VividSimon Simply Perfect

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Phoenixphire81 An interesting film and a nice change of pace from Kevin Smith. While there are definitely some genuine comic moments, they are few and far between. Instead there is a mix of genres that somehow seems to work. The film is at first a horror/thriller and totally drew me in. It is dark, frantic and tense. It soon moulds into a siege film, a bit of decent gun play with a little escape excitement thrown in. The film does get a little confused in its delivery but not in its message. In this world, there are ridiculous reasons which people use to condone evil actions (particularly within religion), and the extent to which they follow these beliefs into actions of violence and terrorism continues to astound me. Kevin Smith does well to endue hatred for the Cooper 'family' early on in the film and Michael Parks, as the head of this group of nutters, is charismatic and passionate, even if it is absolute nonsense that he is preaching. There are loads of recognisable faces in this, taken from pools of talent from both film and TV (Breaking Bad, True Blood). John Goodman is probably the most known of these and does a believable turn as the federal agent charged with taking the Coopers down. It's important to note that the government are not the good guys here either. They have their share of dark decisions and idiotic actions. I did enjoy this film....but this level of fanaticism in the name of God is guaranteed to make me angry and so I inevitably found this fairly uncomfortable watching.

Joshua H. In suburban America, three teens Travis(Michael Angarano), Billy Ray(Nicholas Braun), and Jared(Kyle Gallner), get a sex request from a woman who will do all three of them after same time. The three decide to get lucky and track down where she is and get down and dirt with her. When they arrive she/Sarah Cooper(Melissa Leo), offers them beers which knocks them out within two minutes. The three wake up in cages to find out she was a member of the Five Points Trinity Church(a Neo-Nazi, white supremacy cult). Their "leader" Pastor Abin Cooper(Michael Parks) preaches hate like monologues about God and Jesus Christ and gays and lesbians and sex and society and etc. He plans to kill the trio for their sins. When news gets out of where the boys are at, the local authorities contact ATF agent Joseph Keenan(John Goodman)to set up shop and retrieve the boys by any means necessary. "Red State" was directed by Silent Bob himself Kevin Smith. Out of all of Smith's movies this is the one that stands out the most. This is Smith's first ever leap away from the "Clerks"/"Mallrats" genre. Smith likes to make funny movies with smart themes with cheesy, nerdy dialogue, comedic action, and of course Jay and Silent Bob cameos. Smith throws that behind him and starts fresh. This is Smith's most mature movie he's made to date, he actually makes a very gripping horror/thriller. I consider this to be his best work since "Chasing Amy"(1997) and I will stick to that until Smith proves me wrong. The performances in the film are great. Michael Parks plays a very insane person, and John Goodman is John Goodman. The film was made for only 4 million dollars and grossed only a bit over 1 million dollars in the box office. The film got mixed to positive reviews with a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.2 on IMDb. The reason why people and critics may not have liked this film is because it jumps from genres throughout the run time. In the beginning you have a teen comedy/drama, in the middle you have a horror/thriller, and then in the end you have action. Though it was a little absurd to say the least it really didn't bother me that much. Smith is able to add humor into the film that works and doesn't feel forced in there just be there. Smith definitely builds tension and throws in a couple of shocks on the way as well. Throughout the film you're rooting for these boys to get out and escape, then the *beep* hits the fan. And for those of you who have watched the film you know what I'm talking about. When that part happens it feels like it was building up to something and then just flushed it down the toilet. That's my only issue with the film. People can say that it was too violent and too sexual or even too boring. Overall Smith went out of his comfort zone and made a very surprising film that I was going into thinking that it was going to suck. Props to Smith, he did good which he hasn't been doing lately.

Steppenwulf This is a really good film – don't let the rating fool you:-) Tight plot, no wasted scenes. Some great dark humour, but also a really tense main plot. It shows up everyone and everything for the foolishness it is: teenage lust, fire-and-brimstone preachers, government agencies, dogs (!), terrorist legislation, you name it and the film slams it. Do yourself a favour and see this film – please! That way you will not miss out some beautiful, vintage Kevin Smith dialogue: "What do you recon a cross like that costs?" — "You mean in dollars or in common sense?". So, to conclude – this is a film that deserves a lot rating that it has, in my opinion. Kevin Smith has never shied away from complicated topics and this is no exception. But the lightness of touch makes this film more of a tongue-in-cheek satire than some of his other much darker films.

Chris Whybrow Good God, what a waste of time.Watch this if you enjoy watching Special Agents do their job as badly as possible. Who would you root for in a fight between insane fundamentalists and a team of special agents? 'Red State' gives you the answer. Neither of them. This isn't a film about politics, or religion, or anything truly meaningful. It's a film about two groups of murderers trying to kill as many innocent people as possible. How enlightening.It also has one of the worst endings to a film I've ever seen. The shootout is resolved by a student prank, of all things, and then this is followed by two entirely irrelevant scenes that anyone remotely interested in the story would have no interest in whatsoever.And why is the film called 'Red State' anyway? To me that sounds like the title was stolen from a much better film about communism. Why couldn't they have made that film instead?