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Seeing as the screenplay was penned by Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker, comparisons between 8MM and his previous work have already been made. However while sharing the same look and feel, 8MM has it's own agenda, that being the origins of snuff films and the myths about their existence. ... Read review
This thoroughly unpleasant thriller from the hands of Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin) ... more
offers very little in its lurid tour of snuff films and the seedy pornographic underworld. A wooden Nicolas Cage stars as a private detective hired by a tycoon's w...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This thoroughly unpleasant thriller from the hands of Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin) ... more
offers very little in its lurid tour of snuff films and the seedy pornographic underworld. A wooden Nicolas Cage stars as a private detective hired by a tycoon's w...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Nicholas Cage is Tom Welles a surveillance specialist with a modest home-based business. ... more
Respected but still waiting for the big break that will improve his professional status Welles spends most of his time on routine cases. Nothing too dangerous ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Academy Award Winner Nicolas Cage is Tom Welles, a surveillance specialist with a modest, ... more
home-based business. Respected, but still waiting for the big break that will improve his professional status, Welles spends most of his time on routine cases. No...
The more they uncover the deeper they go. Thriller about a couple who find themselves in ... more
a precarious situation when a steamy sexual encounter between them and a stunning young model (Zita Gorog) is secretly filmed. They receive pictures in the mail of the event and are blackmailed for money while they quickly find themselves on a fast-paced journey through the world of pornography to find and destroy the evidence.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Funeral For A Friend crown what has been a meteoric rise for the band with their first ... more
ever DVD. Entitled 'Spilling Blood In 8mm' (the title is a word play on a lyric from the band's 'She Drove Me To Daytime Television' single) the disc takes in a wealth of behind the scenes live previously unseen and specially created footage to create what the band hope will be a package to appeal to fans old and new alike. Presented in both Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound options the disc includes a recording of the band in full flow live in concert in London earlier this year as well as an exhaustive videography of promos for all their single releases; the complete 'Trilogy' videos created specifically for the band's download singles & never before collected in one place (one created for an acoustic version of live favorite 'Juneau' both audio & video previously unreleased and exclusive to this DVD); a specially filmed tour documentary shot on the road during the band's last sellout UK tour; a full chronology and discography charting the band's progress since they came together as well some additional surprises!
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Drama - Director: Baz Luhrmann - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tara Morice, Paul Mercurio, Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Claire Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1993 - Drama - Director: Steven Spielberg - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Embeth Davidtz, Ben Kingsley, Jonathan Sagalle
Advantages: Good performances, a dark, engaging detective story Disadvantages: Too slow for some, Peter Stormare is in the wrong film
...Andrew Kevin Walker, comparisons between 8MM and his previous work have already been made. However while sharing the same look and feel, 8MM has it's own agenda, that being the origins of snuff films and the myths about their existence. The subject of snuff has been covered in very few films to date (Mute Witness being the most memorable) so Schumacher has teamed with Walker in order to shake up what is considered an extremely taboo subject.
... ...That's not to say that 8MM doesn't have its share problems.. Despite the subject matter, there isn't really a lot here that will shock an open-minded audience. The pacing is slow which may be off putting for some and Schumacher's visuals, whilst dark enough, lack the intensity and foreboding of David Fincher's efforts on Se7en. The casting of Peter Stormare is also a mistake as he goes completely over the top as porno director Dino Velvet, coming ... more
Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, Catherine Keener, Amy Morton, Peter Stormare, James Gandolfini
Story: Surveillance specialist Tom Welles (Cage) is asked by a widower to investigate a film containing what appears to be the brutal murder of a young woman named Mary Ann Matthews. As Tom plunges deeper into the investigation and sleazy underworld of pornography, he begins to lose his grip on his own mental state.
Certificate: 18
Running time: 123 minutes approx.
Seeing as the screenplay was penned by Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker, comparisons between 8MM and his previous work have already been made. However while sharing the same look and feel, 8MM has it's own agenda, that being the origins of snuff films and the myths about their existence. The subject of snuff has been covered in very few films to date (Mute Witness being the most memorable) so Schumacher has teamed with Walker in order to shake up what is considered an extremely taboo subject.
8MM works best as a detective story, with Welles initial investigation proving a ponderous yet interesting study of moral and family values as he tries to piece together how and why the film was made. After a slow opening filled with blind alleys Tom heads to Los Angeles where he hooks up with adult bookstore owner Max California (am excellent Phoenix). It's here that the film becomes much more intriguing as Max leads Welles into the seedy world of hardcore pornography, and steals all the best lines in the process ('Hey man it's like a gas station, you pay before you pump!')
What Welles discovers is pretty distasteful, a date movie this ain't. However Schumacher makes the smart choice of suggesting images rather then presenting them on screen, possibly being cautious of stepping too far over the line of taste. There are very few images of an explicit nature, so instead Joel goes for moments of bone crunching violence which, although nasty, stick to the films sombre tone. Thankfully this tone is maintained throughout with some creepy uses of lighting and location, with one scene featuring a stuck needle on a record player being particularly effective.
Once Welles gets in too deep the film flips from detective saga to vigilante thriller as he uncovers some awful truths. Walkers script remembers that Tom is an ordinary guy and not a sweaty action hero type, so instead of explosions and one liners, Welles character transformation is one filled with anguish and a unbalanced longing for justice. The story retains a sense of humanity and questions how far one person is willing to go to right the wrongs.
That's not to say that 8MM doesn't have its share problems.. Despite the subject matter, there isn't really a lot here that will shock an open-minded audience. The pacing is slow which may be off putting for some and Schumacher's visuals, whilst dark enough, lack the intensity and foreboding of David Fincher's efforts on Se7en. The casting of Peter Stormare is also a mistake as he goes completely over the top as porno director Dino Velvet, coming off more a pantomime villain then a shady character. The message appears to be that people who make snuff films are no different from you and me, but Stormare's performance contradicts that same message. On the other hand James Gandolfini is suitably slimy as a porn merchant willing to do anything to get Welles out of the way.
8MM is a film which tries it's best to drag the viewer into the phenomenon of snuff without glorifying the subject matter. There are some terrific scenes and Cage is restrained and dignified for the most part, Phoenix, Morton and Keener (as Welles' wife) add solid support though their roles appear underwritten. Indeed with a tweaking of the cast this could have been an absorbing peep into a world that no one speaks of. What's left is a thought provoking detective drama dressed up as a dark thriller. Just don't go expecting a head in a box…
Bonus material
Audio commentary by Joel Schumacher
The director spends a couple of hours discussing his intentions and how scenes had to be redone or cut so as not to overdo things. He sugar-coats this information by constantly going on about how great it was to work with the actors. Not bad to listen to during the films key scenes but it's all terribly uninteresting.
Behind the scenes featurette
The usual crap-o-rama of film footage wrapped around brief snippets of the actors and director talking to the camera. You may as well just watch the…
…Trailer
A pretty good effort really. Intriguing and doesn't give away the plot.
Worth a purchase?
If you're a Nicolas Cage fan then this is worth getting, especially since you can pick it up really cheap. For example www.amazon.co.uk are selling it brand new for £5.97, with used copies starting at £0.95! For everyone else a rental may be the best bet, as it's not going to be a film to everyones tastes.
Advantages: Characters, Tension. Disadvantages: Not for everyone.
...(Chris Bauer) 8mm exhibits bad taste and may be shocking to most people, but to me it felt like a movie with serious intent, especially seen as though it tracks the descent of Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage), as the ordinary guy, into the nasty, immoral world of underground pornography. The character, understandably, is tormented, mentally, as he simply cannot accept why all the evil surrounding him exists. Notoriously panned by critics upon its release, ... ...Carter), Welles is handed an 8mm recording of the young girl being murdered- dubbed a "snuff film"- and has to uncover whether the film is real or not. Joel Schumacher brings the typical suspense and twisted horror that made Se7en so popular in its time, though, in a sickening kind of judgement, I must admit that I enjoyed 8mm a lot more. The atmosphere is one of the main features that I judge this film as being a success. The dark, surprisingly ...
andycarrington 01.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 8MM (DVD)
Advantages: well casted and directed. Disadvantages: dark undertones - possibly disturbing at times
8mm one of the best films I have watched in ages. It is a dark, disturbing film starring Nicholas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix. Prepare for the worst - you will be moved by the film.
Overview
Joel Schumacher’s film, 8mm is a strange tale of life for one man - Tom Welles. Played by Nicholas cage, Welles is a private eye who gets paid to find things out for people.
Deeply in love with his wife (Catherine Keener) and daughter Cinderella, who he ... ...more about a roll of 8mm film found in her dead husbands’ safe.
This he attempts, encountering and befriending along the way Joaquin Phoenix, a porn shop worker. Welles is lead through some of the worst parts of human existance, backstreet traders and dirty men. All of them draw him in and take the watcher on a powerful journey, filled with twists and turns.
Eventually, what Welles has found begins to endanger his life, and instead of a feeling ...
davebaggott 15.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 8MM (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting Disadvantages: Topic is very harsh
...much their hidden away.
8mm gives us many characters who are horrific in themselves, especially the actual murderer of the young girl who states that he loved her face when she was first stabbed, knowing that she was going ot die.Thankfully, we do get the feeling that these people are rare but it opens our eyes up to the fact that there are nutters out there.
This film is good, and it addresses the topic of snuff films well as still nobody really ...
siany 08.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 8MM (DVD)
Advantages: Good central performance Disadvantages: Poor secondary characters
...If you expect 8mm to be an in depth study of morality or the extremes of the sex industry then you’re in for a disappointment. 8mm start off wanting to be more than it actually is and ends up being a reasonable thriller but not much more.
THE PLOT
Tom Welles (Nicholas Cage) is a private investigator hired by a wealthy widow to track down the makers of a 8mm 'snuff' film (hence the title) found amongst her deceased husband’s possessions. ... ...through. The second half of 8mm seems to be totally at odds with the mood set up at the start. This is a film that like so many supposedly serious Hollywood movies started off as a good idea but then through the necessity for it to be a money-spinner at the box office tries to revert to the more accepted formulaic Hollywood action/thriller genre. In the end no one wins.
The acting is generally good, especially Cage in the lead. The problems I had ...
Mauri 24.07.2000 (08.10.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 8MM (DVD)
Advantages: good plot Disadvantages: sick, sick,sick
Nicholas Cage in seedy porn scandal?
Just doesn't quite ring true, does it?
"8MM" is yet another marvellous film starring the effervescent Nicholas Cage, who manages to be able to turn his hand to just about any role that scriptwriters throw at him these days. This time he plays a private investigator, willing to ply his trade for those who maybe don't wish to enlist the help of the local police (seems to be a lot of that about lately!). As a result ... ...widowed millionairess in tracking down the validity of a rather sickening "snuff" video, which her dear departed (and rather perverted) husband had made to satisfy his sexual kicks on a Friday night.
Upon watching the afore-mentioned perverted "8MM" movie, Cage slowly begins to unravel a rather tangled web of deceit, perversion, and ultimately murder. The snuff video is in fact real, and not just another video. The young girl murdered in it has ...
paulc20001 21.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 8MM (DVD)
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Tom Welles is a surveillance specialist with a modest business and he deals with nothing which is too dangerous or too threatening. One day his life is changed forever when a case involving a small plastic reel of film sends him down a sordid and terrifying path into society's darkest corners...
Filmographies, 8MM Theatrical Trailer, Behind The Scenes Featurette, Director Commentary
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
Cage plays Tom Welles, a straight-laced surveillance specialist. His innocent, naive world begins to unravel when he is hired by the widow of an industrialist to investigate what she has shockingly discovered in her late husband's safe. It appears to be a snuff film of a young girl being murdered. In order to discover the truth, he must enter the city's seedy underworld, guided by porn-store clerk Phoenix."
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