Mercenary for Justice

Last updated
Mercenary for Justice
Mercenary for Justice.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy
Written by Steve Collins
Produced by Randall Emmett
George Furla
Starring Steven Seagal
Jacqueline Lord
Roger Guenveur Smith
Luke Goss
Michael K. Williams
Langley Kirkwood
Vivien Bieldt
Adrian Galley
Bruce Young
Verity Price
CinematographyDon E. FauntLeRoy
Edited byRobert A. Ferretti
Music byStephen Edwards
Production
company
Luminosity Films Emmett/Furla Films
Distributed by Millennium Films
Release date
  • April 18, 2006 (2006-04-18)
Running time
96 minutes
CountriesUnited States
South Africa
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15,000,000 [1]

Mercenary for Justice is a 2006 action thriller film directed and shot by Don E. FauntLeRoy. [2] [3] It stars Steven Seagal, Luke Goss, Jacqueline Lord and Roger Guenveur Smith. The film was released direct-to-video on April 18, 2006. Principal photography was on location in Cape Town, South Africa.

Contents

Plot

CIA dirty deeds man John Dresham (Luke Goss) and black ops organiser Anthony Chapel (Roger Guenveur Smith) hire mercenary John Seeger (Steven Seagal) and his crew for a mission in the French-controlled Galmoral Island in Southern Africa. Ostensibly, the purpose of the operation is to aid the local population, though in reality Dresham and Chapel plan to seize and profit off the island's rich oil and diamond reserves.

Seeger gets steamed when the mission goes wrong. Some of his soldiers, against Seeger's orders, take the French Ambassador (Rudiger Eberle) and his family hostage for leverage and later blow them all up. French troops arrive and attack the mercenaries, resulting in his best friend "Radio" Jones (Zaa Nkweta) being killed. Maxine Barnol, his spy posing as a journalist, suggests CIA involvement.

Seeger heads back to the United States and goes to the home of Radio's wife Shondra (Faye Peters), tells her the news, and then promises her that he will take care of her and her young son Eddie (Tumi Mogoje). While there he kills two of Dresham's men sent to kill him and discovers Dresham's implication.

Chapel again hires the team of mercenaries, kidnapping Shondra and Eddie to force John into cooperating. The mission involves rescuing Kamal Dasan, the son of prominent gun runner Ahmet Dasan (Peter Butler), who has been arrested and thrown into the Randveld Prison outside of Cape Town, South Africa, and is due to be extradited to the United States.

Dresham discovers the job but not its object and when he bumps into Maxine he forces her to work for him instead of Chapel. Maxine leads him to believe that the target is the safe of a bank in Cape Town and Dresham uses his CIA influence to be shown round the security installation. Maxine listens attentively and takes photos.

Seeger leads Dresham in circles but when the mercenaries break into the prison they discover that Kamal is not there any more. In the Cape Town bank, Seeger persuades the Greek government to arrest Kamal's father, then escapes making sure Dresham will be arrested too.

Finally, with a few loyal members of his team, John rescues Shondra and Eddie and kills Chapel and his guards.

Cast

Production

Filming took 28 days. The director later said "the story was confusing because there were four writers on the film and things were left over from draft to draft. I pointed all this out to the producers, but they did not care. Also, the producers cut scene number 101 from the shooting schedule that played right in the middle of the film it caused a domino effect before and after. That scene was the tie-up in the movie. I talked until I was blue in the face trying to convince them the decision was a huge mistake. They did not care." [4]

Fauntleroy said scene 101 was where Maxine and Seeger meet up and set the plan in motion to expose Chapel and Dresham. "A fight sequence was to take place as Seeger left the Hotel where Seagal had to take on four guys so Maxine could slip away." [4]

Fauntleroy claims the producers "just hated Steven and their whole existence was to destroy him, staff of personal, and the film." [4]

Lawsuit

Fauntleroy claimed the day he arrived on the film the producers "showed me a law suit that had already been prepared and was ready to file if Steven gave them any problems." [4]

Nu Image, Inc., and Kill Master Productions sued Seagal for $14 million, claiming the actor caused production delays on the set of "Mercenary" and a second film, Today You Die by routinely arriving late on the set, rewriting the script and allowing members of his entourage to interfere with the work of crew members. The lawsuit was settled out of court. [4] [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Seagal</span> American actor, martial artist, and filmmaker (born 1952)

Steven Frederic Seagal is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. He entered the film industry in 1982, first functioning as a martial arts instructor, choreographer, and stunt co-ordinator, before making his acting debut in 1988 with the action film Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences. He has appeared in over 50 films.

<i>Above the Law</i> (1988 film) 1988 action film by Andrew Davis

Above the Law, also known as Nico: Above the Law, or simply Nico, is a 1988 American crime action thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal, who also produced the film alongside Davis, and stars Seagal alongside Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Ron Dean and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.

<i>Under Siege</i> 1992 film by Andrew Davis

Under Siege is a 1992 action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. It stars Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, and Erika Eleniak. Seagal plays Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL, who must fend off a group of mercenaries after they commandeer the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri.

<i>Under Siege 2: Dark Territory</i> 1995 American film

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by Geoff Murphy, starring Steven Seagal as the ex-Navy SEAL, Casey Ryback. Set on board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles, it is the sequel to the 1992 film Under Siege also starring Seagal. The title refers to the railroading term that the subject train was travelling through dark territory, a section of railroad track that has no train signals and in which communications between train dispatchers and the railroad engineers were impossible.

<i>Charlies Angels: Full Throttle</i> 2003 American film by McG

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by McG and written by John August, and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. It is the sequel to 2000's Charlie's Angels and the second installment in the Charlie's Angels film series, which is a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.

<i>Deep Cover</i> 1992 film directed by Bill Duke

Deep Cover is a 1992 American crime thriller film directed by Bill Duke from a screenplay by Henry Bean and Michael Tolkin. The film stars Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, and Charles Martin Smith. Its plot focuses on a Cincinnati-based police officer who goes undercover in a Los Angeles sting operation to bring down a West Coast drug cartel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesley-Anne Down</span> British actress (born 1954)

Lesley-Anne Down is a British actress and singer. She made her motion picture debut in the 1969 drama film The Smashing Bird I Used to Know and later appeared in films Assault (1971), Countess Dracula (1971) and Pope Joan (1972). She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV period drama series, Upstairs, Downstairs (1973–75).

<i>Congo</i> (film) 1995 film by Frank Marshall

Congo is a 1995 American science fiction action-adventure film based on the 1980 novel by Michael Crichton. It was directed by Frank Marshall and stars Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker and Tim Curry. The film was released on June 9, 1995, by Paramount Pictures and tells the story of an expedition team and a mountain gorilla owned by one of its members who go to the Congo jungles to find a missing expedition and the ruins of an ancient civilization where diamonds might be located while encountering the gray gorillas that lurk near there.

<i>Clear and Present Danger</i> (film) 1994 American film

Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's 1989 novel of the same name. It is a sequel to The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Patriot Games (1992) and part of a series of films featuring Clancy's character Jack Ryan. It is the last film version of Clancy's novels to feature Harrison Ford as Ryan and James Earl Jones as Vice Admiral James Greer, as well as the final installment directed by Noyce.

<i>Submerged</i> (2005 film) 2005 American film

Submerged is a 2005 American action film directed by Anthony Hickox, who also wrote it with Paul de Souza and produced with Michael P. Flannigan, Daphne Lerner and David Varod. The film stars Steven Seagal, William Hope, Vinnie Jones and Christine Adams. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on May 31, 2005.

<i>Into the Sun</i> (2005 film) 2005 American film

Into the Sun is a 2005 American action thriller film directed by Christopher "mink" Morrison. It stars Steven Seagal, who also produced and co-wrote the film, along with Matthew Davis, Takao Osawa, Eddie George, Juliette Marquis, Ken Lo, and William Atherton. Filmed and set in Tokyo, Seagal plays a CIA operative who becomes embroiled a conflict between the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads.

<i>Today You Die</i> 2005 American action film

Today You Die is a 2005 American action film directed and shot by Don E. FauntLeRoy. The film stars Steven Seagal, who also produces with Randall Emmett, George Furla and Danny Lerner. It co-stars Treach, Sarah Buxton, Mari Morrow, Nick Mancuso and Robert Miano. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on September 13, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Guenveur Smith</span> American actor (born 1955)

Roger Guenveur Smith is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee.

<i>Tennessee Johnson</i> 1942 film by William Dieterle

Tennessee Johnson is a 1942 American film about Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Dieterle and written by Milton Gunzburg, Alvin Meyers, John Balderston, and Wells Root.

<i>Urban Justice</i> 2007 film directed by Don E. Fauntleroy

Urban Justice is a 2007 American vigilante action film directed and shot by Don E. FauntLeRoy. The film stars Steven Seagal, who also produced, with a supporting cast of Eddie Griffin, Carmen Serano and Danny Trejo. It was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on November 13, 2007.

Don E. FauntLeRoy is an American cinematographer and film director. He has over 70 credits as cinematographer, and more than 50 as a camera operator and second unit assistant. He has collaborated with director Victor Salva on such films as Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers 2, Rosewood Lane, and Dark House. He directed the Steven Seagal films Today You Die, Mercenary for Justice, and Urban Justice. He also directed Bering Sea Beast in 2013.

<i>Maximum Conviction</i> 2012 American film

Maximum Conviction is a 2012 action thriller starring Steven Seagal and Steve Austin and directed by Keoni Waxman. The film follows a former black ops operative and his partner decommissioning an old prison, but are soon dealing with mercenaries going after two female prisoners.

<i>If Loving You Is Wrong</i> 2014 American primetime television soap opera

If Loving You Is Wrong is an American prime time television soap opera created, executive produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. The series premiered on September 9, 2014 and ended on June 16, 2020. It focuses on the lives and relationships of a group of five husbands and wives who live on the same street in the fictional community of Maxine. The show stars Amanda Clayton, Edwina Findley, Heather Hemmens, Zulay Henao, and April Parker Jones as the five female leads Alex, Kelly, Marcie, Esperanza and Natalie on "their quest to find love in the midst of managing very complex lives."

<i>Absolution</i> (2015 film) 2015 film by Keoni Waxman

Absolution is a 2015 English-language Romanian action thriller film directed by Keoni Waxman and starring Steven Seagal, Vinnie Jones, and Byron Mann. The film is a sequel to A Good Man, and is the sixth collaboration between Steven Seagal and director Waxman. The film also marks the third collaboration between Seagal and Jones, and between Seagal and Mann.

<i>Contract to Kill</i> 2016 American film

Contract to Kill is a 2016 American action film starring Steven Seagal. It received a limited theatrical release in the United States, and was released via video on demand.

References

  1. "Mercenary for Justice". Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2020-03-31., www.steven-seagal.net. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  2. FauntLeRoy, Don E. (2006-04-25), Mercenary for Justice (Action, Drama, Thriller), Steven Seagal, Jacqueline Lord, Roger Guenveur Smith, Millennium Films, Luminosity Media, Emmett/Furla Oasis Films, retrieved 2024-03-14
  3. "Mercenary for Justice". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stories About Seagal". Steven Seagal.net. 13 November 2013.
  5. Welkos, Robert (11 June 2005). "Seagal files lawsuit in fraud case". Los Angeles Times.
  6. Billey, Catherine (June 10, 2005). "Arts, Briefly; Suing Steven Seagal". New York Times.