Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Order Blu-ray Movie Review

Jean-Claude Van Damme and the Semblance of Doom

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 30, 2012

If you don't recognize The Order as the title of a 2001 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, it's probably because the film never received a U.S. release, although it did reasonably well on home video. Still, the lack of theatrical distribution meant the title was still available two years later, when Brian Helgeland wanted to use it for the film he wrote and directed starring the late Heath Ledger. (It bombed.) When you look up The Order here or at IMDb, you get two results, and you have to know which one to choose. Helgeland's film is the one that had to be called The Sin Eater (or some variation) in most non-U.S. markets, because the Van Damme vehicle got there first.

The Order was scripted by Van Damme and Les Weldon, who helped write Replicant and is currently one of many producers on The Expendables 2. It's one of JCVD's lesser efforts, but it was directed by the reliable Sheldon Lettich, who was the principal writer on Van Damme's breakthrough, Bloodsport, and helmed Double Impact, another of his hits. Lettich keeps up a snappy pace and gives the whole derivative affair a gung-ho energy that suggests a bargain-basement Bond film. As in a typical Bond plot, everything in the story is absurd, including the villain's whack-job plan, and Lettich didn't have the budget for the kind of eye candy that keeps your mind from dwelling on the illogic of it all. But he compensates by never letting you pause long enough to think about it. And who cares anyway, when all Van Damme’s fans want is to see him kicking?

The Order borrows shamelessly from the third Indiana Jones film. The pilfering doesn't quite reach the level of plagiarism, but it goes way beyond homage. In a prologue set in the Middle Ages and narrated by the authoritative oratory of Charlton Heston, we are introduced to a knight of the Crusades named Charles Le Vaillant (Van Damme), who became disillusioned with war and founded a new religion devoted to peace. Because this new religion combined elements of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and accepted converts from all three, Charles was declared a heretic and hunted by the Christian knights who formerly fought at his side. During an attack in the desert near Jerusalem, Charles and many of his followers were killed. More importantly, the scroll containing the final chapter of the new religion's holy text, written by Charles, was lost.

In other words, there's a new Grail out there.

In the present, Rudy Cafmeyer (also Van Damme) is a skilled thief, smuggler and finder of lost objects. Currently he's in Odessa, where he's partnered with Yuri (Sasson Gabai) to steal a rare Fabergé egg owned by the Russian mob from a secure exhibit. Even though the elaborately choreographed heist doesn't go off exactly as planned—didn't these guys see Raiders of the Lost Ark? you may find yourself asking, but that's just it; the writers did—Rudy gets away with the egg and brings it New York to fence. While there, he visits his father, Henry Jones, er, Oscar Cafmeyer (Vernon Dobtcheff), an archaeologist, teacher and museum curator, who is wildly excited about an ancient scroll his museum has just received.

Before Rudy can complete his deal on the Fabergé egg (which goes badly), his father has left for Israel with the scroll, where he disappears. Rudy goes looking for him and immediately runs into trouble with Israeli customs and police in the persons of Lt. Dalia Barr (Sofia Milos) and Maj. Ben Ner (Ben Cross). It seems Rudy's reputation for smuggling artifacts has preceded him. An old family friend, Prof. Walter Finley, is sufficiently authoritative to vouch for Rudy and get him into the country. No doubt Finley's influence is due to the fact that he's played by Moses himself, Charlton Heston, in his last screen appearance and still every inch a movie star at the age of 77. Unfortunately for both the film and the audience, Heston's role is little more than an extended cameo, but while he's there, Heston gives The Order a jolt of energy.

The villains of the piece are a secret sect within the modern-day followers of Charles Le Vaillant called "the Army of God". Rejecting his vision of peace, they have embraced an apocalyptic philosophy in which the world must first be cleansed of its current evil (basically, everyone but them) before a new order can be built. The sect's leader, Cyrus Jacob (Brian Thompson), believes that the long-lost scroll identified by Oscar Cafmeyer is essential to triggering this cleansing apocalypse. Oscar hid the scroll in a safe deposit box and left the key for Prof. Finley to give to Rudy. Rudy, who was supposed to keep the thing away from Cyrus Jacob, brings the scroll with him while searching for his father, thereby delivering it into the hands of Cyrus Jacob. Does any of this sound familiar?

At least you can't drink from a scroll; so no one ages into a skeleton that turns to dust before our eyes. But almost every other element from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade gets recycled in The Order, which doesn't add much new other than Van Damme's kickboxing moves. Still, that's a meaningful addition, since it's impossible to confuse Van Damme with any other action star. During a long, giggle-inducing sequence where Rudy tries to evade pursuers by disguising himself as a Hasidic Jew, he is almost immediately recognized, because, in the end, all of JCVD's heros look, sound and move alike. Rudy/Van Damme can put on the hat, the coat, the whiskers and the locks of hair, but he still walks and runs in that distinctive manner that anyone could spot from a hundred yards away.

The Order Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Order is a Sony catalogue title being released through Image Entertainment, and in general the 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray maintains the high standards we've come to expect from such releases. The source material is in fine shape, and Israeli cinematographer David Gurfinkel's finely detailed location photography is presented to good advantage, for the most part. Black levels are deep and well-differentiated, which is essential in the heist scene in the film's first act and the cavern scenes in the third. Contrast is appropriate for the tricky light levels in the bright Middle Eastern sun during the second act, and colors are varied and vibrant without over-saturation.

However, there is occasional aliasing on fine horizontal patterns, which is something I'm not accustomed to encountering in Image/Sony Blu-rays. An obvious example occurs early in the film as Rudy examines the building he's about to burgle from a vantage point across the street. Also noteworthy is an almost complete absence of visible grain. Sony has been particularly reliable at leaving the grain in its transfers undisturbed, which makes the absence of visible grain especially unusual in a film of this vintage. Close examination did not reveal any of the usual signs of high frequency filtering (e.g., waxy complexions or loss of fine detail), but in many shots the image has acquired a kind of "digital" appearance that leans more toward video than film. The difference is slight enough that many viewers probably won't notice. Indeed, had Image/Sony not established such a high standard with their previous releases, the issue would not be worth this much comment.

The Order Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track for The Order is unusual, in that pushes the musical score by Pino Donaggio (Brian DePalma's favorite composer in his early career) to the rear of the soundstage, forcing the surround speakers to carry much more of the burden than is typical in film mixing. The effect isn't unpleasant, but I don't think it would work for most films. It helps that Donaggio's score is energetic and well-suited to the material (and certainly nothing like the lush orchestral creations he supplied for DePalma).

In addition to music, the rear channels are used for their more typical purposes of supplying vehicles passing, glass breaking, people running or other standard accoutrements of action scenes. A particularly memorable effect occurs late in the film, when gunshots are fired in underground caverns, and the surrounds create the hollow effect of the explosion echoing within a narrowly confined space.

Dialogue is clear and intelligible. By this point, both Van Damme and his director knew exactly what and how much he could get away with saying.

The Order Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 2002 Sony DVD contained the film's trailer and a few "bonus" trailers. The Blu-ray contains no extras.

The Order Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My sense is that The Order isn't well-regarded among JCVD's fans, but I think it should be. Despite its derivative story, the film is efficient, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and it provides a lot more Van Damage than the unfocused The Quest, which badly needed a sharp directorial eye like Lettich's to insist on a clear narrative. With minor reservations about the video, as noted above, the Blu-ray is recommended.