Reviews

I admit, I really like mechanical ballets like "Le Mans", "Taxi", "Taxi 2" and the best part of "Gone in 60 seconds (2000)". There are not many movies which push me in it, but when there are speed-scenes, I'm lost. This movie can also be put in the mechanical ballet list because it is impossible to see that the budget for this movie was relatively small. In the hands of Hollywood it would have cost a lot more.

What I really don't understand is why the original Australian-English had to be changed in American-English. Most of the time I was really angry about the over the top voices and (due to that) the lack of mechanical sounds. Every version with the non-original English should be banned, in fact, every movie should be released in its native language (even animated ones). This to prevent that a movie will be funny because of the language while this was not meant to. Everybody can read subtitles isn't it?

My one line summary says it all like that counts for Stagecoach (1939). Also when you watch it it doesn't look like it's going to take five years when they find the girl. In one scene it snows a lot when in the next it's a burning summer. How confusing can a movie be?

While the movie starts of I really got pissed that I had to watch another Julia Roberts flick again. Last year I saw Runaway Bride and Notting Hill and they were BAD, mostly because of her and after seeing Erin Brockovich I still mean that she is Hollywood's most overrated actresses around. But, it's not all wrong with this picture. At the end it gave me a good feeling, but it still looked a lot like A Civil Action. Albert Finney plays his best role so far (while he never does anything bad). A simple twist of his mouth and the whole cinema start laughing, with Julia, that never happens. Now who is the best actor of them two?

Besides Julia the movie has a lot to make it worth watching. It has drama, comedy, thriller, enough to make everybody pleased. But the way she gets her job (at Finney's office) is a bit unrealistic. And that is based on a true story? It's just NOT POSSIBLE.

After watching this movie for a couple of times, I still don't know exactly what it's all about (the only thing I can come up with is a scientific experiment which "is about to explode"), but it does something with me that I want to watch it over and over again. It truly does something with me, and a movie which has a stunning sound-track can't go wrong with me. John Williams (of the "Star Wars" sound-tracks and "Saving Private Ryan"), mostly bores, but this composer, I can't come up with his name right now, really kicks ass and adds the best to this movie. Indeed a classic which will stand the test of time.

When is this movie going to enter the IMDB Top 250? After reading nothing but positive comments about this Oscar-winning performance i decided to watch it myself, and i could only say: When does it enter the top 250 because there are a lot of USA's, Brittish, French, Hong-Kong's and even Swedish in it and no Dutch ones. It is about time that a Dutch movie enters it because (with the current score of about 8.5) it could even beat "The Godfather" #1.

An ex-colleague of mine once recommended this movie to me. When it was released in the cinemas he watched it several times, and he said that if i really was a movie freak, this was something i had to see. So, when a few weeks ago this movie was shown on TV in The Netherlands, i did. When i watched it i didn't know where the story was going, but when it ended and a week after it, it didn't get out of my head. After that week when i was doubting about it was a good or an average movie i ended up with the idea that it really is something special. Albert Finney is really great in this picture as an alcoholic (better than Nicolas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas") and i totally agree with my ex-colleague that he is one of his favourite actors. It is not a movie for the masses, but when you are a movie-fanatic it is a must.

To tell it all at once: overall the movie is great, but (a very big but), two of the main actors look too much like each-other (Kevin Spacey and Russel Crowe). They act great, but if they had less resemblance it would be a lot better. And I really don't understand why Kim Bassinger got an Oscar for this. Minnie Driver and Joan Cusack did a lot better than the Veronica Lake look-alike.

This movie sucks on all sides. To much testosterone. The bad accent of Nicolas Cage. The movie irritated me the whole time, but there was something positive: Steve Buscemi. He was the one that made the movie a bit enjoyable and proves why he is one of my favorite actors. Usually I like Nicolas also, but he really messed up this time.

Nothing is more boring than a film which is way too long. In fact, there is almost no story but they still were able to make almost three hours of it. On the other hand, great landscapes! I could watch that for hours, so a dead moment in the story is compromised with that, but after all this deserves nothing more than 5/10

What most annoyed me was that Sharon Stone got the most credits while she is not the main acting pesonality and when she shows up she completely blows it. I've seen you a lot better but your career gets worse every time.

Also the movie is over-sentimental (a minimum amount of tears is required to go to the next scene), and over-all it's more something between "Good Will Hunting" and "Dragon Heart".

To end with something positive: Elden Ratliff and Kieran Culkin did a great job at saving the movie a bit.

After seeing this movie for a couple of times, I really can't find a way to hate this. It's sure not one of the best pictures of all time. Elisabeth Berkley sometimes over-acts (dances great anyway), and it contains some unnecessary violence. On the other hand the music and the choreography were great! If there was an Academy Award for the last part it should be one of the favourites. I've never been in Las Vegas, but I really think it would look a lot like this, even behind the scenes. I think that in a few years people would more appreciate this because it is a classic.

The movie jumps off with one of the best songs of the 80's (Dead or alive's You spin me round), and that made me think that this could be great stuff. But while the film passes on it is more a standard romantic comedy. Placing it in 1985 is too much overdone and way to cliche. Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997) is a good example of how to make an exact copy of a certain time, but in this picture it is too much repeated "Hey, we're in the 80's now", and that's why it's not right. What really blew the movie is that Drew Barrymore (really bad this time) and Adam Sandler get to marry each other. After a few minutes you could predict that. Why is there a rule for a romantic comedy calling "in the end there has to be a mariage"? Is living together not good enough anymore? No more marriages please or I can't stand romantic comedy's anymore.

I've never been a great fan of musicals and this movie prooves why I won't change my mind. It is always predictable the moment when they start to sing. You hear some music, the actors shut up for a moment, and then.......LaLaLaLa etc. Get a life! I'm trying to watch a movie here and I am not interested in some actors who can't sing! And there is really something wrong with the time-setting, like "early 60's mixed with late 70's". I really can't get that idea out of my head. Also the movie brainwashes you with the US-high school-look so much that you almost forget how it was at your own (non-US) school. The only positive part of this celluloid-rubbish is that I always can be irritated with it. Like you want to listen to Howard Stern because you hate him.

Usually, crime-movies are more like a bodycount. This time you begin to understand why somebody is like that and why he is trying to get out of it. The story behind the criminal, but sometimes it is brought in a boring way and the characters are "talking around" and try to make the movie longer than necessary.

After I saw "Karakter" (Character) I knew that in The Netherlands we could also make movies worth looking. This one proves that also. After seeing too many movies with an "American way of life"-look it is a relief to see something completely Dutch. While it's not so perfect as "Character" it's still much better than the average which comes from Hollywood. The actors are exactly at the right place, and the music from Junkie XL is really cool , but I always liked the Prodigy-style.

Finally a Disney movie which isn't moralistic but just fun to watch. Also it doesn't have the boring "sing-along-songs" so this movie is also a perfect movie for anybody about 10 years and (much) older. I really liked the computer-generated graphics because the characters moved very smoothly, something which can't be done the original way. More of these masterpieces in the future please and I will really like Disney at last, but dont't make it to moralistic and musical. That this movie is above all the other Disney -movies in the IMDB top 250 is proof of that.

2 years ago, 1996. A wednesday in april, 8:00pm. As usual I was visiting the sneak-preview in Breda. What movie will it be this time? Exellent, good, average, or horrible? Everything was possible. This time it was something me and a lot of people nerver saw before. After Lenny's magic words "Yeah, boot it" the movie jumped of with one of the best shots I ever saw (that they didn't get an Academy Award nomination for that is a complete mystery). Never before I felt like I was really IN a movie. When the man dropped dead and Lenny jumped to reality, a lot of people really were shocked. Wow , this movie can't go wrong from now on! And that wasn't the only "feel like in a movie" shot. The rape-scene a few minutes before the intermission is one that always will be with you all the time. No way you can ever forget that part!

While the movie was playing I started to realise that the new millennium "Is upon us". It was less than four years or we would be there. And still the movie was science-fiction, although that part came completely reasonable. I really think that one day virtual reality will look much like this in a few years.

Also the music was a positive surprise. Not the usual classic-oriented stuff you usually hear but a mix of ambient, trash and techno. After that scene in which it was used "Coral Lounge" kept pumpin' in my head. The end credits in combination with "While the Earth sleeps" was/is the best ever so far. One that lets you sit till the very end of the celluloid. When the end credits start, you only could realize you just saw one of the best movies of all time... Or just missed it.

What is more positive of this movie? Well, the script is very well -considered. James Cameron did a really good job there (why did he completely blew it for "Titanic"?). You could take a lot of quotes out of it, and the script itself is brought in a convincing way also. The actors really seem to mean what they say. Sometimes the script lets you think about things. Just listen to Max's "Everything has already been done" -speech to give an example.

After all remains one question: Why wasn't this movie such a big success? Under-hyped, too alternative, too violent? I really don't know. A lot of people who also saw this movie almost all agree with me that this is a really good picture indeed. Of all the visitors at the sneak-preview that day (april 1996) the average was about 7,4-7,5 so it could have been a big hit in The Netherlands, wasn't it that it only screened in the four major cities. A strong recommendation is placed here: A worldwide re-release at the end of 1999. Don't make the same mistakes as in 1995-1996, because this movie deserves much-MUCH better. It's not my personal best movie of all time but a very close second.

2 years ago, 1996, a wednesday in april, 8:00pm. As usual I was visiting the sneak-preview in Breda, The Netherlands. What movie will it be this time? Will it be fabulous, just good, average or totally bad? Everything was possible. This time it was something I never saw before. After Lenny's magic words "Yeah, boot it" the movie jumped of with one of the best movie-shots I ever saw (that they didn't get an Academy Award nomination for that is a complete mystery). Never before I felt like I was really IN a movie. Most of the people were positively shocked when the man dropped dead and Lenny jumped to reality. WOW, this movie can't go wrong now! And that wasn't the only feel-like-IN-a-movie shot. The rape-scene a few minutes before the intermission is one that will always be with me. No way you can forget that part!

While the movie was playing I started to realize that relatively soon the new millennium "Is upon us". It would be less than 4 years or we would be there. And the science-fiction part of the movie came completely reasonable. I really think that one day virtual reality will look much like this. Isn't it at the end of 1999, then a few years after it.

Also the music was a positive surprise. Not the usual classic-orientated sphere-creators but a mix of ambient, trash and techno. After the scene in which it was used, "Coral Lounge" kept pumpin' in my head. The end credits in combination with "While the earth sleeps" was/is the best movie-ending so far. It is of a kind that lets you sit till the very end of the celluloid. When you see this part, you only could realise that you just saw one of the greatest movies of all time... or just missed it.

What is more positive about this movie? Well, the script is well-considered. James Cameron did a really good job there (why didn't he do the same for "Titanic (1997)"). You could take a lot of quotes out of it, and it is brought in a convincing way also. The actors really seem to mean what they say. Sometimes the script lets you think about things. Just Listen to Max's "Everything has already been done"-speech to give an example.

After all remains one question: Why wasn't it such a big success? under -advertised, too alternative, too violent? I don't know. A lot of people whom I talked about this movie- masterpiece almost all agreed with me that it is one that made the biggest impact so far (for a sneak-preview). Of all the visitors that day (april 96) the average was 7,4 - 7,5 so it could have been a hit in The Netherlands, wasn't it that it only screened in the 4 major cities. What a pity, because while it is not my personal best picture of all time, it's a very close second. A strong recommendation is placed here: A world-wide re-release at the end of 1999. Don't make the same mistake as in 1995-1996 because this movie deserves much-MUCH better.

How good the original was, so bad is this one. This movie is made by someone who wanted to make extra cash out of the hype the original was, which was quite original and good indeed. But this movie doesn't give that bit extra. To be honest: very overdone. Please don't make a third "Jurassic Park" or else it will go the same way as "Jaws".