Dolph Lundgren stars as Jack Devlin a bodyguard who is blinded by a flash grenade which gives him a color phobia (It gets even more ridiculous) seems Devlin is afraid of the color white and is trying to stay low while he conquers his fear. However when a supermodel is hassled by her psychotic ex-husband it is only Devlin that can protect her from certain death in this made for television movie which is slightly more watchable than Woo's other TV movie bomb but basically suffers from too much length and lack of grip on the subplots which overwhelm Blackjack's overall story. Blackjack is along the line of "Do you think we can fit one more subplot to the other 7000 ones, Let's see how it works!" There is of course the color phobia, Lundgren being a new parent, the homoeroticism between Lundgren and Rubinek, the supermodel and her psycho ex,The bad guy being a failed actor, the supermodel addicted to prescription drugs, his best friend's injury, the friend's company which is taken over, the parents of the little girl who die under mysterious circumstances, Lundgren's shrink and Lundgren's tragic past. That is like five more subplots than the movie needs and really Woo cannot make it work, especially when there is too much going on. Still Blackjack has it's moments. The action sequences while watered down for Television consumption has it's degree of punch and Lundgren gives a not too shabby performance. Certainly better than you would expect but really this is only for curious John Woo fans who want to see him make a Hong Kong styled TV movie. It is a combo that doesn't work but at least it isn't because of lack of trying.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

Joh Woo has used over and over the slow motion scenes in his action sequences and he always finds a special trick to regenerate his style.But this time,it is a little too much clichéd.Your libido will be absorbed by the blond fluffy bunnies swirling around Dolph Lundgren's muscles and the action scenes are totally unrealistic but this is where all the fun comes from.John Woo always tended to stylize his movies and this one is no exception to the rule.His obsessions for choreography of bullets and killed bodies, as well as friendship and honor, are strongly embedded in all his movies. Unfortunately this movie was made for TV and it demoted the result.

Blackjack (1998) was a made for t.v. movie that was directed by JOhn Woo and stars Dolph Lundgren. The budget purse strings were tight on this project and the filming schedule was short. But guess what? The settings were perfect for John Woo and he takes an ordinary run-of-the-mill action film and makes it work! The action scenes were shot quite well (Woo brings in his old cinematographer Wong Wing Hang) and pulls out every trick from his bag of goodies. The action is quite frequent and kinetic (for a t.v. movie). This is the type of films John Woo should be making. Cheap, on the fly projects instead of big bloated film projects that take forever to make a with no pay-off.

Dolph Lundgren plays a former federal agent who know works as a personnel bodyguard. One day his buddy and his wife are killed and he takes custodian of the couple's precocious daughter. While on assignment (protecting a supermodel) a gang of ill mannered hit men chase him all over town. Who are they? Are they connected to the girl's parents or the supermodel he now protects? Who knows? To find out the answers to these pertinent questions you'll have to watch Blackjack!

If you watch this movie make sure you see it on video. This version has all of the cool action that is missing from the one shown on the U.S.A. network. Despite the lack of a big budget and named actors, this movie actually works. I would rather see ten movies like this instead of one Mission Impossible 2 or Windtalkers.

Recommended for fans of John Woo's earlier work.