So much average

just watch it!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I just watched Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane on DVD last night, and found myself rather bored from start to finish. The camera work is sloppy, slipping in and out of focus as it pans back and forth from character to character, zooming in and out, and so on...The dialogue scenes are way too long, and the action scenes leave you feeling cheated, due to the shaky-cam, fast editing style that tries to conceal the lack of blanks and squibs. A good action sequence is created by the actual action onscreen rather than jerky camera work and loud sound effects. This film shows very little real action. The story takes way too long to get started, and once it does, it becomes boring, with very little pay off at the end. However, I have to give Joe Carnahan credit for making this film on such a low budget; regardless of the story, simply planning and executing this shoot is an impressive achievement. Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi still remains the most legendary low-budget action film ever made, with better writing, directing, cinematography, and special effects than Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane. So to sum it up, check this movie out, but don't expect too much; it is what it is.

"Blood Guts Bullets and Octane" is the low-budget, quirky action flick that "El Mariachi" and "Run Lola Run" strived to be, but failed. This movie hits a bullseye! Now, I rented this movie on Netflix, prior to having any knowledge that Joe Carnahan directed it. I read a review for it from Roger Ebert and the movie sounded enticing. So I put it on my rental list. Then I watched an interview with Ray Liotta on Carson Daly's show, and Liotta mentioned that prior to directing "Narc," this was his only feature. I just watched "Narc" about two weeks ago, and I thought it was an absolutely terrific film, so when I found out the two films were from the same director, I couldn't wait to receive the DVD in the mail! The film met all my expectations! It's like a cross between Quentin Tarantino and David Mamet. The characters constantly spew out witty lines of dialogue, using cuss words as punctuation, and often repeat those same lines (pure Mamet). Carnahan really knows how to engage his audience. Sometimes I tend to complain about movies being too flashy. But in this film, all that flash didn't seem stilted. It seems to fit the film's quirky tone perfectly. The plot is mildly faulty, with an ending that is pretty ridiculous, but the fast-paced style of this movie got me so engaged that I was willing to play along. Carnahan obviously wasn't aiming straight towards realism. Nevertheless, the movie is highly original, and that you must give it credit for. The story centers on two used car salesman who belt out their pitches like characters out of "Glengarry Glen Ross." Yet they're honest salesman, as is established in one of the character's opening monologues. The salesmen are unlikely heroes, but they get themselves into all sorts of mess because of keeping a certain convertible they keep on their lot (just for show) in exchange for 250,000 dollars. I don't want to go further into the plot, because it's really a wild ride and I wouldn't dare to spoil it for anyone. Even the actors, most of whom never acted previous to this movie, are damn good. Carnahan himself is a fine, natural actor. Sometimes you see directors take a stab at acting, and you want to scream at them, "Get back behind the camera! That's where you belong!" Carnahan has a strong screen presence and delivers much intensity in his dialogue. The skinny black guy who plays the FBI agent isn't a terrific actor, and there are scenes where he appears to be discreetly looking down at the script, but I was even able to buy into his performance. His monotone seemed to work well with his character. I was almost as impressed with this film as I was with "Narc." Even with some good directors, I look back at their first features and I see no signs of future genius (i.e.: Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left"), but Carnahan certainly seems like he's going places. At least I hope he is. He received a lot of recognition for his recent film, "Narc," so hopefully it's all uphill from here. My score: 9 (out of 10)

I did not like this movie when I saw it in the theater. I basically thought it was another Quentin Tarantino rip off. But I saw it again on cable and i realized what this movie really was. It is basically a marvel of movie making. As said before, the acting and delivery is wooden, but that was what gave it it's charm. It reminded me of Mamet's House of Games. I think the director Joe Carnahan is the new Quentin Tarentino... and will be one to watch.

This film was nowhere near the quality of The Usual Suspects as advertised but it was a good movie. Joe Carnahan has a great visual style and the originality of the editing makes seeing this movie a must, but where it fails is the performances. These guys are not film actors and only Dan Harlan(who played Woo)is the only person who can carry a scene. Sometimes the delivery of the dialogue has each character trying to impersonate Mr.Brown, Mr.Pink etc.