Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

KineticSeoul This is basically a run of the mill revenge action movie that worked when it first came out. Even today it's a okay flick to just pop in and sit through, mainly because of Mel Gibson's portrayal of a bad guy going after the mob to get his money back. He seemed like the type of guy that has a set of principles that he stands by but isn't someone you want to stab in the back. He is a very vengeful character and to a certain extent I could understand where he was coming from. He isn't necessarily a character I could root for but he is someone that resonated with me to a certain extent. Yeah, there is some cool bits then and there but overall it's a generic revenge action movie that is actually quite forgettable. It would have been very forgettable if it was for Mel Gibson's performance, but than again the guy is really good at playing anti-heroes or bad guys that doesn't go full evil.6/10

pkneer I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I wasn't expecting much but the story was good and the acting was very good. Gibson's character was interesting, brash, opinionated, and violent - a good combination, haha. Everyone likes the underdog who just bulls his way around and gets away with it. The cast was very good, they worked well with each other. I just loved seeing James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson again on the screen. One surprise was Lucy Liu - I didn't even realize it was really her until her second scene - I have never seen her in a part like that and she was actually pretty funny.Rated 8/10 for good action and the right amount of violence.

Finfrosk86 I can't help it, I really like Mel Gibson. He might be an asshole (or maybe just have some anger issues), but damn it, he has a screen presence that I enjoy.Mel Gibsons character in Payback doesn't beat around the bush. He gets stuff done, he doesn't just talk-talk-talk, he acts. Violently. That's kind of refreshing. Payback is pretty brutal at times, but doesn't make a huge point out of it, either.Another thing with Payback, is the acting. I enjoy the acting of several of the characters here. Greg Henry stands out, especially in some scenes. He is just so believable, at the same time sort of a caricature. I like that. Seems like Brian Helgeland knows what he wants from his actors.There's some stuff about the plot here that might be hard to swallow for some people, some coincidences you kind of have to suspend your disbelief to accept, but I usually don't care much about stuff like that. There is a lot of smoking in this movie, and that's good to see! I miss the days where pretty much every protagonist and antagonist smoked their ass off in almost every scene. Haha. Interestingly, even with the brutality of this movie, it also has quite a lot of humor mixed in. Some of it I don't know if was meant to be humor, but I found it to be a nice touch anyhow. A couple of humorous things are just plain weird, too. Anyhow, Payback is an entertaining, rather dark revenge-flick. I likey.

slightlymad22 After being reminded how good an actor Mel Gibson is in Expendables 3, I have decided to revisit some of his earlier work. I started with 1999's Payback. And I chose to watch the theatrical release, rather than the directors cut.When Porter (Mel Gibson) is doubled crossed and left for dead by his wife Rosie (Deborah Kara Unger) and partner in crime Val (Gregg Henry) he does not take it to well, and is after revenge.It opens like a Clint Eastwood cop movie of the late 70's or early 80's, as red credits appear to a jazz score as we see a view of the City from a helicopter. Mel Gibson was riding high at the Box Office in 1999, "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Conspiracy Theory" both opened at No 1, and made over $100 million World Wide, while "Ransom" was the 5th highest-grossing film of 1996 in the United States, and he picked up the Oscar for Best Director and Best Movie for 1995's "Braveheart". Henry is well cast as the sleazy, slimy, bully Val, David Paymer, Bill Duke, James Coburn and Kris Kristopherson all have good supporting roles, but it is Lucy Lui (appearing as Lucy Alexis Liu) that steals the movie as the violent dominatrix Pearl. Then there is Mel Gibson, he is the star and simply the core of the movie. The movie simply would not work with a lesser actor as the anti hero Porter. He would only act for a few more years as the lead in movies after this one, before a seven year beak between 2003-2010. One can't help but wonder what other wonderful films we may have missed out on. Gibson is truly a great actor, and hopefully he can sort his personal problems and demons out, because as we all know Hollywood loves comebacks.A solid movie with Gibson bringing his A game.