Friday, October 26, 2007
I love to write reviews, one of the sites I write for is run by a friend of mine that covers a lot of multimedia like Music, Books, DVDs, as well as video games. I write mostly shorter videogame reviews for him which I love to do as it helps me experiment on trying to write very concise reviews in a limited format, which is great practice in the rare event I land my dream job of writing for a gaming mag. If you want to check them out go to http://theentertainmentreview.com in the meantime here is my latest review for him for the DVD of the Steve Austin action flick, The Condemned.
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The Condemned DVD review
When I originally went to see WWE Films’ latest theatrical release, The Condemned, I was a little skeptical going in. WWE Films’ initial two releases, the abysmal horror slasher-flick, See No Evil, and the run-of-the-mill action film, The Marine, didn’t really do anything to stand out in their respective genres.
The Condemned changes that however. It pulls off a really good combination of plots from The Running Man and Battle Royal. It stars former WWE champ, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as Jack Conrad, who is picked up from death row from blackballed Hollywood director, Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone) to participate in a live Internet reality-show where 10 contestants (who were all plucked from death row over the world thanks to large cash donations from Breckel) have 30 hours to kill everyone on a remote South Pacific island where the sole survivor wins their freedom and a pocket full of cash.
Unlike previous WWE movie attempts, this one has high production qualities which results in a very satisfying film experience. Austin does a surprisingly good performance in his role as the ex-Special Forces agent Conrad. He doesn’t say a whole lot, but his one-liners and other lines are delivered exceptionally well, and you get the feeling that this is one badass you don’t want to mess with. The same can be said to the main villain in the film, fellow contestant McStarley (portrayed by Vinnie Jones) who later forms a pact later in the movie with Saiga (played by martial artist, Masa Yamaguichi). The evil duo has some great fight scenes with Austin and the other contestants, which are choreographed to perfection and had me on the edge of my seat as they unfolded throughout the film.
Some of my qualms with the flick are that towards the end it feels just a hair too preachy, like it is really trying to drive home a message which actually goes hand in hand with the WWE’s own in-ring product. Additionally, the film warrants its R rating by having a couple parts which are kind of hard to stomach, though on my second viewing I didn’t find it as gruesome. Overall though, this is a great popcorn action flick, and it is disappointing to see it performed so badly in the theatres, though initial DVD sales are very strong thus far.
There is a decent amount of extras on the disc. There is a five part, behind-the-scenes documentary which combines for around 40 minutes that does a tremendous job of detailing the fighting choreography and the filming process of how everything was shot on location with no blue-screen backgrounds whatsoever. The documentary also gives background on the characters, the importance of the technician room, a tour of Austin’s trailer and how the screenplay was conceived and went through multiple revisions and how it found its way to fruition. I found it very fascinating and it is worth checking out as it gave some interesting insight in the creation process.
There are some other good extras on here too along with two commentaries, one from the director, Scott Wiper and another with Wiper and Steve Austin. Another extra is highlights from a 1998 WWE PPV event where Vinnie Jones made a guest appearance and aided Steve Austin in a wrestling victory over the late Big Boss Man. Finishing off the extras are clips from a Steve Austin signing in Australlia, storyboard sequences, and trailers for The Condemned and other Lionsgate films.
Overall, I highly recommend checking out The Condmened. It is worth the purchase, or at the very least give it a rental. I am very satisfied with my purchase as it packs in a solid amount of extras, and it is just overall a damn good action flick.
==================================
The Condemned DVD review
When I originally went to see WWE Films’ latest theatrical release, The Condemned, I was a little skeptical going in. WWE Films’ initial two releases, the abysmal horror slasher-flick, See No Evil, and the run-of-the-mill action film, The Marine, didn’t really do anything to stand out in their respective genres.
The Condemned changes that however. It pulls off a really good combination of plots from The Running Man and Battle Royal. It stars former WWE champ, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as Jack Conrad, who is picked up from death row from blackballed Hollywood director, Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone) to participate in a live Internet reality-show where 10 contestants (who were all plucked from death row over the world thanks to large cash donations from Breckel) have 30 hours to kill everyone on a remote South Pacific island where the sole survivor wins their freedom and a pocket full of cash.
Unlike previous WWE movie attempts, this one has high production qualities which results in a very satisfying film experience. Austin does a surprisingly good performance in his role as the ex-Special Forces agent Conrad. He doesn’t say a whole lot, but his one-liners and other lines are delivered exceptionally well, and you get the feeling that this is one badass you don’t want to mess with. The same can be said to the main villain in the film, fellow contestant McStarley (portrayed by Vinnie Jones) who later forms a pact later in the movie with Saiga (played by martial artist, Masa Yamaguichi). The evil duo has some great fight scenes with Austin and the other contestants, which are choreographed to perfection and had me on the edge of my seat as they unfolded throughout the film.
Some of my qualms with the flick are that towards the end it feels just a hair too preachy, like it is really trying to drive home a message which actually goes hand in hand with the WWE’s own in-ring product. Additionally, the film warrants its R rating by having a couple parts which are kind of hard to stomach, though on my second viewing I didn’t find it as gruesome. Overall though, this is a great popcorn action flick, and it is disappointing to see it performed so badly in the theatres, though initial DVD sales are very strong thus far.
There is a decent amount of extras on the disc. There is a five part, behind-the-scenes documentary which combines for around 40 minutes that does a tremendous job of detailing the fighting choreography and the filming process of how everything was shot on location with no blue-screen backgrounds whatsoever. The documentary also gives background on the characters, the importance of the technician room, a tour of Austin’s trailer and how the screenplay was conceived and went through multiple revisions and how it found its way to fruition. I found it very fascinating and it is worth checking out as it gave some interesting insight in the creation process.
There are some other good extras on here too along with two commentaries, one from the director, Scott Wiper and another with Wiper and Steve Austin. Another extra is highlights from a 1998 WWE PPV event where Vinnie Jones made a guest appearance and aided Steve Austin in a wrestling victory over the late Big Boss Man. Finishing off the extras are clips from a Steve Austin signing in Australlia, storyboard sequences, and trailers for The Condemned and other Lionsgate films.
Overall, I highly recommend checking out The Condmened. It is worth the purchase, or at the very least give it a rental. I am very satisfied with my purchase as it packs in a solid amount of extras, and it is just overall a damn good action flick.
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