The Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was about group dynamics when people were assigned roles of prisoners and guards but the movie only revolves around the two main characters most of the time, with others being almost entirely absent. As group dynamics do not really get into play, they miss many opportunities for personality development, which is what made the actual experiment interesting in the first place.

Due to the complete lack of character development (with one exception) the movie feels rather dull and the behavior of the characters, as well as their backgrounds, suggest that the researchers had knowingly picked individuals who had mental or other problems in the past. Even though the plot is about as linear as it can get, it is still full of holes.

The German version is much better, not because The Experiment is a remake but because it is dumbed down way too much. A typical reality-watching simpleton may find the remake easier to follow, though.

Even with its flaws, I give it 7/10 because the basic premise is interesting and the movie is refreshingly different. The set and the cast were certainly good enough.

Don't mind the bad review up there, whether you've seen or not the German original version, The Experiment still remains an excellent movie with two great actors (and a great plot): Forrest Whitaker and Adrien Brody. Interesting movie that shows that even if we all pretend to have some kind of moral, we all still remain animals that will bite to defend our pack. Sometimes you watch a 96mn movie and it feels like you were watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston (don't mean this is a bad film, it's just very long), but this one is the total opposite! you'll be annoyed when the credits will appear at the end. Also, if like me you're a bit sick and tired of the current Hollywood buzz which consists to make many spy movies with a huge budget, you will enjoy that film, because it's quite simple, only few rooms needed at location. So the question is: are you a prisoner?

Wow, I loved this movie so much. So you know the storyline. I was interested the whole time. Usually I get bored while watching movies and will play on my laptop or iphone during the movie, but this held my interest completely. Towards the end, I was actually feeling really pumped and was obviously rooting for the "prisoners".

I can't believe all the negative reviews, clearly they have no idea what makes a good movie, because this movie is amazing. I was literally drawn into the emotions of all the key players in the movie. Yea sure, they didn't devolve deep into the characters pasts, but it the movie shows reactions of the now and those reactions and emotions are acted beautifully. I could feel the pain the characters were feeling, I could also see the craziness some of the characters were showing.

The movie sends a clear message of, treat people like animals and they will act like animals.

The acting in this movie is wow, amazing. The script is well written. The camera angles, the lighting everything was great.

The Experiment has an intriguing premise. Human behavior, group dynamics; what will happen when you put a group of people (all with very different personalities) in a small, stressful environment for a long period of time. As this is a straight to DVD movie it surprisingly has a good cast and doesn't suffer from small budget diseases.

The Experiment has the potential of being a great movie but never reaches it's full potential. To me it felt like certain events were rushed. This could be by the lack of explanation of the motives and the background of certain characters. Ultimately, The Experiment is watchable but forgettable. 6/10

The Experiment is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Paul Scheuring and starring Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker,Cam Gigandet and Maggie Grace.The film is also a remake of the 2001 German film Das Experiment, which was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The experiment begins when 26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control. $14,000 for two weeks, it is easy-earned money. The study examines aggressive behavior in an artificial prison setting. At first the tenants are divided randomly into prisoners and guards, but soon a spiral of violence begins.

I had some hope for this film because I remember seeing the original Das Experiment more then a year ago and enjoying it. Although brutal the film was brilliant in the way it explored human nature, human instincts, and one's moral compass. It's actually quite surprising that it took such a long time (9 years) for Hollywood to assassinate, pardon me, remake this very interesting story which is actually based on the Stanford prison experiment that took place in 1971 and was highly criticized afterwords. The problem with this remake is that, as in most things Hollywood, it's all about big name actors and big fights and nice camera angles. What's most important, the characterization and the character development which are the things that make this story, were completely thrown aside. One of the consequences of doing so is that the film felt extremely rushed and therefor the payoff wasn't that great. I didn't think there was real tension, and the film lacked that gritty look of the original, instead it looks sharp and polished.

Also, it's one thing to put your own spin into a story but this remake eliminated an entire dimension of the original film. I'm talking about the people behind the cameras, the scientists watching and conducting the experiment. They played a big part in the original and in this remake they are nowhere to be seen and it truly diminished the story. Regarding the acting, I thought Adrien Brody did a pretty good job and Cam Gigandet was delightfully nasty as he usually is. On the other hand, Forest Whitaker was absolutely awful. In almost every film that see him in, he acts like he has a speech impediment and to be honest, it adds nothing to his performance. Overall, The Experiment it's somewhat enjoyable but not nearly as good as the original.

6/10