Reckoning Day (2002) User Reviews

Train-wreckoning Day.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 23 December 2011]

Reckoning Day, the directorial debut from Rise of the Footsoldier's Julian Gilbey, is a case of over-enthusiastic young British film-makers getting in well over their collective head; the green cast and wet-behind-the-ears crew do their best to lend credence to Gilbey's ill-conceived and ultimately baffling vision, but their best ain't anywhere near good enough, their lack of experience only all too obvious.

The scrawny twenty-something students who unconvincingly play the film's tough guys are really embarrassing, particularly since nearly all of them feel the need to utter their terrible dialogue whilst doing an awful impression of Clint Eastwood; meanwhile, Gilbey directs and edits as though he's pumped himself full of the film's designer drug 'unseen force', utilising rapid cuts, crazy camera angles and over-stylised visuals befitting of a person off their tits on insanely strong narcotics.

As a result, the film stumbles around aimlessly from the start, like one of its characters that has been shot in both legs. It's virtually impossible to follow what is going on, meaning that for the most part, the viewer will be totally nonplussed about who is shooting who and why. The only possible enjoyment to be gleaned from this mess is from the many squib-tastic bullet hits and some delirious power-tool violence that includes a chainsaw duel (always popular avec moi!), but all the splatter in the world won't make me want to watch this one again.

Even Gilbey's biggest fan would struggle to defend him from this pile of cr*p

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 1/10 · 24 November 2009]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

There is truth in the maxim: if something looks too good to be true it probably is. With it's glossy cover proudly proclaiming it to be from Julian Gilbey, the director of 'Rise of the Footsoldier', there was no reason to suspect that Reckoning Day wouldn't be up to a certain standard that you could expect from Gilbey at least. Except, his previous two films that I know of, Rollin' With the Nines and ROTFS, have both enjoyed cinematic releases while this appears to have arrived straight onto DVD. Which would either be a surefire sign it was a bit iffy, or meant it would be one of those shelved efforts from years ago that have finally seen the light of day because of the director's newfound success, deceitfully tarted up as something new and exciting? Guess which one it turned out to be...

I honestly think Gilbey would have been better off filming this with a home video camera as the result would have looked less cheap and rotten, with the blurry, grainy camera lens being a downside throughout. But it's not nearly as big a problem as the embarrassingly bad acting, the incomprehensible plot, the laughable dialogue, the weak script and terrible action. It all just fails to shoot right from any cylinders, but still can't let up at the end from Gilbey's trademark love of gratuitous, blood splattered violence, here of the man tied to a chair and tortured for info variety, that was to stand him in stead for his, ahem, future films that this early student trash of his showed the early warning signs of.

I wasn't keen on Rise of the Foot Soldier but seeing the sort of garbage Gilbey was actually capable of, it seems an absolute classic in comparison. Please avoid this abomination like the plague. NO STARS

Loved the film, but the soundtrack? Forget it.

[adrian_verne · 1/10 · 9 February 2011]

A friend of mine recently gave me a pirated copy of The Reckoning day from a Chinese man on Kilburn High Road, which I rushed home to watch. I have to say, I actually thought this film was brilliant so I rushed out to buy a copy from my local HMV. One thing the pirated copy had over the DVD release was the sound - I actually prefer the sound on the cam version because the soundtrack is less overpowering, probably due to it being filmed on a crap microphone. I felt that in moments, the suspense was ruined by strange key changes, weird screams(?!) and lots of mediocre strings. I felt the soundtrack needed more rhythmic basslines to really support the strength of this film.

Overall though, a thoroughly enjoyable film which I've recommended to everyone, and would watch again.

Violence is no longer important...?

[harry-187 · 1/10 · 2 September 2003]

The one thing that worries me most about this film; is the fact that the writer/director (Julian Gilbey) has at no point really researched any part of what he is actually trying to say. The films narrative is very, very loosely held together by the most silly and gratuitious violence - in particular, gun violence by very young British kids. The film is in no way offensive, but you get the impression (again, mostly by the use of the very young actors) that some kind of disturbed fantasy is really being played out; as opposed to the idea of just even producing some form of simple filmic entertainment. All the acting is directed with glazed and expressionless close-ups. The most bizarre violent scene happens near the start of the film where an actor with what appears to be an actual disability is murdered by repeated blows to the head with a batton. The reason I am writing this review (I don't normally review this kind of film) is that it disturbs me that others will watch it and think that the filmmaker's are in someway doing something right with modern-day cinema violence. In actual reality, they have nothing to say nor are truly interested in the medium as narrative and artistic-force. Films such as: 'Straw Dogs', 'A Short film About Killing', 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Bully' and even Gaspar Noe's latest; all explore the violent themes 'Reckoning Day' has tried to do but severely failed. Reckoning Day's only surviving statement is that modern day film violence is both meaningless and unimportant. 1/10

Whooooooo, this movie starts off like a chaotic hard-boiled adrenaline rush, which never seems to get an end!!!

[Dario_the_2nd · 7 August 2003]

For the 1-Line reader:

"Hard boiled, adrenaline-pumping awesome low budget roughie"!

If you agree with this STATEMENT - Scroll down and vote "yes"

If you DON'T agree with this STATEMENT - Scroll down and vote "no" ------------------------------------------------------------------

The more in-depth reader,

-I bought and saw this amazing low budget movie, for the simple reason, it was a cheap buy for a DVD! Didn't know the movie at all, never heard or saw something about it, nevertheless it did look interesting when I saw the back of the cover. So I went for it.

F'-ing unbelievable movie! From the start on it is getting like, 'you're stuck on a rail-track, you see that train coming at you, but there's no chance to escape because there is a factor of paralyzing fascination', so you stay and see what is going to happen further on and you're willing to take any consequences! The film starts with a number of body counts that become at a certain point in the movie, "countless" and all driven on a Herculean-pumped-up adrenaline speeding sound-score. Blood, gore, body pieces, brains flying from left to right on screen. Actors are dropping like flies in utmost vicious scenes, one scene count so many deaths that 'Reaper' would have a lucky day. The story of the movie isn't that bad at all, it could even be true in these days. It's about an experimental drug to keep soldiers alive and out of pain after being seriously wounded. Now this drug is stolen from the army and ready for a more commercial market. Quite easy plot but as said in a famous statement, "less is more"! And that's what Gilbey delivers, simple scenario worked out in an impeccable way! I love this movie from start 'till the very last second of it. Simple! I love hard-boiled movies in a F1-speed edit! Some people refer to movies like 'Bad taste' and 'Evil dead', no way. This movie is a stand-alone and can't be by no means 'even' be compared to movies like that. It's not because we have some blood and gore in a low budget movie we have another example of 'Bad taste' or 'Evil dead'. No way Hosé! I just loved it and it was the best buy I did in months as a movie-collector. I would say if you're in search and interested in the better low budget movies with surprisingly good actors, good storyline, well acted, with every scene set-up, shot and directed in every possible little detail that your budget allows well then this is absolute without any doubt THE MOVIE to search for. I think must the crew had a bigger budget as publicity and a well set up marketing campaign, this could have easily been "THE" best movie of 2002. And would you like to compare it with a movie?! Go for 'Reservoir dogs' or 'Natural born killers'. That's the style to expect, only unshaven rough and low budget. I even dare to say that 'Julian Gilbey' is the English 'Quentin Tarantino' of the low budget movie.

The end.

Now, after reading this you can honestly vote, useful yes or no… Thank you, D/

not much going on here.....

[lolitahoneypot · 1/10 · 19 September 2003]

Do not waste your time with this one. A real time-waster of a film. Bad script, bad acting & everything else! trash.

I get the feeling these guys must have been bored to make this one.

Pathetic action flick.

Worst film ever seen

[domhelme89 · 1/10 · 20 December 2009]

I picked this film due to the cover sounding pretty good and getting a 5 star rating from a magazine. This film is also made by the same guy as rise of the foot solider which was a brilliant film. I have never made a review after watching this felt i had to. Definitely the worst film I have ever seen along with the worst acting. Watched 15 painful minutes of this film and felt embarrassed for these so called actors. Cant believe I actually paid to watch this pathetic crap, the actors and cheesy and can be seen miming the words. They are post to be these deadly killers and all I can see is some mongy looking geek's probably still in uni. I would say the genre of this film is cheese core. A complete waste of time an money.

Awful, hack production....in one word = forget it!

[videomandyz · 1/10 · 19 May 2004]

I can't remember seeing an lo-budget flick this bad. It's basically a bunch of teenage kids running around with plastic guns.

The writing, direction, production, camera-work & acting are all as hack amateur as hell. The makers of this one should have sank there budget on film-school/education first; and then maybe considered an alternative career to help spare the cinema going public from this kind of trash.

This kind of film deserves as little attention as possible - I feel ashamed even writing this, as someone could think it is worth watching because of that; but I simply have to get it off my chest 0 out of 10 ! !

Wow! Julian Gibley is a GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[foxy_bc · 1/10 · 14 September 2003]

This film is like a lighting bolt to your brain! This is one of the best DVDs i've ever bought - in fact it is the best!!! The action is based around a new drug which increases the users attack by 10000% or something like that. If you like action then this is the big film for you!! The makers of this film must be genius and I hope they make a bigger one with a lot more money soon -i can't wait for it! JULIAN GIBLEY IS GOD! HE IS A GENIUS, HE IS THE FUTURE OF VERY GOOD CINEMA!!!! GENIUS, GENIUS, GENIUS....................!

This Director just gets better and better!

[jonesberney · 10/10 · 14 August 2010]

First there is blood and that is what i like its vuh blood. Black and white first like films of ancient times with lots of black and white blood and i am saying "where is the red blood? this looks like oil blood or petrol blood". After a few minutes colour comes onto screen and gets to the flowing of the red blood lots of it. The film by Julien Gilbey is 2 hours but he makes it magic and seem like its four hours. I stopped watching after two hours but really i only watched for one hours. Another clever thing Gilbey does is make the story of the Reckoning Day very very complicated so right from the gecko you don't know who is bad or who is good or who is what or what is who, so you are meant to stop thinking about the story and so then all of your brain is used up on the blood scenes. So many brapty guns and so much blood that comes out ov everyone that i didn't think there was even that much blood in the world let alone in just a film!! 3 people that you think have died are rebrought back into the film halfway through i was laughing and said "They were shot about six times in the black and white days of the film why are they still alive are they ghosts?" clever Julian Gilbey clever. No one in this film laughs and no one cries and no one smiles or looks angry and happy and some wear sunglasses and you cant see there eyes and no one can make their faces look like they can do anything in this film so it is difficult to see what people are thinking through their faces but you know everyone who has blood coming out of them are not happy.I don't know what happened at the end of this film because i went to bed but my friend said nothing happened that haddened already happened in every scene that had already been on.

Ten stars out of ten

No-budget Gold

[johnbuckworth · 7/10 · 20 September 2013]

I really like this film, especially after watching the 'making of' extra. I really bought in to what they wanted to present: a full-on damn silly blood-happy gun-orgy. Job done! Great b-movie, I really enjoyed it.

(this is my first IMDb review, and I watch a LOT of dvds; this is a film I wanted to review. 'Sick Girl' is next..)

Having submitted this review, apparently I haven't been sufficiently verbose...

(IMDB tell me I haven't said enough. For me, this is a RARE event).

Appsrently, there's a minimum of 10 (ten) lines per review.

I shouldn't have used that semi-colon. Is that enough lines? I'd said what I wanted to say in the first paragraph.

Bloody bath crap at its paroxysm

[searchanddestroy-1 · 28 December 2015]

I had the feeling to watch a film directed by a Ben Wheatley under amphetamines, poor poor man's Ben Wheatley. But maybe I am unfair with him, his features were far better than this juicy piece of sh...where the audience can't follow anything in this mess, this incomprehensible story, except it is about a drug destined for men to become invincible. You don't know who is who or who is with...You can only try to body count...That's all you can do to get pleasure in this seen to be believed movie. You can see it with your friends, one night, after two bottles of beer or Tequila...But don't abuse alcohol, please. Just for fun. But don't watch it at first degree, only third or fourth degree, that will be enough. I prefer not talking of the actors...If we can define them as actors. The best definition of gratuitous and sadistic violence, far far more offensive than the brutal Italian crime films from the seventies.

Rough cut action movie with blood, guts and bullets that hit !!

[luis672 · 10/10 · 16 July 2003]

This is a great film, not for the faint at heart as it has lots of gore, blood & guts to it!

It has a nice story line to it and a certain roughness that appeals a lot to me. It reminds me a bit of the biker-movies from the seventees even .. well remotely ;)Sure it has some flaws but one tends to look around them as they are few .

It's a must see for people who seen it all and want something different for a change !!

Guns, guns...Lots of GUNS !!!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 13 September 2003]

Small SPOILERS alert !

This is the kind of movie that you'll never see under normal conditions...Hidden on the lowest shelf in your local videostore or in the unknown cult department. At first sight, you won't care for it and only take it with you if you have absolutely nothing else to rent or ( such as in my case ) if a friend recommended it to you. And I'm glad he did, because Reckoning Day is one fun roller coaster ride of violence, indeed. Even before the opening credits appear, there already are 20 men dead or something and it doesn't slow down at all. Clearly, writer-director Julian Gilby didn't intend to make a deep psychological story but just a gore and hard action movie. Pretty sick if you're not used to seeing much but delicious if you like the genre.

Reckoning Day rips off about 50 other movies and the story to itself doesn't make much sense neither. But, really...WHO THE HELL CARES ??? It's one fun movie and it'll keep you close to your TV set for a 100 minutes. It's about a group of assassins who made a career change. They're now into hard drugs and found their place in the market by selling something new called "unseen force". This particular drug makes you triples your strength and even keeps you running when you're badly wounded. The résumé of this drug: It makes Cocaïne and LSD look like gummy bears. Anyway, the leading man ( Charles Toll ) is about to export his product to Spain and to prevent that from happening, the Special Forces hired the only person who ever came close to beating Charles...An American named 'Ed'. Ed is not what you call a subtle cop and he fires guns about every time his face is shown on the screen.

Except for the high level of action, there isn't much to say about Reckoning Day...the acting performances are below average but I don't blame them. None of them are professional actors and I suspect they made this film like a group of friends. The guy who played Stuart ( über-villain number 2 ) should consider a further acting career. That guy was cool ! He had a couple of cool one-liners too, by the way. Looks like writer director Gilbey has a bit of twisted world perspective but I like his style. Shameless, brutal and to the point. There should be more movies like this. Young directors should stop trying to be artistic and make more enjoyable things. Gilbey understood this. I hope his film will get some more attention within a few years.

This is full on!

[nuts_and_bolts · 10/10 · 21 November 2009]

This is a stunning piece of work considering it was shot on a shoe string.

Watching with the director's commentary is an education for any budding film maker wanting to get their first project off the ground.

The plot is a little hazy at times, but it's absolutely worth watching to the end credits.

And you can FINALLY buy the Reckoning Day original soundtrack through iTunes and Amazon, which is arguably one of the finer points of the film. For me the music is worth every penny, and there's no excuse for not having this in your movie soundtrack collection!