Product Details

• Actors: Rob Van Dam, Ja Rule
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010
• Run Time: 1045 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002ZNNXDG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,499 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Bobby (Rob Van Dam), a former Navy Seal, seeks revenge by killing a crooked nightclub owner who attacked his wife. The owner’s brother comes after Bobby by placing a massive bounty on his head. Bobby’s only hope will be to enlist his old friend Ronnie (David Bautista) in retaliation efforts. But first he’ll have to repair the falling-out they had years ago. With Ronnie’s help he’ll stand a chance, but ultimately it will be up to him to save his family and escape his death sentence.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Average Straight-To-Video Action Flick February 17, 2010

By Compay TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

Wrong Side of Town is your typical straight to DVD action flick, with a handful of people cast just to appeal to different audiences.

The plot is predictable, and almost identical to the 1985 Schwarzenegger film Commando. Ex-military toughguy leaves the service, gets into it with the wrong guys, and has to rescue his kidnapped daughter. The movie's dialogue is awkward and tries too hard to be funny, and too many aspects of the plot don't make any sense.

Rob Van Damn, cast as Navy Seal turned landscape architect Bobby Kalinowsky, does a sub-par acting job. Fellow wrestler Dave Batista easily steals the show as Big Ronnie, Kalinowsky's former war buddy. Batista's screen presence is simply much better, had he been cast in the lead role instead, I'd be giving this movie a much higher rating. Despite being front and center on the DVD cover, Batista really doesn't get much screen time, which is a shame since he's easily a more natural actor than most professional wrestlers. Ja Rule and Omarion both landed "blink and you missed them" roles in the movie, so if you're a fan of either, don't bother watching it just for them.

The fight choreagraphy isn't anything special, although the rock score for the film is solid. The only standout fight in the movie is the showdown between Batista's character and Markus, right-hand man to the film's bad guy. Markus was played by legit martial artist Marrese Crump, who coincidentally trains Batista in real life (The hit "Batista Crump Workout" is on Youtube).

Overall, I was disappointed by the story, the dialogue, and by Rob Van Dam's weak acting. Cast Batista as the lead, cook up an original story with Marrese Crump thrown in the mix, and I'll gladly review it four or five stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars "Who's the meathead now?!" October 6, 2011

By Mike Sehorn

Format:DVD

I'm a pro wrestling mark, but I have to admit that films starring our favorite superstars are a dime a dozen these days. Films *directed* by wrestlers are another matter, but while I'm glad that David DeFalco seems to be distancing himself from the exploitation torture porn business, his contribution here means very little. Even with two of the business' biggest stars in tow, "Wrong Side of Town" is a forgettable little action-thriller much in the same vein as a lot of the other dreck I've recently reviewed. Absolutely nothing special.

The plot: when ex-Navy SEAL Bobby Kalinowsky (Rob Van Dam) kills the brother of a sadistic gangster (Jerry Katz, Knucklehead), he and his family must fear retaliation in the form of a $100,000 price placed on his head.

The film is the victim of false advertising. Get David Bautista and Ja Rule off the cover, Sony - they have a combined screentime of less than fifteen minutes. Beyond that, the movie does okay as far as production is concerned: sometimes the camerawork looks cheap and a few voiceovers are evident, but considering that the film was shot for under $2 million, I can forgive these deficiencies. There are a few go-nowhere scenes, but the writing isn't awful otherwise. (SPOILER) Heck, I took unexpected pleasure in the scene wherein Bautista's character shoots Ja Rule in the head. This is all fine and good...but what then? With a story that doesn't really intrigue by itself, "Wrong Side of Town" was banking on some solid action scenes to support it, but these just aren't there....

Through his successful incorporation of martial arts into his in-ring performances, Van Dam secured both popularity in the wrestling world and a handful of roles in legitimate action flicks wherein he received the honor of being the only pro wrestler to have been directed and/or choreographed by both Tony Leung and Yuen Woo-Ping (only one other wrestler has matched the strength of these credits: Nathan Jones has been wrangled by Woo-Ping and Panna Rittakrai). I had really been hoping that some of their style and flair would carry over to his first starring vehicle, but by and large his three fight scenes - all against multiple opponents - are as poorly-shot as any brawl of these days featuring the other Van Damme. The only encounter of any interest is between Bautista and newcomer Marrese Crump, who's set to appear in Tony Jaa's "Tom Yum Goong 2" and gets to show off a few promising kicks before the two of them draw knives and proceed to have a veritable pattycake fight worthy of Steven Seagal's lower quality work.

I wish I had more to say about this one, seeing as I had respectable hopes for it, but I can't help but think that I'll have forgotten the movie by tomorrow, so why waste words? Stick to watching Impact, guys. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Wrong Van Damme is more like it February 5, 2011

By Jason VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Out on the town with his wife and new neighbors, Bobby (Rob Van Damme) relies on his Navy Seal skills to sidestep a knife-wielding, coked-up wannabe named Ethan who falls on his knife. Ethan's brother just happens to be connected to organized crime. If only he were affiliated with a glee club or performance arts society. A $100K hit is placed on RVD's head, mostly for his poor acting...and not being JCVD.

Expecting great acting from a film that has a wrestler as the lead is unfair. And to be quite honest, he's not really that bad all things considered. Probably on par with Keanu Reeves. Either way, RVD and Batista still do a better job than Ja Rule and Omarion. Besides, it's the action that actually bugs me. The filming and lighting don't help; the combination accentuates the worst aspects of the poorly staged fights, making the moves look like fight scenes from The Warriors. But without the roller skates, makeup, and baseball bats. Choppy choreography, can you dig it? Can.You.Dig.Iiiit!?

Wrong Side of Town is quintessential bargain bin fare. Aside from one strip club scene, this is recommended only for wrestling fanatics.

Jason Elin

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Wrestlers & R&B/Rap Artist Can't Save This Movie March 27, 2010

By D.P. VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Rob Van Dam (RVD) plays Bobby, a landscape architect & former Navy Seal, living with a wife & teenage daughter. When Bobby & his wife decide to go out to a nightclub with the new neighbors, he runs into trouble after accidently killing a man who attempted to rape his wife...a man who happens to be the brother of a mob boss who's blames Bobby for the death & decided to put a $100,000 bounty on him. Throughout the night, Bobby encounters so many groups of people looking to collect the bounty (including characters played by R&B artist Omarion, rap artist Ja Rule, and former WWE wrestler Nelson "Mabel/Viscera/Big Daddy V" Frazier) along with various people who aren't completely trustworthy from a crooked cop to his former friend (WWE wrestler Dave "Batista" Bautista) but when it gets too personal with his daughter being kidnapped, Bobby goes from being the hunted to the hunter.

This is one of those low budget action movies where the plot itself was very simple & something the average person can understand. The acting isn't much (RVD & Dave Bautista pretty much played their "wrestling" characters). The action here was martial arts based as RVD did have various fight scenes against multiple men throughout the film while Bautista did have the only one-on-one fight (and the best fight) in the whole movie...and for his WWE fans, you'll see some actions that he's done in the ring as well. It should be made clear thought that RVD is the star of this movie with the other appearences in the movie from those heavily advertised aren't much as Bautista appears for maybe 15 mins. total while Omarion & Ja Rule's appearences are around 5 minutes each....

DVD extras include RVD talking about his experience on the set & the stunts, quick interviews with various members of the cast, movie trailer, and footage of training for the fight scens featuring Bautista. In the end, this movie was about as good as you expected a low budget movie to be that heavily relied on various names from different venues (wrestling & urban music) to carry the movie than actors. This isn't a bad movie to the point where you want to shoot yourself in the head afterwards but also not worth going out of your way to see so I recommend for a rental if you have nothing else better to do for an hour & a half. Read more ›