Maximum Risk (1996)

28% of critics liked it
(32 reviews)
37% of users liked it
(11,026 ratings)

Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a French cop whose colleagues make a startling discovery -- a man named Mikhail, who was killed in a high-speed chase with police, looks exactly like him. Curious about the stranger with his face, Alain is told by his mother Chantal (Stephane Audran) that… More Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a French cop whose colleagues make a startling discovery -- a man named Mikhail, who was killed in a high-speed chase with police, looks exactly like him. Curious about the stranger with his face, Alain is told by his mother Chantal (Stephane Audran) that Mikhail was in fact his twin brother, whom her poor family was forced to give up at birth. Alain wants to know more about the brother he never knew, but the more he learns the more troubling the news becomes; it seems that Mikhail was involved with gangsters, corrupt FBI agents, and a gang of drug dealers. In order to avenge his brother's death and get to the bottom of his sad story, Alain assumes Mikhail's identity and travels to New York City, where to maintain his cover he takes up with Alex Minetti (Natasha Henstridge), Mikhail's tough-as-nails girlfriend, before finding himself hip-deep in danger with Mikhail's associates. Maximum Risk was the first American film from noted Hong Kong action director Ringo Lam, whose City on Fire has often been cited as a key inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Ringo Lam
Genres: Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Sep 13, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Oct 30, 2001
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Leonard Klady, Variety
It's a visceral delight that refuses to be deterred by niceties of plot or character consistency and prefers sweat to emotion.
Richard Harrington, Washington Post
There are so many car crashes in Maximum Risk that Van Damme ends up playing second fiddle to an ever-expanding salvage operation.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Lam not only handles the bravura action set pieces with ease but also a capable international cast as colorful and varied as the film's many locales.
Sean Means, Film.com
The chases are chaotic and cliched.
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
Action flicks should be fun, and this one is a bloody bore.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
The generic nature of the plot and action sequences, not to mention the presence of Jean-Claude Van Damme, made everything seem all-too-familiar.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
The plot holds together pretty well, which is not always the case in Van Damme's movies, and does not require the concoction of labored explanations for his pronounced accent.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...has its moments of fun and excitement, and even though it's uneven and hits rock bottom on occasion, it should be of interest to die-hard action fans. (Blu-ray Edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...the movie has some good moments of intrigue and adventure, and with a more charismatic hero it might have worked better.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
The energetic action isn't quite enough to overcome an undernourished story. [Blu-Ray]
Derek Adams, Time Out
A standard Van Damme pic, competently assembled but with little of the manic edge found in director Lam's Hong Kong movies.
Bryant Frazer, Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus
For sweet bloody thrills, this one beats the summer blockbuster competition hands-down.
Susan Tavernetti, Palo Alto Weekly
Villains curl their upper lip and snarl in bad Russian accents, while Van Damme bungles four-word sentences.
Clint Morris, Moviehole
Premium Van Damme...Henstridge is eye-poppingly appealing
Dragan Antulov, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Those who approach Maximum Risk with minimal expectations will, in the end, experience at least the occasional pleasant surprise.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Fights ensue. Van-Damme kicks a lot of ass. Explosions occur. The end.
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Zesty chases and Van Damme's always exciting fights scenes fit well within a story that carries more intrigue than the average kick-and-crash extravaganzas.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
The plot moves along so that a mandatory fight scene is sure to pop up every fifteen minutes to make sure the audience isn't snoozing, but Lam manages to botch at least half of these scenes with shaky camerawork and scrappy editing.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jason O

A cop (Van Damme) just found out about something new. He's had a twin brother all these years and didn't know it, but the bad part is that he just found out by finding his twin's dead body. Little does this cop know that his twin brother was a Russian agent. Since he… More
A cop (Van Damme) just found out about something new. He's had a twin brother all these years and didn't know it, but the bad part is that he just found out by finding his twin's dead body. Little does this cop know that his twin brother was a Russian agent. Since he looks just like the person that just died, everybody around town thinks he's someone he's not. When it comes to the mafia and FBI agents, this just might spell trouble. Like he did in "Double Impact", Jean-Claude Van Damme once again plays the role of twins, although not as much this time around. "Maximum Risk" might be a bit shallow on plot depth, but who cares? Van Damme movies are known for their great stunts, action, and especially the fighting sequences, and let me tell you, there is A LOT of each in this movie. The stunts, special effects, etc. come together as one to make "Maximum Risk" a fast paced, suspense filled adventure that all Van Damme fans should watch. It might not be one of his top five movies, but if you're a fan of other Van Damme movies, then checking out "Maximum Risk" isn't that big of a risk to take. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2002.
Phil H

Typical Van Damme plot line envolving murder and revenge but in the hands of Lam its is just about ok. There are some really nice action sequences here that really look good and slick involving cars and leaping about in front of trains hehe the stunts make the film really as the cast… More
Typical Van Damme plot line envolving murder and revenge but in the hands of Lam its is just about ok. There are some really nice action sequences here that really look good and slick involving cars and leaping about in front of trains hehe the stunts make the film really as the cast are kinda lame in their acting. Better than the usual stuff Van Damme produces these days and probably one of his last good films.
David L

Alain Moreau is a cop in France who cannot believe his eyes when a murder victim is the spitting image of him. He confronts his mother and learns that she had had twins but had to give one of them up. Wanting to solve the murder of his estranged twin, Alain follows a trail that leads… More
Alain Moreau is a cop in France who cannot believe his eyes when a murder victim is the spitting image of him. He confronts his mother and learns that she had had twins but had to give one of them up. Wanting to solve the murder of his estranged twin, Alain follows a trail that leads him to a New York that is cold and full of snow and finds himself sucked into his brother's world where he finds himself with his brother's beautiful girlfriend all over him. However Alain also inherits his brother's problems some of which include Russian gangsters who want to kill him. This film wastes no time in getting the plot established and flying Alain into his first fight as quickly as possible and I can understand why this was the case. The plot is thin to say the least and it is best not to apply too much logic to any of it because the whole thing is an excuse for Van Damme to just do the things in this film that he does in all his films. This includes speaking in a strange accent, being naked with a beautiful female co-star and kicking people in lots of exciting ways. All these boxes are ticked here and as such it does what you would expect from a Van Damme film and it will depend on the individual viewer whether or not that gets you interested or sees you running the opposite direction. For me it is somewhere in the middle because I accept the bad and in return veg out in front of a dumb action movie. The plot gets no better and every time it needs to add story to create more action you can almost see it straining with the effort. The action is mostly pretty good although it was a bit disappointing to see how Ringo Lam had toned down the style for his first American film; only here and there did the film get close to the mayhem in the action that he is known for. Van Damme is quite good though, for course he is a clunky actor and here he seems to have had his charisma filtered out but in the action sequences he is a marvel ? very athletic and impressive and his physical presence helps a lot. Henstridge takes care of the "co-star who will get her tits out" requirement of the film but other than that she could have been anyone. The Wire's Ben Victor is so-so and yet I found it ironic that he had his last big scene in a cooler full of dead pigs because he had spent so much of the rest of the film surrounded by big hams too ? Grenier in particular comes to mind. Overall then this is a solid Van Damme film with all the plusses and minuses that one would expect. The plot is poor and the acting leaves a lot to desire but the action is fun even if I was hoping for more from Lam.
Dean M

Great action-packed sexy thrill ride!
Steven V

This Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle gets good marks for sound, low profanity, some very good action scenes and some interesting characters, but this is also another of these action films that has too much action. It would be better with some more lulls. It almost gets ridiculous… More
This Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle gets good marks for sound, low profanity, some very good action scenes and some interesting characters, but this is also another of these action films that has too much action. It would be better with some more lulls. It almost gets ridiculous in spots.
Naughtia N

This is one of Van Damme's best movies, I loved the plot and the acting (especially the fight scenes) were great. A police inspector takes his murdered twin brother's place and inherits his problems and his beautiful girlfriend. He is forced to interact with the FBI and the… More
This is one of Van Damme's best movies, I loved the plot and the acting (especially the fight scenes) were great. A police inspector takes his murdered twin brother's place and inherits his problems and his beautiful girlfriend. He is forced to interact with the FBI and the Russian mafia while he attends a kickboxing tournament, he does this in order to solve the crime that happened to his brother. Van Damme was awesome in this movie and I remember renting this movie many times. You won't regret watching this movie, for sure.
Christopher B

Lam and Van Damme together again in this passable time waster. I actually quite liked their other films, especially In Hell, which I think is a STV masterpiece, and MR measures somewhere around Wake of Death.