''Crazy Six'' is a 1998 American

gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

directed by

Albert Pyun Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. The Independent Film Channel said that Pyun "has carved out a unique niche as a director of low-budge ...

and starring Rob Lowe,

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

, Ice-T,

Ivana Miličević Ivana Miličević (; born April 26, 1974) is a Bosnian Croat-American actress and model. She is best known for her starring roles in the Cinemax action drama series ''Banshee'' (2013–2016) and The CW science fiction drama series ''The 100'' (20 ...

and

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

. It was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

in the United States on July 29, 1998.

Plot

A decade after the fall of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, a section of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

known as "Crimeland" becomes a trade route for

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

and

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

. Billie "Crazy Six" and his friends rob a

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

deal involving Raul in order to obtain money for their drug habits with the aid of "Dirty" Mao, who cheats them out of the money in the end. Raul is given 48 hours by his boss to recover the goods and begins by hunting them down at a local club, injuring the singer Anna and killing Andrew's girlfriend Viyana. The American

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Dakota interviews Anna, leading him to Billie. Anna is kidnapped by Raul's men and forced to smoke crack. Billie and Andrew rob "Dirty" Mao's hideout and recover the money. Dakota follows them to the exchange with Raul, but so does "Dirty" Mao. After a

gunfight A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

between Dakota and Raul's men, "Dirty" Mao kills Raul and attempts to frame Billie for it but is shot and killed by Dakota. In the end, Dakota adopts "Dirty" Mao's

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, Anna returns to singing, and Billie gets clean.

Cast

Production

The screenplay originally took place in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, but was rewritten after the production moved to

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

to save money. ''Crazy Six'' was the only feature film written by Galen Yuen, a former gang member-turned-character actor. On the podcast ''Magnificent Jerk,'' Yuen's niece and ''Washington Post'' reporter Maya Lin Sugarman attests that the film was at least partially autobiographical.

Release

The film was released direct-to-video in the United States on July 28, 1998.

Reception

Nathan Rabin of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote that "Lowe is predictably awful" yet "despite Lowe's performance, ''Crazy Six'' is palatable, with Pyun giving the film an appropriately seedy aura of glamorous decay."

References

External links

* {{Albert Pyun 1998 films 1990s action drama films 1998 crime drama films 1990s gang films 1990s crime action films 1998 independent films American action drama films American crime drama films American gangster films American independent films American crime action films English-language Slovak films Films about arms trafficking Films about the illegal drug trade Films directed by Albert Pyun Films set in Europe Films shot in Slovakia Slovak crime films 1990s English-language films Slovak drama films 1990s American films