Customer Reviews

Bang Bang You're Dead

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At my new High school (Wasson) in Colorado Springs, we just watched Bang Bang, Your Dead in health class. Wasson has played this movie to everyone that has gone there for years. Anyways, when the movie was over, I didn't know whether to clap, or to cry. When it was over, everyone just stared in awe. I don't know if I'm crazy if I say its the best movie I've every seen. It has exactly everything to do with high school years and real life. I wanted to cry at the end because I knew a lot of kids in my school are suffering from the same topic shared in this movie. I recommened this movie is shown to EVERY sudent entering highschool. I know for sure I will buy this movie and show it to my friends. It has changed my life.

From seeing this movie on Showtime a couple of years back, I thought that this movie was very good, especially in how it depicts how that potential shooter sees the world and especially his high school.

This movie is based on the play that existed pre-Columbine(as a matter of fact, the play was created as a reaction to the Springfield, Ore. shootings that occured in 1998) and I think that it can teach people a lot of things that concerns schools in this era.

In sumnation, I think that this movie, along with "Zero Day" should be required viewing by kids, parents and especially school officials around the world.

I was perusing through various reviews, and saw all this christian, God/Satan nonsense, so I don't know where all that rubbish is coming from, but wow, oh wow, oh wow, this was such a rush, wickedly paced, edge of your seat with your mouth on the floor, brilliantly acted, well orchestrated ensemble cast, and stellar directing. Loosely based on the stage play by William Mastrosimone, this holds it's own in a genre not entirely saturated, but where this kind of film exist on various levels. Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant' is too artsy-fartsy, and 'Zero Day', while superb, was too realistic as it's entirely shot on camcorders. Bang, Bang, Your Dead, combines all of the movies about high school dilemmas and shootings, which hit so close to home, it's terrifying.

Ben Foster (30 Days of Night, 3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) plays Trevor Adams, readjusting to the first day of school after having to attend summer school because of a bomb threat the previous year. All, teachers and students alike, are suspicious of his return. Randy Harrison (Queer as Folk) plays a cunning, dark role as the leader of the outcast anarchist aptly named 'The Trogs,' and Tom Cavanagh plays the role perfect as his video/drama school teacher who believes in Trevor and sees something others would by ignorance, never see.

What really makes this movie absolutely spectacular is the way it flows so freely from one scene to another: from Trevor making his home videos, to his interaction with law enforcement and teachers, to his being picked on and bullied by those ignorant, one tracked football jocks, and his finding perhaps solace in a beautiful girl and yet he manages along the way to capture moving images of the reality of HIS existence and the brutal savagery of the sports masses and the psychological trauma of the youth that are unfortuntely the brunt of their fun. The movie touches on the important subjects of what most large, inner city and suburbian high schools go through. How their sports programs are far more important than the safety of the students, and how bullying in ALL ITS FORMS, can be tormenting to young adults, which they can carry on their whole lives. It shows every single side of the situation and that in itself is a very important element.

I must say to you in all honestly, put this on your next que or immediately purchase this, it is truly an experience which you wont soon forget!!

4.5 Stars

I have always loved this movie since the first time that i saw it on showtime. I feel that every teenager should see this movie. It is a true testiment to how our society actually works. I highly recomend it!

Its not very often that you get a movie that really make you think about yourself and your surroundings, this one does. You never realize how bad things can get till they get there, often times. This movie should be shown in every classroom, in every school in the US. It is the best movie I've seen in my life. We watched it in my drama class, preparing to do the play, it was the only movie we ever watched where nobody spoke throughout the entire film. At the end we sat there, pondering what we had just seen, thinking about the people in our school, in our class, in ourselves. Some were on the verge of tears, I know I was. Even the teacher didn't move, we sat there through the credits, after the tape went off, as it began to rewind itself. Not one word uttered, not one motion in a High School classroom. That never happens, but that day it did. If you have a child, watch it with them. If your a teacher, show it to your class. This movie is highly under-rated. It is truly art, and when was the last time we said that, and meant it?

I first saw this movie in Oct. 2002 when it premiered on Showtime with my neices. I want to start by stating that I am 47 years old and couldn't believe how much impact this movie had on all of us! I think it hit so hard (yes, I know it's been a million years since I was in high school) because so little has changed; just the outcome of school shootings has been added--unfortunately, in real life. It was like re-living my own high school days again. The characters are so real there is someone that any viewer can identify with which pulls you in to the story.

It is sort of a play within a movie as the movie tells the story of a student playing the lead character in his school's making of a (real) play called "Bang, Bang, You're Dead" (which can be legally downloaded for free at www.bangbangyouredead.com as the author makes it available to anyone who would like it). He, the student, himself is a student on the edge and the movie shows how he got there.

The incidents are all things that really happen now (and even happened when I was in high school which is why it was so interesting to watch). As of the date of this review (1-12-05) Showtime is playing a shortened version of the movie. The original had a panel discussion and PSA after, which is also worth seeing.

Just for the few things they cut out of the original broadcast now that they are showing it as just another "Showtime Original Movie", that alone makes the DVD worth purchasing from Amazon.

So buy it from Amazon and be prepared to think after you watch it. Finally, I recommend that you watch it a couple times as there are things you will pick up after watching it again. Then, invite others to watch it. I recieved it as a gift from an old friend and have shown it to 4 other people. All have come back here to Amazon and purchased copies of their own. 4 out of 4 are pretty unusual odds but it's just that good.

I had never heard of this movie, or the play, until yesterday when I happened to be channel surfing. I stopped, and I watched it. I am so glad I did. I'm going to be a junior in high school next year, and about five or six years back my school had an anthrax threat. Which was scary... we also had a lot of people with "hit lists" that were caught after that. Sometimes I can feel the tension within my school... there are people when I see the way they act that I just think they would be the ones to fly off the handle one day. Columbine made me sad beyond words; I was younger when that happened, and as I get older it just pains me more and more to think of the violence going on in schools. When I was in elementary school I was picked on and teased, although not to the extent that Trevor (Ben Foster's character) was picked on. My school isn't that big and they always had a strict non-violence code. It would be so easy for someone to plan a shooting at my school, and that is why next year I am going to not only show this DVD to the board of education and tell them to show the students, but also talk to the drama club president and see if we could put on the play "Bang Bang You're Dead." This movie moved myself and all of my friends to tears - being in high school, we can directly relate and feel empathy toward the characters in this movie. This movie shocked my parents and opened their eyes to what really goes on in high school - now, instead of saying, "Ignore them," when I tell them about somebody bothering me, they actually care and talk about it. There is some real violence and pain in schools today, and I think that if this was a required viewing, many of those students would feel different about what they fantasize about doing.

I first saw "Bang Bang You're Dead" in one of my elective classes last year. I saw it again when the administrators of my school decided to show it to all the juniors at the end of the school year. This was an excellent move, and other high schools should follow suit.
The film is based on the play of the same name, which debuted at Thurston High School in 1999 and has become a hit since.
Ben Foster is absolutely chilling as Trevor Adams, a high school student who is despised by most of his peers due to a previous incident involving a home-made bomb. Things start going right for him when he lands the leading role in the school play and becomes part of an exclusive gang. However, Trevor's high spirits are shattered when his gang decides to ambush the school, Columbine style.
This film is nothing short of brilliant. It conveys an urgent message that cannot be ignored. I only hope people will take note and start trying to improve our educational system.

Bang Bang You're Dead is not normally associated with the genre expected by Christians and Jews, but we at BibleProbe.com highly recommend it. Forget the singular young jerk wearing the satanic pentagram on his shirt, and follow this to its conclusion. For those of you who do, the Christian message of self discovery, hope and forgiveness is waiting at the end. You will be enriched for your perseverance. It is a Thriller, that will keep you mesmerized.

As parents you will be shocked into awareness about how the Columbine massacre could have ever happened. This film makes it abundantly clear what psychological pressures a High School kid endures. Also, you will think twice about writing any kid off until you first understand the peer pressure they are under. Kids can be the most ruthless people. Supernaturally cruel!

This film exposes the the typical American High school, and its pecking order which is totally destructive of our kids' pride and welfare. Left unchecked, apparent slights and constant assaults against a kids pride will inevitably spark more senseless violence and chaos...

This is a very good movie. It really hits on the way schools are today. I believe everyone should see this. Watch with your children or parents and converse on what is going on. There has never been a movie like this. It gets to the point of the matter which is school bullying and what the outcome can be.