This was a decent hour and a half watch. A very well-rounded balanced group of actors who did an extremely good job. This movie pulled no punches and was serious from start to finish. Very little action 100% drama. A little slow starting hence the character development but as the story progressed you became engaged with the characters. A story of family and friends and how far one is willing to go and sacrifices they'll make for their own.
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Birkyirky6 October 2019
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dusan-2224 October 2019The problem I've got with indie and low budget movies is editing, most of the times. Sometimes they include good scenario, good acting and even success on good part of directing but most of the times I daresay - editing fails. This movie shows that low budget movie editing can be very good and even much better than in most of the blockbusters. Actually, this movie with fairly unknown film names doesn't fail in any way whatsoever. It delivers fast pace action followed by pretty well depicted drama. Actors are pretty convincing, scenario is clever and involving and directing is very good at least. I loved this movie and would highly recommend it. It's a proof that intelligence beets both money and gore. Would love to see more of this talented director.
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ops-525354 October 2019Its not an all at stake action thriller youre delving into, its more like a rough tough emotional drama between young men and their buddy pals. its not filled with romance, just some featherly ones, but the emotions may be turned on by some of the story.
its a film about family, brotherhood, deadly pranks, prisoners,soldiers, grunch and forgiveness. though the plot has some abrubt and short cutted shifts that could have been an audience blockbuster if avoided and comleted the right way, the acting are well above average, especially in the first half.
its a kind of a sore revenge/redemtion story that will be condemned by some and hailed by others. the grumpy old man didnt turn it of and did not take any breaks in the viewin , so it isnt that bad at all. a 6 at the strong side.recommended -
Gordon-117 October 2019This film tells the story of a group of soldiers who help each other out, good times or bad.
The story is surprisingly engaging. I thought it was just an action film, but it actually has a lot of emotional elements in it. Cal's guilt and trauma are well portrayed, and it makes the characters very human. The story is touching and makes me sympathise with Cal and his brother. I think this film deserves to be seen by more people. -
andrewgrgtwn15 May 2020Enjoyable movie with a great cast and more importantly a good story. My mind still boggles as to how do these good movies seem to slip under the net unheard of when some of these huge block busters score high but usually disappoint. My wife and both gave this a seven and agreed it was definitely worth watching.
Recommended! -
atn31115 April 2020Upon seeing the movie you can definitely see it for what it is. The underlining story of childhood friends who also become Marine reservists and follow the creed of no man left behind. Though this moving has great characters and a solid story, the lack of character development is missing. This movie can go to a deeper part of the story but it doesn't take it there and let's you just scrape the surface. Costuming was done very well. Take the time to watch this and you won't be disappointed.
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joshuanugent-9822522 December 2019This movie had good acting and some good dialogue.
But the main problem is that the character they are trying to save, trying make us feel sorry for, totally deserves everything he got.
He had two strikes.
Was a general pos.
Then kills a guy and runs. -
mike_NY22 June 2020Fairly tight little programmer of the ilk of what you would usually find with Liam Neeson (Cold Pursuit) or Mel Gibson (Blood Father), a bit closer to Dragged Across Concrete & Brawl in Cell Block 99 but without the least bit of intensity. For those older, think late career Audie Murphy. Jai Courtney's lack of emoting serves him well for once, as the antihero, while Finn Wittrock & Arturo Castro do get to play against type. Overall, it's highly underwritten (why, again, is Oyster targeted?) and short on motion...a small scale, simple movie that doesn't quite succeed as a drama or action film, although its brief (99 minutes) running time, easygoing demeanor, and pleasing cast makes it watchable.
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phd_travel11 January 2020The problem with this movie is I had not much sympathy for the main characters played by Jai Courtney and Alex Wolff. The supporting cast played by Finn Wittrock as an amputee and the girl he likes played by Leighton Meester. The initial part is hard to follow. Poor direction then a bit of Iraq. The break part is fairly exciting. Of course you want to see if they get away. But then what's going to happen to Jai Courtney in prison? Dumb ending. A feel bad story.
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Warren_Scott-550876 October 2019ROTTEN TOMATOES GIVES THIS MOVIE A 17% AND THEN GIVES A SNOORFEST MOVIE LIKE GEMINI MAN A 43%? I'M STARTING TO BELIEVE THE RUMORS THAT ROTTEN TOMATOES ISN'T LEGIT ANYMORE THAT'S WHY MY FIRST CHOICE IS IMDB FOR HONEST REVIEWS... FROM START TO FINISH, THIS IS ONE GOOD MOVIE... SEE FOR YOURSELVES.
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The movie starts slow it builds characters a little bit slowly at first, then in the middle it drags and it's not a very good movie oh, but then they get to the prison break in the end, and here's where it goes from being a 4 out of 10 score towards being a seven or an eight out of 10 when you finally finish the movie
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inc-133-7001317 December 2019It starts off showing super stereotypical, loud and closeted jocks from random teen comedy.
Then, they're somehow US Marines. Then, they're getting wasted and hitting on anything on two legs at a bar. Then, they're athletes, running home while dead drunk. Then, one of them kills a guy and other, and half-brother cop (Who is also a reservist US Marine staff sergeant, *why* it's of any importance, hell knows) captures him. Then, he goes to prison and gets jumped on by guards. Them, we're suddenly in Iraq where cop/marine dude deals with an IED. For some unknown reason. Perhaps so we'd care more about that cutout character, thank you for your service and such? Didn't work for me, though.
And that's a half of the movie. It's so dull, loose, random, without any direction or sense of realism that you'll be fighting sleep by then. Doesn't help that it's super low budget and shot via most obnoxious yellow/green filters one can buy.
I'm sure there's (an idea of) good drama somewhere deep in there, but randomness and horribly cliched characters make it really, really hard to care for any of them.
Avoid. -
danielcereto25 March 2020I really want to love this one because the cast and acting is brilliant, but the script ruins the show. Both settings does not match with the storyline. Quite weak because a poor and dumb ending.
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sapetrucco16 April 2020Used to be "Heat," with Deniro & Pacino! But even though it's on a lesser scale, it's on THE LARGEST SCALE OF MY LIFE!!!!
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jwcreel4 June 2020Explored the complexity of a dysfunctional relationship with half brothers with one more criminally oriented n receiving an unjust sentence while the other is a policeman who later choses to act on his brother's behalf however it also emphasizes a bond amoungst close friends all while serving as national guard members.
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magicianhumphrey28 November 2023Just seeing the name changed to 'Semper Fi' on this page from 'Brothers in Arms' made me smile, as I was actually thinking while watching they should have called this 'Semper Fi' lol. This is a pretty darn good film. It does take a little bit to warm up at the start but the end is gripping good. It took me a while to figure out that the main character was Marines and Police, having seen both his police badge and the military unforms I finally made the connection. That might have been me being slow on the uptake or the film didn't make this very clear at the beginning, or bit of both. The storyline flowed well and the acting was really on-point. A well deserving 7/10 from me.
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shibal-0090230 April 2020A Story of an elder brother showing parenting ways more instead of being his real brother.
Ending its a bit a cut off but it's worth while watching as his elder brother finally take risk and man up as being a true brother. -
Semper Fi (1 out of 5 stars).
Semper Fi has a great talented cast ensemble and a story that could have been so much more. It falls flat to a terrible direction, boring script, and characters. It was difficult to even care about any of the characters in the movie.
The plot follows a police officer Callahan (Jai Courtney) who is also serving in the Marine Corps. When his brother Oyster (Nat Wolff) is arrested and faced in prison. He gets assaulted by the officers in there. Which Callahan is trying to stop. When the justice system doesn't focus on that. He is faced with trying to help and save his brother.
The direction follows with the brotherhood with Callahan, Jaeger (Finn Wittrock), Oyster, and Snowball (Arturo Castro). And Milk (Beau Knapp). The script lacks in making the characters worth watching. They were all dull and boring. Callahan is trying to be the responsible brother to Oyster. With Oyster having mood swings and attitude problems. He was trying to start his own food truck business.
The films drama was boring. The direction felt like a bad straight to tv kind of movie. It was just very difficult to get into.
Overall, Semper Fi is a horrible film. It was boring. It lacked thrills and suspense. The characters are terribly written. It was difficult to care for them. This film is definitely a pass. -
The critics were way too hard on this film. Having said that, ignore the annoyingly and obviously fake 10/10 reviews, as this film is certainly not award material.
This was a solid and enjoyable B-grade film, although the constant fast zoom-in's (think The Office) were annoying and dated. I expected more from director (and 2nd writer) Henry Alex Rubin. Although he's not a seasoned director, this isn't his first film either, and he directed it like it was, especially in the beginning, but thankfully got better towards the end. The editing was also tardy in the first half of the film.
The critics slammed the writing, but I've seen way worse from more seasoned writers. Sure the plot bounced all over the place and was convoluted, but considering the writers are novice, they did pretty good, and got their points across very well, kept me captivated. The ending was very well written imo.
Casting was great, and the performances were very convincing. The cinematography was decent, and the score although a little overbearing from the start, became adequate in the second half.
I felt the pacing could've been faster, and/or the 99 min. run-time trimmed down to about 85-90 min.
Nevertheless, better than I expected - for a B-grade film, and an honest and well deserved 8/10 from me. If anyone thinks this review is fake, click on my username to see my 1000+ ratings and 700+ reviews. -
chubbydave4 January 2022This is a horrible film. It's a horrible story line, and it portrays otherwise honorable marines as murderers and law breakers.
It's about a group of young men in the reserves. They're called to duty. Before their departure one guy gets in a fight, the other guy hits his head and dies. So he's convicted of manslaughter and sent to the slammer. Meanwhile the other guys go to Iraq where one of them callously murders a civilian. Sticks his weapon right in the man's face and pulls the trigger.
Then after their tour, the guy in prison is not happy in prison so they devise a plan to break him out risking their own lives and risking being imprisoned themselves. And this is all portrayed as a good thing.
I watched this because I like Jai Courtney. I give an extra star for him. -
beastiex17 May 2020Only watched this because of the favourable reviews posted here.Well they see something in this that i just dont get.very slow ,little action and poor dialogue.Rotten tomatoes is right on this one