Reviews (18)

The 80's at it's finest! Not to be missed!
I saw this movie when it first came out... I"ve owned the soundtrack on tape and now on CD... I've bought the movie used from a video store when I couldn't find it new - and I hope that it will somehow get onto DVD... The movie is a must see if not a must own.. the Soundtrack is a MUST OWN for sure... one of my fave's of all time with it's ONLY problem being that it doesn't have the song "Where Is She" by Blue Future on it - if you've seen the movie, you know the song... other than that it's near perfection... another great soundtrack "The Lost Boys" ironically another Corey/Corey tagteam hit...

Great Movie for all Generations.
This movie is a great movie and I have been enchanted by it since I first saw it in the 80's. Now it is out on DVD and I still enjoy it. It is so romantic and has alot of human emotion in it. I have to also admit I used to be in love with Meredith Salenger. She is such a fine actress and Wow, what a bod. This movie has soooo much cool music in it and it appeals to all ages. The romantic part of me loves this movie and it is right up there with another romantic movie that I love, "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton John. Corey Feldman might not have been the best actor ever, but he was excellent in this and the Academy Awards should have noticed. (Like they ever vote for anthing that REALLY deserves it). The rest of the crew made an excellent movie and the dirctor and editor did a first rate job. What else did the director go on to do?

Pick up the sound track and you will love it. I listen to it all the time and the inclusion of the Van Morrison hit "into the mystic" sets the mood for any situation. Beautiful movie and all time classic.

my favorite movie of all time so far
although a hard movie to follow at times,its very entertaining and i know it word for word.i have probably watched it 50 times or so.its not for everyone,but if you like 80s movies about romantic comedy with wild twists you will love this one.its worth a buy for sure,and i suggest getting it new ,for only a few dollars more.

Dinger lives / An 80's gem
One of my favorite films so defining of the 80's. A classic teen angst high school movie but with imagination. I think Corey Feldman & Corey Haim made a great team in this. This film makes you want to go back to the 80's as a teenager in high school, watching it nowadays. I completely related to Corey Haims character Dinger. Dinger and Bobby are best friends Bobby falls for Lainie the hottest girl in school and has to convince her that she loves him before the night's over but here's the story in an accident Bobby switches his body with the old man next store living life thru his eyes and vice versus. The same thing with Lainie and the old man's wife. A romantic comedy with a twist. Pay attention to the characters and their bond. A great film about friendship & relationships in high school. An essential to collection for anyone who grew up in 80's cinema. I own the DVD and the soundtrack is great too.

Dream a little dream on dvd
Just to let you know Dream a Little Dream was released on dvd ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Just the facts - (more or less) from the back cover:
Debi D'Angelo (Catherine Mary Stewart) is the young songwriter/musician who joins a rock group and dreams of making it big - until she wakes up to the price of success. Niles (Cameron Dye) is the charming & treacherous rock star who's out to steal her heart and her music. All his brother Harry (Steve Railsback) can do is hang around and pick up the pieces when he self-destructs. While her life looks exciting and glamorous on stage, behind the scenes Debi is fighting for her father's love and approval. At the same time she's fighting a losing battle against the drugs that are destroying her brother's life. Finally, her hope and courage find their way into her music - and into the hearts of the fans who love her. Features music by Bryan Adams. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Homelessness is a serious problem, but this film by Mark Rocco made it look like an alternative lifestyle that, if not for drugs and prostitution, would be kind of cool. Set in Los Angeles, the film centers on a group of homeless teens led by King (Dermot Mulroney), who tries to look out for his younger charges. But he can't keep some of them from getting involved in drug dealing, which leads to violence and melodrama involving evil drug dealer Kyle MacLachlan. Mulroney has a poignant quality, as does Lara Flynn Boyle as a runaway girl he falls for. On the other hand, Sean Astin is stereotypical as a strung-out kid who spoils everything. That's Will "Fresh Prince" Smith as a legless kid in a couple of scenes. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Homelessness Hollywood style...
There is a superficiality to this movie that is a bit disconcerting. I suppose it is ironic that big time actors (many not so big then) play no name children of the street. It raises awareness, yes, but it also makes it look kind of cool.

I lived in Seattle for a while and the young people living on the street have a certain belief in the 'coolness' of their lifestyle that actually validates this movie to a degree.

Having worked with the homeless in my hometown, I've learned that it is not monolithic. There are as many 'types' of homeless people as there are homeless people. Does that make me an expert? No.

However, that being said, this is an excellent movie. The cast is phenomenal. With a score by Melissa Etheridge, the movie feels in places like a rock video but it also helps with the flow and mood.

The movie does a good job of exposing, to a greater or lesser degree, the problems that leads to and come with being on the street. It ain't pretty and the movie never really leads you to that conclusion. While it certainly isn't graphic in an extreme sense, it does give you just enough to feel.

Very Intense
Where The Day Takes You gives the viewer a look into the lives of young homeless people in Los Angeles. Remarkable performances keep this film from being another After School Special type film. Sean Astin is particularily effective in this movie, though I could have done without Will Smith and Ricki Lake. Other than that, this film is a must see.

Where This Movie Takes You
With an all-star cast and a great premise, Where The Day Takes You takes a hard look at the lives of children on the streets of Hollywood. The cast includes such greats as Dermot Mulroney, Lara Flynn Boyle, Will Smith and Sean Astin, more recently of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy fame. Both realistic and unsettling, Where The Day Takes You is one movie that I am truly glad I took time to watch.

The Best
I saw this movie for the first time nine years ago. After watching it the first time, I immediately watched it again. This is my favorite movie compared to anything. It definitely gives the viewer a real look into the realm of drugs and homelessness. This movie is definitely underrated, watched too infrequently and too unknown.

Great early movie for up and coming actors
This movie is full of actors that you now know at first glance. But when it came out, it was just a little movie full of a cast of actors with potential.
It's a moving and engrossing charater study that goes over the top from time to time, but never makes you lose your interest. You care about all the characters, whether you like them or detest them, until after it's over, and you realize how sad their lives truly are. At that point, even the detestable characters evoke pathos.
This definitely is a movie that film-lovers should see. If for no other reason, it's great to see the actors before they all broke (and to see the ones that didn't quite live up to potential). But above all, it's a film that deserves it just due, and it's viewing by more people. ... Read more

Description

A young songwriter/musician joins a rock group but pays the price for success when she becomes involved with the lead singer and he tries to steal her music. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Just the facts - (more or less) from the back cover:
Debi D'Angelo (Catherine Mary Stewart) is the young songwriter/musician who joins a rock group and dreams of making it big - until she wakes up to the price of success. Niles (Cameron Dye) is the charming & treacherous rock star who's out to steal her heart and her music. All his brother Harry (Steve Railsback) can do is hang around and pick up the pieces when he self-destructs. While her life looks exciting and glamorous on stage, behind the scenes Debi is fighting for her father's love and approval. At the same time she's fighting a losing battle against the drugs that are destroying her brother's life. Finally, her hope and courage find their way into her music - and into the hearts of the fans who love her. Features music by Bryan Adams. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

I don't really have a subject
Well lets see. I have seen many Kevin Bacon movies. "The River Wild" "Stir Of Echos" the list goes on and on. This movie Murder in the first was one of his best. The movie is completely disturbing. the first 30 minutes of the movie is completely disturbing. Young (Bacon) is jailed for stealing $5 to help his sister and him live. He is sent to Alcatraz. and sent into solitary confinement IMMEDIATELY. he gets out 3 years and 2 months later after being tortured and abused with blackjacks and whips. (I think that bacon was a little retarded in the movie but I am not too sure) The ending was great. When he finally stood up to the warden and when he was walking back to solitary right after he told the warden off. I felt shivers go down my spine! Itz a good movie

The Gripping True Story...
...of the trial the ultimately put Alcatraz out of commision. Kevin Bacon gives one of his finest roles as a man who has spent three torturous years in solitary confinement on Alcatraz, let out for exercise for a half hour per year and viciously tortured and beaten by the Warren.

All of the acting in the movie is good, and the drama and suspense building is masterful. During the movie, you can really feel for and empathize with the characters, and even though its not a cool jail movie like Shawshank Redemption, it is every bit as good, especially in that it is a true story.

This is also an incredibly hard movie to watch at times. When the guy being slashed with a razor, or digging a spoon into a guys throat, or even just sobbing pitifully because his organ isn't working right after three years of malnutritioned hell, this movie has the capability of leaving you wincing in your seat.

This is not a movie to sit back, relax and enjoy, but rather one which you should watch and learn from.

"You can't handle the truth!"
Upon seeing Burt Lancaster in "The Birdman of Alcatraz," a young boy wrote a letter to the warden pleading for his release. One of the things left out of the film, of course, was that in addition to ornithology, the real Birdman had another hobby -- writing pornographic stories for other inmates involving young boys about the same age as the one who wrote the letter....

"Murder in the First" is yet another example of how, when one sees the words "basedon/inspiredby a true story" used to describe a book or film, what it really means is "at most maybe 2-5% is true, and the rest is BS."

Some say that it is unfair to criticize a film for not being 100% true to the events and characters it purports to portray. But I find it hard to approve of a film that must alter reality in order to get me to buy into its message. If you're going to fictionalize, then go all the way. Don't try to claim that this really happened when it in fact did not! And if you don't like the prison system, then try to persuade me to change it by using rational, well-reasoned logical arguments, instead of creating a piece of cinematic propaganda -- effective propaganda, at that, considering some of the other reviews on this page. Reviewer after reviewer has mindlessly repeated the BS from the blurbs on the box, in spite of how demonstrably the film's press kit contradicts the facts.

This film suffers from the same tragic flaw almost all prison films suffer from. Put stereotypically innocent prisoners and stereotypically abusive, brutal, and sadistic guards together, and then expect the audience to see that it is in fact the system and society that are truly to blame. Golly, I never realized that by NOT lying, NOT cheating, NOT stealing, and NOT killing, I was in fact the one truly to blame for crime! It was I that drove them to it! Down with democracy! Down with capitalism! Up with socialism!

Even if taken as the TOTAL work of fiction that it is -- and should be labeled as -- this film doesn't work. Even good performances by Bacon, Oldman and Slater cannot rescue this stupidly stereotypical script. I have irrevocably lost respect for anyone associated with this film, as I have with anyone involved with Oliver Stone's perverse exercise in the post-modern concept of "mythic truth" being more important than "historical fact," "JFK." It's like asking me to excuse the fact that Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda was commissioned by Hitler just because, in all honesty, she DID have great directorial talent.

I believe in capital punishment for ALL violent crime, but I also believe that NO ONE, no matter what their crime, should be abused or brutalized in any way, shape or form, so, in that respect, I despise the prison system, too. But it wasn't a piece of Hollywood propaganda like "Murder in the First" that led me to that point of view.

It's films like this that make it seem so disengenuous when people in Hollywood act shocked and amazed that they are seen as dogmatically liberal and leftist....

One of the best movies I've had the honor of seeing.
It's currently Dec. 8, 2003. I was watching my usual line up, which includes some "Comedy Central" and the "NFL Network". I had just finished watching "A Few Good Men", a masterpiece in my opinion, and the next movie to be shown was one called "Murder in the First". I was about to change the channel to one of the above I listed earlier, until something told me to watch it. A feeling I had, said this one was a winner. Well, I was right.

"Murder in the First" is one of the best movies around. It hooked me from the beginning and I was compelled to watch to it's finale. I'll get one thing out of the way now. If Keven Bacon didn't get an oscar for this movie, than the Academy doesn't know talent or a good performance when they see it. I was deeply moved by this movie about the cruel treatment of an attempted escapee from Alcatraz. The only reason the escape attempt was not successful was that the man who was escaping with Henry, snitched to the warden and thus we have the beginnings of a great movie. In the law books at this point in history, a prisoner could spend no more than 19 consecutive days in solitary confinement. Keven Bacon's character, Henry Young, was kept in Solitary on Alcatraz for 3 years. He was let out on christmas day in each of those years for 30 minutes of exercise. Henry's mistreatment was barbaric and seemed reminicient of torture from hundreds of years ago. The assistant warden of alcatraz, played by Gary Oldman, would constantly brutalize and cause the suffering of Mr. Young, even going as far to slice open his ankle with a razor.

Without giving away too much of the plot I will be brief. Christain Slater's character was assigned to Young's case, he had been accused of murdering the man who snitched on him, which he did. Now, Christian Slater's character was suppose to go to trial and basically not try to save this man or defend him at all. It appeared an open and shut case, but that's when the fireworks start.

Other reviews will basically tell you the whole plot, and what happened throughout. All I can tell you, apart from the above mentioned, is that this is a must see movie. Sure, among the reviews are ones that complain about the movie, and say how hollywood it is, or that it's easy to figure out where the movie is going (this isn't a mystery movie people), or that "Escape from Alcatraz" was a better movie about the world of Alcatraz. People, if you wanted nitpicking, you would pick up a "Rolling Stone" magazine or watch "Ebert and Roeper at the Movies", but this is something that they won't tell you. That this movie is excellent. Why won't the afore mentioned tell you that? Because picking a movie apart is what they do. Comparing movies like this one to classics. Such nonsense. You can't compare every movie to "Casablanca". Which is what some people will do. This movie is not "Citizen Kane". Nor will it ever be an "Amadeus". These are not fair comparisans. This movie is good, because it is. If I had to compare it to another movie, in the field of how deep it is, or how powerful it is. I would put it in it's own league, which is where my favorite movie of all time, "SE7EN", resides. Don't compare this movie to anything else, just enjoy it for what it is. Let the people who gets paid to nitpick, nitpick. Just sit back, grab the tissues, and enjoy this work of cinematic genius.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
MY USUAL TASTE IN FILMS RARELY INCLUDE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF COMEDY. I USUALLY GET BORED AND UNINTERESTED IN DRAMA. THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME FROM SCENE ONE UNTIL THE CREDITS ROLL. KEVIN BACON'S PERFORMANCE SHOULD WIN HIM AWARDS FOR HIS PROTRAYAL OF HENRY YOUNG UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!!!! THE MOVIE, OVERALL, IS A GREAT PEICE OF CINEMA. I CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE EVERYDAY AND STILL STARE AT THE SCENE IN AWE. WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THIS MOVIE, IT'S WORTH IT!!!!! BUTTERFLY26@VERIZON ... Read more

Reviews (35)

I don't really have a subject
Well lets see. I have seen many Kevin Bacon movies. "The River Wild" "Stir Of Echos" the list goes on and on. This movie Murder in the first was one of his best. The movie is completely disturbing. the first 30 minutes of the movie is completely disturbing. Young (Bacon) is jailed for stealing $5 to help his sister and him live. He is sent to Alcatraz. and sent into solitary confinement IMMEDIATELY. he gets out 3 years and 2 months later after being tortured and abused with blackjacks and whips. (I think that bacon was a little retarded in the movie but I am not too sure) The ending was great. When he finally stood up to the warden and when he was walking back to solitary right after he told the warden off. I felt shivers go down my spine! Itz a good movie

The Gripping True Story...
...of the trial the ultimately put Alcatraz out of commision. Kevin Bacon gives one of his finest roles as a man who has spent three torturous years in solitary confinement on Alcatraz, let out for exercise for a half hour per year and viciously tortured and beaten by the Warren.

All of the acting in the movie is good, and the drama and suspense building is masterful. During the movie, you can really feel for and empathize with the characters, and even though its not a cool jail movie like Shawshank Redemption, it is every bit as good, especially in that it is a true story.

This is also an incredibly hard movie to watch at times. When the guy being slashed with a razor, or digging a spoon into a guys throat, or even just sobbing pitifully because his organ isn't working right after three years of malnutritioned hell, this movie has the capability of leaving you wincing in your seat.

This is not a movie to sit back, relax and enjoy, but rather one which you should watch and learn from.

"You can't handle the truth!"
Upon seeing Burt Lancaster in "The Birdman of Alcatraz," a young boy wrote a letter to the warden pleading for his release. One of the things left out of the film, of course, was that in addition to ornithology, the real Birdman had another hobby -- writing pornographic stories for other inmates involving young boys about the same age as the one who wrote the letter....

"Murder in the First" is yet another example of how, when one sees the words "basedon/inspiredby a true story" used to describe a book or film, what it really means is "at most maybe 2-5% is true, and the rest is BS."

Some say that it is unfair to criticize a film for not being 100% true to the events and characters it purports to portray. But I find it hard to approve of a film that must alter reality in order to get me to buy into its message. If you're going to fictionalize, then go all the way. Don't try to claim that this really happened when it in fact did not! And if you don't like the prison system, then try to persuade me to change it by using rational, well-reasoned logical arguments, instead of creating a piece of cinematic propaganda -- effective propaganda, at that, considering some of the other reviews on this page. Reviewer after reviewer has mindlessly repeated the BS from the blurbs on the box, in spite of how demonstrably the film's press kit contradicts the facts.

This film suffers from the same tragic flaw almost all prison films suffer from. Put stereotypically innocent prisoners and stereotypically abusive, brutal, and sadistic guards together, and then expect the audience to see that it is in fact the system and society that are truly to blame. Golly, I never realized that by NOT lying, NOT cheating, NOT stealing, and NOT killing, I was in fact the one truly to blame for crime! It was I that drove them to it! Down with democracy! Down with capitalism! Up with socialism!

Even if taken as the TOTAL work of fiction that it is -- and should be labeled as -- this film doesn't work. Even good performances by Bacon, Oldman and Slater cannot rescue this stupidly stereotypical script. I have irrevocably lost respect for anyone associated with this film, as I have with anyone involved with Oliver Stone's perverse exercise in the post-modern concept of "mythic truth" being more important than "historical fact," "JFK." It's like asking me to excuse the fact that Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda was commissioned by Hitler just because, in all honesty, she DID have great directorial talent.

I believe in capital punishment for ALL violent crime, but I also believe that NO ONE, no matter what their crime, should be abused or brutalized in any way, shape or form, so, in that respect, I despise the prison system, too. But it wasn't a piece of Hollywood propaganda like "Murder in the First" that led me to that point of view.

It's films like this that make it seem so disengenuous when people in Hollywood act shocked and amazed that they are seen as dogmatically liberal and leftist....

One of the best movies I've had the honor of seeing.
It's currently Dec. 8, 2003. I was watching my usual line up, which includes some "Comedy Central" and the "NFL Network". I had just finished watching "A Few Good Men", a masterpiece in my opinion, and the next movie to be shown was one called "Murder in the First". I was about to change the channel to one of the above I listed earlier, until something told me to watch it. A feeling I had, said this one was a winner. Well, I was right.

"Murder in the First" is one of the best movies around. It hooked me from the beginning and I was compelled to watch to it's finale. I'll get one thing out of the way now. If Keven Bacon didn't get an oscar for this movie, than the Academy doesn't know talent or a good performance when they see it. I was deeply moved by this movie about the cruel treatment of an attempted escapee from Alcatraz. The only reason the escape attempt was not successful was that the man who was escaping with Henry, snitched to the warden and thus we have the beginnings of a great movie. In the law books at this point in history, a prisoner could spend no more than 19 consecutive days in solitary confinement. Keven Bacon's character, Henry Young, was kept in Solitary on Alcatraz for 3 years. He was let out on christmas day in each of those years for 30 minutes of exercise. Henry's mistreatment was barbaric and seemed reminicient of torture from hundreds of years ago. The assistant warden of alcatraz, played by Gary Oldman, would constantly brutalize and cause the suffering of Mr. Young, even going as far to slice open his ankle with a razor.

Without giving away too much of the plot I will be brief. Christain Slater's character was assigned to Young's case, he had been accused of murdering the man who snitched on him, which he did. Now, Christian Slater's character was suppose to go to trial and basically not try to save this man or defend him at all. It appeared an open and shut case, but that's when the fireworks start.

Other reviews will basically tell you the whole plot, and what happened throughout. All I can tell you, apart from the above mentioned, is that this is a must see movie. Sure, among the reviews are ones that complain about the movie, and say how hollywood it is, or that it's easy to figure out where the movie is going (this isn't a mystery movie people), or that "Escape from Alcatraz" was a better movie about the world of Alcatraz. People, if you wanted nitpicking, you would pick up a "Rolling Stone" magazine or watch "Ebert and Roeper at the Movies", but this is something that they won't tell you. That this movie is excellent. Why won't the afore mentioned tell you that? Because picking a movie apart is what they do. Comparing movies like this one to classics. Such nonsense. You can't compare every movie to "Casablanca". Which is what some people will do. This movie is not "Citizen Kane". Nor will it ever be an "Amadeus". These are not fair comparisans. This movie is good, because it is. If I had to compare it to another movie, in the field of how deep it is, or how powerful it is. I would put it in it's own league, which is where my favorite movie of all time, "SE7EN", resides. Don't compare this movie to anything else, just enjoy it for what it is. Let the people who gets paid to nitpick, nitpick. Just sit back, grab the tissues, and enjoy this work of cinematic genius.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
MY USUAL TASTE IN FILMS RARELY INCLUDE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF COMEDY. I USUALLY GET BORED AND UNINTERESTED IN DRAMA. THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME FROM SCENE ONE UNTIL THE CREDITS ROLL. KEVIN BACON'S PERFORMANCE SHOULD WIN HIM AWARDS FOR HIS PROTRAYAL OF HENRY YOUNG UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!!!! THE MOVIE, OVERALL, IS A GREAT PEICE OF CINEMA. I CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE EVERYDAY AND STILL STARE AT THE SCENE IN AWE. WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THIS MOVIE, IT'S WORTH IT!!!!! BUTTERFLY26@VERIZON ... Read more

Reviews (35)

I don't really have a subject
Well lets see. I have seen many Kevin Bacon movies. "The River Wild" "Stir Of Echos" the list goes on and on. This movie Murder in the first was one of his best. The movie is completely disturbing. the first 30 minutes of the movie is completely disturbing. Young (Bacon) is jailed for stealing $5 to help his sister and him live. He is sent to Alcatraz. and sent into solitary confinement IMMEDIATELY. he gets out 3 years and 2 months later after being tortured and abused with blackjacks and whips. (I think that bacon was a little retarded in the movie but I am not too sure) The ending was great. When he finally stood up to the warden and when he was walking back to solitary right after he told the warden off. I felt shivers go down my spine! Itz a good movie

The Gripping True Story...
...of the trial the ultimately put Alcatraz out of commision. Kevin Bacon gives one of his finest roles as a man who has spent three torturous years in solitary confinement on Alcatraz, let out for exercise for a half hour per year and viciously tortured and beaten by the Warren.

All of the acting in the movie is good, and the drama and suspense building is masterful. During the movie, you can really feel for and empathize with the characters, and even though its not a cool jail movie like Shawshank Redemption, it is every bit as good, especially in that it is a true story.

This is also an incredibly hard movie to watch at times. When the guy being slashed with a razor, or digging a spoon into a guys throat, or even just sobbing pitifully because his organ isn't working right after three years of malnutritioned hell, this movie has the capability of leaving you wincing in your seat.

This is not a movie to sit back, relax and enjoy, but rather one which you should watch and learn from.

"You can't handle the truth!"
Upon seeing Burt Lancaster in "The Birdman of Alcatraz," a young boy wrote a letter to the warden pleading for his release. One of the things left out of the film, of course, was that in addition to ornithology, the real Birdman had another hobby -- writing pornographic stories for other inmates involving young boys about the same age as the one who wrote the letter....

"Murder in the First" is yet another example of how, when one sees the words "basedon/inspiredby a true story" used to describe a book or film, what it really means is "at most maybe 2-5% is true, and the rest is BS."

Some say that it is unfair to criticize a film for not being 100% true to the events and characters it purports to portray. But I find it hard to approve of a film that must alter reality in order to get me to buy into its message. If you're going to fictionalize, then go all the way. Don't try to claim that this really happened when it in fact did not! And if you don't like the prison system, then try to persuade me to change it by using rational, well-reasoned logical arguments, instead of creating a piece of cinematic propaganda -- effective propaganda, at that, considering some of the other reviews on this page. Reviewer after reviewer has mindlessly repeated the BS from the blurbs on the box, in spite of how demonstrably the film's press kit contradicts the facts.

This film suffers from the same tragic flaw almost all prison films suffer from. Put stereotypically innocent prisoners and stereotypically abusive, brutal, and sadistic guards together, and then expect the audience to see that it is in fact the system and society that are truly to blame. Golly, I never realized that by NOT lying, NOT cheating, NOT stealing, and NOT killing, I was in fact the one truly to blame for crime! It was I that drove them to it! Down with democracy! Down with capitalism! Up with socialism!

Even if taken as the TOTAL work of fiction that it is -- and should be labeled as -- this film doesn't work. Even good performances by Bacon, Oldman and Slater cannot rescue this stupidly stereotypical script. I have irrevocably lost respect for anyone associated with this film, as I have with anyone involved with Oliver Stone's perverse exercise in the post-modern concept of "mythic truth" being more important than "historical fact," "JFK." It's like asking me to excuse the fact that Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda was commissioned by Hitler just because, in all honesty, she DID have great directorial talent.

I believe in capital punishment for ALL violent crime, but I also believe that NO ONE, no matter what their crime, should be abused or brutalized in any way, shape or form, so, in that respect, I despise the prison system, too. But it wasn't a piece of Hollywood propaganda like "Murder in the First" that led me to that point of view.

It's films like this that make it seem so disengenuous when people in Hollywood act shocked and amazed that they are seen as dogmatically liberal and leftist....

One of the best movies I've had the honor of seeing.
It's currently Dec. 8, 2003. I was watching my usual line up, which includes some "Comedy Central" and the "NFL Network". I had just finished watching "A Few Good Men", a masterpiece in my opinion, and the next movie to be shown was one called "Murder in the First". I was about to change the channel to one of the above I listed earlier, until something told me to watch it. A feeling I had, said this one was a winner. Well, I was right.

"Murder in the First" is one of the best movies around. It hooked me from the beginning and I was compelled to watch to it's finale. I'll get one thing out of the way now. If Keven Bacon didn't get an oscar for this movie, than the Academy doesn't know talent or a good performance when they see it. I was deeply moved by this movie about the cruel treatment of an attempted escapee from Alcatraz. The only reason the escape attempt was not successful was that the man who was escaping with Henry, snitched to the warden and thus we have the beginnings of a great movie. In the law books at this point in history, a prisoner could spend no more than 19 consecutive days in solitary confinement. Keven Bacon's character, Henry Young, was kept in Solitary on Alcatraz for 3 years. He was let out on christmas day in each of those years for 30 minutes of exercise. Henry's mistreatment was barbaric and seemed reminicient of torture from hundreds of years ago. The assistant warden of alcatraz, played by Gary Oldman, would constantly brutalize and cause the suffering of Mr. Young, even going as far to slice open his ankle with a razor.

Without giving away too much of the plot I will be brief. Christain Slater's character was assigned to Young's case, he had been accused of murdering the man who snitched on him, which he did. Now, Christian Slater's character was suppose to go to trial and basically not try to save this man or defend him at all. It appeared an open and shut case, but that's when the fireworks start.

Other reviews will basically tell you the whole plot, and what happened throughout. All I can tell you, apart from the above mentioned, is that this is a must see movie. Sure, among the reviews are ones that complain about the movie, and say how hollywood it is, or that it's easy to figure out where the movie is going (this isn't a mystery movie people), or that "Escape from Alcatraz" was a better movie about the world of Alcatraz. People, if you wanted nitpicking, you would pick up a "Rolling Stone" magazine or watch "Ebert and Roeper at the Movies", but this is something that they won't tell you. That this movie is excellent. Why won't the afore mentioned tell you that? Because picking a movie apart is what they do. Comparing movies like this one to classics. Such nonsense. You can't compare every movie to "Casablanca". Which is what some people will do. This movie is not "Citizen Kane". Nor will it ever be an "Amadeus". These are not fair comparisans. This movie is good, because it is. If I had to compare it to another movie, in the field of how deep it is, or how powerful it is. I would put it in it's own league, which is where my favorite movie of all time, "SE7EN", resides. Don't compare this movie to anything else, just enjoy it for what it is. Let the people who gets paid to nitpick, nitpick. Just sit back, grab the tissues, and enjoy this work of cinematic genius.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
MY USUAL TASTE IN FILMS RARELY INCLUDE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF COMEDY. I USUALLY GET BORED AND UNINTERESTED IN DRAMA. THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME FROM SCENE ONE UNTIL THE CREDITS ROLL. KEVIN BACON'S PERFORMANCE SHOULD WIN HIM AWARDS FOR HIS PROTRAYAL OF HENRY YOUNG UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!!!! THE MOVIE, OVERALL, IS A GREAT PEICE OF CINEMA. I CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE EVERYDAY AND STILL STARE AT THE SCENE IN AWE. WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THIS MOVIE, IT'S WORTH IT!!!!! BUTTERFLY26@VERIZON ... Read more

Description

Based on a true story that occured on the 1930s.A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend a hard-core prisoninmate accused of committing murder while behind bars. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

I don't really have a subject
Well lets see. I have seen many Kevin Bacon movies. "The River Wild" "Stir Of Echos" the list goes on and on. This movie Murder in the first was one of his best. The movie is completely disturbing. the first 30 minutes of the movie is completely disturbing. Young (Bacon) is jailed for stealing $5 to help his sister and him live. He is sent to Alcatraz. and sent into solitary confinement IMMEDIATELY. he gets out 3 years and 2 months later after being tortured and abused with blackjacks and whips. (I think that bacon was a little retarded in the movie but I am not too sure) The ending was great. When he finally stood up to the warden and when he was walking back to solitary right after he told the warden off. I felt shivers go down my spine! Itz a good movie

The Gripping True Story...
...of the trial the ultimately put Alcatraz out of commision. Kevin Bacon gives one of his finest roles as a man who has spent three torturous years in solitary confinement on Alcatraz, let out for exercise for a half hour per year and viciously tortured and beaten by the Warren.

All of the acting in the movie is good, and the drama and suspense building is masterful. During the movie, you can really feel for and empathize with the characters, and even though its not a cool jail movie like Shawshank Redemption, it is every bit as good, especially in that it is a true story.

This is also an incredibly hard movie to watch at times. When the guy being slashed with a razor, or digging a spoon into a guys throat, or even just sobbing pitifully because his organ isn't working right after three years of malnutritioned hell, this movie has the capability of leaving you wincing in your seat.

This is not a movie to sit back, relax and enjoy, but rather one which you should watch and learn from.

"You can't handle the truth!"
Upon seeing Burt Lancaster in "The Birdman of Alcatraz," a young boy wrote a letter to the warden pleading for his release. One of the things left out of the film, of course, was that in addition to ornithology, the real Birdman had another hobby -- writing pornographic stories for other inmates involving young boys about the same age as the one who wrote the letter....

"Murder in the First" is yet another example of how, when one sees the words "basedon/inspiredby a true story" used to describe a book or film, what it really means is "at most maybe 2-5% is true, and the rest is BS."

Some say that it is unfair to criticize a film for not being 100% true to the events and characters it purports to portray. But I find it hard to approve of a film that must alter reality in order to get me to buy into its message. If you're going to fictionalize, then go all the way. Don't try to claim that this really happened when it in fact did not! And if you don't like the prison system, then try to persuade me to change it by using rational, well-reasoned logical arguments, instead of creating a piece of cinematic propaganda -- effective propaganda, at that, considering some of the other reviews on this page. Reviewer after reviewer has mindlessly repeated the BS from the blurbs on the box, in spite of how demonstrably the film's press kit contradicts the facts.

This film suffers from the same tragic flaw almost all prison films suffer from. Put stereotypically innocent prisoners and stereotypically abusive, brutal, and sadistic guards together, and then expect the audience to see that it is in fact the system and society that are truly to blame. Golly, I never realized that by NOT lying, NOT cheating, NOT stealing, and NOT killing, I was in fact the one truly to blame for crime! It was I that drove them to it! Down with democracy! Down with capitalism! Up with socialism!

Even if taken as the TOTAL work of fiction that it is -- and should be labeled as -- this film doesn't work. Even good performances by Bacon, Oldman and Slater cannot rescue this stupidly stereotypical script. I have irrevocably lost respect for anyone associated with this film, as I have with anyone involved with Oliver Stone's perverse exercise in the post-modern concept of "mythic truth" being more important than "historical fact," "JFK." It's like asking me to excuse the fact that Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda was commissioned by Hitler just because, in all honesty, she DID have great directorial talent.

I believe in capital punishment for ALL violent crime, but I also believe that NO ONE, no matter what their crime, should be abused or brutalized in any way, shape or form, so, in that respect, I despise the prison system, too. But it wasn't a piece of Hollywood propaganda like "Murder in the First" that led me to that point of view.

It's films like this that make it seem so disengenuous when people in Hollywood act shocked and amazed that they are seen as dogmatically liberal and leftist....

One of the best movies I've had the honor of seeing.
It's currently Dec. 8, 2003. I was watching my usual line up, which includes some "Comedy Central" and the "NFL Network". I had just finished watching "A Few Good Men", a masterpiece in my opinion, and the next movie to be shown was one called "Murder in the First". I was about to change the channel to one of the above I listed earlier, until something told me to watch it. A feeling I had, said this one was a winner. Well, I was right.

"Murder in the First" is one of the best movies around. It hooked me from the beginning and I was compelled to watch to it's finale. I'll get one thing out of the way now. If Keven Bacon didn't get an oscar for this movie, than the Academy doesn't know talent or a good performance when they see it. I was deeply moved by this movie about the cruel treatment of an attempted escapee from Alcatraz. The only reason the escape attempt was not successful was that the man who was escaping with Henry, snitched to the warden and thus we have the beginnings of a great movie. In the law books at this point in history, a prisoner could spend no more than 19 consecutive days in solitary confinement. Keven Bacon's character, Henry Young, was kept in Solitary on Alcatraz for 3 years. He was let out on christmas day in each of those years for 30 minutes of exercise. Henry's mistreatment was barbaric and seemed reminicient of torture from hundreds of years ago. The assistant warden of alcatraz, played by Gary Oldman, would constantly brutalize and cause the suffering of Mr. Young, even going as far to slice open his ankle with a razor.

Without giving away too much of the plot I will be brief. Christain Slater's character was assigned to Young's case, he had been accused of murdering the man who snitched on him, which he did. Now, Christian Slater's character was suppose to go to trial and basically not try to save this man or defend him at all. It appeared an open and shut case, but that's when the fireworks start.

Other reviews will basically tell you the whole plot, and what happened throughout. All I can tell you, apart from the above mentioned, is that this is a must see movie. Sure, among the reviews are ones that complain about the movie, and say how hollywood it is, or that it's easy to figure out where the movie is going (this isn't a mystery movie people), or that "Escape from Alcatraz" was a better movie about the world of Alcatraz. People, if you wanted nitpicking, you would pick up a "Rolling Stone" magazine or watch "Ebert and Roeper at the Movies", but this is something that they won't tell you. That this movie is excellent. Why won't the afore mentioned tell you that? Because picking a movie apart is what they do. Comparing movies like this one to classics. Such nonsense. You can't compare every movie to "Casablanca". Which is what some people will do. This movie is not "Citizen Kane". Nor will it ever be an "Amadeus". These are not fair comparisans. This movie is good, because it is. If I had to compare it to another movie, in the field of how deep it is, or how powerful it is. I would put it in it's own league, which is where my favorite movie of all time, "SE7EN", resides. Don't compare this movie to anything else, just enjoy it for what it is. Let the people who gets paid to nitpick, nitpick. Just sit back, grab the tissues, and enjoy this work of cinematic genius.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
MY USUAL TASTE IN FILMS RARELY INCLUDE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF COMEDY. I USUALLY GET BORED AND UNINTERESTED IN DRAMA. THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME FROM SCENE ONE UNTIL THE CREDITS ROLL. KEVIN BACON'S PERFORMANCE SHOULD WIN HIM AWARDS FOR HIS PROTRAYAL OF HENRY YOUNG UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!!!! THE MOVIE, OVERALL, IS A GREAT PEICE OF CINEMA. I CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE EVERYDAY AND STILL STARE AT THE SCENE IN AWE. WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THIS MOVIE, IT'S WORTH IT!!!!! BUTTERFLY26@VERIZON ... Read more