Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane

It amazes me the impact that two movies ("Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction") can have. Quentin Tarantino has become by far the most imitated director of his generation on the strength of those two movies.

"Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane" is one in a long, long string of Tarantino ripoffs, but it's certainly not a bad one (like "Two Days in the Valley," which made me want to puke). As the title suggests, it's high-energy, high-impact, and gritty. Actual, indie-film gritty, not Hollywood faux gritty. Still, the overwhelming unoriginality of the whole affair kind of bogs it down.

Carnahan has since attained his own identity and gone on to vastly better things, though: "Narc" is perhaps the best cop movie I have ever seen.

I just watched Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane on DVD last night, and found myself rather bored from start to finish. The camera work is sloppy, slipping in and out of focus as it pans back and forth from character to character, zooming in and out, and so on...The dialogue scenes are way too long, and the action scenes leave you feeling cheated, due to the shaky-cam, fast editing style that tries to conceal the lack of blanks and squibs. A good action sequence is created by the actual action onscreen rather than jerky camera work and loud sound effects. This film shows very little real action. The story takes way too long to get started, and once it does, it becomes boring, with very little pay off at the end. However, I have to give Joe Carnahan credit for making this film on such a low budget; regardless of the story, simply planning and executing this shoot is an impressive achievement. Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi still remains the most legendary low-budget action film ever made, with better writing, directing, cinematography, and special effects than Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane. So to sum it up, check this movie out, but don't expect too much; it is what it is.

Two used car lot owners, who we know nothing about, get involved with numerous shady characters, who we know nothing about, while being paid to watch a Pontiac convertible, which we know nothing about. Why would anyone be interested in a movie that explains nothing, and has zero character development? The obvious answer is you wouldn't. Throw in unending closeups of meaningless dialog, a "surprise" ending that is so ridiculous, it will leave you wondering if it didn't come from a different film, and other trivial nonsense that does nothing to explain this confused mess. Forget even considering seeing B.G.B. & O, instead seek out "Suckers", another low budget crime drama centering around a used car operation, that is absolutely brilliant. - MERK

The teaser on the front of the movie box said, "better than The Usual Suspects!" I couldn't disagree more. This movie solely lacked any character development, was poorly acted, and had a dumb storyline. Don't waste your time.

Check this one out if you like corny, campy action movies. I'm not ashamed to say that I do, and enjoyed it. The acting is wooden, but come on, the movie had a miniscule budget. The story is pretty good, and the dialogue is (unintentionally?) hilarious.