Product Details

• Actors: Michael Rodrick, Jonathan LaPaglia, Dominic Chianese, Jordan Bayne, Brian Vincent
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: November 12, 2002
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006JU89
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,267 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Under Hellgate Bridge" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

UNDER HELLGATE BRIDGE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Introverted obsession on the junkie lifestyle, limited script., February 15, 2008

By 

Pork Chop (Lisbon, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under Hellgate Bridge (DVD)

UNDER HELLGATE BRIDGE (2000), has only two redeeming artistic values,
the first, is the professional, theatre-grade wide-screen,
cinematographical quality and the other one, is the presence and
charisma of a few cast members, above all Jonathan LaPaglia playing
Vincent (a bit of a more robust Bobby de Niro or William Baldwin),
Michael Rodrick as the best of 3 junkie brothers, and Vincent
Pastore playing a muscle man in Frank Vincent's crew, going by the
monicker Big Sal.

It's a mystery why those big name actors associated themselves with a
work that is a non-stop, introverted obsession on the junkie
lifestyle, as a one-trick pony.

The rest of the picture is a let-down, for the simple reason, that
the psychological climate is unstructured, chaotic, confused,
immature, similar to that found in the old JD Salinger novel, "The
Catcher in the Rye". Indeed, several characters take satisfaction in
their own self-pity and perpetuating it over the entire picture.

The audience will forgive the author of the script, if the events are
genuine, and were lived perhaps by a teenager, or are intended to
educate that audience. Notwithstanding that, the entertainment is
just not there.

The set is too predictable as inner cities and run down sections of
hyper-populated locations are obviously, stereotypically associated
with drug trafficking and consumption.

There's also the business-side with a bar being owned and operated
by the drug kingpin, who keeps business going well, by circulating
the powder, and calling the muscle for those interfering or
dismissing the consumption as bad, among the patrons.

Although the acting is professional from several actors, and sincere
by all the cast, there are a number of emotional situations that seem
too contrived to be appreciated.

In addition, the music seems haphazardly chosen, random, eclectic,
incoherent, although it does make the picture more effective than
otherwise.

There's a rape scene, that is totally uncalled for, unnecessary in
terms of the ugliness and impact on the public who paid for their
tickets or DVD rental. Pastore getting head in the backseat of a
Cadillac or Lincoln is another redundant moment.

Finally, the drug burn, at the end, seems out of place, a
non-sequitur since nothing had built up to that scene from earlier,
suggesting perhaps more time in the editing room could have helped.

Not at all what was expected (a mobster movie.)

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What to do with that ten bucks, September 28, 2001

By 

webmaster@jordanbayn (US) - See all my reviews

Obviously, the person that suggested saving your ten bucks was reviewing the film according to the Sophranos. This isn't the Sophranos. This is an independent film that doesn't even have a quarter of the production money the Showtime series has -- and it turned out great! The actors and actresses in this film brought the characters to life, gave them a demension that people that literally live near Hellgate Bridge can relate to. They were real, not the flashy hollywood glamour characters that would have ruined this film. I say buy this film and some popcorn with that ten bucks and watch it just for it's entertainment value, not comparing it to another show :)

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great independent effort, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

For those of you who insist this film used the Sopranos cast as a ploy to get people to watch it, you need to take a look at when Hellgate was actually made. While it was released much later (due to financial reasons, coupled with the fact that it was distributed in-house) the film was actually shot nearly two years earlier. This just happened to coincide with the Sopranos' popularity, but it was a mere coincidence.

Regarding the film itself, it's gritty, it's powerful, and it reminds me alot of some early Scorcese films.

It is refreshing to see that this style of filmmaking still exists in today's blockbuster shoot-em-up digital crap films.