Condition Red (1995)

The Worst Film Ever

Simply Perfect

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is supposedly based on a true story.Danny Cappelli (James Russo) is a former boxer working as a prison guard. He is an old neighborhood Philadelphia blue collar type guy who has some stress issue which he brings out with some early first person narration. His inability to get along with male inmates without going into the berserker mode lands him a job at the less stressful "G-Block" guarding women.Gidell Ryan (Cynda Williams) is a prisoner. She is an up and coming night club singer and part owner, along with her boyfriend Angel (Paul Calderon) of an adult entertainment establishment. He is the reason she is in prison. Our main two characters discover they both like closet sex and plan their escape.Gidell's character was not well developed. It could have used a few clever minutes showing us her crime. Russo played a fairly decent blue collar guard, being chased by an Adrian clone from "Rocky."Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, brief nudity (Cynda Williams, some strippers with pasties)

It is a low-budget movie, but expertly directed: for instance , with few actors and means the atmosphere in the prisons is effectively rendered. The movie in fact consists of three roles only ( the late Victor Argo being seen for very few minutes), but they are all well played. Paul Calderon is quite believable as a slimy gangster. I confess that I did not know Cinda Williams before, and found her very attractive in a sultry way, but also quite convincing. The best however is James Russo, who is really outstanding, using only his gimlet eyes and clenched jaws. *** Spoilers: while you expect Russo to be broken by the death of the loved one, the unexpected but appropriate end helps greatly to make a success of Condition Red

The movie is pretty good but it looks horrible on DVD. All you see is artifacts and blocks. Its was also transfered 4:3 ratio. If you want to see this movie get the VHS instead. The DVD looks like a movie recorded off TV in EP mode

I saw this movie last night thinking it may be a good watch. I was wrong. Maybe in Finland can a prison guard practically walk out of a maximum security facility with a female prisoner "wrapped around his arms"(his girlfriend as well...) The gun fight at the airport was amusing. All that gunfire and not one shell casing could be seen from the guns or on the floor. Plot 2 - Action 4 - Acting 1. James Russo, time to get a real job.