That was an excellent one.

People are voting emotionally.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Steven Seagal, though not the greatest actor, has appeared in many good movies such as Above the Law (1988), Hard to Kill (1990), Marked for Death (1990), Out for Justice (1991), and Under Siege (1992). His career took a hit with the preachy and vanity project On Deadly Ground (1994) which was also his directorial debut. He had mixed results with Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), Executive Decision (1996), The Glimmer Man (1996), and Fire Down Below (1997). The Patriot (1998) was wisely seen as distributors as a direct to video release, and it proves to be a very good decision. Without question this movie movie was terrible. The Patriot also marked the beginning of the end of Steven Seagal's career in which his box office appeal has all but disappeared and a majority of his movies released direct to video where he is a shadow of his former self.The Patriot (not to be confused with the Mel Gibson/Heath Ledger blockbuster released in 2000) is about a respected small town doctor and immunologist Wesley McLaren (Steven Seagal) who must race against time to cure a virus unleashed onto the town by an unstable militia extremist leader Floyd Chislom (Gailard Sartain) who has also infected himself with the same virus. Floyd Chislom and his militia have taken over the hospital where Dr McLaren works in order to find a cure but conveniently, Dr McLaren effortlessly dispatches the militia members with his martial arts skills (how convenient) and Dr McLaren is able to escape along with his daughter Holly (Camilla Belle). From there, Dr McLaren is predictably able to find a cure in the most unconventional way which will leave many viewers groaning with disbelief. I'm still shocked at the pathetic solution and ending years later.Steven Seagal seemed to have taken a different direction in his career with this rubbish all the while preaching peace amongst humanity and the nature is our friend. If I wanted to hear that I would have gone to attend a health retreat (no disrespect intended to those that enjoy the naturalistic lifestyle). But for crying out loud, for a Steven Seagal movie this is terrible. This is also notable for the only Steven Seagal movie with minimal action scenes and less violence.Gailard Sartain as the unstable militia leader Floyd Chislom serves no purpose nor does he have any strong intentions for unleashing the virus apart from the fact he is hating life as well as the US Government.Director Dean Semler (who also directed the 1998 box office flop Firestorm) must have got the hint that he should stick with cinematography (Mad Max 2, Dances with Wolves, We Were Soldiers) as he has had bad luck as a director. He has not directed a movie since The Patriot.The Patriot is one of the worst movies for Steven Seagal which has since seen him stuck in direct to video hell since. Although he did reappear with cinematic releases such as Exit Wounds (2001), Half Past Dead (2002) and Machete (2010). Unable to recapture his former glory, all of his movies since have not seen the light of day in the cinemas nor does it look he will ever make a triumphant return to the cinemas unlike Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Rourke. If that ever happens, that would be a miracle.Unless you are a loyal Steven Seagal fan which I was once, avoid this movie like a virus.1/10.

Man, I think people have forgotten how to watch a movie. Everyone thinks they're a critic. They comment on things that the average movie goer doesn't even know or think about.I enjoyed the film. It was what I was expecting therefore was not disappointed. Steven gets a bad rap for putting his views into his films but that's also a reason to watch. What's even more funny is the people that complain about his films, say he's the worst and that we shouldn't watch his films, yet watch his movies anyway. All so they can comment on how bad they are. Who's the dummy? If you don't like his work, don't watch it. Then you won't have to subject yourself to this supposedly painful event.Stop comparing movies to other movies and watch a movie on an individual basis and you may begin to enjoy films again.

This movie could have been a great guilty-pleasure flick. All of the essentials are there- a hero who can kick ass, a villain who's unquestionably evil yet believable (played by the unappreciated Gailard Sartain), and an intriguing plot involving mass panic in a town overrun by a deadly virus. Sadly, none of this matters in the end- there's very little fighting or action of any sort to speak of. I don't know if anybody involved with this movie understands this, so I'll state this as succinctly as I can: nobody wants to watch Seagal in a drama. We want to see him fight. He can't act, and that's fine. I sure as hell couldn't act my way out of a Sunkist commercial. But I don't inflict my shortcomings on my nonexistent fanbase. I limit the suffering to friends and family. This movie was obviously not written with Seagal in mind. One thing I do really like about this movie: the "patriot" in question seems to be the bad guy, rather than a reference to Seagal's character. This movie wasted a really good villain. Sartain's hypermilitant white supremacist (or whatever) was actually kind of interesting in his single-minded conviction that he was doing something good. That's something you rarely see in movies anymore- a villain simply mistaken in his beliefs. Too bad he couldn't have been used in a better film. The movie itself is definitely not terrible- many other movies have been much bigger disappointments. If this film had had more excitement (ie: fights) it could have been one of the great ones.

There are many movies made in which the producer, director or star inject their political or social beliefs. This is acceptable if:the movie is good - the message is minimally coherent - the method is artistic.Clearly The Patriot is thw worst "message" movie of all time. Indeed it is the worst "message" movie possible.In the last ten minutes or so of this film after our hero has kung fu-ed all the bad guys to death, he appears at a lectern and gives a face forward political speech - and what a speech it is.Steven Segal is a true whack job politically. He believes that the world is filled with conspirators who keep normal people from being prosperous, healthy and happy. These demons lurk everywhere and are behind all bad events.For example, Segal sneers to his American Indian audience that everyone knows that Big Oil has long suppressed the technology that allows automobiles to run on water. What!This assertion is not a simple goofy plot device like when Morpheus in the Matrix explains that the machines use people as batteries. Clearly the battery idea violates the laws of thermodynamics but we forgive him because some such device is needed to advance the story - sort of like warp drive in Star Trek.No. In the Patriot the final speech steps out of the movie plot altogether, and gives us a straight forward insight into the real Steven Segal world view. What we hear is unimaginably stupid. What is frightening is that it is delivered with such hatred and bitterness. We see before us the naked face of a dangerous fanatic.