On of the best movies ever made; but...
345951
the language is very rough. There is lots of obscenities, and a little bit of profanity (the one thing inexcusable about the movie.) The acting is supurb, and the plot is riviting. This is one movie that you can watch again and again. It is great movie for adults and unimpressionable younger viewers.
272343
what dosent this movie have? incest, homosexuality, mental illness, experimental brain surgery, carnivourous plants, greedy, grasping southern relatives (greedy southern relatives are best because they try to do it with good manners, and always the best intentions)and ,above all, katherine hepburn, and elizabeth taylor. well worth watching, although not much is shown{because of production codes and such) but plenty is inferred, and sometimes isn't it better to use our imaginations than to have to have someone draw us a picture? by the way, no offense to greedy southerners. im one myself.
4091766
I remember absolutely loving this film when i was about 10 years old. I recently saw it again, about 14 years later, and it is still great, despite losing a little of its flavor.

This is a very original vampire movie, and is wonderfully filmed, but has a few shortcomings.

Caleb seemed like a pushy pervert in his first night out with Mae and their romance seemed to just form up out of the blue. Same thing with transfusions. It takes about 2 minutes of the whole movie and seemed overly rushed.

And little Homer, ugh what an annoying kid. No wonder i don't remember seeing him in other movies...

And the ending is a bit anti climatic considering how these hundred year old vampires die. I thought they would be a bit smarter and have more common sense being alive that long...

But where the movie really shines is with Bill Paxton. His character, Severn, steals the whole show. The S**t kicker slaughter is truly a memorable scene and shows Paxton at his finest.

All in all this is a great little movie from the 80's which few know about. It is definitely a worthy edition to anyones dvd collection.
2532461
there are some movies you can watch over and over again, and get something out of it every time.  the cast, to me, is what makes the movie. the best actors.  it works so well.  love it.
2435106
THE HUNGER GAMES is one of those films that can interpreted a million different ways. . . or can just be just watched for pure entertainment. Excellent cinematography, costume design, and soundtrack along with a very unique storyline help to create a really memorable screen experience. The acting-in-general is contrived and overly perfecto, and there are definitely a few holes and cop-outs in the plot. Yet, THE HUNGER GAMES is so one-of-a-kind that its flaws, some of which might be ruinous in a lesser film, are quite forgiveable.

All the same, there are ways that THE HUNGER GAMES might have been better; e.g., it would have been nice to see more virtually created creature phenomena such as  the were-pitbulls (or whatever they are)toward the end. Another thing: Considering the brutality of the premise, what actually happens during the "game" is fairly tame. Having said that, I'm not sure how it would have worked better--It certainly would NOT have been enhanced by creating a horrific "It's either me or you" gore-fest. It often descends into sentimental, politically correct, teeny-bopperish romance, but just when things start to get too maudlin, new things come up.

I am sure that this film does not do complete justice to the book trilogy, which I have not read but am now very eager to read. The mere fact that the movie made me (and I'm sure many others) want to read the books speaks for itself.
4080257
What makes following movies a great hobby is that everyone has their own opinion as to what constitutes the best of all time.  While I do not agree with some of the authors' opinions,I have to respect their detail in providing these opinions.
3100773
Though it is a very good film -- actually two films in one -- it does not equal the perfection of The Godfather (now known as Part I).  The best half is that of the young Vito.  The less than superb half is the continuing story of Michael.  Everyone knows these films, so I'll just say that the Michael half is humorless and some scenes do not ring quite right.  Would Kay and Michael really throw that overblown day long party with every Corleone acquaintance, including the senator from Nevada, to celebrate their son's first communion?  How could would-be assassins get outside Kay and Michael's bedroom window on that fortress-like compound?  I don't believe that Kay Corleone would have a healthy baby son aborted to stop "This Sicilian Thing."  Would Fredo really have instigated a hit on his brother that could well have killed Kay also?  I realize these are fictional characters, but their personalities are clearly drawn and understood by the end of G Part I.  So Coppola I think stretched credulity a bit in G Part II.
I also think Michael's dealings with Hyman Roth are a little difficult to understand as presented.  This was potentially a very fascinating relationship that could have been developed more fully. ("Michael, we're bigger than US Steel.")  I could go on with even little things (for instance the way Mama Corleone is dressed while in her casket), but I'll just assume that the director didn't consider these particularly important.
Still, as a sequel (and a prequel) to G Part I, this is a very fine film.  It is not a masterpiece as G Part I is, but it is exponentially better than the ill-conceived G Part III.  The cinematography is beautiful, and the musical score is, once again, superb.
2069160
I have a deep love for this movie, and by buying the extended version I figured I could extract even more from it. Honestly, the added footage is nice and slightly adds to the storyline and character development, but I would reccomend the original version over this newly extended one. Despite other reviews, it is clear when the new footage is introduced in contrast to the other. It goes from looking like a BBC sitcom to watching a movie in theatres. It's very distracting in my opinion. If, however, the quality of video was up to par with the rest of the movie, I would totally reccomend the extended version. It's very sad that the film was lost/destroyed but a fact that most people fail to realize is that there is plenty more footage that isn't in this extended version that was butchered before the theatrical release that NO One has seen save the director and a few others. I would love to see the old footage revived and a definitive director's cut.
3352708
Fight Club is without a doubt the greatest film I've ever seen. Yeah, I'm a fanboy. And what? And to make a great film flow, you need great music, right? Well, you need great music that fits the film, and the Dust Brother's score more than does the trick. The film is dark yet satirical, and it needed a score that would compliment that.

However, the score simply doesn't stand up on its own. At times in the film it perfectly enhances the dark atmosphere, but its only a part of a tense scene. And hence, it sounds rather empty by itself.

No matter how much you like the film or thought the music sounded good in it (as I did), I wouldn't recommend it. Like so many other scores, it could have been made into great music but fails since its just lifted from the film.
4633673
...Just got through watching Gojira. Yes it's a great movie, well worth watching, and a relief to hear in the original Japanese. BUT:

1.) The film is very badly speckled, and with so many atmospheric night scenes, this really got in the way of my enjoyment. Once Gojira is crashing through Tokyo, no problem; but in the many scenes leading up to this, the speckles are a major distraction. They also hamper the climax, which takes place underwater.

2.) The subtitles are a very pale yellow and quite thin. Against the sharp black and white background, they're tough to read. My wife and I were reading them out loud to each other, which severely undermined our ability to focus on, say, the actors and their facial expressions.

3.) Fullscreen presentation, as opposed to widescreen. Maybe this is the ratio in which it was released? I don't know, but I have to think not.

Great movie, but for the price you're paying for the "Deluxe Collector's" blah blah, I think it should have been done better. Compare this to, say, Universal's Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection, which presents 5 similar-era movie in crystalline clarity for about the same price. Don't get me wrong: I have plenty of those 50-movie packs and am NOT a diehard fan of "digital remastering," whatever that is. I just think that the condition of the movie here should match the slick packaging. It doesn't and that's a little disappointing.

Terrific movie. Buy it, watch it, but don't expect perfection.
456686
There appear to be 3 or 4 different movies going on at the same time: a CGI spectacle (the  "heaven" scenes have too much CGI -as Viggo Mortensen has noted-the film may have been better if it had cost $6 million-like Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures" instead of $60 million), a horror film (the first 30 minutes are skin-crawlingly uncomfortable, as they should be), a deeply moving drama, and, unbelievably, a comedy, as Sarandon seems to have entered from an entirely different film. I suspect the book was unfilmable, and the film seems to prove it. However, the acting is very good, and there is some really brilliant stuff here.
4858919
i think this film is a landmark for what hollywood can do to what should in all terms be a landmark film. leave it to hollywood to take a fantastic story, throw an enormous budget at it and still manage to screw things up. visually stunning, yes; a good film, i'd say in spite of everything still pretty good; but the heart of it seems ripped out by dubious choices. first and most aggregious in my mind is bound to cameron crowe's obsession with popular music. in almost famous it all worked, but that was a movie ABOUT music. here the music is beyond intrusive: it rings in at ridiculous moments, drowns out everything that is on screen, seems as though it is only there to force us to feel a certain way and at that something we shouldn't be feeling in concert with where the film is at that point. then there's the end. i don't know why filmmakers these days feel like they have to spell everything out in a series of flashback cuts with voice-overs. take a hint from american psycho and mulholland drive, for instance: films about unsteady grips on reality are more powerful when they create unsteadiness and leave you to determine just what personal and social factors are creating such problems in the film. i almost feel as though "tech support" is an inside joke in hollywood, something producers think is necessary in order to appease what they view as an impatient and insentient fan-base. if not, it certainly works as a nice allegory. other things bother me, too. i hate, for instance, the dichotomies of dream and nightmare, sane and insane, conscious and unconscious-- allow me some grey area to swim in. and the discomfort continues. still, though, i do feel it's worth watching-- gorgeous visually, even a good film. it's just lamentable that it should be great but isn't, and you have to watch it do that to itself.......
(abre los ojos, the spanish original, does better with the filmmaking but lacks the budget to make it as visually engaging as vanilla sky (it takes a lot of dough to clear out times square))
53230
This is one of the best movies ever made. They just don't make them like that anymore. All the old time actors; they are all such familiar faces but I realized that we see hardly any of them anymore. There's only one way to really enjoy this movie: one must cook some spaghetti sauce on the stove all day long (with sausage and hamburger), buy some fresh Italian bread and some cannoli's just in case you have room after all that spaghetti.

One thing about this movie is that you have to pay attention closely otherwise you'll get lost, unless you've seen it a dozen times like me. The music is perfect for this film and the acting is great. Put that together with a great story line and that's why this is one of the greatest movies ever.
3686336
Donnie Darko is one of the most original and compelling films ever made.  I give the movie a firm 5 stars.  For details of the film, read the other reviews.  Suffice to say that it's a haunting, brilliantly cut film-noir with very interesting characters and superb acting by the entire cast.

The Director's Cut, however, lacks.  I firmly believe that director's cuts should add new footage, not change existing footage.  With 20 extra minutes, there's a new scene here and there, but the most obvious changes are in the way certain scenes play out.  The eyeball thing every time Donnie encounters Frank the rabbit doesn't quite seem to fit, and the time travel sequence at the end is just way to busy-looking to be enjoyed.  I much preferred the simplicity of the way that scene played out in the original.  A few tiny segments have been cut entirely, and that bothers me because in this movie, it's the little things that make it interesting.  The 5.1 surround sound has also been re-edited, and again, I prefer the original.  During the Sparkle Motion scene at the talent show, the sound quality of the Duran Duran song is terrible, but halfway through, it fixes itself.  The picture quality is far worse than the original cut.

All in all, I think the original is better.  The excerpts from the "Philosophy of Time Travel" book is a nice change though.  Rent this first before you buy.
443093
I love Face Off and i think that this is the best film Nicholas Cage and even John Travlota has been in ( those that say Grease is his best are clearly not the type of people to be watching a John Woo film )

The action is top notch and the movie is well paced with great acting from all cast members... however this edition has one majour problem and that is the fact that they have not removed ANY of the wires used in stunts and it really kills the movie TRUST ME.

I have the one disk edition as well and i must say the 'special' features were nothing 'special'

If you love action movies id probably reccomend this on VHS or even grabbing a DVD copy of 'A fist full of bullets'
261049
The kids are amazing, their work is stunning, their talent and personalities just absolutely make this movie the incredible Oscar-winning work that it is.

But I really wish these movies that show the "gritty side of life" would focus on grit that is closer to home and not in some "poor, remote, third-world country" that everyone can then pity. Take a look at the lives of prostitutes in Las Vegas, L.A., New York - and will those scenes be any different from the red light district in Calcutta? This film reminded me of the movie "Rabbit Proof Fence" - "ah, if only these poor natives could see the error of their ways and just let us HELP them!" When the mother mourns the loss of her daughter as she's taken away to the school, and the daughter cries in the lap of her friend, the rescuer/heroine simply says very coolly, "she can visit you." Where was the empathy for the women and children who she wanted to honor with this film?

I had to laugh when the little boy says that "nowhere else in the world have I seen people living in such filth." This is from a 12yr old boy, living in a brothel in Calcutta, who has likely NEVER seen another part of the world - whether in real life or in books - and how did he come to that conclusion? Has he ever seen life of the homeless and prostitutes living under the bridges and overpasses of our great American cities?

The movie was beautifully-crafted, amazing, and sad - and I do appreciate the photographers' effort to "do good" for the kids by helping them to discover their hidden talents. But I found the overall tone patronizing and even condescending. After too many of these types of "India movies," I'm tired of it.
4429226
The movie blew me away! The music was amazing; beautiful!

Here is my problem with the soundtrack:
It was more like an audio Cliff's Notes version of the movie! Except for the last track (Mon Homme), it was a perfect chronological instant replay of the film. There are about 9 dialogue clips on the CD, which can be fun, but 9? That's a bit excessive. Also, many of the music tracks contained dialogue from the film. For example, I would have really liked to have heard a version of "Be As Thou Wast Wont" WITHOUT the dialogue and "lu,lu,lu's".

I guess I would have preferred a soundtrack that could be thrown on as dinner music, or background music, or added to a playlist... but this album is useless for any reason other than playing it from start to finish so you can relive the movie, like while on a road-trip or something.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but if I had access to the original score and soundtrack, I would have made an entirely different album. Less dialogue, maybe add a couple remixes... I don't know, just something a little more listenable.