Gladiator Days (DVD)

I first saw this compelling, often gruesome and very enlightening documentary on HBO. I have realized that in these maximum security men's prisons, most of the inmates either have to gang up for survival or they become the prey. If they are in fear of their lives, they either have to deal with it themselves or go to guards and wardens and risk being labeled as a "snitch" and killed for that. This documentary also first revealed to me facts that indicated Sandy Shaw, Kell's childhood friend, was railroaded into prison even though all he was supposed to do was fistfight a guy who was stalking her when she was a terrified 15-year-old, with no stalking law to protect her. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Kell brought a gun to that supposed harmless fistfight and shot and killed the adult stalker who was pursuing a minor child. In his effort to help her, Kell made his friend Sandy Shaw his second victim. Getting into the mind of a killer who grew up with a decent life and then snapped makes for fascinating viewing.

I VIEWED THIS MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME AT WORK AS A PART OF A VIOLENT GANG PAROLE SQUAD TRAINING CLASS. I HAVE WORKED IN THE PRISON SYSTEM FOR 10 YEARS, AND TO THIS DAY, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO EXPRESS TO ANYONE WHO HAS NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO THE INSIDE OF PRISON THE REAL LIVE REALITY OF PRISON LIFE. I IN AN EXTREME WAY, AS A PAROLE OFFICER, LOVING MOTHER AND WIFE RECOMMEND ANY PARENT WITH A TEEN GOING DOWN THE WRONG ROAD TO MAKE THEIR TEEN VIEW THIS MOVIE. VERY VIOLENT SO NOT MEANT FOR KIDS (PRE-TEEN)WITHOUT A VERY EXTREME TOUGH LOVE REASON.

A compelling, documentary account of a prison murder and the events leading up to that event. Addresses issues such as juvenile delinquency, murder, prison culture, race relations and even the death penalty. I use it every semester to show to students in a four year bachelor of science criminal justice program. Students are in awe of this film every time I show it!- Dean Reeves / Adjunct Professor / Metropolitan State College of Denver

I guess I've been desensitized to the horrible lifes and conditions that prisoners are made to live through. Oh, poor babies!Frankly, I don't give a damn if they are kept in cages and are only given food and water. Many of the cable stations broadcast Prison "Soaps" daily. The shock value of their crimes and their lifes behind bars has become every day drama, and soooooooooo repetitive.I didn't find this documentary exceptional in any way.

I love this film in part because it shows the realities of prison life! As much as we like to believe we live in a post-racial America, this film shows that much of our country (in and out of prison environments) is still very much deeply impacted by OUR racial history.

If you can stand a realistically grim and gritty view of both a superficially charming racist psychopathic killer and the penal system that supported his cold-blooded killing of a black inmate, this is a rewarding movie. Anthony Kell's murder of the black inmate says at least as much about the racist institutional support for the killing as it does about Kell. Listen carefully to how the victim was set up to be sent to hospital infirmary even though he was not ill; listen carefully to how the prison guards watched without intervening as Kell's friend held the victim down and Kell stabbed him over-and-over during the prolonged course of many minutes until he gradually bled to death. The guards, instead of intervening, were filming the murder - the video of the killing is the grisly highlight of this movie - but doing nothing until after Kell rose in exultation and started celebrating. No guards were disciplined, and the in-prison cooperation to make the referral to the infirmary was never addressed.The young Tony Kell and his "philosophy" is briefly but fruitfully explored, and then there is a telling narrative of the very vacant inner man. In a wonderful moment Kell reflects upon his motives for committing the murder that put him in prison in the first place: Kell doesn't really know why he did it. He was just going to rough up a man who was hounding a young neighborhood female friend of his, but brought a gun to the event, and then well... things happened. You can see how loosely connected most of the group of murdering youngsters were to social consequences; the crime would have gone unsolved but for the fact that one of the killers kept bringing friends back to see the body to prove his boast of what he had done. The female friend, herself convicted as co-conspirator, adds a poignant contrast. She is neither evil nor violent, and if she hadn't complained to Tony about the man harassing her she would have grown up fairly normally and not have spent most of her life behind bars.

IT WAS OK

I am always a sucker for a good prison story and this DVD definitely manages to present an intense and grim real-life story of a young man who managed to screw his life by getting a life-time prison sentence and then proceed to "shank" another inmate to his bloody death.Along with the actual story I really enjoyed viewing the prison riot scenes that truly shows how tense and dangerous prison life can be. Some of the interview subjects, such as the D.A. guy, I found to be a little irritating and boring.Anatomy of a Prison Murder is an intense and involving story that presents the dire realities of prison life and how one young man chose to take the darkest route to the pits of prison hell.