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548 comments in total

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101 out of 119 people found the following comment useful :-
A dark, graphic view into the underworld of pornography, 29 October 2004

Author: bealer from London

Firstly, this film is hugely under-rated. For those reviewers who call this film a "waste of time" or place it in the "hall of shame", maybe they should go back to watching more obvious and simple films.

8mm focuses on "snuff" movies and follows Nicholas Cage as he ventures into the dark underworld of the pornographic industry. I'm not a great fan of Nicholas Cage (I still wonder how he ever made it as a movie star), but in 8mm felt he redeemed himself from past performances. Other actors in the film put on great performances, notably Joaquin Pheonix, and James Gandolfini (of Sopranos).

What makes the film worth watching though is the emotion, dark imagery and tense moments throughout the film. The storyline too is very well thought out although does have a few holes and untouched areas that may have helped develop the film further. There is no Hollywood ending, forced propaganda, or marketing. What you do get is graphic scenes, moderate violence, and an insight into "snuff" movies (which really is quite disturbing).

Having said that this movie is not for the faint hearted, so if you're a "puppy-dogs and ice-cream" kind of person I'd suggest watching something else. If however, you feel you will be able to stomach such a film then prepare yourself for a moving film, which will leave you feeling that little bit darker at the end.

I highly recommend this film. 8/10

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104 out of 126 people found the following comment useful :-
Well made, but disturbing. Watch with care., 27 February 1999
Author: Viper2 from Helsinki

I walked into the movie theater last Friday not expecting at all what I was about to see. I'd heard about it, thought "Oh, another Seven". Same screenwriter, but I was way off track. I can stomach a lot, having no problem stuffing down popcorn during very graphic scenes. In 8MM, my coke had trouble going down. 8MM did not have consistent gory/violent scenes, but the way the movie was made made you fill in the blanks of what the makers of the movie could not screen. And if you pay attention and immerse yourself, you fill in more blanks than you really think you could, or want. As Max put it: "the devil changes you." The perversity and deep rottenness of the human minds displayed in 8MM is what disturbs you. Then you realize, that "snuff"-movies are real, that there are individuals twisted enough to endorse/enjoy/take part in it. And worst of all, that these individuals don't look like monsters, they're perhaps just overweight nearsighted men who look like your dad, your son, your brother, even yourself. And if you don't look out,(no matter how secluded you think you are in your suburban home, with a wife, a daughter, and a dog named Shep) you dive into the pit of perversion and rottenness as well, finding no way out. In conclusion: excellent music, acting very sufficient, the plot: a must see. Just don't bring popcorn, and prepare to walk out of the movie theatre disturbed, asking questions, and a little bit more suspicious of those walking around you, and yourself.

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45 out of 54 people found the following comment useful :-
Beware Of Brutal Topic, 3 May 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Wow, this is a tough subject but not as sordid a film as I figured it would be, although be warned the last 30 minutes are really rough in spots. Speaking of spots, this is a bloody movie in spots, too and very profane after the first 40 minutes. Yet, despite the unpleasant nature of the story (making a "snuff film" - filming the killing of people) it's a riveting one, well-acted and doesn't overdo the violence. The characters in here are some of the most despicable you could find - killer and porn kings.

Even our hero here, played by Nicholas Cage, starts off as a clean-cut fairly straight dude, and changes for the worst, too. Joaquin Phoenix has a good line in here, with the prophetic statement, "The devil doesn't change; he changes you."

James Gandolfini and Peter Stormare play characters about as bad you'll ever find in a movie. This film is not, as they say, for all tastes. It will turn off a lot of people but it is interesting and good revenge story, if you like that sort of thing and know what you're in for before watching this.

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61 out of 86 people found the following comment useful :-
A Haunting and disturbing Brilliant Realistic Masterpiece!!, 26 February 1999
Author: jeff hayes (jhvideostudio@webtv.net) from Massachusetts, USA

The intensely intriguing storyline of 8MM follows the haunting search by a private investigator (played superbly by Nicolas Cage) for the makers of a grotesque and disturbing snuff film in which a young woman is murdered. Starting by looking through endless missing persons files (in an attempt to identify the victim), Cage ultimately follows leads to the world of underground seaze films and the people who are involved in making them. Throughout his creepy investigation, Cage becomes more and more disturbed by the Snuff film and stops at nothing in an attempt to track down answers to what really happened. This film is So intriguing and suspenseful, there are scenes that will leave your heart pounding in anticipation of what's to come. I don't know if I have ever seen such an intriguing and suspenseful Drama/Thriller ever before! This film is so realistic, there are times when you feel as if what is going on is real, and you begin to feel more for the characters than you usually do in a film. The last 20 minutes of the film are heart pounding and breathtaking! Director Joel Schumacher delivers one of the most mind haunting dramas you will ever see and gives us a story that won't be easy to forget. It's dark, moody, creepy, brilliant, and disturbing! And when all the pieces finally come together, you'll be glad you went along for the ride. Wow, It's a sick world we live in!! I give this movie 4 out of 4 stars!

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37 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
Joel Schumacher's eerie masterpiece, 7 February 2006

Author: naturalborndirector from asteroid B-612

It has always been a puzzle to me why the public opinion was always against Joel Schumacher. I never understood even why THEY decided that Schumacher's BATMANS were so horrifically worse than Burton's & probably I will never understand the reasons of 8mm's undervaluation. This film took me in it's stranglehold from the very first frame & kept me pressed tight to the back of my seat until the end; the tension was so high that it made my heart beat faster. This dark, exciting & terrifying journey to the vaults of the deepest underground of the movie industry. For me personally it was an exploration of a totally new world, I had no idea even what SNUFF FILM meant until I saw 8mm. I was shocked to learn that somewhere out there some people are filming scenes of actual murder & torture of real people & that these 'films' even have loyal following & that there even are some cult snuff film directors. Thus the story is dark, no signs of light here & this maybe is even disturbing in some sense, but it's never boring, it's never pale, it's never flawed. In contrary it's exciting & thrilling. I think that Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay of 8mm is one of the best scripts ever written. This is a perfect screenplay. Story developing is like a roller-coaster with no descents, like a one way up; each next event in the film stands on a higher level of dramatic effect saturation than the previous one. This makes viewers' nerves strain tighter & by the end they are ready to break. & this brilliant screenplay is brilliantly translated into frames, into the film. Everything from direction, through production design, cinematography, editing to lighting in this film is matched perfectly to create a dark atmosphere & keep the DC voltage high, to make the viewer experience the same shock, confusion & horror as the main character, to make the viewer care for real.

For me 8mm is a celebration, it's a marvel, the magic (though dark) world which will absorb you into itself, which will make you forget everything other & let you travel through the unforgettable cinematic adventure.

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29 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
Disquieting but effective for mature audiences. *** out of ****., 9 March 2000

Author: Blake French (dlfspartan@aol.com) from Michigan, USA

8MM / (1999) ***

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Catherine Keener, and Amy Morton Directed by Joel Schumacher. Written by Andrew Kevin Walker. Running time: 123 minutes. Rated R (for strong sexual content, nudity, violence, and for strong language).

By Blake French:

Joel Schumacher's new disquieting thriller, "8MM," is the kind of movie that starts out hesitantly calm, but contains an atmosphere where potentially detestable material may become apparent, as if the film is preparing us for something much more bellicose. Sure enough, a half hour into the picture, we take possession of plot points regarding subjects beyond human imagination. Our very effective condition propels us into a sleazy world of hard core adult contents. "8MM" is a tense, dramatic production with tantalizing dialogue and a driving theme of action. There is a scene in the film in which a character explains a relative, although somewhat overlooked, concept. "When you dance with the devil, you don't change the devil--the devil changes you," he declares as he walks down a long, dark ally with another character.

Nicolas Cage stars as Tom Welles, a highly acclaimed private detective living with his wife Amy (Catherine Keener), and their newborn son in a homey, relaxed country house. As the film opens, he is called upon by the widow of an important political man, Mrs. Mathews (Amy Morton). This elderly woman has discovered the contents of her late husband's secret safe and his extremely concerned about some of them. Most of the objects found in the safe are normal. One in particular, however, a film strip, is not what you would call ordinary, but suspicious and concealed. Mrs. Mathews explains to Tom what he will see on this tape is something of unimaginable terror. Tom views the 8mm tape, watching in horror as a young girl is raped and brutally beaten to death in front of a camera operator, a silent viewer, and a muscular man wearing all sorts of S&M clothing. The well-developed conflict brought to our attention at this point: Mrs. Matthews is requiring Tom to find out if the tragic events that occur on tape are real or not, and if her husband had anything to do with this atrocity.

Welles opens a missing person's case and reports to his wife that he will be away for a few weeks on duty. He first searches through countless files containing young kidnapping victims. The results: a fifteen year old girl named Marianne who ran away from home six years ago with the company of her boyfriend as they were heading towards Hollywood, California. Next, he converses with several key characters including her depressed mother, a scruffy acquaintance, and her so called boyfriend who is now serving time in prison. He claims Marianne ran off to work at a strip club. These characters point Tom in the direction of an underworld of "snuff" movies, where he meets an adult book store clerk named Max California (Joaquin Phoenix). He and Max become friends. After some negotiating, our fellow porn genius agrees to share his knowledge with Tom and lead him to the makers of the 8mm snuff film. There we meet Eddie Poole, a perverted photographer, (James Gandolfini), Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare), a disquieted man who believes smut to be a form of art, and The Machine, the man in the S&M mask who murdered Marianne in the video Mrs. Mathews found.

"8MM" has an excellently developed setup. A setup that indicates us on the snuff film, as well as the setting, character motives, personalities, dramatic premise, and plot points. The only component that is missing is the history and or in depth elaboration on Tom Welles. With such an important character, one who drives the entire narrative through line, we need to feel a lot of empathy so that we may root for him. Unfortunately, the filmmakers present the audience with only the minimum introduction. The side characters are also descriptive. In their own presence, contribute to both the story and atmosphere.

Director Joel Schumacher's work has always been some of my favorite. With movies like "Falling Down," "Flawless," and "Batman & Robin," I was never expecting him to construct a dark, grim, film such as "8MM." This feature is tasteless and nasty, repulsive and unsettling--while all these bases are relentless within the context of the plot. No doubt many audiences will be offended throughout, perhaps even to the point of where they walk out of the theater. This is a production on the verge of an NC-17 rating and is adult in every atom of its being. The perverse and gritty character motives and mature subject matters all fitted appropriately here, but the film still goes over the top in many areas.

Some of the movie's characters are a bit too obvious. The villain, for instance, I could predict from the first five minutes he is on screen. Whenever there is a character who seems to have no cause or purpose in the plot, he is normally the bad guy. Here, although the character twists are effective and the casting is brilliant, we receive several clinches that many views will be able to detect immediately.

Nicolas Cage is obviously the right choice for Tom Welles, a man who is more submissive than brutal, but is placed in a situation where deep down he desires bloodshed, but knows his morals challenge him otherwise. "8MM" is a movie that frolics with this character's emotions and values, and at the same time lives up to a premise that is way out of his league.

Brought to you by Columbia Pictures.

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30 out of 49 people found the following comment useful :-
Disturbing, 25 August 1999

Author: Sean Gallagher (naes@cgocable.net) from Oakville, Ont. Canada

Admittedly, I haven't seen a lot, if any, of the movies or read the books other people have said have covered this territory already, but I found myself caught up in the story and not bored or thinking, "Ho-hum." I haven't liked Joel Schumacher lately(his two BATMAN movies were a joke, and A TIME TO KILL was exploitation at its worst), but this one was pretty good. Admittedly, like in A TIME TO KILL, this sometimes comes close to an exploitation movie(particularly through the performances of James Gandolfini and Peter Stormare), but that's only part of the time. Most of the time you feel sadness and outrage, and like in Schumacher's very good FALLING DOWN, you aren't asked to condone Cage's actions near the end, you're just asked to understand them.

This might not be the type of part Cage is known for, but I found him compelling in the role(and if something upsets the man who ate a cockroach on film, you KNOW it's heavy-duty stuff). I do admit the film would have been a little unrelenting without the presence of Joaquin Phoenix, though; he was like a breath of fresh air, and I liked how matter-of-fact he was. I can't say I enjoyed this movie, but I'm not sorry I saw it.

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25 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :-
Fantastic!!, 30 October 2002

Author: Mike Durham from Hayes, Middlesex, England

8MM was a very dark and powerful film featuring the seedy underground world of pornography and snuff movies. It was, to be frank, fantastic. Nic Cage, rapidly becoming one of my favourite actors, walks through with a disgusted air and even Joaquin Phoenix, who I've never been that impressed with, hit the nail as a porn shop manager

Deeply disturbing, yes. Highly compelling, yes. A good buy... you bet!

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20 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
A solid thriller!, 3 February 2002

Author: Le Froque

Some sensitive-minded people may surely be disturbed by the dark revenge and self-justice in this film, but "Se7en"-author Andrew Kevin Walker has done another fine work with his script! Although the storyline is obviously taken from Paul Schrader´s "Hardcore" (1974,?) the film is suspense-packed, violent and endowed with good performances of its actors, especially Peter Stormare did a brilliant job with playing the weird bondage-porn director Dino Velvet! I also was truly surprised how good director Joel Schumacher had created a morbid atmosphere, just in unhappy memory of his disastrous "Batman & Robin"-flick..! Another pleasant fact is, that "8MM" doesn´t deal with the Hollywood-typical stereotypes and clichés, so finally we´ve got something we could really call a dirty mainstream production - or at least a nice try of it!

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12 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Ridiculous., 29 March 2001

Author: snooweatinganima from Mainz, Germany

This movie was one of the worst I've ever seen, it did not left out a single clichee one could imagine about a Hollywood-so-called-Thriller. The protagonist is a loving father & a private investigator who is engaged in a special task: finding out if a suspected "snuff" movie is real.

Certainly, he get's involved deeper & deeper, smeary pornoshops (run by mexicans) & sex theatres are his field of investigation as he's searching for the murderers of the woman in the "snuff" movie. Assisted by a "smart" (he read a book) sexshop employee, he's catching up with a murderous bondage-film producer and his personal perverts who are responsible for the film... ...and what do you expect? They are portrayed as the simple evil, no need for explanations, backgrounds, history: they are the bad ones, and he's the purifier. Boom. Killer of the killers. End of film. Is it that bad? Yes, I'm afraid so.

Ironically, "machine" (the mega-pervert who did the killing) is even pointing at his ridiculous character: In the last scene, our hero forces "machine" to put off his leather mask (yep, of course he's wearing one) and recognizes that "machine" looks just like the normal 08/15 guy from the street. Then "machine" says: "blablabla I'm not a monster, my parents never abused me, I had a nice childhood, I just love to do what I do!"

I just love to kill people. Yeah, sure, "everybody loves killing people" (Bender). It's not only the total lack of character what made this film so boring, it's also it's ugly "I have to kill these people"-attitude which makes you sick. In one scene, our hero has tied up one of the killers and tries to shoot him...but he can't. So what does he do? He calls the mother of the killed woman, says that her child is killed and asks her whether she loved her child so much that she wishes to see the killers dead. The mother cries yes, she'd love her child, he goes back to the tied killer and slaughters him.

To come to the point: This film is breathing the foul air of lynchmob-supporters (certainly the police does not play any role in it), moralizes in a ridiculous form against pornography, does not take it's characters serious and wastes your time with a stupid plot. Probably the only good thing about this film is that it does not try to pseudo-psycho-analyze ... even that would be too much plot.

Don't waste your time with this.

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