Reviews

It's not really that long, but it is given the dull monotonous way it plods on. There are no characters of value. It has a strange look at the history surrounding Napoleon's rise and fall. Not really much of anything in the movie, other than the spectacle of period-oriented interiors and a few battle sequences. That being said, I give it a 4 star rating for its cinematography, costumes and interior design, which were all quite good, compared to the script and direction. We know that Joachim Phoenix can act, but he was such a bore in the film, his performance must have been directed to be in this manner. I do like many of Ridley Scott's films, but this was tragically awful.

I can see why it was panned in France, but it should be panned most anywhere based on the mediocrity of storytelling.

Just an easy fantasy jaunt. The writing is light and fun, and it's not trying to be something more than that. The series is far better than the movie it's based on, although there are plenty of references to enrich the plot.

The characters are all interesting and well-acted. I find myself enjoying the development of the characters as the season progresses.

By no means is this show very deep, but with an open mind, i think it provides enough entertainment to warrant investment in the season. There is also enough room for the plot to continue for several seasons to come.

Looking forward to more seasons.

The series seems to revisit classic westerns with the same violence and singular ego-driven nonsense. Much better production quality than elder westerns, but not much else. The characters are caricatures more than humans. They are dreams of a time that never existed. Glorification of paragons that could never exist, nor would given some of the absurd contexts the characters are thrust in.

It's not complete garbage, but I do tire of the cheapness of the attempt to bring back some credulity and longing for a non-existent persona.

There is cognizance in the plot of moments and contexts which probably did occur and were disgusting to behold, but they are not the focus of the series, rather some justification of why it should be allowed in the modern era.

Terrible script. I did not read the books, but given the popularity of them, I can't believe this series reflects the writing present in the novels.

The characters are single dimensional, entitled, fickle and annoying. There is no connection, empathy, understanding or sympathy displayed in the dialogue between the characters - whether presented by the young adults or the parents. The parental characters show no true parental characteristics, other than they're older than the young adults; yet the single dimensional characteristics are present in both genres of characters.

The producers did attempt to engineer the series to include beach settings and popular music, but it tends to be intrusive at times - or is just the segue between moments of meaningless dialog.

The characters honestly seem like they're about 10 years old in their fickle and unconnected nature. Very shallow and uninteresting.

The eye rolls pertain to horrible science, lack of anyone asking questions, and unconscionable lunar station design.

Acting was good. Suspense was available. With that, I could finish the season.

Really broken science, dystopian setting and random illogic.

Honestly, it rates 5.5.

Good episode interweaving old cases and new. Good performances by the team and the perps. Not sure what's up with Reid's look.

There's really no script in this movie. There is action though and lots of darkness. There's about 5 minutes of movie prior to the climax of the film which lasts pretty much the rest of the film. There isn't much character development or story to speak of. It's mostly just wondering who of the stereotypical characters are going to live or die given the circumstance they've fallen into after the first 5 minutes. It might be interesting to see a precursor to this movie, but this movie is kinda meh.

There isn't much at all to the movie. There's really very little plot development and the dialogue is quite weak. The action sequences are ok, but nothing more than most contemporary hand-to-hand action movies. It's not terrible, but just pretty dull.

The story portrayed in the movie doesn't make much sense. The science doesn't make much sense. The characters never develop. There's quite a few superlative adjectives describing each other's characters. So there's that - not very interesting at all if you take the fight sequences away.

The fight sequences are somewhat entertaining and that's the bulk of why I gave it 4 stars. If you just want to watch it for some pseudo futuristic dystopian set battles between cyborgs, then have at it.

If you want something more substantive, stay away.

I did watch the entire season - it was quite difficult to do so. It started off truly terrible and progressed to fairly awful. There are good actors present in the cast, but the script and direction were horrific. The script, in particular, is disastrous. Every character (who are supposed to be Earth's last hope) acts like a spoiled teenager who doesn't understand the point of working together. The character development is non-existent. When moments arose where the characters were in danger, I found myself not really caring because they characters had no quality that was valued. The science of the show is bad. I can put that aside, but with all of the other problems on the show, it becomes quite difficult. It's not entertaining. Just laborious.

Detail-wise, it's not the book. It doesn't matter though as it does cover much of the general themes, settings, allusions, etc. Decent job by Spielberg by reinterpreting the book. That being said, it doesn't really have much to go on. It's fun enough, but somewhat confusing, relying on special effects to handle the inconsistencies in the lack of continuity and abrupt changes in the character relationships unexplained by the script. Still - it's ok, but nothing great. The soundtrack, although Alan Silvestri instead of John Williams, is really the most saccharine John Williams it could be. The 80s reference music are totally in line with the book, but that soundtrack other than those notes, is completely distracting, melodramatic and annoying. Anyhow - a solid 5 overall.

The only reason it gets a two is because the technical work that was involved with CG, video effects, sound effects, etc. was fairly decent at the time of the movie's production.

The plot, dialogue, direction, etc. of the movie is just plain awful. Even as a Stars Wars fan, I cannot defend this movie. It is truly horrendous. There's nothing positive about the experience of having to watch this film other than to gather potential leads towards the story line in future movies. On its own, however, this movie isn't lackluster, it's substanceless. I definitely have seen better home made movies by teenagers than this trash. If you don't need to see it, read the Wikipedia article explaining the plot. It will be worth more than seeing it. Watch one of the other Star Wars movies instead while you read the Wikipedia article on this movie, or just watch most any other sci-fi movie. Don't bother with this.

Like it or not

It is a strong, well made film representing a wondrous work of fiction with at least some relevance to that work.

However, the film making is beautiful, striking, horrible. The contact with the characters is wonderful no matter how much you might hate them.

This is what film making is about. Bringing the audience into a setting, a set of characters, a plot.

Decide for yourself.

Did you feel cheated?

I'm glad I did watch first, read later.

The book would have made a much better movie than the movie that Chris Columbus made. I truly didn't find anything in the movie that was better, more intriguing, more fun, etc. than what was found in the book.

In fact, it seemed confusing as to what changes were made. Massive changes to the plot, changes to the characters and their relationships, etc. Very confusing. It also seemed that the choices made led to a storyline that would be more difficult to create sequels.

Those confusing issues being said, I still enjoyed the movie. It was simple and unadventurous, but not exceptionally eye-rolling.

The first 15 minutes of the film are beautiful and perfect. The heart and soul of those minutes are completely in line with the excellence that Pixar has been able to produce through their many films. I would recommend anyone seeing those minutes as they are so appropo for any human film-goer to understand and enjoy.

Then there's the rest of the film. So lackluster. The characters are feeble. The story is nice and well-told, but relatively boring. If I had never seen other Pixar films, perhaps I would think this film would be an achievement, as opposed to something derivative and unimaginative. When reviewing that portion of the film, it's somewhat hard to remember individual instances that take place. This aspect is completely unlike other Pixar films, or for that matter, other animated films in recent years. The story is just not interesting. The characters are not interesting. The dialogue, the same. What in the story is compelling? Not much. There's no real story envelope of excitement. It's flat and somewhat dull, which for me, as a Pixar fan, is a great disappointment.

Watch the film, but treat it fairly.

I love many dark and difficult films...

Movies about war...

Many good reader movies...

Movies about philosophy...

Movies that force you to think about the struggle of mankind...

But in my heart, I'm still an optimist, and the manner in which this film is able to bring that heart out is quite effective. I can't help just cackling WITH the excellent performance of Amy Adams.

It moves me to tears each time in the best way.

Maybe I watched too many cartoons as a child, but then again, I probably analyzed them, and the irony and satire present in this film is successful in joining those memories with reality.

Quite delicious.

Cinema verite is the heart and soul of this film. Rowlands and Falk are amazing and the viewer is brought so closely into their lives by the excellent dialog and direction of this film. There has certainly been more recent filmmakers who wish to bring us the same gritty and uncompromising depiction of reality, but rarely are they as effective. All segments of film-making are addressed here, providing the moviegoer with the ability to appreciate each. Honestly, in viewing the movie you can definitely tell the actors themselves appreciate the beauty of the film in which they are working.

From a plot perspective, the film is somewhat difficult, but the viewer still feels immersed in the situation, rather than just a passerby who can leave the actors to do their performance on their own.

In 1965, My Fair Lady won the big awards, but this film will more than likely outlast that film given its wonderful performances by Peter Sellers and George C Scott. The supporting cast is brilliant and the imagery of the filmmaker will leave indelible images in the minds of movie goers for all time. There are great quotes, seemingly contrived situations and wonderful characterizations which are uncomfortably still pertinent to people in power today. In many ways this is not a film which matches the cinematic expertise of Kubrik, but it does reveal the excellence in his film-making overall.

Thanx, Stanley - still great.

The story of the NASA lenses and their use in the candlelight scenes should be enough for anyone who cares about the presentation of clever cinematography to watch this film. There are countless scenes of beauty in this film and Kubrick takes great care in presenting them in a consistent and lovely way. The biggest problem with the movie is everything else. The writing and acting seems stale at many points during the film resulting in a film which is quite a chore to review even given the luscious scenery that the cinematography gives us. If you care about the visual qualities of immersion that movie making can give you, then watch this film. If you are interested in period pieces of the 18th century, watch this film. Beyond that, it's your choice whether you wish to struggle through this epic.

There have been many films before and after this film that permitted Pacino to present his acting talent, but this is definitely a classic. Great writing & direction provide a wonderful setting for Pacino to deliver an excellent performance worth of the accolades which he has deserved for years. There are moments in the film's dialog which seem dated today, but nonetheless, the intensity of the performance is present in the staged setting portrayed in this high quality film. There are great supporting efforts by many actors, but the energy of the film is driven by the performance given by and cinematic focus upon Al Pacino. Listen, view and enjoy this film which showcases both Al & Sidney's talents.

There are elements of beauty in this film, and the writing and direction of Lars van Trier actually shows that he can do both -- unlike some of his other droning and adolescent films. The actors have some substance to work with in this film and Emily does a wonderful job of doing so. However, the film is still highly contrived and unbelievable on pretty much every level, and is followed by a horrific ending which is so Hollywood-esquire in its dullness and predictability that it does ruin the film to a great extent. Even strangely contrived experiences in the world are rarely as dull as what Lars van Trier desires us to see. Why does he want to show us life so dull and unimaginative? That's not a method of film-making. It's not a vision of life. Just a tired filmmaker who can't think of much else to say over and over again.

The drastic changes between the story and the visionary scenes involving dance and music were truly wonderful. However, the film fails beyond that. The story was rigid and uninteresting demanding the actors continue the vapid story to its end without any imaginative quality. Stock writers must have been used to write the main narrative as it lacked anything of interest for the viewer or the actors. There are so many beautiful writers and directors in the world who can create the same themes that Lars van Trier projects, but with much better creativity and beauty. As much as I enjoyed the thought of changing between narrative and illusion and the execution of the latter in this film, the narrative was abusively dull and painful and boring to witness as a moviegoer.

This is an addendum. After watching the film again years later, I find my earlier comments quite accurate. There are moments of useful content present (beyond the lovely illusion vignettes of Bjork) but the film is plainly awful otherwise. Are there really no filmmakers who can challenge and make an effective film? Oh. Yes there are. But they're not Lars van Trier.

Although I appreciated the highly staged and play-like nature of the film, it failed miserably. The film continued along, monotonously pounding the same uninspired thought again and again as the film progressed. It is possible that people who enjoy Lars van Trier's other films will find something more in this film, but there is no nuance for me. There is nothing but a sledgehammer. No interesting use of language. No use of the abilities of the actors. Wretched, honestly. It seemed as though a 13 year old wanted to tell a story and didn't have the tools in order to add complexity or honest human experience to the tale. van Trier continues his misogynism in this film as the female characters seem to act without any thought to their future, their surroundings or any possibilities. Very sad indeed.

I'm also amazed by the pretentiousness of people who commented on liking the film. I totally don't understand it. Have they never seen a well-crafted film before? This film had no more than 20 minutes of interest before it dissolved into a class project. Uncreative. Boring. oh...and pretentious.

Abusively uncrafted films such as these should not be even reviewed by more than the teacher of the class.

There aren't many attributes which are worth analyzing in this movie. The script is terrible. "you break my heart, you men, afraid" wow. compelling. There are segments where bickering breaks out, yet there is no repartee, just people yelling -- oh, and swelling music.

fact there are so many voice overs throughout the movie clearly indicate there are some serious problems with storytelling.

As far as I can tell, there is no continuity. Not with the scenes or dialog or emotions they attempt to portray.

The thinly veiled sexual confusion present in the characters is embarrassing.

The wigs are fantastically terrible, and so very confusing for ancient Greece. The accents are strange and variable.

There is no feeling that it is even attempting to portray the any sense of the period, except for the presence of Greek mythology in some of the dialog. The movie isn't quite epic, though it probably cost as much as an epic film. Even though it is lacking in historical value and reference, I thought it could have been fun as an epic. Alas no.

I had heard it was bad, but I was willing to give it a chance. I feel I can marshall preconceptions to some extent, but this film was impossible to see any other way.