Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken for another man by a group of foreign spies and after a few unfortunate events, finds himself on the run.
North by Northwest is recognized as one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest films and with the adrenaline soaked narrative and a great central performance it is easy to see why.
Cary Grant (Charade) delivers a sensational portrayal of advertising executive Roger Thornhill, a simple man who is mistaken for someone else. Thornhill is wonderfully sarcastic, very charismatic and plaudits must go to Grant who has created an original hero, an ordinary man who turns himself into an action hero within a short space of time in Alfred Hitchcock's wonderfully realistic world.
I remember watching this film when I was a kid with my motorsport addicted grandfather and didn't fully appreciate the story, cast and locations but loved the action.
I purchased the 2 disc Special Edition recently and Ive watched twice since and loved it even more now that film quality has been hugely improved on visual colour and sound quality.
I can now appreciate the film more with age, the director Zimmermann, who also directed Ronin (note the car chases), James Garner (I loved The Rockford Files), Tishiro Mifune (Im a big Akira Kurosawa fan)and now the fact that I know the circuits and locations in the film, the cars and the histories of the REAL individual F1 drivers. Graham Hill, James Hill, Jack Brabham, Phil Hill (who drove ... Read More:
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As the story opens in Cyprus, several hundred Jewish refugees have just been taken off a boat headed for Palestine and incarcerated in a British prison camp. Jewish activist Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman) decides to stage a mass escape and send them all to Palestine on a new ship, which is dubbed "Exodus." On board the ship are teen refugees Karen and Dov (Sal Mineo) and Kitty Freeman (Eva Marie Saint), an American nurse.
It was a formidable task trying to transfer the huge novel to the screen, and it isn't completely successful. Newman is an odd choice, but gives a good performance as the stalwart hero. Saint is completely wrong for her part; she's unattractive and unappealing. The script doesn't help either; their so-called romance is practically non-existent. ... Read More:
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This only just merits 3 stars. At 2.5 hours it really is far too long, and loses a star for that. It loses another star for the frequent and painfully obvious use of CGI and if I was being unkind it would lose more for its over sentimental and sugary styling. How much music with heavenily choirs and strings are we expected to take?
I wasn't especially impressed by Brandon Routh, who was clearly copying the Christopher Reeve formula but he was wooden by comparison. The best by far was Kevin Spacey, but he wasn't given a lot to do. The films I've seen that have been directed by Bryan Singer have in general been very good, for me this is his first failure.
By all means buy it, if you can get it very cheap, but its not worth spending much on!
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This only just merits 3 stars. At 2.5 hours it really is far too long, and loses a star for that. It loses another star for the frequent and painfully obvious use of CGI and if I was being unkind it would lose more for its over sentimental and sugary styling. How much music with heavenily choirs and strings are we expected to take?
I wasn't especially impressed by Brandon Routh, who was clearly copying the Christopher Reeve formula but he was wooden by comparison. The best by far was Kevin Spacey, but he wasn't given a lot to do. The films I've seen that have been directed by Bryan Singer have in general been very good, for me this is his first failure.
By all means buy it, if you can get it very cheap, but its not worth spending much on!
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After such a long time away from the big screen and with no Christopher Reeve there was a chance this could have been a big disappointment- no chance! Every thing about the movie is good, the action scenes are as you would expect and demand from a Superman movie and the effects are fantastic. The script is also intelligent and in much the same style as the original movie, which means you are engaged throughout.
I can't understand the reviewers who have criticised the acting, Brandon Routh does a magnificent job as Kent/Superman and has perfected Christopher Reeve's mannerisms so well that it's scary. Kevin Spacey is good as Lex Luther but admittedly doesn't have quite the same presence as Gene Hackman, and Kate Bosworth slips comfortably into the role of Lois. ... Read More:
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Army scout Varner(Gregory Peck) leaves the army after 15 years. On his last raid amongst the indians, they discover Eva Marie Saint and her half-indian son. Gregory agrees to escort them. But they are relentlessly chased by the boys indian father wanting his son back and he kills many on the trail. The first half of the movie is filmed in desert wasteland and you can smell and taste the dust. The suspense gets deeper and when Gregory returns to his farm, the killer indian follows him there. The terror grows and there is tit-for-tat between the hunter and the hunted. The strength of the movie is the script, direction and excellent back-ground music which will have you whistling the tune by the end of the movie. Will the hunter succeed and kill the rest and have his boy back?
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During the Cold War, a Russian submarine bottoms out on a reef off of a New England island and the stranded crew has to: A) survive, B) get their submarine free, and C) deal with an island full of the Americans they have been taught to fear and hate. Meanwhile, the sleepy, ordinary islanders are equally terrified of Russians, and everyone panics as they encounter one another.
This could have evolved into pure zany slapstick (and there is a lot of that), but it goes beyond that as everyone gradually discovers their similarities and common humanity, and then works toward avoiding disaster.
Lots of big names in comedy show up here, including Jonathon Winters, Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, and Brian Keith. This sounds like the formula for a zany slapstick, silly movie ... Read More:
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A lot of people I know who saw the film were disappointed by it: "there's no action!" "he didn't use his powers" etc. The problem is people wanted a film based on the comics, where you have OTT villians and most of the film being a free for all.
I didn't have any expectations when I first saw the film, and therefore any opinion was based solely on what was presented. The first reaction is this is visually stunning! The essential way of gaining appreciation for this film is to watch it on blue ray. The picture quality is absolutely crystal clear.
Brandon Routh is Superman! There's so much pressure on him being his first film, and as Clark and particularly Superman, he was awesome. The rest of the cast, especially Kevin Spacy were also great. This film is about ... Read More:
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There was only one reason why I couldn't mark this down to one star. That reason is star quality. Catherine Zeta-Jones brings a certain element of respectability to this movie that was clearly made for TV, as well as the presence of some guy from the OC as a self-sacrificing rich guy who would rather save his girl than himself.
So to the plot: Well we all know the story of the Titanic. Sails a bit, hits an Iceberg, sinks. Should be able to sum that up in five minutes right? OH NO. NO SIR. In fact, it's more like four hours, but hey, let's not hold that against it. There is actually some decent interaction between a few of the characters, though the acting is as wooden as a Ship. A Pirate ship though, not the Titanic. I don't know who plays Aase, the worst-named character ... Read More:
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