Mean Guns (1997)

100 people, who have betrayed The Syndicate, are gathered in a prison opening the next day. They are given weapons and 6 hours to kill each other. The 3 remaining share $10,000,000.

Director:

Albert Pyun

Writer:

Andrew Witham

Stars:

Christopher Lambert, Ice-T, Michael Halsey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lambert	...	Lou
Ice-T	...	Vincent Moon
Michael Halsey	...	Marcus
Deborah Van Valkenburgh	...	Cam
Tina Cote	...	Barbie (as Tina Coté)
Yuji Okumoto	...	Hoss
Thom Mathews	...	Crow
Kimberly Warren	...	D
Hunter Doughty	...	Little Lucy (as Hunter Lockwood Doughty)
Jerry Rector	...	Bob
James Wellington	...	Ricky
Hoke Howell	...	Commissioner Guildner
James Mathers	...	Jerry Montegna
Milan Nicksic	...	Kobolski
Jahi J.J. Zuri	...	Blondie

Storyline

A gangster boss (Ice-T) has a list of about 100 people who have screwed up at one point or another. Rather than outright killing them, he decides to have a little fun by putting all of them together in a high security prison, unarmed, and dumping bucketfulls of guns, ammo, and baseball bats on them and letting them kill each other. The final three who survive are given a prize of 10 million dollars. Let chaos reign.

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Plot Keywords:

nunchaku | two word title | girls with guns | baseball bat | gangster | 

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Taglines:

Mayhem Is Good

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nonstop violence, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

When both the Comissioner and Oslo come to see Vincent Moon in the control room, they both walk into the frame almost in identical manner and utilizes a rack focus shot meaning that the film was shot in anamorphic widescreen.

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Goofs

A newspaper clipping with the headline "New Prison Opens Tomorrow" is shown and the text underneath has a spelling error saying "A new prinson opens tomorrow... ".

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Quotes

Ricky: Hey, I happen to have a healthy respect for profanity. They're just not happy words and they don't make me happy to hear them. To use something over and over until it has no meaning. Hell hell hell hell hell.

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Alternate Versions

In the UK this film was pre cut, after consultation with the ratings board, by 12 mins because of the high level of violance. This cut version was then submitted and passed as 18.

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Connections

References Melrose Place (1992)

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Soundtracks

Mambo Mambo
Written by Anthony Riparetti (as Tony Riparetti), Roberto Amaral and Steve LeGassick (as Steve Le Gassick)
Published by Tony Riparetti Music ASCAP

User Reviews

Implausible, but great fun.

It's not really a good movie, let's make that clear. The chaotic shootouts are not skillfully constructed, the story is both implausible and confusing (especially at the end, when it keeps trying to top itself with one stupid "twist" after another; it should have stuck to the rules it established in the beginning), and Lambert and Ice-T both give performances too awful for words. What makes the picture fun is its premise, and some of the supporting members of the cast, particularly Michael Halsey (who really shines with a strong presence deserving of a far better movie), Okumoto and Matthews (whose duo is quite amusing to watch) and Tina Cote (who's pretty hot). Overall, it's worth a couple of viewings if you're an action fan. (**1/2)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Venecular

Filming Locations:

Twin Towers Correctional Facility - 450 Bauchet Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,095,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmwerks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 105 min (TV) 110 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1