Product Details

• Actors: Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan, Clifton Collins Jr., Tony Plana
• Directors: Kevin Reynolds
• Writers: Scott Yagemann
• Producers: Bruce Davey, Stephen McEveety
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 15, 2000
• Run Time: 119 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790733633
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,105 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

  #17 in	Movies & TV > African American Cinema > Drama
  #17 in	Movies & TV > Drama > Murder & Mayhem

• For more information about "187" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A vicious high school student is dead. A gang hit? An act of sudden rage? Or did a once-idealistic teacher finally snap? The issues and the tension hit home when Samuel L. Jackson stars in a gritty urban-school thriller that's "gripping, high-octane entertainment" (Newhouse News Service).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Movie About Teaching!, August 20, 2000

By	Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 187 (DVD)

I have been very fortunate to have a great job as a teacher. I have been lucky enough to see all different types of schools: rural, suburban, and urban. My three years in a Bronx high school were some of the most challenging, frustrating, rewarding, scary, funny, heartwarming, and gutwrenching of my life. Inner-city teaching is truly one of the toughest jobs in the world.

There have been many movies about inner-city teachers: Dangerous Minds, The Substitute, Teachers, The Principal just to name a few. While none of those movies are terrible and some were fun to watch, none of them really showed what it is like to be a teacher. 187 is the only teaching movie I have seen that captures the emotions a teacher goes through teaching in that environment.

Now parts of 187 get carried away. I won't deny that. But the basic theme of what can happen if a teacher takes a situation to the level of the students is universal. No teacher is going to hunt down his/her students like in the film but again the basic idea of how to handle a threat or violence in a school is universal.

I also like how the film discussed how Samuel Jackson's character is trying to regain his desire to teach and playing that off the young idealistic teacher and the burned out teacher. These are real characters and I felt the comparisson and outcomes was extremely credible.

Bottom line is this, I do not think non-teachers will love this movie they might like it. But this is a teachers movie. Again, its goes over the top at times but the basic themes and emotions are extremely accurate.

This is a powerful and realistic film.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIKE THE READER FROM NEW YORK SAID, July 12, 2000

By	Kevin Tillery - See all my reviews

This review is from: 187 (DVD)

Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez really does bring out a dramatic and interesting character in this story and i personally think this movie is two times better than Dangerous Minds. That movie doesn't have anything on this one. Samuel L. Jackson put forth a great effort and he came out on top an even better actor after I saw this. I really don't think he got enough credit for this movie and I don't think enough people have seen it, but everyone should. This movie has alot of emotion and the end is surprising and heartfelt. See it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rare glipse into latino gangster life with powerful ending., March 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: 187 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Other than its obvious telling from a teachers point of view, it gives you a rare glipse into latino ganster life in southern california(something not seen much in non-underground films.) It gets a bit unbelievable with the idea of a teacher going after his students outside of school when they push him over the edge, but that may be how some teachers really feel in that same situation. The ending is powerful because of how Samuel L. Jacksons character gets a hardcore latino gangster to break down and admit a sincere reason why he lives the type of life he does, also because of what Samuel L. Jackson is willing to do to himself for the life this gangster has had to lead and to prove a point in how unnessary it was to live that type of life. This movie really relates to me because I am someone who use to hang around latino gangs but gave it up realizing it was the wrong way to go.