Regular Price $14.94

Starring: Nicolas Cage,  Joaquin Phoenix,  James Gandolfini,  Peter Stormare,  Anthony Heald, 
Directed By: Joel Schumacher, 
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1999-02-26
Studio: Sony Pictures
Format: Color,  Dolby,  DVD-Video,  Full Screen,  Subtitled,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about 8MM

Description
Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage stars with Joaquin Phoenix and Catherine Keener in an electrifying thriller from the writer of Seven. Directed by Joel Schumacher (The Client, Batman Forever, A Time to Kill), this dramatic story follows one man's obsessive search for the truth about a six-year-old crime and his ultimate discovery of the truth about himself.

Amazon.com
This thoroughly unpleasant thriller from the hands of Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin) offers very little in its lurid tour of snuff films and the seedy pornographic underworld. A wooden Nicolas Cage stars as a private detective hired by a tycoon's widow, who discovers in her dead husband's safe some 8mm footage of a young girl being sexually abused and slaughtered. Cage's job is to determine the veracity of the film and to find out the girl's identity, whether she be alive or dead. What could have been a taut, nerve-jangling thriller is instead a lumbering, overwrought but underwritten tale of vigilante justice. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker also penned the imaginative and compelling Seven, but you wouldn't know it from this tired and monotonous script. Schumacher tries for echoes of both The Silence of the Lambs and Paul Schrader's Hardcore (which stars George C. Scott as a father trying to find his daughter in the seedy porn industry), but despite some slick camerawork, the film fails to draw the audience into either the mystery of the missing girl or Cage's supposed internal conflicts. It's not so much the unsavory subject matter as it is the sloppy and unimaginative filmmaking that makes the movie unbearable. Of the entire cast only Joaquin Phoenix, as a charismatic goth boy who works at an adult book store, comes away with a memorable performance. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews for 8MM

Causes and consequences of nihilism
Cage and Schumacher examine in horrifying and brilliant detail what motivates people to do or become evil, what overcomes evil, and what evil does to the good, the naïve, and the ill-prepared. Yes, it could have been a little less ponderous and a little more compact, but that hardly is a blemish in this movie. If you're looking for cartoonish, stylized morality plays, go see a movie like "Fatal Attraction," cuz this ain't it. This movie has a theme more in common with "Rope" and a sick, moody grittiness worthy of "Seven." Speaking of those movies, this movie reeks with the consequences of the philosophy of hedonism and nihilism, but does not wallow in this philosophy but instead uses them as a foil for the primacy of justice and retribution, both of which are ultimately delivered in a fashion worthy of James Dickey.8MM

A MESSAGE TO HOLLYWOOD
I'm not going to waste time going over the plot. This movie was too irritating.
I don't understand how any screenwriter, director, or producer could develop such a dark and frightening story with this intelligent premise, and then feel the need to revel in some inexplicable nonsense. After establishing such a realistic and creepy atmosphere, you then let the audience off the hook? You stray from a frightening psychological thriller that is grounded in reality by throwing in some bogus, over the top garbage? Nobody can believe it! Even if the extra action shots look cool, there will be no lasting affect on any intelligent viewer! Not one! Quit ruining movies!! I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but geez. A little more realism will go a long way...8MM

I liked it
As always, I think in my own personal opinion that Nicholas Cage is an awesome actor. People may disagree, but that is why this is the Great USA...everyone is allowed to have an opinion.
As for the movie, when I first watched it, it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. It was dark, and dealt with very sensitive subjects. I really liked it, all the same, and I would recommend this movie to anyone who has a strong stomach.8MM

A Great Moral, Perhaps Not the Best Delivery
One of the criticisms leveled against the film industry today is that its movies are full of immorality. Comedic films are full of crude sexual references and unnecessary nudity. Films that may well have a great moral to them, such as the Wedding Crashers, which leaves Owen Wilson happier having found everlasting love with a wonderful woman, rather than continuing his life of meaningless and unfulfilling sexual encounters, are marred by the use of sexual humor and nudity.
8MM, like many films has a great moral to it, AVOID PORNOGRAPHY! Each of the characters involved in the murder of the girl are led to their crime by pornography. Likewise, each character involved dies in some way surrounded by their pornographic material. As Cage and Phoenix visit both the legal and illegal side of the vile business, consumers of the material are shown to be captivated by their desires, practicing both day and night. Similarly, this movie challenges the argument that pornography is a victimless crime, for each woman involved with pornography in the film is demonstrated as exploited and abused.
That being said and returning to the film industry's use of sexual humor and nudity, this film's exploration and revelation of the porn industry is very graphic and makes one wonder if it is not over the top. However, this graphic quality may help to hammer home the moral, leaving the audience with a firm determination to avoid pornographic material. Hopefully, one will not walk away from this film thinking either certain actors did not perform well or that this was a great thriller, the most important thing one can walk away with is the moral.8MM

Disturbing beyond belief but well worth the feeling...
I have never nor ever will I be a fan of Nicholas Cage. That aside, `8MM' is a film that I can get behind. It's dark, disturbing and intriguing despite the fact that Cage couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. His lack of emotional range disgust me, but regardless, `8MM' is a worthwhile cinematic experience. The subject matter is far from light fare. It delves into the perverse and downright despicable and hits a nerve with its audience. There are scenes within `8MM' where my gut is in knots, my heart racing and it's not necessarily out of fear (while there are some downright creepy moments) but more out of pure anger and frustration and deepened sadness. For a thriller it has a heart of emotional gold because it is able to attach the audience to a character they never meet and bleat for her vindication.

Nicholas Cage plays Tom Welles, a Private Investigator who meets an elderly widow distraught over a film she found hidden away within her late husbands belongings. This very rich man had purchased a pornographic film in which a young woman is brutally murdered. The first inclination of everyone involved is that it's a fake, a sick joke at that, but the widow insists that Tom investigate so that she can be sure. It's within this investigation that the audience's emotions are exposed and played with harshly. Welles delves deep into the world of pornography, legal and illegal, and uncovers things he wished he never had to witness.

Cage is nothing but boring here. His emotionless line readings get overly ridiculous, especially in a film like this where emotion is demanded of the audience. I felt as if I was affected more than Cage, and he was the man experiencing the horrors. I guess I just couldn't believe him. Joaquin Phoenix on the other hand was fantastic. He proved here that he is deserving of any and all praise that has been heaped upon him. A relative unknown at the time he was able to upstage his more famous costar with his ability to remain natural and relaxed and convey so much relatable emotion. Catherine Keener is decent as Cage's wife, but her performance is short and sweet, not much too really judge on. Another plus to this film is James Gandolfini who plays the porno slime ball so incredible convincingly. I loved to loathe him, he was that fantastic.

The film does in the end get a little extreme as Welles takes a personal approach to the horrors he uncovers. But, within all its unrealistic moments it still manages to keep the audience held tightly. This is one of those cases where the film far outshines its main character, or more so main actor since the character himself could have been much better had a more polished actor been given the role. The film is one that I would highly recommend with reservations. As I mentioned, and many others have as well, it's a very dark and disturbing creation with plenty of scenes that will bother you, mentally bother you. The subject matter is above and beyond horrendous, and it's approached in a very gritty and dark manor. You're skin will crawl and your stomach will turn long after the credits have rolled, but it's a satisfying feeling knowing that a film has been able to have such a strong impact.8MM