The Immortals

I just saw this film for the first time (Feb 07). I bought it for a buck on VHS. I'd never heard of it and realized the cast was a definite B-level cast at best, but I thought, what the heck? Just a buck.

I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely no great film, but I actually enjoyed it. Sure, it's cheesy here and there, and it would've benefited from better direction. But I'd call it a hidden gem for any crime film fan to find.

An original, if bizarre, premise leads to some left-field drama and several genuinely funny moments. It's simply one of those late-night pleasures.

Surprisingly, Quentin Tarantino is not the only man that can create a criminal movie, with an interesting plot. With good casting, and meaning, The Immortals tell a story of a series of robberies set up by Jack(Eric Roberts), to bring together a group of small time thugs, with nothing to live for. In short, Chris Rock is hilarious, the action is stunning, and although the script isn't "Reservoir Dog"-ish, The Immortals can challenge it for best Mexican Stand Off in a movie.

Wow. Another crime/robbery movie, but this one with a great twist....a must see and all that. I usually don't like this genre, but this movie is good for anyone. Has moments for all kinds of people. It is strikingly profound and this surprised me, that it was much different from the normal shooting/blood splattering movie type. A 10 from me.

On the outside "The Immortals" just looks like another in a long line of standard heist thrillers, with the only difference being that this one's probably much more violent. But as the story starts developing we find out that all these characters aren't your stereotypical 'I want money' robbers, they're all doing it out of necessity. Thats the very unexpected and unusual twist in this very violent movie.

The plot isn't extremely complicated. It's about a nightclub owner, Jack(Eric Roberts who shows why all his movies lately have been direct-to-video) who picks 8 people(Tia Carrere, Chris Rock, Joe Pantoliano, Clarence Williams III, William Forsythe, Keiran Mulroney, writer Kevin Bernhardt and Brian Finney), all with terminal illnesses to rob a crimelord(Tony Curtis). But when they get betrayed it turns into an all-out battle for survival...and a very entertaining one at that.

After the movie gets into its second act it turns into 'Predator' style game of who's next to die. But one thing that raises "The Immortals" above the average heist thriller is that the characters aren't stereotypes but real people. I actually cared for the characters when they died.

While "The Immortals" won't win any Oscars, and won't make any critics top ten list, it's still an entertaining rental. 7/10

This is a memorable movie full of those actors that even a casual movie watcher will recognize. You'll love the hook of the plot. I thought it was another crappy "Made for Video" movie, but as it had Chris Rock I decided to give it a try. Was I surprised. Very good stuff with lots of action and sweet cameo's and it let's actors that normally steal the show anyway, be showcased. Worth a rent.