Broken was a fantastic album, a self-described "ultra-fast chunk of death." However, that descriptive would better describe the music video accompaniment to the EP. Due to extremely graphic content, this short collection of videos of (fake) torture, rape, sadomasochism, and murder will never see an official release, though it's been widely rumored that Trent Reznor himself leaked a DVD-quality copy on the internet.Fans of the band, or those with a morbid curiosity need only apply. The scenes are violent, often hard to watch, but like a horrible car crash on the side of the road, you can't help but look. Track it down; it's quite easy enough to find on the Internet. Just be sure not to give copies of it to your unsuspecting friends for Christmas, as one reviewer here has done. As he suggested, you may lose more friends than you'll be keeping.

I've seen this film via clips on Youtube and I have to say, it grossed the crap out of me. I didn't know whether to scream or cry.It perfectly suits the "Ultra-fast chunk of death" that is the album Broken. Its filled with grotesque images of torture,murder and necrophilia (dead people sex. in case you didn't know.). Whatever was going through Reznor's head at the time of recording comes out in this violent snuff film that makes Saw look like a Disney movie.Its on you tube a lot, thats the easiest way to see it, though with horrible quality. Try and find it on peer to peer sites or NIN fan sites. REZNOR, PLEASE RELEASE THE DAMN THING!!

From the minds of two industrial music pioneers (musician Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and director Peter Christopherson of Coil and Throbbing Gristle) comes a perfect example of the blurring line between art and pornography. A film-short that is both celebrated and reviled for its style and content, "Broken" is one of the most shocking pieces of film ever to be unreleased. Mistaken as a snuff film by some (Reznor is no stranger to this...footage from the "Down In It" video caused some controversy some time before this film), "Broken" is a visual companion to what was arguably Reznor's most tortured and angst-ridden album. It tells the story of a man who randomly kidnaps another man for the purpose of torture and murder. He pulls the victim's teeth out, forces him to drink lighter fluid, slashes him, disembowels him, sodomizes him, all the while forcing this poor soul to watch Nine Inch Nails videos. The thing that gives this film away as a work of fiction is the style. The scenes of the killer being executed, the police finding his hideout and sifting through the remains of his past victims, and the NIN videos themselves...all done very professionally in contrast to the grainy, distorted video of the torture scenes. Not only that, but Reznor's and Christopherson's penchant for low-frequency industrial noise and sound manipulation is very present (just listen to the low-static hum that intros the whole film...very Coil, very NIN). When taking these qualities into consideration, it's easy to tell that the film is elaborate fiction. However, the film does capture a gritty realism that provides much in the way of shock value. We never see too much of the torture, just enough to know what's being done, and what we don't know is implied...subliminal horror at its best. Also, this does well to hide what are probably some very high-quality special effects, given a sense of truth by the poor video. The NIN videos are fairly violent as well. From the vinyl bodybag being drowned by fluid from the sewage pipes to the band clip of "Wish" (which oddly mirrors The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" video) to the mechanical torture slave of "Happiness in Slavery" (played by the dear-departed Bob Flanagan), they are a perfect mirror to the angry industrial thrash of the album. All in all, the film plays on the ultimate possibilities for an album of this level of rage. People who enjoy this film for the technical qualities are most likely able to detach themselves from the disturbing content, while people who do enjoy it for the content are simply perverts. Never was a case of art vs. pornography so clear than with NIN's "Broken." Whether it is beautiful or disgusting or both, kudos to Trent Reznor and Peter Christopherson and all at the NIN camp for making such a twisted and uniquely putrid visual work.

Well, being a hardcore NIN fan myself - and obviously the rest of the people commenting here are aswell - it seems very strange to me how everybody refers to "Broken" as unreleased and something you can only come by via bootlegged versions on the net..Wrong! WRONG, guys! It's been released in the public as a 2 tape set (I have the VHS version, probably there's a DVD aswell..), called "CLOSURE", feating all the videos aswell and a full tape with documentar off the Downward Spiral tour - it's even stabled with Reznor's typical halo-numbers and this one is no. 12..The documentary also shows Reznor backstage with his band, and also Marilyn Manson and his band members who was the warmup gig for NIN on that tour back in 1994....David Bowie also pops up backstage and on stage with NIN, since they were on tour together in 1995.It puzzles me how you guys could have missed that...?!?!