Rating: 
Summary: Just Another Van Damme Action with Indiana Jones Taste
Review: In the opening scene of this film, in which Van Damme's character steals some precious (so they say) "egg," his partner asks:"Was that a gunshot?" to which our hero quips:
"No, I farted." ... (speechless) Now you can sense the awkward silence of those who are watching this dreadful dialogue (the script is co-written Dan Damme himself). If you like this kind of thing, or Van Damme disguised in traditional Jewish clothes (with a beard), you may want to give this film one more star. The truth is "The Order" is not as bad as it looks, considering its too obvious low-budget origin. The story is [like]Indiana Jones, with the hero's father missing mysteriously, and his action-packed search for the relics of a certain religious group, of which leader attempts to realize the prophcy of their ancient words, and so on and on. And you also get a deadly booby traps set for careless treasure hunters in a cave. Overall, an OK action with Van Damme as always giving his high-kicking, and at least, it doesn't try to be anything but what it intends to. Another good thing about it is Charlton Heston, whose hammy performance, curiously but naturally, fits in the whole system of this Grade-B movie,... And some may find the location of Israel (where main part of the film was shot) very exotic. Though it lacks any originality and energy his former hits such as "Timecop" have, Van Damme's new film ends up as a so-so action film, even though some say it's just another B movie, which is, I am afraid, very true. What he needs is more energetic direction for hyper-action flicks Hong Kong filmmakers are famous for.
Rating: 
Summary: BETTER THAN THE USUAL DEFINETLEY!
Review: IN this movie Jean-Claude seems to have taken a different approach,which is a good thing and he needed to do it really.Instead of the usual moody same moves different haircut and cheesey dialog ,he has attempted to play a slightly comic character,who is a bit of a rogue and a bit of joker.Ok so he is no comedy genius,but the change works.He also meets up with a sexy feisty female cop who proves to be engaging and i thought looked slighly like madonna(a good thing).The plot revolves around his father's involvement with ancient artifacts and a mysterious cult etc but the locations look good and the action and fight sequences are nice and fast moving and energetic.Also,brilliantly there seems to be no sign of slow-motion repeating spinning kicks to the head that Jean-claude's previous movies seemed to make a cliche.So he needed to do something different.Legionnare didn't work,i would say this does.But bear in mind this reviewer is an on/off Van Damme fan.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BELGIAN WAFFLES
Review: Jean Claude vanDamme's movies are obviously not meant to be taken seriously. The Belgian actor has always relied on his physical presence and kickboxing action to fill theatres or rent movies. In THE ORDER, he tries a more comic approach, in his attempts to locate his missing archaeologist father and a rare religious document. Brian Thompson has an uninspired role as Cyrus, the leader of a distaff cult of the Order, hence the title of this movie. There are some fun kickboxing scenes; the car chases are bland compared to those orchestrated by John Woo; and Sofia Milos is attractive as the lady cop who joins van Damme in his quest. I agree that Charlton Heston should have played the father; he's wasted in a cameo role. Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Dressed to Kill) does a nice score for the movie. Ben Cross overplays his villainous cop role with plum relish.
Standard van Damme fare, so don't expect anything more.
Rating: 
Summary: Younger looking skin.
Review: Jean-Claude should try some Oil of Ulan or Ulay for younger looking skin. He has a body of a twenty year old. Ulay would make his face look like it too. Please make a cool "Kickboxer"/"Bloodsport" with more shirtless muscle action again! Great movie, however, Charlton Heston could have lasted a little longer, more booby traps, more
in the style of Bloodsport or Kickboxer, more spinning air kicks, more muscle flexings, shirtless
muscle scenes like they were in Bloodsport, Universal Soldier 1 Some CGI, eg. booby traps and
so forth.
Rating:
Summary: van Damme - a bit different! For the better? Your call ...
Review: Jean-Claude van Damme with a bit more of dialog, some attempts at comedy, and an apparent attempt to capitalize on an Indiana Jones wanna-be plot line. Probably a bit far off the tradional van Damme fare for most fans, but still worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Van Damme is explosive!
Review: Let me begin by saying that this disc is all out, one-hundred percent, action from beginning to end. If you like Kickboxing, car chases, motorcycles sequences, witty-comedy, and mischief, than this movie is definitely for you. Jean-Cluade is back, from the thrilling "Replicant" to bring us this energetic, adventure that takes place around Jerusaleum. This movie is entertaining and exciting! I was in disbelief at how good this actually was. The director did a great job filming the movie. There were instances that were just magnificiently shot, with great visual that allow the environment to come through. It's definitely stylishly done. 2 thumbs up for the director. Also it has some very nice production values. Even with the 25 million dollar budget, there was enough collective data to make you believe this film had a bigger budget. Like the Ferrari at the beginning of the movie, and the great orchestrated chasing sequences. I really believe Van Damme is coming into form. The DVD has a beautiful transfer and a solid 5.1 mix. It's not a collector's nor a ultimate edition, however, it delivers a good print and an enjoyable audio track. Your going to hear those explosions in your woofer, as well as those punches and kicks! And come on, isn't that what a Van Damme flick is all about? It's nicely put together little disc by Columbia--visually and audio wise. It's a must-have for Van Damme fans and action buffs! If your a true fan you owe it to yourself to pick it up. It's got non-stop action, and I do mean lots of it, and a fast-paced, high style form that makes this a winner. Explosively good! Recommended to all the Van Damme fans! If you want to have a good time, pop in "The Order", sit back and enjoy the ride!
Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: pretty lame stuff, though I do love the Isreali Peacekeeper, she's a badass and her shirt lowers by one button each time she hits someone. Other than that, there's nothing here. I keep hoping the Jean-Claudemeister will make something decent again, but to no avail this time either. The last decent flick he made was Timecop. This movie revolves around the "Order" that began with some warriors of the Crusades that became disenchanted with the way things were going and made their own religion calling for an armageddon or something. The script doesn't care either.
Rating:
Summary: The Order: An Indiana Jones Rip-off, but still ok.
Review: Synopsis:
Rudy Cafmeyer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is an international artifacts smuggle whose father is a well known museum Curator. When Rudy's father (Vernon Dobtcheff) goes missing mysteriously in Israel, Rudy embarks on a quest to find him. The end result is a confrontation with a lovely Israeli police officer named Dalia (Sofia Milos), the loss of a couple friends and being wrapped up in a religious conspiracy involving a strange middle eastern cult and a cultist (Brian Thompson) with nefarious plans. About the Movie:
If you're looking for a well written, well thought out, well acted action flick, this isn't really it. But really, are we surprised? It has Van Damme in it. In fact, The Order is something of a rip-off of the Indiana Jones movies. You have the archeologist father who goes missing, a son looking for him, a weird religious cult, and a lost religious treasure . . . Nothing new here, well, except for maybe the martial arts element. But it's not all bad, making up for a silly, clichéd and completely unoriginal plot by having a few very enjoyable moments. Van Damme is an entertaining martial artist and while his fight scenes aren't as flamboyant or entertaining as, say, Jackie Chan's, he holds his own quite well. Van Damme even gets to engage in a sword fight in this movie, which is probably the first time I've seen him do that. I bet you can't guess who wins it. The best scene in this movie, partly because the musical score adds so much to it, is the one where Van Damme is masquerading as a Hasidic Jew, with a beard, hat and curly hair, then has to run from the police through the middle of crowded Jerusalem. There's something very goofy about the whole sequence that makes it quite comic and a lot of fun to watch. Charleton Heston has a cameo in this movie as well, both as the narrator of the opening teaser and in a role later on. Unfortunately, it has him dying rather senselessly in the first 3rd of the movie, wasting the talents of a great and notable actor. It would have been wonderful if Charleton could have played the role of Van Damme's father instead of Vernon Dobtcheff (who's put on accent was atrocious). Heston's such a solid actor, it was disappointing that he didn't have a more significant role. The acting in this movie isn't great. Even Heston's role is a bit on the stagey side. And of course, Van Damme will never win any awards for HIS acting. But this isn't a movie you watch for the acting, and a lot can be forgiven since the attractive Sofia Milos plays the female lead and incidentally is probably the strongest actor in the film. One strong point of this movie is the musical score (arranged by Pino Donaggio). It isn't on the level of top notch movie, but it's possibly better than many action movies have, blending humor and a real feel for its subject mater into what is at times, a masterful addition to the action sequences. Overall, this is a brainless, sit down and have fun type of movie. There's certainly quite a few martial arts action movies of this type out there that beat this one hands down, but The Order has its high points and could be a lot worse. About the DVD:
The Order comes in a plastic hard case on a double sided DVD with both fullscreen and widescreen versions in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. It has not been translated into any other languages besides its original English, though it does contain English and French subtitles. Both the video and audio transfer appear to be very good. Even on a high resolution screen, the video had only a little grain and few artifacts. As far as special features, this movie has none except for three theatrical trailers, two being for other movies. It also has scene selections, though I don't count that as a special feature. Overall, this is a very basic, no frills DVD release. Bottom Line: A unoriginal but somewhat entertaining film on a budget DVD release. 3 Stars.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable no brainer
Review: The Order sees Jean Claude Van Damme venturing into Israel in search of his father ,an academic who holds the key to a priceless treasure and who thereby comes into conflict with an extreme Christian sect whose design is to unleash a major religious conflict with other faiths in pursuit of their ideals.He is well qualified for the task being a dab hand at martial arts and has skills derived from his "profession" as a burglar specialising in stealing museum treasures.
He is soon involved in car chases ,gunfights and fights including one lengthy sequence where he repels police and irate locals in the marketplace while dressed as an Hassidic jew.It all build to an explosive climax deep underground where the bad guys are intent on blowing uo the Temple in Jerusalem.
Striking location photography and lively action setpieces are distinct plus points which offsets some fairly routine acting .
Potential viewers lured by the presence of Charlton Heston should be advised he makes only a cameo appearance and is killed early in proceedings
Its not Art but with a tinnie or two is a good chill out movie
Rating:
Summary: Van Damme's best since "Maximum Risk"
Review: THE ORDER sees the reteaming of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme and director Sheldon Lettich (LIONHEART, DOUBLE IMPACT).
Van Damme plays Rudy Calmeyer, the son of an archeologist who has in his possession a rare scroll that belongs to an obsessive religious sect (No, its not the SPCS) who have a creative name like The Children Of God or something along those lines. Naturally the "COG" want the scroll back so they kidnap Calmeyer's dad and take him to their compound in Israel. But of course they hadn't counted on messing with Jean-Claude, who sets off on a mission to rescue his father administering various butt-kickings along the way. Calmeyer is also fortunate enough to have the assistance of a sexy Israeli cop, Dalla (Sofia Milos). But as with all looney cults there are ulterior motives involved: like creating a devastating bomb.
Thankfully I can't say the same about the movie, which features plenty of action, stunts and martial arts sequences which make THE ORDER easily the best Van Damme since MAXIMUM RISK. It's just sad that his movies get released direct to video now, as Jean Claude is in good form here and the story which he co-wrote is actually pretty good (esp.when compared to THE QUEST). Charlton Heston's role, in which he gets second billing is in actual fact really nothing more than an extended cameo. There's also some rather clumsy humor, a good example would be early in the movie where Van Damme steals a priceless egg from a museum but is caught by security guards. On hearing their warning shots the guy who is guiding him via radio asks "Was that a gunshot?" to which Van Damme replies "No, I farted". Somehow I don't think someone like say, Steven Seagal would be able to play scenes like this and get the intended laughs. Jean- Claude's back on top of his game with this one. Lets hope he can show action fans (and Hollywood) what he's really capable of.
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