Drug Wars - The Camarena Story

Starring:Steven Bauer, Elizabeth PeÃ±a, Miguel Ferrer, Benicio Del Toro, Guy Boyd, Tony Plana, Tomas Milian, Raymond J. Barry, Everett McGill, Eddie Velez, J. Kenneth Campbell, Alex Sheafe, Andy Romano, Tony Amendola, Jorge Cervera Jr., Christine Vall, Valentin de Vargas, JoaquÃn MartÃnez, Kenny Morrison, Treat Williams
Director: Brian Gibson
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Following the success of Traffic, this similar 1990 miniseries is being released in movie form. Based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent named Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, Drug Wars: The Camarena Story depicts how Camarena's success burning down a huge field of marijuana in the Mexican desert led to his disappearance--which in turn set off an escalating series of confrontations between drug traffickers, the DEA, and the corrupt Mexican police. Despite low production values, a melodramatic script, and clumsy direction, Drug Wars does paint a complex picture of the political posturing and power struggles among agencies in the U.S., as well as the intricate web of corruption in Mexico, that have turned the drug war into a disastrous mess. Featuring Benicio Del Toro (as a Mexican drug lord), Steven Bauer, Craig T. Nelson, Mel Ferrer, Treat Williams, and Elizabeth Peña. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Review of The Camarena story........2007-04-01

This film demonstrates the dangers faced by law enforcement in confronting major drug kingpins. The associated violence and corruption continues even today.

The DVD edition is terrible.......2006-01-10

The true Camarena case is a rather interesting story that deserved to be brought to the big screen but it was at least brought to the small screen as a 6 hour TV miniseries spanning 3 days in January 1990. Well I was too young to have seen it then, and I guess I missed out terribly because in 2003 a TWO HOUR (what the...?) DVD version came out. It is obviously a watered down and extremely edited version of the original but I can only assume, since I never had the chance to see the original series. What were the producers of this DVD thinking? Serious loop holes, little to no character buildup, key figures in the case are simply ommited or they were edited out, like Ernesto Fonseca, Caro Quintero's partner and accused accomplice in the torture/murder of Agent Camarena, is seen only twice (?) and doesnt speak a word? Felix Gallardo another key figure, is only but a name in the credits, he is NEVER introduced in the DVD movie (although Caro Quintero and Fonseca Carrillo are) so viewers unfamiliar with the case dont even notice him or his role in the torture/murder...also along with Camarena, his Mexican pilot was also kidnapped, Alfredo Zavala Avelar, and in this movie he is "played" by Pepe Serna of Kingpin and Scarface fame, yet he is seen for like 5 seconds, flying an airplane, and only mentioned ONCE by a US official, so people watching this movie dont even know WHO he is, or where in the movie he is? His kidnapping from Guadalajara airport is not even depicted in the movie. Why omit an important part of the story? Jacob Vargas is also in the end credits as "Jose Zavala" yet in the movie, Jacob Vargas NOR "Jose Zavala" ever come up. What gives? I just hope in the future, producers come to their senses and release the FULL miniseries in a multi-disk pack instead of a chopped up, sloppy excuse for a movie. If your gonna release a movie that many say is one of the greatest TV movies of all time, then why erase more than half of it? It makes no sense, avoid this movie if your interested in the real Camarena story and pick up a book instead, Desperados by Elaine Shannon on which this movie is based (loosely).

Not the Whole Story.......2005-11-02

There is just too much going on in the movie for the producers to have condensed it into the 2 hour 15 min time frame on the DVD. While this is a decent summary of the original series, there isn't enough in here to get the point of the story across.

Should have been a double disc. This abridgement of the movie doesn't justify the power of these drug cartels and the political strength they have on both sides of the border.

awsome and scary cause it really happened.......2005-04-10

Drug Wars: The Camarena Story is a great movie, but scary cause it's true and really happened.

the story centers around Enrique "kike" Camarena, a DEA agent in Mexico who is kidnapped, tortured, and killed by a mexican drug cartel. what follows is the war on the drugs, the war on corrpution and evil, and the war for justice for Camarena.

the acting is amazing, the story is amazing, the movie is amazing.

editing is rather poor, and i honestly didn't know it was a mini-series before. the movie runs about 2 hours 15 minutes, but it's worth it, every minute of it. the sound in some parts is bad and i think some parts are dubbed over, but aside from that, this is an amazing movie because it's all true.

if you thought Traffic was good, check out the Camarena story. you'll never forget it...

Very poor.......2004-01-06

When I first saw this mini-series I was impressed by it's depth and it's message. A group of policemen fighting against all odds, corruption and politics. It could even be stereotyped as a plot of good against evil. That was the original series. What they have done on the DVD was to condense it so much that the message, the rhythm, all the meaning is if not lost, very hard to find. Critical scenes were cut and the plot doesn't make sense any more. If you have never seen the original, this might entertain you, but if you saw it, you will be disappointed.

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