Gratuitous, ugly, and wholly devoid of meaning.

Rating: Null/10 (8 February 2003)

Gratuitous, ugly, and wholly devoid of meaning. Any emotional impact that this film could have made was bludgeoned to death by the sheer volume of violence depicted. Not five minutes of film goes by without someone receiving a wet blow to the head, and unfortunately none of the combatants is fighting for a particularly worthy cause.
The idea promoted by the film that "America was born in the streets" is ridiculous and plays heavily to a mindlessly bloodthirty class of the American audience. There is only one character in the entire three-hour epic who ever attempts to solve a problems without a knife, and his skull is crushed moments after the attempt. The only parts of America born in these streets are gang warfare, underhanded politics, and the shaky belief that vengence is noble if you're angry enough.
If you're looking for a war, see Braveheart. See Saving Private Ryan or the Thin Red Line. But don't see this movie expecting anything other than three hours of human butchering.