Customer Reviews

Streets of Blood

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

 

 

Knowing this film centers itself on a police department trying to regain control of the drug trade in the midst of the Katrina aftermath, it was fitting that it can be called a disaster. From the funny accents that disappear, to the horrible camera work, to the 3D style effects of flashbacks, to the stop-style editing (the film freezes prior to each fade to black cut), to that horrendous ending - all made for another frustrating outing for Kilmer.

Kilmer plays a boy scout drug cop fighting the bad guys on the streets and in the FBI. His partner is 50 Cent (sadly enough his best role to date) who cannot seem to decide if he is good or bad. Michael Biehn plays the FBI agent trying to spice things up (failing miserably) and Sharon Stone (scarily unrecognizable) plays the department shrink who violates probably every rule there can be - including having four different accents in the same film. Our plot meanders from Katrina to several years after as our corrupt characters kill and steal their way through their PD work. One memorable moment is when Kilmer and 50 Cent are going to shoot 20 armed guys in an abandoned school, Val gave the exact same speech from Tombstone in the same accent - deja vu.

There are no special features, bad film quality and sound that is intermittently mixed at best. I was hoping for more as this film made the promo posters, and I really tried to give it a solid shot, but after attempting to overlook the laundry list of issues I then got to that last shot - literally - and was appalled they ended the film that way.

Gave it one more star for the Katrina aftermath footage they included in the credits, heartbreaking as always.

Streets of Blood starts out promising enough, as it tells the tale of two cops (Val Kilmer and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) in a post-Hurricane Katrina landscape trying to regain control of the drug underworld they police. Coming off as more of an uncensored episode of any prime-time TV cop drama than a real crime saga, Streets of Blood features plenty of shaky camerawork, and even shakier accents. As much as I love Val Kilmer, he's just so stale here, and the fact that his accent keeps changing up doesn't help matters either. Sharon Stone is more than guilty of this as well, as 50 Cent ends up putting in the best performance of the whole show here. Still, Streets of Blood manages to be oddly compelling for most of its running time despite its many flaws, and I guess that in itself makes it at least worth a look for fans of Kilmer or gritty cop dramas.

Streets of Blood starts out promising enough, as it tells the tale of two cops (Val Kilmer and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) in a post-Hurricane Katrina landscape trying to regain control of the drug underworld they police. Coming off as more of an uncensored episode of any prime-time TV cop drama than a real crime saga, Streets of Blood features plenty of shaky camerawork, and even shakier accents. As much as I love Val Kilmer, he's just so stale here, and the fact that his accent keeps changing up doesn't help matters either. Sharon Stone is more than guilty of this as well, as 50 Cent ends up putting in the best performance of the whole show here. Still, Streets of Blood manages to be oddly compelling for most of its running time despite its many flaws, and I guess that in itself makes it at least worth a look for fans of Kilmer or gritty cop dramas.

For those that didn't know or who don't care this is a true story on what happened in the various wards after the flood water receeded. There was an influx of drug gangs that moved into New Orleans for control of the drug traffic, these gangs where mostly Mexican who came to the area looking for work but also brought these gangs. Not to mention the gangs that had already taken hold prior to the flood, I felt that Val Kilmer and Curtis Jackson aka 50 cents did convincing performances as cops battling these dealers.I saw nothing fake not really your basic drug dealer vs police movie lots of side stories and hardcore street stuff will keep your attention I give this 4 stars.

The film starts out with an overview and reminder of how devastating Katrina was. The characters are not well fleshed out, with the exception of Andy and even then it doesn't dig real deep into who he is. It is extremely violent and without the F bomb the dialog would be pretty sparce. It did paint a nightmarish picture of the control that the gangs had on the city, and the means that the cops had to employ to try and keep it under as much control as they could. With the kind of violence that the gangs were involved in the film could have made a strong statement against disarming the citizens when they needed self protection the most. There was so much mishandling of the events after Katrina that contributed to the violence and desperation of the citizens. Some of the violence seems gratuitous but typical Hollywood. I think Val Kilmer did the best he could with what he had but it was definately not up to his talent. Andy is kind of a tragic character trying to live up to the image of his dad and avenge his death with every collar, at what seems to be at the expense of a life. Sharon Stone was so-so and the rest were okey.
If you are a Kilmer fan, get it. If you are into extreme violence and language you'll like it.

Fat Val gets a payday and stoops to working with bucktoothed non acting Fitty Cent. Sharon Stone still looks good but doesn't have much to do. This movie is really crappy. The story of corruption in New Orleans and the post Katrina atmosphere would be a good backdrop for a story but this is garbage.

Movie was weird from start to finish. The accents were horrible and did NOT represent New Orleans, my birthplace. Some of the actors/actresses were good, but for the most part they were not especially 50 cent. Good story line, but again not so good acting and ending.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, policeman Val Kilmer partners up with 50 Cents to get control of the drug gangs that have taken over the city. The story, which starts out as a bunch of disconnected scenes, is interrupted by interviews conducted by Sharon Stone who over did the accent. Of course Stone looks real good in scenes with Kilmer and 50 Cents. The scene where the dirty undercover DEA agent is killed by dirty undercover cops is the one the movie settles around. The movie is packed with old tough guy cliche lines, a sign of inferior writing.

Because of the rampant crime in the street, Police Cpt. Friendly (Barry Shabaka Henley) gives his men lee-way in enforcing rules. He has reason to believe the FBI has a plant within his force to report on crooked cops. Friendly doesn't want any "rats" within his group and has asked Sharon Stone to find out who it might be, something Stone refuses to do.

In the realm of things, this is on par with Steven Seagal films, except the plot is more complex.

F-bomb, sex, nudity.

Do these crime lord thugs actually go to sit-downs with their competition? And if so, do they ever walk away? After all these years, this has to be the gang/mob version of pointing to the sky and saying "Look, the Goodyear Blimp!" to sucker punch somebody. If I were a crime lord, the last flipping thing I would ever do is congregate with the same muckers who would save their spit if I were on fire. Especially - most especially - any fellow thug king that stares ominously while making hand-steeples! C'mon, that's a sure sign that fool is off his nut and/or his meds and the room is about to be filled with his machine gun armed stooges. :-D

Oddly, I feel there's a spark of the craft in Curtis 'Fiddy-Cent' Jackson. A better director and it might have emerged. I'm interested to see more of his work. And given the (surprisingly) huge plethora of upcoming films listed on his IMDb schedule - I guess we'll see if that spark can be turned into fire.

Sadly, another in a long list of paycheck roles for Val Kilmer. Who, when given the chance, can still do some amazing things. Check out 'Felon', 'Spartan' and 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. When in a proper vehicle, he shows he still has the skills.

I do appreciate and give credit to the cast and crew for working in flood-wrecked New Orleans. Unfortunately, it comes on the heels of so many well-intentioned preachy productions that actually do a disservice to the city and community by producing video slop. What's needed is a big success, not repeated failures. I keep hoping one will emerge.

Boring derivative retread. Seen it a hundred times before. And if I see any more flicks utilizing shaky handheld camera work - it'll be too damn soon.

I should have shut it off sooner. The opening scene of the damage from Hurricane Katrina showed promise to me but the movie quickly went downhill from there. Constant swearing, constant violence -- yes, I guess you could call it a gritty police drama, but one that I hated.

The film is about drug cops Val Kilmer (boring boring boring) and partner 50 Cent (I liked him) and their department which is being investigated for corruption. Michael Biehn plays an FBI agent and Sharon Stone a department shrink, played in a ho-hum manner, at least in the hour I watched. Or should I say 'endured'.

Not worth watching.