Città sotto assedio

I didn't expect "THE USUAL SUSPECTS" but what I found was a film with some GREAT GREAT moments.. funny and caustic... a beautiful song by Tia... some fantastic scenes that made the occasional 2-D plot come alive with the fresh delivery and chemistry between the two stars!

I had no expectations of this film, but I was thoroughly entertained. We showed it to friends the very next day to see what they thought.

The film's premise is quite outrageous and it is executed in a stylishly outrageous way. There are several Wow! or 'Nice Shot' moments. In fact this film is very close to Grand Theft Auto.

The script is genuinely funny, reminiscent of another Tia Carrere classic, Hollow Point.

For some reason the idea of a Baldwin film is an amusing thing. The South Park movie says, "What sucks about being a Baldwin? Nothing!" I am impressed with Stephen Baldwin's restrained, laconic, dry and heroic performance. We wondered if he were blind, considering the number of disconcerting smiles he issues with his eyes closed.

Chazz Palminteri is the Man. He's given the stupidest role and as usual he makes it seem almost convincing, while he enjoys himself a great deal.

Tia Carrere sings, moves around a lot, looks good, has her moments and kills people. What more can you ask for?

This film scores over many 'better' films by working hard to introduce the opposition. You are half way through the film. You know Stephen Baldwin is up against it, and all the bad guys are still there.

The film is filled with memorable characters. I very much enjoyed the 'fight in the bar' scene because there's no fight. They should use the bouncer in a new series of the Munsters.

This is a strictly B movie that manages to successfully disguise its true identity up until the last 1/3rd of the story.

The story is nothing new - Clint Easywood, amongst others, charted the same territory of vigilante cops pulling the wrong newbie into their group in 1973's MAGNUM FORCE - but it has been spiced up with some bullet ballet that is actually more realistic than most big budget affairs produce. Overall, the photography and lighting are very professional in a gritty way, and so is the editing, which gives the movie a very polished, well-budgeted look. Still, police dramas with mediocre plots need to be carried by their characters, and while Stephen Baldwin does make an interesting hero, his shooting does more for character development than his dialogue. Tia Carrere is nice, but she comes across way too smart, and definitely way too composed, for a call-girl, and she shows virtually zero skin - an especially big disappointment in a genre film of this kind...:) If anything, the supporting characters, the 'baddies' who make up the police team, are the ones that carry you through several scenes: their action is fairly nicely choreographed, and it is a pleasure to see them die.

...but, ultimately, Scar City really fails. The first third is somewhat engaging, because the director wisely spends his time to establish the protagonists' and the antagonists' strengths and weaknesses. The second third rolls well because of all the action suddenly exploding onto the screen. In the third, though, where action and characters could be nicely pulled together into a tight, plot-driven finale, the film crumbles into a dozen silly clichés and inconsistencies instead. Why would you ask someone whether they can shoot, a few hours after they showed you their gun, telling you how they used to shoot squirrels with it? The mess is hardly mopped up by an incomplete and nonsensical ending that makes it look like the director was too tired to tie up a dozen characters and plot lines.

Still, for a slow weekday evening it is good gunplay.

I had the chance to watch this for free and I've got to say it was worth every penny. Seriously, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been. It's a decent if never surprising "action" movie with a bit of cleavage and lingerie thrown in. I felt that a lot of parts seemed thrown together and rushed, but I've seen a whole lot worse.

Baldwin is trying to be Rambo here,kills about everyone in sight and then some.The guy should stick to stuff he does well and forget trying to be Stallone.Thats about all there is to say about this movie.The plot is about a bunch of crazy vigilante cops who seem to just like to murder people,some of whom happen to be criminals.Baldwin does his best to act tough and delivers every line in as much a husky voice as he can master but he just ain't the dude for this type of role.He is a cop opposed to the lawless violence,meets a prostitute played by Tia Carrere whom i usually like but i didn't like her in this,she has too may wisecracks and too much personality for this role. Neither the bad guys nor the good guys make any sense in this movie,there is a lot of shooting but the motivations and the characters are all paper-thin,Palminteri is simply wasted here.