Rating: 
Summary: Unsettling
Review: This movie is quite unsettling. I saw it while it was at the theatre. It plays on regular Hollywood hooks such as shock value to attempt to grab the viewers attention. I wouldn't consider myself faint of heart - I thought Trainspotting was brilliant, but this movie comes off as a disgusting, B movie. If someone asked me, whats the worst movie you ever saw, 8mm would top the list. This movie portrays sex abuse (and murder) of underage, unwilling parties (snuff films). It's obscene. I left the theatre feeling dark and unsettled. I enjoy suspense and action, but this film is just repugnant. I would recommend NOT seeing this film, unless you enjoy shallow shock value.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Plot, less predictable than Se7en
Review: Both are from the same writer. While Se7en is a better film overall, with better acting, direction, visual and DVD, I found this plot to more interesting, with a less predictable ending. The DVD is fine, with good video and sound quality, and a nice making-of. Joaquin Phoenix and James Gandolfini are very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the faint-hearted...
Review: Graphic Snuff Pornography. If you can get past the sex tapes that Nicholas has to view in this movie, and the rank places he has to go, then it is a good movie. The ending was worth the "price of admission". Definately not a move to have laying around available to the kids. If it wasn't for the end of the movie I would have given it 1 star. I'm a die-hard Nicholas Cage fan and love him in any movie.I do feel that it should have been rated NC-17 instead of R.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to stomach, but extremely thought-provoking
Review: I have to go ahead and say that I am not a fan of Joel Schumacher's films, and I think that with the majority of his films, for all the time and money spent on them and careful attention to detail, he usually comes up with rather uninteresting and sometimes flat-out absurd content. After showing potential in the early '90s with the thrillingly original 'Flatliners', it's been hit-and-miss ever since. Though he gained universal fame for his two legal dramas, adaptations of John Grisham's 'The Client' and 'A Time to Kill', even those when really analyzed were just so-so. But, sometime late in '98, he released what I feel is his strongest work to date. This gritty and psychological film came out to unsuspecting audiences, and, not surprisingly, received lukewarm audience and critical reaction and took a nosedive at the box-office. The reason for this, I don't really know. Even top national critics were quick to shun it as a perverse and morally unredeeming film. Coming from the mind of screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (who also penned the equally-unpleasant, but more critically-hailed 'Seven'), and considering it's unsavory subject matter, the film is expected to be very dark and grim, and, trust me, it is. But, you really have to accept that, and then move on to the strong points of the film, like the BRILLIANT performance by Nicolas Cage and one of the most taut and nerve-jangling climaxes in recent cinema. The behind-the-scenes feauturette is particularly interesting, and the very intelligent Cage makes good points about the moral that lies beneath the story. Seeing how expressive and vocal he is about the way in which he acts, and how seriously he takes it, is proof to me that he is destined to become one of the great method actors of our day. The point of this film is not just to show some sick and twisted sub-culture of our society, but to force you to realize the existence of pure evil. The character of Tom Wells begins the movie very button-down and straight-laced, a husband and new father, and a lot of his persistence stems from this. I mean, after all no one wants their child to grow up in such a brutal and harsh society. So when he is forced to take a first-hand look into the most sick and subversive side of man you could possibly imagine, it makes him angry and confused about whether you can really find redeeming values in all places. My favorite scene is one toward the end of the film in which Wells, while held at gun-point, becomes enraged and frustrated and demands to know why and understand, even though he could never possibly understand. Whooo, that's some powerful stuff. Like I said, this film can be very hard to stomach, and is certainly not for the squeamish. It is, in some ways, morally confused, but, y'know what? So are human beings. For this film to claim to have all the answers would be just plain wrong. I feel this is an important work and a stunning social commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Pornography of the UNDERWORLD!
Review: !!! This is an unpleasant thriller and definitely not for all viewers !!! Nicolas Cage is a private detective hired by a millionaire's shocked widow. After she discovers a 8mm film of a girl being sexually abused and killed afterwards, she wants to know the truth, but sometimes the truth is better left uncovered... It becomes a horrifying experience and full of unpleasant surprises. The movie is very Disturbing, Gruesome and Shocking even for the fans of such types of movies... Which proves that the director Joel Schumacher succeeded in his movie as well as Nicolas Cage.
Rating: 
Summary: Snuff rocks
Review: I don't care about what this film "reminds" the professional reviewer of, I like it. I understand that for a lot of people this movie is sickening, and there are quite a few cheesy parts ("Give me your permission to hurt them." *rolls eyes* Stupidest line I've ever heard in a suspense movie), but I still can't help but be left satisfied. My favorite character is 'Max California', he was developed very well without much profound or psychological dialogue, and after watching 8mm I'm starting to EXPECT the demise of likeable characters in movies these days; it's getting tiresome. I still give it 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Laughable and pretentious....should be in the comedy section
Review: This film is about the fakest snuff ever seen. I haven't laughed this hard at mock depravity since I saw an Insane Clown Posse music video. If the acting was any worse, I'd want them to kill me. However, what it lacks in conviction, emotion, articulation, and sincerity, it does manage to be stylish. But seriously- likening the whole SM scene to crazed murderers is really not fair. It's just more garbage pumped out to sustain a stereotype. This is not disturbing. If you think it is, you haven't seen much. Go rent "Ilsa, she wolf of the SS," and then tell me this is disturbing. Rebeca on Sunnybrook Farm scared me more than this did. Barney and friends made me quiver in fear, this only put me to sleep. Something with substance, such as American Beuaty, Titus, or Magnolia should be garnering attention. This pretentious poof should be forgotten. Unless of course you're into mental slumming.
Rating:
Summary: Worth watching...once anyway...
Review: I'm surprised at the emotions this film evokes! It struck me as being "typically Nicholas Cage," which I regret as I think he's a far, far better actor than is called for in most of the roles he plays. Yeah, Nick. Get into some films that put your talent to work and you won't have people commenting that you are your uncle's product! You're better than that! While I don't know much about the porn industry, and have little desire to know more, I suspect some of the commentaries thereon are as much on the MYTHS of the industry as on the industry itself. I needn't summarize what everyone already has. Good features included some of the actors, one of them from "Fargo" (sorry, I forget your name), and another from "Silence of the Lambs" (in which his role as the psychiatrist/bureaucrat was great for him!) and "The Pelican Brief. Gandolfino was good, and I think this role preceded The Sopranos (in which he's GREAT!) by quite a span of time. One of the more exciting moments is when the porn-brute with the leather mask is forced by Cage to remove it. The guy looks like anyone's chunky cousin Ralph, or Stanley. (If I looked like him, I might put on a leather mask and hope for the best from porn too!) He asks of Cage something like, "What? You didn't think I was human?" Good. Good. Overall it was okay. It was kind of B-movie fare, but better than many of the over-rated Cage films. It's not even close to among the worse movies I've seen. Nor is it, say, of Kubrick value, not by a long shot. But it's exciting enough. Just don't take it seriously. Again, I suggest it's a lot more mythology than reality.
Rating:
Summary: 8mm DVD
Review: This is a great film. The great feature of the DVD release is Joel Schumacher's directorial commentary. This film is an example of the pinacle of directorial and acting crafts blended into a unified whole, and explained beautifully in the commentary track. The other negative reviewers must be knee-jerking because of the movie's horrific subject-matter, because the movie I saw was a *gem*. Cage as a PI searching for the truth behind a snuff film, is a wonder to behold. Joaquin Phoenix (later the young emperor in Gladiator) does a great job, especially memorable is the banter in the store about battery-powered devices. James Gandolfini as a sleeze-ball pornographer is great!! His final scene at gunpoint is unforgetable. And the incomparable Peter Stormare (the non-talkative hood in Fargo) is awesome as a totally amoral artiste of the perverse, cross-bow and all. The pornographic subject matter is not for the faint-hearted, and the actors' reactions reveal their own traumatization... This film, while exploring the gutter world of porn, invites us to look within ourselves for monsters lurking within. The director's commentary tackles the societal issues and the directorial/logistical issues with equal gusto. This fine DVD, beautifully rendered, is another reason you can't live without DVD if you are any kind of student of film. Bravo Joel Schumacher!
Rating:
Summary: Nick Cage walks on the wild side... Again.
Review: 8mm is a dour and depressing outing, but that doesn't stop it from being a good, well made, enjoyable thriller. (dour, depressing and enjoyable... Yes, as strange as that sounds) You might never crack a smile, but you should enjoy seeing Nick deal out his own brand of harsh justice. James Gandolfini plays a his Vicious Brute role once again, and very well. Peter Stormare seems to have the only on-screen fun as a bizarre director and Joaquin Pheonix is Sympathetic and Likeable as a Adult Bookshop Clerk who Introduces Nick to Hollywoods Grittier Side. Catherine Keener is a little Underused as Nicks Neglected wife and The man himself, Big Nicky, gets by with alot of Wrinkle-brow looks and Teary-eyed Expressions, but in the third act, he losses his grip (mentally, not performance wise) and his real acting skills shine. Overall, it's Definately not for all tastes. But for those with a high tolerence and a strong stomach, It's well worth a viewing.
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