eil Shaw (Wesley Snipes) heads an elite team of United Nations covert agents. While convalescing
from an injury he suffered during a mission in Hong Kong, his boss, UN Chief Eleanor Hooks (Anne Archer), yanks him back to duty.

  Shaw is assigned to monitor the movements of the Chinese ambassador who is suspected of being involved in a scandal involving the deaths of several Vietnamese refugees. The situation is especially delicate, as China is about to sign a UN-backed trade agreement aimed at liberalizing trade between it and the rest of the world.

  Things become catastrophic when the Chinese ambassador is assassinated at a party in a New York luxury hotel. Shaw immediately becomes a suspect, and goes on the run, while his covert operations team members are systematically eliminated.
Shaw's only clue to finding out the identity of the assassin is a recording in Chinese made by the ambassador before his death. He seeks out Julia (Marie Matiko), the ambassador's translator, only to find she is also now a target. He saves her from a close call, and the two fugitives join forces to unravel the ugly truths behind the killings. Slowly unfolding like a puzzle, the truth of who has been pulling the strings and setting Shaw up for the 
fall becomes apparent.

actors
Wesley Snipes
Anne Archer
Michael Biehn
Donald Sutherland
Marie Matiko
Maury Chaykin

director
Christian Duguay

locations
Monteal, Quebec

outtake
The movie was
originally intended as a project for Jet Li of Romeo Must Die, but the role went instead to Wesley Snipes (Blade).

 

  Exciting marital arts choreography is certainly one of the key elements of the movie. "We brought in some professionals, what I would call upper level martial arts guys from out of town," says stunt coordinator Michael Scherer. "They're fast. They're precise. The moves are incredible."

  But that's not to say the art of acting is ever ignored. The Art of War brings together a cast of 
respected thespians rarely assembled in the action genre. Anne Archer once again balances an action film's dizzying dose of testosterone with sharp intellect, as she did in Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger. And in the role of the Canadian UN Secretary General is Donald Sutherland, a real-life Canadian "ambassador" to Hollywood, known for his portrayals of subtle characters in such acclaimed films as M*A*S*H* and Six Degrees Of Separation.

  Director Christian Duguay (Joan of Arc) says he was faced with the challenge of getting his audience to follow a complex, layered story while keeping then entertained throughout. The Art of War, he says, "is about manipulation and control, all the way through. And it's the same thing we're trying to do with the audience. That's what I think makes this film very unique and exciting."

-Rui Umezawa