The film has been getting rave reviews and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
And with good reason.
The film is about a seemingly normal family who lives in a textbook, all American neighborhood and who seem like an all American family. The house is beautiful. The family looks good together. A seemingly normal place.
Not so. The film is a parody of what American life is supposed to be. It shows how un-normal the family is and it's basically a metaphor for what life is really life. No one is "normal." Everyone has their craziness. No one has a "Leave It to Beaver" type family anymore.
Put simply, if you like movies, you should see this movie. Kevin Spacey gives one of his best performances, (he is nominated for Best Actor); Annette Bening gives a great performance (she is nominated for Best Actress); in fact everyone gives a good performance in this fil, but Spacey steals the show.
Scale: 10
Based on the book of the same name by Lawrence Sanders who also wrote "The First Deadly Sin" and the "McNally" books. Incidentally, Anderson Tapes is what make Sanders huge.
Sean Connery plays Duke Anderson, an ex-con. Anderson is getting a group of thieves together to plan a heist in a Park Avenue building that is filled with rich people with expensive jewelry and other lavish belongings.
To do this, Anderson needs the backing of a syndicate family to provide some of the muscle. In exchange for this favor, the syndicate wants Anderson to execute one of its own men. The man they want executed will be part of the team that will infiltrate the Park Avenue building.
Little do they know that the government has been keeping tabs on the syndicate family and that Duke's actions are being recorded.
It's very interesting and very cool to see Connery playing an anti-hero. He is surrounded by a good cast to boot. Christopher Walken makes his film debut in this film, but the movie also stars Martin Basalm as a homosexual thief in one of his most memorable roles.
The movie moves slowly at first but it picks up by the time they inititate the robbery and builds to an excellent climax.
A must for any Connery fan.
Scale: 9
They finally made an action movie that is actually made for women. An action chick flick!
The incredients are there for a chick flick: the sappy Aerosmith song, the sappy relationship between Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, and Liv Tyler. And, of course, a sappy ending.
Guys will enjoy it too because there are the usual elements of gritty, action that have become a staple in guy films. There is a scene where Willis chases Affleck with a shotgun because Affleck is sleeping with Tyler, who is Willis' daughter. A case of overkill, but nonetheless a feeling probably every father can relate to. There are segments filled with action, guy talk and suspense.
It's an action film that guys and gals can see because there is something for everyone.
Still, it's a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (Crimson Tide, The Rock, Con Air), so you know what to expect if you're a film buff.
Armageddon is an enjoyable movie, but it's the kind that I see only once. If I really like a movie, I usually leave with a feeling that I would like to see it again. The feeling I got when I left the theater was: It was good, but I could care less if I ever see it again.
Scale: 6
Has its moments, but not enough. The film fails to please because it recycles many of the same jokes from the first movie.
Austin's "Yeah, baby!" was cute for the first film but the line has surprisingly become annoying and it grew old really fast.
Mini-Me, Scottish Bastard, and Rob Lowe as a young Number Two are funny, effective and welcome additions to the Austin Powers experience, but it isn't enough to save this pathetic sequel.
I've never seen a movie so blatantly rehash already used material from the previous movie. To be fair, the original material written for the movie was effective, but the problem is that most of the comedy is simply taken from part 1.
The whole thing with Elizabeth Hurley was a complete and utter sell-out. I mean, was that an insult to our intelligence or what? Hurley wants only a cameo, so they make her a fembot. Why? Just because. Hell, maybe I should write a similar script and make millions by ripping the public off.
If you haven't seen the original movie, you actually might like this, but if you've seen the first movie, you're basically going to get a repeat of part 1 in terms of jokes but with a higher budget.
The movie takes place in the 60s and still feels less 60s than the original. Only redeeming values are some surprsing cameos. Watch part 1, not this sellout sequel. Scale: 4
If you haven't seen this movie, go out and rent it because I doubt you'll be disappointed. I've mentioned this movie to several people and they usually tell me "Oh, but I don't like Liza Minelli." Therefore I think it's important to say that I wasn't a Liza Minelli fan until I saw this movie. I really learned how to respect her ability and talent after seeing this movie. Now, I LOOK for Liza movies.
In addition, Joel Grey is mesmerizing as "Master of Ceremonies." Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor for their work in "The Godfather" and Grey beat them to it. Turns out that he deserved it, in my opinion. Michael York is magnificent as Brian. The casting is especially inspired where York is involved because York is the only 'normal' character in the film. He's the breath of fresh air when the other characters begin to get REALLY off the wall.
The characterization is excellent and the characters are very real, albeit very eccentric. There's a lot of great music, witty dialogue, and some surprises. There are a lot of symbols in this movie and it's crafted intelligently. The movie was nominated for Best Picture alongside the original Godfather, which took the award. If you ask me, you're cheating yourself if you don't see this movie. It's easily one of the best movies of the 1970s. Scale: 10
This is easily the best movie Jerry Bruckheimer has produced. It's an intelligently crafted action film that has a very serious, nerve-racking conflict at its core.
You have two of the best actors in the world in the leads. Gene Hackman as captain of the submarine Alabama, and Denzel Washington as his executive officer.
A Soviet politician is seemingly on the verge of launching a nuclear attack on US soil and the Alabama is sent to attack the Russians if they attack the US. But while on patrol, the communications buoy is damaged as a criticial message comes from the Alabama's superiors. Part of the message comes in before the buoy completely breaks down, but you can't tell whether the order was to launch an attack or maintain status.
This is precisely where Hackman and Washington's characters clash. Hackman wants to launch the attack, but Washington believes that they shouldn't. The rest of the crew divides between Hackman and Washington. Hackman orders the attack anyway, but Washington intervenes and countermands the captain's order. After a bitter arguement, Hackman orders Washington arrested for mutiny, but a crucial crew member doesn't concur.
What ensues is an action film that doesn't let up on the suspense and tension. You will finish watching this movie feeling completely adrenalized.
Both Hackman and Washington are at their best. Their onscreen rivalry is extremely intense. You get the impression that a huge bomb is going to explode between the two of them.
James Gandolfini, who has gained fame as Tony Soprano in HBO's "The Sopranos", plays a supporting role in the film and he's great. I noticed Gandolfini as a supporting player way before he was cast as Soprano. I would tell people, "I don't know this guy's name, but he's awesome." I always thought he made an excellent tough guy, so it was rewarding for me to see him acquire the landmark role of Soprano. In addition, there's not a bad performance in sight. A veteran actor, whose name I won't say, makes a surprise cameo at the end of the film.
This movie is so well-acted, so believable, so dramatic, that it's easy to forget you're watching an action movie.
Scale: 10
What a waste of time for Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman and the rest of the all-star cast!
With a comet enroute to earth, the US government, under the presidency of Morgan Freeman, decides to send a team of military personnel, led by Robert Duvall, to try and destroy the comet. And just in case that doesn't work, the government is building a huge cave where residents can live and survive. The only problem is that they don't have time to build one for everyone so people under the age of 50 are excluded.
This is precisely where the film fails: they waste a generous portion of screen time to focus so much on the efforts of the team trying to destroy the comet. We know something is going to hit.
The film not only is overly sappy and silly, but a sellout! They spend a whole portion of the film trying to destroy that comet before it hits earth when everyone knows that its going to hit. The previews and commercials for the film ram this down your throat. The previews consisted of special effects that showed earth's destruction. Therefore, all that valuable screen time dedicated to trying to destroy the comet is a complete waste.
When the comet finally hits, the destruction of earth's surface takes place within 10 minutes, meaning that all the special f/x on earth's destruction was basically showcased in all the previews and commercials and in like the last 10 minutes of the movie.
The film did have potential though. The main plot point of building a huge cave for residents to got to when the comet hit would've been better if it had been elaborated upon. Deep Impact might've succeeded if they built on that aspect of the story instead of dedicating previous film time on trying to destroy the comet we know is going to hit.
Even so, if you're going to this kind of movie in this day in age, you might as well go all the way and destroy earth and do something different and not so cliched for once.
A superb cast is wasted in this predictable letdown. Don't waste your time.
Scale: 3
Action movies that have a team of good guys instead one Rambo-like hero has always been more interesting to me, especially one with a cast as great as this. To put simply, this is the best action-team movie since "The Dirty Dozen."
The film follows a "Die Hard" type plot in that Arab terrorists cease an airplane and holds everyone hostage in order to force the US to release one of its leaders. A US military force then has to penetrate the aircraft to attempt stopping the terrorist group.
Now, you might say this is the same ol' thing, but its not. In fact, it's probably the best film to adopt the "Die Hard" approach and do it better than anyone ever before including "Die Hard".
First of all, you have Kurt Russell as the star. Russell is one of the best action movie stars. Actors like Russell and Pierce Brosnan don't get the credit they deserve for their acting because they're known for making action flicks, which is an injustice. Russell can act.
You have a great supporting cast: Halle Berry as a flight attendant; John Leguizamo as one of the soldiers going in to take control of the terrorist situation; Oliver Platt, a computer specialist who is unwillingly thrust into the middle of this crisis with the rest of the rescue team; Joe Morton of Terminator 2 is another crucial part of the rescue team.
Steven Seagal also has a small role as the captain of the rescue team. Seagal has a reputation for not exactly being the world's greatest actor, but he does a very commendable job in this movie.
You'll also find several unknown actors in some major roles and they each make their respective roles their own. Each stands out in their own way. Rare for ANY movie.
The bottom line is that there are no bad performances in this movie. All of them completely believable.
One of the best unknowns in the film is the main villain. Yes, we know he's a "bad guy" but he doesn't come across as your regular action movie bad guy. He seems like a smart guy, who isn't doing what he's doing for the hell of it. He knows exactly why he's doing what he's doing and believes he's doing the right thing.
When I first saw this movie, I thought I was going to get your typical action movie, but nothing could be further from the truth. One of the things I really liked was that there was a TEAM effort involved. It wasn't like "Die Hard" or "Rambo" in that only one guy with one machine gun wipes out all the bad guys. In this movie, a group of good guys take on a bigger group of bad guys. To me, a team of good guys is always better because it's more realistic than just one guy taking on the bad guys, and because the interaction between the good guys is great.
By the way, there is one thing about this movie that will shock you. Not everyone will like the surprise, but it is effective.
Everyone who has seen this movie was surprised by how good it was. Highly recommended. Might I suggest you rent this and Crimson Tide on a free night.
Scale: 10
This is the Oscar-winning movie that made Gene Hackman a movie star. It's an excellent, realistic portrayal of tough New York cop, "Popeye" Jimmy Doyle, based on the real life exploits of "Popeye" Eddie Egan, (Egan portrays Doyle's chief in the movie).
The film is about an upperclass French business man who comes to the United States for the purpose of orchestrating a huge drug exchange. What ensues is a fascinating, realistic cat-and-mouse chase between the NYPD and the elite members of the drug ring. The result might be known to those familiar with the story, but for the sake of those who don't know and want to see the movie, I won't say anything. (Kinda like if you were watching Apollo 13 and weren't too sure of the events.)
The film also put Roy Scheider on the map and won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. It boasts one of the best and most famous chase sequences of all time. Hackman delivers a lot of snappy, punchy dialogue and it's easy to see that the Oscar he received for this performance was well deserved. Scale: 10
Now legendary muscial about seniors at Rydell High starring, of course, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Stockard Channing among others.
Great, likeable characters. Energetic characterizations. Fun music. Funny and romantic moments. What's not to like?
"Greased Lightning" and "Sandy" by Travolta are my favorite musical numbers. Of course, there's the classic "Hopelessly Devoted" by Newton-John and "Beauty School Dropout" by Frankie Avalon.
Perfect to watch with your friends or even on a night where you and your significant other want to stay home and watch a movie. Go watch it if you haven't already. You'll have a good time.
Scale: 8
Not bad film that has Muhammad Ali playing himself. Ali plays himself well, not as easy a task as some people think since you have to convey a wide range of emotions convincingly and Ali does.
The problem with the film is that some supporting cast members don't seem to fit the role and ultiamtely look miscast. James Earl Jones, a great actor, is miscast as Malcolm X, and Ernest Borgnine, another good actor, doesn't feel right as Angelo Dundee.
The scenes somehow don't seem to be set up well either. There's a very rushed feeling throughout most of the film. Drew "Bundini" Brown, Ali's biggest cheerleader, plays himself too. Actual Ali footage is used for the fighting scenes.
The scene he shares with his wife after the Norton loss was very well acted. The one thing that the movie lacks is a good ending. Other than that, it's an enjoyable, but sometimes awkward film. "The Greatest Love of All" is a great song that fits beautifully with Ali's jogging scene at the beginning of the film. It parrallels Ali's life nicely.
The movie is fun because Ali makes it fun to watch.
Scale: 7
Somewhat disappointing, but entertaining Sci-Fi/Action film about evil aliens who come to Earth for the purpose of destruction.
The film is very entertaining until it begins to lean toward comedy. Will Smith, a very talented actor, is also forced to say one of the worst film lines of all time: "Just wondering when we're going up there to kick ET's ass."
What makes the film watchable, besides special effects, is the cast: Randy Quaid, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman all make this worth a couple of your hours, but Judd Hirsch is the real show stealer as Goldblum's dad.
The climax is exciting, but it plays like a Star Wars space battle scene, so it has a "been there, done that" feeling to it although there are a couple of really good "payback" moments.
Worth watching once.
Scale: 6
Steven Spielberg takes a nothing story and turns itinto one of the best movies of all time. Incidentally, this is the movie that made Spielberg famous. Most people have seen this movie, but if by any chance you haven't, you have to. Great suspense, drama with sprinkles of humor appropriately injected sporadically throughout the film. Oh yeah, it also boasts the famous theme by John Williams, who also wrote the musical scores for all the Star Wars, Indiana Jones films among others. Roy Schieder is excellent in the lead, but Robert Shaw as "Quint" and Richard Dreyfuss as "Hooper" are very memorable for the colorful characters they portrayed. Scale: 10
It took me a year to see The Matrix and I regret not seeing it in the theater. Initially, I wasn't interested in seeing this movie because quite frankly, I don't think Keanu Reeves is a good actor, which is putting it mildly.
Then, I kept hearing how good this movie was. I kept hearing it and pretty soon, I found that I hadn't heard a single bad word about this movie and so I figured that I was wrong.
I was.
This is a very enjoyable movie. Reeves' dialogue is kept to a minimum and it works. To be fair to Reeves, every so often, he turns in a decent performance. In Devil's Advocate, I noticed Reeves would do great in one scene, and then totally suck in the next. My basic feeling about Reeves is that he seems like a cool guy, he is charismatic, but he can be appallingly horrible in a role. I didn't get that at all in this film.
It was the first time since "Speed" that I was able to look at Keanu and not say "bad actor."
Reeves is also surrounded by good actors. Laurence Fishburne is at his coolest as "Morpheous" and Carrie Ann Moss has never been better.
But let me not forget about the incredible action scenes and the ultra-cool story, wow. Great special effects, a lot of action. Definitely one to rent.
The world is not what it seems to be in this film, but that's all I'll say.
Scale: 9 1/2
The cable channels started running this 70s film when Armageddon and Deep Impact were in the theaters and interestingly enough, I enjoyed Meteor much better than the other two films.
While Meteor's f/x are cheesy, the film stars Sean Connery, my favorite actor of all time and easily one of the most watchable actors of all time. The supporting cast includes: Karl Malden, Martin Landau, and Brian Keith, as a Russian ally, in my favorite role that I've seen him in.
The plot is the same as Armageddon: they have to stop a huge asteroid (or whatever) from crashing into earth and destroying it.
The cast and storyline more than makeup for the terrible f/x. If you can't get past the effects, maybe this movie won't be for you, but usually a great cast can help you forget about the f/x and I feel the movie does this.
Scale: 8
Action film where Chuck Norris, playing a Rambo type character, goes back to Vietnam to rescue POWs. Plot is similar to that of Rambo: First Blood Part II, but a better movie.
Normally, you'd look at this type of movie and go: "Yeah, right!", but somehow Norris makes everything seem believable. There's just something about Norris. He's also a better actor than most action film stars and delivers great, snappy dialogue.
Very enjoyable "guy movie."
Scale: 9
Picture shown is a rare TV Guide clip for the movie.
This is perhaps the best disaster film ever made.
It contains an all-star cast: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelly Winters, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowell, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson and Leslie Nielsen.
It's even easier to appreciate this movie after dime-a-dozen films like Twister, Volcano, and Deep Impact have come out, which try is replicate the sense of drama that Poseidon has in spades.
Poseidon has a great cast and much more real, heart-stopping drama. You get the feeling you're watching something true.
The Oscar-winning special effects aren't as sharp in comparison to some of those other 90s movies, but what do you expect for 1972? Even so, the special effects don't look cheesy and are kept as a backdrop to a suspense riddled plot.
The movie takes place on an ocean-liner, like the Titanic, named the "SS Poseidon". The ship capsizes, meaning it turns upside down, and the survivors are forced to try and work their way up the ship. But this isn't easy because the ship is upside down. To me, it's a worse situation than being in the Titanic because in Titanic, you knew where you had to go to get on deck. But in Poseidon, the bridge and deck is under water and everything is disorienting because the ship has turned over. And unlike many disaster films, this movie gets you to care about the characters and puts you right there in the action. You're constantly thinking about what you do in a similar situation.
There is a very strong "What would I do if I were there?" feeling in this film and it makes for a realistic, compelling film.
Scale: 10
Ok action film which is highlighted by a great cast and loud sound effects. Should be entertaining as hell if you're cranking your speakers.
Still, the film tries to be hip and fails. For example, Cage's character buys an original Beatles record that costs him hundreds of dollars. He says he bought it because he's a Beatle-maniac and because vinyl sounds better. I felt like smacking him.
Nicolas Cage is a great actor, but he seems so damn insecure around Sean Connery that he's ultimately ineffective. It's weird too because his demeanor doesn't match his dialogue: he seems self-conscious, but he's saying lines to Connery's face like "A-hole". It doesn't seem right.
However, Sean Connery is Sean Connery. He makes any movie worth watching by his mere presence. "The Rock" was rewarding also because it was the first time in a long time that I've seen Connery play a character that picks up a huge machine gun and starts blasting away. So the movie is worth watching because of him. Not to mention a few very subtle James Bond references.
Another reason to watch the movie is Ed Harris, who plays the main villain. So you can't go wrong there.
As for the story, you get typical Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson stuff. The same guys who did Con Air, Armageddon, and Crimson Tide (by far their best film). Harris acquires a deadly substance that can destroy a whole city. We get to see what the substance does when some of it falls on the ground in a lab and its fumes disintegrate a couple of guys.
All in all, an entertaining, but sometimes dumb, action movie.
Scale: 7
My girlfriend made me watch this Julia Roberts movie, and I must say that I enjoyed it until towards the end when it all started getting kinda routine. Another thing I don't like is that this is the second movie in a row that I know of where Julia Roberts is in a movie about breaking up a marriage.
Personally, I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to marriage and doing the things Roberts does in these movies makes it a little hard for me to root for her in the movies. To me, it's like the movie doesn't have its priorities straight.
Anyway, this movie pairs Roberts and Richard Gere for the first time since "Pretty Woman" and they do have a great chemistry on screen.
The movie is about a newspaper columnist, (Gere), who writes an article about a country girl, (Roberts), who has a habit of setting up a marriage date, only to run out of the church during her entrance. Gere's source is one of Roberts' former grooms-to-be.
Roberts finds out about the column, writes a letter to the editor, which in turn gets published in the paper and gets Gere fired. Gere now has to prove his column was right and not libelous.
All in all, an entertaining film. It was directed by Garry Marshall, so that's a plus. Guys, if you want to make your girlfriend happy and pick out a movie, you might want to suggest this one.
Scale: 6
The biggest surprise hit of 1999 and with good reason. A suspense-filled, horror film about a young boy who sees dead people and the his doctor, (Bruce Willis), who tries to help him.
There are a lot of eerie, tense moments in the film that really suck you into the story and it makes for an interactive film.
The acting is very good in this film, particularly by Haley Joel Osment, (the boy), who steals the show. You couldn't have asked by a better performance by anyone and to this day, I feel his performance is worthy of an Academy Award nomination.
Much of the hoopla surrounding the film revolves around the twist ending, which unfortunately, makes little sense. However, to explain why this is would mean to give it away. If you want to know what it is, read on. If you don't, it still is a very enjoyable movie that you should satisfy horror/suspense fans. However, if this wins "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards this year, I'll be disappointed. I sincerely doubt this was the best film entertainment could muster in a whole year.
For those of you who have seen the film, or want to know what the surprise ending is: Bruce Willis, who was shot at the beginning of the film, has been dead all along and he didn't realize it. The reason this makes no sense should be obvious if you've seen the movie Several days go by in the film's storyline and it's rather difficult to believe that Bruce Willis would've gone by each day and not notice that people were completely ignoring him. There's even a scene where Willis' character is sitting down with the boy's mother and while there's no interaction on screen, it's obvious that he got into the house somehow. Did he knock? Did he talk to her? Obviously not, so how did it come to such a big surprise to him at the end that he was a ghost all along when nobody said a word to him?
It was very big plot hole that botched the effectiveness and fluidity of the film. It comes as a surprise at first, but when you think about what you just saw, you realize that it makes no sense.
The plot hole could've been easily fixed by having the time in the movie limited to one day.
Had it not been for that significant lapse of logic, the movie would've been a 10. Still, by the time you get to the twist, you would've enjoyed your two hours in front of the screen, which is what watching movies is all about: entertainment.
Scale: 8
I first found out about "Sneakers" when I opened up the paper and saw the poster ad. The film starred an outstanding ensemble cast that consisted of: Robert Redford, Sidney Poiter, Dan Ackroyd, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, David Strathairn, and Ben Kingsley. I wasn't that interested because I really wanted to see Glengarry Glen Ross, which also boasted a sensational ensemble of actors. My two friends and I were then going to the movies and they talked me into seeing this movie. "You gotta see this!" I budged and agreed. I was treated to a great movie that has remained one of my favorites of all time.
It's a caper involving a group of hackers that break into places to test security in major businesses. They are then hired by the government to acquire a "little black box". The function of the box is unknown to them, but soon enough they find out, but that's not even half of it. To go on explaining would rob you of all the twists and turns.
There are great performances all around, the actors all have great chemistry together, the musical score is atmospheric. The movie will make you laugh and it will leave you at the edge of your seat. Nail biting suspense, conspiracies, comedy, and good action. I really, really wish they'd made a sequel to this movie because I had a great time watching it. When I finally bought the movie, I saw it again and again. Anyway, I don't want to build it up and hype it too much, so I'll leave it at that. Interestingly, this can be found mostly in "Comedy" sections at the videostore, but I've seen it under the "Action" category as well. Scale: 9 1/2
Moviegoers who are unfamiliar about Star Trek films usually call this "the one with the whales".
This is the best film of the Trek franchise and people who are interested in seeing why Star Trek is a big deal should enjoy this movie.
There's tons of action and drama mixed with effective humor.
It's a time travel story that takes Kirk, Spock and company from the 23rd century to the 1980s in search of Humpback whales.
Due to heavy whaling by mankind, humpback whales are extinct by the 23rd century. An alien probe invades earth space and any civilization within the probe's reach has all its technology rendered useless.
No one knows why the probe is doing this, but the crew of the Enterprise figure out that the probe's message is consistent with humpback whale song and that the probe is actually trying to communicate with humpbacks. But the probe doesn't get a response.
While still out of range of the probe, the crew of the Enterprise time travel to the 20th century with a mission: acquire two humpback whales and bring them back to the 23rd century.
This is a really fun movie that will satisfy everyone. There's a lot of action, but the action is universally pleasing in that it'll keep adults and kids at the edge of their seat. I've never seen a movie do that so successfully and it truly is a unique movie in that respect.
People who think they won't like it because they don't like Star Trek should give it a second chance with this movie. I know non-Trek fans who liked this one.
Lets face it. Given the extensive hype and the fact that this had the name "Star Wars" attached to it, there were considerable expectations. After all, Star Wars is considered in film circles around the country as one of the best films ever made and the Star Wars trilogy as a whole is probably the most beloved group of movies in pop culture today. It got to the point that this movie was destined to disappoint regardless. You've could've had a director that was Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas combined and the movie still would've fallen below expectations. There just isn't a movie in the world that could've possibly lived up to such astronomical hype and expectations.
This is why I said way before the movie came out that the smart people will try to come in with as low expectations as possible.
As it is, I thought the movie was good. Certainly not a "Star Wars" or "Empire Strikes Back", but a good albeit flawed entry in the saga. I thought the pod-race, while visually stunning, lacked suspense because we knew Anakin would win. There was too much time spent on Tatoinne, not enough of the heavily advertised and very effective Darth Maul, and there was an overemphasis on the infamous Jar Jar Binks, who didn't win many popularity contests to say the least. To tell you the truth, I didn't mind Jar Jar all that much. My only problems with him was that he was overused and that you couldn't understand what he said at times. He probably wouldn't have come across as annoying if he was kept in the background a little more.
So in a nutshell, basically some of the problems I had with the movie were: The podrace was predictable; too much Jar Jar and not enough Darth Maul; and that the dialogue was ineffective at times, especially where Anakin and Jar Jar are concerned.
However, the main problem with the movie in my opinion is that it was hard to figure out who was the main character. I couldn't tell whether it was Qui-Gonn, Anakin or Obi-Wan. Qui-Gonn was in the movie most; Obi-Wan was in it here and there, but ends up taking control of things toward the end; and Anakin, who the movie is presumably about, is too young to influence the outcome of the film. In the original Star Wars trilogy, you always knew Luke Skywalker was the main character. Yes, there was a lot of room to play with Han Solo, Princesss Leia, Chewbacca and the rest of the classic characters, but the focus was always leaning toward Luke so that you always knew who the central main character was. That focus is what lacked in Phantom Menace. The focus shifted around a lot and made the movie a bit disorienting.
Some of the things I really liked were: The lightsaber battle was probably the best of the four films in terms of the action and fighting techniques. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor had a great chemistry whenever they were together. Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, (Anakin's mother), brought a lot of zest to her small, but important role. Ian McDiarmid was delightfully manipulative and charismatic as Palpatine/Dath Sidious. Yoda and Mace Windu, (that's Samuel L. Jackson's character) were utterly cool. R2-D2 was in it a lot, which is great. Jabba the Hutt's cameo was a welcome addition. The special effects and the soundtrack were outstanding, which is obvious because the best in the business, (Lucasfilm and John Williams respectively), were responsible for them.
So overall, the good definitely outweighed the bad.
Contrary to many critics, I believed the acting to be good for the most part. I thought critics were unbelievably unfair to Jake Lloyd, who played Anakin. They failed to realize that the problem with Lloyd wasn't so much the acting as it was some of the dialogue. I thought Lloyd's scenes with August were particularly well-acted.
The scene where R2-D2 meets C3P0 was a classic. R2-D2's introduction was also a classic, showing R2 for the tough little badass he is.
My guess is that the movie will be remembered better as time goes on. I think people will look back and realize that it was just a movie and an entertaining one at that, especially if Episode II and III are better. Scale: 8
Another mindless blockbuster. Just how this movie became popular is beyond me. I suppose it's because it came out during the ultra materialistic, yuppie-filled era of the 1980s.
The characters are so plastic, so cliched, so unrealistic that it makes it an impossibility to relate to any of them. The sole exception possibly being Tom Cruise's partner "Goose".
Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Tom Skerrit, and Kelly McGillis are all given very bland roles and unfortunately, there's little they can do about it. You have to give credit to Cruise and Kilmer for injecting some good ol' fashioned humanity into their roles whenever they could, but it isn't enough.
Cruise plays your classic, super confident young, hot shot. Appropriately enough, his name is "Maverick". Maverick is confident about everything, always smiling because he knows he's always going to win. Same thing for Kilmer's "Ice Man". It's ok for a while, but after a little while, it gets to you.
The whole movie has this annoying, "We're bad, we're cool, we're no one's fool" attitude. It almost gloats, "We can do this and you can't."
The humanity of the characters is practically non-existant. Thus, by the middle of the film, I could care less what happens to who. And the ending is another "winner." Trying to suspend your beliefs through something so contrived is admirable even in trying.
About the only thing I liked about this movie is that I really dug the beginning scene with Maverick rescuing his buddy and the killer soundtrack. Other than that, not very good.
Good luck trying to sit through this, I found it a challenge to sit through the beginning training scenes.
Scale: 3
I've enjoyed watching Eastwood play realistic tough guys instead of typical action heroes. Eastwood plays a veteran reporter who wants to save the life of a man on death row because he believes he is innocent.
One thing this movie has that I haven't found in other action/drama films is that when the good guy is speeding in his car to get to a place, the cops are actually chasing him! Haven't you ever noticed that when good guys speed, there are never any cops around to pull him over?
Me being an aspiring reporter, I really enjoyed watching all the little characteristics that reporters often acquire and that I already see developing in my own personality as I become more involved with journalism. The scene where Eastwood takes his little daughter to the zoo and runs by every animal in a hurry to then go and pursue a story made open my eyes as to the sacrifices a reporter makes in his life. But enough about that, the movie also boasts a good supporting cast that includes James Woods and Dennis Leary. Some of the atomosphere of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", (which Eastwood also directed), is present in this movie. You can always count on Eastwood for gritty, punchy dialogue delivery and to swear better than anyone. Scale: 8
This is my favorite Western of all time. The performances are very human and rich in feeling. Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris are jewels in this movie. Gene Hackman plays the movie's main villain "Little Bill". Hackman would win his 2nd Oscar for this film, this time for Best Supporting Actor.
Clint Eastwood plays a cold blooded killer who has mended his ways thanks to his wife. His wife dies young, (I'm not giving anything away here. It's established the second the movie starts) and he is left with his two children. They're pig farmers and are struggling financially. A young cowboy shows up and offers Eastwood's character, William Munney, a proposition to assist him in killing two men who cut up a prostitute and left her all scarred up. If they kill both men, there's a big reward. The young cowboy, who goes by the name of the Scofield Kid, tells Munney that the reason he's there to offer him a proposition was because Munney's reputation as an assasain is still intact. Along the way they pick up Freeman in one of my favorites roles that he has portrayed.
A story about tough guys, but it's far from your typical "guy movie". The tough guys are portrayed very realistically and are quite human. Don't be mislead, there is action, but don't expect your usual cowboy, action movie star, tough guy stuff. There's a reason why this movie won Best Picture and the gritty realism is part of it. Scale: 10
