Trivia:
This movie is a remake of a movie based on a book that was inspired by the real-life Stanford prison experiment. The experiment at Stanford ended early as both the guards and prisoners took their respective roles too seriously. The experiment will never be redone because it was deemed unethical. Under the rules of the American Psychiatric Association any research done must not physically or mentally harm the participants. The researchers in the original Stanford Experiment were studying why people follow rules even when they find them morally questionable.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
After using the fire extinguishers on the prisoners everyone is covered in white powder as if a powder apparatus had been used. The actual extinguishers used are of the CO2 type which is easily identified by the big "funnel" at the end of the hose and would not leave everyone covered in white powder.
User Review
Not nearly as good as the original.
Rating: 6/10
The Experiment is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Paul
Scheuring and starring Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker,Cam Gigandet and
Maggie Grace.The film is also a remake of the 2001 German film Das
Experiment, which was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The experiment
begins when 26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and
prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of
control. $14,000 for two weeks, it is easy-earned money. The study
examines aggressive behavior in an artificial prison setting. At first
the tenants are divided randomly into prisoners and guards, but soon a
spiral of violence begins.
I had some hope for this film because I remember seeing the original
Das Experiment more then a year ago and enjoying it. Although brutal
the film was brilliant in the way it explored human nature, human
instincts, and one's moral compass. It's actually quite surprising that
it took such a long time (9 years) for Hollywood to assassinate, pardon
me, remake this very interesting story which is actually based on the
Stanford prison experiment that took place in 1971 and was highly
criticized afterwords. The problem with this remake is that, as in most
things Hollywood, it's all about big name actors and big fights and
nice camera angles. What's most important, the characterization and the
character development which are the things that make this story, were
completely thrown aside. One of the consequences of doing so is that
the film felt extremely rushed and therefor the payoff wasn't that
great. I didn't think there was real tension, and the film lacked that
gritty look of the original, instead it looks sharp and polished.
Also, it's one thing to put your own spin into a story but this remake
eliminated an entire dimension of the original film. I'm talking about
the people behind the cameras, the scientists watching and conducting
the experiment. They played a big part in the original and in this
remake they are nowhere to be seen and it truly diminished the story.
Regarding the acting, I thought Adrien Brody did a pretty good job and
Cam Gigandet was delightfully nasty as he usually is. On the other
hand, Forest Whitaker was absolutely awful. In almost every film that
see him in, he acts like he has a speech impediment and to be honest,
it adds nothing to his performance. Overall, The Experiment it's
somewhat enjoyable but not nearly as good as the original.
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