The Marine 2 Blu-ray review

WWE Films The Marine 2 is the followup to the original movie "The Marine" which starred John Cena as a determined Marine who returned to civilian life only to have his wife kidnapped. This caused Cena's character to go on an all-out rampage to get her back. In the sequel there's no John Cena, but instead new rising young star, Ted Dibiase of WWE's Legacy Stable (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes). In an interesting side note, fans may be interested to know that Randy Orton was originally due to play the part but due to his collarbone injury couldn't take the role.

In this action-packed sequel, Dibiase plays a Marine named Joe Linwood who arrives home from a mission to take a 5-day trip with his gorgeous wife, Robin, played by the lovely Lara Cox. The couple goes to a fancy Thailand retreat where Linwood's wife has organized a major event for her boss who built the high-tech environmental resort. Although it seems like a fun-in-the-sun party at first, the plot thickens when the party's fireworks become real in the form of gunfire and missiles. A terrorist group takes control of the affair taking a group of hostages which includes Linwood's wife and her boss. Dibiase is displaced from the resort during a fight, and then tries to formulate a plan to save the day, but most especially his wife. It's basically the plot used in The Marine and 12 Rounds, where the guy's wife is kidnapped and the WWE star must rescue her.

The movie's rather short at just 1:35 so fans won't exactly feel like much time was wasted if they don't particularly enjoy it. Some may see it as little more than a cross between Die Hard, MacGuyver and Rambo, which has less than half the IQ. Comparing Dibiase's acting to Cena's is difficult because one's an established major star in the WWE, while Dibiase is a young rising star. However, Ted Dibiase looks a little more subtle yet still charismatic in this first movie role which he handles somewhat well. Seeing this film makes you curious to see more films from Dibiase to see what he's really capable of. The fact that Cena's had a lot more vocal roles in WWE than Dibiase may also help with this performance, giving his character a mysterious feel. It also makes you wonder how Randy Orton would have done in the film's lead. Also starring in the movie is a familiar face from many other TV/movie roles, Michael Rooker, who plays a vet named Church. Temuera Morrison, who played the role of villain Jango Fett in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, takes on the role of the villainous terror group leader in M2.

There's plenty of gunshots, explosions and violence in this flick to entertain most nonstop action fans. As with many of the newest Blu ray disc releases, this one has stunning sound and a decent picture for a straight-to-video release which is demonstrated by the beautiful scenery (shot on location in Thailand) and shootout/gunplay scenes which make plenty of noise. There are some scenes which come off grainy compared to the rest in picture quality, but nothing that takes away from the general action of the movie. The on-screen menus are also well integrated into the film making them less intrusive while viewing the movie. The Blu ray disc also contains a number of bonus features including deleted and extended scenes, featurettes and more for those interested in learning more about this latest WWE project.

While this is a standard straight-to-DVD action movie, it's still got its own entertainment value in its own right. The plot is nothing groundbreaking and many will find plenty of holes to poke in it, but action movies are rarely Best picture Oscar contenders. With the recent events involving Legacy and the seeming rift between Rhodes, Dibiase and Orton, it seems as if this film is the launchpad for the possible face turn of a newly reborn Dibiase who will be popular with the fans. Stay tuned to see if WWE puts as much faith in him in more films as they have in his young wrestling career.

Order The Marine 2 [Blu-ray] here at Amazon.com

12 Rounds DVD Review

(WWE's John Cena stars in 12 Rounds)

Not long ago, John Cena decided to go the route of WWE predecessor The Rock, and start in on his movie career. His first attempt was the movie "The Marine" and it received mixed reviews, although none were too positive on Cena's acting. In that movie, Cena played a Marine who came home to work as a security guard, whose girlfriend wound up being kidnapped by some bank robber villains. Cena had to chase after them and play invincible action star to save his girl. "12 Rounds" has Cena in just about the same role and plot, only this time with some better actors, directing, and special effects around.

Cena's follow-up role is in the Reny Harlin film, 12 Rounds, set in New Orleans, Louisiana. This time Cena plays Officer Danny Fisher who ends up pissing off the wrong psychotic criminal. In the opening scenes, the FBI's working a sting operation to bust the villain Miles Jackson (Aiden Gillen) in a weapons exchange deal. Things go awry and we see just how nasty the villain can get. The FBI calls in available police units for backup to find the escaped villain, and that puts Danny into the middle of the situation. The villain tries to make an escape with his beautiful girlfriend, but she ends up getting killed as Cena tries to arrest them. Miles goes to prison, but it's not long before he's out to wreak havoc on Cena by blowing up his home and kidnapping his girlfriend Molly (Ashley Scott). From there, Cena becomes part of a game of "12 Rounds" where he must endure various tasks in order to keep his girlfriend alive and eventually find her. Many will find the plot very similar to Die Hard with a Vengeance where Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson also had to endure tasks set up by the mastermind villain.

In terms of progression, this movie's definitely a step up from The Marine for Cena. The plot's a bit more compelling, there's more interesting characters and better special effects. Even some of the jokes are laughable. But as with most action flicks there are also a fair share of implausible scenarios and weak plot concepts. One of those concepts is the idea that Cena's character can get to any location within about two minutes, whether on foot or in a car. Another is being able to outsmart a bomb after it's timer has hit 0:00. The scenes do seem rushed together in terms of all the various resources being put together for each part of the game, but then again, this is a movie. Some of the lines used also seem used before in action movies such as "this guy's really starting to annoy me", "Sorry!" and "C'mon Danny don't be no cowboy!" Then again the guy in charge of the flick also worked on Die Hard, which was noted when the movie was being promoted. The movie features notable actor Steve Harris who starred in ABC's "The Practice" and several movies. Harris actually shows the most talent of the bunch, as he should.

John Cena also continues to progress in terms of his on-screen movie acting, but he's not quite near the level of The Rock yet. We've all seen Cena's work on WWE shows and in the ring, but it's not the same when you're on screen. With most actors though, it takes time and Cena seems to have that on his side as he juggles his WWE duties with his silver screen acting attempts. As Cena gets more and more roles, hopefully he'll progress beyond WWE Films too and start carving out a solid action star niche. I recommend 12 Rounds, only because it outdoes The Marine, and is probably one of the better WWE Films action movies.

The film clocks in at 1:48 and includes both the theatrical version and an unrated version. As for special features there's Alternate Endings, trailers, "A Crash Course: John Cena Stunts" documentary and a Never-before-Cena Gag Reel.

12 Rounds is currently available on regular DVD or Blu-ray at Amazon.com.

The Wrestler DVD Review

The Wrestler (2008)

"The Wrestler" was recently released on DVD and it provides a great glimpse for fans at exactly how pro-wrestling takes its toll both inside and outside the ring. It's a true appreciation for what wrestlers have gone through and may continue to go through in their careers which sometimes span decades (Ric Flair). While this film is not for the timid in terms of violence, it's definitely eye opening with respect to a pro-wrestler's life. In this movie, actor Mickey Rourke dives off the top rope right into the ring for the role of a legendary, aging wrestler which he does amazingly with. You'll feel pain from the hard-hitting action in the squared circle as well as the pain felt when Rourke's real world self tries to patch things up in his real life.

Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a well-aged wrestler past his prime, still trying to keep his fame going in the pro-wrestling business. Actor Mickey Rourke handles the role exceptionally well and many critics have commented that The Ram's revival in the movie is a bit like Rourke's own revival as an actor. WWE fans who haven't seen the movie definitely have seen Rourke's work in terms of punching down Chris Jericho after the Wrestlemania 25 Legends match, but you'll see much more of his arsenal of wrestling moves in this film. According to a piece of trivia, Rourke was trained by one of the Wild Samoans for the role. While the story captures the trials and tribulations of a wrestler in the ring, it also tells a compelling story on the outside "real world" beyond the ring. Randy also tries to kindle a relationship with a stripper played by Marisa Tomei, while he finds himself lonely outside of the wrestling world. Throughout the flick you'll root for Randy as he struggles to pay rent with an additional part time job, tries to get his relationship with his daughter going again, and deals with the grueling physical toll wrestling takes on his body. Wrestling fans will really get a sense for what their favorite wrestlers go through year round in terms of the pain that comes with the business, as well as what they do to try to stay in shape, and keep their pain levels down. You'll also get more of an idea what Chris Jericho was alluding to in his taunting of the legends, saying they're trying to stay relevant and in the spotlight.

If you're a pro wrestling fan, then The Wrestler is a must-see movie for you. Backed by a hard rock 80's soundtrack and using gritty cinematography, the film covers many aspects of wrestling including the wrestlers discussing how their matches will play out before they enter the ring, as well as the use of "blades" for drawing blood during matches. Also included is a look at what sorts of physical pains and recoveries wrestlers have gone through, including the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs as well as painkillers. There's a riveting hardcore match which features everything imaginable used as a weapon from chairs to glass, tacks, and a clever use of a crowd member's prosthetic leg (which is based on a real wrestling event involving ECW's Tommy Dreamer). Fans will also want to keep an eye out for current Smackdown star, Ron "R-Truth" Killings in a brief cameo appearance (fans may also recognize The Ram's rival "Ayatollah" played by Ernest "The Cat" Miller).

Many people may have compared this film to Rocky in terms of its gritty look and the whole fighter making a comeback storyline, and that may be a logical comparison. But "The Wrestler" is definitely a movie which will give wrestling fans even better insight into how the business works and just what these amazing athlete-entertainers put themselves through to entertain the crowd as well as how they deal with everyday life on the outside.

The Wrestler (111 minutes) starring Mickey Rourke & Marisa Tomei is Rated R for violence, nudity and language andis currently available on DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon.com.

The Wrestler DVD arrives 4/21

In less than a week the critically-acclaimed movie The Wrestler will finally make its way onto DVD and Blu-ray. The intended release date is Tuesday April 21st and you can currently pre-order The Wrestler at Amazon.com. Coincidentally its highly praised star, actor Mickey Rourke, just recently was a part of Wrestlemania 25, where he KO'd wrestler Chris Jericho in the ring. This all happened months after Rourke had noted on the Red carpet that he'd actually be wrestling Jericho at Wrestlemania 25. Wrestling fans can now check out this movie which takes a look at the wrestling career of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a wrestler still attempting to earn money by wrestling even though he's said to be 20 years past his prime. The movie also looks at his attempt to find a more normal life outside the ring and is said by critics to not only chronicle a "has been wrestler" trying to reclaim pride and glory, but also an actor doing the same.

The Amazon.com synopsis/review for "The Wrestler":

The mystery of Mickey Rourke's career comes to a grungy apotheosis in The Wrestler the much-battered actor's triumphant return to the top rope. He plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a heavily scarred and medicated battler who's twenty years past his best moment in the ring. But he still schleps to every second-rate fight card he can get to, stringing out the paychecks (more likely a fistful of cash) and nursing what's left of his pride. His attempts to adjust to a more normal kind of life form the most absorbing sections in the movie, whether it's flirting with a stripper (Marisa Tomei is in good form, in every sense), establishing a bond with his understandably angry daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), or working behind the deli counter at a nondescript megastore. Rourke is commanding in the role; he obviously spent hours in the gym and the tanning salon, and his ease with the semi-documentary style adopted by director Darren Aronofsky allows him to naturalistically interact with the colorful real-life wrestlers who crowd the movie's ultra-believable locations. All of which helps distract from the film's overall adherence to ancient formula. You might find yourself waiting for the scene where the risk-taking Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) pulls the switch and reveals his true motives for pursuing this otherwise sentimental story, but there's no switch. The Wrestler is an old-fashioned hoke machine, given grit by an actor who doesn't seem to be so much performing the role of ravaged survivor as embodying it. --Robert Horton

Pre-order The Wrestler DVD at Amazon.com!

Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia - DVD Review

WWE Superstar Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson's first motion picture role comes in the straight-to-DVD action shoot em' up film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia. If you watch Raw, ECW or Smackdown on television you most likely were bombarded with the previews for the film as well as behind the scenes vignettes with cast and crew interviews. The movie is the third sequel in a series of films following "2001's Behind Enemy Lines" and "2006's Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil". It's official release to DVD and Blu-ray was back on January 6, 2009. Recently, I added the film to the Netflix queue in order to see how Mr. Kennedy held up in his first on(DVD)-screen role.

With a tagline of "Framed. Abandoned. But never defeated", the movie plot involves a specially trained group of Navy Seals performing recon on a meeting involving insurgent guerilla terrorists in Colombia known as "FARC". This comes on the heels of a recent explosion which killed several civilians in Bogota and peaceful negotiations are being sought. While the SEALS are observing things, an attack happens at the meeting, and one of their own men is taken hostage. Soon after, the government begins labeling the SEALS as assassins, saying they invaded to kill off peace talks between the government and the FARC. The remaining 2 or 3 fugitive seals in Colombia begin working to clear their names from the apparent set up while trying to rescue the hostage. Amongst the SEALS, WWE's Mr. Kennedy stars as MCPO Carter Holt and lends some bits of comedy to the role with a few jokes scattered throughout the tenseness of the team sneaking through the jungles. Also starring in the film are Joe Manganiello, Keith David and Steven Bauer (Scarface). The Colombia movie is full of gunshots, running and yelling but nothing new in terms of the overdone search and rescue military/action genre.

As with most action movies this isn't on pace to win any big awards and the plot is a far cry from anything new or original. Navy SEALS watching this might be entertained or they might be insulted by some of the sloppy tactics. The movie's also a violent one but not quite as violent as Austin's "The Condemned". Of course some of the action and violence scenes in this one were way overdone. For example, they try to overemphasize troops getting shot up by slowing down the scene to show the hits. Also, seeing a watermelon get shot up on a table while there's an all out gun fight inside a building seems like a waste of footage. Of course that's a small detail, but the majority of the movie involves yelling, running and shooting in the jungle. At times it can get confusing as to who's who, so luckily Kennedy is pretty identifiable to wrestling fans. Overall, I'd say it's good this came straight to DVD because it definitely wouldn't warrant the $10 price of admission for movie tickets these days.

After seeing movies with other WWE stars Glenn "Kane" Jacobs, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena, Mr. Kennedy clearly seems to have some great potential for roles outside of WWE. He's got the personality and in this role glimpses of his talent shine through at times. Not what you'd called Oscar-worthy, but definitely charismatic while the other WWE actors seem to be coming to grips with escaping their wrestler personas in their various movie roles. Stone Cold and Kane showed this more so than Cena, but after "12 Rounds", Cena's been getting dissed for lack of personality in the role. I don't know that Mr. Kennedy will be getting any bigtime roles that trump those Cena is getting. Kennedy could easily transition into made for TV movies or a recurring TV role beyond his Smackdown wrestler and do quite well with it. While the performance in Colombia wasn't groundbreaking it's Kennedy's arrival on the movie acting scene and he just may have a bright future ahead. Of course seeing him back in the wrestling ring with WWE isn't a bad deal for us fans either.

Rated R for violence and language, Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia
has a running time of 1 hour 34 minutes from WWE Studios, and is currently available at Amazon.com on DVD or Blu-Ray. The DVD also includes plenty of special features such as behind the scenes of the stunt work, a feature on the casting of Mr. Kennedy, original movie trailers, and a blooper/comedy reel.

The Condemned - DVD Review

"The Condemned" is a WWE/Lion's Gate DVD starring long-time wrestler and fan favorite, Stone Cold Steve Austin. In the opening we see a man enter a Belarus prison with a cameraman. The two are escorted by several prison guards and videotape an inmate brutally beating down several other inmates. The inmate is chosen for a new internet pay per view show. The theme of the show is a "fight to the death" for 10 death row contestants, hence the condemned. The contestants are taken from third world prisons and are set loose on an island where only 1 will survive the brutal bloodsport.

One of the 10 condemned contestants is none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin, who plays Jack Conrad, an inmate on death row in an El Salvador prison for killing 3 men. The show's producer chooses him as top dog for his show which will stream live on the world wide web. The producer tells him if he outlasts the rest of the contestants he's free with a pocket full of cash.

Contestants each wear an explosive-rigged ankle bracelet device that will detonate within 30 hours time. Tampering with the device or yanking the pull tab on it also detonates the device. It then becomes "kill or die" as the contestants are let loose from a helicopter on an island with the goal of being "sole survivor". The best way to describe this movie is a combo of Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Running Man (Special Edition) meets Ice T's "Surviving the Game". "To create drama you need good guys, bad guys and victims" says the Condemned show's producer. Similar to the drama of the WWE, The Condemned takes the concept of reality TV entertainment to the ultimate level, looking at the morality of "how much is too much".

Stone Cold follows in the footsteps of previous WWE wrestler actors, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena and Glen "Kane" Jacobs. While Stone Cold is the only "big name" actor in the movie, he's no Jack Nicholson or Al Pacino. However, fans of Austin's work in the WWE will be entertained by him in this flick and rooting for him throughout the survival contest. Most action movies aren't award-winning films either, and "The Condemned" proves that. There's still many intense, exciting and violent fight scenes which almost come off MMA/UFC style. There's also a tremendous amount of suspense involved, with the criminal contestants hunting each other down all over the island to try to make kills. It's a thrill ride definitely worth taking if you're a fan of action or just seeing Stone Cold open up several cans of whoop ass.

Special features on the DVD include a behind the scenes Making of documentary, as well as storyboard sequences and footage of Stone Cold promoting the film at Movie World.

The Condemned (Widescreen Edition) and The Condemned [Blu-ray] is Rated R for language and violence, and has a run time of 113 minutes.

The Monday Night War DVD

On 1.11.93, WWE's Monday Night Raw premiered on TV from New York as Vince McMahon looked to take his show to primetime. At the time there was another wrestling business in the picture looking to make its move, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WCW was airing a show on Saturday Nights. Eric Bischoff moved up the ranks of WCW and took over creative control, then eventually decided to wage a war against WWE.

The war heated up when Bischoff asked Ted Turner to give him the Monday night prime time slot against WWF/WWE's Raw at 8PM on TNT. Turner agreed and Bischoff began to do battle using every trick in the book. Raw used to air taped shows so WCW Nitro would air 3 minutes before 8PM and give away the results of the Raw show. They also were able to lure former WWF/WWE stars such as Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage and Lex Luger over and slowly started to dominate the ratings war for a solid 2 years. Eric Bischoff, with control of the WCW, began to finally turn a profit. According to both Vince McMahon and Mick Foley on the DVD, WWE was extremely close to being put out of business.

Raw generated renewed interest in its program with several events/situations that are shown on the DVD, including the "Montreal Screw Job" (Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart), Stone Cold Steve Austin's arrival to WWE, as well as the development of The Rock and DX. The culmination of it all was Vince McMahon buying WCW from under Eric Bischoff who had put a bid in for the company.

Other events higlighted on the DVD are the formation of the NWO (including Hogan turning heel), Ric Flair's return to WCW with the 4 Hoursemen, Vince Russo taking over on WCW, and various WCW stars defecting to WWE (Chris Jericho, Big Show, X-Pac). Various superstars comment on their emotions/opinions during the war throughout the DVD such as the late Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Mean Gene Okerlund, Mick Foley and Chris Jericho. McMahon and Bischoff also talk about their thought processes throughout the Monday Night war.

Highly recommended for all wrestling fans, this DVD will give a very interesting perspective and insight on how the two wrestling businesses were fighting for ratings and money throughout the 90's.

The DVD also features several bonus matches and highlights:

- Stone Cold & Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog & Owen Hart (5.26.97)
- Stone Cold Stuns Vince (9.22.97)
- Jim Cornette on RAW (10.27.97)
- Vince McMahon Interview "Bret Screwed Bret" (11.17.97)
- Shawn Michaels and Triple H vs. The Legion of Doom (12.15.97)
- DX Invades WCW
- The Last Episode of Nitro
- nWo in the Production Truck (07.22.96)
- Eric Bischoff Challenges Vince (5.11.96)
- Chris Benoit vs. Booker T (Nitro 6.1.98)
- Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan (7.6.98)
- Ric Flair's Return to WCW (09.14.98)
- Rick Rude Appears on Nitro & Raw on Same Night (11.17.97)

Check out the DVD available at Amazon.com:

The Monday Night War - WWE Raw vs. WCW Nitro

DVD Review: "See No Evil"

I finally got a chance to see the DVD release of "See No Evil" the WWE's movie production featuring superstar Kane (real name: Glen Jacobs). The opening of the movie finds two police officers on call to investigate a bizarre crime scene. Inside the home they find blood-splattered walls and a vigil area with lit candles and pictures. They also find a shaken up girl holding her face on the floor. What comes next is a sign of things to come for the movie, as we find the girl has had her eyes pulled out and been blinded. Hence, "See No Evil".

The movie fast-forwards four years ahead and we find one of the original crime scene police officers now working as an officer at a County detention center. He brings a group of County Detention male offenders out to do some volunteer work to get reduced sentences. The male group boards a bus of 5 good looking female offenders and they head off to the abandoned and run-down Blackwell hotel building to get to work cleaning the place up. Of course they will be staying in the building for several nights and it also has one angry, evil and sadistic resident already living inside. WWE star Kane takes on the role of Jacob Goodnight, a tormented soul who believes he works for God by murdering those who sin.

"See No Evil" follows the lead of so many other horror movies with very little character development or creativity in terms of its plot. It contains alot of the typical horror cliches and gimmicks intended to shock or gross out the viewer, but nothing groundbreaking or overly terrifying. If you've seen recent movies like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes or the Saw films, this won't outdo those on any level. While it does attempt some creative death sequences, some of the intended horror scenes are laughable rather than scary. The actors and actresses don't deliver any top notch or heartfelt performances, so it even makes the audience care less about their demise in this type of film. The only notable actor in the movie really is Kane, and he definitely proves he could be a worthy monster type villain, but we all knew that from his various antics seen on WWE. He doesn't have a large speaking role, but then again so many horror villains and monsters don't. The WWE clearly wanted to burst into the horror genre by sticking its token scary wrestler into a quick film here. One other important note; The hook on a chain which Kane brought into play during his feud and matches versus The Great Khali also makes its big debut in this movie.

The movie is Rated R for good reason with some rather gruesome death sequences, including the concept that Kane removes the eyeballs of his victims. So this one's definitely not for the kids whether fans of Kane or not. It has a very quick running time of 1 hour 24 minutes. The DVD features a commentary track from Kane, a behind the scenes look at the movie, and a short documentary about Kane's story in the WWE as well. Check this movie out as a Kane fan, but not if you seek top-notch horror, because so many other movie efforts succeed more than "See No Evil". My best guess is that if there's ever any sort of a sequel made, "See No Evil" will see its way straight to DVD.

Movie Review: "Gridiron Gang"

While it's been on DVD for quite some time now, I finally got the opportunity to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's movie, "Gridiron Gang".

"Gridiron Gang" is based on a true story about Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention center which attempts to intervene in the lives of its incarcerated youths. The movie opens with the startling facts that each year approximately 120,000 youths are incarcerated in detention centers across the US and over 75% of those youths make a return back to detention after their release.

Willie Weathers aka "Drac" and Roger are cousins shown early on who get caught up in a driveby shooting in their neighborhood. Roger is struck by the driveby shooters' car and killed, sparking rage amongst his cousin and the rival gang. Drac goes to avenge the killing and shoot a member of the rival gang at a convenience store, but backs out when it goes wrong. As he gets home, Drac finds his mother has been assaulted again by her abusive boyfriend. Drac ends up shooting the boyfriend in a matter of self-defense, after the boyfriend pushes him and his mother around their home. Drac is sent back to be incarcerated at Camp Kilpatrick. Sean Porter (played by the Rock) and Malcolm Moore (played by Xzibit) play counselor/staff who work inside the detention center.

Disappointed at losing the constant fight to rehab incarcerated youth, Sean Porter (The Rock) asks the administration to start a football team to teach the detention center youths to respond better to authority and rules. Acting as coach and recruiter, Sean puts together a team from the various youth at Camp Kilpatrick. He then tries to find opponents for his team. Early on he meets with resistance from school coaches who decline to play a team which includes gang members and violent criminals. After finally finding competition and a place for the team to play, Sean begins training his "gridiron gang", The Mustangs, to institute discipline and respect in the members of the team. To be competitive as a team, the Mustangs will also need to learn to put aside personal differences amongst rival gang members and enemies on the team. Along the way, their coach also deals with his own personal crisises with his sick mother and criticism from the detention center administration about having the football team.

"Gridiron Gang' might seem like the cliche inspirational team sports flick, but it offers a different tale and one that needs to be told about how team sports can help the rehabilitation process of incarcerated youths. The movie also reflects on using opportunities and new chances to find personal growth and success. While it doesn't include any Oscar-worthy performances, it keeps you interested throughout with its action, drama and suspense. The Rock offers passion and humor in a more heartfelt role which fans of his will enjoy seeing, as it shows he is coming a long way from his roles in "The Mummy Returns" and "The Scorpion King".

"Gridiron Gang" is rated PG-13 and has a run time of 120 minutes . The DVD includes special features such as deleted scenes, a look at the actors' training for football and a multi-angle football scene you can control with your DVD player remote.

Read here about upcoming movie projects starring The Rock.