This isn't the worst movie ever. It's a bad movie, but if you're drunk enough it can be an enjoyable-bad movie. But that's kind of the bad thing about Range 15. It's not what it could've been.
When this movie was being made, I followed all of the updates on Ranger UP and Article 15. I'm a vet, I've been in some really twisted things in Iraq, and I was looking forward to what the film-makers said about the upcoming film. A movie by and for veterans, a flick that would get the veteran attitude and outlook right. A comedy-horror film seemed about the best way to go about it.
But this movie wasn't that. It is no way a movie "for veterans." It's a movie for people who love Ranger Up and Article 15 YouTube videos. The characters don't act like cartoon versions of vets or active-duty military, they act like over-exaggerated versions of the already-exaggerated caricatures you see in those videos. I did laugh quite a bit during the flick, but not because it resonated some deep, veteran-aspect of my humor. No, it was just dumb, goofy jokes that came in at random.
What kinda pisses me off about this movie is the fact that it was so heavily marketed as this big deal due to it being by and for veterans. The movie is slapped together. The script is pretty dumb, serving only to get from one joke to the next, and the effects (both practical and digital) are Sega-CD quality. And that would be just fine. It would be just a crappy, Z-grade zombie flick. But it's not that. It's the "first veteran-made" movie. So it basically sets the tone that we veterans can't really be trusted to make anything of actual quality.
And I'm not some film-snob who is out of touch with the veteran world. I'm a vet and a fan of some pretty bad movies. But at least most bad movies are bad earnestly. The film-makers of those films were trying to make something good they just screwed up. Range 15, on the other hand, really feels like a cash-grab.
They raised over a million and a half dollars from donations to make this film, and the amount of free stuff (weapons, gear, etc) they got form the sponsors (extremely blatant advertising throughout) makes me wonder where the hell any of the cash went. Maybe it all went to hiring the name-actors that do bit parts throughout. Because it sure as hell didn't go into writing, set design, costuming, or effects.
I can't help but feel that anyone who donated got taken for a ride. The movie just doesn't work. It's a very stock zombie movie, but if someone gave a damn about the project they could elevate that. Instead I felt like I was watching most of the cast just jerk themselves off over how awesome they are (with the exception of Jack Mandaville, who actually gave a legitimately funny performance). It was like they didn't care. They got a bunch of money and cameras, hung out for a couple weeks, threw some credits on the thing and figure it was good enough. No passion, no effort, and roughly zero f***s were given towards making a movie instead of a glorified "look how funny we are" home movie.
I guess at the TL;DR version would read like this:
This movie is bad, but not 1-star bad, and there is some humor in it (seriously, someone tell Jack Mandaville to start auditioning for real movies). It sucks because it so heavily hyped up the veteran aspect that it makes veterans look either incompetent (as in they can't make a movie) or easily-duped (as in they donated to a movie wherein the film-makers just phoned in the production).
Stream it illegally, borrow the DVD from a buddy who paid for it, but don't spend money on it. It's worse than a straight-to-SyFy flick, and those are free.
When this movie was being made, I followed all of the updates on Ranger UP and Article 15. I'm a vet, I've been in some really twisted things in Iraq, and I was looking forward to what the film-makers said about the upcoming film. A movie by and for veterans, a flick that would get the veteran attitude and outlook right. A comedy-horror film seemed about the best way to go about it.
But this movie wasn't that. It is no way a movie "for veterans." It's a movie for people who love Ranger Up and Article 15 YouTube videos. The characters don't act like cartoon versions of vets or active-duty military, they act like over-exaggerated versions of the already-exaggerated caricatures you see in those videos. I did laugh quite a bit during the flick, but not because it resonated some deep, veteran-aspect of my humor. No, it was just dumb, goofy jokes that came in at random.
What kinda pisses me off about this movie is the fact that it was so heavily marketed as this big deal due to it being by and for veterans. The movie is slapped together. The script is pretty dumb, serving only to get from one joke to the next, and the effects (both practical and digital) are Sega-CD quality. And that would be just fine. It would be just a crappy, Z-grade zombie flick. But it's not that. It's the "first veteran-made" movie. So it basically sets the tone that we veterans can't really be trusted to make anything of actual quality.
And I'm not some film-snob who is out of touch with the veteran world. I'm a vet and a fan of some pretty bad movies. But at least most bad movies are bad earnestly. The film-makers of those films were trying to make something good they just screwed up. Range 15, on the other hand, really feels like a cash-grab.
They raised over a million and a half dollars from donations to make this film, and the amount of free stuff (weapons, gear, etc) they got form the sponsors (extremely blatant advertising throughout) makes me wonder where the hell any of the cash went. Maybe it all went to hiring the name-actors that do bit parts throughout. Because it sure as hell didn't go into writing, set design, costuming, or effects.
I can't help but feel that anyone who donated got taken for a ride. The movie just doesn't work. It's a very stock zombie movie, but if someone gave a damn about the project they could elevate that. Instead I felt like I was watching most of the cast just jerk themselves off over how awesome they are (with the exception of Jack Mandaville, who actually gave a legitimately funny performance). It was like they didn't care. They got a bunch of money and cameras, hung out for a couple weeks, threw some credits on the thing and figure it was good enough. No passion, no effort, and roughly zero f***s were given towards making a movie instead of a glorified "look how funny we are" home movie.
I guess at the TL;DR version would read like this:
This movie is bad, but not 1-star bad, and there is some humor in it (seriously, someone tell Jack Mandaville to start auditioning for real movies). It sucks because it so heavily hyped up the veteran aspect that it makes veterans look either incompetent (as in they can't make a movie) or easily-duped (as in they donated to a movie wherein the film-makers just phoned in the production).
Stream it illegally, borrow the DVD from a buddy who paid for it, but don't spend money on it. It's worse than a straight-to-SyFy flick, and those are free.