Today You Die

Plot synopsis:
Harlan Banks (Steven Seagal) is a Robin Hood kind of thief who has always picked his own jobs and tried to pull heists that would leave him room to help out others. The work keeps getting riskier, and at the urging of his girlfriend Jada (Mari Morrow), Banks has decided to pull one final job, going in with some men who are planning a $20 million robbery.
After the heist goes bad, Banks heads to Las Vegas, where Jada wants him to get a real job. On the way to town, Banks and Jada passed a children's hospital displaying a going out of business sign. Banks gets a job driving an armored car for a man, Max (Kevin Tighe). The job is not exactly legitimate, and Bruno (Robert Miano), Banks' partner for the job, shoots a security guard, resulting in a chase through the Vegas strip in the armored van.
However, Banks is stopped and sent to prison, where he befriends an inmate known as Ice Kool (Treach). With Ice's help, Banks escapes, determined to hunt Max down. Along the way, Banks meets a federal agent named Saunders (Nick Mancuso), and it turns out that Saunders, who is in league with Max, is the man behind the setup. So Banks sets out to take down both Saunders and Max with a job.

Tags: revenge, violence

Review:
"Today You Die" is another ridiculous action film from Seagal.
Interestingly the car chase stolen from Weller's epic, made  almost 10 years ago and ironically probably cheaper than this garbage,  is actually by far the best action scene of the film.
Seagal does however feel the need to talk like he is a  gangsta rapper, making me long for the days he would don his  Brooklyn/Italian-American accent, in his classic early films.
There are a few small fight scenes with  some classic Seagal aikido but when 90% is performed by his stunt  double, who really does have a rigorous work out in this film, it  really doesn't impress much.
I don't really know what to say about TYD, first it's a piece of crap, the story makes no sense at all, secondly he uses stunt men in all his fight scenes, and last but not least a lot of the footage is taken from other movies!
It amazes how this guy continues to find work, he comes to the set late and leaves early and because of that his films are full of plot holes and stunt men.
(Credit IMDb) A former thief who is trying to go straight seeks vengeance on those who framed him.Today You Die consists of more stock footage then I'd have liked, but considering the turds he puts out on a consistent basis these days, even stock-footage I'll take, if it has some good bits and pieces.
Today You Die is a pretty poor movie, however with stuff like Submerged and particularly Out for a Kill, Seagal has done worse.
A typical action-fest ensues.Steven Seagal plays himself (surprise!) wearing a trench-coat and sporting his beloved Colt 1911 along with his usual bone-breaking aikido.
His main buddy throughout the film is played by Treach (another new thing, a rapper in an action movie) and they both uncover a little conspiracy of bad-guys, on both sides of the law, and give each evil-doer his due.The film's main problem is that is it painfully, and I truly mean painfully, unoriginal.
After escaping, he recruits a sidekick and seeks his revenge.There are just so many things wrong with Today You Die that it's the kind of movie where you just don't know where to even begin.
Another of those Steven Seagal's straight to DVD films boring, with no acting, no interesting characters not even interesting fighting scenes.
He escapes to find guys who put him in there, on the way out he joins forces with Ice Cool (Anthony Criss) and that's it a thief who seeks vengeance, like in the most Seagal films nothing new.
Another daft and dull well for most part straight-to-DVD action vehicle with him whispering his lines, providing intellectual discussions (about dreams and their meanings; "I had an awful dream.") and whooping some ass well maybe not so as the director does a really good job hiding Seagal's face during many of the fight sequences.
"Today You Die" actually started off promising (with an explosively barnstorming car chase sequence), but when it hit's the prison yard and from then onwards it rapidly becomes uninterestingly old-hat with its heavy-handed plot devices (betrayal, corruption), try-hard attitude and flimsy characters.
Any film with Kevin ("Adam 12") Tighe as a bad guy has to have some virtues.The film starts with Harlan Banks' (Seagal's) lady, Jada, diddling with Rider-Waite Tarot cards, and getting some of the symbolism correct.
The two of them break out of jail, and the action goes on from there.The story is a bit silly, and, MAJOR SPOILER Like some of Seagal's other films, there's Corruption in some of the Good Guy ranks.The mystic element the film started with kinda peters out.
There is a story about that, in that no movie that has stayed longer than a couple weeks on the TiVo has ever been that good and in this case, this was no exception in fact Today You Die was painfully bad, trite and just plain dull.
The movie has Steven Seagal as a thief who steals from rich corporation and gives back to the community (Oh brother.) and in doing so gets caught one night and is sent to prison.
Today You Die is a bad movie plain and simple, I really feel sorry for Seagal fans, since they have actually rented this and put money down on such a clunker.
They should have kept it simple and it would have worked.4) In some of the action scenes it is not Seagal, it is his stunt double.
He also beats the guys with movie martial arts, not real ones like the aikido Steven knows.
I think he realized that the crew were amateurs or only in it for a quick buck and he did not give a damn anymore.In the hands of a better company and crew this might have been a damn good action movie for Seagal.
It has all the ingredients that a good action movie should have, but you can't get away from the fact that Seagal is 55 years old and weighs about 400 pounds.
I hope the up-coming Black Dawn movie will be another Exit Wounds or Beyond Justice, because these last chain of movies he made, especially Today You Die, really made me wonder if he has the stuff to make more great action movies like Double Team.
Now lets get it straight before you read this, i am a Seagal fan even after the rubbish he has made in the last couple years, but this is as low as it gets.TODAY YOU DIE is utter rubbish the story is poor and the acting is rubbish Seagal doesn't look interested in being in the movie and as for the action most of which is borrowed form other movies well enough said Normally you can watch this tripe if Seagal is in it because of the fight scenes but in this movie the fight scenes are done by Seagals stunt doubleI think its time for Seagal to hang up the acting boots because this type of movie is an insult on his name Avoid this film like the plague go rent Under Siege or another old Seagal title you will be glad you did.
Steven Seagal film gets a bit better than his recent crop.
The first really bad thing is the guy hijacking Steven Seagal would have been beaten to pulp by Seagal's driving, but that probably would have ended the whole premise for the movie.It seems like they decided to make all kinds of changes in the movie plot, so just plan to enjoy the action, and do not expect a coherent plot.
Turn any sense of logic you may have, it will reduce your chance of getting a headache.I does give me some hope that Steven Seagal is trying to move back towards the type of characters he portrayed in his more popular movies..
In "Today You Die" Steven Seagal succeeds in taking back the respect that he lost with a few bad Direct-To-DVD release in recent years.
Seagal's voice wasn't dubbed throughout the whole movie and he seemed like he enjoyed making this one.As far as I could tell the fight scenes were all him.
I usually spend almost as much time writing my reviews as I do watching the film, but with Today You Die, I feel that doing so would be a criminal waste of my time.So here is a five minute rant about how bad this film is.There was a time in the mid-80s when a single look from Steven Seagal was enough to crack your ribs; a full on scowl could knock you off your feet.
How this man keeps on working in the movie industry is beyond me.Today you Die is the usual Seagal mix of bone crunching fights, car crashes, gun battles and pyrotechnics.
sleepy Kevin Tighe is a long way from his emergency days.Nick Mancuso shows up in sleepwalking mode to take a check.No more rappers.Please?At this point the action scenes and plots are more predictable and recycled generically more than ever.Its a stale scene that Seagal needs to get out of or hang it up.He should have gotten out a while ago..
Today You Die. I have always had a mixed opinion about the action star, probably only because I haven't seen enough of his films to properly judge him, Under Siege is certainly good fun, so I decided to try and watch more of his stuff, starting with this straight to video film.
Basically half good half bad, but mainly good thief Harlan Banks (Steven Seagal) has one many jobs, but from the urging of his girlfriend Jada (Mari Morrow) he pulls off what will be his last job, with some guys trying to steal $20,000,000.
First off let me let you all know that I am a die hard Steven Seagal fan.I bought this movie and viewed it expecting something better than his last installments.Whoever edited this movie should be shot and quartered.There was a scene where he was fighting some guys and he was wearing a brown leather trench,but when he was attacked and countered he was wearing what appeared to be a black suit with a blue shirt.Another problem I have with this movie is that Steven Seagal did not do most of the fight scenes.There were a lot of shots from behind and you could see that his stand in was thinner and walked differently.Also I ran one particular fight scene in slow motion and caught the profile of the stand in.Terrible editing,direction,and acting of course.If you are an Ultimate Fighting fan you will catch a glimpse of Randy (The natural) Cotourre getting his ass knocked out by Seagal which is highly unlikely in real life.On top of that he had this so called psychic girl friend who was like 20 something.A very stupid and useless role in the movie since all she did was keep telling Seagal about her premonitions.Also when he was in prison he was strutting around like it was his house and he did not even have the uniform all the other inmates had on.The guards were considerate enough to let Seagal strut around in his dark blue denim jacket.The way he got caught by the cops was ridiculous.He drives this armoured truck around crashing into everything.He drives into an abandoned area and drags his captor out of the truck runs a distance and calls his girlfriend on a cell then passes out.If you are a Stephen Seagal fan buy it.If you like him a bit and are curious rent it.But my opinion on this movie is not good I have seen better kids movies then this.Actually I think 'Into The Sun' was way better than this garbage.In my opinion if Steven Seagal is not willing to take a more active role in his fight scenes maybe he should call it quits.It makes me wonder if there is something physically wrong with him..
I love watching steven seagal movies not because of the action of the great plot holes but just because it makes me laughoh it makes me laugh so hard this movie totally got no point and is ridiculous compared to this movie Pearl harbor rocks!!!
like some gangster would let that ever happen.the acting is also very worse at the fight scene in the jail outdoor place you can see steven clearly wait to come in action just rewind it a couple of time and you notice the bad actingits just makes me laugh i hope one day it comes to the cinema's here in Holland then i'll go there with as many friends as possible just to laugh my self to death.
Unfortunately, TODAY YOU DIE isn't in that half: it's one of his worst films, an utterly low-budgeted, unoriginal attempt at an action thriller that rips footage from close to half a dozen other movies from the last ten years.
These fights scenes would be quite entertaining if it wasn't for the obvious doubling, so it's a shame they found it necessary to do it.Elsewhere, the script is laughable and the film makes ANOTHER return to prison, where Seagal once again bonds with the black inmates and teams up with a black rapper-turned-wannabe-actor (sigh).
Today You Die. Steven Seagal is a thief who specializes in robbing wealther drug dealers, giving to the poor and unfortunate..heh, Harlan, the Robin Hood.
Today You Die starts as honourable criminal Harlan banks (producer Steven Seagal) is hired by sinister businessman Max Stevens (Kevin Tighe) to drive a security vehicle with $20,000,000 of cash in the back from point 'A' a Las Vegas casino to point 'B' him, sounds simple right?
FauntLeRoy one has to say that the shot in Eastern Europe straight-to-video action films that Steven Seagal specialises in these days aren't getting any better & Today You Die is a good case in point.
The infrequent fight scenes aren't great, most are either shot in shadow, very quickly cut & edited or with the camera played behind Seagal's character to try & disguise the fact that most of the stunt work done here is by a double.
The acting is poor & Seagal just mumbles his way through his lines as usual.Today You Die is a really bad film made up from other bad action films, Seagal looks old & fat, the action scenes are average at best & most of the story is fairly random & it doesn't come together at the end that well at all.
Get this, IMDb fault-finders.No.1 The Steven Seagal character is a whispering jacket-clad easy-going rogue with incredible stamina and a charming smile.No.2 The film is full of surprises.Surprise One Instead of fighting some crazy flipping bad guy (who is simply ridiculous with his unnecessary acrobatic moves before the real brawl) our hero just shoots him with a shotgun.
Our actors also did a great job, making Mr Steven Seagal sound like "Coolio".
As to the corny acting - I've got no problem with that, while the film is corny itself.It would have been marvellous if Mr Steven Seagal and Mr Jackie Chan had made a movie together, playing two rivals with dozens of wicked henchmen at their disposal.
Unfortunately this movie is non-existent.Fair job, Mr Steven Seagal, not perfect of course, but pretty fair: 6 out of 10 (the lingual twist alone deserves respect), just do what you can and make more zany action, keep off stupid bed scenes (like in this action flick) and don't be afraid to show yourself even if you are not in a top-notch muscular condition!
the end).2) steven has run out of money (there was a good car chase scene at the start, but i think he blew his budget on that and couldn't afford a decent script writer or editor).3) steven no longer appears to do his own action.
Ah yet another Seagal movie.In no less than a few mere months arrive to populate the video store shelves.As bad as Submerged?No.But that is not saying much.Like perfume on a pig.Seagal is professional thief who wants to quit,but goes for one last job only to be double-crossed by his boss.He lands in Prison and is befriended by a Gangster who helps him to break out and seek payback.Its good to see Seagal finally not playing an agent,cop,or what he usually plays.We actually get a USA Location in Las Vegas it seems.
Ah yet another Seagal movie.In no less than a few mere months arrive to populate the video store shelves.As bad as Submerged?No.But that is not saying much.Like perfume on a pig.Seagal is professional thief who wants to quit,but goes for one last job only to be double-crossed by his boss.He lands in Prison and is befriended by a Gangster who helps him to break out and seek payback.Its good to see Seagal finally not playing an agent,cop,or what he usually plays.We actually get a USA Location in Las Vegas it seems.
There is no wire-Fu either here.Don Fauntleroy does an okay job.However most of the action and fight scenes with Stevie are clearly doubles.Scenes from other movies,a lack of realism and logic in even tiniest situation.Seagal and Treech make a so-so team inspiring(unintentional) laughs one minute.Sighs the rest.Several notable faces turn up to slum it..
There is no wire-Fu either here.Don Fauntleroy does an okay job.However most of the action and fight scenes with Stevie are clearly doubles.Scenes from other movies,a lack of realism and logic in even tiniest situation.Seagal and Treech make a so-so team inspiring(unintentional) laughs one minute.Sighs the rest.Several notable faces turn up to slum it..
This film is what would happen if Steven Segal starred in "Prison Break" That is to say he would escape in about 10 minutes and have all the bad guys dead in about an hour and a half.
FauntLeRoy's slam-bang action thriller "Today You Die" is the first of three straight-to-video releases that he helmed with aikido star Steven Seagal.
The amazing thing about this stock footage is that FauntLeRoy does such as slick job of seamlessly making it a part of "Today You Die." Incidentally, the film draws its title from a line that Seagal's co-star Anthony 'Treach' Criss utters near the end when he has a face-to-face showdown with another villain who double-crossed Seagal in this tolerably entertaining shoot'em up.
Straight to video action film with lots of aikido scenes with explosions and pyrotechnics.**** May contain spoilers **** A thief (Seagal) quits.
If you are a fan of Steven Seagal or like action films, rent it..
After Submerged its Today you die Stevens next film and this film is an excellent action movie.
Steven Seagal had the last 7 years make bad movies.
I like Seagal and i hope that his movie black dawn will not so bad.
You see, for years, i've always thought Steven Seagal was a white guy.....but not so, as this movie would have you believe.