User reviews

Now, I am familiar with the director's questionable reputation and I am aware that Uwe Boll bashing is quite a popular sport on Internet forums (heck, I also agree that most of his movies are utter rubbish), but there are a couple of remarkable things about this man's career that you can't possibly neglect and even have to admire in some strange sort of way. First of all, the man is a hard laborer. Few directors have released an average of four movies per year, especially when they also write and produce their own garbage. Secondly, Boll's repertoire is getting more and more versatile and accessible to wider audiences lately. Initially he specialized in adaptations of gory video games, but recently he made cynical comedies ("Postal") as well as action flicks ("Far Cry") and gritty thrillers ("Seed"). And then last but not least, the man is not ashamed to experiment, innovate and – if necessary – to blunder ingloriously. This newly released movie "Stoic", for example, all things considered it turned out a failure, but nevertheless a mild and intriguing one with still a whole lot of merits and praiseworthy factors. I feel I should start with a warning to the squeamish, as "Stoic" is a deeply unpleasant movie with an unceasingly guttural atmosphere and a large amount of inhumanly barbarous shock sequences. At the Fantastic Film Festival in my native country, where Uwe Boll and lead actor Edward Furlong came to introduce the film themselves, several people walked out of the theater because they couldn't cope with the harshness of certain bits of footage. I realize this works as a recommendation more than as a warning, but be advised this is not a movie for everyone. You'll notice during the opening sequences, or here on the film's website page as well, that nobody is credited for writing "Stoic". That is simply because there isn't a screenplay. Uwe Boll based the concept on true events as they occurred in a German prison in 2006 and only gave the most principal of instructions as his cast of four improvised all their lines and dialogs at the spot. This is obviously a risky undertaking, but admittedly it suits the tone of the film which is primitive and raw. Four petty criminals share a minuscule cell and spend most of their days playing poker and exchanging stories on how bad-ass they are. One day, a game of poker runs out of hand and the mentally weakest of the four – Mitch – loses a bet which ordered him to eat a complete tube of toothpaste. He stubbornly refuses and the other three team up against him. What starts out as a silly macho contest quickly escalates into a sick-spirited and vile series of humiliation, torture, vicious rape, mutilation and eventually inflicted suicide. "Stoic" is imaginatively structured, with interview scenes of the three culprits mixed with the footage of what actually happened inside those four prison walls. Initially the three convicts claim it was an ordinary case of suicide, but the truth gradually comes to the surface as they only want to protect themselves and begin to blame the other ones of having the lead. The main malfunction of this movie is that it actually has no reason of existence. It's an exploitative and unimaginably gratuitous piece of torture-porn without added psychological or socialist value whatsoever. Boll pretends to give an insight in human behavior, but basically only stills his own personal hunger for sleaze and violence. We only know the formula is based on true events, but this film draws its own conclusions that are unquestionably far more sensational and grotesque than what really happened. There clearly went very little research into this production prior to shooting, so it would be immensely hypocritical to label "Stoic" as a dramatic portrait of our modern day prison system. Nevertheless I don't want to criticize Mr. Boll's accomplishment any further, as he definitely improved a great deal when it comes to directorial skills and competence. You can sense that he was in control of his filming set and had the luck of working with four adequate young actors, including Edward Furlong and Sam Levinson. "Stoic" is a mean and uncomfortable film that I don't exactly intend to watch again any time soon, but it's undeniably a memorable and out-of-the-ordinary experience.

Stoic is a 2009 film directed by Uwe Boll about four cellmates and a poker game that goes from bad to worse, to horrific. It's unnerving, disturbing, and sad.

Stoic is the kind of movie that if you watch it at all, you will probably only watch it once. Because, although the acting in the film is very good the stories subject matter is very difficult to sit through. The characters are raw and unapologetic, The setting will make you feel claustrophobic, and the end will leave you speechless.

This is not a film that I can say I enjoy, but if you like hard to watch movies then this is one that you shouldn't be disappointed with.

The events in this movie happened a few years ago in a German youth-prison, exactly like director/writer Uwe Boll tells. I researched and found accurate reports from that time on some German online newspapers. The only fiction in the movie may be the interviews with the offenders, but their's and the victim's character's have many similarities with the real ones.

People may detest this unusual movie, because it's really merciless with the audience, and the audience here may not be the same like in some other Boll movies. But in this case brutality is not shown to entertain, entertaining graphic violence has mostly a fictional aspect, which is not present here, it is shown to make the audience uncomfortable, to disturb.

To watch this movie means to participate with, to be in a small room together with three young men who are torturing and killing another one, who is too weak to help himself. And we can't help him.

Boll did his homework for this movie. The story follows exactly the real events, the young actors are very believable - for me Furlong does the most convincing part - the dissecting camera is always where it should (not) be, and the cut is well-made to give the audience some air to breathe; at least we get some insights about what drives such twisted minds.

Stoic is not a big movie, it's not for a big audience at all. It's not even an artwork. But it's a good, honest documentary horror movie about what people are able to do if civilization is only a few steps away.

Let me start off by saying this is the lowest rating I have ever given a movie. Thats just how bad it is. To begin with, it's not a film. More like mindless snuff and torture porn elements that will make you puke. This doesn't qualify as a film. It simply is something you make for fun, or just to show how ignorant you are. What a cruel, and distasteful film. With bad acting and directing from, god help us, Uwe Boll.

Uwe Boll has been criticized for the worst director of all time. In which is a dubious honor, but must be awarded, like all, in opinion. I have to say anyone who thinks Boll's directing or overall work is great needs to watch this trash. Its a cold and heartless "movie" that is just the worst you can expect from anybody. Even Uwe Boll.

The film is supposedly a non-fiction tale about four cellmates who get into a heated poker game which results in the quiet cellmate not living up to his bet of eating an entire tube of toothpaste if he looses the hand. He is brutally beaten and forced the toothpaste down his throat. That is only the icing on the abuse cake. He is rapes, beaten, mutilated, and left for dead in most cases. What kind of film is this? A crappy, low class mess that should've been scrapped when the idea was pitched.

I honestly had to blink twice to see that Edward Furlong. Funny man from Detroit Rock City is in this crap. Honestly, I couldn't believe it. Maybe those drug problems gave him some bad karma. Who knows. Stoic is one of the few Uwe Boll films that is not based off a video game of the same name or concept. If this was a video game I couldn't expect it being banned seeing the movie wasn't. Althoug, I don't think the goal of raping and mutilating a man for no good reason is a great concept for a film.

My uncle warned me about this film, but since I'm an idiot, I must see or have the "forbidden fruit". If he said this movie caused Cancer I would have watched it. I'm sorry to say this, and would hate to again. He was right. The film sucked. An easy candidate for the worst film of 2009, and a possible candidate for the top five worst films ever.

Starring: Edward Furlong, Shaun Sipos, Sam Levinson, and Steffen Mennekes. Directed by: Uwe Boll.

Let me first say I didn't rent this movie, one of my co-workers did. We work nights and he put the movie on, so I couldn't leave work to avoid this atrocity! I didn't watch the entire movie, but heard it all.

This movie actually ended up creating a long debate (which we all agree was the point of the movie). I felt that this movie had merit with the story, and agree that it needed to be told, but the imagery was nothing more than shock and gore factor (I agree with other reviews that it borders on sadistic porn).

In my option, a good director should be able to get a point across about how horrific something is, without having to resort to horrific images.

The movie ended with some redeeming points, but over all this movie made me wonder what's wrong with human beings (both the criminals who originally committed the crimes, and the people involved in making this movie).

After a game of poker takes a turn for the dark side, three inmates find themselves trying to cover up the brutal beating and torture of the fourth inmate in their cell. Stoic, starring Edward Furlong, Shaun Sipos, Sam Levinson, and Steffen Mennekes leads you through the horrible acts, using flashbacks and interview style Q&A with the inmates involved. Stoic is also based on the true story of an inmate from a German juvenile detention center, who was brutalized by fellow cellies.

I had huge doubts going into this movie knowing that it was directed by Uwe Boll, Who's only movies I had been exposed to before this were video game related. The fact that I happen to be a big Edward Furlong fan caused me to give this flick a try. After all, If I was able to sit through the third crow film, I can survive anything. This movie takes every fear a man has about going into the prison system, and rolls it up into one nonstop ride of fear, and uneasiness. The worse case scenario of jail is unfolded in front of you in a very graphic and unforgiving manor. You can really feel the tension rise to higher and higher levels as things continue to spiral further out of control with each passing minute. It's very rare a movie ever makes me truly feel sorry for a victim, because I'm always able to tell myself it's just a movie, it's all in good fun. Stoic does a really impressive job at making you feel for the young man being tortured for no real reason at all.

Now, the things that bothered me about this film, first of all, when in prison, guards check on cells on a pretty frequent time frame, it seemed like a lot of time passed in this movie with no guard in site, beyond when they got food. Of course, that can be overlooked, but there is one scene in the film which I won't spoil just for the sake that some of you may go watch this after reading this, but let's just say huge shenanigans called on the red button incident with no one double checking on the claim made.

With that said I'm shocked, and kind of disturbed to say I enjoyed an Uwe boll movie, and not just because Edward furlong was involved. I was very impressed with the raw, and realistic nature of the film for the most part, and also its ability to make you feel something. I recommend you give it a watch, especially you Netflix users out there, as it is currently viewable via instaqueue.

7/10 - Ritualistic The Liberal Dead http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

I have always been a big fan of eddie furlong's so when i saw his name on the cover of this film at the video store i of course wanted to rent it, that is until i saw who had directed it now i know the very large stigma that comes with anything uwe boll directs but never the less i rented it anyway hoping that perhaps it would not be the same as some of his other films i have seen.

Wow. just wow, i don't really know how to explain my feelings on this film. Firstly i would like to say that this is in no means what so ever a bad film it is in fact the opposite, it blew me away. I was incredibly surprised at how quickly it had drawn me in, the acting was impeccable and the story absolutely heartbreaking. Certain scenes had me sitting in front of my television mouth agape with tears in my eyes which is very unexpected from a Uwe Boll film.

I am absolutely serious when i say watch this film, it will make up for a lot of the disappointments that came from his previous works. This movie says a lot about the human condition and the things we will do to save our own asses.

I watched two Uwe Boll movies in the past 24 hours (the other being Rampage) most primarily because they were both available for free streaming through Netflix as a result of their direct-to-video release (which is not a good sign). Let me say, unequivocally that Uwe Boll should never be allowed to direct another film. Period! He has besmirched the good names of countless video game franchises, and now he has taken a stab at a serious story. Prison movies have a knack for being easy home-runs for directors (see Shawshank Redemption, Escape from Alcatraz, American History X, The Green Mile, etc.) But somehow, Boll has ineptly chosen a story which relies almost entirely on shock-value to upset the viewer into thinking they have watched something of substance. At its best the film is ridiculous, and at its worst it borders on "gore porn." By the way, where the heck are the prison guards? I have a friend or two who have spent some time in lock-up, and they've informed me that it's nearly impossible to pick your nose without a C.O. peeking in on you. The idea that these guys somehow turned their cell into a 10 hour non-stop torture oasis is laughable. It just couldn't happen. The story makes no sense. There are an infinite number of bad stories out there, but only a handful of directors incompetent enough to think of making one into a movie. The reason this film gets two stars rather than one is because Edward Furlong reminds me of his hey-day in T2: Judgment Day. That, and that alone, is the redeeming factor in this film.

It's very rare for me to watch a movie rated below 5 stars on IMDb. But I have only watched one of Uwe Boll's films; Rampage. Which I loved. So I thought I would give this one a shot, and I was extremely surprised. This movie triumphs movies I've watched with a 7 star rating.

The movie has a way a putting you in with those cell mates on that night when a poker game goes awry, seriously awry. You see the struggle for power, and how far they will actually go to maintain their stature in the hierarchy. It's interesting to see the confessions play linearly to it, and how their story changes as the movie progresses. And I loved the acting, it was fantastic.

So all I have to say, is if you wanna see a horrific and heart wrenching night in a prison cell, watch this film.

I don't really get all the Uwe Boll bashers out there. I don't watch his video game films because, quite frankly, I think if you want to have a video game experience you should PLAY a video game. Call me crazy.

I watched "Stoic" because I loved "Rampage"---I loved the originality of it, I admired it's clarity of vision, and I liked the outlandishness of the piece. Boll's "I-don't-give-a-f***" attitude definitely did show through in that hyper-violent orgasm and it does so again with "Stoic."

What's odd about "Stoic" is that it would almost play better as a stage production. It's based on a real event that occurred in a German prison, where a harmless dare escalated into deadly consequence. It's really pretty simple, as Sam Levinson states in the preamble: "This system doesn't work!" And why should it? You put four guys in one small room, with varying degrees of maladaptive personalities, subject them to endless tedium and little activity---what do you think would happen? There is a reason why most US prisons don't do four-to-a-cell, after all.

The acting is very good for the most part (Levinson gets a bit melodramatic, but it's passable). Furlong is creepily chilling in his passive-aggressiveness. It's not the type of movie that generates a lot of tension (probably why few people like it). It does generate DREAD however and it isn't pleasant to watch even in a sicko-torture-porn type of way...there are no "oh wow" EFX...it's just...degrading. Would I watch it again? Probably not. Would I recommend it to my parents? Hell no.

Yet, I find myself giving it a relatively high-score. For those interested in how group dynamics tend to obliterate the ability or desire to think for one's self, "Stoic" is an relatively bold statement. One wonders if Boll was thinking of his rubber-stamping detractors when he made it.

Before I go any Further, I would like to say, I have seen far worst than this! House of the Dead, Battlefield Earth and FearDotCom are just a few that I have seen. When watching this film, I was lost when trying to Figure out the above films were rated better. House of the Dead was probably the worst I have seen and its still rated better. Alone in the Dark isn't amazing. It wont live long in the Memory for some but it deserves a lot more than 2.0.

If you are unfortunate enough to be in a theater where this movie is showing, and you don't pass out, you'll laugh at what are supposed to be frightening or suspenseful moments of the film. The implausibility of several scenes will just stun you, conveys the feeling of anyone who pays to see this. If you must see this movie, do yourself a favor and wait until it's in the bargain bin at the video store. If there's any justice in the film industry, one of the main actors will be there to rent it to you.

Perhaps with childish naivety, I used to believe that Uwe Boll's trademark reputation is actually an effect of a very conscious manipulation. I hoped that one day he would emerge, like a stunning butterfly, from a cocoon of abysmal effort that did nothing but ruined countless video game franchises for their fans across the globe. Stoic and following it Rampage and Darfur (all three made in 2009) were to change prevailing opinion about Boll's lack of talent and test his skill in a more serious context. The first of them- a gritty prison drama, is far from the lows set by i.e. Alone in the Dark (2005) but is it sufficiently competent to redeem Boll? Supposedly based on facts- but in fact difficult to verify, Stoic is restricted to the space of one cell and a tragedy that plays out within it, between four cell-mates. Film is divided into interviews with three of them in the aftermath of their cell-mate's suicide death and footage that leads to this incident. Both unfold together, slowly revealing the true nature of the tragedy and each prisoner's role in it.

Although structure allows for interesting escalation of both guilt and violence it is in no way reminiscent of Rashomon (1950) and Boll remains objective as to what we see leaving no questions about intentions of the violators. Extended from merely a treatment, film is filled with improvised rant that fails to capture the true essence of this story. All three aggressors come across unnaturally and their solid performances are wasted on an aimless direction that resorts to their monologue every time the narrative runs out of steam.

In the end 80 minutes long feature is carried forward by several acts of brutality that turn to be disturbingly engrossing beats sustaining the collapsing tension. Stoic aims to be gritty and realist but lacks focus and talent to achieve these qualities. What materialises on the screen is a bore- repetitive and at times moronic dialogue and an apparent agenda that packs a punch but misses its target by miles. It fails to shock because it lacks any competently realised context for its content.

Verdict: It's better than any of the countless video-game adaptations that Boll unleashed in his fury upon the world. But even still it is stagy, amateurish film-making that makes a point by showing brutal, animalistic behaviour but lacks either will or talent to turn it into anything relevant. There is simply no reward in enduring the violence for its sake and no interesting insight into why it was committed, beyond the obvious capacity for it that we all share. We come already equipped in that knowledge, Stoic does nothing that we wouldn't already know.

Tl;dr: Ignore the spammed rating, we all know Uwe Boll is a reliably terrible director, but he pulled off this one good film in his life. Good acting, good premise, believable characters who's motives are understandable given the context. It's pretty bleak, but if that's what you're into, it's a great way to spend an hour and half.

If I have any complaints about the movie, it's in the editing and (lack of) script. First of all, the movie is frequently intercut with interviews/interrogations of the surviving inmates. However, there is nobody in the movie actually questioning them. Often they'll answer a question and the audience doesn't have any context. It's my understanding that much of this film was improvised, which really helped the conversational madness of the scenes in the cell. But occasionally, you could tell an actor was stuck trying to think of something to say, which leaves a few awkward pauses and strange phrasing.

Other than that, for a movie that mostly takes place in a single room, it's quite entertaining. The pacing is great; you'll never be bored. There's some great acting, especially from Sam Levinson who you truly believe is traumatized. In his interview segments, he gives a very emotional performance. He acted with his hands a bit too much, but other than that, I'm shocked he hasn't done more serious mainstream dramatic roles.

The worst performance comes from John Connor from Terminator 2 (once I realized who he was, that's all I could think of him as). He's not terrible, but he plays the most remorseless character, so it seems like he's trying too hard to be a generic sociopath. The German dude was pretty good too.

Obviously the movie is dark and depressing, but if that's the kind of thing you're into, I highly recommend it.

I have seen only more 1 movie directed by this director, and that was Seed. That movie was pretty tame and boring, this was an pretty interesting watch. There is no bright segment in this entire movie. From the start to finish it's just a pure black terror of a movie.

I can say that the acting for the most part is pretty solid. I can't really fault any of the actors. The story is thin as it is, 4 inmates, and they decide to horribly torture the weakest one, who was only in prison for 6 months for trying to defuse arrest, while the three other guys are in prison for serious crimes such as Arson.

The only negative i got for this movie is the lack of depth. None of our characters have any depth, as in instead of giving us at the end the reason why these people were in prison, maybe give us a 5-10 minutes long backstory about all 4 of these guys, what caused them to get in prison in first place. Also the fact that they said at the start of the movie, that the victim took his own life, it really removed the shock for the ending. I think that they should of cut off the hanging at beginning, because it weakened the ending. I think it would of been much more stronger if the ending occured without us knowing it at the start.

Ultimately i actually enjoyed this movie and it is a very interesting psychological piece into 4 different types of people. Also this movie the social aspect of it is not just in prisons, i think similar stuff occur outside prison as well.

I thought the movie was really well acted. I don't want to spoil too much of this movie but it's definitely not a watch with the family movie. I really liked the in between interview shots. That's where I thought the acting shined the best.

First off - before I get to the movie itself... I just wanted to speak to the morons who ALWAYS automatically vote 1 for everything Boll does - without even watching the damn movie. Its just a really childish and insanely stupid thing to do.

I personally have really enjoyed his past few films... you just never know what to expect when you sit down and watch a Uwe Boll movie and I commend that! In The Name of the King in particular for its insanely over-the-top obviously made to be laughed at entertainment. I mean really -- KING Burt Reynolds??? (best "last conversation before dying" scene I've ever watched... I laughed for like 15 minutes)... and a Ray Liotta Magi who constantly says the most hilarious stuff throughout the movie. And the choreography of the fight scenes was actually quite commendable (sadly not violent, but its all good) - anyways....

... and then Seed, Postal, Tunnel Rats (best war movie I've seen in years - phenomenal flick) --- all 3 are fantastic movies in their own right. Far Cry was god awful and so was Alone in the Dark 2 (sorry Uwe)

And then we have STOIC! - In the same dark/depressing vein that made Tunnel Rats such a kick ass movie... this thing takes you on a wild ride. A ride NOT for the squeamish to be more precise... and not for people who can only watch "Hollywood blockbuster" crap to be entertained. Thankyou to the other reviewer for this movie; I did not know most the movie was "improv" on the actors part and that's an incredibly awesome move on Bolls part to boot... gave the movie a feeling of reality you don't see much anymore. The last half hour in particular is some seriously intense stuff. The acting was also very good... after watching American History X like 19 times + Animal Factory (highly underrated movie), and of course Detroit Rock City + even Dark Reel was pretty damn entertaining... I've always really liked Furlong -- and I'm really happy to see him again in top form. The other actors too were excellent; especially Sam Levinson as the most sympathetic/remorseful of them all.

So go find this movie and watch it - then find Tunnel Rats and watch that... and then STOP giving this man the automatic 1's he does not deserve (except for maybe Far Cry... dude, that was just BAD)!!!

Okay - I know that 99.99% of the stupid internet population hates Uwe Boll, and I don't really like any of his previous attempts at film making either, but this film was a special case.

The acting in this film was top-notch (especially considering that most of the dialogue was not rehearsed!). I wish people would stop hating on Uwe Boll - he is a very confident film-maker who CAN obviously produce a hard-hitting and very emotional film when he wants to. I think that this film shows that 100%.

The only problem I had with the film was it's length - I wish that it had gone for longer, as it's 82 minutes did NOT seem long enough in my eyes.

First off, I have grown tired of all the Uwe Boll hating on this site. No matter how prolific a Boll film is, the haters come out, as if looking for a reason to trash. Fear not...this movie is powerful whether the haters like it or not.

The acting is superb, the script equally so, and the direction absolutely stunning. The idea of a film taking place in a single room is not new (eg Closetland), but this semi-documentary style film takes to a new level. The miracle of the film is that it has four actors (and a couple extras), takes place in one room, and is riveting from start to finish. Many reviews bash this very thing, calling it slow, a bore, without feeling.... I'm not sure what film these people saw, but in my opinion this is one of the best profile pieces I've ever seen.

There's not a ton to say with giving away important pieces of the film, but suffice it to say that the allegorical content is striking, with each facet of the film's composition being equivalently well done.

This film is not for everybody. I would venture to say that those who enjoy it have a certain darkened inside them, or curiousity of darkness at minimum. The "happy-go-lucky" flower girl with ribbons in her hair will not likely enjoy this, as it is truly a powerful take on the desperation humanity is capable of.

One of Boll's best works, and the fact that the actors improvised the majority of their lines shows what can be done with a visionary director and a capable team of actors.