User reviews

This film is actually not bad. I was entertained. The plot was very different from the usual ones. Good acting. The film makes you think about what kind of programs like "ASAP" exists today. During the film my mind kept thinking about how this kind of abuse is currently going on in the world. It's hard to believe that it's still going on. I would recommend this movie, but don't expect any hard action or fight scenes. It's pretty slow I felt, but yet at the same time you wanted to see what was going to happen next, but not in a suspenseful way. It was just an interesting and different kind of movie. All in all I give this movie a 6 out of 10 stars. Good acting.

Within the first 15 minutes of the film I was about to turn it off because of the horrible acting, but I just couldn't. I finished the entire thing and there was just something about it that I really enjoyed. The entire story was something that I have never seen in a film before, and nothing was really predictable about it.

Most of the horrible acting came from no name actors. Mila Kunis played her role very well, as did Peter Stormare. There was something really cheesy about the whole "captured and taken to an island" idea, but I really think with some better actors it could have been pulled off much better.

The cinematography was excellent, and the soundtrack was just amazing. The island location was a perfect choice and really added a lot to the film.

I still don't know why I enjoyed it so much, but I would say it is worth a rental to see for yourself.

In Denver, the rebel Sophie (Mila Kunis) misses her deceased father and hates her stepfather Karl (Serge Houde), pushing him to the edge. After a serious incident with his guests at home, she is sent to the ASAP – Advanced Serenity Achievement Program – a correctional facility in Fiji Island leaded by Norman Hail (Peter Stormare), who self-entitles doctor, to be rehabilitated in a socially acceptable pattern of behavior. She finds a concentration camp without human rights that uses abusive military training techniques to brainwash the offenders. Meanwhile her boyfriend Ben (Gregory Smith) forces a situation at home to be sent to the same boot camp and escape with Sophie.

"Boot Camp" explains in the very beginning that is based on a true event; therefore it seems that it really does exist places like the Serenity Camp in the world. The story does not have the intention to discuss whether these boot camps are necessary or not, but to show a specific place directed by an unprepared man with psychological problems that uses torture techniques as if the end could justify the means. A dictatorship with absolute power associated to playing God always generates injustices and corruption and is doomed to fail. The story is entertaining, but some of the teenagers (and parents) depicted in the movie really deserve to be sent to a correctional facility or to a shrink to resolve their issues. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha - Uma Prisão Sem Grades" ("The Island – A Prison Without Bars")

I rated this movie a 6 due to the content. I truly believe this movie should have been made, and I commend the ones who did. It truly broke my heart, seeing as though it's a true story, making it all the more disturbing. I hope that people that are considering sending their child/teen to a place such as this one. I think all the actors did a pretty good job portraying the characters that the movie is about. I just can't believe that this movie is around 3 years old and I haven't heard of it. It's kind of bothersome to me because this movie truly needs recognition, it needs to be out there for more people to see. Parents and guardians really need to do their homework on these type of places before sending ANYONE they truly care about! Thanks for the movie, I really hope people heed the warning the comes from this film!

..which is probably the reason enough for one time watch. I liked the movie for its different approach and the questions it raises and forces us to ponder over the issue of such camps as ASAP. If such camps exist, and actually they do, what is their purpose? if the purpose is to "help" the troubled teens, they fail miserably or at least the movie says so. coming to the movie, it was a good film with a lot of potential. maybe better actors may have been able to pull it off much better but nevertheless the movie doesn't disappoint you. my suggestion to those who have not watched this movie is to watch it before forming an opinion over it. believe me its not that bad as some comments here suggest.

I'm all for some tough love, and military boot camps where kids are taught discipline,,, but the kinda place portrayed in this movie is just torture,, with psychotic administrators.

Bootcamp is an effective film with an engaging plot, made all the more convincing by the fact that similar events have happened and might still be happening to this day. Its weak elements, such as the occasional amateurish acting by several minor characters, and an overall Hollywood feel that takes away from some of the grit and realism, is overpowered by convincing performances by Kunis and Smith. Their characters are multi-dimensional and get peeled away like an onion as the film progresses. The plot is both unsettling, yet unpredictable. The cinematography captures both the beauty of the island location and the starkness of the characters' plight. Finally, Bootcamp questions us as to whether we really know what's best for our children or not.

Movies like these don't come around very often. Know I am not saying this movie was incredible because it wasn't. But it is the kinda movie that makes you think about tragedy's that happen in this life.

Basically the plot is easy to follow and easily drags you in. Norman Hail ( Peter Stormare ) runs a camp where parents send there kids to him and he tries to steer them straight. You could tell that this wasn't going to be a normal camp for kids. He uses humiliation as a form of torture. I Mainly loved the movie because of the two main characters Mila Kunis and Gregory Smith. Most torture movies the whole plot is everyone is trying to get out of the place where they are being tortured which is why I loved the movie because that wasn't the case for most of the characters. A lot of the characters were starting to believe in Norman Hails brainwashing method.

There was no ridiculous stupid sex scenes so don't watch it if that's what you are looking for, it was the one of the most realistic psychological torture stories I have probably watched and that says a lot because I have seen tons of movies.

If you are looking for a movie that makes you think about about sadistic stuff that happens in real life then watch this movie. I give it a 6.5 / 10

Mila Kunis and her boyfriend played great roles, and the foreign guy played a good self- righteous "doctor" with a god complex. As someone who went to one of these places, New Dominion in Maryland - I take offense to the reviewer who says these places are for "spoiled kids". Guess what, the one I went to was 95 percent sentenced juvenile offenders, and I was one of the lucky "spoiled kids". My crime - nothing - I have no criminal record. The one I went to wasn't as "Lord of the Flies" like, but there was physical abuse, and sexual abuse that they covered up but definitely existed. There are no regulation on these places. To say people deserve it is messed up. I still suffer PTSD from being at the one I went to, probably the result of being body slammed for speaking my mind and being mentally tortured on a 24/7 basis. It's also nice to have to work chipping at rocks to get your food and to get a grade A concussion and be told to "walk it off". Anyway I'm now graduated from college with honors, but these sick places still exist. I will never forget being told by the juvenile offenders there that they'd rather be back in prison.

Decent watch, probably won't watch again, but can recommend.

Since it's basically a child prison camp outside the per view of the United States, there are lots of angles to this one.

There are coming of age stories, there is the prisoner aspect of it: guilt, guards vs prisoners, prisoners vs prisoners, and just general psychology of traumatized people.

I know that makes it sound REAL interesting /s, but if you like movies you can think out, especially for the characters, then this is a real good watch.

For everyone else, it's still good, but it's a unique prison movie, so it comes with all that entails: abusive guards, warden with a god complex, and infighting like cuttlefish.

In the seventies boot camps were the real stuff in the US. Nobody watched what happened in those camps, and several persons really died in those camps. This is one of those stories. To promote this film the said that it was more frightening than Adrift and more horrible then Battle Royale. well, those to movies are independent and are better than Boot Camp. As always in Hollywood there has to be some romance in it and that just doesn't work for me. It is never fearful or there isn't any suspense, it isn't even bloody, the roughest thing is a blue eye. But I gave it a 5 because the effects they used in the cutting. It could have been all better if it was more in the style of Battle Royale.

For those of you that think programs like this don't exist, you are very wrong! I spent 10 months in Spring Creek Lodge in Montana, which was actually very nice compared to other programs that are, like Spring Creek, affiliated with WWASP (World Wide Association of Specialty Programs). Look it up!! There are so many documented abuses in their facilities outside of the U.S. (Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, Somoa). Most of them have been shut down, but they are still out there!! When I was at Spring Creek in Montana, there was an incident at Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica....very similar to what happens in this movie. The kids rioted and took the place over, setting fires and having sex. A lot of them ran off into the wilderness. Most were located and sent to other programs like mine in Montana. Also, look into the High Impact program that was shut down in Tecate, Mexico. This stuff does exist, and it's devastating! And good parents are deceived every day by their very false advertising! And they do come and kidnap you in the night, just like in the film.....messed up stuff.

Supposedly based on real events, this is about teenagers being sent away to camps to be disciplined. We follow a couple who go there and seek to escape. The characters aren't bad, and this is psychologically credible all the way. Unfortunately, the acting tends to be pretty... "meh". Even Stormare, if he does have his moments, struggles. Smith delivers the best performance(someone give this man more roles, seriously). Kunis is OK, as usual. This has some stylization to portions of it, without it getting to be flashy. This is directed(by the guy who did the pretty good Human Trafficking mini-series, and the utterly biased Hitler bio-pic), shot and edited well. It's genuinely effective at times, with a fairly good pace and a relatively satisfying climax. The tension reaches nice high levels at times, and this is exciting here and there. It is a bit predictable. The exploration of how some of the people leading the spot have become corrupted by their power and what these kinds of extreme conditions do to even normal human beings are convincing, if not news to people who look into this stuff even casually. This suffers from there not being much memorable to it other than this, and, frankly, I feel it would have been a more compelling documentary. There is a lot of disturbing content and sensuality, and brief nudity in this. The DVD comes with five trailers and nothing else(including scene selection menus)... that's *bare*. I recommend this to fans of Gregory. 6/10

A 'boot camp', as shown in this film, makes a convenient place wealthy parents can send their out-of-control teenage children to. I didn't know they existed in this form, but can imagine very well why.

When it comes to the pictured camp-life, I don't see much difference with a regular army place. Just like millions of soldiers in past and present, these teenagers are taught how to obtain goals by close cooperation under tough conditions.

And yes, just like everywhere else, you have the good and the bad ones. Inevitably bringing in some crime & casualties.

Although getting a little melodramatic at times, 'Boot Camp' makes a good watch. Different from this film's message, however, I see no reason to condemn institutes like these. No doubt the majority of its inhabitants will get out better prepared for life than they were when they arrived.

Whoever wrote this script definitely had some inside info!

I thought the bogus diploma mill diploma was a direct reference to Miller Newton and/or Dean Vause www.the straights.com/ people/ medical-doctors/ newton/ newton-credentials. (the usual ending for a web page*)

But it was also unrealistic in that the kids were free to speak to one another, even the two main characters who were a couple on the outside. Neeeever happen in real life! And they could do things like walk on over and take a shower after the rape and talk to another detainee in private about it? Not so likely!

But then I don't think the general public would be able to wrap their minds around a true-to-life telling of the story. That was my thought about Over The GW. Great movie for program vets to watch with friends and loved ones who want a better understanding, but probably little general appeal.

So I'm glad they did it this way. I can easily imagine someone watching Boot Camp then calling up a friend who may have been through something like this and saying "Holy s**t, was it like that?" So it's good, entertaining drama with real educational potential. Hmm, I think I'll post this to IMDb.

But after reading a few other comments I just have to add some thoughts...

To jade angel: You say "now i'm not well educated in the field of psychology, so my lack of a PhD may lead you to disregard the last statement. oh well."

Well don't let it bother you. Check out my reference to Dean Vause. Vause may well be Missed Opportunity's employer and object of worship.

I think your observations and comments are spot on! However, I would not recommend that anyone send any kid, however ill-behaved, to a boot camp. I would suggest, instead, finding a relative who is willing to take the kid on. There are very few trained professionals in the troubled parent industry and those who are there are only there to make the regulators happy. They have no real sway in what goes on. Most quit in short order unless they fall prey to the group-think and throw over their training for program philosophy. So your relatives are at least as well qualified, less likely to be sadistic lunatics and more likely to give a damn about the kid long term just because she's blood family.

Here's why...

To (reads as a misspelling*) from Netherlands: You say "Different from this film's message, however, I see no reason to condemn institutes like these. No doubt the majority of its inhabitants will get out better prepared for life than they were when they arrived. "

Please allow me to introduce some reason to condemn these institutes and to introduce some well reasoned doubt into your mind. Just visit (the site referenced by tony above*) That forum goes back almost 9 years. The majority of posters there are program veterans (some say survivors). Judge for yourself how better prepared for life we are; those of us who have survived the program to begin with and successfully fought off suicidal episodes in the intervening years.

To Missed Opportunity: Oh.... what's the point. You're unlikely to listen to reason unless and until you and your wife can pull yourself out of the cult.

To james7344: Look out! Missed Opportunity may make frequent and sudden stops and there is a serious risk that you'll slip right up in there!

*the spelling Nazi bot is driving me crazy!

Sorry, but from what I've seen of these little turd-muffins, they're getting exactly what they deserve!

Yeah, I know - I'm a fascist. But these people (especially the main character) are obnoxious creeps!

The film's target audience of fourteen-year-olds might not realize it, but making sexual abuse allegations against someone simply because they "cramp your style" is a nasty, vicious thing to do. She then has the nerve to say she's stuck in that hellhole because "she lied"!

If the girl's stepfather were smart, he would have sued the girl for defamation of character and took her trust-fund!

It's sad to see that even after their ordeal at the hands of the hippie-dippie, new age doctor and his jack-booted thugs, that each of these spoiled-rotten brats retained every single bit of the unfounded self-righteousness and selfishness they came in with!

I hate youth culture. Someone, please bomb the Island.

Exterminate the brutes ...the horror... the horror...

A little thrown off by the "excessiveness" in the beginning of this film I was pleased to see the pace quickly changed into an intriguingly heart wrenching and fist clenching experience. Pulling no punches in exposing the cruelty that exists in these rehabilitation centers you frequently find yourself a little uneasy with this films content (especially upon remembering that this was based on true events). A lot of content is crammed into this sole title as the story is a melting pot of drama, action, and even a relatively strong love story. Not a dull moment is to be found within this running time. The visuals compliment the story well with a beautiful setting and equally stunning cast.