Search - Gangland on DVD

Low Budget Action than is fun to watch

Ironman | Carmel, IN USA | 04/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is a strand of movies that few are aware exsist. Most of the time people pass them up for something more major, with more flair, with more recognizable actors. Gangland is in the realm of direct to video action movies that only appeal to a certain crowd. I will tell you this right now I have not had this much fun with an action film in a long time. The action in this is non stop, it has kind of an 80's Mad Max feel to it, but with a martial arts. Gangland story takes place after World War 3 or the Nuclear War. Many people are dead and those that are not are plauged with a deadly flesh eating virus. To make matters worse gangs from across the nation have united under a leader Lucifer and are slowly conquering the United states. These gangs terrorize people, are killing off the law enforcement, civilians, and doing whatever they please. At this point we see three heroes unite in an attempt to stop these evil gangs each with their own motivation, all of them a loss of a loved one. The action is relentless as every one in this movie knows some form of martial arts, combined with plenty of explosions and gun fights you have one hell of a movie here.This movie also has an incredible cast. The main lure for any one who looks is the fact that Ice T and Coolio are in it. However they are only there for the first few minutes, as cops, before the gangs get them (what bitter irony). The real stars are as following.1:Sasha Mitchel (TV's Step-by-Step, Kickboxer 2-4, Class of 1999 part 2 the Substitute) who plays Derek who loses hs brother in the fight with the gangs, more specifically Lucifer. Sasha brings to the movie a kind of Dumb Jock appeal that lightens the dark mood and adds camp appeal.2: Costas Mandyler (Pledge, Double Take) as Jared who lost his family to the gangs, moe specifically Lucifers second in command Damien. Costas brings the driven for revenge like aura but at the same time cool and knows what he is doing.3: Kathleen Kimmount (The Things you Do, Bride of Re-Animator) plays Alexis who carries a sample of the virus she extracted from her sister before she was murderd by the gangs. She brings the tough as nails yet caring character to the group.4: Tim Thomerson (Trancers series, DOllman, Near Dark, Air America) plays Dr. Adams the man who discoverd the cure for the virus. He is then captured and forced the develop the cure for th gangs. He brings the troubled Dr. who is forced to against his will to do this for the sake of his family.5: Vincent Klyn (Urban Menace, TV's Baywatch, Cyborg) plays Lucifer, the evil leader of the gangs. He brings to the movie an incredible over the top villian that is so ridiculous and cheesey that you have to love him. Bascally he almost reminds me of some ways of Jeremy Irons from Dungeons and Dragons, so over the top that it's ridiculouse.6: David Defalco wrote, produced and Stars as Damien the second in command to Lucifer. He is more seriouse and not as over the top, but damn can this guy take a beating as you shall see while watching this movie.Overall this mindless action flick is highly recomended for anyone. The camp factor is incredible, the action is relentless, and overall this is highly recommended. A guily pleasure movie you might say."

No redeeming qualities...its just bad!

TrezKu13 | Norfolk, VA | 12/10/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The first thirty minutes of this film made me think it would be "craptastic"...you know, bad in a fun way. Unfortunately, it shortly digresses into a direct-to-video piece of junk.For one thing, you don't really know where the hell you are in this thing. The opening scene with Coolio and Ice-T (who I agree are the best characters in this thing, if they are only about five minutes of it) in New York City quickly switches to Atlanta, GA - then suddenly to Los Angelas, CA, where characters are talking about Pheonix, Arizona! What is up with this? The writers must think the United States is only ten miles wide!Now as I said before, the first half of this movie was pretty fun. A guy and his brother are attacked by gangs and they kill his brother. The man breaks out of jail with the help of an ex-soldier and together they plan to take down the gang leader "Lucifer." Then comes the romantic love interest, a blonde ex-soldier who can't act. They agree to take her with them on their quest because she saved their lives (she drove the get-away car).Their attack on Lucifer's hide-out consists of charging into the front door, manned by hundreds of gang thugs, and then running away like chickens when the male ex-soldier is captured. Doh! Good one, guys!The "main character" wants to go back and save his buddy and the girl wants to tag along again, claiming she's good with "agility and speed." She must mean she can run fast because whenever they're attacked her first action is to run away and leave her comrades to the gangs. Great sidekick!They barge through the front door again (bet the gangs didn't see that coming), save a scientist with a cure for the modern plague, save the ex-soldier, and leave. Movie over, right?Nope! Taking a cue from "Brotherhood of the Wolf" the movie proceeds to kill off the most likable character and then drag the movie on for another hour. Then as if to appease the audience it cops out and just ends. Period. It tries to feel like the post-apocalyptic films of the 80's, but it just doesn't work any more. The characters are poorly developed (Lucifer goes from being an animal to quoting Sun Tzu) and the setting isn't well realized - I find it amazing people can just drive through a basic war zone talking about gangs like they're their neighbors. Here's an idea: if an area has heavy gang control...don't go there!"