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30 out of 46 people found the following review useful:
Contemptible bilge, 12 August 2004
Author: matlock-6 from Chicago, IL

Bumfights is a "direct to video" DVD that showcases staged fights between homeless people. The homeless are baited with promises of some food or cheap prizes and goaded into pummelling each other into bloody pulp.

The makers of this disgusting tripe should be taken to Cabrini Green in Chicago and made to go toe to toe with hordes of bums. They should get beaten up, allowed to rest, then beaten again. By the most psychotic bums available. Payback galore.

People who take advantage of others who suffer from mental disorders, drug/alcohol addiction and who have no money should not be allowed to market this kind of garbage. It's capitalistc opportunism at its worst.

Bumfights is the most vile, contemptible thing I've ever seen. The makers should be in prison.

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26 out of 41 people found the following review useful:
Disgusting, Cruel, Inhuman, 9 August 2003
Author: Mike Cucinotta from NY

I'm a fan of shock cinema. I like digusting, gory, cruel movies that take horrible images and drive them into your skull. I also like documentries, many serving a valuable purpose in exposing issues that are often ignored.

Bumfights, however, is not a documentry. It is not "shock cinema". It is a group of inhumane monsters in their early 20's who apparently think it's a funny to attack homeless people while they're sleeping, tie them up, and spray paint them.

This is not funny--it's evidence of assault & battery.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Something of a misrepresentation, 2 January 2003
Author: Selish70 from Brooklyn, NY

All right, I'll review this thing. I'm up to it. And I'll put the bottom line at the top: don't waste your money. Check it out as a curiosity if it's free but don't spend your coin.

The vast majority of the fights in the uh, film, don't involve bums, but rather teenage yahoos that have been watching too much "Jackass". Bad news that most of them appear to survive, which means that they will almost certainly reproduce. Watching fights on TV between people I don't know and who don't appear to be battling for any moral principle - real or percieved - isn't as compelling as you might think. I think the WWF realizes that, which is why they brew up a story to which the "fight" is the last act. Not so here. The fight is the whole entire play, and it's an unsatisfying one-act.

"Supermodel" Angela Taylor is there. Not much else to say about her.

The "Bumhunter" segments sound hilarious when you hear about them, but the don't live up to an actual viewing. It's not that the guy playing the Bumhunter isn't funny - he is - but most of the bums are just tired and seem content to wait for this weirdo to bug off once he's had his fun. Not that they have any real choice in the matter in some cases...

Best part are some of the pranks and stunts. I admit I laughed quite a few times at the (attempted) destruction of property and other idiocy. I don't know, there's just something about a guy pummelling a drive thru menu/intercom that I find amusing, probably because I've wanted to do it a few times myself.

This video might be worth an hour of your time, but as I said, borrow a friend's.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Depressing material for humans with no empathy, 6 January 2006
2/10
Author: fertilecelluloid from Mountains of Madness

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This comprises lots of "Jackass"-style hijinks and some "stunts" with real bums (homeless people). The bums are offered cash to fight with each other and hurt themselves. The modus operandi of the obnoxious jerks who made this video is highly questionable. The word "exploitation" does spring to mind. In one scene, one of the young jerks sets fire to a bum. We're supposed to laugh, I guess. I didn't. The video is a product of people who have lost their empathy for others. Similar people will enjoy it. The rest will find the video depressing and sad. I am a big fan of extreme movies, but I am not a fan of the deliberate gross and malicious treatment of socially and economically disadvantaged human beings. A sequel followed (not listed on IMDb) that assembled the type of real death and torture footage found on ogrish.com onto one tape. It is equally depressing and, without context, numbing. If these videos represent the "future" of the entertainment "underground", where can they go next?

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
L.A. Cold, 28 July 2004
Author: dans_la_lune from Vancouver

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Spoilers...

I'm reasonably sure there wasn't a single fight between two homeless people throughout the whole film. In that light, the producers claims to expose the nature of conflict resolution amongst the homeless are hubris. The producers further claim to report on growing homelessness and global hypocrisy and other topics cadged from university seminars. How? By subjecting said homeless to humiliation and physical injury.

Here's an observation - if anyone's thinking about making a video similar to this, watch the last 'Bumhunter' episode again. A hypodermic needle is plainly visible on the ground amongst the homeless guy's effects. During the ensuing scuffle between the 'Bumhunters' and the target, the Bumhunter in black will charge right over top of the needle, while the Bumhunter in khaki is bitten by the homeless guy. I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them made the biggest mistake of their lives.

The real reason it was made was to raise their profile and make money for feature films. I hear van der Beek's available; put him in plastic restraints and leave the street people alone.

2/10

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
A Cause For Concern Or A Guilty Pleasure?, 17 June 2006
6/10
Author: Ross Dixon from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This film has its ups and downs. I must say that the fights between high school kids featured in this film where pretty dull but certain parts did keep me laughing. Rufus is a legend in the making and Bling Bling the crack dealer in my opinion is one of the funniest characters I have seen in any film whether it is independent or mainstream. Some of it I think is OK as long as the 'bums' agree to do it and enjoy doing it. If they're willing to do anything for a couple of dollars without hesitation it's only fun. One of the things on this DVD I was slightly... I'll say dis-encouraged by was the sections of the film called 'Bumhunter' where one of the crew dressed up as the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin with a similar accent find bums that are sleeping on the streets and proceeds to tie them up with safety cord and duck tape and in some cases spray paint on their sleeping bags. In my opinion this kind of prank should be kept for the passed out best friend at a party. Please don't view me as a sympathetic person because in most cases I'm not, but there is definitely a borderline between what is funny and entertaining and what is unfair. I would say that you should check it out, just to see what you think about it and if you think it is exploiting the homeless or any of that crap you can show us what you think on this site or you can start another lawsuit against the creators.

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7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Disgusting and sick., 12 July 2006
1/10
Author: Gabriel Jungestrand from Sweden

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This movie must be the sickest ever. The producers behind this movie, are some, well, sick bastards. Even sicker than you can imagine. If you thought you had seen horrifying movies before, this is worse.

They attack a homeless man lying asleep, tie him up and hit him hard. That was too much for me. I had to puke. Sick. Filthy. The youngsters' fist-fighting was not a problem, although they obviously fought because the camera was actually there.

It should be banned in more countries than it already is. Don't see Bumfights, that's my point with this review. Neither should you support it by buying it. The producers don't deserve your money.

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8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
This is Sick Crap Tis True But I'M LOVING IT!, 28 July 2006
10/10
Author: Wolf (alphaspace) from Baltimore, Maryland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I brought the movie knowing full well it would contain homeless dope addicts and drunks slugging it out. I live in Baltimore, Maryland and the fights and beat downs you see on this DVD is no worse than anything you see in the wrong parts of Baltimore or in any other major American city. Truth is when the rigid blinder wearing plastic liberal office mice all climb into their nice metal cages, or crawl into subway for their daily scurry back out to the relative safety of the their rich suburban gated communities BRUTAL REALITY REIGN'S ONCE MORE IN THE DARK Foreboding FORGOTTEN CORNERS OF AN INNER CITY. HAPLESS BUMS DRUNKS AND ADDICTS LURK LIKE INNER CITY PIGEONS, ALWAYS IN PLAIN VIEW YET NEVER TRULY NOTICED BY HURRIED DAYTIME SOULS SO ENGROSSED IN FULL MEANINGFUL LIVES THEY FORGET TO CARE! These Bum Fight videos are an unflinching look at the ugly reality of the pathetic lives some people CHOOSE TO LEAD under the cover of urban twilight! Being a total bum is a choice. I am disabled; I once lived on section 8, a tiny disability check, eating free government cheese, butter and such. I was poor but I had my honor and dignity. But I chose to live with dignity; I did not drink, do drugs, or engage in criminal behavior. I spent my money wisely so while I was not rich I survived nicely thank you. You see being poor is not an excuse to become a drunken bum. Being a drunken bum or an addict is a choice a person makes and they alone are responsible for their choice.

Last time I checked no one demands at gun point that a drunk drink himself silly. No one makes a dope addict shoot up. No one makes a crack addict light up. No one forces a crystal methamphetamine freak to destroy themselves. Bum's fight in these DVD's for weird reasons that make sense only if their weird twisted logic is used. Bums fight on these DVD's for the exact same reasons that motivate all the other lame self destructive stupid things homeless people do. Some chronic street people are into a self destructive lifestyle. Some bums enjoy living life on the edge because they like the thrill of cheating death or living life totally on THEIR OWN SELFISH TERMS! The DVD is funny to me only because these bums made their life choices to become dope addicted, homeless, drunken outcasts fodder for this type of DVD. Likewise these bums made their choice to fight and act up for the quick fix offered by a lame prize, pocket change or cheap booze. I would not have made such a decision for myself but, I don't fault others for doing things I would not choose myself. I do not do drugs but if someone else wants to do them I will warn them it is a bad choice and if they still want to be a dope addict I wave goodbye while watching them sail toward a date certain with personal and financial ruin. Bum's have the right to fight in these stupid DVD's for weak prizes if they want to because, of something we call personal freedom. If all the bum fighters in the DVD agree to the terms of the game they have every right to express and display their sick passions however they want.

I have no moral high horse. If all the bums in the DVD agree to fight and the film makers have signed releases from legally competent parties, I say let the games begin. We all know that increasingly what is legal in our free society is seldom moral. I say if you are offended by these DVD's on high tone moral grounds no one is forcing you to buy or watch the DVD's anymore than the bums were forced to take part in making them. If you don't like the bum fight DVD's steer clear of the DVD's do not buy them but, leave those who want to watch these Bum fight DVD's alone. For all legal activities like watching bums fight in a capitalist society, thriving markets exist with patrons aching to buy their vulgar wares.

These DVD's are no worse than watching toothless hillbillies and poor ignorant folk get provoked into staged fighting on the lamest trash TV talk shows. Bring hillbillies, poor blacks and whites to Chicago let them stay in fine hotels for a few days, eat in nice places and all they have to do in return is brawl on TV for a few minutes like the mindless thugs they are. Curse pull out each others weaves, tear off shirts, pants whatever, punch each other into bloody pulp and thereby reinforce the most negative stereotypes of blacks, poor whites in trailer parks and country hill folk. These Bum fight DVD's are just a variation on an ugly theme feeding a need in America for this sort of gritty no holds barred reality entertainment. The Blood lust is not new it goes back to Roman times. The blood lust in America is already wide spread and this Bum fight DVD is just feeding the need and people who hate these Bum Fight DVDS need to just get over it!

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8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
!!!------PLEASE, do NOT watch!-------!!!, 2 March 2005
1/10
Author: Koobrik from Illinois

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I myself had the misfortune of watching this garbage, and suffice it to say it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. When I watched I was almost unaware of what was happening, because I was so shocked by the contents of the film. I was told it was an 'expository documentary' and it was funny, but believe me when I say it doesn't pass for either. I never been one for censorship, so let me leave it to your judgment to choose not to watch this film.

If you are someone like I am, your interest in this film was generated by some vague recommendation that sparked some curiosity. I urge you not to view under any circumstances.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
I'm going to him what a broken ankle is all about -------- Bums funny !!!, 17 November 2002
Author: James Zeiss (brliqq) from Bronx, N.Y.

Humorous collection of Bum stunts and fights, with the Bumhunter{spoof of the Crocidile Hunter) to degrade people who get degraded anyway. Mixed in this reality video is a number of street fights and other altercations, mostly consisting of teenagers. The star of the show is definatly the Bum Rufus, with the help of his sidekick Donald. By far the best editing was when Rufus picks up a mallet and comments on a broken ankle. The only complaint I would have is that there is more of the Teen fighting which gets dry after a while. Would be better if there was more Bum footage. No problem, I guarantee there will be sequels as well as copycat reality Bum video's, which is unfortunatly the direction of today's entertainment world.

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