Death Sentence

[hack slash]

Kevin Bacon goes Charles Bronson on some punks on Aug. 31st

Release Date: August 31, 2007
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Director: James Wan

Screenwriter: Ian Jeffers

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlun, Kelly Preston, John Goodman, Aisha Tyler, Leigh Whannell, Matt O'Leary, Yorgo Constantine, Jordan Garrett

MPAA Rating: R (for strong bloody brutal violence and pervasive language)
Official Website: DeathSentencemovie.com

Plot Summary: After his family members suffer at the hands of gang members, a father (Kevin Bacon) sets on a mission to kill each thug involved with the crime.

[Melanie Jarvis]

Ooh! I love Kevin Bacon! I will definitely go see this.

[The Dream Master]

I'll be seeing this for a few reasons: it's directed by James Wan, Kevin Bacon is usually pretty decent, and this was filmed in my home state (in a city I'm quite familiar with, no less). It'll be fun to pick out local monuments and landmarks.

[El Rooto]

I'm going to see this on opening day. It looks like a nifty little action flick.

[Jigsaw]

I'm seeing this on opening day as well. This looks awesome and James Wan has yet to disappoint me.

[Jack Bauer]

Saw it today and needless to say it was awesome but I do like the ending: Hume pulls out his .357 and says, "Ready" to the gang leader after the both of them were shot to hell by each other and another gang member, whom gets shot by Hume. You don't see if he kills the gang leader or not but Hume exits out their lair and drives home. He get there and sits on the couch then watches a family film while clutching his throat after the last gang member shot him in the side of his throat ala Amanda in SAW 3. It's unknown if he lives or not.

[Jigsaw]

I went to see this earlier today but the theater I go to wasn't showing it :( Hopefully next week they'll get it though, otherwise I'll have to find another theater that is showing it.

[Jack Bauer]

See it. It's a great film.

[Jigsaw]

I hope to, hopefully next week if the theater I usually go to gets it.

[Geddy Peart]

For those who have seen this, is it much different than Death Wish?

[Jack Bauer]

I would say its similar but it's also different.

[Geddy Peart]

In what ways? I'm debating whether I should go see it or wait for it to air on HBO.

[The Dark Vampire]

For those who have seen this, is it much different than Death Wish?

From what I understand the book version was the sequel to the Death wish book.

[Apocalypto]

This is a far more intense film than Halloween. It's emotionally gripping, great performanes, some of Clouser's best music yet, and as good of a look at the price of vengeance for both sides without glorifying it as any movie has ever had.

I love it almost as much as the first SAW, my most pleasant surprise of the year.

"In what ways? I'm debating whether I should go see it or wait for it to air on HBO."

Death Wish is just a guy that wants to clean up the crime of an entire city, it isn't even so much about personal vengeance, he never even goes after the men that hurt his family.

This is two-sided revenge story where it's as much about the opposing side as it is about the main character.
The Brave One is much more like Death Wish than this film is.

[The Dream Master]

My cousin (who I'm living with while school is in during the week) bought this Tuesday, so we watched it a few nights ago.

I wasn't all that impressed. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it was pretty ham-fisted, and seemed to be drawing a parallel between Bacon and the gang member which just falls flat because you know, I have a hard time sympathizing with a guy who is complicit in killing an innocent kid. This doesn't make Bacon right when he kills the guy responsible, but I at least felt bad for him when he lost his son. I have the hard time doing the same for the other guy.

I will give it this: it's very stylishly directed. Wan's got a good eye for these things, even if he does like to place references to his own films a bit much. This is much better than his last outing (Dead Silence), which was pretty dreadful.

Added: I forgot to mention this before, but another plus is John Goodman. It's always good to see him getting work, even if he is chewing the scenery like a motherfucker in this. :)

[Jigsaw]

I got this at Target earlier today, it was on sale. I'll be watching it in a couple of days, hope I like it. I love Saw and Dead Silence (still have to get DS on DVD) and James Wan has yet to disappoint.

[nottidelterrore]

I saw this on opening day & loved it. I thought it was a really good modern day vigilante flick. And I've always liked Kevin Bacon.

I want to own the DVD pretty badly.

[ChoKo]

I picked this up last Tuesday. I liked it. I'm not a very big fan of Kevin Bacon but, surprisingly, I liked him in this. It's a very raw, emotional, film.

The slow transformation of Bacon's character is what drives the film for me.

7/10

[MaDMaNMaRz]

So far i've been hearing alot of good things about this. I might end up just buying the DVD. I like those vigilante films, and this one looks like a throwback to the 70's & 80's vigilante films. I usually think Kevin Bacon is pretty good in his movies too.

[MaDMaNMaRz]

I bought this at Best Buy today. I've always liked vigilante films, so I know i'll enjoy this one. I'm looking forward to watching it.

[The Dream Master]

Let us know what you think, Mike. It's definitely stylish as far as direction goes--I'll give it that.

[nottidelterrore]

I really wish the DVD didn't cost $20 just about everywhere. If not for that, I'd own it. It should be like $10 due to the very poor looking cover art. This movie deserves the best cover art possible.

[The Dream Master]

Yeah, I actually liked the original poster. It was much better than the generic shit they used for the DVD cover art.

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2007/07/19/death-sentence-poster.jpg

[MaDMaNMaRz]

Let us know what you think, Mike. It's definitely stylish as far as direction goes--I'll give it that.

I'll try to watch it tonight. I didn't get a chance to yesterday. :(

I agree. I don't like the DVD cover art. :X I wish they used the Theatrical poster as well. It looks alot more 80's inspired. :)

[Jigsaw]

Watched this earlier and loved it. Kevin Bacon absolutely owns this movie and the action is both gritty and in-your-face, not to mention damned brutal. Shame this movie bombed theatrically :(

[nottidelterrore]

That poster would've made amazing DVD cover art.

[Jigsaw]

I love the theatrical poster and wish they used it for the DVD myself :(

[Jack Bauer]

It's not that it bombed theatrically, Grave. It went up against a fuckin' horror film, and horror films score big.

[Jigsaw]

Releasing it up against Rob Zombie's Halloween and with little promotion to boot didn't help :misery:

[nottidelterrore]

I chose to see Death Sentence over Zombie's Halloween. It was a good decision on my part because I loved Death Sentence & totally hated Zombie's Halloween.

[Jigsaw]

My theater didn't get Death Sentence and I passed up RZ's Halloween in the theaters.

[MaDMaNMaRz]

I finally got around to watching this a few days ago. I was really surprised...I thought it was pretty good. Kevin Bacon's performance was great. It was interesting seeing his transformation in it. The guy that played Billy was pretty good too.

It was actually better than I was expecting. It was pretty violent, and gritty.

8/10

[nottidelterrore]

I really liked Garrett Hedlund as Billy. I typically think of him as a douche but he surprised me in Death Sentence. I also liked him in Four Brothers, another movie that I thought was really good.

[Jigsaw]

I've only seen Garrett in Four Brothers and Death Sentence, and thought he was excellent in both movies.

[nottidelterrore]

I need to get Four Brothers on DVD. I saw it in theaters & thought it was really good. Plus...I've been wanting to watch it again for awhile now.

[Jigsaw]

I got the DVD from Best Buy when it was on sale for about $7.50

[MaDMaNMaRz]

I never seen Four Brothers. I've heard alot of good things about it, though. Do you guys prefer Death Sentence over FB?

[Jigsaw]

I like both FB and DS about equally.

[nottidelterrore]

I never seen Four Brothers. I've heard alot of good things about it, though. Do you guys prefer Death Sentence over FB?

Although I liked Four Brothers quite a bit, I liked Death Sentence a lot better.