The Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was about group dynamics when people were assigned roles of prisoners and guards but the movie only revolves around the two main characters most of the time, with others being almost entirely absent. As group dynamics do not really get into play, they miss many opportunities for personality development, which is what made the actual experiment interesting in the first place.

Due to the complete lack of character development (with one exception) the movie feels rather dull and the behavior of the characters, as well as their backgrounds, suggest that the researchers had knowingly picked individuals who had mental or other problems in the past. Even though the plot is about as linear as it can get, it is still full of holes.

The German version is much better, not because The Experiment is a remake but because it is dumbed down way too much. A typical reality-watching simpleton may find the remake easier to follow, though.

Even with its flaws, I give it 7/10 because the basic premise is interesting and the movie is refreshingly different. The set and the cast were certainly good enough.

Could've been done more with this one. Interesting story, slowly built, tensed, well portrayed characters (not just the main two), excellent acting (Brody and Whitaker especially), but in the end unfortunately fails to materialize all that in to something more. Apart from the plain ending and unnecessary undeveloped female character, everything else was done right and it is a gripping thriller indeed.

Probably the most important is that the movie succeeds in the main idea, catching the human nature and its transformation placed in certain conditions. As expected blinding of power and rebelling makes the violence slowly but surely spreads and the movie becomes more disturbing, answering my question why is it going straight to DVD.

A group of people, looking to earn a quick buck, sign up for a behavior experiment. But that may have been a really, really bad idea. The experiment causes even the pacifists to turn violent, and there is no one to stop them.

This film could have been easily forgettable, but luckily they somehow secured a great cast, and I think that may have saved it from being just another American remake. Starring Adrien Brody as the pacifist (perhaps even hippie) Travis and Forest Whitaker as Barris, these two can carry the film on their own, with or without the ensemble cast.

I have to give a shout out to Fisher Stevens, who plays the professor Archaleta. I'm saddened that after some bigger hits (notably "Short Circuit") Stevens has been reduced to doing bit parts. But even more sad is the inclusion of Maggie Grace as the hippie Bay. Not that she does a poor job, but that the character is completely pointless, has no development, and her scenes only add another five or ten minutes on to the film -- which would have been more powerful without her.

The experiment shown in the film wouldn't hold up by standards today, as the safety of the people involved is now a top priority. This may have been indirectly addressed, though... I'm unsure. What I can say is that this was adapted from a 2001 German film, which was adapted from a book, which was loosely based on the Stanford Prison Experiment. I think it's safe to say that this film has nothing to do with the original experiment (it is very, very loosely based)... but I'm not sure how close it is to the other sources.

While you might be able to rent better films, this is not something to automatically pass up. If you're into survival, or enjoy these cast members, or like prison stories, you may really like this one. I was pleasantly surprised, and of all the films I see, it was one of the best in recent weeks.

Don't mind the bad review up there, whether you've seen or not the German original version, The Experiment still remains an excellent movie with two great actors (and a great plot): Forrest Whitaker and Adrien Brody. Interesting movie that shows that even if we all pretend to have some kind of moral, we all still remain animals that will bite to defend our pack. Sometimes you watch a 96mn movie and it feels like you were watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston (don't mean this is a bad film, it's just very long), but this one is the total opposite! you'll be annoyed when the credits will appear at the end. Also, if like me you're a bit sick and tired of the current Hollywood buzz which consists to make many spy movies with a huge budget, you will enjoy that film, because it's quite simple, only few rooms needed at location. So the question is: are you a prisoner?

It's as if the title 'The Experiment' refers to Hollywood finally trying to create a remake that surpasses the original.

It's a pale and poor remake of the brilliant German movie 'Das Experiment', which blew my mind first time I saw it.

None of that with 'The Experiment'... Even the presence of two gifted actors (Brody and Withaker) cannot rescue the poor cinematography and awful diluted script. I couldn't even properly empathise with the main character played by Brody. His actions seemed ridiculous put against the prison-experiment backdrop, so terribly written so that there isn't any true logic to his rebellion. It's also very obvious he's not doing half the acting that Moritz Bleibtreu performed in the original.

The casting was terrible, even before the experiment, I could immediately identify which characters were to become guards, and which ones prisoners. Mix this with the poor script-rewrite that put in unnecessary scenes and dialogues and that took out some of the most brilliant scenes in the original, and you get a straight-to-video production that will never be looked back on by movie fanatics anywhere, anytime.

If you have bought, borrowed or downloaded this copy, please burn or delete it. You will be much better off getting Das Experiment instead.

The Experiment has failed!