Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
User Score
3.9 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 48
  3. Negative: 28 out of 48

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  1. anshiman
    Sep 27, 2012
    0
    A fantastic combination of special effects and acting beyond even The Dark Knight's pathetic "Joker" portrayed by Heath Ledger so famously. The movie leaps beyond its humble apparent origins with the help of true spectacle in the eyes of a visionary director ahead of his time.
  2. GeoffR.
    Jan 3, 2003
    8
    High on action, awesome score, and impressive martial arts. Storyline secondary, but a fun ride. 2 bags of popcorn minimum.
  3. BubbaFresh
    Jan 5, 2003
    0
    Dude, yo man, this movie was sh*t! Sorry for all you people who hate big words, but for $20 I'd like to see a movie that doesn't just have explosions. In these types of movies I expect and welcome explosions, but this movie had way too much. I was bored of them after 10 minutes. For all the retards who made this movie, and will probably make more of these, try to show some intelligence. When there are a dozen guys on different buildings with sniper rifles aimed at Sever, don't say "don't shoot her. We don't want to cancel her". What the hell is the point of having these guys with fricken sniper rifles if they aren't going to shoot her. At least be creative and interesting by having special bullets that release gas when they hit her, or tranqulizers, or whatever else. In my opinion the director could have saved a lot of money if he just used cardboard cutouts for the bad guys. I am sure nobody would have noticed or cared.… Expand
  4. HamS.
    Nov 5, 2002
    7
    It's utterly plotless with the most incoherent banderas ever, but what a slam-bang ride! For some strange reason, I just wanna watch it again! :)
  5. PhilK.
    Sep 22, 2002
    1
    After considering a ZERO rating, I moved it UP to a 1 because at the very least there were some nifty action moments, however implausible, with nice moves by Lucy Liu. Beyond that, what a terrible, terrible film. Everything is wrong, even the title, since most of the time these two spies are a team. Ludicrous plot with holes so big they're not even worth discussing. And I mean BIG holes - imagine a block of Swiss cheese the size of a sofa, but which weighs only a few ounces. And there's nothing, and I mean NOTHING, in the way of character development. Even RAMBO comes off as a far more complex, multi-faceted persona compared to anyone in this piss-poor excuse for screenplay. What makes it all even worse is that the film takes itself so seriously - the makers actually seem to believe they're telling a compelling tale. With a director who names himself Kaos (insert joke here), and an ending ripped straight from the pages of Blade Runner, this coffin is nailed shut. (Wanna see a good Thai-directed film? Rent "Bangkok Dangerous".)… Expand
  6. Navid
    Feb 22, 2003
    10
    The whole movie was filmed in Vancouver. The movie rocks and so does VANCOUVER.
  7. RyanM.
    Feb 9, 2003
    0
    It's about 20 minutes of actual film put into slow-motion for 90 minutes. Sleepy?
  8. George
    Nov 17, 2002
    1
    I was dragged to this horrid film by my girlfriend . . . I can forgive her, but I cannot forget.
  9. JakeM.
    Dec 30, 2002
    0
    The words "stay away!" should tell you everything.
  10. JerryH.
    Sep 19, 2002
    0
    This is the worst movie of year by far, so bad that all involved in actually getting a theatre release for this straight to video foreign market piece of sh*t should go hide under a rock and never come out again to insult our intelligence. Franchise sucks. Thank goodness I didn't pay for this explosion filled, no blood spilled, moronic film. These characters could not be more idiotic. The action could not be more sleep-inducing even if they put more slow motion into the film wich probably isn't possible -- it works great with the crappy electronic soundtrack. AAHHH! Kill me now. Poor Antonio, Lucy and Talisa. Given vomit inducing dialogue from the brilliant writer -- there was no way they could stay afloat on the sinking turd. Do not see this movie. Not in the theatre. Not on video. Not ever. Save yourself the time. Sitting on the toilet is a much better way to spend however long this unending film last. Stop. Think. Go do anything else. XXX looks like a masterpiece compared to this ... this, I don't know what to call it anymore and from the title it looks like the producers didn't either. All I can say is -- why?… Expand
  11. TedA.
    Feb 8, 2003
    0
    Awful, boring movie. I wanted to leave the theater, but it was real cold outside. Don't waste your time.
  12. KeitaB.
    Jul 9, 2003
    10
    This movie wasn't the greatest of action films, but I honestly enjoyed it. It may be simple to many movie-goers, but film is an art form. You don't have to razzled and dazzled by fancy film techniques and wall to wall action all the time. If you follow the script, it had good character development and good character motives. Each character had reasons for doing what they did and it made sense. As far as the action, I thought that there were some weak fight scenes in the begining, but the director made up for them as the movie progressed. The director and screenwriter put lots of thought and effort into this film and I commend them for it. Besides, seeing Lucy Liu as a female action hero was absolutely brilliant! Quote: It's easy to find BAD critizism, why not work a little harder for the good? … Expand
  13. KeithB.
    Jan 22, 2005
    0
    Anybody who gave this movie more than a 2 is a complete idiot. This was the worst movie I've seen in years. Absolutely horrible. No it DOES NOT ROCK!!
  14. JimC.
    Nov 15, 2002
    0
    It's interesting that all the folks who liked this movie wrote no more that two sentences; while those that found it an abomination wrote longer explanations as to why this piece of garbage stunk. First off, I cannot stand Lucy Liu. How she got where she is today is a mystery. Talent? Very little. Prima Donna? You bet. But I don't want to get carried away with such trivial matters -- this poor excuse for a film has no reason to exist other than to provide meaningless brain candy to the movie viewing populance at large. … Expand
  15. WelcometoSportsweek.I'mGilbertMulroneycakes.
    Nov 25, 2002
    1
    Question: Aren't Ecks and Sever working together? Not versus each other? Answer: who the hell cares?
  16. MattJ.
    Dec 19, 2002
    5
    This was a fun action flick, mindless, not much continuity or plot. But it was still fun watching lots of stuff blow up.
  17. Toni
    Dec 26, 2002
    8
    I really liked it, i even watched the whole thing throuhg, that never happens.
  18. Graham
    Dec 29, 2002
    7
    The plot was pretty thin and was predictable, but this is the best of these types of movies.
  19. Jovi
    Sep 19, 2002
    0
    What do you get when all you have are bullets, explosions, and more bullets, a dance track for a score, and more expolsions? Crap!!! And that is what this movie is - CRAP!! There is no plot or story and you could care less for the characters. Oh, did I mention the explosions? And as for the spy v.s spy gimmick? It doesn't exist. He's a washout lush and she IS a bad ass, but neither one is after the other. IT's predictably bad and loud. And with all the gun fire you would think there would be a death or two - nope!!! No matter how much heat is being packed no one gets really hurt or dies. Forget about any attempts at reality, there is none!! And as for the female leads thing with origame... it was useful and well done in Blade Runner and should have never been attempted again. Sacrilige!!!! This film makes last years Rollerball look like an Oscar winner. The actors are good however, but what can you do when the rest of the film sucks? Just goes to show that as long as you have explosions and a dance track, story is not neaded. what a shame, at least B movies straight to video have some nudity and foul language to make up for it, all this had was CRAP!!! oh, and origame.… Expand
  20. ChristmasJones
    Sep 26, 2002
    10
    This movie was simply stunning. A true masterpiece. I love Kaos - I believe he will have a productive and lucrative career cranking out Oscar-worthy films.
  21. JoeC.
    Sep 28, 2002
    10
    Dude, yo man, this movie was the sh*t!
  22. Joe
    Jan 13, 2003
    0
    What makes good action scenes? the duck and cover, the fancy moves, a varied terrain. think of the action masterpieces, imho : Die Hard, the Matrix, Lethal Weapon. they had these basic elements in their action scenes. what was the FINALE action scene for Ballistic? A FREAKING GOSHDARN RAILROAD YARD. with ppl shooting STRAIGHT at each other. i can forgive a mindless action movie with crappy acting, crappy plot, crappy whatever. but it must have GOOD ACTION (think Bloodsport). this pathetic excuse of a movie didn't even have that.… Expand
  23. WWABTT123
    Sep 9, 2010
    1
    it's nothing but martial arts, corny fighting scenes and bad setting.
  24. DJ_Kaas
    Jun 2, 2012
    0
    What af piece of crap, you do not need many Braincells to see this movie... A waste of money to them who made the film.
  25. rishab_babji
    Sep 27, 2012
    0
    By far the best movie I have ever seen and it is a far, far better thing to do than I have ever done. And it is a far, far rest that I go to that I have ever known. The soundtrack of this movie was also a high point in this already amazing movie with non-diagetic sound bursting through the speakers giving me multiple eargasms at once. And the acting, oh the acting, I must applaud the actors in this movie for their tremendous job in portraying the characters. They really become the characters and not simply act like the characters they were given. For example, the quoting by Ecks, oh dear lord that was amazing! That story about how his father gave him scars. I proudly relay the whole quote to my friends having learnt it off by heart. And the acting by Sever and his quote of how an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Truly inspirational and amazing. This is a movie I would recommend to any friend or foe alike. PLEASE WATCH THIS MOVIE IT IS REALLY WORTH IT!! Yours SINCERELY,
    The Crew from the Dark Knight.    … Expand
  26. mykhawke
    Sep 14, 2012
    10
    An outstanding display of continuous badassery, it's action sequences give it the 10 points on their own.
  27. YoursTruly
    Nov 12, 2012
    0
    Wow...
  28. kublay0880
    Dec 18, 2012
    0
    I don't see what did they wanted to achieve with this "movie", to me it was like watching a 1970's spies TV show or something like that it was a story that came out of nowhere, very disappointing, the only good about this movie was the title.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
19 out of 100

Overwhelming dislike - based on 26 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 26
  3. Negative: 21 out of 26
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    10
    You could run this film backward, soundtrack included, and it would make no less sense. --It's almost completely uninvolving, as well as being impenetrable.
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  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    10
    The film isn't even as good as the second-rate game it is based on, which is nothing but a shootout.
    Read full review
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    30
    The tiny, impassive-faced Liu is a disaster. She looks cute in her custom commando gear, but she's not actress enough to make Sever's ridiculous, faux hard-boiled dialogue sound like anything but the formulaic nonsense it is.
    Read full review
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