The Condemned

[Boon 0]

The trailer is up on IGN.

 

Could be a could popcorn flick.

[starvenger 0]

When Vinnie Jones is your best actor and it's not even close... I don't know what that says. Good production on the trailer though.

[A Happy Medium 0]

This was a good book. It was called Battle Royale.

 

This was also a good movie. It was called Battle Royale.

 

 

....I'll probably see it...looks entertaining.

[In Credible 0]

This was a good book. It was called Battle Royale.

 

This was also a good movie. It was called Battle Royale.

 

 

....I'll probably see it...looks entertaining.

 

 

Actually I'm pretty sure it's ripping off The Running Man not Battle Royale.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I think the ending is going to be a copout as I can see more than one of the ten surviving.

[Ripper 0]

I have become convinced that people call Battle Royale a "good" movie because it is Japanese. If americans made that same movie, they will see it as the mindless crap it really is. Yes...I don't like that shitty movie.

 

As for this, it looks like it could be fun. Who is that hot black(ish) girl anyway. If anyone else survives, my money is on her. She is in way too many previews.

 

Nathan jones sure does have that "I am fucking huge" revel shot down doesn't he?

[The Buzz 0]

Haven't you heard? any wacky idea is genius as long as it's made in japan. even bad wrestling matches are better if they are in japan.

[Ravenbomb 0]

Haven't you heard? any wacky idea is genius as long as it's made in japan.

 

Then explain Virtual Boy

[Coffin Surfer 0]

I have become convinced that people call Battle Royale a "good" movie because it is Japanese. If americans made that same movie, they will see it as the mindless crap it really is. Yes...I don't like that shitty movie.

 

That's why Evil Dead Trap is considered to be such a classic in the states......

 

Battle Royale is appealing because of the cool characters and visuals, an interesting concept, memorable death scenes, and a grumpy old Takeshi Kitano will forever bring a smile to the face(even if this is far from the best movie he's acted in). I don't think it's the greatest movie ever, but it is a damn fun experience. Outside of it's obvious social commentary, it's rarely pimped as a film of deep thought so calling it mindless crap is a rather mute point. However, the lack of suspense and dread given the subject matter is often criticized appropriately.

[Ripper 0]

I have become convinced that people call Battle Royale a "good" movie because it is Japanese. If americans made that same movie, they will see it as the mindless crap it really is. Yes...I don't like that shitty movie.

 

That's why Evil Dead Trap is considered to be such a classic in the states......

 

Battle Royale is appealing because of the cool characters and visuals, an interesting concept, memorable death scenes, and a grumpy old Takeshi Kitano will forever bring a smile to the face(even if this is far from the best movie he's acted in). I don't think it's the greatest movie ever, but it is a damn fun experience. Outside of it's obvious social commentary, it's rarely pimped as a film of deep thought so calling it mindless crap is a rather mute point. However, the lack of suspense and dread given the subject matter is often criticized appropriately.

 

Oh but it is, which is what baffles me. If battle Royale was an American film I truely believe that some of the people that are in love with it would call it trash. I personally think it is what this film is going to be. Mindless fun and violence.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I have become convinced that people call Battle Royale a "good" movie because it is Japanese. If americans made that same movie, they will see it as the mindless crap it really is. Yes...I don't like that shitty movie.

 

That's why Evil Dead Trap is considered to be such a classic in the states......

I like the first "Evil Dead Trap" movie for what it is: not a classic at all, but a decent tributr to Dario Argento and giallo movies.

 

As far as the "only reason people like it is because it's Japanese" crowd, well, I've become convinced about that fact over different movies. I've seen several Japanese (and other Asian) horror flicks (Dark Water, Ju-On, Marebito, Tomie, and a few others) that really didn't live up to the "it blows everything Hollywood does out of the water" hype they recieved. Hell, "Dark Water" and "Tomie" were tedious at best. Sorry Japanophiles, but I think I'd rather watch "Slither" instead of "Ju-On" or "Cello." Granted, there are Japanese horror movies that I do love ("Audition" is one of my favorite horror movies), but still, they hype some of them get is in no way justified.

 

That out of the way, I'm sick of remakes of Japanese horror movies.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

"Oh but it is, which is what baffles me"

 

I've seen it billed as thought provoking, which it is to some degree as the concept is very interesting. To be honest, I rarely see people reading to much into it and if they do, it's probably for the same reasons people read too much into movies from America, Europe..etc. I seriously think your decieving yourself if you believe the movie has developed such an enduring cult following simply because it's a Japanese film; those are dime a dozen. It takes more than that to be a beloved cult classic.

 

"I personally think it is what this film is going to be. Mindless fun and violence."

 

I don't think this is a fair critique of the film. In addition to an obvious overall theme of "friendship and caring for others" , the overall approach of the film vastly differs from mindless violence romps, too much focus on the characters and their motives for that to work.

 

"Ju-On,"

-Which one? The theatircal remake is bloody awful. The direct to video original is fantastic.

 

"Marebito"

-A stone faced Shinya killing people and feeding a nude girl blood in sexually suggestive ways, rules. Rest of the movie, not so much.

 

I'm not saying there are people that love movies soley because their Japanese.... But I think the movies that get most of the attention generally have something unique and enjoyable about them aside from the language and shape of the actor's eyes. Even an overall stinker like Marebito is a rather different kind of movie that is going to get attention and perhaps what I percieve to be underserved praise regardless of what country it is from. The same goes for Battle Royale as well. Now let's talk about how if "Suspira" and "The Beyond" were American they wouldn't be cult classics.

[Downhome 0]

I said the following a few days ago:

 

I think it'll do around 8 million for the opening weekend as well, but I wouldn't be shocked to see it only pull in 5 or so. There's already a number of films out right now that is pulling for the same sort of audience that The Condemned is aimed at, and on top of that there's two or three other flicks opening wide with The Condemned that's also aimed at the same sort of crowd.

 

Then, with Spider-Man 3 opening next week, we could end up seeing Austin's flick actually making less at the box office than See No Evil and The Marine once it's all said and done.

 

And just like I thought, The Condemned isn't doing great at all. For Friday, it came in at 8th place with only 1.3 million. There's just too many flicks out right now targeting the same audience:

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?...4-27&p=.htm

 

The following were all ahead of The Condemned on Friday:

 

-Disturbia

-The Invisible

-Next

-Fracture

-Blades of Glory

-Hot Fuzz

-Vacancy

[Gary Floyd 0]

From what I've heard, the movie is really bad. It doesn't give Stone Cold that much to work with, and it becomes really preachy with an anti-violence message. That's right, WWE Films is telling you that violence is wrong.

 

Isn't their next movie supposed to be a Western staring HHH and Undertaker?

[cabbageboy 0]

Man, that is worse than I figured The Condemned would do. I didn't think it would do big business or anything but I figured it would do okay.

 

WWE needs to realize that while people will go in for a cornball horror or action movie on DVD, this stuff is a big tougher to sell to filmgoers. Their entire approach is insulting and demeaning to the audience, as if they go out of their way to explain to the potential audience that there is no thinking required by the viewer on any level, that everything is about the shock moments (See No Evil), the loud shooting and explosions (The Marine), and the simple and brutal fighting (Condemned). Wrestling fans aren't especially different from most filmgoers, but WWE is obsessed with treating the fans/filmgoers like the lowest level of moronic white trash that have zero desire to see a movie with actual characters and a decent plot.

 

It's ironic that the WWE films so far have been reheated 80s stuff like slasher horror or Arnold actioners, considering that in the 80s WWF programming had the absurd Fuji/Muraco spoof bits that required a bit of thought from the audience to fully get the satire (as in it required the audience to understand the difference between good acting and bad acting, comic timing and being inept, etc.).

 

Ah well, I might eventually check out The Condemned on DVD, as I did See No Evil and The Marine.

[King Kamala 0]

It was way preachy and the film was filled with bad accents and bad performances in general. Yet, I still kind of enjoyed it. Definitely a good bad movie rather than just a plain bad movie. I loved Vinnie Jones as the laid back,sarcastic bad ass heel and Steve Austin was surprisingly competent. In fact, I'd say Austin is the 2nd best actor-wrestler behind The Rock. I'd like to see him do some more action movies with a better script and a better supporting cast. Plus there were a few good fight scenes. I'd say it's a worth a rental or a matinee ticket.

 

 

There were only about five people in the theaters when I saw it. But the theater in general was pretty much empty. So nobody was seeing anything. I'm predicting a pretty weak weekend at the box office.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

The thing about Battle Royale, was even if you disregarded the social commentary of the overall storyline (I don't know why you would, since it's a good message and elevates the movie), you still had fantastic acting and a good core storyline. The film also has mulltiple layers of character ambitions and desires if you peel it back far enough, which makes it even better.

 

No one in the Condemned could even hope to act to the level of Kitano. And no one is safe in Battle Royale. It's established relatively quickly that anyone could die at any time. That makes the action sense more dramatic, and makes every interaction more tense.

 

I haven't seen the Condemned, but I don't see anyway it could match Battle Royale.

[Hawk 34 0]

What annoys me is that WWE thinks these type of movies can sell. They'd be better off putting one of the Divas in a romantic comedy(Trish would have been a good choice) . Reviewers and the general public just see the WWE name attached and see the generic low brow action plots and dismiss it. They want Kane, Cena and Austin to follow in the footsteps of The Rock but they can't. They should try to get a real actor to star and have their talent be the secondary characters or the main bad guy in a movie. So many options within the company and they take the shitty route from top to bottom. From the plot, the script, the directors, the casting and of course, the lead role.

[King Kamala 0]

Dammit Hawk 34, the WWE are keeping my hopes of straight up, no braineraction flicks coming back alive! Er...just barely

 

 

 

I think WWE Films can keep their guys as the leads and still make decent popcorn movies. It's not like they're going for high art, they're going for solid popcorn movies (be they action or horror). Honestly, I don't think fans would want to see any WWE Film that isn't an action or horror movie, it's really niche company. Nobody is going to see a romantic comedy produced by WWE Films. Romantic comedy fans will be turned off by the fact that it's a film produced by WWE and WWE fans will turned off by the fact that it's a romantic comedy.

 

 

That being said WWE could make much better niche movies than they are now. For example, all The Condemned needed to become a decent action flick was to tone down the preachiness, trim some of the subplots and just do a balls out action movie. Oh and get a better villain. The guy who played the evil multi-millionaire really, really underacted the role. It's a fucking B action movie, ham it up! The wrestling fan in me would have liked to see Vince McMahon in the role but the movie fan in me and common sense tells me that some good character actor like J.K. Simmons could have played it to a tee.

 

Like I said, I don't think WWE Films ever intended to or ever will produce big blockbuster films or an eclectic bunch of films but they could be making much, much better B movies.

[AndrewTS 0]

Oh but it is, which is what baffles me. If battle Royale was an American film I truely believe that some of the people that are in love with it would call it trash. I personally think it is what this film is going to be. Mindless fun and violence.

 

I'm not really committed to defending or praising Battle Royale, but...

 

Incidentally, what is the prevailing opinion about Fight Club?

 

QT's body of work? Etc.?

 

What annoys me is that WWE thinks these type of movies can sell. They'd be better off putting one of the Divas in a romantic comedy(Trish would have been a good choice).

 

As much as I respected Trish as a performer when I watched WWE, there would be only two reasons I'd watch a movie with her in it, and they would best be displayed prominently, often, and doused in water and/or oil.

 

I wouldn't put it past WWE to experience with a Diva in a romantic comedy. But their version of a romantic comedy will have no fewer than 3 big explosions in it.

[razazteca 0]

ncidentally, what is the prevailing opinion about Fight Club?

 

Fight Club is the greatest movie ever made

 

 

QT's body of work? Etc.?

QT is in his own movie universe where everything is considered a "tribute" and not "plagiarism" because he spent so many years working minimum wage at a video rental store...

 

 

But their version of a romantic comedy will have no fewer than 3 big explosions in it.

It would be a remake of a Wayans Brothers movie but with a cross dressing wrestler and a diva playing the part of the hooker with the heart of gold.

 

I really wanted Condemned to be successful because it is the only one of the 3 WWE films I intend to pay to see.

[cabbageboy 0]

Fight Clubs is the greatest movie ever, despite its completely idiotic last 20 minutes or so?

 

I guess my point with WWE films is why not get someone to come up with a script that isn't a rehash of simplistic, silly genres that stopped drawing money once the year hit 1990? Guess what...Arnold didn't stay in these silly Commando and Raw Deal movies for all that long. He eventually moved on to Predator, Total Recall, T2, and True Lies. There's a vast difference in the sort of actioner that drew money in 1985 and one that drew in 1990. WWE seems oblivious to the fact that movies like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon were ever made.

 

Why not do a buddy movie? Hell, let Edge and Orton do some silly cop movie with homoerotic overtones. If RVD signs a new deal give him and Sabu a stoner action comedy. They can be the action version of Jay and Silent Bob, with Van Dam doing stoned out rambling and Sabu never speaking except when something important happens.

[AndrewTS 0]

I guess my point with WWE films is why not get someone to come up with a script that isn't a rehash of simplistic, silly genres that stopped drawing money once the year hit 1990?

 

Because all WWE has are writers who got rejected/fired/whathaveyou from stations like The WB and UPN, ass-kissing yes-men, and the boss' daughter?

 

Because Vince's drinking water is laced with many, many things, among them pure Stallonium?

 

Because most of the people who watch WWE week-in, week-out are probably dumb louts whose minds couldn't really comprehend much more than boom-boom action flicks and crap slasher junk?

 

Because these movies are done on shoe-string budgets and most of the "stars" can't act beyond standing in a ring, yelling about how they will to beat somebody up and spouting gay jokes?

 

I'll take all of the above, Alex.

 

QT is in his own movie universe where everything is considered a "tribute" and not "plagiarism" because he spent so many years working minimum wage at a video rental store...

 

Yeah, but man, Pulp Fiction was good. Man, Pulp Fiction kicked ass. Man, Pulp Fiction was so long ago.

 

....and I liked Jackie Brown....

[Black Lushus 0]

don't you DARE besmirch Commando! You take that back right now, mister!

[King Kamala 0]

Has anybody seen the movie besides me? That's a bad sign for the box office if only one person on a wrestling message board has seen a movie targeted towards wrestling fan.

 

 

I would have no problem with a movie like Commando (and fuck you Cabbageboy- I love that movie) but WWE can't even make a ripoff of that competently! The Condemned doesn't have enough good one liners and has too much preachiness.

 

I would like to see another (better) movie teaming up Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones and I already have the plot. The Governor of Texas is murdered on a trip to London and a Texas Ranger (Austin) is sent over to investigate alongside Scotland Yard's toughest detective (Jones). THAT'S BOX OFFICE GOLD BAYBEE!

[Black Lushus 0]

I would like to see another (better) movie teaming up Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones and I already have the plot. The Governor of Texas is murdered on a trip to London and a Texas Ranger (Austin) is sent over to investigate alongside Scotland Yard's toughest detective (Jones). THAT'S BOX OFFICE GOLD BAYBEE!

 

I'd watch it...but only if Vinnie Jones says "I'm Scotland Yard, bitch!"

[cabbageboy 0]

Okay, hang on. When did I say I didn't like Commando? I love Commando for what it is, namely a hilariously campy and violent Reagan Era action movie in the Rambo vein. That said, Commando isn't really something that could draw in the year 2007. Commando is wildly entertaining, but would anyone call it a great movie without a hint of irony?

 

I used to have some toys of Commando. Gotta love the days when an R rated bloodbath action movie had action figures.

 

I don't think The Condemned was as much trying to be Commando as it was trying to be The Running Man. The Marine? Now that was trying to be Commando, but the problem is that it was rated PG-13 and thus didn't have the kind of over the top violence, nudity, and profanity that is required of a brainless actioner.

 

WWE Films almost have to do this sort of thing though, since they don't have enough of a budget to attempt stuff like T2.

[King Kamala 0]

Okay, hang on. When did I say I didn't like Commando? I love Commando for what it is, namely a hilariously campy and violent Reagan Era action movie in the Rambo vein. That said, Commando isn't really something that could draw in the year 2007. Commando is wildly entertaining, but would anyone call it a great movie without a hint of irony?

 

 

Is WWE trying to make great movies? They're trying to make movies for their fans and suffice to say, most wrestling fans love brain dead action and slasher films.

[AndrewTS 0]

Has anybody seen the movie besides me? That's a bad sign for the box office if only one person on a wrestling message board has seen a movie targeted towards wrestling fan.

 

There are a lot of folks in the TSM community who don't actually watch WWE (anymore). I gave up on it quite a while ago. Plus, this is a smark board anyway.

 

I'm pissed that this is playing at my local theater--my local *A* theater FGS, but nowhere near me is playing Hot Fuzz.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

It opened at #8 for Friday, with 1.4 million. It beat...uh...the Jamie Kennedy movie.

 

Stick to rasslin', Steve.