UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Kevin Lea Davies Kevin Carter's Pulitzer prize winning photograph is one of those images that gets burned into the back of your mind. It haunts you long after you see it. I saw this photo of the young Sudanese girl, about 10 years after it was taken, and it still fills me with sorrow. It makes you wonder what happened to the poor girl. It makes you question how the world can have both a massive obesity epidemic, and massive global starvation at the same time. It isn't something you can easily forget, and it's the type of image photo journalists spend an entire career searching for.In this multi-biography, director Steven Silver tells the story of four friends, all combat photographers in the mid 1990's before the fall of the Apartheid. They tell the story of the Zulu and their tribal warfare all the while photographing the constant death, starvation, and violence that surrounds them, all the while building their camaraderie and forming the Bang Bang Club.It's a very well written film and it brings up many issues. Most notably the hypocrisy of the situation, is that these journalists are living a life of comparative wealth and debauchery in this time of strife, and at the same time trying to make a name for themselves by taking photos focused on the very visceral suffering of others. Where the film really shines is in the background and the violence therein. I was quite impressed with the sheer number of extras for most of the fighting scenes. There are a lot of graphic sequences of course, but it's not the violence that makes the film. It's the exploitation of that violence that makes the film so interesting.There were a couple of issues I had with the movie. For example, 4 white guys with cameras strapped to their bodies standing in the middle of battles while dodging bullets is certainly unbelievable at times. Yelling "PRESS! PRESS!" doesn't keep you safe in a war-zone. The dialogue is believable for the most part, except when they are joking around in the middle of the battle scenes. I did enjoy Taylor Kitsch's torn and dark portrayal of his character Kevin Carter. Ryan Phillippe does well as prize winning photographer Greg Marinovich, but I thought he was perhaps too good looking to be believable. Compare him to the real Greg Marionovich during the end credits and you'll see what I mean.That being said, it's an excellent film and Steven Silver certainly has an eye for very personal story telling.7/10

Paul Nash I lived in Johannesburg, working for the Independent Electoral Commission during this period, on a leave of absence from the print media. This is a true-to-life (if slightly glamorized) depiction of a group of fearless and dedicated photographers who probably ultimately defused a potential civil war by their heroic reporting.Glamorized in that they were a grungier bunch (see the photos in the credits at the end), who took far greater risks than portrayed in the movie. I dare say that the public would not have believed a more accurate story.Anyone who is interested in the history of Southern Africa should watch this. Nearly 20 years later, it still leaves me shaken.Also good to see South African actors in the movie, even if most of the leads were imports.

ami_gdalo Back in 1994, South Africa Nelson Mandela has just been released and in the last months, bloody apartheid tensions have gradually increased. The tribal sects, with the support of the white government, preach bloody war between them and so the streets of Soweto echoing gunfire, creating a war scene. In all this, there is the Bang Bang Club,a group of four (white) photographers that were always in the midst of gunfire for achieving the best photo shot, which will give them fame, money and professional recognition. To my opinion, it is not about the politics. It is about the profession of street photographer, hunting the hot news, even like a war correspondent. This movie reveals the difficulties, challenges and dangers involved in the occupation; it reflects the gradual deprecation of every human emotion, for succeeding into the upper goal, to get the right photo-shot, the one to be published. The movie, based on true stories, also reveals the true story behind the shocking Pulitzer winner - photo taken at Africa, showing a malnourished child ready to be ruptured by a vulture that is lurking. It is the struggle of photographers to bring news to people same time struggling with their emotions to remain professional and block all other hesitations or emotions. Having already watched film twice, would go for a third one!

TxMike It was the early 1990s and Mandella was nearing his freedom from prison and eventual President of South Africa in its free election.There still was rampant fighting and killing between different tribes. So bad was the hate that even if a lone man was suspected of being of the wrong tribe he was beaten and killed, with the same sense that one might kill a rabbit and bring it home for dinner. Except the dead were left in the streets.Strife like this draws professional photographers, every day hoping to get a unique picture that will enhance their reputation and pad their wallet. This movie and its title are about the photographers, in particular 4 of them who became members of what then was called "the bang bang club", the men who every day went among the fighting and shooting, the "bang bangs" of ammunition. Not all of them survived.Main focus is on Ryan Phillippe as Greg Marinovich, a South African photographer who was awarded the Pulitzer for some of his photos. His romantic interest is pretty Malin Akerman as Robin Comley.The movie also treats the question, "are photographers just innocent bystanders who record the events without interfering?" In one scene we see Marinovich at first just photographing, but then trying to intercede as a man is beaten and eventually set on fire. You cannot do that job, and see what you see, without being changed.