Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

MrBook First of all, most of these reviews were obviously planted by the filmmakers themselves. I'm not saying that because I'm jealous, and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but that's what I think. I noticed two of the reviews (there could be more) were the exact same review under two different names. Next, I don't think that this many people would bother to give that much of a glowing, wordy review.Pros: The movie looks AMAZING! This is what gives indie filmmakers, like myself, hope of achieving a big-budget look. The production, costumes, locations, and shots were all great. Visually, it reminded me of Saw (which is reminiscent of Se7en). I show Broken to people, to show them the potential of the DVX.Cons: There is an ending that most first-year film students are told to NEVER do: "It was all a dream." It is a HUGE cop-out! To make it worse, the movie breaks the "4th wall" with the antagonist smiling directly at the camera. It was a moment that really didn't need to be in there. The acting was very below-average. The lead actress almost seemed like she was laughing, when she was supposed to be upset. You hear her crying, but there are absolutely no tears. The villain was EXTREMELY hammy, and didn't have an ounce of truth to his performance. The boyfriend was very flat, and I didn't feel an ounce of chemistry between him and the girl.Like I mentioned, a very noble effort that, despite falling short, had a lot of heart put into it. You can see that in MANY extras that are featured on the disc. The amount of extras alone are almost worth the full price of the DVD. Best of luck to these guys in the future.

DarkAngeloX I eagerly awaiting the DVD availability of Broken after viewing the trailer. The trailer was awesome and the editor made the most of the high production value of the film. However, I was someone disappointed with the "other" aspects of the film. The acting was decent on all sides as was the direction, but the story itself was lacking, too conventional and sometimes longwinded. N one can deny the high production value of the short. The filmmakers undoubtedly spent a lot of time, energy and effort to take the production value out of the low altitude budget range low budget film-making and into the stratosphere. they succeeded on all levels. And with the inclusion of over three hours of behind the scenes, how they did it footage, the DVD is worth a buy.

Jonathan W. Hickman "Broken" is a great "how to" disc. While the short film is cool, it really works better in conjunction with the DVD that offers great insight into how to make your own action/thriller on a small budget. Made for reportedly $8,000.00, director Alex Ferrari has crammed in some 100 special visual effects shots. And it looks terrific leaving you wanting more.The story involves Bonnie who wakes up in her darkened apartment to be abducted by strange and dangerous folks. Skip forward to a warehouse or secret facility of some sort where Bonnie is strapped to an antique wheelchair surrounded by even more dangerous killers all of whom want a piece of her. But she doesn't know why. And neither do we. In time, she will be killed but the sadistic bastards want to have fun with her first.More of a teaching film, "Broken" serves as the platform for special effects talent, director, and co-writer Ferrari to educate us on how everything is done. The amazingly power packed DVD is extremely instructive and even fascinating. Use of split screen showing the rehearsal and the finished scene is interesting and Ferrari humbly provides insight into the workings of making a action/thriller with little money.I especially liked the recipe offered for making your own "guacamole gun." For those of you not familiar with this gun, it's a device that simulates what happens when a person is shot by a gun. It's gross and funny to see the experimentation process for the creation of this useful device.Anyone who is thinking about making an action/thriller ought to have the "Broken" DVD in their library.The Disc A must for anyone intending to make their own low budget action/thriller or anyone whose just curious about the subject.Picture Quality: 10/10 The transfer is crisp and the picture lush. There is a portion of the DVD devoted to making DV look like film.Sound Quality: 10/10 Sound was even good on extras shot during rehearsals. Of course, there is a portion of the disc devoted to sound and syncing.Extra Features: 10/10 A teaching disc that includes fantastic extras.The Final Word:I liked the short movie fine, but when combined with a dynamite DVD loaded with extras that are content rich, this should be a essential part of any independent filmmaker's library.Jonathan W. Hickman - http://www.einsiders.com

Rogue Cinema Once in a while, a film comes along where all the pieces just fit. The production is first rate, the acting is incredible and both visuals and sound are something special. Now a film like that doesn't come along but once in a blue moon, and certainly it's a rarity to see something of that caliber coming from the independent film community, but a special film such as this has finally graced the stage. That film is called Broken. It's a short film, coming in at around 20 minutes, and I hear tell that there's a feature length version in the works.Now Broken is an absolutely gorgeous movie visually. The way it was shot, the editing, and the entire feel of it puts you in a completely separate world. Now you'd think that with such gorgeous visuals, the acting or the action or any number of other things would come up lacking, but that just isn't the case. The story is incredibly intense and action packed, and you never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next. I'm not going to get into the whole story here because that would give the whole thing away, but basically it's about a girl who's kidnapped by a cadre of baddies who she apparently really ticked off for some reason or another. There's also a surprise ending, that should catch most people off guard.Every actor in this film, with the exception of maybe one did an outstanding job. The main bad guy was creepy as all get out and eccentric as hell and you never knew what he was going to do next. He also had this really gnarly scar on the side of his face in some sort of a strange design that really lent to his creepiness. The main actress played her part beautifully with all the emotions coming out that you'd expect in the situation she had been placed in. Surrounding them were a whole host of other baddies, each with their own distinct characteristics that made the whole thing feel like they were a bunch of characters from some video game.The thing about this film is that it basically comes down to being the last twenty minutes of a bigger feature. It picks up in a spot where you know things have happened earlier on, but there's some mystery as to what those things were. In many films, that would be detrimental to the overall story, but in this case, it really didn't matter. The mystery surrounding the things that transpired earlier only added to the story that was presented, and allowed the viewer to fill in the blanks for themselves as the story progressed.The most shocking thing about this film is that as gorgeous as it is, and with over 120 effects shots, they managed to pull it off for a mere $8,000. Now if Hollywood had tried to make something with the same look, they'd have probably ended up spending eight million dollars, minimum. That's what's so incredible about the current state of technology. It allows independent filmmakers the freedom to bring their visions to life without having to spend a fortune in the process.I look forward to seeing the full feature version when it's completed. Writer and director Alex Ferrari and his team of highly talented individuals have made something really special here, and it's definitely worth your time to check it out.