History Film / TheCondemned

[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-condemned-poster_7048.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:299:''"10 will fight, 9 will die. You get to watch."'']]

''The Condemned'' is a 2007 film that tells the story of [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Jack Conrad]], an American convict waiting in death row, as he, along with 9 other convicts from different countries, is brought to an island by television producer Ian Breckel, who plans to pit them in a competition where they must kill each other, so that the last one standing after 30 hours gains freedom.

Not to be confused with the 70s kung-fu flick, ''Film/TheCondemned1976''.

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!!''The Condemned'' contains the following tropes:

* TheAce: Jack is presented as being the toughest, most resourceful, fearless and greatest of the inmates, which he proves time and again, being the only one to survive until the finals (without Breckel's assistance) and takes on both [=McStarley=] and Saiga (whom could both qualify as this) by himself. He's also the only one who manages to find a way to contact the outside world and expose Breckel's livestream.
* ActionGirl: The two female contestants, Rosa and Yasantwa, are this by necessity to survive on the island. Rosa doesn't last long, while Yasantwa manages longer, killing an attempted rapist in self-defense.
* AdvancingBossOfDoom: Jack turns into this for Ewan in the last stages of the games, especially when he kills Saiga with barely any effort. It's so bad that Ian orders a shotgun to be given to Ewan to "even" things out.
* AllThereInTheManual: The full rap sheets of every single condemned are only available online in locations like the film's Website/{{Wikipedia}} page. We only get the stories of three of them on-screen (Jack's, Ewan's and Mackie's).
* AssholeVictim: InvokedTrope: Breckel requests incredibly despicable yet badass people (like condemned death row inmates) in order to make those who watch the contest feel good about seeing them die (and because getting them out of third-world prisons is as simple as slipping some bucks to the warden). However, Breckel's manipulations in making the contestants kill and torture each other and blatant disregard for anything resembling decency marks him and his crew as just as awful, and begs the question of how much of punishing an asshole victim is justified if the one who's punishing is just as despicable.
* AttemptedRape: Yasantwa fends off an attempted rape by the German inmate right after she's dropped on the island, killing him.
* BigBadEnsemble: Ian Breckel, the TV Producer who's responsible for organizing and filming the competition, and Ewan [=McStarley=], the most dangerous out of all the inmates who ends up being the biggest physical threat to Jack Conrad.
* BlackWidow: Yasantwa's file reveals that she was on death row for murdering men who she seduced. On the island, she manages to do the same with Kreston.
* BrokenAesop: The film makes a major point that a program where convicts fight to the death is inhumane and cruel as well as criticizing viewers for supporting such barbarity, though the marketing capitalizes on that exact point, especially with the tagline. It becomes funny when you realize that this was made by two companies who are known for their violence (Creator/{{Lionsgate}}, which is known for the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise and WWE, a wrestling company) ''and'' that the [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin leading actor]] is best known for being the poster boy for the Wrestling/AttitudeEra.
* BullyingADragon: Breckel has no problem pissing off [=McStarley=], despite the latter being ex-Special Forces and the former being a far less personally dangerous media baron.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The manual detonation capability of the [[ExplosiveLeash explosive anklets]] is used repeatedly throughout the movie.
* CombatPragmatist: Excluding Paco and Rosa, all the convicts. However, [=McStarley=] really shines on this one.
* ComicallySmallBribe: Near the end, Ian tries to offer Goldman a million dollars to get him off the island. The problem is he'd already promised Goldman "5% of the gross", meaning he owes the man a ''couple hundred million''.
* CondemnedContestant: The game pits 10 condemned criminals from prisons around the world against each other.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ian Breckel. A media magnate that creates an InUniverse RealLife DeadlyGame (with the express goal of having it get higher ratings than the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl) for the money and possibly the ennui, doesn't give a damn about the horror he unleashed, points out the hypocrisy of modern-day MediaWatchdog mentality in a televised interview, [[spoiler: strangles Goldberg to death when he confronts Breckel, and plans to escape the island leaving the entire filming crew to be arrested when he gets confirmation that the authorities know where they are]], plus showing some favoritism for [=McStarley=] and Saiga, [[spoiler: only to toss the former under the bus as well]], [[BullyingADragon not that it was such a good idea]]. [[HatedByAll Everybody]], even [=McStarley=], [[EvenEvilHasStandards is sick of him by the film's end]].
* DarkActionGirl: Yasantwa. Also a FemmeFatale since she was known to seduce men before killing them. Same with Rosa but she doesn't last as long.
* DeadlyGame: It's the idea of the film, actually: Breckel wanting to do one of these InUniverse. It becomes deconstructed because, realistically, people are horrified with the idea (to the point that the event needs to be aired on a "snuff" site, and compared to the alleged billions of people that see these kind of games on other stories, the fact that it brings enough viewers to average that of a Super Bowl airing doesn't really sound that impressive), without the support of a government willing to go the BreadAndCircuses route it is illegal as all hell (and Breckel wasn't arrested before the whole thing started because nobody else thought he was serious, and an important sub-plot is the FBI trying to trace the feed to send agents to get him), and only the truly psychotically amoral (read "only Breckel") would consider keeping going with the project (and force everybody else to carry on) once they actually see people suffering and dying (InUniverse) for real.
* DudeNotFunny: The InUniverse crossing of the [[invoked]] MoralEventHorizon for Breckel is asking for the crew to film Rosa's ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]]'' and then murder. After that, [[EvenEvilHasStandards none of the recording crew make any jokes about the situation at hand]] (and some even want Jack to win, if nothing else because he's not [[SociopathicSoldier McStarley]]).
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Jack, who ends up free rather than going back to prison nor facing any charges over his acts on the island (granted, the former was something that the government wouldn't attention on, the latter likely self-defense) and is brought home to his estranged wife and step-children.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Goldman, part of the film crew for the {{deadly game}}, who's increasingly sickened by the violence of the show and by Ian's indifference to it.
** Jack himself is not ''evil'', but he's pretty ruthless and violent, even when in a regular prison. However, he finds the actions of Saiga, [=McStarley=] and Ian Breckel to be absolutely disgusting and when the latter murders Paco in front of him, he finally stops messing around and fully commits to the game.
-->'''Jack:''' [[BringIt Game on.]]
** Even [=McStarley=] has a moment of this when he corners one of the more unscrupulous of Breckel's team (after killing most of them). He questions (with disgust) if he enjoys watching everyone being killed and pitted against each other just for the twisted amusement of others. When the team member can't deny it, he kills him.
* EvilBrit: [=McStarley=] is one of the "[[LowerClassLout thuggish cockney]]" variety.
* EvilIsPetty: Ian gives Jack a false backstory that paints him as a psychotic child-killing RightWingMilitiaFanatic for insulting him.
* ExplosiveLeash: The explosive ankle bracelets on the titular condemned, which will explode when time runs out, they are attempted to be removed without the proper key, [[ChekhovsGun or you pull a small red tab on it, after a 10 second countdown]]. They also have GPS trackers to keep tabs on the contestants, but Jack manages to spoof that later in the movie.
* FireForgedFriends: Downplayed and an odd example, but after a brief skirmish, Paco manages to get Jack to let him go, insisting he just wants to find Rosa. Jack, also longing to return to his girlfriend, does so and the two seem to regard each other as friends, even calling each other "amigo". [[ItsPersonal Paco's torture and death at Saiga and Ewan's hands is what drives him to finally fight back.]]
* ForcedToWatch: Paco was crippled and chained up, being unable to get away from hearing or seeing his wife Rosa being raped by [=McStarley=], then murdered.
* FreudianExcuse: Played with. [=McStarley=] mentions he was [[PrisonRape raped]] while serving time in an African prison. However Jack calls it out mentioning that [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse it doesn't excuse all the atrocities he committed]]. Also, it's hinted he was lying in order to making appear himself more sympathetic to Jack.
* GeniusBruiser: Jack. The man spends some time on the chopper doing a SherlockScan to figure out how to go back to the production camp.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Excluding Goldman and Julie, [[spoiler: both Ian and his crew are killed by the men that they themselves brought to the island.]]
* ImmoralRealityShow: "The Condemned" is an InUniverse RealLife DeadlyGame. The fact that it's [[MurderDotCom online-PPV-only]] is a small nod towards the fact that ''nobody'' would dare broadcast a show like this in TV in real life. Still, it gets the ratings Breckel wanted (higher than the average UsefulNotes/SuperBowl) by the end.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Ian. And he certainly has no problem tossing anybody under the bus to keep himself out of jail, alive and reaping in the millions.
* ItsPersonal: Until that part of the film, Jack only cared about finding a way out of the island, refusing to participate in the game even when Paco asked him for help to kill [=McStarley=] and Saiga in revenge for killing Rosa. However, once he sees [[spoiler: Paco being killed after being tortured by Ewan and Saiga]], he finally accepts participating in the game.
--> '''Jack:''' "I'm in."
* KillTheCutie: There's a horrible scene of Rosa being raped and killed (behind a tree, for what that's worth) while her husband was [[ForcedToWatch forced to listen]]. Wikipedia shows the character of Rosa (played by Dasi Ruz) to have "stood by her man during the duo's merciless killing spree, which landed her a seat next to her husband on death row. Charges of prostitution flesh out her mile long rap sheet." Nevertheless, it was one of the scenes which established TheDragon and was shown as so abhorrent that it portrayed Brecket as crossing the MoralEventHorizon to even his own crew.
* LargeHam: [=McStarley=] at times, with much aplomb by Creator/VinnieJones. Including a brief AGodAmI slip while he [[spoiler: machine guns the whole filming crew]].
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Ewan killing Ian's crew, who were enjoying seeing the games and the convicts' deaths and suffering quite a lot. He even addresses it while killing them. Ewan himself also is hit by this, being killed by Jack immediately after it.]]
* ManipulativeEditing: Not a direct example (the feed is never touched), but still. When Jack refuses to tell Brecket [[WhatAreYouInFor the reason why if he in jail]], Ian immediately orders for Jack to be given a false backstory as a member of TheKlan and your typical crazy militant redneck, plus providing Ewan and Saiga with supplies more often. Brecket also wanted a MultinationalTeam of convicts for the sake of ratings, raging about not being able to get an Islamic extremist convict (to attract Middle Eastern audiences) until [[EstablishingCharacterMoment he saw]] [[CurbStompBattle Jack fight]].
* MurderDotCom: Aptly, "The Condemned Dot Com". With live video access. Credit card only. Somehow it gets more viewers than the Super Bowl near the end (even though, as [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]] points out, the Super Bowl isn't a pay-per-view event, and thus has a far lower bar to viewership). The actual RealLife webpage address for the film is a pretty good example for this trope: "Watchthemdielive-dot-com".
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: After a failed attempt to confront Ian, Goldman keeps this view. However, once Goldman sees that Ian's gonna betray everyone, he takes a more physical confrontation, which, unfortunately, doesn't end well.
* NervesOfSteel: Jack in spades. Unlike everyone else, who collectively freak out when the explosive collars are activated, Jack merely stands rooted in the ground, giving the henchman a death glare.
* NobleDemon: Jack isn't an all-out bad person and has enough humanity to try diffuse the situation so he won't have to kill anyone. Similarly, despite their crimes, Rosa and Paco are [[HappilyMarried truly devoted to each other]] and Paco even strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jack because he didn't want to fight him and only wanted to find his wife.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jack gives one to everyone he fights.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: Ewan attempts this with Jack since they both performed DirtyBusiness for their country and repaid by being abandoned and left to rot in foreign prisons; however, it doesn't work. Then again, considering the events, it's possible Ewan was just being sarcastic.
* OhCrap / WhyAmITicking: The reaction of all the contestants when the [[ExplosiveLeash explosive anklets]] are first triggered.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain:
** Breckel lets loose with a slew of anti-Arab slurs when complaining about an Islamic extremist convict he wanted to participate in the competition being murdered before he could appear on the show.
** [=McStarley=] is a blatant racist and misogynist who's even known to have committed the only rape in the film.
* RapeDiscretionShot: Rosa's rape (and subsequent murder) largely gets hidden by a tree.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [=McStarley=] is firmly established as worse than the other death row convicts through his crimes being listed as including multiple rapes. He later proves it through raping another contestant, Rosa, on the island (along with torturing and murdering her).
* RealityHasNoSubtitles: Several of the characters don't speak English (ex. Saiga). They don't get subtitles, but you can get some understanding of what they're saying from context and the tone their dialogue is delivered in.
* RedShirt: Dominic Giangrasso, the Italian convict. His screen time is both his reaction to having an ExplosiveLeash attached to his ankle and boasting how he's going to "eat" everybody on the chopper... [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and then he gets impaled on the remains of a boat when dropped from said chopper]], [[{{Anticlimax}} right when the game officially starts]].
* RetiredBadass: Zigzagged. Jack is officially retired from the Army, but he still did unofficial jobs under Delta Force Black Ops operations for them in various countries until he was captured and placed into a Salvadorian prison for a year without ratting out his superiors. It's mentioned he has killed more people than any of the contestants including [=McStarley=].
* TheScapegoat: Jack.
* ShutUpHannibal: After everything is said and done, Jack has [=McStarley=] dead to rights with a handgun and the latter says a MotiveRant about how war has broken him. Jack, in a very deadpan tone, makes clear he is done with this jerk breathing any longer.
-->'''Jack''': Tough life.\\
'''[=McStarley=]''': Yeah.\\
'''Jack''': Good thing it's over, now.\\
(''[[MultipleGunshotDeath Jack empties the handgun's magazine in]] [=McStarley=]'')
* SirSwearsALot: Ewan, and to a lesser extent, Jack.
* SociopathicSoldier: [=McStarley=]. His EstablishingCharacterMoment is having his criminal file read, which mentions him being guilty of war crimes, including [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]] and wanton slaughter. He even lampshades it to highlight the difference between Jack and himself in that both have committed horrible acts under service for their government but unlike Jack, [=McStarley=] enjoyed the horrors he committed.
* TheSociopath:
** [=McStarley=] is a very obvious example (see above).
** Saiga is likely this; he's in high-security prison for a reason, after all. He delights in torturing and killing people and seems excited to reap the benefits of causing said suffering.
** Baxter (Ian's right-hand man) is a [[SmallNameBigEgo small man with a big ego]] who enjoys holding power over others and takes sadistic glee in getting to fire at or kill people. Just look at the SlasherSmile on his face when he kills Goldie.
** Ian Breckel himself is a very prolific example. He's willing (and eager) to watch people - criminal or not - die horribly for the amusement of others and [[LackOfEmpathy cares nothing for them or what horrors they endure]] as long as it gets him subscribers. His ego is also ''way'' out of proportion, as he allows Goldie (who seemed to be his friend) to die ''just for crossing him'' and framed Jack for a number of awful crimes for simply mildly insulting him. He also abandons his girlfriend with no hesitation and crosses the MoralEventHorizon several times, such as filming Rosa's rape live simply because shock value will get better ratings and sees absolutely no problem with it (when even his morally bankrupt team thought it was too much). Additionally, he turns out to be rigging the show by sending [=McStarley=] provisions and weapons when one of the rules was that they fought with their own strength (and did so again for the sake of his show), which Goldie angrily calls him out for.
* ThinkOfTheChildren: One of the film's most notorious scenes is a reporter arguing in favor of censorship. Bracket's response is an outright defiance of this mentality -- it's not ''his'' job to think of who will see his work (either deliberately or accidentally).
* TitleDrop: Both the name of [[MurderDotCom the Pay-Per-View website with the game's feed]] and the final speech by the reporter that interviewed Breckett ("Are ''we'' the condemned?").
* TokenGoodTeammate:
** Julie, Breckel's girlfriend, who grows increasingly disgusted by her boyfriend's cruelty and tries to convince the other crew members to stop him but is ignored for her trouble. She ends up helping Jack kill Breckel by giving him an exploding anklet to throw at his helicopter before disappearing, presumably to be arrested by the authorities.
** Kreston Mackie may have been the only "good" contestant since he was imprisoned for running away from a death penalty charge to Malaysia, meeting a native woman, and then being betrayed by that woman when she reported possession charges while he had more than ten pounds of illegal drugs on his person putting him in death row again. He even admitted he didn't want to kill anyone and just wanted to get the explosive ankle off himself when he had Yasantwa at his mercy.
* TooDumbToLive:
** Kreston admits he got caught the last time because he trusted a woman. His first act on the island? Trust ''another'' woman (who, like him, was on death row). Naturally, she kills him. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it saying "Not again!" before his death.
** Ian very foolishly pisses off mass-murdering ex-Special Forces {{sociopathic soldier}} [=McStarley=]. His guards are little better and agree when [=McStarley=] asks for a cigarette (the distraction which he's used to kill both of them). Ian manages to ''briefly'' survive at least (before being killed by ''another'' ex-Special Forces soldier he pissed off).
* TwoferTokenMinority: The two female contestants, Rosa and Yasantwa. Rosa is Latina and Yasantwa Black African.
* UnholyMatrimony: Paco and Rosa were on death row for good reasons, but they're still husband and wife and genuinely love each other.
* VillainTeamUp: [=McStarley=] and Saiga. However, it's more of a TeethClenchedTeamwork, as neither one is exactly happy working with the other and Saiga immediately tries to kill [=McStarley=] once he thinks they're the last two contestants standing.
* VillainousFriendship: Goldman and Ian. However, it's one-sided on Goldman's part, as Ian only cares about the money.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: While Paco and Rosa are both mass-murderers, they both only try to find each other during the games, even running away from other participants. Plus their tortures and deaths are used to make the perpetrators out to be even worse.
* YouBastard: The reporter who interviews Brecket gives a speech about this when she comments how "The Condemned Dot Com" website only gained success due to millions of viewers willingly logging on and paying to view the horrors committed and that they are just as much to blame for Brecket because he only capitalizes on their sadism.
* YourMom: When being interviewed, Jack tells Brecket that he comes from an Alaskan town, "Fuck Your (Ian's) Mom".
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* ImmoralRealityShow: "The Condemned" is an InUniverse RealLife DeadlyGame. The fact that it's [[MurderDotCom online-PPV-only]] is a small nod towards the fact that ''nobody'' would dare broadcast a show like this in TV in real life. Still, it gets the ratings Brecket wanted (higher than the average UsefulNotes/SuperBowl) by the end.

* AllThereInTheManual: The full rap sheets of every single condemned are only available online in locations like the film's Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} page. We only get the stories of three of them on-screen (Jack's, Ewan's and Mackie's).

** Ian Breckel's henchman is a [[SmallNameBigEgo small man with a big ego]] who enjoys holding power over others and takes sadistic glee in getting to fire at or kill people.