Reading the reviews, this film have two type of opinions: very, very bad, very very good.
In my opionion is a very, very, very good film. If you search a historical rappresentation you make a mistake.
Movie and book are a perfect "personal" interpretation of Leonida's men sacrifice. Vivid colours (more red blood than others) dialogues reducted to some essential phrases, powerfull graphic presentation. Read the book and see the movie, its perfect trasposition, with a good cast and a very good soundtrack. The best action movie of the year made on the basis of the best graphic novel of the year (2k miles "above" V for Vendetta, movie and book).
>>More Details
This film has 3 parts. Part 1 very credible, very enjoyable. Part 2 not very plausible, but entertaining. Part 3 ridiculous action, plus ridiculous sentimentality.
HOWEVER, there is an array of excellent performances - with twitches of emotion - and eyes that show inner mind activity. Even those appearing briefly - like Jason's girlfriend - give their all. The facial close-ups show the turmoil and emotion within each character. Ray Winstone is excellent, so is Phil Davis (or Davies). Robert Carlyle's southern accent is just about acceptable, but he does well given his natural dialect.
The filming is very good. The music OK.
For Robert Carlyle fans, Looking after Jo Jo is better, made around the same time. It's plausible and ... Read More:
>>More Details
This film has 3 parts. Part 1 very credible, very enjoyable. Part 2 not very plausible, but entertaining. Part 3 ridiculous action, plus ridiculous sentimentality.
HOWEVER, there is an array of excellent performances - with twitches of emotion - and eyes that show inner mind activity. Even those appearing briefly - like Jason's girlfriend - give their all. The facial close-ups show the turmoil and emotion within each character. Ray Winstone is excellent, so is Phil Davis (or Davies). Robert Carlyle's southern accent is just about acceptable, but he does well given his natural dialect.
The filming is very good. The music OK.
For Robert Carlyle fans, Looking after Jo Jo is better, made around the same time. It's plausible and ... Read More:
>>More Details
Having read the other reviews on here, I find myself agreeing with part of most of them. On the whole, I enjoyed the film when I saw it on TV. I felt it was very atmospheric most of the way through, but I do agree that maybe there wasn't enough of a payoff at the end.
I feel that any comments about the German soldiers having English accents are slightly unfair. Ultimately, the choice is between having the film in German, with English subtitles, or just having the actors speak English. To have the actors deliver lines in English but with German accents would be ludicrous, as those of us familiar with the "so bad, it's good" British sitcom, "'Allo 'Allo" will understand. I felt it a brave move to have the soldiers not only speaking ... Read More:
>>More Details
Despite the gross and unnecessary bad language this movie opens with, this is indeed one of the most beautiful films and probably one of the best movies to come out of the 90s - but this is largely due to the fabulous award-winning performance from Sheila Hancock - and a great soundtrack!
Three very different people and a dog - all strangers meet and sort of 'adopt' each other. Many scenes in this film are extremely moving and will touch the most hardened of viewers. However, the character Charleen does not earn much sympathy from the viewer (at least not from me!) Despite her unfortunate background, I did have a big problem with her and never particularly warmed to her throughout the movie. In fact, I was genuinely sorry that ... Read More:
>>More Details
Several of Thomas Hardy's novels have been filmed in recent years, but here one of his short stories, 'The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion' from the collection 'Wessex Tales,' has been expanded into a full-length feature film and given a snappier title. I saw the film on its cinema release in 1998 when it was taken off after only one week. It did not deserve such a fate, as it is well presented with generally good performances, especially from the two romantic leads, and the expected attractive Westcountry scenery. Jack Shepherd, best known as the Cornish TV policeman Wycliffe, is rather overparted as the heroine's father and Simon Callow gives a ludicrously over-the-top performance as the commanding officer, here a made-up character who scarcely figures ... Read More:
>>More Details
I love this version of As You Like It.
First, the cast is wonderful; my idea of great acting, no mannerism, no atempt to upstage each other, just the text and the performer. For once the actors seem free to deliver their part witout having to race, be forcefully funny or dramatic or even to twist the meaning of the words to make them say things that were not in the first place. Best of all in this film is CYRIL CUSACK who speaks Shakespeare as if it was his own nature.
Second, the gentle interpratation of the play which simply sets the action in a bleack urban setting rings true to me. After all the idea that the forest is such a great place for the duke in exile is meant as irony. The forest is above all EXILE and they are roughing it. The Duke has lost ... Read More:
>>More Details
in this second episode Horatio has already realised that he likes life in the navy, so much so that he is happy to be able to take the examination for lieutenant. Unfortunately, whenever he decides to open a book and study, there is an urgent distraction in the form of an adventure, especially at a time when the Spanish decided that they were allied of the French and they began to attack the British ships (with the infamous "fire ships"). These adventures are, in fact, a way for Horatio Hornblower to see the hardships that officials have to endure: he has to be prepared to take quick, life-or-death decissions for himself and his men; he has to be very sure of his priorities to take these decissions; and his priorities are not exactly the same as those of some other very ... Read More:
>>More Details
This film is dark! A brooding violent gangster film. Very nihilistic. It is probably quite overlooked, but do not miss the chance to see it. It is a serious portrait of a killer and his world. A heavy film.
>>More Details
This film is dark! A brooding violent gangster film. Very nihilistic. It is probably quite overlooked, but do not miss the chance to see it. It is a serious portrait of a killer and his world. A heavy film.
>>More Details