Mean Guns (1997) MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray Review

Verdict

3.5

Summary

Super stylish with a way against the grain score and soundtrack of mambo and Latin music, Albert Pyun’s Mean Guns is way more interesting visually and thematically than it has any right to be, thanks to Pyun’s unusual touch and a bleached white looking visual texture. The plot itself is pretty dumb with a chaotic and goofy premise that sees people shooting everyone in sight or beating each other to death with baseball bats, but the movie is still quirky and funky enough to maintain interest thanks to Lambert’s typically offbeat performance and ultimately because of Pyun’s unique filmmaking style that has always been underrated.

Plot:

A bunch of criminals are summoned to a prison that is about to open with the purpose being to kill each other for a 10 million dollar prize for the last man standing.

Review:

A shadowy crime syndicate summons 100 of the most cutthroat criminals – each of whom has wronged the syndicate in some way – to a brand new prison that is about to open (this was shot at a real state-of-the-art prison right before it was about to open in Los Angeles), and they’re all told they have six hours to kill as many of their peers as possible, with a 10 million dollar prize going to the last man standing. The MC of the events is Moon (Ice-T) who will eventually join in the proceedings, but first the playing field has to thin out a bit. One of the savviest guys in the arena is Lou (Christopher Lambert in his bleached blonde hair phase) whose daughter is lurking around the prison, waiting for him to win the prize so they can ride off into the sunset, but the killing game of “mean guns” is not going to go well for anybody, so all bets are off.

Super stylish with a very against the grain score and soundtrack of mambo and Latin music, Albert Pyun’s Mean Guns is way more interesting visually and thematically than it has any right to be, thanks to Pyun’s unusual touch and a bleached white looking visual texture. The plot itself is pretty dumb with a chaotic and goofy premise that sees people shooting everyone in sight or beating each other to death with baseball bats, but the movie is still quirky and funky enough to maintain interest thanks to Lambert’s typically offbeat performance and ultimately because of Pyun’s unique filmmaking style that has always been underrated.

Mean Guns has just been reissued on Blu-ray from MVD Rewind (#59 on the spine), and comes with some archival and newly produced special features. Pyun’s intro and commentary are the real treats here, as he’s no longer with us, but the other features are worth checking out as well.

Bonus Materials