Rating: Summary: A Pyrrhic Victory: Teaching America's Forgotten Review: "187" does not provide the viewer with a realistic insight into America's schools. Science teachers do not stalk students and then drop them with morphine injections, launched from a bow. But I did not pick up "187" expecting the classic teacher-makes-a-difference-in-children's-lives film. The very title moves one away from this depiction. Instead, "187" provides an interesting look into the job of educators when they are dealing firsthand with the violence that exists in many of America's communities. One thing that I would have liked from this film is a slower transition from Samuel L. Jackson's former self to his newer self. The audience believes that they know his character and (quite suddenly) he has snapped and we are a bit unsure of the movement. This film is an intense experience-I found my nerves quite strained at the prospects of the chaos that exists in these communities. Above all, this film neither glorifies the student's actions nor the teacher's retaliation-a fact that prevents it from becoming a simple bloodbath movie. One leaves this film with a sense of loss on both sides and the utterly hopeless situation that we have created in our school systems. Jackson's character does, despite what some may say, have an impact on the students he teaches. But his victory is not without devastating losses; a Pyrrhic victory, as the movie (not so subtly) alludes. Word to the wise: this is not an uplifting film. Do not rent it thinking you're in for a "To Sir, With Love" experience. Just read the title. But if you're in the mood to look at the darker side of life (think "Requiem for a Dream"), by all means.
Rating: Summary: A Pyrrhic Victory: Teaching America's Forgotten Review: "187" does not provide the viewer with a realistic insight into America's schools. Science teachers do not stalk students and then drop them with morphine injections, launched from a bow. But I did not pick up "187" expecting the classic teacher-makes-a-difference-in-children's-lives film. The very title moves one away from this depiction. Instead, "187" provides an interesting look into the job of educators when they are dealing firsthand with the violence that exists in many of America's communities. One thing that I would have liked from this film is a slower transition from Samuel L. Jackson's former self to his newer self. The audience believes that they know his character and (quite suddenly) he has snapped and we are a bit unsure of the movement. This film is an intense experience-I found my nerves quite strained at the prospects of the chaos that exists in these communities. Above all, this film neither glorifies the student's actions nor the teacher's retaliation-a fact that prevents it from becoming a simple bloodbath movie. One leaves this film with a sense of loss on both sides and the utterly hopeless situation that we have created in our school systems. Jackson's character does, despite what some may say, have an impact on the students he teaches. But his victory is not without devastating losses; a Pyrrhic victory, as the movie (not so subtly) alludes. Word to the wise: this is not an uplifting film. Do not rent it thinking you're in for a "To Sir, With Love" experience. Just read the title. But if you're in the mood to look at the darker side of life (think "Requiem for a Dream"), by all means.
Rating: Summary: DA BOMB STUDENTS VS TEACH VIDEO OF DA MILLENIUM Review: 187, is one of the movies I watch over and over. I pratically have it memorized. My friends and I even choose a character in the movie to be. Trever's way of dealing with The KOS Gang was very dramatic. I thought the way the movie ended couldn't have been writing any better. I'm down for KOS!
Rating: Summary: LIKE THE READER FROM NEW YORK SAID Review: Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez really does bring out a dramatic and interesting character in this story and i personally think this movie is two times better than Dangerous Minds. That movie doesn't have anything on this one. Samuel L. Jackson put forth a great effort and he came out on top an even better actor after I saw this. I really don't think he got enough credit for this movie and I don't think enough people have seen it, but everyone should. This movie has alot of emotion and the end is surprising and heartfelt. See it.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant film with a star performance from Samuel L.Jackson Review: Exellent portrail of society gone mad, as Samuel L. Jackson shines through as the criminal hero. It is very dramatic, scenes are violent, but it isn't graphic and limits gore. This gives it an edge as squeemish viewers can enjoy it's finer points.
Rating: Summary: Samuel Jackson plays his roles a little too real Review: From beginning to the end. The movie keeps you thinking what is going to happen next. Every monent something happens and you know someone is going after someone. I enjoyed the movie so much that I search the United State for the soundtrack that is tight. And was very very hard to find. A must see movie.
Rating: Summary: R U DUN Review: Glis was very frapper. She had denarpen Farfie's mardsen. She couldn't galp a giberter for Farfie. Instead she wharked to plimp a mardsen binky for him.
Rating: Summary: great movie Review: Great movie though I thought the teachers reaction was a little over the top.Also the boom mike guy could have done better job.Watch out for the brightly coloured mike every now and then.But overall portrays LA as a searing heat bomb,both in the acting dept and the brilliant use of drab coloured footage.
Rating: Summary: its good Review: Having attended an inner city high school, I will attest that while some of this was exaggerated, similar things do happen. I think the director took a lot of creative license and pushed things to a bit of an extreme with Garfield and Cesar's characters, but it only served to improve the quality of the film. This is less "Dangerous Minds" or "The Substitute" than it is "Taxi Driver". Samuel L. Jackson does a superb job with his character Trevor Garfield, a man of deep moral convinctions and idealism who crumbles psychologically throughout the film. The way it is shot, along with the ominous soundtrack, creates an atmosphere of palpable doom and chaos. Garfield's speech to a fellow teacher who is beginning to realize the odd connection between the disappearance of troublesome students and his relation to them is really disturbing. The director should have worked more on the "teacher snapping" bit and had it a little less covert, but overall I would say this movie falls into cult classic, if not classic, range. The darkness is unforgettable, and the film does raise some relevant issues as to how people with values interact with those who have none. There is a certain flavor to this movie, somewhat inarticulate, that for me makes it worthy of the most lavish praise. This is no uplifting, Sidney Poitier film of redemption. It is simultaneously a vigilante film and a comment on conscious man and his place in the world. This is a must own, for Jackson's performance and the powerhouse ending.
Rating: Summary: An underappreciated masterpiece Review: Having attended an inner city high school, I will attest that while some of this was exaggerated, similar things do happen. I think the director took a lot of creative license and pushed things to a bit of an extreme with Garfield and Cesar's characters, but it only served to improve the quality of the film. This is less "Dangerous Minds" or "The Substitute" than it is "Taxi Driver". Samuel L. Jackson does a superb job with his character Trevor Garfield, a man of deep moral convinctions and idealism who crumbles psychologically throughout the film. The way it is shot, along with the ominous soundtrack, creates an atmosphere of palpable doom and chaos. Garfield's speech to a fellow teacher who is beginning to realize the odd connection between the disappearance of troublesome students and his relation to them is really disturbing. The director should have worked more on the "teacher snapping" bit and had it a little less covert, but overall I would say this movie falls into cult classic, if not classic, range. The darkness is unforgettable, and the film does raise some relevant issues as to how people with values interact with those who have none. There is a certain flavor to this movie, somewhat inarticulate, that for me makes it worthy of the most lavish praise. This is no uplifting, Sidney Poitier film of redemption. It is simultaneously a vigilante film and a comment on conscious man and his place in the world. This is a must own, for Jackson's performance and the powerhouse ending.
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