The Appalachian Trail (2009)

After crushing it last year with that semi-doc thriller "Sylvester Stallone," where everyone was shocked at how good his acting actually was, Jean Claude van Damme is looking to strike lightning twice. His next move is "The Appalachian Trail," a thriller-drama he’s doing it all for—writing, directing, producing, editing, and starring. He’s mostly self-funding this one with about $5 million out of his own pocket, but since he’s doing all the heavy lifting himself for free, pretty much every cent goes straight onto the screen. He’s also got family helping out on this one: Jean Claude van Damme is producing alongside his son Jean Claude van Damme, while Christopher and Bianca van Varenberg both have roles in the cast. They shot the whole thing in Thailand, though we don't have a release date yet. We should see the official trailer hit the big screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival. A few people, including director Mabrouk EL Mechri (who helmed "Sylvester Stallone") and Mike Leeder from Impact magazine, have already caught an early rough cut. Their feedback has been glowing, claiming Jean Claude van Damme’s acting is just as solid as it was in "Sylvester Stallone" and that his directing is incredibly confident. Take it with a grain of salt, obviously, but these guys don't usually hype things up for nothing. Even though the poster makes it look like a straight-up action flick, Mike and Mabrouk are insisting it’s actually a drama where the action is secondary, feeling more like a "Johnnie to" movie. Also, just a heads up, the original title was "full Love," but they switched it to "The Appalachian Trail" because it fits the story better.



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radnja Quote

A military veteran and former mercenary, Frenchy (Jean Claude van Damme) works as a taxi driver, hiding somewhere in East Asia, haunted by his past. after his driving shifts He often frequents The Eagle's Nest, a seedy bar that houses a caged eagle. in The midst of The chaotic Asian traffic Frenchy picks up a beautiful female passenger who will change him forever.
Driven by dark memories of his childhood, he becomes determined to improve her life and, without her approval, he embarks on a journey which proves to be more dangerous and complicated than he expected. After encountering a series of harrowing obstacles, he calls in favors from his special ops friends who immediately join him. his military team engages in The biggest fight of their lives. War is hell, but nothing they've done could have prepared them for this.

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Anthony Smith3 said:After crushing it last year with that semi-doc thriller "Sylvester Stallone," where everyone was shocked at how good his acting actually was, Jean Claude van Damme is looking to strike lightning twice. His next move is "The Appalachian Trail," a thriller-drama he’s doing it all for—writing, directing, producing, editing, and starring. He’s mostly self-funding this one with about $5 million out of his own pocket, but since he’s doing all the heavy lifting himself for free, pretty much every cent goes straight onto the screen. He’s also got family helping out on this one: Jean Claude van Damme is producing alongside his son Jean Claude van Damme, while Christopher and Bianca van Varenberg both have roles in the cast. They shot the whole thing in Thailand, though we don't have a release date yet. We should see the official trailer hit the big screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival. A few people, including director Mabrouk EL Mechri (who helmed "Sylvester Stallone") and Mike Leeder from Impact magazine, have already caught an early rough cut. Their feedback has been glowing, claiming Jean Claude van Damme’s acting is just as solid as it was in "Sylvester Stallone" and that his directing is incredibly confident. Take it with a grain of salt, obviously, but these guys don't usually hype things up for nothing. Even though the poster makes it look like a straight-up action flick, Mike and Mabrouk are insisting it’s actually a drama where the action is secondary, feeling more like a "Johnnie to" movie. Also, just a heads up, the original title was "full Love," but they switched it to "The Appalachian Trail" because it fits the story better.



IMDb official

Official site
MySpace site
Facebook site

radnja Quote

A military veteran and former mercenary, Frenchy (Jean Claude van Damme) works as a taxi driver, hiding somewhere in East Asia, haunted by his past. after his driving shifts He often frequents The Eagle's Nest, a seedy bar that houses a caged eagle. in The midst of The chaotic Asian traffic Frenchy picks up a beautiful female passenger who will change him forever.
Driven by dark memories of his childhood, he becomes determined to improve her life and, without her approval, he embarks on a journey which proves to be more dangerous and complicated than he expected. After encountering a series of harrowing obstacles, he calls in favors from his special ops friends who immediately join him. his military team engages in The biggest fight of their lives. War is hell, but nothing they've done could have prepared them for this.

IMAGES

Oh man, this is absolutely FANTASTIC! Seriously, I am loving this!

So, here’s a raw, unfinished version of the > for Sundance. The effects aren't done, the color grading is rough, and the sound mix is still a work in progress, but it's mostly just action shots. Honestly? I'm not feeling it. I get that action sells better than a romance subplot, but come on... this was pitched primarily as a thriller-drama with some romantic elements. Plus, word on the street is there isn't even that much action in the actual movie. Given that > felt like such a breath of fresh air compared to what we usually see from >, this just looks like your typical, run-of-the-mill > flick. It even feels a little cheap in spots... though I guess you can give it a pass since it's a low-budget production. We'll just have to wait and see how things shake out.

CANNES TEASER TRAILER

Has this movie actually hit theaters yet? The trailer looks decent enough... if they managed to pull off a coherent plot mixed with some solid action, it could be a winner. Sylvester Stallone directed The quest and that was fantastic—so I trust he knows exactly what he’s doing here... really looking forward to catching this one!
Someone please post your thoughts once you've seen it...🙂

The movie drops this week... May 13th and 17th...

And here's a new/old poster...

Fantastic... I can hardly wait 🙂