Writer-director Michael Winnik said he wanted to make "
First Blood meets
Death Wish." Seagal liked the script and an earlier film of Winnik's,
Guns, Girls and Gambling, and agreed to make the film. The shooting schedule was 20 days. Winnik said of Seagal, "he's definitely the real deal... he really knows his guns, his Aikido, his martial arts, his fighting skills. You know, he's teaching you weapons, he's teaching you moves. He’s been around a long time, but his arms, his hands, they’re still lightning fast." In the movie, Seagal's character dies. Winnik says the actor was not pleased with this and "if you ask him, he didn't [die]. He escaped. That said, the implication, the way the film is structured, is that he does. Obviously you can interpret it as you wish, but yes, he does go down. And that’s kind of what he’s been saying throughout the film. 'Would you give your life to save the world if no one knew you did it?' is the question he keeps posing. He's completed his mission and he's even made the other character take the fall for it." ==Reception==