The RAID 2 and this film are essentially companion pieces.

There were no surprises with the plot, and the performances were nothing mind-blowing - but this film is about the ACTION, and I was shocked at how well it was executed. Exciting from start to finish. The pace doesn't let up, and some scenes are truly stunning. Brilliant stunts. Can't wait to watch the sequel.

Story: cop plans a raid on a building owned by a druglord. 90 minutes of contineous fighting in this building is what follows. "The Raid" is just the ultimate frenzy of violence, performed as if it were a bloodfilled ballet. It feels like a violent ballet because the stuntmen are real life fighters and the fight scenes are choreographed very realistically. Even after 5 times watching it I am still amazed by the beauty of the fighting scenes and shocked by the cruelties committed."The Raid" is unlike any other action movie I have ever witnessed in decades. This must be watched only by adults. Really NOT suited for the faint hearted, becasue the violence is so real and gruesome. "The Raid" is 90 minutes of a rollercoaster ride filled with blood and death. But despite all the violence there is still a good story to be found amongst the piles of dead bodies. It is not just a brainless fight movie. It really has got a heart in its story. And the acting is very convincing and real life like too. I will never forget those faces full of fear and hate of these actors. Brilliantly casted and performed. After 5 times rewatching this movie over the years, some fighting scenes stretched a bit too long for my taste: how much contineous violence can one absorb without getting numb? But that's my only small criticism. Would have rated it a 10 otherwise. Now I think this is the almost perfect action movie. 9 stars. Never watched anything like this before in the action movie genre."The Raid" is undoubtedly a new classic!

I remember back in 2012 when the 'Dredd' came out, and turned out to be absolutely fantastic, everyone was comparing it to 'The Raid: Redemption' both in similarities of story line and in quality. Ever since then I've been meaning to get around to seeing it (and its sequel) and finally managed to tonight. I would say I was impressed, but not blown away. The film is absolutely non-stop action from the word go. There is zero let up from start to finish - but is that a good thing? I felt like the film never slowed down enough to allow itself to have a soul. What I mean by that is films with incredible pacing like 'The Dark Knight' (if you ever need 2 and a half hours to feel like 15 minutes, that's the film to go with) still manage to take the time to be thought-provoking. Now, 'The Raid: Redemption' is far from mindless and has some twists and turns along the way, but it never made me actually go into a deeper level of thinking on anything. This is what hinders it from being up there with the truly great films.There's a lot of of fun to had with this movie nonetheless. Some of the fight sequences are quite astonishing. I don't think the claustrophobic feel of the building was up to the same standard that 'Dredd' managed to create it to, though perhaps that was simply because this building had windows? There's certainly a lot to like here, and while it's far from perfect, I very much look forward to seeing what they managed to achieve with a bigger budget in the sequel.