The Condemned (2007)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Some movies never were meant to be good, but that doesn't mean that they're not enjoyable. If you like your action flicks bl**dy and daft then this is the one for you.The Condemned is about a new type of reality TV show, broadcast on the internet which takes ten convicted killers and makes them fight to the death on an island - all for the public's entertainment. There are shades here and there of other similar movies such as Battle Royale and The Tournament (but not The Hunger Games, which is primarily aimed at kids), which lowers its originality factor, but that doesn't really matter if you're just in the mood for some mindless action.In the eighties The Condemned might even have been a vehicle for Stallone or Schwarzenegger. As it's made today, we're given a new hard-man to root for: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Now, anyone who's seen wrestlers act will be prepared to lower their expectations of what they're about to see. And they'd be right, but only just. Steve Austin actually puts in quite a believable performance. Yes, he doesn't have that many emotionally challenging scenes, but he plays the tough ex-special forces agent pretty well (in the same way that Arnie played a cold-blooded cyborg to perfection). Then add Vinnie - ex footballer - Jones into the mix, again someone hardly noted for his Oscar-winning acting abilities. However, even the former Wimbledon hardman puts in a fine performance (as a complete psycho, so some cynics may say he didn't have to stretch his range too far).The Condemned is far from perfect. There are enough plot holes to talk about if you really hate it and want to pick it apart. However, if you're in the mood for some 'old school' action and decent - if brutal - fight scenes, then give this a go.

I'm so sick of people saying that this is a fail of a film. I don't know who could say it is. The action sequences are memorable, the quotes that Stone Cold gives are unforgettable, the music is tense and the scenes are done well.I watched this film 3 years ago and I didn't hate it but just didn't like it. I tried it a year after and I started liking it heaps, now watching it again a couple of days ago, I think I have made my final decision. This film is a high 8 of 10 film.A problem I do have with this film is the story. it feels Flawed. The story feels like other films where people fight to the death and then the last one standing survives and goes on with life as a free man. I just feel that the Condemned copied the concept from somewhere but I can't remember. The story is pretty predictable because we all know Stone Cold's gonna survive.I find the scenes with the beating and torturing of the women very disturbing and, to me the violence towards them is not needed. They should have not involved them and just added another two male inmates to join the bash.Those are my only two negatives and now the positives.Stone Cold & Vinnie Jones as well as every other actor execute their roles perfectly - The music is tense and at times heart-beating with some suspense and tones.Choosing ruins, rain forests, muddy patches, beaches and waste lands was an excellent idea.Action sequence after action sequence (except for the women fighting) are done well and I enjoyed every moment when every TV crew or rough inmate died.Some of the dialogue made me laugh and some of it is still funny to this day.People say that this is a bad film but I find that it's far from it. I ask people who hates this, "why this?". Most of the time I never really had a problem with this. If people hate this, they should watch it again to be really sure if they hate it. If I can give it a second chance, so can you. 8/10

I saw a trailer for this film, I assume it is a straight to DVD feature, but I was really interested to try it because it sounded like a cool premise. Basically TV producer Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone) is looking for ten of the most dangerous criminals on death row to take part in his new big reality show, "The Condemned". The criminal he most wants for the show, which will be streamed on the internet, is American Jack Conrad (wrestler Steve Austin) who was being held in a Central American prison. The show creators have managed to get these ten criminals, Conrad, British Ewan McStarley (Vinnie Jones), Japanese Go Saiga (Masa Yamaguchi), Yasantwa Adei (Emelia Burns) from Ghana, Mexican husband Paco Pacheco (Manu Bennett) and wife Rosa (Dasi Ruz), American Kreston Mackie (Marcus Johnson), Estonian Petr Raudsep (Nathan Jones), German Helmut Bruggerman (Andy McPhee) and Italian Dominic Giangrasso (Rai Fazio). The game is simple, the ten prisoners are dropped onto an unknown tropical island with bombs attached to their legs, these will explode if they tamper, go beyond the boundaries or pull a pin. The aim of the game is to be the last one living, the winner will apparently be paid a big cash amount, and be allowed to go free. So they are all dropped, and one by one they die in grizzly ways as each member fights for their life and kills any of the other contestants with weapons provided and cameras watching their every move. One or two of the prisoners agree to team up, and obviously the husband and wife won't be doing anything to each other, but Conrad's only goal is to find a way off the island or get help from the authorities. Breckel also has only one care, to get at least 40,000,000 viewers and subscribers to the website and live streaming, and he doesn't care what the prisoners are doing to get that, whether it be dying, raping or killing. After many kills and only two survivors remaining, it is just the savage McStarley and the less ferocious Conrad remaining to fight to the death. It appears that McStarley is the winner of the game after he shoots Conrad, but he is not dead, and he manages to kill McStarley, and also Breckel and the nasty production team who captured him. Also starring Victoria 'Tory' Mussett as Julie, Madeleine West as Sarah Cavanaugh, Rick Hoffman as 'Goldy' Goldman, Christopher Baker as Eddie C, Samantha 'Sam' Healy as Bella and Luke Pegler as Baxter. Austin makes a good butch anti-villain, and Jones is fantastic as the cocky and sarcastic rapist criminal, it is a film that borrows the premise of Battle Royale, people forced to kill each other with bombs on them, but the criminal element is quite original, and the violence helps too, it is a good fun action thriller. Okay!

The Condemned is an action film that sounds good in the concept but I've noticed one too many similarities to Battle Royale. Ten prisoners on death row are gathered together by some TV producer to participate in the game, on a remote island, with the goal to kill each other within a limited time. To further force the criminals to participate, explosive collars have been placed around their ankles which can be detonated at will. Sound familiar. Battle Royale follows a very similar storyline but with Japanese students instead of criminals. This was likely changed to adult criminals to avoid major controversy in the USA.The Condemned can be a fun action film if you turn your brain off for a while, with some decent fighting scenes but that's about it. The characters are pretty bland save perhaps the Japanese guy and Vinnie Jones when he's funny, and the music was pretty shoddy save Savin' Me by Nickelback. Pardon me for comparing is much to BR but it felt like it was a cheap attempt to remake the film whilst trying to sneak it past the American censors.