Best Straight to DVD Movie I Have Ever Seen!!

I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing about it. All I knew is it had Val Kilmer in it and I am a big fan of Val's. To say I was blown away would be a massive understatement. This is better than most films that are released in theaters. This is easily one of Val Kilmer's best roles to date and even Stephen Dorff's performance was really well done and to be honest, I am not a big fan of Stephen Dorff. I don't think he is a bad actor but I certainly don't consider him a great actor either. While this was one of Val's best performances, I think it actually was Stephens best performance. I cant think of another performance from Dorff that tops this one.

There were a lot of underlying themes in this film and most deal with very serious subject matter. That being said, the film never drags or gets bogged down by those themes. The action/fighting side of the film really keeps things moving and really acts as a perfect balance to the more serious side of the film. In this regard, its really a rather unique prison film. Sure, prison films always have the occasional fight or the occasional shanking of an inmate but Felon wound up being the prison version of UFC and while that sounds lame, Its all handled extremely well and never goes to far over the top.

As great as everyone was in this film, it was Kilmer's portrayal of John Smith that really took this film to the next level, at least for me. Kilmer's performance was simply amazing, right down to the strange heavy breathing that the character had. The scenes with Kilmer and Dorff in their cell, which have them discussing everything from prison politics to Johns crime were some of the more enjoyable scenes in the film. They just had a great chemistry and it really helped move some of those slower scenes along. You wanted to hear more about John's world.

All in all it was just a brilliant movie and the fact that this is a straight to DVD movie just makes it all the more impressive. If there is a better straight to DVD movie out there, I have yet to see it.


Still Shooting With Film!