Fate (2003) Poster

(I) (2003)

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5/10
uneven cast (some of the actors just don't care)makes this less than it should be
dbborroughs31 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Michael Pare and Philip Michael Thomas are cops hunting a serial killer in a film that also stars Lee Majors in a really good performance.This is a middle of the road thriller that suffers from an uneven cast. Its not that anyone is bad, its just that some people care more than others. Lee Majors is clearly trying to do his best (he does), Michael Pare is fine but some people, Especially Phillip Michael Thomas very clearly don't want to be involved in the proceedings and doing little more than showing up to get a pay check. Its a shame since the the murder mystery at it center could actually have been something to remember and recommend. As it is its an okay thriller thats like anyone of several dozen like minded thrillers. Worth a look if you happen upon it, but nothing I'd hunt for.
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1/10
If someone recommends this to you, assume that person hates you
monster2312 July 2005
Fate is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It is nothing but a tired cliché, complimented by bad acting, bad writing, and bad direction. The writers are obviously casual fans of 80's cop shows, and their knowledge of police procedure would apparently go no farther.

The movie follows the basic plot for Se7en, with two cops tracking down a fanatically religious serial killer, who leaves various clues as to his identity, because he wants to be caught, to prove his point. It also borrows liberally from such other films as Silence of the Lambs and The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, if there's an original idea in this movie, I missed it.

Michael Pare is apparently the worst actor I've ever seen. He could not have been more wooden, and delivered his lines more poorly. The fact that he is so awful is the only reason I'm not laying into Philip Michael Thomas, who has been M.I.A. for several years, apparently with good reason. And frankly, it's really sad to see Lee Majors reduced to this garbage. He's the freakin' Fall Guy! The dialogue in this film is so bad, that I can only assume the writers are dyslexic. Characters often say things that no one, no matter how stupid, would ever say. It's like they director wanted to stop the film at times, so that he could explain to the audience what was happening. Of course, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to understand (especially if you've already seen Se7en), so it just seems painful.

I don't remember the last time I groaned as much as I did watching this movie. I can only hope that the director and writers are forever banned from even borrowing a video camera again. These guys aren't even competent to make music videos.
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2/10
Unfortunately, Fate brought me to see this garbage.
noizyme23 November 2004
Being a fatalist at heart, I picked up this film at the local videostore to find one of the most boring movies to hit their shelves. I couldn't keep my attention to this almost at all. It reminds me of something on TV (just more drawn out). The director was trying to lead you along a police-investigation tale (with a solid premise and story, mind you), but I can't help but shudder at the fact that these movies are being released like this!

The sound and music were thrown-together clichés and the story added all of the religious BS from every other murder mystery of our time. Se7en makers should be thankful that David Fincher was working with them and not this guy, because that film was along the same lines as this one, in a way. I'm surprised that filmmakers still try to make cop-dramas like this. At least they should throw some abnormal camera-work or effects in there to spice it up a little. This just seems to exist instead of grabbing you from its videostore shelf, like I said.

A gave it a 2/10 for seeing Philip Michael Thomas again since his album and Miami Vice days, but otherwise, don't waste $3 on this at the videostore. You'll be disappointed if you're trying to find entertainment.
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1/10
balls
caseyjaycoote19 August 2021
This movie is very bad, do not watch it, you are balls.
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1/10
Possibly the worst 10 minutes of my life.
patrickb-28 January 2006
Basically my girlfriend rented this movie for the hell of it, within 10 minutes I couldn't help but to turn it off. Possibly the worst dialogue and acting I have ever seen (and I only saw 10 minutes of the film). I feel sorry for the poor schmucks who watched the whole thing. Its painfully obvious that the director had no clue how police do anything, and this is when I put in the 2nd movie she rented.

Basically my girlfriend rented this movie for the hell of it, within 10 minutes I couldn't help but to turn it off. Possibly the worst dialogue and acting I have ever seen (and I only saw 10 minutes of the film). I feel sorry for the poor schmucks who watched the whole thing. Its painfully obvious that the director had no clue how police do anything, and this is when I put in the 2nd movie she rented.

Basically my girlfriend rented this movie for the hell of it, within 10 minutes I couldn't help but to turn it off. Possibly the worst dialogue and acting I have ever seen (and I only saw 10 minutes of the film). I feel sorry for the poor schmucks who watched the whole thing. Its painfully obvious that the director had no clue how police do anything, and this is when I put in the 2nd movie she rented.
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2/10
Spare yourself the pain.
celwell200423 August 2006
I was unfortunate enough to work on a film with same the guys that made Fate. The guy that wrote it, (Ash Smith) also wrote/directed Paranoid, one of the other terrible movies from this production company. I read the script and tried to give him some constructive criticism which he would have no part of. I worked for free as a P.A. and they made me feel like they were doing me a favor. It was good experience but what I really learned was how not to make a movie. If you have a chance, rent or buy "Paranoid", made by the same production company, and instead if watching it, beat yourself over the head with it. It will be less painful. Also, I can almost guarantee that any positive comments made about this film or "Paranoid" came from the people that made it.
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7/10
Low-budget gem.
z_brunch3 December 2005
Fate first appears as cop/thriller rip of Seven or Silence of the Lambs, but offers a little more than you'd think. While the characters are a bit stereotyped, Lee Majors and the rest really do the best with what they were given. The extremely low budget for this film is easily overlooked by Ace Cruz's ability to make a visually pleasing film. Many films today are over-budgeted and given to Hollywood hacks that throw money at big name actors and special effects and end up being no better than this film. (eg: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, American Treasure, or Daredevil.) Fate had several unexpected twists and offers a fresh look into the psyche of a serial killer. Rent it at Blockbuster and be sure to watch the making-of.
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1/10
No one deserves this FATE
Greatornot1 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
To the sympathetic sole that says he feels sorry for the schmucks that watched the whole thing, I accept his sympathy. I was truly one of the schmucks that took in this whole movie. What was I thinking? This was horrific. This was a bore-a-thon. This was incoherent. The plot made no sense. The actors were so-so. Just a very bad experience. Nothing made sense. It was like the person that wrote this movie was on drugs.It was an atypical murder movie with the typical suspect... a school janitor, played by 'desperate for a role' Lee Majors. Another religious nut but this time it involved a religious nut with kids all over the Northern hemisphere. Very silly and there was no gore or nudity. Gore and/or nudity would have added a star or 2 for an alpha male like myself. This was simply blaise with many attractive female stars , well covered .
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10/10
Come On!
loveourfather27 October 2005
When the average money to make a quality film is 15million to 500million, lets see what you can make with 1% of that and almost half of that going to the actors... this movie would have been a blockbuster with that kind of money, so save the drama of "this is a horrible movie" for your mama and go pick on a 100million dollar flop! So this movie was Great!!!...Nuff Said!...By the way Phillip Michael Thomas, Lee Majors and Michael Pare did an awesome job under these circumstances, their characters, performances and attitudes were the utmost professional and dedicated as if they were on a block buster set and all other actors and actresses did an wonderful job as well. And I'm so happy to see people come together and make it happen regardless the circumstances and situations that arise in this business of film-making...God Bless To All and Keep the Love fermenting for One Another!!!...
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1/10
He left his acting talent in Miami...
jeffubis5 July 2005
A movie starring Phillip Michael Thomas? Tubbs? For the love of all that is holy, you would think this movie would at the least, give you a sense of nostalgia.

Fate starts off with the slow, boring, and seemingly pointless death of a large, "retarded" man. From then on, it only seems to get worse. The plot seems to have more holes in it than the Holy Bartender from Dogma.

Besides the terrible plot, which has a surprise ending so easy to figure out, that a 13 year old who had just wandered into the room while the movie was playing, was able to watch it for three minutes and figure out, the movie has terrible production values. Twice in the movie does it go from being day out in one outside scene, to dark in another. The camera work is horrendous, and the overall feel of the movie is just...sad.

The acting is enough to make you cry. The young person inside of you who remembers Thomas as Tubbs...while also remember just how bad of an actor he really was. Pare and Majors fare worse than even Tubbs in this amazing waste of the fifteen dollars made to make this movie.

Overall, it is fun to pick up the case and see it has Tubbs in it, but that will be the only excitement you get from this movie.
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2/10
Meh.
dragonhawk_211 April 2005
Well, everyone else has already said it. You know the plot. So I'll just stick with what I have to say about it.

Me, my girlfriend, and my friend-who-is-said-girlfriend's-sister watched this movie. Even the title felt needlessly appended, only making sense in the context of a single highly forced conversation toward the end. There is nothing that makes this movie good or worth watching, except the basic idea. And if you can imagine what could have been with this idea...who knows? IT'll probably be painful.

Aside from that, it's just...blah. Not terrible, but in no way stellar. Lackluster performances and an ending that just...doesn't do anything for me.

I'd recommend AGAINST renting this one. Even if you're looking for just something bad to make fun of...this will wear you down.
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2/10
What a boring mess
virinluster12 October 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers ahead - Spoilers ahead - Spoilers ahead

After buying the dirt-cheap DVD on Ebay, my expectations were not exactly high, and for good reason: the movie is too boring to spend any time on, not even in order to waste some time away on a dozy Sunday afternoon.

Most of the technical details - sound, special effects and so on - are nothing big to write home about (were these guys using blank cartridges?), but they are solid enough for a B-movie, no more and no less. And that's it for the positive aspects.

The story is...oh well, weak. And I mean, really weak. A retired, reborn janitor (Lee Majors) falls prey to insanity and goes on a tour of bloody revenge against his fallen and sinful children, who were adopted away from him right after birth. Two veteran police officers, both just retired from the Bureau, lead the investigation. In a final climax Officer No. 1 (Michael Paré) leaves behind his colleagues and confronts the insane killer, just to find out that...ohhh, spank me hard, how original...he is one of these adopted kids, as well. If the story sounds scanty and fragmented, it's not because I'm a lousy narrator - that's really all there is to it. And it's not even told in any way that could make up for its deficiencies. Camera work is lousy at best - too slow, too incoherent, too often focused on some scene of no interest, leaving the audience alone with grasping the salient points, with reconstructing the story.

The acting is another thing to scare me in this movie. Did they pay the cast at all? Did they whip these guys? Torture them? Or why else is it that the entire cast appears as tormented, bored, and disinterested as can be? Michael Paré - well, mediocre as ever. In his facial gestures the guy is about as flexible as a solid granite block. And about as attractive. Philip Michael Thomas (Officer No. 2) - he's had his big times. And these are over. For good. And what in all the world happened to my childhood hero Lee Majors? Sorry to say that, but he looks like he's about to perish on the spot, slow, without the least bit of esprit or energy, bored, and so on and so on. They all seem on the brink of one profound and long coma.

What remains is the impression that I have wasted 90 minutes of my life. And the anger about having done just that. A weak 2 out of 10. Ugghhh...
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8/10
A pleasant surprise!
digitalevolutionproject8 November 2004
I rented this from Blockbuster last week, out of curiosity... Especially since I had not seen Lee Majors in anything for such a long time.

I have to say, this was a solid film. It had a completely original take on the serial killer genre... making it more personal then anything I've seen. Michael Pare' plays a former FED who has now taken a job as a Police Detective. He is joined by Philip Michael Thomas (where has this guy been) who plays his new partner. They have a history as they were both Federal Agents. While Pare' does a solid job, it's Thomas' weird (almost creepy) performance that gives their partnership spice. Add this to Lee Majors spectacularly creepy and messed up performance, and you have a whole lot of things to keep your interest.

While the film is far from perfect... some sound issues and a cliché or two... it is a fresh enough take on the serial killer genre to make it worth a rental. I think the director Ace Cruz has something to be proud of, and it would be nice to see what the guy could do with a real budget. I watch a ton of films every week (and pay a lot in rental fees), and many of the filmmakers / directors of the films I see are just going through the motions to get the film done... where Ace seems to have an actual vision.

Check it out!
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8/10
Fate Keeps You Guessing
pokemilku327 March 2006
Fate is one of those rare films that comes along every once in a while and intrigues you from start to finish. The pace of the action picks up gradually as a string of murders leaves a community baffled. Throw in the unusual pairing of Michael Pare and Philip Michael Thomas and it makes for a high-strung, tension-filled atmosphere as the two cops struggle not only to solve the case, but also to cope with their own differences.

Lee Majors is absolutely chilling as the troubled, deranged loner. The fact that he works as a custodian in a local school around very young children creates all the more psychological horror for the audience. What will he do next?

The amazing string of events that leads to the shocking, Hitchcockian ending--and the killer's twisted revelation--will put you on the edge of your seats. Director/producer Ace Cruz has created a modern masterpiece of cerebral suspense.
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9/10
Very well done
astralfilms14 November 2004
As a filmmaker, I thought the movie Fate was very well done considering how

low the budget was. It is not easy to pull off a film with name actors with little money. Watching the behind the scenes footage has inspired me to continue to make movies. I must hand it to the director for being able to put a lot of

production value to the screen.

I have not seen Lee Majors since the "fall guy" and "the six million dollar man" it was a treat to see him again after all these years. It was a far stretch from being a TV star to a serial killer. I thought he did an excellent job portraying a serial killer.

I really enjoyed the movie from beginning to end especially seeing old time

actors I have not seen in awhile.
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10/10
Actors from the past
indielover9913 November 2010
Hey, I just bought this little film because I was a big fan of Lee Majors. I had not seen him in a movie before. It was nice to see him again after watching him as the six million dollar man. I enjoyed the film . it had twist and turns. They should of made Lee's character more menacing and cruel, but what can you expect from the six million dollar man. Michael Pare from "Streets of fire" was also a treat to see on film again. The film was a good film. it entertain me and was a great treat to see all the old TV and movie stars from he 80's. It's worth watching. Like it said in the other reviews. it's not a big budget film, so I can't really compare this film to the Hollywood studio films out there. It's worth buying and keeping it as a collection. As Lee Majors is getting old to keep making movies. I wish they remake the six million dollar man, again.
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8/10
interesting story line
moveewatcher-118 December 2004
I have seen a lot of low budget movies and this is far better than all that I have seen. I can't judge this film to a big budget studio film. Okay, it had some sound problems, probably due to the fact that production ran out of money. It happens in most cases when money is an issue. Not like the studio movies they have all the money in the world to fix any problems a movie can have.

I really like the premise of the story. Lee Majors follows his 5 kids around and kills them one by one because they turned out to be bad citizens except Michael Pare' who happens to be the detective who is looking for the serial killer, who happens to be his father. Interesting, very interesting concept.

Although the script was kind of weak. I think it should have had more back story on the his kids. They should of had Lee Majors (serial killer) follow his kids around more and see a relationship with them.

Over all I think it's worth watching. It's not as boring as what other comments I have read in the comments. It was also good to see old actors like Philip

Michael Thomas from Miami Vice.
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8/10
A decade old movie worth the time to rent or buy
zoltb18 July 2014
I haven't see this yet, but from what normal critics have said so far, i think i will definitely try it.. The best quoted comment i found was this

"I have not seen Lee Majors since the "fall guy" and "the six million dollar man" it was a treat to see him again after all these years. It was a far stretch from being a TV star to a serial killer. I thought he did an excellent job portraying a serial killer. " And i was surprise to see Michael Paré :)

And i am totally in agreement with the above - it's made me want to watch it.

Lee Majors was rarely on screen , i saw "STEEL" from 1979 when i was just 11 year's old.. so this is going to be a treat for me :)
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An intriguing tale...
ornj2815 November 2004
Armed with no particular viewing agenda when I arrived at the video store the other night, I decided to rent this handsome thriller of a film. The result was one of those happy accidents where you inadvertently discover a film that turns out to be quite enjoyable, and you think, "Man, I'm glad I got to see this." It's certainly worth the watch.

The story was compelling and I really did not expect the surprise ending. I've seen plenty of bad b-movies whose plots (if you want to call them that) are flat and boring, where you know exactly how things are going to turn out in the first five minutes. "Fate" kept me interested until the end with its compelling premise and storytelling.

The film also looked great...in a league similar to some of the Hollywood studios' more moderate budget action fare. And, the make up effects were cool, too.

The acting also held up as well. I pretty much expected Phillip Michael Thomas to be washed up, but he surprised me with his subtle and smoldering performance. And while he wasn't part of the main name cast, there was something about director Ace Cruz's performance that made his detective colleague character enjoyable to watch.

What else can I say? I think it's worth checking out, and I look forward to more from Ace Cruz and the gang.
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A Police detective film with realism.
ninsbe7029 November 2004
Actors Pare and Phillips portrayed police detectives with an authentic feel.

There were no cop movie clichés to tire you out like so many of the police films you see. I picture this is how an actual police department and it's homicide investigations are conducted...with professionalism and seriousness. I enjoyed this consistent feel the director kept throughout the film. The casting was very good and effective at keeping this feel of realism. I hope to see Pare and Phillips together in another film!

Lee Majors is a popular actor and it was fun seeing him in the rare antagonist role. I would like to see Majors in more films. As well as Pare and Phillips. At one time or another I have wondered what happened to each of these larger than life actors?
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