Gangland (2001) User Reviews

Beyond hilarious

[mattydukes · 1/10 · 30 June 2005]

Far from being an action movie, this film had me on the floor laughing! Even a Soap Opera director would have called the acting over the top. The dialog was simply ridiculous. Some of the scenes look like they were shot in the dark and then from a different angle like they were shot during the day. I think the director was on some serious meds when he made this one (prob. anti-depressants). Why do they keep returning to the same lake? Why do they shoot a 16-bullet handgun 30 times? And what is the reason for the steroid robot? They also used a small box the size of a deck of cards as an explosive and made the comment "this thing will make the Patriot Missle look like a firecracker", WTF? Again, they must have been seriously hittin the pillbox for a script of this content. If you want some good laughs be sure to check this one out.

Easily one of the worst movies ever

[Golden_Brown · 1/10 · 31 March 2005]

Being a bit of a fan of Sasha Mitchell, I was overjoyed to pick this up for as little as £1. Shame it turned out to be £20 too much.

The plot of the movie is basically a really watered down version of Jean Claude Van Damme's Cyborg, about a post-nuke world where three heroes, Mitchell, Costas Mandylor(of Fist of the North Star fame) and a woman I've never heard of called Kathleen Kinmont actually fight Fender from Cyborg, now called Lucifer, but played by the same actor in a worse costume. Lucifer's little brother is the dorkiest attempt at a villain ever, and the movie is quite frankly a nightmare, with the only things redeeming it for me being the fact that Sasha still works, and that future Terminatrix Kristanna Loken has a small role(far too small).

The action is dull, the characters dumb, and the story rehashed from a hardly classic 80s Van Damme vehicle, the worst of it is, the movie has the cheek to not even do this in a funny way, it's just plain crap. Avoid this, and any other movies directed by Art Camacho.

A Pathetic Movie

[TBelton1 · 9 July 2003]

Lets see, where do I begin. ah yes, this has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune to view. The plot was beyond stupid and the story became more and more twisted and confused as the movie progressed. Vincent Klyn's tragic performance as Lucifer was simply pathetic, and a very pale comparison to his portrayal of the pirate leader Fender in the movie Cyborg. The two leading actors Sasha Mitchell and Costas Mandylor were both wasted in this movie; and both I'm sorry to say were looking pretty shabby in regards to their respective physical shapes. Both of them seemed over the hill, and both were sporting beer guts, hardly what you would expect in two kickboxing heroes. I won't even go into the business about the giant blond genetically engineered gangmember on steroids; as I'm still trying to figure out why his character was introduced??? Anyway, for all those fortunate enough to have missed seeing this movie up till now let me extend some simple advice...don't see it. The only good thing this dvd had going for it was the special features, which included cast biographies and interviews.

Oh god, my eyes!

[merde · 1/10 · 4 September 2005]

This movie is hilariously awful. Everyone who had anything to do with it should be ashamed of themselves. Ashamed! (Especially Ice-T, who doesn't just embarrass himself, but actually disgraces his entire bloodline.)

You got your bad acting. You got your ridiculous costumes. You got your gratuitous (and I mean really, really gratuitous) boobs. You got your completely incoherent script. You got your totally random mutant Frankenstein's monster type thing. In one scene, our heroes load up on firepower; in the next, they have to fight bad guys hand to hand; two minutes later, they're armed and dangerous again. The plot hangs together about as tightly as a group of divas forced to share a dressing room. And my god, the exposition!

You got your tragic heroes, of course. A guy whose wife and daughter were murdered by the bad guys and spends a lot of time brooding about it. Another guy whose brother is murdered before his eyes by the bad guys in one of the early scenes and spends about five minutes throwing a tantrum before apparently forgetting all about it in the heady rush of beating dudes up. And I especially like how these two stumble across the female lead just lying there under a tree. They roll her over, she wakes up, and what do you know, it turns out the bad guys killed her sister! Coincidence... or conspiracy?

And of course, there's also a scientist whose family is being held prisoner by the bad guys. Because I guess they ran out of fake blood or something.

You will laugh uncontrollably at -- well, pretty much everything, actually. "Lucifer," the big bad guy? Top-notch comedy. Seriously. You'll love his minion, too. This movie is so preposterous, even stupid ignorant people will find mistakes to laugh at. I won't ruin it for you, but just wait till you hear what Alexis says about the syringe of her sister's blood.

I will, however, ask if anybody -- anybody -- can explain to me why there was whalesong playing in the Death Valley scene. Anyone? Bueller?

I laughed so hard I got a headache. I think I would rather chew off my own arm than watch this movie again.

I give it two thumbs up the ass. Highly, highly recommended.

Bad movie, plain and simple

[tsmithjr · 1/10 · 27 January 2004]

The heroes are good actors (I'm a big Kathleen Kinmont fan) but they're surrounded by bad guys who never went to acting school and a director who couldn't have cared and simply slept through the filming. The movie had potential, the director failed miserably.

Gangland a wonderful place

[celticchops · 8/10 · 31 March 2006]

Wow, never has one movie blown me away than this one. Headlined by superstar action hero Sasha Mitchell "Gangland" will keep you at the edge of your seat and keep you guessing "who actually thought this could work and why is there only one reporter for the entire United States to bring you coverage?" The dialogue was amazing and the flashbacks chilling. This movie teaches valuable life lessons, such as when surrounding people who are not Ganglanders and you are armed with a gun, it is best to punch and kick the person or club the person with the gun, not shoot them if you want to kill them. Also, contrary to popular belief, checking a person for a pulse by putting your two fingers on their neck or wrist does not work. The effective way is to take somebody's shirt off and rub their breasts with you hands in a massage-like motion. Thank you Ice-T for showing us the error of our ways. If you love Sasha Mitchell, and who couldn't, then get ready for an ultimate slugfest where the only help to save the world is the man who coined the term "danaburger" into a national phenomenon. Excellent movie, especially for its porn-like dialogue that kept you entranced the entire way. This quote alone lets you know that only the best writers were working on this film:

Jerad: It must've taken a lot of balls to kill a little girl. Damian: It'll take a lot less balls to kill you!

Go out and see this movie now, and prepare for the plague of Ganglanding in 4 years.

brilliantly horrible

[dmy5b · 10/10 · 22 January 2005]

This film is a must see for those viewers who can appreciate the merit of a poorly made action flick. The acting, directing, and script are all pitifully weak, which lends a certain charm. If you are interested in a story that is moving, compelling, and insightful, this is not the film for you. This is the perfect movie to watch on a boring Saturday night, drinking beer with your friends. It requires little attention to follow the story and has humorously predictably lines and follies at a very regular pace. The setting seems to have been dreamed up in a matter of minutes, ignoring anachronisms, inconsistencies and improbabilities in the process. The characters are hackneyed caricatures of a century-long history of film heroes and villains, with choice names including Lucifer and Hellian. All in all, this movie is fodder for innumerable drinking games and laughs. Check it out.

Gangland is pretty lame by most standards.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 3 October 2014]

Set in the far distant future of 2010, Gangland is the tale of a post-apocalyptic wasteland where a plague runs wild. Yes, another one. Evil bad guy Lucifer (Klyn) kidnaps scientist Dr. Adams (Thomerson) because he's close to figuring out a cure for the plague and he wants it all to himself. Meanwhile, Derek (Mitchell), Jared (Mandylor), and Alexis (Kinmont) go on the run from all the rampaging post-apocalyptic punks (what is it about the future that always breeds so many punks?). While on the run, they take time out to engage in fight scenes with them occasionally. Will our three heroes survive long enough to be able to get the plague antidote from Lucifer - who has also bothered to make an unkillable, Frankenstein-like superbaddie to fend off his attackers? Find out today? Gangland pretty much defines the term "low budget". And yes, technically speaking, this movie is "bad", but not for anyone with a sense of humor. Corral your buddies together, watch and enjoy. Presumably all the resources the filmmakers had went to the cast. You might think, if you just saw the cast list, you couldn't go wrong, though Ice-T, Coolio, Kristanna Loken and Sam Jones simply make cameos. But our main heroes Mitchell, Mandylor and Kinmont kicking, punching and shooting goons might be enough, but your tolerance for stupidity, dumbness, idiocy, imbecility and ineptitude (truly, a movie like this does define the subtle differences in these words for you better than a dictionary ever could) has to be pretty high.

Fan-favorite Sasha Mitchell beats up more future-punks here in much the same way he did in Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994). Heck, it was only eleven years later in the worlds of that and Gangland. A plus goes to the fact that this is one of those "set in the future that is now the past" movies. We love those. We actively seek them out. Helping out Mitchell on his quest (before we move on, watch out for his scene in the jail. His performance is truly a powerhouse) is Costas Mandylor, who walks away from fire in slow motion, and Lamas Wife Kinmont who looks disturbingly like Chelsea Handler in this movie, but no others that we've seen her in. Vincent Klyn, Mario Van Obama himself, is especially Peebles-like (well, Peebles from Exterminator 2 (1984), complete with throne, sunglasses and army of goons).

We've learned that great hair and clothing still exist in the future, which is a relief. One of Lucifer's Lieutenants wears a spaghetti-strap tanktop almost all the time, except when he puts a leather vest with gold rings stitched up the sides and the word "wiseguys" painted on the back of it, over said tanktop. Add to this mix the fact that it looks obviously shot on backlot-style sets (that you can visit anytime you want if you visit Universal Studios), and maybe a "fan-favorite death" or two, among all the absurd beat-em-up and shooting scenes, and you have...a movie.

Featuring two songs (the title song and "Freak") by rapper C-Tab (Ice-T and Coolio must not have been available), Gangland is pretty lame by most standards, but provides humor value if you watch it with other people.

Avoid at all costs

[bluelaser-1 · 12 May 2003]

I don't understand how someone can consciencely recommend this movie. It is one of the worst films that I have seen in years. I go into every movie openminded, but after just 5 minutes I knew was what to come.

The storyline of this movie is simple (if not overdone). Nuclear war, chaos, weak falling gov't. Moving gangs go around as a corrupt and makeshift "law" force tries to stop them. While this is going on there is an ebola outbreak ravaging cities and a psychotic leader trying to control the cure.

Now from that summary this movie may sound interesting. It goes WAY downhill. My first quirk is with the acting/story. This is low budget movie, ok, but this is disgusting. No one in the movie has heard of the concept of taking cover. That means when your being shot at you move to a position to hide from bullets. You don't stand in the open and fire like Rambo. Trust me, it looks ridiculous and it goes on throughout the whole film. Then there is the fact that the protagonists only fight with pistols and proceed to kickbox. Yes, what a sound technique. 3 strangers team up and randomly mow down people and kick box them. Did I mention that all 3 of them lost a loved one. Well that surely calls for vengeance. The acting is horrible. My god, cover your ears and eyes horrible. I swear to god that half the gangmembers sound like pirates. YARR YARR YARR HAHAH YARR. Then there is their leader who somehow has a bioresearch labratory (in some fictional lair in the US) and he has also bioengineered a super soldier. This is good, he is a deluded king that must think he is royalty. He has a sword and nights people, he wanders about his palace giving orders and not really doing much when they aren't accomplished.

I'm going to stop here, because there are so many things to criticize that I can't even organize it all properly. I suggest you steer clear of this movie. I like the genre but this is a stinker if I've ever seen one. I suggest "28 Days Later", "Dawn of the Dead", or anything else if you want a good post-apocalpytic flic. I highly highly recommend 28 days later. The film is excellent and was filmed on a small budget. Makes you think what could have been done with the money wasted on gangland.

Good plot, executed badly

[rlatanville · 4/10 · 25 August 2013]

Objectively speaking; reading mountains worth of negative flack from the public, they hail Gangland the worse movie of all time. Back the truck up! Plan 9 from outer space is the worse. Gangland is a mere B movie pales in jurisdiction to Plan 9 a Z movie. Plan 9 is worse because for bad effects, like you can see the lines that holds up planets and what not. So comparing Gangland this movie is a step up.

Gangland has a decent plot, a post-apocalyptic world after nuclear fallout (sort of like Detroit today lol)which lead to a plague outbreak, and a doctor found a cure. He has to bring the cure to Phoenix but Gangland (gang) captures him and forces him to develop it for Lucifer (Leader of Gangland). Jared, Derek and Alexis sought out to save the doctor and kill Lucifer and bring the doctor to Phoenix.

But they didn't execute the movie too well, they could elaborate on the war and how the plague was set in by it. They added another Gangland made of muscle, he added zilch to it, for being pumped up of super steroids and DNA from the best soldiers, the monster doesn't hit as well. Stuff like being whipped for hours, Jared doesn't have lacerations on him, amazing! And the movie finished fast with a "Cliffhanger" feeling to it, but there is no sequel to it.

Conclusion: My favorite actor Sasha Mitchell in this movie. Nice to see his Cody Lambert persona in it. The protagonist weren't too bad, the antagonist stunk. This movie isn't too bad at all, but it is a B movie, what do you expect? Cody Lambert in a knight armor on a white horse saving the day?

Acting: 5/10 Plot 7/10 Execution: 2/10 Fighting: 4/10 MY Total: 18/40 = 45% which puts it 4/10 , 45% on a Metacritic scale would make this film bad.

Passable

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 11 March 2008]

"Gangland" is a mindless post-apocalyptic action flick - but is it knowingly mindless? Generally it takes itself a bit too seriously, but there are times when it seems to be in on the joke (like the scene where a TV reporter is on the streets talking about the riots and the street gangs start chasing him, or the scene where a previously helpless blonde babe and the middle-aged doctor Tim Thomerson suddenly become kung-fu masters and take out a couple of guards!). The fighting - which of course is the No 1 matter of importance in a movie like this - is fair, though sometimes you can see the moves not making contact. Nevertheless, both Costas Mandylor and Sasha Mitchell have the necessary kickboxing background for their roles, and Kathleen Kinmont proves that she could still do action. Acting-wise, Mandylor fares best by keeping it low-key (at times he seems to be trying for a Stallone imitation), while Vincent Klyn fares worst by overplaying. I do have to give the film credit, though, for delivering at least one genuine shock (no need to say more, you'll understand if you see it). (**)

perfect plot, bad movie

[deafskorpianking · 13 March 2003]

spoilers....to me the plot sounded perfect and so interesting: a nuclear war went down and most of the population is gone and now there's a disease being spread as a result of the war. a doctor figures out a cure but there's another problem, since the lack of population, there's been an increasing amount of gangs terrorizing and killing for no reason. the gangs got big enough where the cops don't even have a chance. the gangs kidnapped the doctor, and 2 lucky people got away from the gangs while their siblings weren't lucky. they now decide to try and stop the gang on their own. very interesting plot but once the movie got past the one good scene, (the first 2 minutes which was ice-t and coolio it looked interesting until they killed them) it turned into one incomplete mess after another first the fight scenes got too long, they had characters that was in one scene but then they seemed to forget about them completely, example the two asian ladies, the sisters whatever happenned to them they never showed us they never seemed to kill the bad guy anytime they fought they would knock them down and run they would fight the same guy like 3 or 4 times it was a ridiculous movie they should remake it into a better film they never even told us what happenned to the doctor i mean come on

How does no one tell the director to just flat out stop?

[tpcunningham · 1/10 · 31 March 2006]

I was not sure exactly how to rate this movie. Although I thought that it was quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen, I watched every minute crying with laughter. This is definitely one of those so-bad its amazing movies.

Here are a few of the most hilarious parts: 1) 10 men armed with machine guns continually use them as billyclubs rather than firearms.

2) The scientist looks EXACTLY like Phil Hartman's SNL character "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" 3) Damien, a gangleading villain that looks more like a pedophile than a gang member 4) Lucifer, the main villain, needs a scientist to do his tests for the plaque cure; However, infusing 25 DNA samples of former warriors in order to create the greatest superwarrior is fully within his scientific abilities 5) The superwarrior that he creates does not have a voice, rather, he exudes a growl which sounds like a rabid dog 6) The feather covered shoulderpads that Lucifer rocks 7) The most pointless boob shots.

8) Ice T's pulse testing technique 9) What the hell was going on with the death of Lucifer??? 10) Sasha Mitchell could not help but let out a few "Step-by-Step" style giggles and "waooahh"s If you intend to enjoy a good action flick, rent absolutely any other movie on that shelf at the Blockbuster. HOWEVER if you and some buddies are sitting around looking for a good laugh, pick this one up.

Cyborg ripoff that isn't that bad!

[TheHardTarget6 · 5/10 · 28 April 2007]

It is a total ripoff of cyborg. A deadly flesh eating virus is destroying mankind while ganglanders (in place of Cannibalistic Flesh Pirates from Cyborg) terrorize and run the streets. The scientist who can cure the disease gets kidnapped and forced to develop the serum for an evil gang leader named Lucifer (Vincent Klyn-Fender from Cyborg, Klyn is way cooler and badass in Cyborg then he is in this crapper). The main hero has emotional flashbacks of his family being killed.

It just felt like a total ripoff of Cyborg. which isn't all that bad because Cyborg is a rare martial arts classic.

Some of the highlights in the film are SASHA MITCHELL, who looks ripped and kicks some serious butt! Ice T and Coolio are in for only 5 minutes and it is fun to watch Vincent Klyn play a baddie again. Worth watching if you like Cyborg or low-budget martial arts.

The fight scenes are average. Except Mitchell still does some cool stuff.

For lovers of bad movies only

[lukenj · 1/10 · 25 June 2005]

Rent it, watch it with your friends, laugh your heads off, and then give it a rating of 1. I want to see this turkey on the bottom 100 films list ASAP! Honestly, there are two performances (by the two surviving heroes) that are not absolutely terrible. Every other person involved in this film should be ashamed. Poor Ice- T, I don't know how his agent let him do it. The plot and dialog are unconvincing and poorly conceived. The title song is atrocious. The pyrotechnics are mediocre, but they remain one of GANGLAND's few assets. At least when something is blowing up, there is a moment of hope when you can imagine that one of the scenery-chewing characters has just met his maker. Of course, even if he has, this slap-dash production can't afford not to give the amateur actor in question another role. A friend of mine put it best when he called this production "a porno without the porn." Enjoy the painfully pretentious interviews on the DVD.

WORST MOVIE EVER?

[k_heil · 18 February 2004]

Wow, this was so bad, it was actually kinda funny. Horrible dialog, silly story, bad acting (or directing - I have seen several of the actors in this movie give much better performances), bad fight choreography, bad sound, bad sets & costuming. Plenty of gratuitous nudity, which is probably why the other reviewer liked it so well. So, if you're into that sort of thing, or are just feel like laughing at it, catch this one on cable.

Huge Turd...

[x111b3825 · 1 March 2004]

Really. Who financed this 'cause buddy, I have got a deal for you!

I caught this last night flipping through the channels. You know the time, when you're bored, but too lazy to get off the couch and do anything responsible, so you just keep surfing. I took in about ten minutes of it-about the same time needed to think on the existence of turd-zilla or spent on the toilet creating him and I'm not sure what was intended.

Had this been purely geared at cheese, it might have come off pretty good, but I actually got the impression that it was done in the name of serious cinema and this is what got it classified as a turd.

I'm not familiar with anyone outside of the cameos of Ice-T and Coolio in the beginning, but this is a lesson in bad filmmaking for the student. Watch and learn if you dare! I cannot see wasting another second typing here and most of the reviewers agree with me so...

Stale- boring, a total disgrace to all

[sanliizzet · 1/10 · 7 September 2008]

I did just take a look at Gangland for a few minutes yesterday. It was playing on one of the cheapest TV channels of my country. That channel was bankrupted and now on the list of sale of the government. Here, you can guess how bad and cheap Gangland as a movie is. I am almost sure the channel got this movie free of cost.

As I already mentioned above, I took me just a couple of minutes to realize that Gangland is worst on top of everything. It looks like a total waste of human resources. Even if all the actors in the movie came together for pro bono work, they could have done better.

No acting, no stroy line, no logic, no nothing. Just a horrible rip off of Cyborg. If you know that even Cyborg is considered a low budged cheap second grade action flick, now you can guess how bad its copy could be.

Avoid this ultra mega waste of time.

Why ?

[Forever Damned · 3/10 · 14 September 2002]

Available on DVD in the UK.

It read rather good on the box but the movie wasn't the same one that was on the disc.

A no budget waste of time with a fleeting glimpse of Ice T and Coolio, A Team style fighting and a plot with so many holes it leaked.

Don't bother with this even at budget price.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 quality

[drgreenthumb676 · 22 November 2004]

I had a blast laughing at this movie. Every bit of dialogue makes you cringe, each action scene is progressively worse than the last, and the entire cast is awful. All of the women look and sound like the boring beginning of a long Cinemax porno movie, and all of the men, all of them, in every scene, seem like they are trying to hold themselves back from kissing and having sex with each other. Sasha Mitchell is the worst actor I've ever seen in my life. His acting repertoire consists of two personalities: goofy laid-back frat boy, and hammy over-dramatic angry Jean Claude Van Damme wannabe. In conclusion, everybody involved with the making of this movie (except for Ice-T, who I have absolutely no idea how he got involved with this thing in the first place) needs to die.

this film is the best

[wreeds · 10/10 · 22 January 2006]

if you are looking for a reason to live you MUST WATCH THIS FILM. coolio and ice t are in it...how cool is that? these two also are in it for the entire film...not just the first five minutes. the acting is, with no exaggeration, the best acting i have ever seen EVER. costas mandylor makes andy dick look like he doesn't no anything about acting...and andy dick is probably the best actor ever. the writing is definitely on point, Shakespeare would be proud. David the demon defalco is a genius; he also has one of the most awesome bodies of any non-porno male actor of all time. if you love action packed movies about post-apocalyptic America that will really make you think...watch this movie. also, it has sasha mitchell...'nough said.