Poorly developed, 8mm is anything but a pretty picture.
8MM (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:78
Fresh:17
Rotten:61
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Its sadistic violence is unappealing and is lacking in suspense and mystery.
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Nicholas Cage plays Tom Welles, a straight-laced surveillance specialist. His innocent, naive world begins to unravel when he is hired by the widow of an industrialist to investigate what she has... Nicholas Cage plays Tom Welles, a straight-laced surveillance specialist. His innocent, naive world begins to unravel when he is hired by the widow of an industrialist to investigate what she has shockingly discovered in her late husband's safe. It appears to be a snuff film of a young girl being murdered. In order to discover the truth, he must enter the city's seedy underworld, guided by porn-store clerk Max California (Joaquim Phoenix, LADDER 49). [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Peter Stormare, Anthony Heald, Chris Bauer
Director: Joel Schumacher
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriter: Andrew Kevin Walker
Producer: Joel Schumacher, Judy Hofflund, Gavin Polone
Composer: Mychael Danna
Reviews for 8MM
There's no faulting Cage's committed, intense performance, but his slide from professional, internalised concern into personal, self-righteous rage still leaves a nasty aftertaste.
The issues and atmosphere are forgotten in favour of a brash action climax.
My advice is get drunk, cook dinner, watch infomercials or do your taxes -- anything to keep those two hours for yourself.
In the end, the surprise plot twists make perfect sense, and it becomes clear that the mystery that's supposed to be driving the suspense was obvious from the beginning.
Has none of the mystery or suspense that helped Seven rise above the filth in which it sought to wallow.
The idea of snuff films is presented as so obnoxious that it disgusts even the slimiest porn peddlers.
The premise is interesting, although disturbing, but the film strikes out on three pitches.
Walker and Schumacher have made a rather ordinary picture with an ironically self-righteous mean streak.
Watching Eight Millimeter is like seeing the basement torture scene in Pulp Fiction expanded to film length, but with the kinky overlay of wit removed, and only the vile sadism left.
8MM doesn't condemn or condone its subject matter, it just exploits it.
Just when we thought Mel Gibson had plumbed the lowest depths of big-studio nastiness in Payback, along comes Nicolas Cage to do him one better.
Joel Schumacher's "8 MM" jumps into the underworld of pornography as quickly as a scared rabbit scurries under a fence.
A movie that keeps jumping the gate and finally unravels all over the floor.
Latest News for 8MM
February 04, 2007:
Joel Schumacher Lost in "Lost Boys" Sequel
Fans of '80s movies, cool vampire horror or The Coreys Haim and Feldman have all awaited the possibility of a "Lost Boys 2." But the idea that Warner Brothers might... More...
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