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"HALF PAST DEAD"
(2002) (Steven Seagal, Ja Rule) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
None Mild Extreme Moderate Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate None Mild *Mild Moderate
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Mild Mild Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Action: An undercover FBI agent tries to stop a group of terrorists from taking over the newly reopened Alcatraz prison.
PLOT:
Sascha Petrosevitch (STEVEN SEAGAL) is a car thief who's brought in by criminal Nick Frazier (JA RULE) to work for crime syndicate boss Sonny Eckvall (RICHARD BREMMER). When FBI Special Agent Ellen "E.Z." Williams (CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN) and her team show up to nab Nick, however, things go bad and Sascha ends up shot.

After eight months of recovery following his brief bout of being clinically dead from the shooting, Sascha is incarcerated along with Nick in the newly reopened Alcatraz prison. Run by the charismatic warden, El Fuego (TONY PLANA), the place is known for its new state of the art death chamber where the condemned can choose from five different ways to die.

Lester (BRUCE WEITZ) is the first prisoner scheduled to be executed. An older man, he stole $200 million worth of gold bricks in a heist that resulted in five deaths. Federal Bureau of Prisons head Frank Hubbard (STEPHEN J. CANNELL) and Supreme Court Justice June McPherson (LINDA THORSON) have arrived to watch the execution that's a result of her sentencing him.

Yet, she's not the only one interested in Lester. A small but well-equipped team of terrorists - the "49ers" - have parachuted onto the island and gained control of it. Led by 49er One, a.k.a. Donny Johnson (MORRIS CHESTNUT), Hubbard's assistant, and 49er Six (NIA PEEPLES), the team finds Lester and wants him to give up the location of his hidden stash of gold.

When he won't tell them, Donny shoots a nearby priest and threatens to kill others if the info isn't delivered. His plan is disrupted, however, when Sascha decides to step in and save the day. It seems that he's really an undercover FBI agent who's trying to use Nick to get to Sonny. When he rescues Lester, the 49ers grab Justice McPherson and threaten to kill her, all while Agent Williams and her team prepare their plan from the mainland.

From that point on and with the help of Nick and other inmates such as Twitch (KURUPT) and Little Joe (MICHAEL "BEAR" TALIFERRO), Sascha sets out to rescue the Justice and stymie the criminals' plan.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of someone in the cast or violent action films, they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For pervasive action violence, language and some sexual content.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • STEVEN SEAGAL plays an undercover FBI agent who's posing as a criminal so that he can eventually nab a crime syndicate boss. When he finds himself in the midst of a criminal takeover of Alcatraz, he sets out to defeat them and rescue Justice McPherson. In the process, he beats up and kills various criminals. He smokes once.
  • JA RULE plays his criminal friend who's initially unaware of his true identity. He uses some profanity, helps Sascha defeat the criminals, and smokes once.
  • MORRIS CHESTNUT plays a government worker who's turned bad and is heading the criminal operation to find Lester's gold. He kills various people.
  • NIA PEEPLES plays his proficient assistant who also fights with and kills various people.
  • TONY PLANA plays the charismatic and questionable warden at the newly reopened prison.
  • LINDA THORSON plays a Supreme Court Justice who's taken hostage when she arrives to witness an execution.
  • CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN plays an FBI agent who works with Sascha.
  • KURUPT plays one of the inmates at Alcatraz who uses some profanity and gets in on the action. He smokes several times.
  • MICHAEL "BEAR" TALIFERRO plays another inmate who also gets in on the action.
  • BRUCE WEITZ plays an older criminal who's set to be executed for stealing $200 million worth of government gold sometime in the past.
  • RICHARD BREMMER plays the head of a crime syndicate who smokes and briefly threatens Sascha.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action film that's been rated PG-13. Violence consists of a tremendous amount of gunfire that includes many people being wounded or killed by it. Other deaths result from explosions and various falls, while a great deal of non-lethal fighting (punching and kicking, etc.) is also present. While some of those scenes and others might be suspenseful to some viewers in an action fashion, only a few have slightly bloody results.

    The various criminals and terrorists have extreme bad attitudes for their actions, while profanity consists of at least 4 "s" words and various other expletives and colorful phrases. Some non-explicit, sexually related dialogue is present, while a man and woman on either side of a prison visitation window talk about something sexual they did in the past and then briefly make some sexual movements.

    A few characters smoke, some imitative behavior is present and some thematic material involves the death penalty. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • None.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • There's some blood on Sascha's clothing and chest after he's shot.
  • We see a little blood on a guard's shirt after he's been shot.
  • We see Sascha sewing up a mildly bloody wound on his own arm.
  • Nick has a little bit of blood from his mouth.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • All of those who break into Alcatraz and kill or threaten to kill many people, as well as the criminals inside all have their respective bad attitudes.
  • We hear that Lester stole $200 million in a train heist that resulted in the deaths of five agents (not seen).
  • Some viewers might not like Donny saying that there is no God or that God is dead.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers.
  • Sascha and one of Sonny's men aim guns at each other. As Sonny questions who Sascha works for, he holds a knife to Sascha's neck.
  • Sascha drives a car along a moving train and cuts in front of it just in time to avoid an approaching large truck.
  • We see that Donny and his team have the Supreme Court Justice strapped in the electric chair.
  • Nick holds a gun to Sascha and nearly shoots him.
  • A person throws a woman from a helicopter (and another person jumps out - with a parachute - to try to save her).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns/Various machine guns/Knives/Explosives and Missiles: Used to threaten, wound or kill various people and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Crazy sh*t," "I'm going to kick your ass," "Have you ever been someone's bitch?" (referring to being in prison), "You've got big balls for a woman," "It's a nice night to die," "Pissed off," "Nigger" (said by Nick who's black), "Chump," "What the hell /is going on?" "Black ass," "Little bitch," "Busted your ass," "You little freak," "You freaky bitch," "Pain in your ass," "Hell yeah," "Queen bitch of the universe," "Big ass," "Screwed up," "That's what you get bitch," "Sack" (scrotum) and "Hell no."
  • Some kids might be enticed to imitate all of the action fighting and gunplay that occurs during the film.
  • Sascha drives down the road quite fast and does various stunts with the car.
  • Various people have tattoos.
  • 49er Six wears a midriff-revealing top.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A mild amount of suspenseful music plays in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • We hear at least 1 "s" word in one song, while various rap songs have lyrics that can't be understood, thus offering the possibility of potentially objectionable lyrics being in them.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 4 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 8 asses, 8 hells, 5 damns, 1 S.O.B., 3 uses of "G-damn" and 1 use of "Oh my God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • When a guard angrily asks Sascha if he wants to play rough (nonsexual), Sascha mockingly says that he's not into guys.
  • Nick refers to 49er Six as a "sexy little thing."
  • Donny suggestively runs his hand down the Supreme Court Justice's chest and shirt and talks about her biological clock ticking and her fields going fallow. He also says something about his mother raping him (as a reason for acting the way he is), but then says that never happened.
  • Twitch reminds a woman (his girlfriend or wife who's conversing with him in a prison visitation room) about a time they fooled around. She laughs and they then move around in their chairs as if partially simulating whatever they did.
  • SMOKING
  • Twitch and Nick's boss each smoke twice, while Nick, Sascha and several miscellaneous characters each smoke once.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • We hear that Sascha's wife is dead and that he still misses her.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Undercover work.
  • The death penalty.
  • The history of Alcatraz.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Sascha repeatedly spins his car around, eventually sending Nick flying out the door and through the air until he crashes into a parked car's windshield (that he hits rather hard).
  • Nick and E.Z. open fire on each other with handguns. Other agents open fire and the area is riddled with machine gun and handgun fire. A person is hit (but no blood) and burning liquid leads to an explosion that rocks the place and sends a person flying through the air. Sascha then attempts to move Nick out of the way, but is hit by gunfire (and briefly appears to be dead).
  • A prison guard zaps Sascha with a shock stick. Sascha then repeatedly punches the guard and Nick then jumps into the fray and repeatedly punches the guard. He fights back and knocks Nick around, eventually smashing him back into some bars.
  • The 49ers parachute down to Alcatraz and shoot many guards dead with machine gun fire (no blood, but some fall great distances after being shot).
  • 49er Six lowers herself on a rope, grabs a guy with her legs and riddles a control booth with machine gun fire (possibly hitting a person). A door is then blown open and a guard is knocked down. Donny and others then open fire on various people with machine guns (many are wounded or killed, but there's no blood) and Donny hits one with his gun.
  • 49er Six shoots and kills one of her own people who was wounded.
  • 49ers shoot a guard and Sascha (both are wounded).
  • A man hits another man.
  • An inmate falls a long way to the hard floor below him (we don't see the impact) as he tries to climb up a long rope.
  • Sascha uses a shock stick to shock a fallen guard and restart his heart.
  • A helicopter crashes into a lighthouse and then smashes down through part of the prison where it becomes stuck in the ceiling.
  • 49ers fire machine guns at Sascha who turns one of the guns around and has it fire back at the assailants (no one is hit).
  • After holding a gun to Lester's face, Donny shoots and kills a priest (we don't see the impact).
  • A 49er fires a machine gun through a door. Sascha then hits that man many times, with another man shooting at them. Sascha then throws the one man through some glass and then eludes the machine gun fire of the other man.
  • Sascha kicks a door open and knocks a bad guy down. He then jumps through glass to get out of the way as a man shoots at him. Sascha and a bad guy then fight with martial arts punches and kicks.
  • 49er Six kicks Sascha's gun out of the way and Nick grabs that gun. He and 49er Six then fire at each other (no one is hit). He escapes and she follows down into a basement area that she riddles with machine gun fire. He then holds a gun on her, but she disarms him and then delivers many severe blows to him with kicks that knock him all around the room. He repeatedly tries to punch her, but she blocks them and then kicks him many times (including after he briefly has her in a bear hug). Sascha then enters and fires a machine gun at her, but she jumps through and breaks some glass as she escapes.
  • 49er Six head-butts El Fuego.
  • Bodyguards hold guns on some of Donny's men and threaten to shoot them. Donny then shoots those men (who in turn shoot the bodyguards dead from the floor - they're wearing body armor and faked being dead).
  • A prisoner finds and then decides to fire a rocket launcher. He does and the rocket blows up part of the prison and the recoil from the firing knocks the inmate backwards.
  • Tear gas (or something similar) affects Donny and other members of his team. Various people then open fire on Sascha but miss.
  • A bad guy fires a machine gun into a door. He then goes inside and a lit cigarette falls down into something that causes a huge explosion (that presumably kills the man, but we don't see the impact).
  • Sascha gets into a martial arts fight with a bad guy. He then throws the man over a railing, but we don't see the impact.
  • Donny fires at Sascha and the two then try to hit and kick each other while swinging back and forth on chains.
  • A person shoots another person.
  • All sorts of people open fire on others with massive amounts of machine gun and handgun fire. One inmate is hit and falls into an opening in the floor, while Nick manages to shoot some missiles just in time before they hit a suspended helicopter (the missiles explode in front of the chopper). The bad guys then riddle the chopper with machine gun fire, causing it to fall from the ceiling and smash onto the floor (injuring a person inside).
  • El Fuego trips 49er Six, knocks her around a bit and holds a gun to her face.
  • Agents shoot a person dead as they pull out a knife to use on someone else.
  • A person throws a woman from a helicopter (and another person jumps out - with a parachute - to try to save her).
  • A man detonates explosives strapped to his chest that kill him, at least 2 more people and destroy a helicopter.



  • Reviewed November 11, 2002 / Posted November 15, 2002

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