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Reviews
Bravo Two Zero (1999)
Excellent acting
I really enjoyed this movie. Up to this movie I had only seen Sean Bean play over-acted bad guy characters. In this movie however he gave a truly superb performance. The movie was otherwise good - good action scenes and so on. Still, the best reason to see it is to see Sean Beans brilliant and human interpretation of the main character Andy McNab.
No Man's Land (2001)
Not bad
No man's land is a very good black allegory about the bosnian war. It sometimes too simple and trivializing, but pretty good on the whole.
Good directing and good cast. Kusturicas Underground is still much better.
The cast was good and the directing too (although very hollywood - clever cuts and so on).
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
This movie is just too much.
Ok, I expected this to be another brainless hollywood-style action movie, and I was right. Having that state of mind, I could enjoy the movie until the silly end. I could stand the sterotypical bad guy/good guy theme. I even accepted that mines only hurt the bad guys... somehow.
The end was too unbelievable for me. You have 4 hueys against X number of BMPs and BMP-2s, which are armed with AT-4a missiles and of course 73mm guns. Since this is a piece of unbelievable pro-us-military propaganda, the hueys win. I can accept exaggeration in the interest of the plot, but this was just over the top.
The directing of this movie is questionable. It is shot in a music video MTV-style. Sometimes it works, but often it doesnt.
Les rivières pourpres (2000)
Hmm, what can I say?
I have some split thoughts on this movie. In general it was good with a bad ending. When I say good I mean that I enjoyed watching it.
On the bad front, this movie has so many plot holes that if you would put it into water it would sink faster then Jean Reno thrown of the Brooklyn bridge with his feet cemented. Some of the basic premises of the story (which ultimately leads to the lousy ending) are not just flawed, but dead wrong. Another (bad?) thing is that the movie is very promising until the end, where you really get disappointed.
Otherwise, the acting is good, the cinematography excellent and so on..
Starship Troopers (1997)
Why don't people get it?
I read the comments and realize that most people have missed the point of the movie. That goes especially for the American reviewers. Why is that? I am sure that the Americans are no less smart then the rest of us. My guess is that we in Europe see the movie as a clever satire of the American culture, while the Yanks cant see it because it hits a little too close to home. That might seem a somewhat prejudicial, but I cant figure out any other answer. To me and my friends it was so obvious at once what this movie was about. It is a over-the-top satire of the American culture/military/values. Compare it with for instance Pearl Harbor, a typical US 'propaganda' movie, or Top Gun and then draw the parallels!
Paul Verhoeven makes fun of the stereotype 'patriotic' movies. Starship Troopers stands as an excellent counter-weight.
I guess that a satire of, among other things, the US military is not very popular right now. That is why this movie is more important now then ever. If you can't laugh at your core values and see them in perspective then you are in dire straits, because that is the road to a fascist society.
Braveheart (1995)
Horrible Directing
The cast is good. The story is good too. The directing is one of the worst I have seen. This movie would be 30 min long if the director skipped all the poorly timed slow-motion sequences. Remove those and you have a pretty decent flick!
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Good? Err, I don't know
This is a difficult movie to rate. As a stand-alone I guess it is quite alright. When compared to the original, it is weak. If one doesnt make the mistake of comparing the two of them, then one can really enjoy it in a standard-action-movie kind of way. The original was very politically charged and had a philosophy behind. This remake was a pure action flick, no deep thoughts here. Tim Burton is as always an excellent director so the movie is visually pleasant to watch. The ending wasnt too good. I can see the idea behind it but it failed miserably and just left a bad aftertaste.
While it really has nothing to do with the original movie (except apes that talk and rule the humans), it is really hard not to compare them two while watching the movie. Therefor I, with some reservations, would not recommend it to people who have seen the original.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Good movie? Yes! Bet movie? No!
I almost choked when I saw that The Fellowship of the Ring was ranked #1 on the top movies list. Come on people! That is just absurd. This was a good movie, but nothing amazing. I believe that too many voters think something like this:
1) The movie is a very good adaptation of Tolkiens work.
2) The Tolkien books are the best books ever written.
1,2=> The movie is excellent.
I don't like Tolkien, but even if I did, I have to say that there is more to be required of the #1 film then to be a good adaption of a good book. It also reflects that the IMDB voting system should be reviewed.
Rating 7/10
The Pledge (2001)
Fargoesqe drama
For some reason this movie reminded me of Fargo, which I wasn't too fond of. The Pledge is a very well produced movie. Lovely scenery and some nice cinematography. The story is at first rather trivial, then a bit disturbing and towards the end exciting with a nice (anti)climax.
I believe that Sean Penn has done a very good job directing this movie. The actors are good and convincing too. The movie is worth seeing once. I didn't like it, but then again I didn't like Fargo either.
The movie gets a 6.5/10 from me, but probably deserves more.
Antz (1998)
Great adult fun
I don't know if this is a movie for kids, but it rocks for adults. I have rarely seen so many good punchlines and one-liners in a movie. The voices are fantastic - you can really connect them to the actors behind them.
*MILD SPOILER PERHAPS* Again, the one-liners. After a revolution in the ant-colony you can hear an ant worker quoting Marx: "It's the workers who control the means of production" and similar things. I can't remember last time I laughed so much in a movie as in Antz.
At least 9/10
Memento (2000)
Not as good as the first impression
To say that I was amazed the first time I saw Memento would be a grave understatement. The ending was so spectacular that I thought that this was the best movie I've ever seen. I called all my friends and told them of this wonder. This euphoria lasted for two days or so. Then i got some perspective on things.
Memento is technically very good. It has a very slick execution and you believe the story. Still, it is just pure entertainment. It doesn't have any deeper meaning.
Very well executed and intelligent film. Very fun. Very good. Witty. Not the best movie of all times. 9/10
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Symbolistic Terry Gilliam trip
To understand this movie, you must understand the style of Terry Gilliam. He doesnt say right out what he wants you to think and feel but suggests with a highly symbolistic approach. You can see it in different ways.
If you look for simply entertainment its great: a funny, witty LSD trip visualised on the big screen. If you want to go deeper you can see that this is a serious anti-war movie picking up on the Vietnam war story and the parallels of a similar war within society. It also gives an interesting, perhaps nostalgic portrait of that time.
The cinematography is truly amazing. Wide angles, witty cuts, great subtle sfx. As for the actors: equally amazing. Jonny Depp is quite convincing and fun to watch as a permanently stoned reporter. Benicio del Toro showed among other things his method-acting skills in the best de Niro (Raging Bull) manners.
I highly recommend this movie. A direct 10/10