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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A.K.A. Under Pressure, 12 February 2004
6/10
Author: Ty from Hamden, CT

This is one of Charlie "Charles" Sheen roles. I liked it. He played a good psycho. He didn't turn sentimental in the end. Thankfully he's usually on screen, but when's he not, the movie suffers. Overall it's another good Sheen flick.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Pathetic, 31 March 2002
2/10
Author: Nahret (centralcommand@cardassia.ch) from Zurich, Switzerland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Spoilers here. So there?s a bible-reciting psychopath living next door, who?s not above scaring innocent kids witless and using your own kitchen knife to threaten you. Oh yes, and he lies better than you tell the truth. On top of everything, he?s a fire fighter and one time local hero, as he saved a baby from a blazing inferno ? nobody knows he left the child?s mother to die in the flames. Ooh, the abysses of the human mind.

The whole thing is a pathetic excuse for a movie, failing in all aspects to generate any sense of suspense or real terror. It has it all: the characters are one-dimensional, the story is predictable, and in the end, the heroine defeats the evil man with a cheap psychological trick that even talk-show hosts no longer use. In the meantime, people do exactly the things that are obviously the worst possible choice in a given situation. Example? Here goes: Police car (empty) out in front of psycho?s house. Silence. Neighbour enters alone. Right. Also, police woman imitates Bond villain by warning psycho just long enough about the things she could do, so that he can overpower and kill her. And this after she?d found the dead refrigerator guy in the closet (the only death that truly surprises, though).

Bottom line: no cliche is left untouched, no pseudo-psychological theory ignored. And so the most scary moment of the film is when you find yourself asking: whatever happened to your career, Charlie Sheen?

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
OK for a formula-driven psycho-next-door film., 9 March 2003
Author: john in missouri from United States

About the only creative twist in this film is that the psycho next door is a decorated, respected fireman.

Get this bit of originality: he also spouts a few Bible verses along the way. Wow, impressive.

That said, there are bigger wastes of time out there, and it's good for a bit of entertainment if there's nothing else on TV. I wouldn't pay to rent it, though.

The only thought-provoking feature of the film has to do with the usefulness of firearms in the hands of good citizens.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Charlie Sheen's convincing, mildly frightening performance lifts film to above average., 23 January 1999
6/10
Author: Brad K. from Wisconsin

In Bad Day on the Block (also known as Under Pressure) Charlie Sheen (Platoon, Hot Shots) finally took a role which I had wanted to see him play, a psycho. Sheen plays a hero firefighter who loses it after his wife leaves him. So he decides to terrorize his neighbors, a happily married couple with two children. Sheen plays the psycho role well, though he's not too scary because it's Charlie Sheen. The film isn't bad, though it has some stupid things, for example, the family is scared to death of him and he's just broken into their house, but they leave the little daughter downstairs alone. The film also suffers from the acting of the two kids, both are poor. The climax is kind of cool, with Russian Roulette being the game of choice.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Great! But not excellent!, 5 March 2008
8/10
Author: mensur_sony from Azerbaijan

Bad Day on the Block: Under Pressure A.K.A The Fireman is 1997 thriller film directed by Craig R. Baxley. Charlie Sheen (credited as Charles Sheen) is one of the my favorite actors and reason for me to watch that film. Story and screenplay of the film is very well but I think it is low budget. The thrills is really excellent. But... directing was bad for me, acting performances aren't excellent. But screenplay was good and Charlie Sheen gave us excellent performance as psycho fireman named Lyle Wilder (L.W.). Charlie's performance correct all the bad things for this film. Charlie Sheen's character and performance was one of the great psycho character performances I have ever seen. Noah Fleiss and Chelsea Russo was also great as kids of Brevartons. And I'm so happy to see John Ratzenberger (from Cheers).

I think Charlie Sheen is great actor. Charlie can get an Academy Award (but he must choose great dramas).

I gave that 8/10. I can give that 10/10 but director and some of other actors/actresses wasn't good but Charles is very well.

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Charlie Sheen should stick to light comedy, 3 August 2008
3/10
Author: peterbp from Denmark

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In short: This is about an ex-husband (played by Sheen) who goes bananas after a divorce and starts taking it out on his neighbouring family. Trouble is not with the plot or the general acting as such, but with Sheen - he just isn't good at acting your stereotypical psycho, with the needed attitude to be obsessive, menacing, violent, and with historical and biblical anecdotes thrown in for good measure.

This could have been "Falling Down 2", but Charlie Sheen is unfortunately out of his league, and spoils the alchemy of a movie that might otherwise have been a worthwhile watch. Instead, it is utterly forgettable.

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good tension filled ,high pressure movie, 29 May 2007
8/10
Author: disdressed12 from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

this is one movie that doesn't hold back in its depiction of a racist,ignorant pig who also happens to be a psychopath.this movie is not for the faint of heart.Charles Sheen puts in very convincing performance as a firefighter named Lyle Wilder, who in public is a hero but in reality is is a very unhinged deranged nut case with serious mental issues.in short,he's a loon,and a deadly one at that.Mare Winningham plays the mother of the family that is lucky enough to be his neighbour.i don't recall this movie being in theatres,but it's not listed as being straight to video.anyway,Winningham is good in her role and plays her character as very understated. i have to make special mention of two other actors in this movie.that would be John Ratzenberger (Cliff,from "Cheers" fame) and Dawn Lewis (Jaleesa from the sitcom "A Different World)who play the two police officers who end up dealing with Wilder(Sheen).both were very impressive in fairly small roles.i though they were both standouts.i had never seen either in a serious role,and they seemed to fit their characters like a glove.the movie itself is tense, to say the least and you are really waiting for the pressure to burst and the psycho to come completely unraveled,which he does.in my mind,this is a pretty good movie.for me,"Bad Day on the Block" AKA "Under pressure is an 8/10

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unique charlie sheen role, 16 November 2002
Author: charly_birmingham (charly_birmingham@lycos.co.uk) from birmingham, england

I saw this film quite recently and i was plesantly suprised as I haven't seen charlie seen play this type of role before and I think that he carried off the psycho-next-door quite well. it is a welcome change from all of his usual sarcastic, well to do normal characters that he plays and although the script wasn't all that it could have been, sheen flourished in his lyle wilder role. the rest of the cast were also good in their roles especially noah fleiss as Zach, and mare winnigham as the mother of the family catherine braverton. a good movie 3/5

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From the boy next door to the mad man next door, 20 February 2002
Author: a85428 (a85428@tcat.ac.uk) from Shropshire, England

When Sheen started out in acting in such films as Platoon and Wall street he was a bratpacker and very much the boy next door as he as got older he has become more sharper and can play mad men like this guy with a good effect too.

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Run-of-the-mill plot but sometimes a very engaging film., 11 August 2001
Author: iml from San Francisco, CA

The really enjoyable elements of the film come from the supporting performances of Dawnn Lewis, John Ratzenberger, and Keone Young. Their individual scenes as well as interaction with the leads were the most emotionally evocative parts of the film.

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