Reviews

Whilst the Phantom menace left me cold and bored, this really enthused me. I think that the pace was really good particularly after Obi arrives on the clones planet. It started to zip along and the fight scenes at the end were terrific. It took me back to the excitement of the earlier films and always looked awesome.

It was a bit twee when it came to romance but well, that was never Lucas' strongpoint. His vision of the future was scintillating to look at and for me that was never in itself.

I reckon the third installment will be fantastic!

Speilberg's films tend to divide people. He's become someone to attack. Look he's not a fresh talent, perfect or a genius. What he can to do is amaze audiences. That's what happened to me here.

Yes, I found some of it incredulous, rushed, underdeveloped and overfamiliar but overriding this was a feeling of being in the presence of something much closer to humanity than many would like to admit. There are tremendous moments in this film, notably the first 45min (Kubrickesque), the Flesh Fair scene, the trip to New York and the eventual resolution. I would agree that it does feel a bit patched together and over-edited but the alternative would have been 4hrs or so (probably a better film). If Spielberg had made this 15yrs ago, it would have been gigantic. If Kubrick had released it then, it may have been even better. Whatever, this is must see, essential cinema which is profoundly moving.

Don't listen to the cynics. Let them all go and enjoy what's "trendy".

I haven't laughed at a film as much as this in a long time. This is popcorn cinema at its best. Eddie Murphy's donkey is excellent as are all the characters. Ok, afterwards it dissolves in the brain like sherbet and it certainly is not a top #250 film. However I really liked it and it's a probable 8.

This is a mess. I know there are some of you who will find the lack of plot stimulating and the visual imagery dazzling. With so many quality people involved, Patricia Arquette excepted, it is hard to see why this should have flopped so badly.

I enjoyed the relentlessness of the paramedic shifts, the occasional insights into the dodgier parts of NYC and of course, Nicolas Cage is always watchable but.... .. it was way over the top. Relied heavily on musical interludes and flashy cinematography. I felt uninvolved with all of the characters, they seemed very one dimensional. There was no depth to any of it.

In short an attempt to make a fantastical documentary. Not very interesting.

"This is a Taxi Driver for the 90's". To misquote Lloyd Bentsen "Son, I knew Taxi Driver", "You are no Taxi Driver"

This is a quite chilling film with a tendency to go a little over the top at times. Nicholas Cage is characteristically ghost-like in his portrayal of a man sucked into the world of fetishistic porn. On the whole it works as an intriguing thriller but not as an education in this subspeciality of sexual deviance.

OK maybe there is a quality of the seventh sense about this but it's actually pretty good. For the whole of its length it grips. To the final reel one is unsure what is going to happen. Ok occasionally perhaps fantasy and reality get a little mixed up and why is it shot in Chicago? Is Chicago full of the Supernatural?

Overall though it's exciting, scary and much better than the schlock teenage death fests that are currently smothering the market.

Having missed this in the cinema, I sat down one Saturday night in the dark to see what all the fuss was about. I've read a collection of the opinion of others who appear to be totally split on this.

The main reason to watch this is for its originality. It does capture the fear of the dark and requires your own imagination to work out what is happening. I have little idea what happened out there in the woods but I was sure as hell scared by it.

A must see movie if only to make your own mind up about it. 8/10