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Editorial Reviews
The story of the trial that shut down the dungeons of Alcatraz. Based on a true story that occured in the 1930s. A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend an inmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a remarkable piece of Hollywood filmmaking, one of the best big studio efforts of the 90's and it was so poorly marketed that few have seen - or heard of - this picture.
The too often (and sometimes easily) dismissed Kevin Bacon is here Henri Young, a role as powerfully haunting as any actor could dream of. With an uncannily natural affinity for Henri, Bacon finds his way into the marrow of this tortured, downtrodden prisoner. In what could have too easily turned into a over-the-top "Look, Ma, I'm acting!" role, Bacon strikes a balance that is unique and rare. Unafraid of any aspect of Henri it becomes a performance nothing less than astonishing in its honesty.
The first 20 minutes presents us with the naked, filthy animal the system wishes to portray him as Henri. Yet, even here, with little more than a mad scene comprised of grunts, screams and incoherent mumblings about baseball, multiplication tables and The Lord's Prayer, Bacon makes Henri shine beneath the hair and grime introducing us to a pitiable sorrowful man not only wronged by the system, but utterly destroyed then forgotten by it. This is one of those rare performances where the work outshines the actor - I'd forgotten entirely I was even watching an actor.
It's a hard heart that will not be moved by Henri and Bacon should look back at this performance with nothing but pride. (The fact he was not nominated for an Oscar is astonishing as his performance.)
Christian Slater gives one of his best performances as well and Gary Oldman is, (predictably) wonderfully evil as is William H. Macy. The court room scenes fairly crackle, but ultimately the heart and soul of this movie is found in Kevin Bacon's Henri.
Everything else about this production shines - with 30 year old director, Marc Rocco at the helm, giving a strong vision to the entire proceeding. San Francisco looks marvelous and Christopher Young's soundtrack (eerily foreshadowing Kamen's score for "Band of Brothers") adds the final overwhelming touch.
Not to be missed.
The too often (and sometimes easily) dismissed Kevin Bacon is here Henri Young, a role as powerfully haunting as any actor could dream of. With an uncannily natural affinity for Henri, Bacon finds his way into the marrow of this tortured, downtrodden prisoner. In what could have too easily turned into a over-the-top "Look, Ma, I'm acting!" role, Bacon strikes a balance that is unique and rare. Unafraid of any aspect of Henri it becomes a performance nothing less than astonishing in its honesty.
The first 20 minutes presents us with the naked, filthy animal the system wishes to portray him as Henri. Yet, even here, with little more than a mad scene comprised of grunts, screams and incoherent mumblings about baseball, multiplication tables and The Lord's Prayer, Bacon makes Henri shine beneath the hair and grime introducing us to a pitiable sorrowful man not only wronged by the system, but utterly destroyed then forgotten by it. This is one of those rare performances where the work outshines the actor - I'd forgotten entirely I was even watching an actor.
It's a hard heart that will not be moved by Henri and Bacon should look back at this performance with nothing but pride. (The fact he was not nominated for an Oscar is astonishing as his performance.)
Christian Slater gives one of his best performances as well and Gary Oldman is, (predictably) wonderfully evil as is William H. Macy. The court room scenes fairly crackle, but ultimately the heart and soul of this movie is found in Kevin Bacon's Henri.
Everything else about this production shines - with 30 year old director, Marc Rocco at the helm, giving a strong vision to the entire proceeding. San Francisco looks marvelous and Christopher Young's soundtrack (eerily foreshadowing Kamen's score for "Band of Brothers") adds the final overwhelming touch.
Not to be missed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Based on true-life events, "Murder In The First" premiered in U.S. movie theaters in January 1995 and stars Kevin Bacon as Henri Young, a 28-year-old man who (as depicted in the film) stole five dollars and ended up doing 3-plus years in the solitary "dungeons" of Alcatraz prison in San Francisco in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Upon looking up some information on the Internet regarding the "real" Henri Young, it seems that the filmmakers of this finely-crafted and well-shot Warner Brothers' drama did, indeed, dish up a liberal dose of "dramatic license" regarding the true events in Mr. Young's life. But, I suppose, this is to be expected from a Hollywood story depicting real-life people and events.
One thing that's been fictionalized for the movie is the brief scene when we find out that Young died while still behind Alcatraz bars. It's never fully explained in the film just exactly HOW Young died while still in prison. I think this should have been more thoroughly spelled out in the movie (even from a "fictionalized" point-of-view).
Evidently, according to info I can gather, Young did NOT die while in prison, and, in fact, might still be alive to this day. Young disappeared after being paroled from a Washington State prison in 1972, after serving additional prison time for another murder. (Sounds like another "D.B. Cooper" type of saga.)
"Artistic filmmaking license" notwithstanding, "Murder In The First" is an excellent piece of motion-picture entertainment, IMO. Bacon is just terrific in his role as the beaten, nearly-savage Young, who was confined to the pitch-black solitary confinement area of Alcatraz for more than 1,000 days before finally being released from the "dungeon".
Gary Oldman and Christian Slater also display their considerable acting chops in this film, along with R. Lee Ermey, who plays the Judge at Young's murder trial. You'll want to slap Ermey silly after a few scenes as the obnoxious "Judge Clawson" here. He's quite effective and humorous (although not altogether believable) as the rather overbearing chief court official.
This film has a classy style to it, with many interesting camera angles and camera movements employed by the movie's brain trust, headed by Director Marc Rocco. I particularly liked the way Rocco moves the camera in circles during the first scene featuring Slater and Bacon, with the camera moving non-stop as it circles completely around Bacon's/(Young's) jail cell. An effective way to present this scene, rather than just "planting" two cameras in the cell and cutting between still shots of the two actors.
This DVD version of "Murder In The First" offers up a dual-sided disc, with a Full-Frame (1.33:1) version on one side, and a nice, crisp-looking Anamorphically-enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1) version on the other side. Colors look rich and well-rendered here, IMO, with many scenes exuding a deliberately-grainier "1940's" look and feel to them.
The sound gets good marks here too. It's not a full-blooded 5.1-channel track utilized for this DVD, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Stereo soundtrack fills the speakers very nicely nonetheless. There's a good musical score too.
More about this DVD ....................
>> Extra Bonus Material -- None at all.
>> Chapter List? -- Yes; located inside the "Snapper" DVD case (38 total chapter stops included).
>> Languages -- English and French (both in DD 2.0 Surround).
>> Subtitles -- English and French.
>> Region Encoding -- "Region 1".
>> MPAA Rating -- R.
Parting Thoughts ....... 1995's "Murder In The First" is a Grade-A motion picture, serving nicely as a good character study of one Mr. Henri Young, and at the same time doubling as a dandy "courtroom drama", too. A most-worthy 122-minute experience.
Upon looking up some information on the Internet regarding the "real" Henri Young, it seems that the filmmakers of this finely-crafted and well-shot Warner Brothers' drama did, indeed, dish up a liberal dose of "dramatic license" regarding the true events in Mr. Young's life. But, I suppose, this is to be expected from a Hollywood story depicting real-life people and events.
One thing that's been fictionalized for the movie is the brief scene when we find out that Young died while still behind Alcatraz bars. It's never fully explained in the film just exactly HOW Young died while still in prison. I think this should have been more thoroughly spelled out in the movie (even from a "fictionalized" point-of-view).
Evidently, according to info I can gather, Young did NOT die while in prison, and, in fact, might still be alive to this day. Young disappeared after being paroled from a Washington State prison in 1972, after serving additional prison time for another murder. (Sounds like another "D.B. Cooper" type of saga.)
"Artistic filmmaking license" notwithstanding, "Murder In The First" is an excellent piece of motion-picture entertainment, IMO. Bacon is just terrific in his role as the beaten, nearly-savage Young, who was confined to the pitch-black solitary confinement area of Alcatraz for more than 1,000 days before finally being released from the "dungeon".
Gary Oldman and Christian Slater also display their considerable acting chops in this film, along with R. Lee Ermey, who plays the Judge at Young's murder trial. You'll want to slap Ermey silly after a few scenes as the obnoxious "Judge Clawson" here. He's quite effective and humorous (although not altogether believable) as the rather overbearing chief court official.
This film has a classy style to it, with many interesting camera angles and camera movements employed by the movie's brain trust, headed by Director Marc Rocco. I particularly liked the way Rocco moves the camera in circles during the first scene featuring Slater and Bacon, with the camera moving non-stop as it circles completely around Bacon's/(Young's) jail cell. An effective way to present this scene, rather than just "planting" two cameras in the cell and cutting between still shots of the two actors.
This DVD version of "Murder In The First" offers up a dual-sided disc, with a Full-Frame (1.33:1) version on one side, and a nice, crisp-looking Anamorphically-enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1) version on the other side. Colors look rich and well-rendered here, IMO, with many scenes exuding a deliberately-grainier "1940's" look and feel to them.
The sound gets good marks here too. It's not a full-blooded 5.1-channel track utilized for this DVD, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Stereo soundtrack fills the speakers very nicely nonetheless. There's a good musical score too.
More about this DVD ....................
>> Extra Bonus Material -- None at all.
>> Chapter List? -- Yes; located inside the "Snapper" DVD case (38 total chapter stops included).
>> Languages -- English and French (both in DD 2.0 Surround).
>> Subtitles -- English and French.
>> Region Encoding -- "Region 1".
>> MPAA Rating -- R.
Parting Thoughts ....... 1995's "Murder In The First" is a Grade-A motion picture, serving nicely as a good character study of one Mr. Henri Young, and at the same time doubling as a dandy "courtroom drama", too. A most-worthy 122-minute experience.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The performances in this film are gripping. I actually believed in the plight of Henri Young, portrayed by Kevin Bacon. I wanted to be as good a Public Defender (This is what I do for a living) as Christian Slater portrayed in the film (oddly, the character's last name he uses is one of the real-life escapees). The judge, played by R. Lee Ermey, actually reminds of some of the judges I have been in front of - his iron disipline is that convincing. Then, to my shock, I found out that the truth had been stretched beyond all recognition.
The movie itself deserves at least four stars for the performances, particularly by Bacon, who should have been at least nominated for an Oscar for this film. The DVD must have been made at the beginning of DVD technology. If a director's cut DVD is complete with interviews, historical perspectives (why did the jury do what it did, anyway? I don't believe the Federal Board of Prisons and its smear job of Henri Young any more than I believe the version proffered by the director of this film) and the like then I will certainly buy it. Until then, I recommend that you rent this film, or buy a used copy.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Present
This was purchased as a present for my sister. It made her cry just like the first time she saw it. So as a special gift it did the job
Published 1 month ago by Lynne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful and shows how prison life can be when it isn't kept in...
We watched this movie on TV and bought it for my brother who is laid up with a broken ankle. We all love Kevin Bacon. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sharon Dodson
5.0 out of 5 stars
social bond disconnect
Great movie that displays the Hirschian theory of failed socialization. Here, Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) finds himself caught up in the criminal institution and subjected to grave... Read more
Published 1 month ago by mccrime
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
The acting is wonderful!i I loved this movie when I saw it in 1994. Kevin Bacon and Christian Slater are such amazing actors. I don't know why this movie isn't very well known. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Sandra Irving
2.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful . . . propaganda.
What a propaganda job. The imagery at the start makes the murderer (Kevin Bacon) look like Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Christenson
5.0 out of 5 stars
the best
I love this movie ,I like true story's and this story touched me because of the lives it touched and destroyed
Published 2 months ago by olivia castro
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my all time faves!
I have this on VHS, DVD and now on Blu simply because it is one of my favorites!!
Mr Bacon is one of the best actors of this time! Slater and Oldman are great too.
Mr Bacon is one of the best actors of this time! Slater and Oldman are great too.
Published 2 months ago by GUSTAVO ESPINDOLA
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie
This is a great movie I was suprised to learn that most people haven't even heard of. It's one of my favorites.
Published 2 months ago by jadean bedlion
5.0 out of 5 stars
`I got nothin'. I got nobody. I don't need a lawyer, I need a friend.'
It is often interesting how when old movies show up On Demand years after their first release there is a waterfall of response from viewers - almost like the film has been... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Grady Harp
5.0 out of 5 stars
murder in the first
I liked the story it showed that the law can somtimes over do the punishment,
specially when they punish one inmate more than all the other inmates,. Read more
specially when they punish one inmate more than all the other inmates,. Read more
Published 2 months ago by nathan flores
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