LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016) (completed)

Postby Nathan on 06 Jan 2017, 00:34

Looks not bad. Seems it has a fairly engaging story and a fairly engaged Dolph. It's just nice to see him as the lead again. Will reserve judgement as always but this and the Altitude trailer look reasonable.
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 08 Mar 2017, 17:35

DVD/VOD tomorrow in Denmark, hopefully getting my copy soon...
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby savagesketch on 11 Mar 2017, 00:16

I'm amazed at how the posters and ads are STILL using Dwayne Johnson's body for this... Wonder when this hits the US if they'll still be using the same image.
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 17 Mar 2017, 12:45

Swedish DVD cover

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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 23 Mar 2017, 12:33

So last week-end I watched the Danish DVD edition of LARCENY, and I'm sorry and disappointed to say this project clearly seems like it had important production and money problems, seemingly running out of cash or loosing some financing during the making of it, especially in post-production.

So be aware of it and keep an open mind when you see it.

A lot of the dialogues are like rough production sound, lacking proper sound design, effects and sound mix. They may have rewritten the script on the spot à la DIAMOND DOGS as well. Even the end credits look incomplete (no copyright) and the crew listed is minimal.

The studio Hannibal Pictures had listed a $6 million budget at film markets trades but the film clearly only cost $1 million or even much less (yet it looks pretty good at times thanks to the cinematography and some slicks establishing shots, showing more ambition and competence from the filmmakers than what the released film is). The company has clearly been struggling getting their lined-up films made for the past few years and likely isn't gonna last much longer...

It's also a sign that these movies can almost no longer be made today.

I'm sure R. Ellis Frazier, who is a descent kinda old-school director, had a different film in mind... DEAD DROP with Luke Goss was much better in comparison. As such, LARCENY is kind of a weird cinematographic object.
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby savagesketch on 23 Mar 2017, 17:56

Also saw this over the week. Sadly, it's a serious misstep. Not much to really enjoy with this one. There were some positives going for it on the outset... The concept of Dolph playing a thief locked away in a Mexican prison sounds cool. And him taking the lead in a solid action picture was great to hear. Sadly, none of it is executed well at all.

As Jox said, I blame the production. This thing is shot CHEAP. Looks bad, sounds bad. The opening titles sequence looks neat at first (an aerial shot of what I'm assuming is the Mexican cityscape in a green infra-red style filter), but that's all it is and comes off as a pointless excuse to pad the running time. That's another issue... Scenes of dialogue drag on with no clear purpose other than for what I'm assuming is to meet a 90-minute running time. It's set primarily in this prison, yet there's really only 1-2 scenes of the inmates and Dolph mixing with them. Villains aren't memorable. Neither is Dolph's heist crew. Even Dolph seems bored.

I'm constantly in awe of what the state of DTV action has become these days. You simply cannot do a heist type film on a minuscule budget. Thank goodness for projects like SKIN TRADE and DON'T KILL IT, which actually look like real movies. This is just cheapo production that looks like something put out by Asylum Pictures.
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 24 Mar 2017, 01:12

savagesketch wrote:This is just cheapo production that looks like something put out by Asylum Pictures.

I see what you mean with the "cheapo" aspect but an Asylum flick would have had a different "brushwork". This more raw, and to be honest at least it doesn't have the nowadays usual CGIs or "Avid farts" editing tricks and the long takes and one shots coverage is refreshing (as a relieve to my eyes). Too bad the final writing and end products got screwed. I hear the company's recent bigger flick USS INDIANAPOLIS with Nicolas Cage is also terrible (and shot for much less than a claimed budget of $40 million this time -- more likely $10 M max)

Given the reports that leaked from the DEAD TRIGGER Mexican shoot, I bet "the shit hit the fan" along the way as well, during, before, and after cameras started rolling...

P.S.
DON'T KILL IT is very low budget too but I guess passionate Mike Mendez managed to pull it off none the less, and despite being finally greenlit out of a sudden about 10 days before 17 days the shoot he had to complete by Christmas, which he admits almost killed his chances to finish the shoot so it could have been close to a disastrous production as well if one thing got wrong and threw everything off balance... Thankfully they also had what I hear was a great script and maybe some of the finest dialogues Dolph had to work with.
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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 03 Apr 2017, 20:49

Japanese trailer

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Re: LARCENY (R. Ellis Frazier, 2016)

Postby Jox on 16 May 2017, 21:50

UK DVD release under the title "Maximum Security" on September 18 through 101 Films (RIOT, HIJACKED a.k.a. ALTITUDE)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071LFWMC4/
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