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16[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/half_past_dead_2002.jpeg]]
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18A 2002 American action movie written and directed by Don Michael Paul and starring Creator/StevenSeagal, Morris Chestnut, and Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins.
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20It's TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, and [[TheAlcatraz Alcatraz]] prison has been reopened due to rising crime rates. [[FakeRussian Sascha Petrosevitch]] (Seagal) is a car thief who's brought in by criminal Nick Frazier (Ja Rule) to work for crime boss Sonny Eckvall (Richard Bremmer). 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=] (Creator/BruceWeitz) is a prisoner who stole $200,000,000 worth of gold and stashed it someplace, killing five people in the process. With the location of the gold still unknown, he is scheduled to be executed that night. But then a group of terrorists called the "49ers", led by Donald Johnson (Morris Chestnut), invades the island and takes control of it. They want [=McKenna=] to tell them where the gold is. Now Sascha, Nick, and the other inmates are forced to battle the terrorists to regain control of the prison.
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22This film itself got an InNameOnly 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). It co-stars Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}. It is also the only Seagal film with a PG-13 rating.
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25!!This film provides examples of:
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27* TheAlcatraz: According to the director's commentary the screenplay for this film was actually written several years before ''Film/TheRock'''s screenplay was conceived, and the original title of this film's screenplay was in fact ''Film/TheRock'', talk about Irony!
28* TheAtoner: Lester. He has become deeply religious and mournful for the deaths he caused. {{Subverted|Trope}} 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, [[DeathSeeker he simply waits.]]
29* BadassBoast: 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.
30%%* BaldOfEvil: 49er One.
31* BigBad: 49er One is the one leading the terrorists to take over Alcatraz.
32* BreakThemByTalking: TheLeader of the terrorists does this to Supreme Court Justice June [=McPherson=], whom they're holding hostage.
33* BulletProofVest: Used by the bad guys [[spoiler: along with PlayingPossum to get the drop on two {{Red Shirt}}s.]]
34%%* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The crashed Huey. [[ChekhovsBoomerang Twice.]]]]
35%%* DarkActionGirl: 49er Six (Nia Peeples).
36* DesignatedGirlFight: ZigZagged: 49er Six ends up fighting most of the central male characters by the end of the film, and is finally apprehended by the warden. [[spoiler: When she tries to stab him once he turns his back, Williams shoots her.]]
37%%* DestinationDefenestration
38* DieHardOnAnX: ''Die Hard'' in a prison.
39* DynamicEntry: The 49ers [[ItsRainingMen sky dive]] in over the prison, then enter the prison proper via FastRoping.
40%%* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: 49er Six.
41* EvilPlan: The 49ers want to know where the gold is.
42* {{Fanservice}}: 49er Six's latex costume.
43* GunsAkimbo: 49er Six's style of shooting. Also used by Little Joe at one point.
44* HellishCopter: The 49er's getaway chopper crashes in bad weather within the first minute or so of appearing in the film.
45* HelmetMountedSight: Creator/StevenSeagal's character explains to his friend (played by JaRule) how to operate a crashed helicopter's gun using the helmet. When the firefight breaks out, it comes in handy.
46* IronicNickname: Little Joe is not little.
47* ItsProbablyNothing: El Fuego is told that they have lost all of their phone lines, and dismisses it as being due to the storm. [[DefiedTrope He then sends a guard to investigate it anyways.]]
48* JumpCut: There's an odd bit where Sascha is fighting a {{Mook}} and [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom hits him so hard he goes flying and crashes into a cabinet.]] We then jump cut to the guy's death face. Most likely he originally died from a broken neck or something and they cut that out to preserve the PG-13 rating.
49* KarmaHoudini: 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.
50** In sequel, he was rejected at the start and bad blood with most of the inmates, probably due to said shooting.
51* LawOfInverseRecoil: 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.
52* MadeOfIron: 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 repeating a litany of injuries he received from this.
53* OhCrap: 49er One's reaction to [[spoiler: finding out that Lester is strapped with explosives]].
54* RandomEventsPlot: Presumably due to the massive ExecutiveMeddling/[[{{Bowdlerize}} Bowdlerization]] the movie gets really confusing especially during the second half as there are some instances of characters [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse who just disappear and are never seen again]] Most likely due to their death scenes being excised from the final product.
55%%* ScaryBlackMan: 49er One, who is portrayed by Morris Chestnut. Little Joe also qualifies.
56* SpannerInTheWorks: Sasha to 49er One and his mooks.
57* TheStinger: Ends with one of the inmates talking to his girlfriend.
58%%* StuffBlowingUp
59* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Lester takes out 49er One by blowing themselves up]].
60* TimeForPlanB: 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.
61* TrainJob: The reason why Lester is in jail.
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