What the bottom-feeding bottom-liners at WWE condemned us to was a cut-rate action film with a promising premise, lacking the heart or smarts to make us care.
The Condemned (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:95
Fresh:15
Rotten:80
Average Rating:3.6/10
Consensus: The Condemned is a morally ambiguous, exceedingly violent and mostly forgettable action film.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive strong brutal violence, and for language.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Apr 27, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $7,327,940
Synopsis: With the stage set by a contemporary spate of films starring WWE wrestlers, including SEE NO EVIL (Glen "Kane" Jacobs) and THE MARINE (John Cena), THE CONDEMNED follows suit by building a story... With the stage set by a contemporary spate of films starring WWE wrestlers, including SEE NO EVIL (Glen "Kane" Jacobs) and THE MARINE (John Cena), THE CONDEMNED follows suit by building a story around the massive physique and impassive demeanor of pro wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin plays former military agent Jack Conrad, whose top-secret mission to El Salvador went awry; the mountainous man wound up on death row in a local prison while his associates back home conveniently forgot about him. Conrad is offered a final chance at clemency by the evil entertainment tycoon Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone, THE MATRIX RELOADED), who buys up Conrad and nine other condemned men and forces them to participate in his diabolical new reality-TV show. The game is simple: the contestants are dropped on a remote island fitted with cameras, and instructed to kill or be killed over the next 30 hours. At the end of that time, the sole survivor will be awarded his freedom and a large cash prize, and the event can be viewed online for $49.95. Conrad, not a murderer by nature, is forced to defend himself against fellow contestants Saiga (Masa Yamaguchi), who is a Japanese martial artist; badass Brit McStarley (former soccer star Vinnie Jones); and the deadly Ghanaian woman Yasantwa (Emelia Jones). Meanwhile, Conrad's girlfriend back home (Madeline West) worries about his safety, and Mammone's own girlfriend (Victoria Mussett) develops some doubts as to the morality of their online venture. The film attempts to critique the culture of violence that informs our media, but also works as a straightforward B-movie thriller, well-equipped with tough guys, one-liners, and nonstop violence. [More]
Starring: Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Rick Hoffman, Madeline West
Starring: Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Rick Hoffman, Madeline West, Robert Mammome, Luke Pegler
Director: Scott Wiper
Director: Scott Wiper
Screenwriter: Scott Wiper, Andrew Hedden, Rob Hedden
Producer: Joel Simon, Vince McMahon
Composer: Graeme Revell
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for The Condemned
In the end, it's just another commercial feature that's selling what it's condemning: getting off vicariously on violence.
The Condemned isn’t terribly effective as an actioner, despite a certain promise latent in its island-prison premise.
Flaws, double standards, strange detours and all, this is still the most entertaining WWE release to date.
A near-lunatic combination of a movie that's basically wall-to-wall violence--not especially well-executed, at that--with a warning about the effects of violent entertainment.
This is a B picture that wants to be smarter than its central concept ... and there are moments when it's even smarter than it intends.
It has the audacity to serve as a self-righteous indictment of graphic, gratuitous violence, even though that's exactly what it's peddling.
It's tough not to think of a big, dumb, talentless slab of beef when you watch former phony-wrestling star Steve Austin in action here.
Director Scott Wiper makes the critical mistake of copping attitude and a conscience about the inherent pitfalls of reality TV.
As off-putting and ridiculous as it is ponderous, this WWE Films enterprise should have been condemned to fight for space on the DVD shelves rather than be thrust upon unsuspecting moviegoers.
Pic could use more humor, though it does have scattered unintentional laughs, particularly one late, solemnly admonishing speech about how those producing entertainment need to take responsibility for glorifying violence.
The action scenes do a better job than the exposition when it comes to turning us off of violence as entertainment, just by being so lousy.
A shameless rip on Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale, The Condemned unseats Slow Burn as the most hilariously inane film of 2007.
Lovers of B-movie fare of Rodriguez and Tarantino will enjoy the gore and violence of this one.
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Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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