☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Bomb the System

Play trailer Poster for Bomb the System R Released May 27, 2005 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
32% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A teen (Mark Webber) and his pals (Gano Grills, Jade Yorker) go on a nightly mission to color New York walls with graffiti.
Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

Where to Watch

Bomb the System

Bomb the System

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Given the movie's premise, one would assume it's gritty and street-smart, but in reality it's a slave to stale cliches and formula.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (22)
Ty Burr Boston Globe Visually dazzling and dramatically trite -- it's virtuoso piffle. Rated: 2/4 Aug 26, 2005 Full Review Tom Keogh Seattle Times Thoroughly fails to convince that its handful of New York characters known as 'bombers,' graffiti mongers futilely yearning for immortality via nightly despoiling of public and private property, is of any tragic interest. Rated: 1/4 Jun 24, 2005 Full Review Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter Notable mainly for its hallucinatory, tripped visuals, which go a long way toward compensating for a less-than-riveting narrative. Jun 17, 2005 Full Review Eric Monder Film Journal International The story is so loosely developed and devoid of suspense, it barely seems to exist. Mar 1, 2007 Full Review James Verniere Boston Herald Rated: 2/4 Aug 27, 2005 Full Review Jules Brenner Filmcritic.com I came out of this wishing the paint can crowd would settle for tattoos. Rated: 3/5 Aug 26, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (83)
Audience Member Ignore what you've heard bad about this movie. Some writers might be upset that the movie doesn't go too into detail about actually putting graffiti up or saying that it's using incorrect terminology but those people completely missed what's good about the movie. First off, the actual presentation, filming, camera movement, effects, etc. are all extremely artistic and original. The entire movie just makes you feel empathetic for the characters. The atmosphere, the scenery, all of it. Interludes between scenes of the main character always running, just running away. The music is good too. It's all done by El-P, for anyone familiar with Def-Jux. The whole movie though, it's just amazing... So many people overlooked this. Everything is just done so brutally realistic, how the way characters react and think, how life really can just be ****ed up. It's a powerful movie and the ending is the best part. (be warned though... it's sad...) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Underrated movie with a good plot and interesting story, as well as comedic elements and intellectual tidbits that allow me to see graffiti from a different perspective. Great movie, one of my favorites of all time. Recommend it to anyone, even people who don't have much of an interest in graffiti (I don't, yet I still enjoyed it). Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Was a very good story so good sad parts and a true story of the life just as good as Exit though the gift shop Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member A film that tries to capture an underground culture, and fails for the most part. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member pretty decent debut, but the bad actors, the unfitting 'artsy-fartsy' crap (also the forced 'trying to make it look more expensive') and truckloads of continuity errors spoil most of the fun. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member This was decent. Poor production values, but the music is good and it gets the atmosphere right. If you are interested in graffiti writing you will probably like this. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Bomb the System

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Adam Bhala Lough

Director

Mark Webber

Blest

Gano Grills

Justin

Jade Yorker

Lune

Jaclyn DeSantis

Alexandra

Joey Dedio

Hazer

More Like This

View All
Candy 47% 77% Candy Watchlist Havoc 45% 36% Havoc Watchlist Downtown: A Street Tale 27% % Downtown: A Street Tale Watchlist Into the Fire 0% 50% Into the Fire Watchlist Green Street Hooligans 45% 87% Green Street Hooligans Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Bomb the System

Blake Lethem as Lazaro in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis. Mark Webber (Blest) and Jaclyn DeSantis (Alex) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis. Mark Webber (Blest) BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis Mark Webber (Blest) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis. Gano Grills (BUK 50) and Jade Yorker (LUNE) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis. Bonz Malone as Officer Nole Shorts in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A teen (Mark Webber) and his pals (Gano Grills, Jade Yorker) go on a nightly mission to color New York walls with graffiti.
Director
Adam Bhala Lough
Producer
Ben Rekhi
Screenwriter
Adam Bhala Lough
Distributor
Palm Pictures
Production Co
Drops Entertainment
Rating
R (Sexuality|Drug Use|Pervasive Language|Nudity)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 27, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$14.9K
Runtime
1h 31m
Most Popular at Home Now