Threat

Threat is a lousy film. Childish dialogs, amateurish editing and in general a failed movie. That said, it's not a boring flick. I could not find any dramatic line leading to the violent ending, everything seemed to be just pasted, mixing all ingredients without a functional recipe, some of it worked, animation fitted in quite smoothly, in fact I missed more of it, soundtrack is again quite suited to the action. I didn't regret watching it, in all fashion is what this movie is really about, not a line of fashion, but many styles, not only in dressing but also talking and even walking. It tries to present another catalog of urban tribes, but it fails on that too. In general, watch it only if you don't find any other thing to do.

i just finished watching this movie, and i'd have to say that i am disappointed. i was expecting some grand social commentary portrayed through realistic depictions of real-life situations. but i came away with some babble from characters that was really nothing new, and a string of violence seemingly driven by coincidence, stupidity, rage, and hatred. i enjoyed the buildup of the characters, but other than that, i feel the movie did not do anything to depict real situations.

the characters were developed. that i enjoyed. but i did not enjoy the fact that they were portrayed as hopped up, revenge-seeking machines. there is a certain amount of senselessness here, and that is what drive this movie to a moot point. maybe the senselessness is supposed to help the viewer understand the way certain events play out. however, again, this does not strike me as anywhere near realistic.

shocking: yes. revolutionary in any way: no.

but i love the soundtrack. so check that out, at least.

Threat is not a perfect film. It is a flawed hodgepodge of scenes that look like in some cases they were shot months if not years apart on whatever film stocks happened to be lying around. It is probably one of the least refined, most unglossy films to be released this decade. That said, the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. If you think that a film is only revolutionary by blowing up buildings or spouting off Pennywise-lyrics as rhetoric, then this movie probably isn't for you. But, at a time when America is more polarized than its been since the Vietnam War if not the Civil War, a social critique like the one in Threat is probably more revolutionary than just about anything else on the DVD shelves today. All that said, it's pretty obvious that the film is from a neophyte film-making team and it is often too earnest (occasionally cringe-worthy). Plus it's ridiculously rough around the edges. But that's what you get when you see a guerrilla film that's been carved out of concrete. IMHO, some of the negative commentators here may have been looking for the wrong things in Threat. It is not a movie about being straightedge or being hardcore. It takes place in the hardcore scene and has characters who are straightedge, but it's a movie with complex characters who suffer for their flaws and for behaving like zealots. It's weird to see a movie with straightedge characters that isn't about being straightedge, since it is a little known subculture. But I haven't seen one ad saying "the first movie about straightedge!" so I don't think this film intends to sensationalize the culture one way or the other. This film shows characters going from being ordinary kids on the block to doing horrendous things, and I personally felt empathy for them the whole way. Threat is different from films like Menace II Society where everyone is apologetic at the end. Threat isn't about redemption, it's about accepting damnation, and that's pretty cool in this Hollywood world.

when Threat works it's like the second coming of Martin Scorsese. when Threat fails it's like the second coming of Abel Ferrara. luckily for me, i like Bad Lieutenant just as much as i like Mean Streets, so i have nothing to complain about. director Matt Pizzolo goes for broke on this hard-edged film about how extreme philosophies can drive ordinary people to obscene lengths. using black & white film for daytime, color for night, and interlacing animation throughout, Threat runs like a comic book gone haywire. everything is over the top, especially the philosophy: "if the suit don't see you as a threat, then you are the suit" or "how many people watched those towers burn, and were really just (expletive) angry that somebody beat them to it." brave words. it's no surprise this kind of anger would be coming direct from the streets of NY, the biggest surprise is that it's taken so long in coming.

As I recall this film was completed in 1995! I tried to watch it earlier tonight but it's so horrifically dated. Just because people throw the music you like into a movie doesn't mean it's a good movie. Please, apply some critical thinking here people. This is an absurd attempt to cash in by ex-scenesters who are, in all likelihood, now in nursing homes. I really wish that us xedgex kids, as a culture, who instead embrace things that mattered instead of things that pandered to our sometimes limited worldview. Call me crazy but Lebanon getting bombed is more important than your friend getting bombed. Open your eyes and pursue real art, not this drivel! P.S. WOULD IT HAVE KILLED YOU PEOPLE TO LIGHT THIS THING DECENTLY!?