Stoic

I have seen only more 1 movie directed by this director, and that was Seed. That movie was pretty tame and boring, this was an pretty interesting watch. There is no bright segment in this entire movie. From the start to finish it's just a pure black terror of a movie.

I can say that the acting for the most part is pretty solid. I can't really fault any of the actors. The story is thin as it is, 4 inmates, and they decide to horribly torture the weakest one, who was only in prison for 6 months for trying to defuse arrest, while the three other guys are in prison for serious crimes such as Arson.

The only negative i got for this movie is the lack of depth. None of our characters have any depth, as in instead of giving us at the end the reason why these people were in prison, maybe give us a 5-10 minutes long backstory about all 4 of these guys, what caused them to get in prison in first place. Also the fact that they said at the start of the movie, that the victim took his own life, it really removed the shock for the ending. I think that they should of cut off the hanging at beginning, because it weakened the ending. I think it would of been much more stronger if the ending occured without us knowing it at the start.

Ultimately i actually enjoyed this movie and it is a very interesting psychological piece into 4 different types of people. Also this movie the social aspect of it is not just in prisons, i think similar stuff occur outside prison as well.

I have always been a big fan of eddie furlong's so when i saw his name on the cover of this film at the video store i of course wanted to rent it, that is until i saw who had directed it now i know the very large stigma that comes with anything uwe boll directs but never the less i rented it anyway hoping that perhaps it would not be the same as some of his other films i have seen.

Wow. just wow, i don't really know how to explain my feelings on this film. Firstly i would like to say that this is in no means what so ever a bad film it is in fact the opposite, it blew me away. I was incredibly surprised at how quickly it had drawn me in, the acting was impeccable and the story absolutely heartbreaking. Certain scenes had me sitting in front of my television mouth agape with tears in my eyes which is very unexpected from a Uwe Boll film.

I am absolutely serious when i say watch this film, it will make up for a lot of the disappointments that came from his previous works. This movie says a lot about the human condition and the things we will do to save our own asses.

Tl;dr: Ignore the spammed rating, we all know Uwe Boll is a reliably terrible director, but he pulled off this one good film in his life. Good acting, good premise, believable characters who's motives are understandable given the context. It's pretty bleak, but if that's what you're into, it's a great way to spend an hour and half.

If I have any complaints about the movie, it's in the editing and (lack of) script. First of all, the movie is frequently intercut with interviews/interrogations of the surviving inmates. However, there is nobody in the movie actually questioning them. Often they'll answer a question and the audience doesn't have any context. It's my understanding that much of this film was improvised, which really helped the conversational madness of the scenes in the cell. But occasionally, you could tell an actor was stuck trying to think of something to say, which leaves a few awkward pauses and strange phrasing.

Other than that, for a movie that mostly takes place in a single room, it's quite entertaining. The pacing is great; you'll never be bored. There's some great acting, especially from Sam Levinson who you truly believe is traumatized. In his interview segments, he gives a very emotional performance. He acted with his hands a bit too much, but other than that, I'm shocked he hasn't done more serious mainstream dramatic roles.

The worst performance comes from John Connor from Terminator 2 (once I realized who he was, that's all I could think of him as). He's not terrible, but he plays the most remorseless character, so it seems like he's trying too hard to be a generic sociopath. The German dude was pretty good too.

Obviously the movie is dark and depressing, but if that's the kind of thing you're into, I highly recommend it.

After a game of poker takes a turn for the dark side, three inmates find themselves trying to cover up the brutal beating and torture of the fourth inmate in their cell. Stoic, starring Edward Furlong, Shaun Sipos, Sam Levinson, and Steffen Mennekes leads you through the horrible acts, using flashbacks and interview style Q&A with the inmates involved. Stoic is also based on the true story of an inmate from a German juvenile detention center, who was brutalized by fellow cellies.

I had huge doubts going into this movie knowing that it was directed by Uwe Boll, Who's only movies I had been exposed to before this were video game related. The fact that I happen to be a big Edward Furlong fan caused me to give this flick a try. After all, If I was able to sit through the third crow film, I can survive anything. This movie takes every fear a man has about going into the prison system, and rolls it up into one nonstop ride of fear, and uneasiness. The worse case scenario of jail is unfolded in front of you in a very graphic and unforgiving manor. You can really feel the tension rise to higher and higher levels as things continue to spiral further out of control with each passing minute. It's very rare a movie ever makes me truly feel sorry for a victim, because I'm always able to tell myself it's just a movie, it's all in good fun. Stoic does a really impressive job at making you feel for the young man being tortured for no real reason at all.

Now, the things that bothered me about this film, first of all, when in prison, guards check on cells on a pretty frequent time frame, it seemed like a lot of time passed in this movie with no guard in site, beyond when they got food. Of course, that can be overlooked, but there is one scene in the film which I won't spoil just for the sake that some of you may go watch this after reading this, but let's just say huge shenanigans called on the red button incident with no one double checking on the claim made.

With that said I'm shocked, and kind of disturbed to say I enjoyed an Uwe boll movie, and not just because Edward furlong was involved. I was very impressed with the raw, and realistic nature of the film for the most part, and also its ability to make you feel something. I recommend you give it a watch, especially you Netflix users out there, as it is currently viewable via instaqueue.

7/10 - Ritualistic The Liberal Dead http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

First off - before I get to the movie itself... I just wanted to speak to the morons who ALWAYS automatically vote 1 for everything Boll does - without even watching the damn movie. Its just a really childish and insanely stupid thing to do.

I personally have really enjoyed his past few films... you just never know what to expect when you sit down and watch a Uwe Boll movie and I commend that! In The Name of the King in particular for its insanely over-the-top obviously made to be laughed at entertainment. I mean really -- KING Burt Reynolds??? (best "last conversation before dying" scene I've ever watched... I laughed for like 15 minutes)... and a Ray Liotta Magi who constantly says the most hilarious stuff throughout the movie. And the choreography of the fight scenes was actually quite commendable (sadly not violent, but its all good) - anyways....

... and then Seed, Postal, Tunnel Rats (best war movie I've seen in years - phenomenal flick) --- all 3 are fantastic movies in their own right. Far Cry was god awful and so was Alone in the Dark 2 (sorry Uwe)

And then we have STOIC! - In the same dark/depressing vein that made Tunnel Rats such a kick ass movie... this thing takes you on a wild ride. A ride NOT for the squeamish to be more precise... and not for people who can only watch "Hollywood blockbuster" crap to be entertained. Thankyou to the other reviewer for this movie; I did not know most the movie was "improv" on the actors part and that's an incredibly awesome move on Bolls part to boot... gave the movie a feeling of reality you don't see much anymore. The last half hour in particular is some seriously intense stuff. The acting was also very good... after watching American History X like 19 times + Animal Factory (highly underrated movie), and of course Detroit Rock City + even Dark Reel was pretty damn entertaining... I've always really liked Furlong -- and I'm really happy to see him again in top form. The other actors too were excellent; especially Sam Levinson as the most sympathetic/remorseful of them all.

So go find this movie and watch it - then find Tunnel Rats and watch that... and then STOP giving this man the automatic 1's he does not deserve (except for maybe Far Cry... dude, that was just BAD)!!!