Customer Reviews

Blood In Blood Out (Verschworen auf Leben und Tod)

5 star:		(111)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We live in an entertainment society where the face of a minority tends to represent the face of a drug dealer or a gang member. Although that is a partial truth to a sad reality that many in our families face, this movie finally serves as a proper representation to people from other cultures and from other communities of life in the streets of East L.A. as a Chicano.

Paco Aguilar (Benjamin Bratt) shows the turn-arounds that many in our community have made for many years now, being able to change from a life of gangs and crime to becoming a figure of authority and respect. Cruz Candelaria (Jesse Borrego) shows how the gifts that are within our fellow brothers and sisters can be tarnished by the devils that are within the drugs that reside in our streets. And last but not least, Miklo Velka (Damian Chapa) shoes the struggles that many in people face from being of mestizo blood, which is true to members of mixed race from any background or ethnicity. His fight to belong leads him towards the world that exist in the confines of San Quentin.

Very few movies have given light to the true reality that exists in our beautful culture, and Blood In Blood Out is at the top of that list. I am somebody who has a little of Paco, Cruz, and Miklo within me. I don't care who you are, after watching this movie, you will know that you have a little bit of all three of them in you too. This is a great movie whether you are Chicano/Latino, Anglo, Asian, African-American, or any other race. This belongs in all movie collections of any culturally-concious movie goer, in any format.

This movie has got to be the best Chinano movie ever made. It shows the beutiful culture and life, good and bad of the Chicano lifestyle. It tells the story of how a lot of us Chicanos are living, and I'm not just talking about prison life. This movie was so real; not only where the scripts realistic, but they used the real prison San Quintin. The inmates where real, there were only 8 actors in the prison scenes. In addition, this movie had a lot of funny scenes. I must have seen this movie about 8 times on VHS, and 4 times on DVD. I recomend you get the DVD version because it has a lot of scenes that were deleted on VHS.

Blood In Blood Out is one the finest movies ever made that represents life for chicano youths. Starting in the early 1970's, this movie chronicles the times and trials of Miklo Velka. Miklo (Damian Chapa) is a kid growing up in two different worlds. He is a chicano, who takes the appearance of his white father. So he fights to get respect from his chicano family. Here you meet his cousin Cruz (Jesse Borrego) Candelaria and Paco (Benjamin Bratt) Aguilar, who treat Miklo with little respect, because of his skin tone. So he has to show his toughness to his cousins in order to earn their respect. This is where the trouble begins for the three cousins. Starting with a random act of violence against another street gang, the plot thickens with Cruz being hospitalized and the gang of Miklo, Paco and others vowing revenge for Cruz. A simple revenge turns sour and the life is taken on accident, so the boys are on the run. Only to be caught and their lives are changed drastically. Miklo is sent to jail where he has to start over to earn the respect from the other chicanos, while Paco joins the service to avoid jail time. Throughout the movie you see Miklo character evolve int o a great leader of men in the Prison, while Paco career evolves on the other side of the law. we also cant forget about Cruz, whose life turns to shambles because of an addiction, which nearly costs him his life! The story evolves as time passes and the three of them get older, and wiser, and before you know it Miklo is out of jail and looking to go on the straight and narrow. Paco and Miklo's lives interact again as Miklo attempts to, but fails to stay straight. Their lives are sent in to a spiral as Miklo ende up in jail again and this time it is Paco's fault, I wont say how it ends, because I want you to see this movie, but let me tell you the subplots and twists and turns in this movie are EXCELLENT! I reccommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good epic drama!

This movie has got to be one of the greatest chicano movies ever created. For those who enjoyed American Me, This movie blows that out of the water. The actors in this movie are really heartfelt. Throughout the whole movie your emotions are on a rollercoaster. The movie has some very devasting parts that break your heart, and some parts that keep you on the edge of your seat. The story of three chicano teens growing up, and how a couple decisions changed the paths of their lives. The only bad acting had to be Miklo, but the movie itself makes up for any flaws. This has to be added to any hispanics movie collection. If your not hispanic don't be discouraged, my best friend is white and he can quote every line in the movie. BUY this movie today. Before I go, does anyone know what's the deal with Benjamin Bratt on the back cover? He's holding a girl that is never shown in the movie. Bye

Came across this video a few years back and was excited to see it on DVD. A definite must buy for those that are interested in Epic's.

Coming in at slightly over 3 hours, "Blood In, Blood Out" revolves around the 2 half brothers and their cousin in the Latino/Chicano culture of East Los Angeles. The time frame spans about 15 years as the boys are in their late teens when the story begin in the early 70's and finishes in the mid 80's.

It is a gritty in depth look at how 3 boys from the same family learned their street smarts and end up taking a different path based on their decisions. What is the core theme here is family. Is blood thick, or those who claim to be your brothers on the streets. In a nutshell, one brother, the epitome of a young gang member witnesses an event that changes his life for the better hence he joins the military and when he get out becomes a undercover cop back home. The second brother, an artist on the fast track to fame and fortune can't give up his street family lifestyle and plunges into a world of depression and drugs after a certain event changes his life. Finally, Miklo, the cousin who is half-white has always wanted to fit in, and will do anything...including kill. When his family rejects him on the outside, he finds a new life in San Quentin, and it is not pretty. The story revolves around this dynamic cast as they learn the meaning of family crisis, revenge, and forgiveness.

The accuracy is dead on. The attention to detail of the Hispanic culture through their fashion, their music, their outlook gives the viewer a great perspective on the gangs of east L.A. It is beautifully done. However, get ready for some violence, because there is plenty, but it is not done wrecklessly. It serves a purpose to move the story forward and you'll see why.

The cast is impressive too. Their are many cameo surprise appearances, and they could not have done a better job with makeup. You really feel for these characters, even the bad ones because you truly begin to learn their plight and outlooks.

For myself the best scenes were in prison with Miklo. Very powerful and very, very scary! You learn that there are power plays in prison and the crime doesn't stop once behind bars, as new families and alliances are forged. Here we see a gang war inside between the members of the black, white and Chicano races...and it is not pretty. There are many plot twists within this sub-story and a suprise event that will leave your jaw dropping. Maybe for some, family in the joint is stronger than your blood family on the outside.

The DVD itself could have been better. There is no original trailer, or choices for captions other than English. There is a short 10 minute documentary on the making of the film which is interesting. The scene selection is great, you can choose from 33 of them all in order. But alas, no bio's or any other extra's, but I think you'll agree this is a great movie!

Blood In Blood Out is one of the most epic and powerful movies i have ever seen. Besides a great cast of actors, this movie contains a strong storyline which emphasises the importance of family and brotherhood. The lives of the three main characters in the movie, Pako, Miklo and Cruz, are portrayed using violence, drugs and prison life to express the anguish and mistreatment of the chicano people. Blood In Blood Out is definately a must see movie.

This film doesn't get the attention it should. A very good look at the lives of 3 hispanic youths, two half brothers and their cousin as they grow up in a gang in California. The film follows them into adulthood which leads them onto differant paths, but ones that intersect together to make a very realistic and violent tale. At three hours the film may seem long, but the story it tells needs the time and it doesn't drag at all. If you are a fan of prison films, the second half of the story takes place in great part in a prison. A close cousin to the film American Me, I believe this film to be much superior.

Man this movie was great, actually is was the greatest movie of all times better then The Matrix or Even Whatever you think is the greatest. This movie is all true nothing in this movie hasnt happened. I live in California and i see this every day and i know what this movie is telling and that is that these young people are stuggling through life some make such as Paco and some dont such as Miklo and some just go through some terrible times and bearly pull through such as cruz. I think there is no other movie that cap top this movie i have it on; vhs,dvd,Downloaded on my computer i just plain love it and i yhink if u havent watched it your in for a very good movie.

this is one of the must see movies for all chicanos, and people interested in the culture. it is realistic, filled with drama and action. the story line is great, each character has something we all could relate to.
paco and miklo seem to be on different sides of the chicano culture, with miklo being filled with the pride and "power". bt as paco puts it, he is only filled with his white fathers hate. but he accepts gang life as chicano culture. he doesnt run from his past. paco, hates his past and finds it difficult to relate to that. he is hard as a rock with his emotions, never really letting himself go until the end.
cruz has to be somewhere in between. he is by far my favorite character. he is the interpreter of the culture, filled with the lots of knowledge about our culture's past and present. he doesnt run from the past and accepts his mistakes. ( side note i think he kinda looks like jimmy smits)

i only have a couple of problems with this movie. for one i found miklo's acting to be a bit less than great at times. and ouch my ears hurt to hear miklo and paco speak spanish. they did fine in english, but their spanish was pretty bad. but these were just minor annoyances for me. i love this movie and i think it is a must for any chicano movie collection.

BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT (a.k.a. "Bound by Honor") is a bit of a surprise. While it incorporates many of the predictable elements of a barrio crime film, it is also just different enough to keep you hanging in there. For example, this film has the best location shots of East L.A. I think I've ever seen, and the whole movie has the look of authenticity. This is no illusion; the prison scenes were filmed in San Quentin, and there are only eight actors used for them.

This adds interest as you try to spot the "real" actors behind bars. (Hint: The convict who looks like Billy Bob Thornton IS Billy Bob Thornton.) Another one of the non-cons is Hispanic poet Jimmy Santiago Baca; he plays the member of La Onda with a heavily pruned mustache. Baca co-wrote this screenplay, and it's clear that he's unaccustomed to the traditional story arcs of mainstream film. That's not to the project's detriment, but it does mean that you have to sit through the first half-hour of the movie before its promise starts to be revealed.

In other words, this movie's bad acting and melodramatic music score are at their worst in the early going. Perhaps this is intentional; BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT means it's hard to get in the gang, and it's not easy bailing from it either; the same is true for the viewer watching this movie. And just like joining a gang, you're making a real commitment here, as the film is well over three hours long. (In its original form, it was well over FIVE hours long!)

SIDELIGHT: I've never heard "ese" (pronounced "ess-ay") so many times in my life; be sure to have the subtitles on to understand the Spanglish slang.