Payback

If you shoot someone intending to kill him... make sure he's dead. Porter (Mel Gibson) was betrayed, shot, and left for dead, only to come back from the dead for payback. Just like most typical revenge driven movies, Porter has to work his way to the top of the criminal food chain to get complete closure. Payback puts an interesting spin on the vengeance game; instead of Porter seeking justice for his own attempted murder, he simply wants the money that was stolen from him by the guy who tried to kill him. It makes for a somewhat comedic story as Porter seeks $70,000 while he has "the outfit", an Asian gang, as well as corrupt cops looking for his blood. Mel Gibson does a great job playing the quasi-looney thief/hit-man. His role is very reminiscent of his role in Lethal Weapon, except this time he is on a different side of the law.

A perfect role for Mel Gibson in this 1999 film. He plays a small time thief who steals money with a partner only for the latter and Gibson's wife to betray him. Gibson recovers with a vengeance. Within the first hour of the film, the wife and the partner are already dead, the former a victim of a drug over-dose and the latter provided with a gun shot in his head over a pillow. Problem is that the partner had taken the loot to pay off a debt with the crime organization. The film becomes one where Gibson attempts to get his money back from the syndicate. If the syndicated and only yielded and given Gibson his money, instead, bodies are riddled with bullets, as we see crooked police in this as well.

Well, this movie is full of violence and brutality - and though some people crave for these things in action movies, I think you can succeed in this genre without sledgehammers crushing feet. But that may be just my opinion... Anyway I think this movie is far too brutal to be good. It has some fine moments, but on the other hand it continually tries to upset the viewer with violent gore. Furthermore, the character Lucy Liu is portraying is simply ridiculous. If you really have to see Mel Gibson in a violent movie, watch Braveheart - there you at least have a fitting historical context...

Mel Gibson plays the character Porter who was betrayed by his friend Val and wife Lynn who took his share of the money and then was left for dead. Now Porter wants his money and getting even along the way. This is your revenge movie.

As i watched this movie, i kept thinking, "it's fine." then it turned into "is that was this is really about?" and then when it finished and i thought of the story as a whole, "why is this a movie?" it's not terrible, and there aren't too many things i can make fun of. but at the same time, if mel gibson wasn't in this movie, it would've likely been a straight-to-dvd movie that no one remembers, if it was even made at all (1 viewing, 3/22/2021)

Just another Mel Gibson thriller, but it is still exciting to watch. And "Payback" is now available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is Brian Helgeland. The writer of the novel is Donald E. Westlake, and the writer of the screenplay is Brian Helgeland. The actors include Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Deborah Kara Unger, John Glover, William Devane, Lucy Liu, Jack Conley, Kris Kristofferson, Mark Alfa, Kwame Amoaku, Justin Ashforth, Len Bajenski, Kate Buddeke, Price Carson, Roddy Chiong, Art Cohan, Andrew Cooper, James Deuter, Doc Duhame, David Dunard, Nathan Effron, Tom Equin and Brian Heinberg. The story of a bank robber and his encounters with the law as well a gangland. There are many twists and turns and there is also much comic relief. I gave it 8 stars. Dale Haufrect

When you just want one thing: what is owed to you. A sign of respect sort of. Nothing more nothing less. To some that may sound weird at least or incomprehensible, but our main character here (who presents himself not as the most likeable character), has other things to say and do. And he is more a man of action, rather than someone who waits around - straight shooter and straight talker. Something that the producers didn't seem to appreciate much. But years later the original director was allowed to sort of finish the version he had in mind. As much as it was possible with the things he had shot. Now I do think that the directors cut version is better. Straight to the point, no nonsense no waiting around, no overthinking it. Which may be considered as not clever by some, but that is not what the movie and its main character are aiming for anyway ... no pun intended

It has its moments, but it suffers from Mel Gibson being cast as a noirish bad guy. You like Gibson so you cut him lots of slack, but basically it's just bad casting. The movie's theme, if it can be said to have one, is pain. Lots and lots of pain. Then more pain. There were a couple of scenes that had the audience cringing and going "Eeeeeuuuuwww!" If you're even a tiny bit squeamish, avoid this one. 5 out of 10.

It takes a special movie to get a comment out of me, and this definitely qualifies. I've only been tempted to leave a theater a few times in my life, and this was one of them. The story lags and drones along to Gibson's unusually bad character development, complete with weak one-liners and phlegm-filled voice. The odd bluish tint of the whole film also worked to annoy me. A total worthles waste of time.

Lucy Liu was so f****n sexy in this movie with all that BDSM stuff...all the comic stuff its cool..Mel Gibson was not so unbeatable in this movie as it looked..like Bruce Willis for example..or Steven Seagal, Gregg Henry its a mean bad-ass , bottom line ..a good action flick , you must see. not away from the action pattern movie, some brutal stuff and a evil image of the police, corruption ...seen in all the American movies, really the mob control a city in the us? is that so bad? or its just a movie..but i am sure its inspired from the reality..its not a fiction..or a sci-fi. Finally, a good revenge movie starring Mel Gibson.