Product: Mean Guns [VHS] (1997)
Rating: 5.0
An epic of 'Gone with the Wind' proportions!
Every so often a movie comes along that changes the way we view humanity, the universe, and God. Every so often a movie takes us to great heights of joy, only to lose it, and then get it back over and over again as heros redeem themselves as villains are vanquished. Mean Guns is such a movie, indeed, perhaps the greatest movie of the 20th century, and maybe of all time! Mean Guns is destined to be mentioned first in the same breath as 'Gone With the Wind', 'Citizen Kane', 'Little Shop of Horrors', and 'Dude Where's My Car'.The complex plot concerns a shadowy criminal organization knows as the 'Syndicate' just finished constructing of all things, a prison! To this prison are summoned the Syndicate's assasins, who, unbeknownst to the assisins, were caught by the Syndicate stealing or betraying this underworld conglomerate. So the ringmaster of this get-together takes the assasins' weapons at the door and then gathers them in a main room, the prison is locked, and tells them that they were 'caught stealing' and, now they were to fight each other down to the last three alive, which would then split 10 million dollars between them. This festive occassion would be watched by the Syndicate on a closed circuit television screen.Now to start this contest, the ringleader tosses several vats of guns, bats and ammo in on top of the assembled assasins. I think you can figure out where the movie goes from there. Indeed, as the fighters spead out all over the vacant prison, alliances are developed, complex philisophical issues are raised like the prevelance of pervisity present on MTV, or the overuse of profanity in the movies, appropriate pharmaceuticals for todays assasin to take, in a nutshell, a veritable graduate course on applied ethics taught through the dialogue in this film.Indeed as Hoss, Crowe, Barbie, Moon, Marcus, Dee, Rickie, Kam, Lou, Oslow, Bad Hair Guy, Screamer, Joey, Big Bob, Staircase Guy, and Blackie ruminate on life, the universe and everything, it boggles the mind that Mean Guns was not nominated for 12 academy awards.There is so much one can learn from this film! Like the childhood story of the 'Three Cannabalistic Bears that go out looking for food one day', 'Why you shouldn't swear when you dont have to', 'What could be better than Pay TV', and why 250 people trying to kill each other 'ain't the junior league, or the girl scouts or Melrose Place'.All this as the movie is set to the Mambo music of Perex Prado? What more could a movie goer ask for. And as Lou says of Prado, 'He makes you wanna dance', indeed I felt like dancing as this movie made my soul soar when I contemplated the heights to which mankind may reach when properly motivated by shotguns, baseball bats, and 10 million dollars.All in all, this film has a fascintaing premise, the film is truly an escape and well done. I wish director Pyun was able to put more money into the development of this film. Also I hope there is a directors cut somewhere. Mean Guns is an amazingly good movie despite how preposterous the plot may sound. More and more people love this movie as we trade and pass around the DVD. Mean Guns gets more and more fans every month! No one knew this movie in 1997, but now there are at least 6 websites devoted to Mean Guns.Get this movie, its worth it!