REVIEW OF ‘THE CONDEMNED” & BOSTON, AUSTIN APPEARANCE
- 04/11/2007 (1:58:44 pm)
- BostonWrestling.com
SPOILER…
BOSTONWRESTLING.COM Insider XtraHome of the Millennium Wrestling Federation
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
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Thanks to WWE and Lionsgate, over 100 athletes, staff
members and fans of the Millennium Wrestling Federation
poured into the Boston Common Theatre last night with a
turn away crowd for a private screening of "The
Condemned," starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin
was introduced to the crowd by Boston entertainment
reporter Sarah Edwards to a huge reaction and greeted
the fans for a few moments before the film began.
"The Condemned" revolves around a heel international
television producer who buys ten prisoners sentenced to
death from different parts of the world to compete on
an internet-exclusive thirty hour marathon. The
prisoners are forced to kill each other off one by one
and the final survivor wins his freedom and cash. Once
they hit the island, it's violence, blood and mayhem
for an hour and a half. We learn that there's more to
Austin's Jack Conrad character than meets the eye. The
producer of the kill-a-thon has his staff create a make
believe background on Conrad for the program, saying
he's killed children, the mentally retarded, was part
of the KKK, etc. Conrad really isn't Conrad, he's Jack
Reilly, with a girlfriend and her two kids he cares for
back in Texas. Without giving away too much, "The
Condemned" is by far the best WWE Films release to
date, and you'll thoroughly enjoy it if you enjoy a
blow 'em up, beat 'em up action adventure movie with a
few sarcastic laughs thrown in. If you have non-wrestling
fans on the bubble, tell them to drop the idea that
it's a "wrestling" movie and they'll get lost in the
action a few minutes in. On a side note, Nathan Jones,
who had a cup of coffee with WWE, is one of the
prisoners.
After the movie, Austin took part in a Q&A session with
the fans in attendance. Highlights included:
-- Austin said if you liked the movie to tell your
friends, if you didn't "keep your mouth shut."
-- Favorite actors included John Wayne, Clint Eastwood
and Leigh Taylor-Young.
-- When asked about returning to the ring, he says
"never say never," but due to health concerns, it's not
in his current plans. He put over working WrestleMania
23 with Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. He's focused
on the future and would love to star in more action
adventure movies.
-- When asked about Samoa Joe, Austin really wasn't
familiar with him, but feels that if TNA is going to
compete with WWE, they need to get rid of the six sided
ring and bring back the proverbial squared circle.
-- Austin is under contract to WWE Films for two more
movies and would like to do "thirty more" after that.
-- In regards to the difference in pay between pro
wrestling and movies, it's simply "a lot."
-- Asked who is on his future stunner list: "not
Donald Trump."
-- John Cena's name drew some boos from the crowd, but
Austin feels he's doing a great job carrying the ball
as the top guy in the company. Austin's told him to
enjoy the ride and make as much money as possible
because you never know when you're going to wake up and
it will be over.
-- When asked if how the Guerrero family is doing,
"Stone Cold" said he had a chance to speak with Chavo
and Vicki over WrestleMania weekend but is so busy
right now he really isn't keeping in close contact with
anyone in the business right now aside from Kevin Nash.
-- Austin shares a story about DDP visiting his
Malibu, CA home and wearing him out with an intense
yoga session.
-- Favorite Boston memories include defeating Shawn
Michaels for the WWF Heavyweight Championship at
WrestleMania 14, and having fans almost tip over a cab
he shared with Brian Lee after a house show.
-- Enjoyed working with Vince McMahon because he loves
being hated and was willing to do whatever it took for
the fans enjoyment.
-- When presented "The Condemned" script, he wanted to
take the role as the heel killer on the island but
Vince wanted him to be Jack Conrad and it worked well.
-- When asked about the infamous Montreal Screwjob,
Austin says McMahon did what he had to do as Bret Hart
was the champion leaving for another promotion. He
says everyone in the room would have did the same thing
if they were in Vince's shoes.
-- Finally, when Austin was asked about the
possibility of Austin vs Hogan, he said "that one's a
never!"
After the Q&A, Austin signed autographs and posed for
photos for well over an hour. Sarah Edwards was trying
to "take it home" a few times but Austin said the Q&A
could keep going. It was nice to see a star of his
magnitude be so unbelievably good to the fans.
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