Artemis-9 Women In Prison films are standard fare for the entertainment of mainly boozed up, lurid male audiences, featuring (1) cat-fight; (2) almost nude gals in isolation; (3) sexual harassment of inmates; (4) brutal guards; (5) rape; (6) riot; (7) revenge on the (8) corrupt warden and superior officers. WIP are usually low budgeted, filmed with poorly paid crew and very small cast.Guess what? You've all the required items, the film was made on a stringy budget and a dozen actors, one of them doubling as stunt choreographer, who 'gets shot' without putting up a fight! So why is all the uproar? Plenty of (lurid?) viewers complaining that it's a BAD BAD FILM, and plenty of established critics complaining that it's a BAD BAD FILM...Because this film was made (as the director explains in detail in the voice on commentary in the DVD version) from a critical, very political view point, exposing as well as it can the link between Politics, Economics, and Prisons. Even without being corrupt, a prison's system exploited like a private business - as it is perfectly legal in some countries, like the U.S. of A. - may, and eventually does, as historic cases prove, end up in being a monstrous creation.That the director was naif, and tried to put to many ideas and characters in at the same time, ending with a couple of loose ends, it's a pity. DaBrat is not the best narrator to keep an audience interested, in a film with not much screen action; Tichina Arnold should be meaner as Aisha the bad girl, yet she provokes a good fight on the gravel yard of this urban prison; woman sarge Cervantes looks sexy enough to liven things up - but her character is underdeveloped in the (cut to 91m though R rated) DVD version; LisaRaye is OK as the taller new girl, but lacks experience, and it shows, in several crucial moments.The music is new, and at times inspired, by Mandrill. The exposé of established facts will be valuable for audiences who wish to get a larger view than the telly gives them. Supporting cast has good performances by Clifton Powell (justly awarded), Reed McCants, and best for last, the beautiful and definitely the best actress of the pen, N'Bushe Wright. (I'm closing this comment and go searching for other films with her.)

ajagers This movie was the bomb. I like how all the characters came to life and how they all have their own story. I wanted to jump through the t.v. when captain Dee's raped and killed Lil mama. I couldn't believe he would do something like that. That cold hearted punk. That movie seemed so real like it was based on a true story. I hop it was all fictional because if something like that happened in real life then he deserved to die. Over all the movie was off the chain and they get many props from me. Great job. I like how they all got together and made a plan to take Dee's down. He was so corrupt. I hope that stuff really don't be happening in the prisons. Working for a dollar and fifty cent. That has got to be illegal. Anyways the movie was the bomb it was off the chain and i recommend that everybody goes to see it, rent it, or buy whatever you gotta do to watch it because it is worth it.

jakemcgee CIVIL BRAND is a story which tells of a women's prison in which the inmates are forced to work as slaves, and are exploited as little more than animals. True, we've all seen this in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, where convicts are put to physical labor, but it's always been presented as an acceptable situation. A man robs a store and kills the clerk, so why not have him pound out license plates and working on road construction crews?CIVIL BRAND offers a fresh look at the Prison-Industrial Complex, attacking the issue from several different angles. For one thing, the inmates aren't working on roads or some kind of community service- they're making clothes for department stores. A more provocative approach, though, is the fact that these slaves are female, a scenario that folks are not used to considering. Outstanding performances by LisaRaye, Mos Def, Clifton Powell, MC Lyte, Monica Calhoun, Lark Voorhies, and the sensational N'Bushe Wright (the lady Panther from DEAD PRESIDENTS who is one of the most talented people acting in Cinema today, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous), powerful cinematography, and brutal honesty come together to make CIVIL BRAND not just a great movie, but an extremely important one.(c) Jake McGee - Get Underground

Anyanwu Suffice it to say this movie could have been way more than it was. I have to write this knowing what transpired in the making of the film. Civil Brand was to focus on the Prison Industrial Complex and how it relates to women in prison. The fact that most women in prison are in as a result of some aspect of domestic violence; and that the need for these women in prison fuels a slavocracy in the production of products for sale for corporation; and that the prison industry has risen as a result of this need for slave labor; and that women in prison are attacked because of their gender ie rape,beatings. The budget was approx $500.000, the shoot was 15 days. (Using real or ex convicts along with the actors would have been the real deal adding a reality and tension in the film that it cannot get w/just actors) Simply there was not enough money or time given to the filmmaker to put these points across with the bang, which is how I believe they intended. The forces that be "behind" the film did not allow it. Nevertheless, Civil Brand, gives us a glimpse of the gendered persecution that women face in prison and how if people really knew what was happening in there they would not want to go in(focus on youth) and they would rise up against a system that destroys human potential and separates themselves from their selves.