Mean Guns

Albert Pyun is back with his unique directing talents in this one. Why does he always introduce weird strobe lighting in his films? Is it to cover up the shallowness of the story lines? Well it certainly seems that way to me. The welcome appearance of former rap king Ice T helps improves this film slightly. Pretty bad although its an improvement on Pyun's other disaster 'Crazy Six'.

This is a fun action movie. The moment the soundtrack starts you know it's going to be good. The concept of 100 assassins, 1000 guns, 10,000,000 dollars is played out very well in this film unlike some other "Great concept, poor execution" films. I love Christopher Lambert, he is soooooo incredibly cool and Ice-T shines as always...it's a match made in B-movie heaven. This film is non-stop action and boy, it is extremely entertaining. The Mambo soundtrack is quite possibly one of the most original ideas I've ever seen. Action and Mambo equals big time fun. The film itself has enough action to fill several movies and is sadly underrated and forgotten. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to watch an entertaining B-action movie without having to go through the trouble of having to think.

Everything about this movie screams B-grade. From the dodgy name to the questionable cast to the dubious premise. The only thing that stops this from being a B-movie, is that it's actually really, really good.

When "The Syndicate", represented by Ice-T, gathers together it's less reliable members in an empty prison for a little game, the probability of violence was always going to be a definite.

What makes this movie different is in large part due to the choice of music. The utterly inappropriate Mambo soundtrack clashes with the violence, giving the movie a sort of trite, macabre humour. This humour gives a consistent feel throughout the movie, backed up by violence that while brutal is strangely un-graphic.

Mean Guns is an action movie with a quirky sense of humour and a brain. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an entertaining trip.

I can agree with other sentiments here: "Mean Guns" is more than just the standard B movie. I was lured to this thing by the names involved, but what we get here is not relentlessly predictable stuff.

A crime boss named Vincent Moon (Ice-T) gathers a large group of lowlifes together, people who've "betrayed" their organization basically by being screw-ups. Moon's idea is to put all of them into a "kill or be killed" situation, providing them with various weapons, and the last three standing will supposedly walk away with the sum of $10 million.

In addition to Ice-T, we get several B movie perennials doing their thing; Christopher Lambert brings his own brand of acting to a more jovial - and unhinged - character than usual. Also appearing are Deborah Van Valkenburgh ("The Warriors"), Thom Mathews ("The Return of the Living Dead"), Yuji Okumoto ("The Karate Kid, Part II"), Tina Cote ("Omega Doom"), Kimberly Warren ("Blast"), and Michael Halsey ("Dollman"). Hoke Howell of such classics as "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "Humanoids from the Deep" has a cameo at the outset.

As one will notice, the cast is partly filled up by regulars in the films of the prolific Albert Pyun, and it doesn't matter if the acting ain't ever gonna win any awards; it still gets the job done. Ice is amusing in the lead, and Lambert is actually a hoot, although it's veteran Halsey that really stands out, playing one of the most interesting characters in the whole thing. Van Valkenburgh is likable as the most sympathetic of them all. Mathews and Okumoto have their moments as a consistently bantering pair of buddies.

It's hard to knock a movie that immediately goes for the approach of underscoring the fast and furious action with mambo music, which adds to the humor. Of course, when one sees the ridiculous fate of one of the characters, they'll see this is never meant to be taken too seriously. At an hour and 51 minutes it IS awfully long for this sort of thing, but that kooky charm still pervades the proceedings. And, despite all the violence, there's really no gore at all.

Fans of low budget escapist fare should find this reasonably interesting and diverting, all the way to its unexpected ending.

Seven out of 10.

At first glance one would almost dismiss this movie as being a B-grade action movie. However, while tuning in one night to the late night movie channels I came across this and found myself unable to turn away. The cast in this movie consists of only a few name people such as Ice-T and Christopher Lambert, but to be honest the entire cast puts in some fairly good performances all around. What makes this movie so entertaining is that it combines action with a touch of insight into the lives of a group of criminals who all seem to want different things aside from just money. If you have some time on your hands and happen to catch this flick some evening, give it a look. Despite the apparent low budget, the movie is really quite well done with a good script, interesting camera work, and a compelling ending. Definitely worth your time if you're looking for an action movie that differs from the norm.