A Cinematically Amazing Story!
353398
The author of this book (Jasha Levi) is an eighty-something year-old friend of my mom, who gave me the book as a gift. I figured I'd read a few pages as a courtesy, then put it down and forget about it. Well, that plan fell apart completely when I found myself unable to put it down! This is a gripping (yet sometimes humorous) true tale about a young man surviving in World War II Europe by country-hopping one step ahead of the Nazis, before ultimately making his way to the U.S. and creating a career for himself as a journalist. I highly recommend it!
2128849
If you can appreciate visual beauty in a movie with a good plot, this is the one for you... Subtitles aside, it's an amazing movie.  I can't wait to watch this on my big screen tv now...  I bought it when it came out and I wouldn't watch it until we got the new tv... it's so awesome!
399843
Absolutely an amazing movie! I've really enjoyed this film since it's debut in 1994. It is a story of adventure, love, dedication, respect,  heart, and having an Iron Will! I find it an emotional movie, very dramatic, which is a positive attribute in my opinion. It's a movie that has fantastic replay quality! I highly recommend this movie to everyone!
1701062
I came into this film expecting very little, and was simply shocked. A gripping story combines with wonderful acting, and some great cinematography. A must see for sure!
103745
This movie is awesome and has the potential to go down as one of the best ones ever! The acting is superb, the story is as exciting as it is brutal and one that all movie buffs should own. I promise you will love it!
1343718
"Un long dimanche de fianailles" (A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) is a visual wonder of a film, a tremendously entertaining epic that offers history, World War I from the French point of view, suspense, intrigue, and a healthy dose of romance.  Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet conducts this cinematic symphony based on the novel by S&eacute;bastien Japrisot and has achieved that fine balance between historical incident and romantic illusion.  Clocking in at 134 minutes this is a huge project but the result is as personal and tender an unpretentious love story as you'll ever encounter.

Though the plot is complex with many subplots, MANY characters, and nonlinear method of storyline, the basic tale is that of Mathilde (the beguiling Audrey Tautou), who from childhood has been crippled by polio, and Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) who has been with Mathilde since childhood in a lasting love relationship.  Manech is sent to war (the war is recreated is some of the more realistic rainy trenches situations ever filmed), and when the impact of constant horror becomes too much for him, Manech arranges for a gunshot wound to his hand and thus is condemned to death along with four other soldiers guilty of self-mutilation in order to avoid further battle.  The  fate of the five soldiers is in question and this fact that no one is sure what happened to the five is what drives the story.

Simply stated the story concerns Matilde's unwavering hope that Manech is still alive some years after the war and she hires a detective to investigate the whereabouts of Manech. Through her own intervention and association with incidental characters related in some way with each of the five soldiers Mathilde finally discovers the truth of her very long engagement.

Tautou and Ullieil are splendid in their roles: Tautou can create a character as much from her sensitive plastique face and expressions as from her lines.  The supporting cast is uniformly excellent and there is a very fine cameo by Jodie Foster as Elodie Gordes that allows her to broaden her impressive acting career with a French-speaking role!  The sets and costumes of 1920 France are perfectly achieved in ambience and the cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel who has elected to shoot the entire film in a sepia-toned pastiche of historic flavor is of the highest quality.  Add to this fine mix the original music score by Angelo Badalamenti  and the result is a film that is bound to have a long life.

Yes, there are a lot of films about wars and their effects on mankind and A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is as well conceived as any of them.  Where this film emerges as unique in its genre is its emphasis on the indomitability of the human spirit: while the size of the project is monumental, the underlying spirit is intensely personal and as such is not afraid to add gentle humor to the mix.  Highly recommended.  Grady Harp, July 05
452922
gosh, i was six when i first saw the movie! now that i'm eighteen makes no difference how i love this enchanting story.
smith brings the story up to another level, as he dwelves deeper into sarah's feelings... and also jareth's. the chemistry between the two is undeniable. i would like to think that in another situation both of them would be together, albeit the fact that she's mortal and he a goblin prince.
smith's writing is of course, very detailed and deep, and he tries to explain all the different meanings and reads between the lines of the movie. he has us vying for the king, and rooting for the good guys, too. he makes us want jareth to have a happy ending, and perhaps one with sarah. he makes us want to see the movie.
well, maybe the movie IS old, and the special effects kind of horrid by today's standards, but truth be, enchantments are timeless.
2468097
Such a great movie! My biggest fear was that it was not going to work on my computer, but it worked great!  The image on this movie is so crisp and clear, never a jump, skip, or any pixelation. I totally recommend this movie. The story is amazing too, even to those who may not know the story so well.
2250447
Wow is all I can say I simply marvel at the beauty on the screen before my eyes...I found myself awestruck at some scenes! CGI has come so far its quite amazing! James Cameron's Titanic was quite a marvel in it's own right, but this movie just stunning! The characters, environments, plot, it all was so cohesive nothing was out of tune or didn't match you could tell they worked months and perhaps almost even a year on this masterpiece. The extra features gave in depth looks into exactly what one wanted to know about the movie whether it be how they created a scene or voiced the characters. They showed sketches, clay productions of the avatar creatures, built online in programs models of fighter planes...and much much more. Truly this three disc extended collector's edition was the cream of the crop. Collector's who want the best will want this and will not be disappointed in the least!
4748049
Titanic is one of the few 'chick flicks' love stories that I really enjoy watching, and back then when it was first released, it was spectacular.  The story is beautiful, emotional, thrilling, and heart wrenching at the same time.

Now, this has been made into a 3-D experience of a lifetime.  The picture clarity has gone beyond 'clear'.  It is now something beyond that, the picture is FLAWLESS.  Not a single smudge, blurr, or second out of focus, and the colors are absolutely vibrant with life.  The quality is so 'real', you are in the scenes able to just touch everything you can see.  This is only the second blue-ray/3D movie that I can say this about, out of dozens.  The sound is also incredibly immersive.  You have those quiet dialogue scenes, but when the music and excitement picks up, you are drowned out in special effects, background noises, and it's accompanying background music.  Seems to be genuinely theatre style.

The story itself is just truly an experience to have to watch.  You will forget you are watching a movie only until you are prompted to insert Disc 2.  And THAT is my only dislike about the DvD.  But when the back of the box says it is split into 2 DvD's for maximum quality, the producers were not lying.  It is maximum quality.  And on top of the 3D experience, you get a blue-ray 2D copy, and a digital copy as well.

If you enjoyed the movie Titanic, and are able to watch 3D, you will absolutely and without a doubt love the Titanic 3D experience.
56852
In brief, this is the best movie I've seen in a number of years.  Others here have extolled it's many virtues, so I'll be brief.  Buy it!  Yes, sight unseen, as I did after reading the Amazon reviews.  The bottom line is that this is a story about love: the love of family, of place, of good food, of community, of sharing, of friends, of self, and the overcoming of the barriers borne of suspicion, prejudice and jealousy to arrive at a profound acceptance of, and love for, another.  It also is a story about courage -- the courage to take the first steps in that one hundred foot journey.  The scenery is gorgeous, the story-line is both powerful and delightful, the photography is top-notch, the music is varied and utterly pleasing and the acting so outstanding that each character is fully credible.  Helen Mirren shines, but so do each of the other actors.  Why on earth was this movie somewhat of a sleeper?!  It's simply outstanding!  Buying it was the best money I've spent in a long time.
2430736
This is the first review Ive ever posted for a movie. Im so impressed with this film I decided to commend many involved in its production. First I want to commend the author, Alice Sebold, for writing this great fictional story. Im not only an author, but Im screenwriter too. Therefore, I can imagine how difficult it was for the screenwriters, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, to write the script. Well done!! Young actress, Saoirse Ronan, was a perfect choice. What amazing blue eyes she has, her voice is like that of an angel, and her acting is superb! I look forward to seeing more movies shes starred in.
3087086
I watched this dvd tonight. It has been a while since I cried my eyes out during a film, like I did on this occasion.

Beautiful story and wonderfully acted.  The scenery is breathtaking and the musical score is haunting. This film has a lot of messages apart from the survival aspect. This is a special story about human bonding between two people who would  normally not have crossed paths.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. This moving story has left its mark on me.
4387744
This is a spectacular film! I saw this back in December by accident actually. I was planning on seeing the just released 'The Royal Tenenbaums' and had disregarded this as a slow, boring film for fans of the books of which I had never bothered to read.
I couldn't have been more wrong! I went up to the ticket booth only to find that the movie I was going to see was sold out.
I surveyed the other options eliminating them one by one, until I came to The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. I had seen almost all the other films and finally decided to see Lord Of The Rings. I figured if nothing else I could see what all the hype was about so I paid my [money] (Ouch!) and headed into the theater. Well, I thought to myself as I watched the new Star Wars
trailer, it would appear that the next Star Wars movie is going to be all love story, I was wrong again, as I found out later.
Lord Of The Rings started playing and from scene one, (Galadriel telling the story of the ring thus far, if you remember) I was hooked! The fascinating storytelling kept me engulfed inside another world, Middle-Earth, in fact. The magnificent cinematography and terrific art direction had my eyes riveted to the screen for every single second of film. The spellbinding score was perfect for each and every scene, not one note was wrong or misplaced. The direction was fantastic and the acting, which has received some grief somehow or another, was perfect. Every line was said with perfection, nothing wooden in any of the actors performances. The movie ran for around three hours, which was amazing to me because when I walked out it had felt like two hours at best. I would have sat there and watched the entire trilogy with only a small bathroom break in between if I could have.
After seeing the movie I rushed here, to my computer and got online to Amazon.com and bought the entire Lord Of The Rings set and The Hobbit and have thus far read, The Hobbit, The Fellowship Of The Ring, and am currently reading The Two Towers which I plan on finishing before the first DVD release of LOTR next month.
I went out and saw The Fellowship Of The Ring when The Two Towers trailer was packaged with it and loved the movie just as much as I
had when I first saw it if not more so. Now there has been some
controversy over leaving out and changing some of the original story in the book for the movie. I can tell you now that this move
without a doubt, kept the film going and never slowed to the pace that it would have slowed to had Tom Bombadil been included.
I thought the parts with Tom Bombadil were the slowest in the book and I, for one am glad that they were excluded. The other scenes, such as the deeply moving gift giving scene, I have heard will be included in the November Special Extended Edition DVD release with new music scored by new Academy Award Winner Howard Shore and will be contained on two discs, with two more discs for over 6 hours of special features. I am planning on getting the Collector's Edition
of that DVD that also includes a National Geographic Beyond The Movie DVD and several other Lord Of The Rings items.
But until then I am awaiting The Two Towers, due out December 18th. I also can tell you that the very overrated 'A Beautiful Mind' should have lost Best Picture in favor of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. I just realized that it's Tuesday, which means that this DVD comes out Two Weeks from today!
Yipee! Yahoo! Horray! Yes! Terrific! Spectacular! Magnificent!
My Precious will soon be mine!
2066701
I remember walking out of the matrix the first time i saw it on the big screen, and thinking that no movie could ever top the level of superb cinematography and action in what I had just seen.  When I saw this movie, it blew away that experience.  This movie was unlike any other that I have ever seen.  Not only did it take coreographed fighting scenes to a new level, but the acting was amazing, and the story was enchanting.  (Not to mention that Zhang Ziyi was both stunningly beautiful, and frighteningly deadly on screen.)  Any one who has told me that this movie was boring based on the fact that they had to read the subtitle needs to go pick up a book and practice so they can keep up, it really wasn't that hard!  In fact, I found that for me the subtitle added a whole new deminsion to the intrigue of the film.  This film is foreign, and the fact that we have to read and listen, adds to that effect, making us feel like outsiders.  This makes the audience have to pay attention which is brillant because of the intricacies of the story line.  If you don't pay attention you will probably miss important information.  Well so sum it up, this movie was amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.  Enjoy!
4566649
Simon Vector delivers an amazing story that keeps the reader engaged from cover to cover. From the first few pages you get the chilling sensation of what it must be like to walk the corridors of Alpha Draconis, where the only friendly sound is the echo of your own footsteps. The story paints a vivid picture of the absolute madness of Dr. Kong as he struggles with his own sanity while trying to unlock the secrets of Simon's existence and the horrors he discovers while doing so. And mind blowing space battles that would make George Lucas, Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott eager to transform this story into a magnum opus of cinematic glory.

-Tom Khayos
Raging Nerdgasm
3955903
Wow! Now this was a real adventure! Old school meets newest school - and perhaps the penultimate achievement of CGI to date.

I had so much fun screening this incredible production that it's difficult to compress into a short review. Obviously, others will likely do a plot synopsis and character breakdown, so I'll limit this to just my feelings and observations about Director Steven Speilberg.

This seems to me the pinnacle of Speilberg's visions - having finally found the one medium that can truly express his artistic endeavors, his passion for adventure and drama; of reverent history and fond remembrance. While he'll always be remembered for his live-action films, and who can forget Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, The Color Purple, etc; in my opinion it will be his magic with children's stories that will perpetuate his long-term legacy. This film should, at least in my eyes, be the grand capstone to his incredible career.

I'm so charged right now it's difficult to write! <laughing> ;-D

Suffice to say, this is what I've always believed CGI could accomplish when a competent guiding hand is on the steering wheel. This stunning film is what I suspect Zemeckis' syrupy sentimental '<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Polar-Express/dp/B000Q7ZO8U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Polar Express</a>' and Cameron's infantile and ridiculously preachy '<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Avatar/dp/B002VPE1B6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Avatar</a>' was attempting.

And proof that, if done correctly, computers can achieve something truly magical.

I can't wait for the next chapter! Will happily pay my admission years in advance for another Tintin Adventure.

Personal Notes:

- Loved that there were shades of both 'Indy' in the soundtrack and the use of blended scene cuts - awesome!

- Jazzed when his shooting star signature got worked into the story. <g>

- Was completely floored when I saw, for the very first time last night, that the Laurel & Hardy of our times - Nick Frost and Simon Pegg - were in the movie! Holy smokes! <laughing hard> X-D

- Have to admit at being surprised that the filmmakers utilized "Tin-Tin" and not the phonetically correct Belgian of "Tahn-Tahn". Completely understandable, but it did initially throw me off. (my thanks to The Amazing Race for that tidbit) ;-D