About Ethan Nahté
Location: Dallas
Occupation: Video & Film Producer/Director, Journalist, Titan Comics, Broadcast Coordinator
Bio: Began playing music in clubs @ the age of 13 while simultaneously getting published in school mags. Moved on to TV and has shot everything from naked women to wolves! He's traveled a 1/2 mile under the earth and a 1/2 mile above with his cameras! Currently working on a documentary, a book and attempts to sleep. LIVE'N'LOUD
Posts: 279
More from this author
When The Condemned fell into my hands and I saw the wrestling superstar from Dallas, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, my eyes about rolled out the back of my head. Surely this was going to be 2 -3 hours of my life wasted. I read the description on the back cover and two thoughts came to mind: First, it has similarities to the short story and 1932 movie The Most Dangerous Game; Second, it has similarities to a short story I wrote and sent out in 1998 to try and get published (it never did, but I may try again now that reality shows rule the airwaves).
Austin plays Jack Conrad, a man “purchased” from a prison in Central America by an unscrupulous producer (Robert Mammone) named Breckel. He plans on broadcasting a new, live internet program that he believes will net him millions. He has purchased several death row prisoners from around the world and sets them randomly (by tossing them out of a helicopter into the ocean with a key in their mouth and shackled) on the end of an island. He and his crew are on the other end of the island operating a bevy of cameras, both visible and hidden, from almost every possible angle. But what begins as entertainment for his crew soon becomes despicable to his technical director (Rick Hoffman) and his girlfriend (Tory Mussett).
Meanwhile, the FBI has picked up on the game of kill or be killed that is being streamed across the Internet. They finally learn that Jack is more than just a criminal. He’s a secret black ops agent working for the U.S. and Special Agent Wilkins (Sullivan Stapleton) wants to try and find Jack before he is either killed by one of the other prisoners or blown up by the bomb attached to each of their legs.
The name of the game is to be the last man standing at the end of 48 hours. Some of the convicts are out to win the prize, while some are just trying to get free of the bomb and off the island. Alliances are made, trust is broken and brutal beatings are consistent throughout this action-packed film.
Jack’s biggest nemesis (not counting 6’11” 360 pound former wrestling star Nathan Jones) is McStarley (Vinnie Jones). McStarley is a conniving and vicious, but intelligent man. Jack battles McStarley on a couple of occasions as he tries to make his way to the video crew location. He wants to get back to a girlfriend (Madeline West) that he hasn’t seen in a year. She believes he has walked out on her and her kid when in reality he was undercover the whole time.
This is part of what makes The Condemned interesting - the multiple point-of-views. We see some of the convicts, both the men and women, through their own eyes, but the main focus is on Jack. We also see them through the eyes of the FBI, the film crew and the girlfriend and all of his buddies at the bar. In addition, we see the turmoil that it causes with the emotions of his friends, the justice that Wilkins wants to implement and the cold-heartedness of Breckel and how it turns on him.
The film was shot both in a reality TV style as well as a standard film style in gorgeous locations around Australia and in Vancouver. The pacing is well-done, the story actually gives some of the characters a little realism so they aren’t just faceless people battling each other. It attempts to make you care about a couple of the characters and you hope they get off the island.
Fans of Asian films such as Battle Royale will probably see similarities in this film and would enjoy it. Wrestling fans and any big action fans will love it. Austin does a decent job and I think you’ll find this a cool addition to your collection.
The “R” rated movie runs nearly 2 hours. It’s closed captioned and has English or Spanish subtitles. The audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital.
There is commentary by Austin and director Scott Wiper that is pretty entertaining as they reflect on filming various scenes. There is another commentary by Wiper that is bit more technical. A couple of featurettes on Austin are both informative and funny. There is also a reunion of Austin and Jones. They first met during a wrestling bout in 1998. Storyboards and a theatrical trailer round out the features.
Don’t condemn The Condemned without giving it a fair chance.
