The Brotherhood of Justice (1986 TV Movie) User Reviews

The Vigilantes of Santa Lucia High School

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 9 February 2018]

When vandals damage the Santa Lucia High School, the principal Bob Grootemat (Joe Spano) joins the classes and presents a lecture to the students about the problems with vandals, drug dealers and other bad elements. Six friends - the students and football players Derek (Keanu Reeves), Scottie (Darren Dalton), Mule (Evan Mirand), Collin (Don Michael Paul), Barnwell (Gary Riley) and Les (Billy Zane) - decide to form a group of vigilantes to punish the delinquents and they call themselves "The Brotherhood of Justice". But the problem is when they decide to use their power for personal issues with other mates and lose control.

"The Brotherhood of Justice" is a film based on true event, with a story of a group of vigilante teenagers. The cast has many names of actors in the beginning of career and it is worthwhile watching to see them in their early work. The conclusion could have been better developed. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A irmandade da Justiça" ("The Brotherhood of Justice")

Not brilliant....

[adamjenningsiam · 5/10 · 18 May 2004]

I have to start by stating that I have an unusually low boredom threshold! This film wasn't brilliant, but wasn't the worlds worst either.

What was interesting was how Billy Zane, Keanu Reeves and Kiefer Sutherland all looked the same age and now, Kiefer and Billy look about the same, but Keanue still has his youthfull charms ... hmmm! :)

Also funny was how even the one line extras upstaged Keanu - not that I've got anything against the guy. He's very good at what he does, the Matrix and Bill & Teds' series show his talent.

Overall an average TV movie - worth a watch if you've got a couple of hours to kill, but not worth going out of your way for!

High School Vigilantes

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 August 2006]

Santa Lucia High School has a real problem with juvenile delinquents. They're making it bad for the rest of the student body. After an inspirational talk from school principal Joe Spano, a group consisting of student government leaders and jocks decide to do something about it.

Keanu Reeves and his friends form something called The Brotherhood of Justice. They've got access to information that local law enforcement doesn't have and they make use of it accordingly. They know who all dope dealer, thieves, and bullies are and the Brotherhood deals out their own brand of justice accordingly.

Problem is that the members of this secret little fraternity start to use if for their own ends. It leads to some serious consequences for all concerned.

This made for television film was the first notice both Keanu Reeves and Kiefer Sutherland got. This was before the Bill&Ted films for Keanu and the first Young Guns for Kiefer. Both of them show a charisma that was apparent back then. No doubt wither of them would become stars.

Also Lori Loughlin of Full House and Billy Zane who was Leonard DiCaprio's nemesis in Titanic had some supporting roles.

The specter of vigilantism is always beneath the surface in society. There is certainly a great temptation to make matters in your own hand. The Brotherhood of Justice is not a great film, but not a bad one either and a bit above the average drama geared toward the teenage crowd.

it's worth watching!

[nieltje · 27 July 2003]

it's about 2 years ago when I saw this movie for the first time, and I fell in love. twice. with Kiefer Sutherland and with the car he's driving. but that's not the point. I was impressed with the acting of the cast and I was surprised to see Kiefer, Billy (Zane) and Keanu (Reeves) in their early years. it was a nice movie to see. worth watching and not so bad as the summary might say. I didn't get bored watching it but I was a bit dissapointed about the end. further there's nothing wrong with this movie and it's actors.

Kiefer underused and weak ending

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 26 November 2015]

Derek (Keanu Reeves) is from an upper class home. His girlfriend Christie (Lori Loughlin) has to work for the money. He's jealous of her friendship with Victor (Kiefer Sutherland). After another incident of vandalism at school, the principal urges the students to set their own example. Quarterback Derek leads his football teammates in forming the Brotherhood of Justice. They crash a party where drugs are supposedly being used. Derek finds drugs on his brother and they beat up the drug dealer. Things soon get out of control as the vigilantes turn ever more violent. Derek has second thoughts.

It's early Kiefer Sutherland and it's understandable that he was underused. He could have been an amazing violent second to Keanu Reeves. It's a missed opportunity although Billy Zane isn't that bad. Keanu is alright but he's better in River's Edge. The other problem is that it's missing an explosive ending. This needs to build to a kick-ass blowup but the end fizzles. It's fun to see some early Kiefer and Keanu but this is not their break-outs yet.

Brotherhood Of Justice...Birds Eye View

[imagevoxstudio · 7/10 · 19 February 2015]

I was a senior at Aptos High School when this movie was filmed there...and an extra (As many of my friends). It was incredible meeting, spending a little time with or around the main actors in this filming....as they would all become pretty huge actors. Being around to see it shot really effected the way I viewed this when it was finally released on Television. It was incredible to see the different Location shot in the same scenes...and as mentioned in other reviews the actors were young...I think Kiefer Sutherland was by far the most famous and experienced at this point...ad he was very cool and normal to everyone...Keanu Reeves had still not broken as a huge actor yet, but in his head he was the best of the crew....Billy Zane was also cool...but was very much like he appears in many movies...a little strange in ways of thinking of things...and many strange things to say...but all the actors were very cool. This is definitely worth watching, the scenes are fun to watch and the locations they were shot in are also cool to see...and it was great seeing all of the actors and actresses involved. Plus there is nothing cooler then seeing a number of your friends in multiple scenes...and your High School. I give it overall a thumbs up.

So much to unpack for a low budget TV movie

[Agent10 · 5/10 · 14 June 2021]

Back in the 80s and even in the early 90s, TV executives were quite the lot. While many people of this new modern era claim television is trying too hard to be "woke" in a vain effort to shill for some free publicity and extra money, television in the 80s and 90s tried a more unusual tactic. "Think of the children!!!" After school specials were the norm and put out for us kids during the late afternoon hours while our parents were educated with the "moral panic" movie (which routinely had better production value and acting). Whether it be dungeons and dragons, steroids or gangs, these movies presented what if's to the parents and thus created some weird nuances to our world.

Heavy metal is bad. Pot is bad. Crack is bad (but not as bad as cocaine!). Sex is bad. It was like every TV executive was Mr. Mackey. Most of these movies exist in a bizarre time capsule that is horribly outdated, but Brotherhood of Justice just exists on a different plane all together.

First of all, the story was based on a real gang of white, upper class, mostly athletic students. Pushed by a football coach and coaxed by their own power, the students started going too far with bombs, beatings and other property crimes. The movie doesn't take it as far their real life counterparts, and the producers kept out the more blatant racist element of the gang (they routinely drew swastikas around their name, Legion of Doom). Instead we got a couple members of the group that hate Mexicans.

So what does this movie say? Strangely it presents arguments about crime and punishment the same way they do today....force must be met with force. Reasons be damned. While I am sure the producers were just thinking they were writing about the dangers of gangs, they inadvertently made an allegory that maybe we should not take our cues on law enforcement from the upper class. It brings about the notion that more police is good and therefore will weed out the bad element, i.e. Poor people and minorities. Of course, all crime is generalized.

Is the movie any good? I would say it was a decent effort. The escalation of the gang's activities would have been better suited for a mini-series, but that was reserved for bigger projects in those days like Thornbirds, North vs. South and V. My only gripe was how quickly the gang turned into a vigilante group craving real, destructive and potentially harmful violence. I would have loved to see the consequences of possibly getting bad intelligence. It might have been better if an authority figure had been directly involved and the movie had a chance to do that with the school's principal. But alas, moral panic films are not about adults manipulating young adults with no life experience, it's about justifying the hatred of things they don't understand.

I will say, this movie had an impressive cast for sure. I wish they had used Kiefer Sutherland more, but Young Guns and The Lost Boys were gonna do that soon enough. The acting wasn't bad, for even Keanu Reeves' limited range worked. I think this was a good idea to work with, but they just didn't have the right people behind the scenes. Plus television was much different in those days, and I'm sure a modern streaming and cable network can do a bang up limited run series on this subject. Here is to hoping.

Bad boys! (spoilers)

[vertigo_14 · 7/10 · 5 August 2004]

The Brotherhood of Justice is based on true events which occured in 1985 at R.L. Paschel High School, a Texas High School. The gang was called The Legion of Doom, and although the movie doesn't depict it, a coach was involved who backed the gang.

The Brotherhood of Justice is a pretty good movie, even if you think Keanu Reeves isn't such a great actor, or at least is a two dimensional actor (especially in the roles he took in his 20s). Keanu Reeves is part of a group of wealthy high school guys who form a vigilante group who declares their goals to be protecting the school from a sudden wave of vandalism and theft by promoting school spirit. However, they take advantage of their position by using intimidation and violence to weed out targeted students, who they claim are upsetting what they see as the school's potential positive growth (i.e. a school with a low crime rate). Soon enough, this free indulgence gets out of hand, and the guys begin a severe abuse of power as they go from protectorates of the school to yet another unruly gang that beats up whoever they want for whatever reason they feel. Keanu Reeves is the main character of our story, and the one who must make the decision whether his loyalty to the group should trump the rising dangers created by the members of the Brotherhood.

The Brootherhood of Justice is very similar to another movie made the same year entitled 'Dangerously Close,' which was written and starred in by 80s favorite, John Stockwell (the guy from 'My Science Project'). I believe that both are based on the same events, although in Dangerously Close, they do show that the group (called the Sentinels) as being managed by a coach. And, it also told from the point of view of one of the Sentinel's potential victims, while the Brotherhood of Justice focuses primarily on its leader, Derek (Reeves).

Both are, in my opinion good, although Brotherhood of Justice turned out to be a much better film and might appeal to a wider audience given the precense of many familiar faces including Lori Laughlin, Kiefer Sutherland (playing his typical wimpy, ultra-nice guy character), Billy Zane, Gary Riley (of Stand By Me and Summer School), and Danny Nucci. This one plays out somewhat like an after school special (in morals, not in cheesiness) whereas Dangerously Close is a real Hollywood drama). Plus, the gang doesn't seem quite as creepy as the Sentiels in Dangerously Close, but you do get a sickening sense of how awful the Brotherhood in this movie was. They're much more real in this movie.

It is definitely one worth watching. Check out the final sequences during the credit, the black and white shots of the actual Texas high school teenagers from The Legion of Doom, are the same as those used in the opening titles of the original Law and Order series.

I wish I had known it was a TV Movie

[BigHushtheRapper · 3/10 · 20 May 2015]

This was pretty rough to watch. I ordered it through Amazon Prime and I didn't see anything that said it was a TV movie. About 30 minutes into it I realized it either had to have been made for TV or it was rated PG. It definitely had a layer of "After School Special" that I couldn't ignore. A movie about high schoolers with such clean mouths never makes sense to me.

It was fun to see so much future star power in the same cast, but the movie lacked the excitement I thought it would have based on the synopsis. I'm a Keanu fan, but even by Keanu standards his acting was horrendous. I did see many similarities between this movie and Point Break, which was interesting.

Overall the story was unique and even more so after learning it was based on true events. I just feel like it was executed poorly and the pacing was painfully slow through most of this. It also felt like it was filmed with a home video camera.

I would only recommend this movie for seeing these big names together so early in their careers, otherwise don't make an effort to watch this.

Dress Rehearsal for Point Break

[dansview · 7/10 · 16 May 2012]

If you are familiar with the character of "Johnny Utah" from the 1991 film Point Break, then you are going to notice some peculiar similarities in Keanu Reeve's character here. Only this came out five years earlier.

In both films he is a quarterback. In both films he straddles the line between good and bad human being. In both films people say things like, "DO IT, NOW!" In both films, people ask him to summon the fortitude that helped him win football games.

I admired the kids' sense of brotherhood, and desire to support their school. That's rare. But I also saw that arrogant sense of entitlement that jocks and some "soshe" types have in high school. Real A-Holes.

It was interesting to see that there was a Mexican side of town, even back then. Little did they know how things would change.

I like Keanu Reeves. He has a certain "everyman" quality. I also liked the way the film depicted the contrast of rich kids and the working class ones. Of course in this case, it was based on a true story.

The dialogue was fine. There were several good scenes between two people at a time. Two brothers, the cop and the principal, coworkers, best friends, etc. I love good dialogue.

Not a bad film at all. Interesting concept based on truth.

Very preachy made for TV movie

[Seth_Rogue_One · 5/10 · 11 September 2015]

The biggest reason to watch this is to see early performances from Keanu Reeves, Danny Nucci, Lori Loughlin, Billy Zane and Kiefer Sutherland (the latter despite being put on the cover only pops up every now and then).

Cause the story just have so much to offer, it's very simple and starts out very cheesy like a PSA against graffiti and vandalism but eventually goes into more troubling issues like drugs and such but barely graces the surface of the subjects it tackles.

And the end feels like a bit of a stretch, yeah it's very much the type of movie that the school would show at English class or whatever just to prove a point that vandalism is bad but so is taking the law in your hands so just stay calm in your corner and don't do anything bad.

It's not all bad but it's definitely not all good either, I'll slap it a 5/10 but had there been no famous faces chances are very high it would be lower as that's the biggest entertainment value of the movie half the time.

Good Stuff!

[Marcey13 · 9/10 · 22 July 2003]

I remember my cousin telling me about this movie when we were younger and I was dying to see it. When I finally did I really liked it, it was something different for a movie about teens. The acting is decent as is the story it's good to see Keanu, Kiefer and Billy in early roles. It might be a bit out dated but it's still worth the watch! 7/10

Entertaining TV film starring several soon-to-be stars

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 3 December 2014]

The obvious selling point for The Brotherhood of Justice these days is that it showcases Keanu Reeves, Billy Zane and Keifer Sutherland before they were famous. In the cases of Reeves and Sutherland, they would in fact become Hollywood A-Listers not long after this was released. It's a teen movie set in California about a gang of high school vigilantes who wish to teach a lesson to local criminals and fellow classmates they dislike. What starts out as fairly playful increasingly becomes quite dark as the gang gain confidence in their activities, their actions become more criminal themselves.

This was seemingly a pilot for a series that never was. It's also based on real events that happened a year earlier in a Texas school. It actually makes for quite an entertaining and interesting enough TV movie. The gang and their actions are presented in shades of grey, with the audience only meant to sympathise with them up to a point. It means there is some melodrama generated, while at the same time having a fairly suspenseful parallel narrative to compliment this. It's made for TV, so it does have certain limitations but, mainly, this works pretty well and will especially be of interest to those interested in the young soon-to-be film stars. It also ends in a quite abrupt and surprising way that I personally thought was quite good.

Plot sounded good, film was tripe

[conorgdaly · 2/10 · 23 February 2007]

Picked up this movie for €3. Had never heard of it before. Read the plot outline on the back and thought, 'Hey, this sounds pretty good'..Bad mistake.

Dialog is frightfully bad. Had to chuckle at some of the more serious moments. The theme of a vigilante setting out to deliver justice is good. This film was not. Interested in "street justice"?; Boondock Saints is much better. Overall, I gave the film 2 stars. I watched the first hour of the film, then switched it off. Tip: Watch the film at 6 times the normal viewing speed. You'll get the point of the film and you wont have to listen to really bad dialog!

OK movie but fun due to early stages of actors

[gsbigplay · 12 September 2005]

I not only have seen this movie, I was an extra in it in about 15 scenes. I think Keanu Reeves was a bad actor then and hasn't got much better since. It's a fun movie to see as there are many actors and actresses just starting out their careers. Just don't expect any Oscar performances except for the extra who says, "No". He is amazing. The plot is fairly weak but it was only a made for TV movie in the first place so you don't expect too much anyway. The movie is filmed in Santa Cruz County in California. Lost Boys was also filmed here and was a much better movie with quite a cult following. Kiefer Sutherland was in both movies. I would recommend this movie to watch just to see everyone in their first stages of acting.

interesting 80s film

[rriverarivera-98593 · 10/10 · 12 September 2015]

First off when I heard about this movie I decided to watch it because of it's 1980s teenager story, and Keanu reeves in his younger years, a well executed plot as any Charles Braverman film. I give it 10/10 for its 1980s atmosphere and realistic view of vigilantism during that time period,not to forget: it's lesson to all youth that sometimes standing up to crime your own way doesn't necessarily mean it can turn into a good thing when it finally turns tables on you in the long run. Another factor that I like about the film is its climax when Derek's friends use the brotherhood for their own greedy deeds and with all the trouble started Derek's girlfriend Christie persuades him to leave but a helpless Derek is left with only one choice in the matter: to turn himself in to the authorities along with his friends, thus ending the brotherhood once and for all.

Not bad for a TV movie....

[nycovom1 · 15 June 1999]

I had seen this movie when it first aired back in the mid-eighties(I was a senior in high school at the time), and when I saw it again recently on cable TV, I realized that, for a made-for-TV film, it's not too bad. It's not great, either, but at least the writer and director seemed to not want to crank out yet another quickie network television thriller. The story gets surprisingly gritty, and a little bloody, in places. Even so,I think this film's big claim-to-fame is that the actor in the lead role is none other than future Speed-ster, dude-in-training Keanu Reeves. Check him out here at age 21!

About Paschal

[Rose1533 · 16 June 2008]

First off, I have not seen the movie, but I am aware of the events on which the movie is based. I'm a graduate of R. L. Paschal High School. Notice the spelling, please. No 'e' in Paschal.

Funny, I told my college roommate how things at Paschal had settled down since I graduated. The next day, the news of the Legion of Doom broke.

In defense of Paschal, I'd like you all to know that, though it has a lousy football team and has for some time, it is top academically in the Fort Worth ISD.

I've only just learned of this movie, and now I'm interested in seeing it.