Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

ZenDream I remember walking thru the times square district in NYC. I seen massive billboards for 'Rated X', including a building covered nearly in half with a huge poster type. Including the commercials played over and over. Yeah, it was 'hyped' up at the time, it actually caught my attention. What caught my attention is based on a 'true story' and also the actors/true life brothers. Always enjoyed them acting together.It's your typical movie..get success/money, drugs and addiction, greed, fighting among each other, and eventually murder. However it's a refreshing story line with great acting by great actors. Other users comment says who cares about the porn industry. True, but I didn't see this movie because of 'porn'. I watched it because it was based on the true lives of 2 brothers which spiraled apart due to greed, different visions and drugs. Nevertheless it was a great story.Should serve as a reminder to entrepreneurs entering a dark fast paced market, porn, drugs, etc.. greed/drugs/money will usually get the best of you and tear you apart from the very people you first started out with.8-9 rating for good story and great acting.

selfparody I am not a fan of the brothers who dominate this flick, but they seem to play against type well enough that this doesn't matter. Everyone who'd watch this movie knows about the Mitchells at least slightly, so I'll talk more about the way they're rendered here: Emilio renders Jim Mitchell as basically the more mature older brother and Arty is, of course, the free-wheeling schmuck Jim feels indebted to. They make what is essentially "Vanilla Porn" in the sense that apparently none of the more non-mainstream fetishes usually (probably often rightly) considered perversions are visible, like pedophelia, corpophelia, bestiality, rape or snuff is included. And as a result of living something that is considered a societal fringe in the Seventies, they have a drug-induced downfall. Who would have seen that coming?Still, to me, the downfall is played with enough reality (Arty seems to remain slightly sympathetic even during his depths, except for when he expects a spouse is doing someone behind his back) and I'd say sympathy that it felt like a fresh experience to me. But that's just me: I don't watch too much aside from nerdy stuff. Frankly, I think that it beats Boogie Nights because there's no Mark Wahlbergs or Burt Reynolds around, and most important, no Paul Thomas Anderson. Estevez isn't the most humble guy, but at least he didn't approach the material in such a seemingly "I'll make sure everyone pays attention to how well I directed this thing instead of how good the story or things that happen in it are supposed to be." There's nothing really elaborate like that painful three minute opening and not the ton of cutesy dialogue. It's a much more bare-bones production, which I usually like. Plus, I like the commentary track. God help me, but I do.

Infofreak Come on! This movie was directed by Emilio Estevez people, and co-stars him and his brother Charlie Sheen. So if you are expecting something as impressive and accomplished as 'Boogie Nights' you are obviously insane! Estevez previously directed two of the worst movies ever made 'Wisdom' and 'Men At Work', and he isn't getting any better. Martin Scorsese he ain't! And Estevez and Sheen between them have appeared in many of the lamest turkeys of the last twenty years. Add 'Rated X' to that list.The story of the rise and fall of the Mitchell brothers, who were partly responsible for legitimizing porn in the 1970s with 'Behind The Green Door', could have been made into a fascinating movie if it was written, acted and directed by somebody of greater ability. Which, let's face it, is just about anybody. Estevez and co go absolutely nowhere with this potentially interesting material. The brothers relationship is simplified so much, and their odd relationship with their father is never fully explored, so we never truly understand what motivates them, or end up caring about their fates.The only thing you'll get from this movie are some cheap laughs from Sheen flipping out and hamming it up outrageously. Going by his laughably bad performance in this, and a similar nutty one in 'Bad Day On The Block', he seems to be attempting to usurp Dennis Hopper's crown as the King of Screen Psychos. After his amusing self-parodic role in 'Being John Malkovich' it's difficult to say just how self conscious this is, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. All I can say is that Charlie cracks me up! He's a real card.

Tinyhippy Although this film has an off-putting title, people may actually be quite surprised at the content. Yes, it is about the porn industry, but has other subjects and deeper meanings. The Mitchell brothers (Sheen and Estevez) are in business together as San Francisco's porn kings. Controversy follows as the general public do not approve of them. Apart from the frequent sex scenes at the beginning of the movie, this film escalates into a deeper subject of family feuds. You find that you don't particularly like the characters, but are still interested in what happens to them. It is a rather sad ending. The film, in it's directorial aspect, is very well done.Although not the best film Estevez has directed, I was glad to have seen it.