MovieChat Forums > Tropa de Elite (2007) Discussion > A Perfect 10...No Question

A Perfect 10...No Question

posted 13 years ago by cyguration
15 replies | jump to latest

I went into this movie with no knowledge about it. This was one of the films I picked to see completely and entirely without any information bias and boy was I glad.

This film, hands-down, is a perfect 10. There was an extremely well-paced story about the truism of political corruption that tides over into social corruption (i.e., drugs, police corruption) as well as the fascist tactics to instill a sense of security and safety for the common folk (i.e,. BOPE). I loved this film for being uncompromising and I loved it for being smart. I wish there were more movies like this.

Anyone have any additional films to recommend along this line? I've already seen Infernal Affairs, City of God, NARC, Shinjuku Incident and Stool Pigeon, all of which play out along similar lines.

[–] adeoetregi 13 years ago

Thought it one of the best films I’ve seen in ages myself. Comparable films?
36 Quai des Orfèvres (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0390808/) perhaps? About the French BRI (Brigade de recherche et d’intervention); written and directed by Olivier Marchal, a former ‘inspecteur de police’ in the ‘Brigade criminelle de Versailles’ and ‘section antiterroriste’ (http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2008/03/11/03002-20080311ARTFIG00623-oli vier-marchal-retrouve-les-affres-de-son-passe-de-flic.php), a background lending authenticity to his work. There is also his MR73 (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0920470/), which saw him cast Daniel Auteuil again in the starring role, but in a darker tale.
Engranages / Spiral (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477507/), a TV series so expect a slower pace but successful enough to have finished three seasons so far; it mainly follows a unit of detectives as they attempt to do their jobs within the French legal system, meeting political corruption along the way.
L.627 (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0104658/), about a Paris narcotics squad.

None are Tropa de Elite, but I thought them very good.

____________________________________
Still Scottish, Always British—Quis Separabit?

[–] rajatbarman 12 years ago

Loved it, But I wonder why it has Metascore: 33/100

[–] cyguration 12 years ago

I didn't bother looking up the Metascore, but I'm going to take a wild guess that many of the armchair-warrior, internet blogging movie reviewers just didn't get it (probably because many of them grew up in a silver-spoon fed household and have no idea what the reality of crime is really like until they get their iPhone snatched from a mugger on the subway).

The film held nothing back and it has been one of the only true crime dramas of late that didn't glorify or glamorize the genre. It's such a shame there aren't more movies at brazen as Elite Squad.

[–] gfarrell80 11 years ago

The Battle of Algiers (1966) is another quite good one.

Not as raw, complex, challenging, and awesome as Elite Squad, but a good look at extreme police methods and a classic, watchable film. Also based on reality, like Elite Squad.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 8 years ago

@ gfarrell80

The Battle of Algiers is an excellent companion piece to Elite Squad though I disagree that it is not as raw, complex, challenging and awesome as Elite Squad. It is all that and more - it's better than Elite Squad.

Ever tried, ever failed?
No matter.
Try again, fail again.
Fail better.

[–] gfarrell80 8 years ago

@ gfarrell80

The Battle of Algiers is an excellent companion piece to Elite Squad though I disagree that it is not as raw, complex, challenging and awesome as Elite Squad. It is all that and more - it's better than Elite Squad.

Thanks Poppy. I think both are great films, obviously. Battle of Algiers is indeed a classic.

Why I thought Elite Squad was more challenging was because at the very end it does literally put the audience behind the gun, finger on the trigger. It makes the audience really question whether or not to pull the trigger. I consider myself liberal but for me personally I thought I would definitely pull that trigger. Battle for Algiers I don't remember creating such a direct introspection within myself.

But yes, I would put Battle for Algiers as equal and in the end possibly more timeless than Elite Squad.

[–] Tales-from-the-Goondocks 11 years ago

Ah, the typical and pretentious practice of saying that others didn't "get it" when they dislike the films you like. There's not much to get, this isn't a Kubrick film. I give this film a 5, maybe a 6. I can't tell you why because it's been a long time since I saw it and I can't be as specific as you might want me to be, but overall it was simply a very boring movie to me in the most important aspects: story and execution (again, these are most important TO ME). I don't care about the themes or commentary when I don't care about the story, characters and direction. And before any ignorant a*hole tells me that "boring" is not a valid criticism, sorry but you should read more about film. The allegedly "best" films ever are not considered so because they are boring but expertly made, but because they are expertly made AND engaging for various reasons. The worst crime a film can commit is to be unengaging. Realize that I'm aware that this is extremely subjective. I know that the film was unengaging TO ME and not to you, but the "if you don't like it, then you don't get it" argument is stupid. There are reasons why this film is rated so low among critics and it has nothing to do with "not getting it".

[–] Robbmonster 11 years ago

I was going to reply in much the same vein. The old 'anyone who didn't like it, didn't get it' argument just doesn't hold water for me.

Never defend crap with "It's just a movie"
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigGreenProds

[–] Oceans300 9 years ago

At least one review on rottentomatoes gave it .5 stars out of 5 with the main complaint being the brutal violence (apparently the reviewer had never seen Hobo with a Shotgun or Saving Private Ryan).

I honestly think that despite any claims of being open-minded, this movie offended many reviewers' political sensibilities, leading them to miss the point about violence changing one's life for the worse (and the fact that the movie didn't even necessarily support the BOPE's methods, as expounded on in the sequel).

[–] FordLuver 10 years ago

Yup this movie got a 10 from me! I loved it! I didn't want him to die! But he was too Awesome! The Raid was good if you want to see that one!

[–] bestpartof_thetrip 8 years ago

Interesting fact about this movie:
It was very controversial in our country, people couldn't stop talking about it, it was everywhere, in every street there was something about this movie. And the fun thing is, a lot of people got the message wrong. A lot of people against drugs thought it was the poster movie against drugs, and what it does to our society, how people who smoke weed or do other drugs are *beep* up the society. It was shown to 12 year olds and explained completely wrong. It's actually about the violence that this war on drugs brings, and how it's unnecessary. People are gonna use what they are going to use, it's not a crazy war that's gonna make things better. Actually a lot of innocent people die, and nothing happens, they die from lost bullets, for discrimination or worst. They literally die for nothing, it's not going to change. It's actually a movie about police brutality, corruption, legalizing drugs. And for those who thought it was too violent, I'm sorry, but it's pretty spot on, maybe it even lacked violence. It's really sad.

[–] cyguration 8 years ago

People are gonna use what they are going to use, it's not a crazy war that's gonna make things better.

Gonna disagree here. If people want marijuana legalized, fine whatever. But legalizing crack cocaine or heroin? Have you seen what those can do to a person? I know "personal responsibility" and all that, but heroin is not something you can just do as a recreational drug, it's not something you can easily kick either. According to some stats one-fourth of every person who has even tried heroin become addicted.

There's no way I can say that cartels trying to push heroin into the country should just be allowed to skim profits off legalized heroin as an alternative. That would be terribly irresponsible from the Government's end.

Actually a lot of innocent people die, and nothing happens, they die from lost bullets, for discrimination or worst. They literally die for nothing, it's not going to change. It's actually a movie about police brutality, corruption, legalizing drugs.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a movie about legalizing drugs so much as it is a movie about the complexities of drugs, the drug trade, the corruption that ensues and the people who suffer from it (from top to bottom). There's no real easy answer here and I can't say that legalizing all manner of dangerous drugs would instantly make the war on drugs cease or the violence around drugs drop. More than anything I would imagine it would get worse, as addicts would know that they could easily rob corner stores that carry crack/cocaine/heroin instead of having to grab it out of alleyways and crack houses.

There's the issue of dealing with both drunk drivers and high drivers. I don't see how that would make things easier on cops, loved ones or people involved in accidents resulting from people on drugs.

And then there's the issue of people being at risk of gray market thugs attempting to kill or steal drug shipments to undercut the market value. Anyone driving those trucks or transferring the goods are now at risk from local mafia.

I just don't see any upside in legalizing drugs. That's not to say that I don't see the harm and the danger in the current war on drugs. It's a complicated situation.

And for those who thought it was too violent, I'm sorry, but it's pretty spot on, maybe it even lacked violence. It's really sad.

Yes, completely agreed here. I don't think the film was too violent at all, and paid a lot of respect to the actual violence that occurs in those situations and areas.

[–] bestpartof_thetrip 8 years ago

I'm sorry what I meant was decriminalization of drugs. It shouldn't be treated as a crime but as a health issue. Here in Brasil we have crack but we dont have heroin, and if we do it's something very hidden and doesn't get any attention. Our biggest problem is crack, cocaine and marijuana. We also have LSD, MD, and those things, but the war you saw on the movie was on marijuana and cocaine. I don't think cocaine should be legal because it's a very sad drugs, so is crack, but I do think it should be treated as a health issue. And because they wanna hit the source (drug dealers) a lot of innocent people die, and I mean A LOT. A lot of people die because they are black, or poor, or live in a favela. It's worst than the movie, people simply dissapear, you don't even know what happens. And it's like they said in the movie, we are sorrounded by more than 600 favelas, it's like hydra man, you cut one head, two more grow. Their technique is not working, we should change something there and I think the movie is about that.

[–] cyguration 8 years ago

I'm sorry what I meant was decriminalization of drugs. It shouldn't be treated as a crime but as a health issue.

Oh well in that regards I wholeheartedly agree.

I think decriminalizing drugs is definitely the right step. Instead of throwing every pot smoker in prison they need to invest in the infrastructure to help addicts come down off of addicting drugs, as well as focus on implementing programs to help enforcers deal with victims of drug abuse instead of perpetuating the awful cycle of throwing abusers and users in prison while kids grow up to partake in the same lifestyle because either one or both of their parents are in jail for the same problem.

And because they wanna hit the source (drug dealers) a lot of innocent people die, and I mean A LOT.

I'm not really sure what the solution is to this. I know if I were a mayor I would NOT want any crack houses in my suburban districts at all. But at the same time, how do you avoid the violence that usually comes with turf wars and the debasement of drug dealing?

Their technique is not working, we should change something there and I think the movie is about that.

Okay, yeah... in that regards I do agree. There's too much money in the drug trade for it to just go away peacefully. The war on drugs isn't really helping matters, though. Decriminalizing drugs could definitely help victims of abuse and victims of addiction. Stopping the spread of drugs from dealers and suppliers would need a different alternative, though. And then there's the problem of the cartels. I'm not really how you fix those problems without perpetuating the violence currently taking place throughout a lot of South America.

[–] bestpartof_thetrip 8 years ago

Hhahaha right? I had to look for the word in english cause I only knew it in my language.
I don't know either, it's a very complicated matter and I can't think in a short term solution. All I can think about is investing in education a lot, public schools here are a mess. I think education is the key to everything but on the other hand you'll always have people wanting to make "easy" money.
This year is an election year and one of the candidates to be mayor is Freixo, who was the inspiration to the character Fraga in Elite Squad 2, with him comes a lot of hope. I really hope he wins, he's really smart and open minded to new solutions, he's all about human rights, so I really think things will get better if he's elected and his competition is a bunch of thugs, really corrupted people. I think this movie brings a very interesting discussion, that's why I love it.
I think they need to get smarter, I think there's a lot of men and firepower but not much intelligence involved in it. What they are doing now, is not helping I wish it was, but I think they should hit the real source, who is actually cultivating and selling this drugs to the drug dealers, the cartels and etc. As long as they keep going to the favelas and killing a bunch of people, they wont accomplish anything. The enemy isn't one or twenty it's thousands if they don't hit the right spot, they will never ever stop this. In USA there's a lot of drugs too, but you don't see cops running into the guetto torturing and shooting everyone until they find the baddest SOB on the block just so another one can be born.