Belly of the Beast
Encyclopedia
Belly of the Beast is a 2003
action film
starring Steven Seagal
, and directed
by Hong Kong
action choreographer
Ching Siu-tung
. Seagal plays an ex-CIA agent on a quest to find his kidnapped daughter.
) was a CIA agent who was stationed in Thailand. Then one day, things went sour, and his partner, Sunti (Byron Mann
) barely escaped with his life after accidentally killing a woman. Jake called it quits and returned to the United States when his wife died, and Sunti became a Buddhist monk to atone for his sins. For the past 10 years, Jake has run a successful private security business, and has been raising his daughter Jessica (Sara Malakul Lane), who is now an adult.
While hiking in Thailand, Jessica and her friend Sarah Winthorpe (Eilidh MacQueen
) are kidnapped. A group of Islamic fundamentalists known as the Abu Karaf claims responsibility. Sarah is the daughter of United States senator John Winthorpe. The Abu Karaf demand the release of 20 prisoners from American custody.
Tom Collins (Martin McDougall
), an ex-colleague of Jake's, recognizes Jessica on the ransom tape, and he tips Jake off. Jake knows that he must rescue the girls himself. An old CIA buddy puts Jake in contact with Leon Washington (Patrick Robinson
), an active CIA agent who is working in Thailand. Jake goes to Bangkok, and escapes an assassination attempt by unknown forces.
Leon arranges a meeting for himself with Soku—the internal security chief for General Jantapan (Tom Wu
). Jantapan is a rebel military general who is making a play to be one of the most powerful men in Thailand. Secretly, Jantapan is messing with some very dangerous spiritual forces.
Soku provides Jake with a cover story, but the CIA wants Jake out of it because they're planning to take out the Abu Karaf with the aid of the Thai army, and they don't want a civilian in the middle.
Jake is a spiritual man, so he contacts his spiritual master Paijan Paitoon. As Jake is in trouble, Paitoon offers to arrange a divination from the oracle of the order. He enlists the help of Sunti. Jake also gets Lulu (Monica Lo), the girlfriend of arms dealer Fitch McQuoid (Vincent Riotta
), to steal information leading to the Abu Karaf.
Jake and Sunti follow the leads to a warehouse where they discover evidence of highly sophisticated weaponry. With their enemies now after Lulu, Jake takes Lulu under his wing. He then shares some of his info with Leon—still testing the waters. Can he trust Leon? Another attempt is made on Jake's life—and this time, Jake's sure that Leon was involved.
Finally, the Abu Karaf contact Jake to arrange a meeting—the pieces are coming together, and Jake figures out that it was not the Abu Karaf who kidnapped Jessica and Sarah. Jake gets his reading from the old oracle, and the cryptic message confirms his fears—demonic spiritual forces are working against him. Jantapan later goes to an evil temple and tries to send the spirit of an ancient warrior demon to kill Jake, but the ceremony goes wrong and the spirit enters Jantapan himself, giving him amazing but evil physical and spiritual powers.
Jake and Sunti go to meet Mongkol (Pongpat Wachirabunjong
), the leader of the Abu Karaf. Mongkol confirms what Jake suspects—ever since the terrorist attacks of 2001
, Jantapan has worked to corner the narcotics and arms markets. He also said that Jantapan kidnapped the girls and blamed the Abu Karaf so the army would wipe out Jantapan's competition. Mongkol knows where the girls are, and he gives Jake plans and intelligence and they both need the girls alive. Jake must engage in a rescue effort that will put him to the ultimate test as he takes on Jantapan in a battle in which death may be the only ending.
That night, Jake and Sunti plan to rescue the girls who are locked in a cell in Jantapan's house. After killing two gang members guarding the cell and freeing the girls, a horde of corrupt Thai policemen intervene and makes a deadly shootout but end up dead through the firearms of the two. Sunti kills the rest of the cops while Jake battles with Jantapan in the upstairs living room. Jake kills Jantapan by disarming him and inflicts several injuries in his body like breaking his neck. He ends the fight by throwing Jantapan in a display cabinet which crushes his spine killing him.
Jake returns downstairs which is now full of dead bodies of Thai police and embraces the girls and then Sunti only to discover hes is fatally injured. Sunti wishes Jake farewell before dying in his arms. Suddenly, military forces led by Leon and their General enter but Leon orders them to hold fire after seeing Jake with the dead Sunti and kidnapped girls.
After the battle, a Buddhist funeral with Jake in the lead is seen. Jake steps into the river and throws Sunti's ashes in the water. A vision of Sunti smiling fades in and later fades out.
The last scene is a head show of Jake looking at the river and saying "Good-bye brother." The movie ends with words saying "In Loving Memory of our friend Trevor Murray" and the credits roll.
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
starring Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
, and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
action choreographer
Stage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...
Ching Siu-tung
Ching Siu-tung
Ching Siu-tung , also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantasy A Chinese Ghost Story .-Career:...
. Seagal plays an ex-CIA agent on a quest to find his kidnapped daughter.
Plot
Ten years ago, Jake Hopper (Steven SeagalSteven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
) was a CIA agent who was stationed in Thailand. Then one day, things went sour, and his partner, Sunti (Byron Mann
Byron Mann
Byron Mann is an actor who has made films in both Hollywood and Asia. He is perhaps best known for his performance as Ryu in Street Fighter.-Biography:...
) barely escaped with his life after accidentally killing a woman. Jake called it quits and returned to the United States when his wife died, and Sunti became a Buddhist monk to atone for his sins. For the past 10 years, Jake has run a successful private security business, and has been raising his daughter Jessica (Sara Malakul Lane), who is now an adult.
While hiking in Thailand, Jessica and her friend Sarah Winthorpe (Eilidh MacQueen
Eilidh Macqueen
Eilidh MacQueen is a Thailand-based British actress.- Early career :Eilidh Kate MacQueen was born in Scotland and lived in New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Dubai and Thailand, before settling in Bangkok, Thailand with her partner, actor and Thai pop star Louis Scott...
) are kidnapped. A group of Islamic fundamentalists known as the Abu Karaf claims responsibility. Sarah is the daughter of United States senator John Winthorpe. The Abu Karaf demand the release of 20 prisoners from American custody.
Tom Collins (Martin McDougall
Martin McDougall
Martin McDougall is an actor best known to US audiences for his role as the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale in the Sci Fi Channel's 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.-External links:...
), an ex-colleague of Jake's, recognizes Jessica on the ransom tape, and he tips Jake off. Jake knows that he must rescue the girls himself. An old CIA buddy puts Jake in contact with Leon Washington (Patrick Robinson
Patrick Robinson (actor)
Patrick Robinson is an English actor, who played the character of charge nurse Martin "Ash" Ashford in the long-running medical drama series Casualty on BBC One from 1990 to 1996...
), an active CIA agent who is working in Thailand. Jake goes to Bangkok, and escapes an assassination attempt by unknown forces.
Leon arranges a meeting for himself with Soku—the internal security chief for General Jantapan (Tom Wu
Tom Wu
Tom Wu is Chinese-American actor, born in Hong Kong and grew up in Chinatown, London. He is a martial arts expert who has starred in films like Revolver,Shanghai Knights, Batman Begins and the Bollywood sci-fi blockbuster Ra.One....
). Jantapan is a rebel military general who is making a play to be one of the most powerful men in Thailand. Secretly, Jantapan is messing with some very dangerous spiritual forces.
Soku provides Jake with a cover story, but the CIA wants Jake out of it because they're planning to take out the Abu Karaf with the aid of the Thai army, and they don't want a civilian in the middle.
Jake is a spiritual man, so he contacts his spiritual master Paijan Paitoon. As Jake is in trouble, Paitoon offers to arrange a divination from the oracle of the order. He enlists the help of Sunti. Jake also gets Lulu (Monica Lo), the girlfriend of arms dealer Fitch McQuoid (Vincent Riotta
Vincent Riotta
Vincent Riotta is an English-born stage and film actor of Italian descent. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He went on to perform in various stage plays, such as Shakespeare's Romeo, which was held at the Young Vic, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, held at the Leicester...
), to steal information leading to the Abu Karaf.
Jake and Sunti follow the leads to a warehouse where they discover evidence of highly sophisticated weaponry. With their enemies now after Lulu, Jake takes Lulu under his wing. He then shares some of his info with Leon—still testing the waters. Can he trust Leon? Another attempt is made on Jake's life—and this time, Jake's sure that Leon was involved.
Finally, the Abu Karaf contact Jake to arrange a meeting—the pieces are coming together, and Jake figures out that it was not the Abu Karaf who kidnapped Jessica and Sarah. Jake gets his reading from the old oracle, and the cryptic message confirms his fears—demonic spiritual forces are working against him. Jantapan later goes to an evil temple and tries to send the spirit of an ancient warrior demon to kill Jake, but the ceremony goes wrong and the spirit enters Jantapan himself, giving him amazing but evil physical and spiritual powers.
Jake and Sunti go to meet Mongkol (Pongpat Wachirabunjong
Pongpat Wachirabunjong
Pongpat Wachirabunjong is a Thai singer, actor and film director.He is well-known in Thailand for his role in the action films Heaven's Seven and Seven Street Fighters, as the red-shorts-clad Sergeant Dab Jampoh....
), the leader of the Abu Karaf. Mongkol confirms what Jake suspects—ever since the terrorist attacks of 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, Jantapan has worked to corner the narcotics and arms markets. He also said that Jantapan kidnapped the girls and blamed the Abu Karaf so the army would wipe out Jantapan's competition. Mongkol knows where the girls are, and he gives Jake plans and intelligence and they both need the girls alive. Jake must engage in a rescue effort that will put him to the ultimate test as he takes on Jantapan in a battle in which death may be the only ending.
That night, Jake and Sunti plan to rescue the girls who are locked in a cell in Jantapan's house. After killing two gang members guarding the cell and freeing the girls, a horde of corrupt Thai policemen intervene and makes a deadly shootout but end up dead through the firearms of the two. Sunti kills the rest of the cops while Jake battles with Jantapan in the upstairs living room. Jake kills Jantapan by disarming him and inflicts several injuries in his body like breaking his neck. He ends the fight by throwing Jantapan in a display cabinet which crushes his spine killing him.
Jake returns downstairs which is now full of dead bodies of Thai police and embraces the girls and then Sunti only to discover hes is fatally injured. Sunti wishes Jake farewell before dying in his arms. Suddenly, military forces led by Leon and their General enter but Leon orders them to hold fire after seeing Jake with the dead Sunti and kidnapped girls.
After the battle, a Buddhist funeral with Jake in the lead is seen. Jake steps into the river and throws Sunti's ashes in the water. A vision of Sunti smiling fades in and later fades out.
The last scene is a head show of Jake looking at the river and saying "Good-bye brother." The movie ends with words saying "In Loving Memory of our friend Trevor Murray" and the credits roll.