Reviews

All the above comments are true. What moved me to comment was the richness of the sets and costumes. Who can forget what the bad Luke Plummer looked like with his Montana Peak Hat and chaps. Not a word he said, yet he moved around the bar with a realistic belligerent grace. What of the Stagecoach stop manager with the Apache wife. The point is even the most minor characters added to the texture of the film. These colorful characters are sadly lacking in today's movies where everyone from almost every nation looks and acts the same.

The set of Lordsburg at night seemed so real one could almost sense it by smell; e.g. horse dung, tobacco smoke, wood somoke, cheap perfume, and (of course) gunsmoke!

As a Catholic and graduate of a Catholic grammar school, this movie was particularly nostalgic. While I never knew anyone whose faith was quite as strong as Lili Taylor's character, I was indoctrinated in "Saint Lore". Lili Taylor was perfectly believable as the serene beautified girl who loves Jesus and is visited by him under ordinary circumstances. Lili Taylor's smile and calmness would be a great joy and comfort to anyone. Yes, I bought the movie in its entirety and cannot find a critical word to offer. If other viewers find joy in organized religion, this is the movie for believers regardless of faith. Also, If you like Lili Taylor's work, you will not be disappointed.

Science fiction only works if the writer(s), director and producer keep faithful to scientific fact and go off into fantasy where known science ends. Scenes of space shuttles with no propellent tanks but with burning rocket engines, crackling fires in vacuum of space, drilling tractors armed with 20mm gatling guns. This is what happens when the writer, director and producer fail to graduate from high school. This was one of the most absurd films I have seen. The constant camera movement for the first half of the film was tiresome. This was an animated comic book for imbeciles.

Michael Caine cannot make a bad movie. This guy could read the telephone book aloud and make it fun. The two girls, one of whom grew up to become Demi Moore, are beautiful. It is a fun movie and the older I get the more I appreciate the humor.

Twenty seven years ago, this movie had a real life authenticity to my generation.

Like many movies that lack real greatness, this one worked only in the period in which it was made. The early 1970s produced "real movies" like this one, Bob Rafelson's "The King of Marvin Gardens", "Five Easy Pieces", "Carnal Knowledge". They were heavy for their time, but if watched recently one wonders "whatever were we & they thinking?" They just don't hold up that well. Still, the scene with Sybill Shepard emerging naked from the swimming pool still gets my heart pumping. Ben Johnson's portrayal of Sam the Lion is among his best work.

Are audiences are more jaded and find it harder to access the simpler life of west Texas? I just wish the movie had been a little less stylized and a bit longer on story.

This TV show taught me the correct way to seat a Fedora on one's head. Every episode had Victor Jory's character leave his office to investigate a crime only after "screwing" his Fedora onto his head in with great precision. I still do it his way to this day.

Not being much of a Quentin Tarantino fan I thought this was the his most impressive film. This has to do with a more interesting plot and better developed characters than earlier films. The director does an excellent job of fleshing out some of the characters, especially Jakie (and what beautiful flesh it is, too. Pam Greer never looked better.) and Ordell. Robert de Niro's character was not developed into much although he did that wonderful secene with Bridgette Fonda at the clothes rack in the department store; i.e. The Stare. Forster was very believable and clearly sympathetic. I had no trouble imagining how it must be to kiss Jackie.

The music was great. I had no idea Tarantino had such a deep knowledge of the classics.

I was amused by the use of period cars throughout the movie, even in parking lots. Although the film make reference to the Gulf War, Cherry drive a late 1970's Seville? Surfer Girl drive a vintage VW Bus, and 1970s cars litter some parking lots at the mall.

The plot had enough turns to it to stay unpredictable and engaging. A fun film.

Great atmosphere; i.e. post WWII Buenas Aires, complete with collaborators and other lesser souls. Plot gets a bit thick and hard to follow. Dick Powell waives a Luger Parabellum at lots people, but it's not cocked. He also get's hit on the head from behind. This might be his trademark (see "Murder, My Sweet").

Most memorable line: "I've thought it over and decided to ignore you."

One movie that actually tried to reproduce the sense of the book. "Moby Dick" is one of my favorite books, so this film version means a lot to me. It was also the first movie I saw as a child of five. Huston really captued Father Mapple in casting Orson Wells. It has been reported elsewhere that Wells was "well-lubricated" for the final filming of this scene. He was still considered controversial in 1956 owing to his depiction of Hearst in "Citizen Kane". Wells' monologue, Father Mapple's sermon, was one of his finest moments in acting.

In the early 1970's I met a technical advisor for the whaling scenes. He was an old time mariner (in his 80s) with the improbable name of Spike Africa! He was one of the last U.S. seaman to hunt down and kill whales with a lance thrown from an open boat. He offered me a pair of lances he used to kill whales (harpoons hook the whale to drag the whale boat through the water after the whale. Lances are used to kill). I declined his offer owing to squeamishness. Spike was impressed with the detail that Huston followed to create the thrill and terror of the chase. Much original footage was edtited out of the movie. Gregory Peck's portrayl of Ahab was so definitive that Patrick Stewart seemed to copy his moves and inflections in the recent TV remake.

A great period movie although it could have been longer to capture more of Melville.

This movie was made by Noel Coward to dramatize the service of Lord Louis Mountbatten, later Admiral of the Fleet & The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (Captain Kinross in the movie) and his ship HMS Kelly, the leader of a Destroyer Flotilla (HMS Torrin in the movie). HMS Kelly was sunk in action during the Battle of Crete.

This series is a nostalgic monument to Old San Francisco;i.e., before the development of high rise buildings. One can hear the old fog horns and feel the dampness as Inspector Grebb and the Lt. walk about in Top Coats and Fedoras. They also frequently use the old Police Call Boxes(dedicated phone lines on the street), painted blue of course. After all, portable two-way radios were still less than reliable. The series also makes use of the old Hall of Justice building on Kearney Street. This elaborate old building was torn down to make way for a new hotel. It is a very different city depicted in this series than was shown in "The Streets of San Francisco" or the Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood movies.