ada the leading man is my tpye

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

ivo-cobra8 Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take a Van Damme underrated, science fiction, action film from Ringo Lam, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.Replicant (2001) is Van Damme's third Direct to Video decent Science Fiction/action movie, that I think is very underrated and bashed off. In my opinion this is my favorite Van Damme. It is the second movie from Van Damme that is direct to video I saw on VHS. The first one would be Legionnaire which I liked that movie, but I love this one. In my opinion this movie is far way better than Knock Off, Derailed and Inferno aka Desert Heat! I seriously hate those movies. Each of them suck and Replicant is miles way better than those movies together, that I think Van Damme made a shitty job in there. The movie starts off about a scientists who create a genetic clone of a serial killer in order to help catch the killer, teaming up with two cops.Replicant is about obsessed serial killer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and the recently retired cop (Michael Rooker) intent on stopping him. After finding his hair follicle at a crime scene, a secret government agency clones the killer in the hopes that the replicant will aid in the search. Although he's full-grown, the clone (also played by Van Damme) has the emotional and mental capacity of a young child. Soon the naive replicant begins to have visions of past murders and an abusive mother, leading him to escape and seek the killer on his own. The film it self is more about retribution for a cop and a serial killer's replicant clone. I love Michael Rooker as Det. Jake Riley, I seriously love his acting performance in this movie, the same I did love his acting performance in his other movies as a cop. Renegade Force (1998) and The Replacement Killers (1998), which I own this movie on Blu-ray disc. Jean-Claude Van Damme did a solid job acting performance in this movie, the fight choreographer was good, and the fight scenes where also good.This was the second collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hong Kong film director Ringo Lam that they where working together. This first one was Maximum Risk and this is the second one. Honestly Direct to Videos that Van Damme made, my favorites are Maximum Risk and this one Replicant. I love how smart and brilliant this movie is, that Van Damme's replicant helps Jake (Michael Rooker) catching the serial killer his original clone./: Edward "The Torch" Garrotte (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a serial killer, who prey's for the female's who are mom's or a single mom's and kills's them. Each of the mom is picked up randomly whenever she say's words like "You're a bad boy" than he attacks and kill's them. He uses his martial arts to escape from the cops, who are after him. Det. Jake Riley is actually a cop, who is chasing The Torch for a years not successfully. So now he is forced to get retired, but The Torch call's on the phone him and pushes him, beyond the limit. A scientist clone the killer with the help of his DNK and they gave him to Riley (Michael Rooker) in to the care. The replicant will help him to catch The Torch.I love how Rooker's character hated, the replicant and blaming him for everything that is happening in his life and so on. I also love how the replicant saves Jake on the end, beats up The Torch, fake's his own death and flees the crime and starts the new life with the hooker, he just saved. Seriously a good movie and not bad for 51 year old Van Damme. There are few more movies Van Damme made direct to video that I like beside this one. I am giving this movie a sold 8, because Ringo Lam did made a great job directing this movie and working together for the second time with Van Damme. I love this movie and it is my favorite Van Damme movie. I will get this movie on Blu-ray disc next month, I hardly wait. Replicant is a 2001 American science fiction action film directed by Ringo Lam, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Rooker. It is the second collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hong Kong film director Ringo Lam, and the fifth time that Van Damme has starred in a dual role. The film had a limited theatrical release in many European countries, and was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on September 18, 2001.8/10 Grade: A Studio: Artisan Entertainment Eagle Films, Lionsgate Home Entertainment Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent, Brandon James Olson, Pam Hyatt, Ian Robison, Allan Gray, James Hutson, Marnie Alton Director: Ringo Lam Producers: David Dadon, Danny Lerner, John Thompson Screenplay: Lawrence David Riggins, Les Weldon Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 40 Mins. Budget: $17.000.000 Box Office: $848,053

Abyss47 Not your typical Van Damme star vehicle, nor your typical dumb action movie. Talented director Ringo Lam, who gave us the gritty crime film "City on Fire" and the spectacular tour de force known as "Full Contact" entered the 00's decade with a thoughtful and entertaining sci-fi action film that fared considerably better than the last Van Damme/Lam collaboration "Maximum Risk", a film that succeeded in mood, but little else."Replicant" poses some interesting questions: Who are we and where do we really come from? Can we overcome a horrifying past full of violence and become reborn anew? Ringo Lam and his team of writers managed to make a film that offers something for pretty much everybody; serious sci-fi fans and those who simply want a gritty, violent (but also polished) action flick that blurs the fine line between the old-school and the new-school.Van Damme helps hold it all together, and in terms of acting, he's never been more engaging. As expected, he plays two roles here, that of vicious serial killer Edward Garrotte and the Replicant who is hired by a secret government agency to stop him, who just so happens to be a clone of Edward. They cloned Edward through DNA evidence found at a crime scene. Jake (Michael Rooker) is the one who has to work together with the Replicant to find Edward and put a stop to his vicious crimes. Jake despises the Replicant because he only sees Edward in him, and is smart enough to know that at any moment, the Replicant could snap and Edward's killer instinct might take over. This is because Edward's memories are stored in the Replicant's DNA. Jake is a no-nonsense agent, so he's constantly abusing and belittling the Replicant in the hopes of training him to find and take out Edward before it's too late.There's a lot more going on under the surface, though, as the Replicant is trying to find himself along the way. Edward plays mind games with the Replicant in their confrontations, trying to convince him that they are one in the same. But whereas Edward is a cruel and psychotic killer who gets his kicks burning women alive, the Replicant is like a newborn baby by comparison; full of potential, but ultimately clueless. In one scene, a prostitute invites him up to her apartment for a little one-on-one time. The Replicant, confused and afraid, doesn't understand sexual activity, and in the process, winds up embarrassing himself. The prostitute pops the question, "Is this your first time?" right after calling on her pimp to come take care of this "weirdo". This sub-plot comes full-circle by the end, as the Replicant, finally a free man, goes and finds the prostitute again. Only this time, he's ready.The relationship between Jake and the Replicant is the heart of the film. Jake is like the surrogate father of the Replicant; he's hard on him and gets constantly angry, but only means the best for him. There's a touching scene at the end after Jake kills Edward where, the Replicant and Jake, all bloodied up are essentially in each other's arms as Jake is trying to keep the Replicant conscious. The Replicant looks at Edward's dead body and says, "Jake....my family's gone." Jake then looks at Edward and back at the Replicant, and says, "Hey...hey, he's not your family.....I'm your family. I'm your family, now." It's at that moment where everything just clicks. Two polar opposites, one prejudiced against the other because of his look-a-like. The other, although deadly, brought into a cruel world where he had a choice, succumbs to confusion. If he can't trust someone who looks exactly like him, who can he trust? That's the question that was likely going through his head at the end, as his clone tried to take his life away from him. Throughout the film, he has various memories circling throughout his head, which only adds to his confusion. And we're confused, too, as one of the only things we know about the Replicant is that he likes the rain. An homage to "Blade Runner", perhaps.Believing the Replicant to have died in the explosion at the end of the film, Jake further shows his human side by quitting the agency, which is tragic considering that during the moment before his death, the Replicant realized who his true family is. But Jake soon realizes that it takes a lot more than an explosion to kill a genetically engineered person. That is, unless the Replicant escaped right before the explosion went off in the hospital.Ringo Lam nails the atmosphere of a dark, uncanny future full of death and violence. The film is more polished than his Hong Kong films, yet doesn't entirely lack the grit of them. The action scenes are well staged, not too showy, and still manage to feel very lively in the process. The framing of shots is also professional, never allowing us to miss an important detail, and the film overall looks quite good, especially on Blu-ray. Van Damme nails both characters to a tee, showing malicious intent, and pent-up rage, among other things, in the role of Edward, in a surprisingly subtle way. As the Replicant, he has a couple of campy moments, but is generally believable in such a vulnerable role, where he's essentially playing a child in a man's body, albeit one who is capable of kicking some major ass.Van Damme made two singular films in his career that stand head and shoulders above the rest. One of them was "Knock-Off", a borderline brilliant satire/parody made by another talented Asian director by the name of Hark Tsui. "Replicant" is the other one; a film that could've easily fallen apart in the wrong hands, managed to rise above the limitations of the lead actor and become a poignant and entertaining piece of science fiction that contains just as much heart as it does thrills.

preppy-3 There's a vicious serial killer around (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who only kills mothers but leaves their kids alone. A secret government agency makes a clone of him from a strand of hair (!!) and figure the clone will telepathically lead them to his "father" (!!!). They hire reluctant retired cop Jake Riley (Michael Rooker) to train him and teach him to find his double. Naturally everything goes wrong.OK the plot is ridiculous but who watches a Van Damme film for the plot? You watch it for the violence and action and there's PLENTY in this one DEFINITE PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! However this goes TOO far. It opens with a young mother being brutally killed in front of her little kid. All through the movie there are some incredibly vicious beatings--Rooker really gets it at one point. And, near the end, there's an all out no holds bared fight in a hospital which has corpses being shot up, elderly people in wheelchairs being shoved around or knocked off, nurses being knocked cold and plenty of people being brutally beaten. I have no problem with violence but this movie just went TOO far.Still, I was never bored. The plot was so stupid that I had to keep watching and some of the humor in this is actually pretty funny. Rooker is excellent in his role and (surprisingly) Van Damme is OK. He's not GOOD but at least he tries to pull off two roles at once--and succeeds! The movie moves very quickly--after it gets going there's barely a let-up. So, it IS too violent but I enjoyed it. Some people might find this amusing--in one scene Rooker was supposed to strip Van Damme nude (to see if he was bugged). Rooker refused saying he didn't want to star with Van Damme and Van Damme Jr:) So he's just stripped down to his underpants. Gotta say Van Damme still had a great body considering he was 40 when he did this! I give it a 7.

DigitalRevenantX7 Plot Synopsis: Police officer Jake Riley retires from the force after unsuccessfully trying to catch a serial killer known as the Torch. He then joins the National Security Force, an agency that has created a clone of the Torch. Riley joins forces with the clone in order to catch the killer.Ever since the disaster that was "Universal Soldier: The Return", Jean-Claude Van Damme's career has gone into a tailspin. Now all his films have gone DTV. Which is a shame since his films have gotten a lot better. With "Replicant", Van Damme teams up with Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, who had previously done "Maximum Risk" with Van Damme starring.The film takes the serial killer genre & adds cloning to the mix, using the silly notion that a clone can develop a telepathic link with the original. Although this does not matter too much since the idea is used to form the basis for a pretty good character-driven story. Van Damme tries to play the villain as best he can, but looks unconvincing with his mumbling & bad sunglasses. But he excels as the clone, playing with a mix of childish innocence & blank stupidity that surprisingly works. Michael Rooker is cast as the hero of the piece & tries to do it good but fails to engage, instead becoming the real villain of the film with his bad attitude. Unlike other Van Damme films, the action has been toned down considerably.