Wake of Death
| Wake of Death | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Philippe Martinez |
| Produced by | Alan Latham Philippe Martinez Stéphanie Martinez Stanley Roup |
| Written by | Philippe Martinez Mick Davis Laurent Fellous Kristina Hamilton-Grobler |
| Starring |
Jean-Claude Van Damme Lisa King Valerie Tian Simon Yam Tony Schiena |
| Music by | Guy Farley |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Kadosh Michael Swan |
| Edited by | Christopher Robin Bell Dedan Ouziel |
| Distributed by | Bauer Martinez Studios UKFS Frame Werk Produktion GmbH & Co. KG |
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Release date
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Running time
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86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14,000,000 |
Wake of Death is a 2004 American/German action film directed by French director, Philippe Martinez and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Ringo Lam was the original director, but he left the project after a few weeks of filming in Canada. The film was released to the cinema in France but direct to video in America in 2004. The scene of motor cycles chase was shot in Canal Walk shopping mall in Cape Town, South Africa. The last vehicle chase with Jean-Claude Van Damme rescueing his son and the Chinese girl was also shot in Cape Town City Centre, South Africa near the Centre of Good Hope City Hall; next to the Jan Van Riebieck Castle.
After being a gangster for many years, Ben Archer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) moves from Marseille to Los Angeles and decides to become legit to spend more time with his wife, Cynthia (Lisa King), and his child, Nicholas (Pierre Marais).
Cynthia is a social worker with the INS, helping to process illegal Chinese immigrants. Then she discovers Kim (played by Valerie Tian), a young girl on board a ship that is full of immigrants, and decides to bring her home. She convinces a judge that the girl is in grave danger if deported and successfully pleads with him to give her one-week to sort out her case against deportation.
However, it proves to be a fatal mistake. Kim's father, Sun Quan (played by Simon Yam), is a Chinese Triad. Once Sun Quan discovers where his daughter is, without provocation, he kills Cynthia, her parents and many of the workers in the restaurant at which they're dining.
After a shootout with the fleeing Triad members, Ben finds his wife brutally murdered. His son Nicholas and Kim are missing. He attempts to save the children and avenge his wife's death.
Ben, however, is not alone in his attempts to avenge his wife. With the help of French mobsters Max (Anthony Fridjohn)(who happens to be Cynthia's uncle), Raymond (Max's muscle / bodyguard) (Claude Hernandez), and Tony (Tony Schiena), a friend the character loves like a brother. Ben's child and Kim are found, Ben then decides to kill Andy Wang (Tom Wu), who he saw leaving his wife's murder scene. The hit is successful, and the investigation afterwards gives Ben a lead on where to move next.
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Wikipedia