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Mindhunters
Dimension Films

Mindhunters reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 33 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.0 out of 10
based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 31 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for violence/strong graphic images, language and sexual content

Starring Val Kilmer, LL Cool J, Christian Slater, Jonny Lee Miller, Eion Bailey, Will Kemp, Patricia Velasquez, and Kathryn Morris

A training program for the FBI's psychological profiling division, known as Mindhunters, is infilitrated by a serial killer


GENRE(S): Action  |  Crime  |  Horror  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Wayne Kramer (also story)
Kevin Brodbin
 
DIRECTED BY: Renny Harlin  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: September 20, 2005 
Theatrical: May 13, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA / Netherlands / UK 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
In its design, at least, Mindhunters"surpasses all other Christie knockoffs.
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70
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Corny? Oh, yeah. But it's also reasonably good fun.
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70
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Trashy and indefensible in most respects, Mindhunters may be a good-bad movie, but entertainment is entertainment, however it comes.
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70
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Director Renny Harlin's take on Agatha Christie's versatile "Ten Little Indians" is total B-movie swagger in all its unsubtle glory.
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63
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Is the film worth seeing? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it is exactly what it is, and no, for the same reason.
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58
Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown
What does satisfy is the pleasantly becalming presence of "Deep" costar LL Cool J. He's fast becoming Liv Ullmann to Harlin's Bergman.
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50
ReelViews James Berardinelli
One of Mindhunters' strengths is that it's difficult to guess who the culprit is because Harlin and his screenwriters don't play fair with the audience.
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50
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
The score sucks and the acting is weak, but there are times when certain moviegoers just feel the need to stare far-fetched, blood-drenched death in the eye and laugh. It's here, so have at it.
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50
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
It did give me plenty of jolts and surprises.
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50
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Mindhunters is as effective as a movie can be and yet still be 100 percent forgettable.
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50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
While Mindhunters aspires to be a psychological thriller, it's really just mindless entertainment.
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50
Film Threat David Grove
Here's a film that exhibits all kinds of joy in uncoiling a story with no ending, or an ending that's so arbitrary you get the feeling that the filmmakers just threw names in a hat to see who their killer would be.
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42
Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
It's been fascinating to watch the "intellectual" subgenre of the serial-killer movie -- the one where poetic evil geniuses elude the cops while leaving trails of art-directed crime scenes -- run out of ideas and start feeding on itself.
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40
Variety Robert Koehler
Ridiculous would-be thriller.
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40
LA Weekly Robert Abele
A tiring exercise in time-biding sadism (versus wit or suspense), inflated with shock editing, noisy effects and an angry score, like a thriller with road rage.
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38
Premiere Nicole Perri
Who knows what might have been if everyone involved had a little more fun with the project instead of just going through the motions?
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38
USA Today Mike Clark
A contrived, unpleasant and very drawn-out affair.
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30
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Harlin's brisk pacing leaves little time for reflection, but the whole house of blood-spattered cards dissolves upon even cursory reflection.
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30
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Turns out to be a thudding dud, crammed with clunky dialogue, bad acting and gruesome but unpersuasive gore. Mindhunters will pass muster with only the most undemanding horror fans.
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30
The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder
A quintessential Renny Harlin film: a big, dumb, loud action movie.
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25
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A stale and stupid thriller.
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25
New York Post Lou Lumenick
So bad it's awful.
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25
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
In 1939, when "Ten Little Indians" was published, Agatha Christie mysteries were the crème de la pop literature. Her fans depended on logic in her stories, and they got it. Mindhunters would have insulted their intelligence, and it should insult yours.
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25
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
It's hard to have sympathy for a movie that tosses in the old shower sneak-up sequence or allows its characters to speak as obviously as possible while standing in a pool of red liquid.
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20
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Eye-blowing and mind-numbing.
20
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Another unthrilling Renny Harlin thriller.
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12
Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
Mark my words: Mindhunters will do for psycho-thrillers what "Showgirls" did for stripper movies.
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10
Village Voice David Ng
In an era of wall-to-wall "CSI," Mindhunters' ghoulish forensic hubbub not only feels tiring but hopelessly redundant.
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10
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
So stupid it makes "xXx: State of the Union" look like it was written by Nietzsche.
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0
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The psychobabble silliness passed off as investigative insight here is laughable at best.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Frank gave it a10:
One of my favourite films, it has really good plot and setting, fast action and of course, a lot of twists. Everything that good thriller should have, but better.

David W. gave it an8:
Really not sure where all the extreme negative comments are coming from. Thrillers are my favorite genre - I watch a ton of them. And this one had me entertained throughout. Yes, they end up alone on a island, which has been done before. It's a writing device people - one that is allowed to be used more than once in the history of film. I found the writing original and compelling, even if it wasn't always perfect. The production values were good, and the score was well done.

Jono gave it a1:
Stupid and moronic even if flashy and expensive looking. How can so much money be poared into something so blatently dumb? How many extra dollars would it take to develop a plot with even an atom of credibility.

yoshika m. gave it a10:
I absolutely loved it.

Devin B. gave it a0:
Bottom-of-the-barrel scraping, cliche-ridden, incoherent garbage on every level. SImply put, this is cinema for the complacent, the inept, and the unintelligent, crafted by human beings of a similar caliber.

Susan M. gave it a0:
Utter crap. And LL doesn't take his shirt off even once.

Chad S. gave it a5:
"You know, Renny, I think my character should eat cake in this scene." Maybe Van Kilmer wanted to eat cake and talk in "Spartan" but found David Mamet a little intimidating. I like the cake bit. I also like how Harlin plays auteur by referencing "Deep Blue Sea" with the early departure of its, arguably, biggest star, ala Samuel L. Jackson. "Mindreaders" is pretty moronic: I mean, wouldn't a profiler know to use his/her best poker face in the company of other profilers? But "Mindreaders" seems to be aware of how stupid it is when the one who is done in by acid displays the intelligence of a rat who takes to the piece of cheese. "Mindreaders" is a pretty entertaining exercise in audience contempt.

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