Product Details

• Actors: Steve Austin (IV), Vinnie Jones, Robert Mammone, Tory Mussett, Manu Bennett
• Directors: Scott Wiper
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, German
• 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
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: September 18, 2007
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000SM6FLI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,473 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Condemned (Widescreen Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like your action movies loud, fast, and violent? World Wrestling Entertainment has just your cup of testosterone with The Condemned, a derivative but watchable punch-out starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, one of its top draws. The mountainous Austin is a former Special Forces soldier who is retrieved from a Latin American jail by an unscrupulous television producer to participate in a pay-per-view death match in which ten criminals must fight each other to the death. The other contestants (which include fellow athlete-turned-actor Vinnie Jones) are all cut from the most villainous of cloths, but Austin is, of course, Wrongly Accused; in no way does this prevent him from opening a ten-gallon drum of beatdown on his competitors. Scott Wiper's direction is overwrought, and the script's attempt to make a statement on violence is pointless, but Austin is a more charismatic lead than John Cena in the WWE's previous action movie effort, The Marine. And the premise, which has been tapped by everything from The Most Dangerous Game to Battle Royale, is pure comic book fun, and should please B-movie fans who felt turned off by Grindhouse's relentless tongue-in-cheek tone. -- Paul Gaita

Product Description

Jack Conrad is a death row prisoner in a corrupt Central American prison who is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer to take part in an illegal reality game show. Brought to a desolate island, Conrad finds himself trapped in a fight to the death against ni ne other condemned killers from all corners of the world. With no possible escape - and millions of viewers watching the uncensored violence online - Conrad must use all his strength to remain the last man standing...and earn his only chance at freedom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars: Much Better Than I Expected!, October 8, 2007

By	The Piper at the Gates (Bakersville, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

I rented this flick not expecting much. It's a WWE production and its got Wrestling Superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin in the lead. And though, I loved wrestling back in the day was a Stone Cold fan, I really didn't have the faith that he could act. (Though this role wasn't exactly a stretch for him!) Well, I can say now that the film is no where as bad as I expected, and except for very end, I rather enjoyed it. Yeah, the concept has been kinda done before (The Running Man comes to mind instantly), but this was a bit of a new twist. Plus, nowadays its hard to come up with something totally original anyway. There are some good action sequences, and co-star Vinnie Jones shines as the ultimate "Bad Guy". No, Stone Cold's performance won't win him an Oscar, but for what kind of film this was and role he played, he wasn't bad. And like I said, I think Vinnie Jones was the real star in the film. However, I'm not saying the film is without its flaws. First off, I didn't like the fact that there was a husband and wife included as one of the 10 condemned. Their characters seemed like some nice couple rather than death row inmates. And at certain other points in the film, some of the prisoners acted out of character. If these 10 people were supposed to be the toughest and meanest people around, they all should've acted like it. Some of the sub-plots were kinda lame as well, mainly with the backstory of Austin's character and his girlfriend/wife. I didn't like the whole scene of him finding a phone on the island and calling her. The fact that he would call her and not someone who could help him is kinda absurd. His character was supposed to be some secret government killing machine. You're telling me he wouldn't know of anyone you could've helped him in out in that situation?? Nevertheless, these are minor discrepancies compared to the glaring bullcrap that was in the very end of the film. WARNING: BIG SPOILER AHEAD!! Here's a scene where we have the "hero" Stone Cold throw a bomb into a helicopter as its taking off. In previous shots, the chopper looked pretty damn far up in the air, not to mention all the wind being generated from it during a take-off. Nevertheless, Austin, I assume being a Heisman quarterback, flings it perfectly into the helicopter and the bomb goes off, killing the bad guy! Its sequences just like this one that I usually stay away from these unrealistic, over-the-top action movies. Yes, there was some in this film as well, but nothing that reached this level. Another thing is that you know the ending before you watch the film. I was really hoping that this film would fool me, and that Stone Cold wouldn't be the hero of the film, or at least, wouldn't survive. But my hopes were in vain. How can someone watch a WWE produced film, with a story like this one, that has a famous WWE superstar in it, and not expect Austin to be the main star and survive?? But in any case, this film wasn't all that bad. And apart from the ending and the crappy music by Nickelback during the ending credits, I found the movie quite enjoyable. Again, this film won't be winning any awards, but its definitely worth watching, and perhaps worth owning (for the right price), if you're a fan of the genre.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sudden Death Tribal Council, October 8, 2007

By	Sky (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Condemned [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

If Survivor Survivor - Season One was set up like the rules of the game in The Condemned, the cynic in me suggests that it would get Super Bowl ratings...every week!

WWE (formerly the WWF) star Stone Cold Steve Austin battles with (among others) real life 80s/90s Soccer tough guy phenom Vinnie Jones in a reality Internet TV deathmatch that pits globally convicted prisoners against each other for their ticket to freedom. "Contestants" are dropped onto a desolate island, and the rules are simple: kill or be killed...survive and you walk free.

Super Bowl ratings are indeed the goal of event creator Ian Breckel (played by veteran character actor Robert Mammone). But alas, it's pretty clear why The Condemned never drew a Super Bowl-like audience to the theaters. The movie starts out pretty thrilling. Good action. Great fight scenes. Horrible one-on-one violence. What's not to like?

The movie completely collapses during the last 45 minutes, and I sure didn't like that. The scenarios and situations become as unrealistic and predictable as it gets.

But perhaps all is not lost. Maybe Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett were watching and were inspired! Yes...let's change the rules for Survivor and bring back the most hated contestants for a season of the show with The Condemned-rules: Johnny Fairplay, Susan Hawk, Richard Hatch with special celebrity appearances by OJ and Rosie O'Donnell? A Yes vote below if you'd watch; a No vote if you wouldn't.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe the critics, April 27, 2007

By	desparadosfan87 - See all my reviews

After seeing See No Evil and The Marine, I was very dissapointed at what the newly created WWE Films tried to do: try and repeat another successful Rock-like wrestler-starring movie. See No Evil and The Marine both have decent acting, but the stories were extremely rushed and I myself decided to give WWE Films one more chance at making a good movie before I completely gave up. Enter The Condemned starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. I thought that, once again, the story would be rushed and make a terrible action flick.

Boy was I wrong.

When the movie started, it began pretty much like the last two WWE films: rushed. But when the actual story started (The game itself), the story slowed down and didn't just kill off one character after another to make the movie end quickly. The interesting plot twist in the middle of the film helped the movie greatly and the climax fight scene was just amazing. Yes, there are a few explosions (thankfully not anything crazy like what The Marine tried to do) but the characters adapted to each and every cut, scrape, and basically any bodily injury well (unlike John Cena in The Marine).

So, overall I recommend this movie to not only wrestling fans (like myself), but to anyone who wants to see a good action/thriller film. If you can only get past the jerky camera movements, you'll be in for a ride. I personally give this movie 4 Stone Cold Stunners out of 5.