Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Chantel Contreras It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

danceability PowerfulActors: LisaRaye, Lark Voorhies, N'Bushe Wright, Mos Def, Monica Calhoun, Clifton Powell, Mc Lyte 1st off Much Love & Props 2 Neema Barnette 1 the Guru(s) of the underground Directors! I've found a much deeper connection with her work after I viewed the DVD with her commentary... I love both Mc Lyte's & N'Bushe Wright's Dispositions period, so they're my rationale for supporting Civil Brand! Mc Lyte gets slept on as an Actress & Rappers as well! She ominscient at what she does and she speaks & raps eloquently! Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah are 2 of the best that has strucked Rap & Acting (hands down). Thanks to Neema B. for not being raunchy & making Civil Brand out to be a cliché' prison chick flick! Tichina Arnold (Pam) from Martin showed that she's versatile with her skills. I loved when Tichina punched Lisa in the face & snatched her chain, like ''Bitch Ante-Up''. I'll express my Hatred for Clifton Powell's character... He had the balls to think that he & his boss would get away with turning these inmates into Tricks!!!! When Monica Calhoun & the rest of them were beating his ass I got an Adrenalin rush! They took over the prison on some Attica sh*t (You Know). Mos Def was feeble at 1st but he found the courage to help with cause, so he was cool. Cervantes/Mc Lyte was on the wrong team, but I'm glad in a way because if she was a convict then she might have been killed also! My biggest complaint is that Neema should've kept most characters alive so that they could've wreap the benefit of being Emancipated along with the narrator Da Brat! As I said before all of these prison movies are an example of how prisoners are slaved (it must be Seen & Heard). It should be Rectified why aren't these Tyrants being brought to Justice as the criminals that they are? It's F***ing sad that a prisoners has to make clothing & be paid little to nothing after completing it!... After that they'll Rape the Consumers by charging 2 arms & 1 leg for those items (A Total conspiracy)! I feel that Neema could've found someone else to play Lisa Raye's role, I wasn't getting anything from her! Jada Pinkett would've been suitable to play L. Raye's role! I enjoyed the sound track plenty because it had a touch of Poetry!

MagicStarfire In one way, I hate to downgrade this film because it does have a message it is trying to get out, and there are so few films about African American women. I also understand the director is an African American woman. However, the truth is, this film is not very well done at all.What they wanted to convey was the conditions for women in prisons. What came across, however, was that only African American women are in prisons (the very few white women seen, had non-speaking roles and were just blurry extras in the background). They also wanted to indicate that the working conditions in prisons are terrible, again, they failed to truly show this--instead it came across as if the prisoners felt they shouldn't have to work at all, that they should just be allowed to loll about entertaining themselves all day.I never did get all the women characters straightened out as to who was who and who did what. We don't get enough time with each woman to get to know her that well.All the guards and the Warden are the mean, bad guys, except for the one new guard, Michael. The actor playing Michael was a very poor choice for the role. Michael is supposed to be a college student, studying to be a lawyer, the actor who played him, keeps his head down and mumbles his lines in a way that gives the impression he has no self-confidence at all.The plot, such as it is, concerns the women being ill-treated by the Captain of the guards who demands sexual favors of them while man-handling them brutally. Also the plot concerns them doing sewing in what is supposed to be sweat shop conditions for virtually no pay, while the man who re-sells the items is making a big profit.Can the women get the truth out there, is the plot question.Meanwhile we see some woman on woman fighting, some stabbing, and some time spent in solitary.All of the women have children and miss their children, and of course they have been imprisoned unfairly and that sort of thing.Unfortunately there are no love affairs or sex between the female prisoners, which would have added some realism and interest to the story.3 stars out of 10

jazni As others have stated, there is a backstory to Civil Brand that is probably more dramatic than the film itself. To sum it up in as few words as possible: Black women directors have a difficult road to travel to see a feature film made.The film is definitely not a masterpiece, but the attempt at telling a story about African American women in prison is a great one. The film makes a point of comparing prison labor to US Slavery--and for good reason, it is certainly free labor, with poor working conditions.The narration by Da Brat is overkill, but because many scenes were never filmed, I'm sure it was an attempt to make the story cohesive. Lisa Raye was surprisingly decent and Monica Calhoun and Lark Voorhies did what they could with their supporting roles, but N'Bushe Wright was one of the most interesting characters to watch. She has great screen presence and excellent delivery. Hopefully we're able to see more of her.Civil Brand is not a great movie. It's filled with stereotypes and cliches--but it does bring a new and interesting point of view on women in prison. It's definitely worth renting or catching on television.

jakemcgee CIVIL BRAND is a story which tells of a women's prison in which the inmates are forced to work as slaves, and are exploited as little more than animals. True, we've all seen this in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, where convicts are put to physical labor, but it's always been presented as an acceptable situation. A man robs a store and kills the clerk, so why not have him pound out license plates and working on road construction crews?CIVIL BRAND offers a fresh look at the Prison-Industrial Complex, attacking the issue from several different angles. For one thing, the inmates aren't working on roads or some kind of community service- they're making clothes for department stores. A more provocative approach, though, is the fact that these slaves are female, a scenario that folks are not used to considering. Outstanding performances by LisaRaye, Mos Def, Clifton Powell, MC Lyte, Monica Calhoun, Lark Voorhies, and the sensational N'Bushe Wright (the lady Panther from DEAD PRESIDENTS who is one of the most talented people acting in Cinema today, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous), powerful cinematography, and brutal honesty come together to make CIVIL BRAND not just a great movie, but an extremely important one.(c) Jake McGee - Get Underground