Threat is a lousy film. Childish dialogs, amateurish editing and in general a failed movie. That said, it's not a boring flick. I could not find any dramatic line leading to the violent ending, everything seemed to be just pasted, mixing all ingredients without a functional recipe, some of it worked, animation fitted in quite smoothly, in fact I missed more of it, soundtrack is again quite suited to the action. I didn't regret watching it, in all fashion is what this movie is really about, not a line of fashion, but many styles, not only in dressing but also talking and even walking. It tries to present another catalog of urban tribes, but it fails on that too. In general, watch it only if you don't find any other thing to do.
11 Reviews
disappointing
karen-suri4 March 2006
i just finished watching this movie, and i'd have to say that i am disappointed. i was expecting some grand social commentary portrayed through realistic depictions of real-life situations. but i came away with some babble from characters that was really nothing new, and a string of violence seemingly driven by coincidence, stupidity, rage, and hatred. i enjoyed the buildup of the characters, but other than that, i feel the movie did not do anything to depict real situations.
the characters were developed. that i enjoyed. but i did not enjoy the fact that they were portrayed as hopped up, revenge-seeking machines. there is a certain amount of senselessness here, and that is what drive this movie to a moot point. maybe the senselessness is supposed to help the viewer understand the way certain events play out. however, again, this does not strike me as anywhere near realistic.
shocking: yes. revolutionary in any way: no.
but i love the soundtrack. so check that out, at least.
the characters were developed. that i enjoyed. but i did not enjoy the fact that they were portrayed as hopped up, revenge-seeking machines. there is a certain amount of senselessness here, and that is what drive this movie to a moot point. maybe the senselessness is supposed to help the viewer understand the way certain events play out. however, again, this does not strike me as anywhere near realistic.
shocking: yes. revolutionary in any way: no.
but i love the soundtrack. so check that out, at least.
The real "Threat" is that they might make another movie...
vkumar3 March 2006
'Threat' contains some of the lamest dialogue I've heard in a while. The acting is generally poor too. I got the distinct impression that the filmmakers thought they were doing something special. What a joke.
The only reason I saw 'Threat' was because I found out Slug (of the hip hop duo Atmosphere) is in it. But I didn't even notice Slug while I was watching it. Had to look closely at the credits and see that he was credited as 'Crusty punk'(!). Then I figured out who he was in the movie, but it doesn't look or sound at all like him. Moreover he was only on screen for all of 10 seconds.
The only positive thing I can say about 'Threat' is that the animation that is interlaced into the movie is not bad, and the editing is sometimes interesting. Despite the "real threat" alluded to above, I'm not entirely pessimistic about the next offering from the production group ('King's Mob').
The only reason I saw 'Threat' was because I found out Slug (of the hip hop duo Atmosphere) is in it. But I didn't even notice Slug while I was watching it. Had to look closely at the credits and see that he was credited as 'Crusty punk'(!). Then I figured out who he was in the movie, but it doesn't look or sound at all like him. Moreover he was only on screen for all of 10 seconds.
The only positive thing I can say about 'Threat' is that the animation that is interlaced into the movie is not bad, and the editing is sometimes interesting. Despite the "real threat" alluded to above, I'm not entirely pessimistic about the next offering from the production group ('King's Mob').
wasted my time
felpasonico28 January 2007
I downloaded the movie thinking it was going 2 be cool, when I finished watching it, there was just one thing left to ask.. WHAT THE F*CK DID I WATCHED? I mean, really..what the f*ck? Straight edge "kids" ganging up on people and sh!t like that the homeless dude the crazy ass blonde b!tch i mean, come on..really even kids movies r better nowadays. besides the childish acting, the weird frame changes (I just think they did that because of low budget) crappy "efects" and switching from black and white to color..i mean..just what the hell was that about , u know? Jesus Christ I'm f*cking mad I'm going 2 watch Toy Story just for that. F*CK this movie.
During which Clinton Administration was this made?
RumTum30 July 2006
As I recall this film was completed in 1995! I tried to watch it earlier tonight but it's so horrifically dated. Just because people throw the music you like into a movie doesn't mean it's a good movie. Please, apply some critical thinking here people. This is an absurd attempt to cash in by ex-scenesters who are, in all likelihood, now in nursing homes. I really wish that us xedgex kids, as a culture, who instead embrace things that mattered instead of things that pandered to our sometimes limited worldview. Call me crazy but Lebanon getting bombed is more important than your friend getting bombed. Open your eyes and pursue real art, not this drivel! P.S. WOULD IT HAVE KILLED YOU PEOPLE TO LIGHT THIS THING DECENTLY!?
part Scorsese, part Ferrara, all NYC
JackieOhh9 March 2006
when Threat works it's like the second coming of Martin Scorsese. when Threat fails it's like the second coming of Abel Ferrara. luckily for me, i like Bad Lieutenant just as much as i like Mean Streets, so i have nothing to complain about. director Matt Pizzolo goes for broke on this hard-edged film about how extreme philosophies can drive ordinary people to obscene lengths. using black & white film for daytime, color for night, and interlacing animation throughout, Threat runs like a comic book gone haywire. everything is over the top, especially the philosophy: "if the suit don't see you as a threat, then you are the suit" or "how many people watched those towers burn, and were really just (expletive) angry that somebody beat them to it." brave words. it's no surprise this kind of anger would be coming direct from the streets of NY, the biggest surprise is that it's taken so long in coming.
Love it or hate it...
rckspnn5 March 2006
Threat is not a perfect film. It is a flawed hodgepodge of scenes that look like in some cases they were shot months if not years apart on whatever film stocks happened to be lying around. It is probably one of the least refined, most unglossy films to be released this decade. That said, the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. If you think that a film is only revolutionary by blowing up buildings or spouting off Pennywise-lyrics as rhetoric, then this movie probably isn't for you. But, at a time when America is more polarized than its been since the Vietnam War if not the Civil War, a social critique like the one in Threat is probably more revolutionary than just about anything else on the DVD shelves today. All that said, it's pretty obvious that the film is from a neophyte film-making team and it is often too earnest (occasionally cringe-worthy). Plus it's ridiculously rough around the edges. But that's what you get when you see a guerrilla film that's been carved out of concrete. IMHO, some of the negative commentators here may have been looking for the wrong things in Threat. It is not a movie about being straightedge or being hardcore. It takes place in the hardcore scene and has characters who are straightedge, but it's a movie with complex characters who suffer for their flaws and for behaving like zealots. It's weird to see a movie with straightedge characters that isn't about being straightedge, since it is a little known subculture. But I haven't seen one ad saying "the first movie about straightedge!" so I don't think this film intends to sensationalize the culture one way or the other. This film shows characters going from being ordinary kids on the block to doing horrendous things, and I personally felt empathy for them the whole way. Threat is different from films like Menace II Society where everyone is apologetic at the end. Threat isn't about redemption, it's about accepting damnation, and that's pretty cool in this Hollywood world.
undeniably hardcore
jesusHchrist-35 March 2006
I saw an ad in AP for this movie and was worried it was going to be like every other indie scene movie and just take people with tattoos or mohawks and put them into the same tired plot routines of every coming-of-age story for the past 50 years. After all we've been burned before by Bomb The System, Godmoney, you name it.
Threat ain't an Oscar winner but it's as hardcore a movie as there ever was. I hope these Kings Mob guys and girls don't make another movie, but not cause I think they suck but cause anything else they do is going to be a traditional movie and probably WILL suck since the whole point of Threat is that it's not a movie, it's an all out war. I don't want to see Kings Mob's version of Mallrats. Threat keeps it real.
Threat ain't an Oscar winner but it's as hardcore a movie as there ever was. I hope these Kings Mob guys and girls don't make another movie, but not cause I think they suck but cause anything else they do is going to be a traditional movie and probably WILL suck since the whole point of Threat is that it's not a movie, it's an all out war. I don't want to see Kings Mob's version of Mallrats. Threat keeps it real.
Oh my... the violence
clarabellobotomy6 March 2006
This movie is really really violent. I was not expecting it to be quite so violent. It's not violent like an action movie though because you really hurt when you see it happening. The characters are all really interesting and well developed and that makes it all so much more painful to watch when they start killing each other. I saw the movie with my boyfriend and I didn't really want to see it but he loves the music. I think I ended up liking it more than he did. Saying like is weird because it's not the kind of movie you "like" in the way that you like maybe a comedy. I mean I was more effected by it than he was. I can't stop thinking about it so I guess that's a really good thing. Both the male leads are super hot too. Like WB hot. I have seen a lot of independent movies and usually the actors aren't much to look at well Threat gets extra points just for that haha
powerful film-making...
PrometheusUnderground10 March 2006
i was lucky enough to see this film when it played in Montreal. i have seen other people cite the violence as what is so amazing or over the top about the film, but it's the character and subtlety i most enjoyed. here's a surprising example: one of the first scenes in the movie is nearly five minutes long, shot black and white in a very sparse room, with two talking heads: the main characters discussing philosophy of all things. what's so amazing about this? well the entire audience was wholly absorbed and engrossed in the scene. now that is film-making. if you can write and direct a scene where there's no action, there's not even color on the screen, and you can entertain with a philosophical discussion: then staging an exciting riot is an afterthought. i really thought the riot was just that: an afterthought to an otherwise very thoughtful and entertaining little movie.
finally saw this movie!
ladysamfox7 March 2006
hi. i bought this movie this weekend and have watched it twice in a row. i have to say i am blown away. i can't believe a bunch of "nobodies" (by hollyweird standards) were able to pull off such an ambitious film-and then get it out there. screw "crash"- threat made me think about race and class issues and violence in such a profound way. i can't stop talking about it! the film-making group does not spoon feed you an agenda (see crash for that)-but rather puts the violence in your face after beautifully setting up the tension under the everyday surface-the fights were so realistic and left me feeling sick to my stomach. threat shows that all brutal violence is misdirected-no matter what good place it comes from-and it shows how extremism snowballs... in the movie-there are no good guys and bad guys--i mean even the thuggie straightedge kids start out with good intentions! and you see the "infighting" when the more extremist kids splinter off from the lead and the more positive group.
as you can see, i can go on and on about this movie-haha just ask my roommate! ;)- it is a "must see!"
as you can see, i can go on and on about this movie-haha just ask my roommate! ;)- it is a "must see!"
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
