The Condemned (2007)

Director:

Scott Wiper

Writers (WGA):

Scott Wiper (screenplay) and
Rob Hedden (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The fight is on.

Plot:

Jack Conrad is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Desolate Island | Island | Fight To The Death | Underwater

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Steve Austin	...	Conrad
Vinnie Jones	...	McStarley
Robert Mammone	...	Breckel
Tory Mussett	...	Julie (as Victoria Mussett)
Manu Bennett	...	Paco
Madeleine West	...	Sarah Cavanaugh
Rick Hoffman	...	'Goldy' Goldman
Christopher Baker	...	Eddie C
Sam Healy	...	Bella (as Samantha Healy)
Luke Pegler	...	Baxter
Masa Yamaguchi	...	Saiga
Emelia Burns	...	Yasantwa
Dasi Ruz	...	Rosa
Marcus Johnson	...	Kreston Mackie
Nathan Jones	...	Petr

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong brutal violence, and for language.

Runtime:

USA:113 min | Germany:114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Singapore:NC-16 | Portugal:M/18 | UK:18 | Australia:MA | Malaysia:(Banned) | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Peru:18 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Japan:R15+

Filming Locations:

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Lionsgate

Trivia:

Steve Austin was originally offered the part Vinnie Jones plays, but after WWE decided to make the movie in their WWE Films department, they gave Steve Austin the lead role.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Conrad says "F*** it" and jumps off the cliff into the water, he emerges a moment later completely dry.

Quotes:

Jack Conrad: Sounds like you've had a hard life.
Ewan McStarley: Yeah.
Jack Conrad: Good thing it's over.

Soundtrack:

Casino (Solid State Remix)

It's been done before

OK,, don't get me wrong the idea of this movie is great, but the fact remains that its been taken from another movie. A very popular and controversial movie by the name of Battle Royal (in English) where a class of students are taken to an island to kill each other off, (The plot is actually more complicated for example political and social reasons behind why the students are sent to an island to commit murder, but I will not get into that now.)

The condemned is good to watch, once, more than once and you're just wasting your time, so its best to rent it out. Character development doesn't exist in this movie (but then again there's only been a limited number of action movies where character development was present). This separates Battle Royal from the condemned because there is a trace (not major) of character development within the film.

The personalities displayed by the characters doesn't make sense, there's a couple who were sent to death row for a mass killing, but when you meet them on the island they seem to be the nicest people in the world, and they REFUSE to kill, they even choose NOT to defend themselves against people who are going to kill them. There are just so many things wrong with this, and it confuses you because your thinking, are these the same people?

And then there's the obvious cliché which just gets you sick to your stomach and you just want to strangle anyone associated with this film (apart from Stone Cold, nobody would dare try to strangle him). The typical 'good guy', sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, misrepresented hero, doesn't want to hurt anybody, etc etc.

It really is just sickening to see that used (please people. ORIGINALITY). Coming from America, which has the highest percentage of criminals and serial killers (etc. etc.) you get this guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone right up until the end. If this was real, half the people sent to the island would be Americans, so why is it that you have murderers coming from countries that have some of the lowest criminal rates? (COME ON, do some research!) oh, but they are all sent from third world prisons, by that the makers of this film mean prisons with no laws and no justice. If this is so, there would be nobody on death row because MOST get executed within a week or so (once again, research would really help here).

So the show wouldn't be a success because they wouldn't find anyone in a third world prison waiting to be executed, (its not like in America where someone spends years in jail before they are executed). Once again lack of research results in a lack of understanding within the movie.

The storyline of the movie is still good (even though its stolen from a great movie and then destroyed in the process). The camera however moves so fast at times you get a headache, I guess the makers of this film thought "we need as many fast scenes and explosions possible...OK here we go: BOOM...run...Jump...BOOM...CRASH...RUN...BOOM once again American directors display why they shouldn't try to remake or copy a movie like Battle Royal. How many explosions and fight scenes are there in battle royal? about one fourth of how much there are here, and Battle Royal is still better.

If you want to see a good movie, watch battle royal, the whole plot originated from Battle Royal. I am still being generous and am going to give this movie a 5 out of 10. However I would give Battle Royal a 10 out of 10.