The Asian Connection | Low-budget thrills in Southeast Asia? Don't look to Steven Seagal for excitement

By Jason Best
( What's on TV )
published

Asian Connection Steven Seagal

A bizarrely cast Steven Seagal plays the drug-lord baddie in The Asian Connection, an action thriller set in Southeast Asia.

Asian Connection Steven Seagal

Wearing a du rag and a bored expression, a portly Steven Seagal plays the baddie in The Asian Connection, a dire action thriller in which a reckless American expat (John Edward Lee) and his numpty British sidekick (Byron Gibson) fall foul of a ruthless local drug lord Gan Sirankiri (Seagal's character, bizarrely) in Southeast Asia after robbing a string of banks holding his freshly laundered money. An amateurish effort all round, from the flat narration by the hero's girlfriend (Pim Bubear) to the poorly filmed, unexciting fight scenes.

Certificate 15. Runtime 88 mins. Director Daniel Zirilli

The Asian Connection debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere today and is available on DVD from Soda Pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSy_F3DbXmI

Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.