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Film: Half Past Dead
aka: Half Past Dead 2

It's Twenty Minutes into the Future, and Alcatraz has been reopened due to rising crime rates. Sascha Petrosevitch (Steven Seagal) is a car thief though really, an undercover federal agent who's brought in by criminal Nick Frazier (Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins) to work for crime boss Sonny Eckvall. Alas, he and Nick get busted, and Sascha has a near-death experience (hence the film's title). Eight months later, they're at Alcatraz. Lester McKenna (Bruce Weitz) is a prisoner who stole $200,000,000 worth of gold and stashed it somewhere, killing five people in the process. With the location of the gold still unknown, he's scheduled to be executed that night. Alas, a group of terrorists called the "49ers" invades the island and takes it over. They want McKenna to tell them where the gold is. Sascha, Nick and the other inmates are forced to battle the terrorists to regain control of the prison.

A commercial and critical disaster; this film was the final nail in the coffin for a rapidly-floundering Steven Seagal. Any hopes that might have been raised by the surprise hit that was 2001's Exit Wounds were dashed in an instant. All of Seagal's films since this one (except Machete) have been direct to DVD.

This film itself got an In Name Only direct to DVD sequel in 2007, sans Seagal, titled simply Half Past Dead 2 (which stars one of the supporting characters, so it's more like a spin-off). Most notable thing about that is that it co-stars Goldberg.

The film is also notable for being the only Seagal film with a PG-13 rating. It becomes obvious when profanity and violence are edited out. In his review, Mathew "Film Brain" Buck stated he felt like he was watching a TV version.

This film provides examples of:

  • The Alcatraz: According to the directors commentary the screenplay for this film was actually written several years before The Rock's screenplay was conceived, and the original title of this film's screenplay was in fact The Rock, talk about Irony!
  • The Atoner: Lester. He has become deeply religious and mournful for the deaths he caused. Subverted in that he's not doing anything in particular to make up for it, since he isn't sure if anything in his power would make up for what he did. Since he is already on Death Row, he simply waits.
  • Badass Boast: El Fuego, describing his history working in the prison system, where he had been spit on, stabbed, shot, and burned, but had always survived and persevered.
  • Designated Girl Fight: Zig-Zagged: 49er Six ends up fighting most of the central male characters by the end of the film, and is finally apprehended by the warden. When she tries to stab him once he turns his back, Williams shoots her.
  • Evil Plan: The 49ers want to know where's the gold?
  • Fanservice: 49er Six's latex costume.
  • Guns Akimbo: 49er Six's style of shooting. Also used by Little Joe at one point.
  • Hellish Copter: The 49er's getaway chopper crashes in bad weather within the first minute or so of appearing in the film.
  • Ironic Nickname: Little Joe is not little.
  • It's Probably Nothing: El Fuego is told that they have lost all of their phone lines, and dismisses it as being due to the storm. He then sends a guard to investigate it anyways.
  • Karma Houdini: Twitch. He's personally responsible for the final shootout between the 49er's and the inmates, despite there being pretty much nothing to gain from it, and no mention is made of him suffering any consequences. Indeed, he mentions that he is being released soon.
    • In sequel, he was rejected at the start and bad blood with most of the inmates, probably due to said shooting.
  • Law of Inverse Recoil: One scene involves a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher that packs enough recoil to launch a person back by a considerable distance. The immediate shot after then shows no recoil whatsoever.
  • Made of Iron: Nick gets thrown around a lot without a single scratch. He doesn't get seriously injured until the final helicopter crash. His last conversation with Sacha has him naming off a litany of injuries he received from this.
  • Oh Crap: 49er One's reaction to finding out that Lester is strapped with explosives.
  • Taking You with Me: Lester takes out 49er One by blowing themselves up.
  • Time for Plan B: After their primary getaway plan fails spectacularly and immediately, they demand the FBI send a helicopter for them to use as a getaway vehicle in return for not killing Justice McPherson and the other hostages.
  • Train Job: The reason why Lester is in jail.

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alternative title(s): Half Past Dead; Half Past Dead 2
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