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Reviews
Fight Club (1999)
Not bad for a Studio System Film
When this came out I didn't want to see it. TV and radio stations were flooded with Fight Club ads and Fox initially tried to sell the movie as one of these "I'll beat the cr*p out of you" movies. I guess this drew the wrong audience into the theaters and most people were disappointed because they didn't get to see blood and guts and superheroes. So I was very surprised when I got hold of the DVD and watched it for the first time (and then a second time, and a third time and on and on...)
Although the philosophy behind it isn't as deep and profound as other reviewers at imdb have claimed it to be, it is still a very fascinating and strange movie - unlike anything you would expect from a Hollywood major studio.
Fincher created a dark and visually stunning movie with a terrific cast and...well..some plotholes.
But nevertheless. This is a "must see". Eventually this will be considered the classic 90's movie.
Not to forget the great Pixies Song "Where is my mind" at the end.
Raging Bull (1980)
Strong De Niro - weak script
This is clearly De Niro's best performance. He was the driving force behind this movie and talked Scorsese into it. This is also the first time that he worked with Joe Pesci. So it's a good idea to watch this before you go on to Goodfellas or even Casino, where they've also teamed up. Watching these two fine actors is more than delightful. Hell, they could do American Pie 8 and it would still be worth watching. Most of De Niro's and Pesci's lines are ad-libbed and improvised. That's how good they relate to each other. And Scorsese gives them the freedom to do so.
The downside of Raging Bull is that the script is very uneven and has a timing problem. Since the studio rejected the script several times De Niro and Scorsese did some rewriting and later on got Paul Schrader into the boat to straighten things up. Schrader later said, that at the end not much of his draft was left in the script.
And this is pretty obvious when you watch the movie. Aside from the scripts it is a technically brilliant movie with fascinating shots and a wonderful musical score.
I love it, despite it's obvious weakness.
The Hunter (1980)
Not great, but good
This is surely not McQueens best Movie ever. But it's fun to watch and the fact, that he insisted on playing a terrible car driver makes it even more enjoyable. The worst part of this movie is clearly its terrible musical score. It's just irritating. While most action scenes (like the famous Subway Chase) are not dubbed, the movie gets an almost soap opera like touch (barely watchable) when Steve is with his girlfried. I watched this movie the first time when I was 14 and now (20 years later) I found it on the DVD shelf in Walmart and bought it, because I liked it so much the first time I saw it.
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
A movie you'll love to hate
Very conventional war movie. Terrible script! And the music is really awful!
All my respect to Jude Law, who does a great job as Vasili. But that's about it. I don't know why JJ Annaud tries so hard to copy Spielberg's "James Ryan" especially in the opening sequence on the volga.
The Characters are so stereotype, flat and cartoon like that it makes you laugh out loud.
Big disappointment.
Watch Joseph Vilsmaier's "Stalingrad" instead, if you are really interested in the horrors of WWII
Ghosts of Mars (2001)
An minimalist artfilm
You guys just don't understand! This movie marks the climax of his career. Here he fully expresses his art of film-making. The bad acting is clearly intentional. And for the lack of story/plot: There is none! The movie speaks for itself. Bad FX? Yes of course, probably the worst ever. But this leads to self reflective questions while you watch the movie. Who am I? Why am I here? Does this crap make sense?
Ghosts of Mars is a philosophical masterpiece, true existentialism....