The Shepherd: Border Patrol
| The Shepherd: Border Patrol | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Isaac Florentine |
| Produced by |
Moshe Diamont Gilbert Dumontet |
| Written by |
Cade Courtley Joe Gayton |
| Starring |
Jean-Claude Van Damme Stephen Lord Natalie J. Robb Gary McDonald Scott Adkins Bianca Van Varenberg |
| Music by | Mark Sayfritz |
| Cinematography | Douglas Milsome |
| Edited by | Irit Raz |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
The Shepherd: Border Patrol is a 2008 American action film directed by Isaac Florentine, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephen Lord, Natalie J. Robb, Gary McDonald, Scott Adkins and Jean-Claude Van Damme's real life daughter Bianca Van Varenberg. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on March 4, 2008.
Plot
A former New Orleans cop Jack Robideaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) arrives with his pet rabbit in Columbus, New Mexico to take a job with the border patrol, and working with Captain Ramona Garcia (Natalie J. Robb).
At the moment, the border patrol is up against a highly dangerous drug smuggling operation, in which the smugglers are funneling illegal immigrants and bricks of heroin through the porous defenses of the Mexico U.S. border. Migrants are randomly outfitted with C4 vests, so any border patrol agent who interferes might get blown up.
As it turns out, the smugglers are a rogue special forces unit led by Benjamin Meyers (Stephen Lord) and his right-hand man Karp (Scott Adkins), who have taken over all of the smuggling operations in the area by killing major drug kingpins Felix Nestor (Daniel Perrone) and Benito Ortiz (Luis Algar).
Jack and his partner Billy Pawnell (Gary McDonald) have their work cut out for them in trying to bring down Meyers and his operation. Myers and his henchmen take over and rig a missionary bus to smuggle drugs, but Jack and Billy pursue them across the border, out of their jurisdiction, and Jack is captured by the local police, who are working for Meyers.
Once Jack is taken from a Mexican jail to Meyers's compound, it turns out that Billy is working for Meyers, who has also kidnapped Ramona and her uncle Emile (Dan Davies). Meyers kills Emile by throwing him into a pool of water charged by live wires.
It turns out that Jack has a personal reason for going after Meyers since Meyers' drugs killed Jack's daughter, Kassie (Bianca Van Varenberg) about three months ago. Kassie was 16 years old. Jack's pet rabbit was originally Kassie's rabbit, and he carries it around in memory of Kassie. He also swore on her grave to take down whatever drug operation he could find.
Meanwhile, Jack and Ramona manage to free themselves and kill Billy. Ramona calls for help from Mexican police, and she and Jack start fighting their way through Meyers's men. Ramona goes to find an escape vehicle but is knocked out in a car crash.
However, Jack is confronted by Karp, who is a martial arts expert. They fight, and Karp brutally kicks Jack to the head and Jack is then slowed down, but still overpowers Karp and beats him to death. Meyers, whose potential investors have abandoned him, confronts Jack and is about to shoot him when Jack throws an explosive collar toward Meyers and detonates it. Later on, Ramona advises Jack to go back to New Orleans and be with his wife.
Cast
- Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jack Robideaux
- Stephen Lord as Benjamin Meyers
- Natalie J. Robb as Capt. Ramona Garcia
- Gary McDonald as Agent Billy Pawnell
- Daniel Perrone as Felix Nestor
- Scott Adkins as Karp
- Andrée Bernard as Lexxie
- Dan Davies as Emile
- Miles Anderson as Arthur Pennigton
- Luis Algar as Benito Ortiz
- Todd Jenson as Wray
- Ivaylo Geraskov as Gallery
- Velislav Pavlov as The Contact
- Phil McKee as Jed
- Bogdan Plakov as Turgell
- Bianca Van Varenberg as Kassie Robideaux
- George Zlatarev as Mexican Priest
Production
It is set and filmed in Bulgaria and New Mexico in 47 days on February 6 and March 25, 2007.
The film had quite a few inaccuracies. For one a cop cannot just transfer into a Border Patrol unit. He would need to apply and attend the Border Patrol training like anyone else. There he would have received uniforms like the other agents. Also, although there are agents who wear captain bars on their uniforms, they are not referred to as captains but rather Supervisory Agent. Not to mention the "captain" in the film did not wear any markings to indicate said rank.
Home media
DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on March 4, 2008, and also Region 2 in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2008, it was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
External links
- The Shepherd: Border Patrol at the Internet Movie Database
- Isaac Florentine about The Shepherd (English)