Mean Guns

Albert Pyun has his own way of making films. He is responsible for "Omega Doom" and "Crazy Six", two movies that in spite of having quite different plots, possess in common the peculiar and curious way with which the director accomplishes his works. "Mean Guns" follows the Pyun's formula: many shootings and closes in slow motion,different and weird camera movements, strange characters and a poor script. In this film, Lambert is a murderer who,along with other criminals, is trapped inside a prison and he needs to survive before his chances drain. Pyun substitutes idea and good-sense for excellent action scenes, that remind plenty of John Woo and Sam Peckinpah's best efforts. Unhappily, that is not enough to maintain the interest for this bad film.

Last night, I had just finished watching some BAD horror movie, and turned on the television afterward. This was on, and it looked really twisted. It was already into the first fifteen minutes, so I missed that, but then I decided to check the guide to see what it was, and the plot seemed pretty cool. So, what the heck, I'd waste two hours and watch it.

All I can say is--those two hours were no waste! This movie was so good! I don't really like action movies, and I never really got into shoot-em-ups, but I loved this. The plot, as I figured out, was that all these people were locked in an old prison, given weapons and tons of ammo, and left to kill each other off until, supposedly, the last three were left, who would then get the prize of ten million dollars.

Thus begins the nonstop action, as the various characters split up, form groups, and kill each other. The main characters really were Christopher Lambert's character (forgot his name), Marcus, D, and Con (though, I think her name was Cam, but IMDb said it was Con). Anyhoo, there's also Hoss and Crow, who eventually team up with Barby, and there are various other people who just get killed. I didn't understand why some of the people were there, but that's what I get for missing the first fifteen minutes.

In any event, the movie became severely tense, and no one's safe from anyone...not even someone in their own group. And as the many characters dwindle down, you start to wonder: who will survive?

The suspense in this movie is amazing, and you never know what will happen next. At first, the story seemed a little thin to carry itself along throughout the whole film, but it did, perfectly, all the way up to the quite twisted ending, which just keeps surprising you. I, personally, was quite thrilled with how the movie ended, but you'll never suspect how it does end. My favorite character: Con. She was easy to relate to (yes, I know, I'm delving too much into this B-rated action flic, but oh well) and you could feel bad for her. She truly didn't belong there, as she said many times. And then, in the four-sided face-off in the end between the three left and Ice-T's character, who held this event, you will feel so bad when she tells the others how they won, and they shouldn't have to go through with this next step.

All in all, an action movie that's fun, intense, creepy at times, and with a few morals. Recommended.

This is a fun action movie. The moment the soundtrack starts you know it's going to be good. The concept of 100 assassins, 1000 guns, 10,000,000 dollars is played out very well in this film unlike some other "Great concept, poor execution" films. I love Christopher Lambert, he is soooooo incredibly cool and Ice-T shines as always...it's a match made in B-movie heaven. This film is non-stop action and boy, it is extremely entertaining. The Mambo soundtrack is quite possibly one of the most original ideas I've ever seen. Action and Mambo equals big time fun. The film itself has enough action to fill several movies and is sadly underrated and forgotten. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to watch an entertaining B-action movie without having to go through the trouble of having to think.

At first glance one would almost dismiss this movie as being a B-grade action movie. However, while tuning in one night to the late night movie channels I came across this and found myself unable to turn away. The cast in this movie consists of only a few name people such as Ice-T and Christopher Lambert, but to be honest the entire cast puts in some fairly good performances all around. What makes this movie so entertaining is that it combines action with a touch of insight into the lives of a group of criminals who all seem to want different things aside from just money. If you have some time on your hands and happen to catch this flick some evening, give it a look. Despite the apparent low budget, the movie is really quite well done with a good script, interesting camera work, and a compelling ending. Definitely worth your time if you're looking for an action movie that differs from the norm.

To start off with this easily dismissable garbage, I should say that the premise is great. An action picture needs a plot like this one to set up the sequences, but this one manages to be...bad. Very bad.

The direction is probably the biggest weight to bringing it down to the bottom of the barrel. Director Albert Pyun has had a lot experience with the profession, but this movie is directed with a questionable ineptitude. He makes an embarrassing error in setting the film to an elevator music-like jazz that doesn't fit even in the least bit well. This film is obviously on a low budget, but better music would have been easily obtained...this shows a purposeful decision. A bad one at that. The lighting is one of the director's worst annoyances in this movie. The film is shot with a blue filter and the light from the windows shine in, getting in the way. The film looks absolutely terrible . The acting is my next major complaint. Christopher Lambert who, year by year, becomes increasingly more generic gives a generally bad performance. He is cocky, not in a good Bruce Willis "Die Hard" way either. He's like those nerds I used to see in middle school gym class who would walk around like they're the stuff and then embarrass themselves when we would play basketball. Ice T is just himself, an angry, sleazy, platinum-toothed gangster. He is funny to watch and quote in his bizzare and equally bad performance. I don't want to complain too much about the writing, because of the original idea, but the script is filled with Tarantino-wannabe dialogue and weak action, with a laughable climax on top. I didn't expect much at the video store when I passed this one in the action section. I atleast wanted some action, not seaking good direction and acting, but everything is last rate...disappointingly enough, the action scenes.