This is a movie I had heard about since I was in High School. Occasionally a friend would say something like “you gotta check that one out”. I never got around to it. I was put off by the movie poster for one. It looks cheesy and low budget. Also, the 3 hour run time discouraged me greatly.
This movie disappeared from my radar for years. I recently discovered it on Hulu and figured I’d give it a shot. I broke it up into three separate nights. It’s almost impossible for me to watch a 3 hour movie in one sitting.
At first I thought this movie might be a bomb. The main actor Damian Chapa, played the main character named Miklo. His animated acting and enthusiasm early in the film had me seriously doubting this was going to be any good. But as it turns out they must’ve instructed him to act like that early to establish his immaturity of his youth because the overly animated acting disappeared as the movie went on.
The movie played sort of like “The Godfather” of prison gangs. The length of the story, spanning 14 years or so, as well as the length of the movie give this a very “epic” feel.
Theatrical Release
You probably never remember this movie being in the theater. It’s not because it is a low budget film, which I mentioned I suspected earlier. The movie in fact cost $35M to make. That is roughly $65-$70M in today’s money. The reason you never saw it in the theater was because of simple bad timing. When it was ready to be released, it was the era of the LA that riots (1992-1993). I believe they were riots stemming from the Rodney King beating and subsequent trial that found the officers were not guilty.
Hollywood Pictures (Disney) did not want to add to the violence or send the wrong message. It was released in a limited fashion under a different name “Bound by Honor”, because they thought that even the name was too violent. It was only able to generate $4M-$5M at the box office as a result.
Director Taylor Hackford was no stooge either. He had some major productions and successes under his belt. He had directed An Officer and a Gentleman and went on to direct Delores Claiborne, The Devil’s Advocate, Proof of Life, & Ray.
You’ll recognize many of the actors in this one including Danny Trejo, Billy Bob Thornton, Benjamin Bratt and even the actor who played Biff in Back to the Future. They did a bang up job in my opinion. Actors Delroy Lindo, Victor Rivers and Jesse Borrego were standout performers in this and probably deserved some award nominations.
The Verdict is In
My opinion of Blood in Blood Out is positive. It’s definitely not perfect and suffers from some over-acting and clichés. But, it is entertaining from top to bottom and I would certainly watch it again. I went into this movie not expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. When it finally did end, I actually wanted to see it keep going. I give Blood In Blood Out 83 Potatoes on my scale of 0-100.
