Gang Justice (1991) User Reviews

Not that bad

[Vilian · 7/10 · 8 August 2004]

I saw this movie on late-late night television. For the most part, I enjoyed it. There weren't any useless scenes or many cheesy moments in this movie. The story flowed well and the script was quite realistic. The acting wasn't top-notch, but the performances of the majority of the characters were quite memorable.

The fight scenes in this movie were brilliant. They were well-choreographed for being in a seemingly low-budget movie. I must admit that I was actually laughing at some parts, though. Some of the hits were so unexpected that I couldn't help but laugh. The part I probably laughed the hardest at was this awesome man-to-man slap. It was hardcore. Another scene I found funny was a scene with no sound. For some reason a guy was yelling in slow motion (with no sound): "You motherfu*****!!". The situation wasn't funny, but I thought it was humorous considering it was on television.

Then there's the rest of the movie. The story is about Paul, the son of an Asian immigrant. His entire life involves constant harassment from everyone. The people he can trust are few. It's basically white males consistently beating up on Paul, and the only two people he can talk to are two white girls and his Korean friend. The racist undertones in this movie are quite imminent. The main villain, Billy, has a severe vendetta towards Paul, and is pretty much the reason for this movie to be so sad. Since the movie is based on a true story, my guess is that it is supposed to give a strong message against racism. The point is delivered quite efficiently.

All in all, it's a good movie. The music was very 90's-ish, almost annoying, but it does the job.

I rate it 7/10.

High school project or professional production?

[amikelhenry · 4/10 · 12 June 2007]

If I were grading this as a high school film project, I would give this an A grade. Unfortunately, for the people involved and for the viewers of the film, it was not a high school project but supposedly a professional production. It was no surprise to me when reviewing the performer's past and future credits this was the highlight of 99% of the actors and actresses' careers. It was like the director got together a group of his friends and on a lark made a film. Of course, the exception being Eric Estrada who portrayed a "white rich guy" which set up the big conflict in the film. Certainly he was not typecast for this role.

Finally, with respect to the end twist in which I am warning of a spoiler, I always think it dangerous to start clapping for a coked-up teenager who has a gun in his hand in which he just threatened to kill his sworn enemy even if it looks like he is not going to do it. Maybe thats just me, I don't know.

I gave this title a 4/10 in that I did watch the entire movie which may say something more about me than the movie. I certainly would not recommend this movie to anybody. Thankyou for your interest in my review.

Not really a fan

[eriufaeye · 3/10 · 29 August 2004]

I realize that my opinion itself may be biased, as I don't normally enjoy movies stuffed to bursting with violence, but I did not enjoy this film.

Although the basic plot of this movie may be socially relevant, I would not recommend it to anyone I know. The dialogue was stinted at best, and the actors did a poor job of adding any life or imagination.

I would, however, like to point out that with the limited resources he was given to work with, Joon B. Kim (Paul) gave an excellent performance. The other actors were not nearly as good in this film, but I would like to see Jonathon Gorman (Billy) in another role, as I saw a potential there that startled me.

Unfortunately I cannot bring myself to rate this at higher than a 3. The majority of it was just so unimaginative.

I looked, I listened, I left.

[mark.waltz · 1/10 · 15 July 2022]

Nothing to recommend in this movie which exposes its exploitation efforts from the moment it starts, with stupid sound effects involved in the flight sequences between two football players involved in a racial feud. The fact that they are going to end up related through marriage just speaks volumes of the triteness of the story that 70's TV heartthrob Erik Estrada can't save. Does every fight scene between these two kids have to have kicks and punches that sound like cartoon characters being hit over the head with acme hammers or bad karate movie sound effects? Nothing to recommend here unless you're using the DVD as a one-way frisbee that you don't want to get back.