One of the OK Crowe movies before he got into doing really good stuff
592393
When FBI Agent Zack Grant, played by Russell Crowe (Cinderella Man, Heaven's Burning), loses his partner Seiko Kobayashi, played by Kelly Hu (Scorpion King, X-Men2:X-Men United), in a blown up operation, a Neo-Nazi son of a mafia man named Victor Serlano, played by Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210, Domino) also dies and his father Frank Serlano, played by Michael Lerner (The Mod Squad, Godzilla (1998) with a not so believeable mustasche, kidnaps Zack's son Eric, played by little Andrew J. Ferchland (Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and so Crowe goes all gung-ho renegade, so Lerner wants Yakuza member Yuji Kobayashi, played by Etsushi Toyokawa (Love Letter, Dog Star), and he wants Crowe to bring him back to him and Crowe will get his son back. But things get complicated along the way, and Crowe's prisoner is making him tick along the way. Crowe and Toyokawa are joined by airplane stewardess Mary, played by Helen Slater(Supergirl, The Legend Of Billie Jean) who is also a hostage in the whole mix. This Action Thriller goes like this, good moment, boring moment, good moment, ok moment, boring moment, good moment, ok moment, boring, boring moment, good moment and so on. One of the OK Crowe movies before he got into doing really good stuff...here he saves this from being a total disaster....him and actor Etsushi Toyokawa make this worth the watch. Christian Slater's Sister, Helen Slater has some funny oneliners and is sexy holding a gun...that's basically it and Ian Ziering was wasted in a small role. If you're a fan of Crowe like I am, I recommend this but to those who don't like Crowe, well...just watch it once.
148670
Director: James Mangold. Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Ben Foster.
Poor, one legged rancher, Dan Evans (Bale), must accompany dangerous criminal, Ben Wade (Crowe), to the 3:10 train to Yuma with a cluster of inept bounty hunters, after discovering Wade robbing a carriage on his land with his gang of violent colleagues. Naturally, a dangerous journey beset with psychological mind games ensues. The movie is extremely entertaining, with a great cast of actors. I thinks the movie works well because of the two lead performers. They both manage to muster appropriate amounts of depth in difficult roles, with Bale expressing an intense air of desperation with ease, while Crowe bounces off his co star as he treads the blurred line of good/bad guy with a rugged charisma.
Ben Foster is on typically over-the-top form as the second-in-command of Crowe's posse, offering another nicely played psycho to his fledging bad guy career.
All in all, I am glad I saw it in the theater--looked good on the big screen.
1695930
If you like Will Smith, this one is not bad. He's himself as in most of his movies. it's not his best, but its still good
4139964
I like a good old fashion western, & this film had all the right elements to be that, the landscapes are beautiful at best, & the characters are well defined, well sort of, the problem I had here was whether or not to root for Russell Crowe's outlaw  or Christian Bale's honest farmer, as this film went on I found it hard to like or dislike either man, & Peter Fonda's bounty hunter character was a good role for a seasoned actor like Fonda, but he doesn't seem to become the bounty hunter we know he really is, when Bale is hired to help escort Crowe to a train that will take him to stand trial, you can almost feel as if Crowe is not as bad as he should be, & Bale comes off as uptight, when Crowe sort of redeems himself at the end, you are left with confusion as to why he does what he does, wanted to like it, but found it difficult to like or dislike either character.
853081
"3:10 to Yuma" was a worthy representive of the reprisal of the Western genre seen recently on the silver screen.  Russell Crowe acknowledged as one of the finest actors on the scene today was superb as heinous, calculating outlaw Ben Wade.  Christian Bale equalled his intensity in his role as crippled Civil War veteran and struggling Arizona rancher Dan Evans.

Based on an Elmore Leonard short story, director James Mangold adroitly used the beautifully sculpted New Mexico countryside to frame his drama.  Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael and a series of authentic looking sets captured the flavor of the gritty and grimy old West.

Crowe playing the shrewd yet somewhat moralistic badman gets captured after his remorseless gang robs the stage headed for Bisbee, Arizona.  Part of the armed guard aboard the stage consisted of a bounty hunter Byron McElroy played in a rare appearance by an aged Peter Fonda.  A posse outfitted by the Southern Railroad gets commissioned to bring the shackled Crowe to Contention where the prison train to Yuma will pick him up.  Bale desperate for money and determined to elevate his depleted status in the eyes of his family signs on for the job.  They set out on a perilous journey through Apache country trailed by Crowe's murderous gang now led by a mean spirited and quick drawing demon Charlie Prince played nicely by Ben Foster.

Along the way members of the posse get winnowed out but they are joined by Bale's son William played by newcomer Logan Lerman, who'd disobeyed his father's orders to stay home.  As they arrive in Contention it turns out that the obsessed Bale must by himself escort Crowe to the train against the plethora of guns courtesy of Crowe's cabal.  By this time a mutual respect has developed between the adversaries on either side of the law.  In an unexpected twist from the original Crowe proves his mettle helping elevate Bale's worth under the watchful eyes of his 14 year old son.
4187563
It's hard to repeat the same magic over again, and perhaps this film best states that.  Tony Scott directs this time around and while he made this one flashier and more action-packed than its predecessor, he doesn't quite handle it as well as Martin Brest did.  Still, Eddie Murphy is funny as ever and delivers many memorable performances.  Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are also onboard and are in fine form.  To sum it all up, the performances are great (with Paul Reiser having a larger role than before) and the visual style is WOW.  But the plot is very thin this time around and the film drags towards the end.  It doesn't hold a candle to the first one, but stands alright on its own.  Just watch and enjoy.
800611
Russel Crowe a Cinderella man for his family,a Robin Hood for his purpose,becoming a Gladiator with a Beautifull Mind.excellent movie.
1064686
I didn't really know what to expect from this movie.  I had heard that it was a romantic drama.  I had also heard that this movie was strictly an action.  I didn't know what to believe.  Proof of Life stars Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse, and David Caruso.  Ryan plays Alice Bowman, a horrified wife who is trying to save her kidnapped husband from a band of South American terrorists.  Crowe plays Terry Thorne, the designated KNR (kidnap and rescue) consultant who is trying to negotiate the ransom of Morse.  The movie is a compilation of drama and action, with a hint of romance between the two main characters.  It's a rather good story with semi-good acting by Crowe and Ryan.  What really surprised me about this movie was the great acting by David Morse and David Caruso.  It was an interesting sight to see Morse's character go from a very clean shaven human being to a hardened survivor.  Caruso adds a bit of comedy to this movie and plays Crowe's friend and also doubles as another KNR consultant.  Usually Caruso gets stuck with a bad roll, but in this movie he really shines and shows his true acting capability.  I enjoyed this movie mainly beacuse of the gripping and intersting story it showed.  After watching it, one can imagine the horror of being abducted.  I highly recommend this movie.
2490856
1.  I was mildly disappointed by the time this movie finished, not because it was bad, but my expectations were higher than the reality.

2.  Overall, a good / solid action movie, good acting, good story etc... however nothing beyond that which would move it into the exceptional category.  ie, definitely rent the DVD, but it doesn't merit purchasing it for one's collection.
2805029
This was one film that I really enjoyed from start to finish. The DVD looks and sounds Fantastic if you have a Dolby Digital or DTS system. I have watched this movie at least ten times already. I really like the story of revenge against the Emperor. The coliseum looks great! Russel Crowe does such a superb job that I was quite happy when he won the Oscar for Best Actor. I really thought Ridley Scott would finally win an Oscar for Best Director, but again he gets the shaft. My friends come over all the time and this is the only movie they want to watch over and over. Of course this is more of a guy movie. My wife and her friends like it, but didn't love it. The second DVD has some really great deleted scenes that I thought should have been included. It is definitely worth buying.
117749
I certainly enjoyed the movie, and I found Russell Crowe well cast as Jack Aubrey.  Watching the movie and expecting to gain a sense of the plot of the book entitled MASTER AND COMMANDER, however, would be a waste of time.  No problem.  I just wish the director didn't pose Russell Crowe on the rigging at the bow of the ship quite so ridiculously.
3563406
Almost Famous is Almost Perfect, because there's nothing perfect in this world, but is very close to be perfect. The story and the characters are well written and Cameron Crowe directing his own writing is always a sign of a good movie. If you like his past movies like "Say Anything" or "Singles" you are going to Love this one.
2171711
Skilled, good-looking actors made this terrible story bearable.  I actually watched it TWICE in a row because I thought the problem of not understanding the story was with me and not Cameron Crowe, and I will say, I ended up appreciating the movie much more after watching it the second time.  Oddly, there were a lot of mumbling moments with the actors - unintelligible dialogue - but I paid closer attention the second time and that improved things.  Cameron Crowe could have done SO MUCH more with the lead characters - he had them right in front of him and he blew it. (I did appreciate seeing John Krasinski in a new light - strong, silent, and handsome instead of silly, so that was quite nice.)
Bottom line is, you've to really like these particular actors in order to like this particular movie.
130066
It wasn't over the top like some films with outlandish stunts.  Although at one point the bad guy instead of finishing the job needed to talk over some details, which in real life I don't see it going that route.
4106828
There are many great things going on in this film, but there is also something missing that should've brought it together. Pierce's character seems to be trying too hard to make you hate him, not because of his performance, but that fact that his hatred of the moonshiners is never fully understood, therefore falling short in justification.
Great ending, Tom Hardy takes the film to the level of greatness it achieves. Some people give Shia Labeouf crap, but I just don't see why. He is a good actor and doesn't disappoint in this film.

Worth a looksie fer sure.
453966
Not one we'll watch frequently, but it was pretty good.
421736
I saw True Lies at a theater with a friend.  The movie itself is overall very good and quite funny as well as having some good action scenes.  That said, the movie has quite a bit of sexually related or inappropriate references.  There is even a quasi pole dance scene in the movie.  Between some of the language of other inappropriate talk or scenes, the movie is not something I can watch in good conscience as a follow of Yeshua the Messiah.

The movie starts off strong with a good action scene and beautiful scenery at that.  In my opinion and the opinion of my friend that saw the movie with me, the movie detoured for a while with the wife and some of the hard to believe or cheesy things that took place.  I don't think the movie ever fully recovered, but it did get better.  Overall, I would say the movie is 3.5 or 3.75 stars out of 5, probably not 4 starts, but better than 3 stars.

The DVD itself was Widescreen (which I prefer) and the quality was very good (for its time), but the DVD was unspectacular as far as extras or bonus features.  It had some subtitle options, original trailer, etc.