Reviews

This movie is classic space opera in the tradition of the masters. They even have "lens" men (though they are completely different from the Doc Smith classic definition I thought that was a funny, but cloaked reference).

The planet Crematoria forms an excellent "Deathworld" scenario ala the Harry Harrison Deathworld series which pits human beings against a truly ferociously overwhelming environment. Superb!

The only real flaw in the movie is the "romance" doesn't really go anywhere and should probably not even have been attempted. Furian warriors aren't softees please.

Anyone who doesn't give this movie a high rating probably doesn't understand this style of Sci Fi.

I was pleasantly surprised! I thought it was going to be another boring X-Men, Spiderman or Batman rehash but no. It's got a few new twists. Certainly it has flaws but so does almost every movie including, yes, Lord of the Rings. Halle's acting as shy insecure, Patience was superb. As Catwoman it was a bit overdone at first but in later scenes it settled into believability. The circumstances of her becoming a "cat woman" are of course very contrived, but no worse than Spiderman. The story was typically comic book (very shallow and distinct good buys and bad buys) but that's to be expected. The music score was superb also, which may have given the movie an extra 1.5 1-10 points in my book. The romance between the Catwoman and the Cop is much more playful than the sappy Spiderman dreck which I found very entertaining. She is also a bit too powerful a superhero meaning, I'm never really worried about her biting off more than she can chew because she has no problems handling any number of police or bad buys.

This movie has, arguably, the best car chase ever filmed, near the beginning. It's worth seeing just for that. I'm not going to mention why but I guarantee you won't be disappointed by it.

Will Smith and Martin are too "black" when they shouldn't be, and not "black" enough when they should be. The cliché sayings are just a bit off, mistimed and lose most of their punch. Maybe it was rushed, maybe the editor chose the wrong cuts.

This must have been one expensive movie. I don't know how many cars they trashed but it was a lot.

The mortuary scene had a few moments where I was rolling on the floor laughing.

If you are sexually repressed, I can understand why you think this movie is sleazy.

If you accept the fleshy environment as just the way certain people live, and get into that setting, the movie is simply a better than average slightly funny drama.

The "overacting" by the main character, is simply the "larger than life" aura that has to be there to make her so desireable to all the lower energy people.

Here entire personality is high energy, higher energy than everyone else in the picture.

The one thing I can say good about this movie is that it does follow the book well, and creates a world of its own.

However, it's the value of that world that is in question. Not one of the characters has any common sense. They're all nuts! The other problem is that things are just suddenly pulled out of a hat any time it's convenient! (Please excuse if I misspell any character names. My mythical name spelling skills are not up to snuff).

You have to be a very simple minded person to believe any of the story. Example: Why doesn't Gandalf simply have an EAGLE FLY FRODO OVER MOUNT DOOM AND DROP THE RING IN? Hmmm? Instead of doing the simple thing, the "WIZARD" has to die, fight unarmed against a creature 100 times his size (and win, just pulled out of a hat), get resurrected (never explained just pulled out of a hat), go get into an argument with Saruman (he could have just pretended to go along with the show but no, he had to be stupid and fight against impossible odds).

Boromir is a covetous, angry fool. Frodo is a naive simpleton. Sam is a gluttonous dim wit. Gollum is a total whack job. Gandalf, for being over 1000 years old, has NO strategic thinking skills. Elrond and all the elves are cowards running away to the mythical land across the sea (totally unexplained and pulled out of a hat like we are supposed to somehow understand). All the kings are anencephalitic morons. Gimlie is chronically constipated apparently. About the only sane character is Legolas but he has no depth. We don't know where ANY of these people came from really, or who they are really, or where they are going, except MAYBE Frodo. No one ever explains WHY Sauron is evil. He's just this eyeball floating on a rook. But this isn't really a flaw in the movie so much as the books it was drawn from. If you want to predict the story just ask yourself "What is the worse possible thing you would do in a similar situation?" and that is what Tolkiens characters do. They always do the most bone headed thing possible. I just can't have sympathy for stupid characters that cause their own problems.

And what makes it all even more ridiculous is how serious this is all taken, like it's REAL or something. The story is so full of plot holes that, when the actors take it so seriously it compounds the absurdity.

So, if you are someone who enjoys the story lines of Saturday morning cartoons, you might enjoy this story. Otherwise, don't expect anything great. Try to enjoy the special effects and action scenes which are particularly spectacular and possibly best of all time(if you don't fall asleep waiting).

You know, I imagine when they edit movies, they end up with a bunch of scrap on the "cutting room floor", and what's left, becomes the movie. This movie is like, they accidentally picked up the cuttings and stitched them together and that became the movie.

So, the editing and the story are just, um, well, missing.

Frank Whaley does a good nerd, and gives his all for a Woody Allenish style character. I'm not a professional actor or a critic but I can say that Jennifer Connelly does play her part well if not spectacularly. It's sad that the movie story is just non-existent.

That being said, if you view this movie as something where you just sit back and watch the best shots of Jennifer Connelly that any movie has even done, then you will enjoy it. The camera spends a lot of time on her, on purpose no doubt, so if you are a fan, then this is the best movie for that. And this movie was done in a period where she hadn't dieted her figure away to the scrawny shadow of her former self that she is now. I'm wondering if Frank Whaley didn't have a heart attack having to play across from her, and even kiss her. It's a credit to him that he was able to act at all.

Every movie she's in she steals the camera. There never has been, nor apparently will there ever be in the future, a movie star that even comes close to her in the looks department. All other actresses seem to have the same mediocre face where Jen stands out above and away from anyone else with a look all her own. And she hasn't thrown her gift away, she's worked hard to actually do something with her career and not be just a pretty bimbo. An amazing person in general.

For anyone paying attention, the movie has a lot of original stuff in it. It is a study of a completely corrupt, profit oriented corporation and how the employees cut each other's throats using "leverage".

It's got a very intricate plot, as well put together as some of the best movies. Of course if your IQ isn't high enough to follow it, the movie seems boring.

It's also a peek into the master manipulator L. Ron Hubbard's mind. The Psychlo corporation is not all that unlike how the Churches of Scientology are run.

The movie is pretty far out so I can understand how it would be rejected by a lot of people.

Yes, this movie has obvious plotholes, but, to all those snobs who think "The Lord Of The Rings" is so good, it has the biggest plot hole of all, why didn't Gandalf have the "Eagles" fly Frodo over Mount Doom to drop the ring right in? The whole adventure would have taken 2 hours tops, with time for lunch.

Wow, I read a few comments by people who say the film is filled with sexual innuendo, well, we know who has the dirty minds.

I didn't even notice anything at all like that. The things that make this file great are

1) Great attention to detail. There are things happening in the background that you might not even notice the first time you watch it. It begs a second watch just to absorb all the content.

2) The seamless and funny integration of fairy tale characters and modern reality. For example, the "fairy godmother" is really like a "fairy godfadda".

3) It's hard to imagine animation getting any better, but this film exceeds anything before, especially in the motion of the characters. They move better than anything I've seen before and their motions are full of small details that normally are left out in animated characters.

4) Unpredictable story. You can't really predict how it's going to go because it doesn't follow any of the old formulae.

5) Each scene is just loaded with color and motion which alone is enough to glue you to the screen.

I watch a LOT of movies and about 1 in 20 has any redeeming qualities. This one is one of those, even though it is flawed. The first half was excellent, scenes loaded with little details that showed a lot of thought went into them, like, the FBI agent is grilling a bad cop in his office, then lifts his coffee cup to drink and it has a big smiley face on it. The smiley face comes back later in the movie as it's tatooed on the battering ram used in a later scene.

I have always considered the running street battle in Heat to be one of the best scenes of all time in movies. This movie has at least 3 scenes done just as well EXCEPT for the sound which is not as realistic as the sound in Heat.

This movie has a lot of firsts also, like, the sniping scene is done at 2000 yards and the bullets take 3 seconds to arrive at the targets. I've never see that little detail accurately portrayed before. I wanted to give those targets advice: Serpentine!!

The attempt to portray ALL the little details involved in sniper activity, and SWAT activity was incredibly enjoyable. I don't know if it was realistic but it sure convinced me. I just love that s***. This movie could have been a contender for top 10 in my book if the story hadn't lost momentum halfway through. It almost seems like someone told the producer to chop the film short because the ending is rushed and repetitious as there is no need to show the same tactical problems and solutions over and over again.

Anyone who likes action films won't be disappointed with this but don't expect Sleepless in Seattle ladies. No, this sure isn't that.

I was a senior in high school in 76 living in West Los Angeles and this is EXACTLY what we used to do. We had more drugs than these guys were able to get but we would do ALL the exact same s***. There is no exaggeration. We had the "Crump's brother" guy who had just gotten out of Chino Correctional. We had a Tack and a Hubbs.

I had a friend who looked EXACTLY like the red haired guy (Joe) in this movie.

The language is accurate too.

This was probaby what a lot of kids in California was doing in those days.

I was pleasantly surprised at this movie. It seems that people either love or hate it, most of the votes being 10 or 1. It's got heavy slang so that a lot of people might not even be able to understand it, but, for those who can connect with it, it's great.

Note, I am just a middle age, middle class computer programmer so the quality of a movie does not depend on being able to relate to the lifestyles of the people it is about.

This movie has several scenes in it that harken back to Goodfellas. I don't know if it was intentional, but they are there. I cannot divulge them or I would be spoiling.

Going to the center of the Earth is one of those impossible voyages. If I see a movie that attempts one of those, and I cannot think of a better way myself, I cut it some slack. They did not miss any obvious, easy ways to perform the task. It is entertaining if but a little predictable but it has a few surprises in it.

This is a good film no doubt, but like other good holocaust films, they just depress me. The better they are, the worse they are. I started to leave during Schindler's List because, well, we all know the story of the holocaust and to subject myself to that nightmare of stress, isn't really worth it.

However, I stayed for Schindler for one reason, he was a ray of hope. If there is some reasonable hope for people in the film, there is some merit to watching it.

The main character in this film however, really survives by luck, not by skill, and that just makes the hope factor non-existant because at any time, a german could pull him over and shoot him in the head just for fun. Too much anxiety for me to enjoy the movie.

The adventure in this movie is great, but I have a problem with the movie AND the books, and that is, the characters went through all this effort for nothing. I have no sympathy for characters who cause their own problems.

Gandalf could have summoned an eagle (you know, the kind that rescued him from Eisengard) to the Shire, Frodo could have hopped on, flown to Mordor and dropped the ring into Mount Crumpet, or wait, I mean, Mount Doom, and the whole thing would have been over in 2 hours tops, including a break for lunch.

I don't understand what the fuss was all about?

This movie was so terrifying I had to leave the theater. I was physically a wreck for a week after seeing it, nightmares etc. Even the SECOND time I watched it, on cable, I had to shut it off before the ending. It took me three times to finally make it through.

That is to its credit. The film is revolutionary. Its filming style was casual and intimate which brought you right into the atmosphere the characters were experiencing. It was freaky, with strange surprises like Ash the robot. The alien itself was only seen in horrifying glimpses making your imagination fill in the terror. The sets were dark, noisy and full of shadows.

I could not even watch it all the way through it had no draw pulling me toward a resolution. I grant that maybe there are two kinds of people in the world, those that like this movie, and those that do not. There must be some deep rooted psychological difference between the two groups. Maybe I am just happy being myself, but, of all the people in the world to want to be, John Malkovitch? That alone just showed me the movie had nothing in it for me.

Every once in a while I run into Die Hard on my DSS/Tivo and just put it on for background stimulation, however, it ALWAYS sucks me right in and I am glued to the tube.

You can read all the comments from people raving about this movie but I'd like to add something: All the characters, even the minor ones, are developed until the movie almost seems like an epic with multiple plots!

Each of the henchmen looks different from the others (good casting), speak many languages and have radically different dispositions. This is an unrecognized instance of pure genius I see in no other movie! Karl the psychopath, Marco the wisecracking Italian, Heinrich the cranky, p*ssed off munitions guy, the German Frankenstein moving the missiles, Theo the quick witted smart ass hacker, and others.

Everyone in this movie acted their asses off and the editing makes everything flow smoothly.

The best player in the entire film was Allan Rickman, who played Hans Gruber, the leader of the bad guys. I saw a documentary on the making of this film and there were people at the studio wanting to remove him because he was ruining the film. It makes you wonder what sort of great gems we will never see because some corporate idiot quashed them.

This movie is in the genre of Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds but features a cast of geniuses working on a laser, with one of the professors and his minions being the opposition.

It is in my top 10 films of all time list.

The humorous dialog goes on between ALL the characters but Val Kilmer has center stage even though the story seems to be about Mitch, the new 15 year old, premature college geek.

It is a magical movie that can truly lift your spirits if you are depressed. You can watch it over and over again because its power is not so much in the story but in the superb and genuinely captivating interaction between Val Kilmer and the rest of the cast.

People like to say that Pacino and De Niro were terrific, I think ALL the actors, without exception were fantastic.

The gun battle in the streets of downtown LA is fantastic. I personally think it is the best action scene of all time. The sound is fantastic (finally someone got it right). The automatic weapons sound deafening without making you deaf. How they were able to rent out downtown LA long enough to shoot that scene is amazing.

I sometimes hear people say the gun battle was unrealistic and would never happen. A year after the movie came out, in the San Fernando Valley, a real running street battle actually occurred. The robbers were equipped with M-16s and body armor and it took the police an hour to kill them all.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/28/shootout.update/

Like the Columbine Trench Coat Mafia who were inspired by the movie "Heathers", these real life robbers were likely inspired by Heat.

I would give this movie a 10 except that the acting is somewhat off, especially Sarah Gellar. However, her outrageous lines and behavior save the day ("did you f**k her yet? I wanna f**k!!! Teaching Selma Blair how to french kiss, etc.). She belongs in this type of movie more than as a vampire slayer. That she agreed to do and say the many outrageous things she does in this movie have raised my respect for her greatly. She takes another whack at movie stereotypes that don't let women be aggressive and I really like that.

Ryan Phillipe has an annoying "John Malkovich" persona he is putting on. Probably the director telling him to do it but who knows. I do not think that was necessary and is distracts more than it is worth.

As the 4th most important character Selma Blair does the best acting job of all. As the bubble headed virgin who Sebastian corrupts.

After watching the movie 2 or 3 times you get used to the awkward acting and it gets much better.

This is one of those movies where I just cannot put my finger on exactly what is charming, and that makes it watchable over and over.

NOT!!!!

Anyone who thinks this movie has any redeeming quality is crazy.

I am not even going to comment on the myriad idiocies in this film. It is just soooo bad I rank it close to Highlander 3.

The 7.4 rating here must be Mel Gibson's fan club ballot stuffing IMDB.

If they ever resurrect Mystery Science Theater 3000 I nominate this film for the second episode, right after Battlefield Earth.

If you like Steven Seagal, you'll love this movie. In fact, he is the worse part of it. All the bad guys and extras outdo him. The two main villains, Eric Bogosian as the megalomaniac computer nerd and Everett McGill as the mercenery heavy are spellbinding. I think these two actors are underrated.

Though the movie has a barely believable storyline held together by duct tape and bailing wire it is easy to follow. Everything is sequenced well and the editing is marvelous. There are several interesting triple cliffhanger moments (rapid shifting between 3 different threads of the story every few seconds).

If you watch this movie for action only, you will not be disappointed because the action never stops, but if you can appreciate the characters also, it is spellbinding. The extras and supporting staff are what put this movie far above the standard Seagal diet.

This movie has a mystique of its own. It's a modernized version of the Dangerous Liaisons story, which itself is a remake of the Valmont story, but I think this one is the best.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, as Katherine, breaks out of her cute little Buffy the Vampire Slayer mode and gets as nasty as you can get in a PG movie. As far as I'm concerned she has found her element in this part.

For example, the director makes a point of completely exploiting the shock value of a scene where she teaches Cecile, her girlfriend, to french kiss by practicing with her. If you are a Gellar fan your juices will start flowing freely.

Ryan Phillippe plays the main character, and his acting job might seem a bit affected the first time you see the movie but after a second viewing it makes more and more sense. That's part of the attraction of the movie is seeing more subtlety in subsequent viewings. He is constantly manipulating people around him in a surprising display of finesse.

Selma Blair plays one of the four main characters, Cecile, a naive airhead, and does the best job in the movie. She is a pawn being used by the evil protagonists and her innocent stumblings are hilarious.

The part played by Reese Witherspoon, one of my favorite actresses, has some badly written sections. 2 or 3 of her lines just don't make sense.

Take the time to see this movie. It's worth it.

Highlander is constantly snubbed by critics. I see it given one star out of 4 constantly but I guarantee you that is misleading. The cinematography goes way out with many trick shots (fish eye lenses, scenes shot through the reflection on sunglasses, etc) which gives the movie a flavor seen nowhere else. The imagery of the Highlands of Scotland are horizon-to-horizon beautiful and help to amplify the historical, immortality aspect which is the core of the movie. The movie has several flaws, one being the contrived "battle for the Prize" which isn't really necessary but these are far outweighed by other factors.