Jack Conrad is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor. The Condemned is far from being one of WWE's best films but it's definitely not their worst one either. Steve Austin does a pretty good job with what he has and the same goes for Vinnie Jones. The Condemned is action packed and a whole lot of fun and a pretty much entertaining action flick to rent and watch. (7.0/10)

Enjoyed this film, same premises as the japanese film battle royal just up to date version. And of course has Vinnie Jones in, bu the camara was always shaky onf the fighting scenes which was a tad annoying.

A hardened bunch of violent criminals are sent to a remote wooded island for an internet contest. There is only one rule: kill all the other contestants and the lone survivor will be given an amnesty Did someone mention BATTLE ROYALE ? What I find interesting is the large number of films I've seen recently that seemed directly - or should I say too directly ? - inspired by other works . Some of them are direct pastiche/homages to other films so I guess post modernism is at play . However some of them just seem to be lazy cash ins of much superior movies . What one do you think THE CONDEMNED might be ? I'll give you a clue . It stars Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones so that drops a very large hint that it's low grade straight to DVD fare when it gives hints it could have been so much better It does get off to a relatively good start with a biting comment on the state of Western culture that we seem a little bit too interested in both the internet and reality TV . A station merges the two morbid obsessions and sets up a pay site where viewers can access the ulitimate gladiatorial contest featuring a group of violent psychos kill one another . It's not original and it's a little bit loud and in your face but again it does give a hint at social commentary . This quickly becomes forgotten as the story then concentrates on the violence . There's a problem with using this as a story and that is if you're watching a film centered around people killing one another you need to draw a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys because who wants to watch a totally amoral film ? This means it becomes predictable in that the good guy is someone innocent of the terrible crimes he's been convicted of while the bad guys are bad guys because they're guilty of their crimes and just enjoy violence for the sake of it . The characters are merely walking clichés lacking any depth and the film's selling point is the violence which means it ends up becoming very ironic as the station chief argues that violence is what the audience want . Want one wants is a new cerebral twist on a familiar story

The Condemned is one of those movies that you know right off the bat is made for one specific type of audience. If you like reading Jane Austin novels and sunsets and walks along the beach and romantic movies then this movie may not be for you. This is all out balls to the wall action movie that does not apologize for what it is. Premise is a reality series producer is putting together the ultimate survivor series on the internet. He picks ten people from the worst prisons around the world and buys them from death row and attaches a bomb to their ankles. The Bomb will go off in 24 hours the catch is simple only one can win. It's a fight to the death the prize is you get your life your freedom and a big bankroll. Trapped amongst the sadistic killers is Jack Conrad (Steve Austin) a former Navy S.E.A.L. who was recruited to do black ops types of jobs his last one went bad and he was caught in El Salvador awaiting death. All Conrad wants to do is get out of this alive and go home to his girl. But Conrad is decent man with Honor and a code of principles that will not let him take part in this sadistic game so he tries his best to survive and get help. Steve Austin does a good job in his first film As lead actor and he's gone on to make better films since his role in the EXPENDABLES is much better and you can see Austin has grown as a actor, This movie is worth checking out if you are a fan of this type of action flick. Better then Van Damme's hard target and Rutger Hauer's The game, This movie does deliver good entertainment.