny Chiba fan don't be in a rush to see this. Robert Davi and Jan Michael Vincent round out the cast in what could have been a much better movie if some more care and effort had been put in to it. Something to have on in the background while you're doing something else.
yuk
dalldorfw22 January 2008
this movie is bad enough to make Richard Kern reach for an air- sickness bag. The plot involves a ruthless hit-man (Sonny Chiba), who is imprisoned for killing, a seemingly well protected mob-boss; after escaping with the help of his equally ruthless girlfriend (Brigitte Nielsen), he finds out that he was setup, by some F.B.I agents, or something (i don't remember the plot to well, as i spent the next two weeks, trying erase this film from my mind). Aperintlly, the agents where having a hard time catching this particular mob-boss, so their goal was to hire the hit-man to kill him off, and then have the hit- man arrested for his murder, thus successfully covering their tracks; or so they think. Needless to say (but i'm going to say it anyway), both the hit-man, and his girlfriend go on a rampage of revenge. Sounds like a good idea for a "Street Fighter" movie, doesn't it? I'll bet you think this will lead to lots of highly intense, bone-crushing, eye- gouging, groin-ripping head-bashing, Chiba-action, don't you? Well, you would be wrong pal; this is not "The Street Fighter," this is "Body Count," your lucky if you can find, a bit of almost halfway decent camp-value; and who's bright idea was it to have Sonny Chiba loose in the end? Cinema rule no.1 is; CHIBA NEVER LOSSES!!!! He doesn't even lose to anyone worth losing to, the "heros" of this movie are couple of big, dumb Neanderthals, who use a fighting style, that one of them refers to as "boxing," but witch really looks more like "slugging;" they preform this style by swinging their fists wildly at the target, making the strikes as slow, clumsy, and as easy to dodge as possible; which Chiba does, until the very end, when the script told him not to. In all fairness there are some good action sense, but they are too few, and far between. If you are a Sonny Chiba fan, then stick to something more like, 'Shugun's Samurai', or 'The Executioner'. Shelve this one with, 'The Bodygaurd,' and try your best to forget that it exists.
Undistinguished action junk with an overused title
Eegah Guy7 March 2001
Who cares about the plot. The only reason to sit through this assembly-line action junk is to see Japanese action star Sonny Chiba throw a very old and sick-looking Jan-Michael Vincent off a building roof and former Stallone girlfriend Brigitte Nielsen shoot a guy wearing a Residents T-shirt. Crater-faced Robert Davi is dull as dirt and Steven Bauer looks real paunchy with a bad haircut to boot. Not much of interest here.
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