Rating: 
Summary: If you want is guns, gizmos and gorillas, THIS is the one!
Review: A predictable script with no dialogue, only actors (and I use that word advisedly) saying lines to one another (and sometimes to no one in particular). There are no characters, only characatures. Might be enjoyed by people with the sophistication of an adolescent male, otherwise . . take a pass on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: let me tell you
Review: A TOUGH MERCENARY [TOM BERENGER] BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER FOR A CRIME INFESTED SCHOOL. VERY INTERESTING. THIS IS PROBABLY AS GOOD AS A RECENT TOM BERENGER MOVIE IS GONNA GET. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MARC ANTHONY [WHO'S BEST REMEMBERED FOR 1998'S ''I NEED TO KNOW''] ACTUALLY HAS A ROLE IN THIS MOVIE AS A GANG LEADER. THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING. FOLLOWED BY THREE DIRECT-TO-VIDEO SEQUELS.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE TOM BERENGER HAS EVER BEEN IN
Review: A TOUGH MERCENARY [TOM BERENGER] BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER FOR A CRIME INFESTED SCHOOL. VERY INTERESTING. THIS IS PROBABLY AS GOOD AS A TOM BERENGER MOVIE IS GONNA GET. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MARC ANTHONY [WHO'S BEST REMEMBERED FOR 1998'S ''I NEED TO KNOW''] ACTUALLY HAS A ROLE IN THIS MOVIE AS A GANG LEADER. THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING. FOLLOWED BY THREE DIRECT-TO-VIDEO SEQUELS.
Rating:
Summary: great flick
Review: Awesome movie. Story is interesting, fight scenes are great, and the actors are cool. would've gotten one more star if it had some hotter actresses in it. most of the girls in this one look like they've been put in clothes dryer full of rocks!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: UNBELIEVABLE BUT ENTERTAINING
Review: Before you watch this film, you have to get prepared for it. That is, don't expect realism here. But, this movie does its main job well, which is to entertain the viewer. A well-made action film, the best parts are in the classroom itself. You root for Berenger and company to get vengeance on these evil gangbanging drug dealers. The film is solid for the first hour and a quarter, but then falls apart somewhat in its slam-bang finish. Not spectacular but a lot better than those awful over-hyped big budget action films.
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Summary: Dangerous Minds With A Body Count.....And Tom Berenger
Review: I like The Substitute. I like those movies where some tough dude walks into a nasty gang ruled school and kicks some butt. The Principal is another good one. It's one of those rare action movies that's very easily direct-to-video material yet managed to get a theatrical release, kinda like Thomas Ian Griffith's Excessive Force. It's a hard movie not to like(unless you're a film snob) because it's one of those movies you wish would really happen. C'mon, it's fun to watch a badass mercenary throw some gang bangers who think they're hot stuff out a second story library window. Makes you wish teachers really could have the authority to pound up troublemakers. Basically this merc poses as a teacher to get revenge for the beating of his girlfriend. Cool enough. Then it gets a little on the unrealistic side as he uncovers a more sinister plot brewing beneath the school. SPOILER AHEAD:(But do you really care? This is a cliche action flick and I'm sure you'll all see this "twist" coming or have seen it done before.) A mercenary out for revenge on a gang is somewhat believable, but the principal running a big scale drug operation out of the school is pushing it a little. That and the fact that dead kids(and teachers) are turning up by the metric ton and the cops don't ever seem to notice. But hey, this is an action film, no need to be that critical. I also get a laugh out of these classroom scenes. You know what I'm talking about: Total chaos. Kids blasting boomboxes, throwing stuff around and telling the teacher to "&@$# off". I've never been to Miami or L.A. Do some schools really look like this? Berenger does a decent job as the hard, take-no-B.S. mercenary. Everyone's favorite latin singer Marc Anthony plays a gang leader, and the always likable Ernie Hudson is cool as the corrupt principal. Hudson can do a good bad guy when he wants to. William "Flatop" Forsythe is always fun to watch and here he's no exception. The Substitute is fun. Sure it wasn't received all that well from the critics upon it's release, but critics don't really tend to watch movies for the sake of simply enjoying them.
Check it out-No message, nothing deep or enlightening here just cheap, schlocky fun(like my ex-girlfriend).
Rating:
Summary: Decent
Review: I recall high school as a more subtle sort of hell than it's portrayed here. Then again, I went to school in a much smaller city. Plot : Good guy merc temps for girlfriend teacher when school gangs break her kneecap. It's a good film, with some above average acting and an inevetable ending. To our Hollywood trained eyes, the fights may seem slow; the film wasn't sped up, as is usualy the case for filming fight scenes. I personaly like this; not everyone will. It has some funny scenes, mostly intentional; but these days the big car phone with the cord qualifies as funny too. The following isn't really a criticism, but more of an observation about it as a standard action flick; there arn't any real spoilers, but if you've never seen it you may want to skip this part and rent it, so you can watch with unbiased eyes: The bad guys are typical bad guys, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever to make them people. The mercs are fairly mercenary, only the leader thinks taking on a job guarding drug deals is a bad idea. The teachers are uniformly dedicated (except they only show 2 teachers and a librarian) and even with all the gunfire at school the police never do show up on screen. Everything is clear-cut, straightforward and easy to understand. Actually, that's not really a gripe; it is uncomplicated as a movie, but it's very well done.
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Summary: marc anthony really shined brightly!
Review: I think this movie was great! I loved the plot and the life that the characters werw able to bring to it. I adored marc Anthony's performance especially... See it!
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining! Cathartic!
Review: I watched this movie with my sweet, grandmotherly, grey-haired mother. We both loved it. Something about it struck a chord with both of us. I guess maybe because both of us (yes, even sweet grey-haired mom) have experienced somewhat miserable school experiences--I don't know why, exactly, but something about this film was cathartic. I think we both wished we'd had a school teacher who was a little like the Tom Berenger character in this film. Berenger plays a tough merecenary type who ends up infiltrating a very rough high school, after his teacher-girlfriend is injured by school thugs. We both enjoyed seeing this take-no-BS fellow handle his unruly classes. We *really* enjoyed seeing this. The supporting cast (including Berenger's eclectic collection of mercenary buddies) are excellent. Ernie Hudson as the villan is very effective. A very entertaining film! Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: If 187 had gone action instead of drama...
Review: It would be much like this. I'm sure alot of people will think I'm an idiot for enjoying film, but I do not care. This has all the action of a great movie, complete with some comody. Wolfson's high-fiber bran and crapping his pants as Shale choked him was one of the more hilarious moments. And the way he kills Rolay at the end by smashing his nose into his face with his hand is something you have to rewind the tape and watch over to see clearly and completely. The class and school fit every stereo type of the at risk "gangsta" sorts. Rap, graffiti, attitudes, and attire make it so overblown it can almost make you laugh, at least if you like this sort of film. If not, go rent 187 and see a more serious version of the teacher-student war. It is such a shame that the sequal was rather a letdown.
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