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Death Sentence

Play trailer Poster for Death Sentence R Released Aug 31, 2007 1h 50m Mystery & Thriller Action Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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20% Tomatometer 113 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is on his way home from a hockey game with his son, Brendan, and stops for gasoline. Helplessly he sees a street thug kill Brendan while robbing the station. Believing the justice system will fail him, Nick goes after the killer himself, setting off a war between him and the killer's older brother (Garrett Hedlund).
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Death Sentence

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Critics Consensus

A nonsensical plot and an absurd amount of violence make this revenge pic gratuitous and overwrought.

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Critics Reviews

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Mark Bourne Film.com Bacon, as usual, is very good even when he's slumming, and as a trashy B-movie redo of Death Wish the movie works well enough for a Saturday afternoon with a case of brewskies. Jan 8, 2008 Full Review Joshua Katzman Chicago Reader This graphically violent film suffers from cursorily developed characters whose primary function is to advance the creaky plot. Dec 3, 2007 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle The graininess of the film generally makes everything look as ugly as it feels. Death Sentence deserves no reprieve. Rated: 1/5 Sep 15, 2007 Full Review Forrest Hartman Reno Gazette-Journal Once Death Sentence reaches the mid-point of the second act, it has become so ludicrous that Wan's excess is more likely to draw laughs than tears. Sep 13, 2023 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com In all honesty, I didn't expect much from the film and I didn't get much. Rated: 1.5/4.0 Sep 5, 2020 Full Review Fred Topel We Live Entertainment Death Sentence shows there's even more to [revenge] than your own downfall. The cycle you get into spirals out of control. Perhaps it's more emblematic of Gandhi's statement 'an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.' Sep 10, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Mark S A man who watched his child being murdered by a delinquent in a gang! The police reaction is the most ridiculous thing about the film, and there is plenty ridiculous aspects to choose from. This director will be widely avoided in future choices of entertainment. Probably the worst film of Bacon's career. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/19/25 Full Review Daniel C. M A visceral and entertaining vigilante action thriller that unfortunately does not deliver as much as it could, but also tries to deliver a very muddled and "lost" message. Still, it has pretty good action sequences. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/30/25 Full Review Pedro Henrique C Death Sentence (2007) is quite confusing, how can a guy who works in a company, become a brutal killer? The direction of James Wan it's boring and sad. Just the beginning is a little cool. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/16/25 Full Review Stephen C Success in 1 hour and 50 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Strong Bloody Brutal Violence and Pervasive Language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed $9,500,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/23/25 Full Review Martin K Leider muss ich den Topkritikern Recht geben. Dieser Film ist wirklich Zeitverschwendung. Ich schaue fast jeden Film, der vom Publikum mit mindestens 40% gerated wird und hatte bei diesem Film echt mehr erwartet. Eine Enttäuschung. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/20/25 Full Review David W Honestly there's so many movies out there, with this premise. But among all of them, this one is actually worth watching. Can't think of a better revenge film of this era. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Death Sentence

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Cast & Crew

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James Wan

Director

Kevin Bacon

Nick Hume

Garrett Hedlund

Billy Darly

Kelly Preston

Helen Hume

Aisha Tyler

Detective Wallis

John Goodman

Bones Darly

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Movie Info

Synopsis Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is on his way home from a hockey game with his son, Brendan, and stops for gasoline. Helplessly he sees a street thug kill Brendan while robbing the station. Believing the justice system will fail him, Nick goes after the killer himself, setting off a war between him and the killer's older brother (Garrett Hedlund).
Director
James Wan
Producer
Ashok Amritraj, Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin
Screenwriter
Ian Mackenzie Jeffers
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
R (Strong Bloody Brutal Violence|Pervasive Language)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Action, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 31, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 18, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$9.5M
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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