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AndrewWalker747
Reviews
Gettysburg (1993)
Awesome movie, read the book as well!
Gettysburg is none other than an epic movie involving the most significant, bloodiest, and courageous battle ever fought on American soil. As a US History major (and fanatic) the movie is for the most part extremely historically accurate in terms of events in the battle, the portrayal of the generals, and the attitudes of the common soldiers.
The musical score by Randy Edelman is in my opinion extremely moving and spine-tingling, and I was sad to see that it didnt even win an oscar nomination (especially when you note that it has been re-used and played in other movies and commercials countless times).
Other people who have seen this movies comment that they liked it, but they felt it was too long. I agree, the movie was obviously very long, but if you enjoy history you will probably not mind. In addition, reading Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels", with which this movie was based on, helps to build a better understanding with the common viewer about certain events in the movie and characters. Most notably, why General Lee had to attack and stay on and fight at Gettysburg, why General Garnett "had to ride" at Pickett's Charge etc.
Overall, a very moving film and extremely well-done.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Great movie
This was a great movie, what else can I say? Ive seen it over 10 times and it never stops getting better. Please see this masterpiece if you haven't already. Oh by the way, some songs you will never listen to the same again after seing this movie; "William tell Overture", "Bethoven's 9th Symphony", "Singing in the Rain"....
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Great war Movie, Good piece of Filmwork
I really dont understand what is wrong with some people. They claim to hate this movie only for the reason (in my honest opinion) of trying to be some sort of non-conformer. Like "Im this socially different guy/girl, so Im not gonna like this movie and recommend some other movie that nobodies heard of in order to try and be Mr. Originality. (when in actuality their movie probably sucks)." To these people; PLEASE GROW UP!
Anyway, back to the actual movie. This was one of Spielberg's many great movies. This film was an excellent war movie. It served its purpose immensely; to show the viewers the inhumanity and pointlessness of war. Im really disappointed it didnt win best picture and that SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE crap did.
Many people watch this movie and say "wow the first 30 minutes showed me what war was really like!" While this was true, these people ignore many of the other small aspects of the film that help to bring out this theme of wars destructiveness and dehumanization.
Some of these aspects are; 1.Pvt. Jackson saying a prayer every time he is about to shoot someone...2.Caparzo's letter that has to keep getting rewritten because it kept getting blood on it, first Caparzo's, then Wade's, and then Captain Miller's...3.the squad laughing away as they dig through a mountain of dog tags, not realizing that the dead airborne soldier's buddies are staring them down...4.Capt. Miller's tendency to keep zoning out in the midst of battle. He keeps going deaf for a time and in these scenes he sees all the death going on around him and how pointless it is...5.Capt. Miller's shaking hand, showing how scared he is, and how he wants his gardening gloves in his hand, not a gun...6.Capt. Miller saying how he doesn't give a damn about Ryan and then changing his mind once he actually meets the young man and trades stories with him about home...7.Copl. Upham starts out as a dorky, nerdish kid, strict on the so-called "rules" and then at the end works up his courage and executes Steamboat Willie realizing that this is what war is really like and not relying on an Emerson quote to try and get him through things...
There is a lot more examples of this, but I think you can get the message. This movie really shows the viewer about what war is really like and how bad it is. Not just by showing an army storming a beach and getting blown to bits, but also by concentrating on a few individual soldiers and showing how the war is affecting them. It was truly one of the best movies ever made and really accomplished its purpose well.
American Pie (1999)
funny, but......
This movie is really funny in some scenes (Jim's dad sex talks, Nadia, Stifler etc.) and me and my friends really liked it when it first came out in 10th grade, but now I see a lot of flaws in the portrayal, message, and theme of this movie.
This is really just an average white-suburbia, spoiled kid, focus-the-plot on sex movie. And being from white suburbia, I know this better than anyone. the lives of these teenagers is pretty much like stuf I saw in my high school experience. Kids worrying about how good they look every day, how hot so and so looks today, or i cant wait for the party on saturday attitude. This movie succeeds at portraying the life of suburbia. suburb kids have it so easy, the only thing they have to worry about is having sex and looking good. Beleive me...I know! The movie KIDS does a really good job of showing the opposite...the dangerous and unsafe lives that city kids go through today, a life much different than suburbia.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
series should have ended after 3
This movie was so bad. When it first came out I wanted to see it so badly. two of my friends had seen it and they told me (knowing I was a die-hard ALIEN fan) I was gonna be really disappointed. Boy, was I. The whole idea of a human alien was so gay. Funny line; "She has developed the human reproductive system!" At that point whatever respect I had for this movie died. This is the kind of stuff that just destroys series. While Alien 3 had some flaws, it capped off the series nicely with Ripley's voice saying "this is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off..."
If they had any need to continue the series after 3, there were better ideas. After the third one came out, a writer named Steve perry wrote books for Twentieth Century Fox about Aliens. It was about a marine named Wilks and a girl he once saved from the Aliens named Billie. The books went over a three-part set and it was REALLY GOOD! these would have made such better continuations of the series than the crap that Alien ressurection was.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Great, but one thing
All I can say Ive watched this movie at least 10 times a year on TV since I was 6 and I never get sick of it. It's a great movie, great series, and easily a classic. One thing though, and Im being really anal here, it is not historically accurate. The film is supposed to take place in 1934-35, yet it is showing the nazis as having conquered the Mediterranean and having submarines and a powerful army and navy. Realistically, at this point in history the German Army and Navy was almost non-existent and would be until about 1938. But whatever I dont want to spoil this great movie, so still enjoy it!
Escape from Sobibor (1987)
not entirely historically accurate
This movie did a good job of showing what happened and how prisioners coped with life in a nazi death camp. The acting was good and you really get a good depiction of death camp life. However, I would not say that this was better than the masterpiece that SCHINDLERS LIST was.
Oh by the way, this movie didnt show what happened after the prisioners escaped. Everyone left behind at the death camp was executed the next day, some being buried alive because the nazis were in a rush to shut the camp down. The area was then simply planted over with trees so today when people walk on the grounds where Sobibor was, many feet underneath them is the remains of thousands of people.....
Nuit et brouillard (1956)
oh my god
I originally had no intention to see this movie and had no idea that it even existed until I saw it. I actually saw it in High School Economics class (of all places)because my teacher had just finished showing it to his world history class and instead of wanting to hear him drone on about the GDP and recessions, we smooth talked him into showing us what was in his VCR. We had no idea what we were about to see.
This movie is probably the best holocaust documentary ever made. The images of piles of human hair, emaciated skeletons being pushed around by bulldozers, lampshades of human skin, men looking like corpses walking around, has never left me. The opera and classical music in the background helps to further add to the shock value of this film.
After about 10 minutes, kids in my class told my teacher we didn't want to watch this movie anymore. We stopped it and there was still 30 minutes left in class. We didn't learn anything about economics that day, we talked about the holocaust instead.
Shichinin no samurai (1954)
um
Im not sure why people make this out to be the best film ever made. we had to watch it senior year English class and it put my class into a coma. I think kids were crying they were so bored. Im sure most people are saying " yeah, well you watched it in school so no wonder no one liked it." Not true. We watched other movies such as FRANKENSTEIN and NOSFERATEAU, and everyone in the class loved them. This movie kind of reminded me of those godzilla movies, the way this one was dubbed, acted and sounded. I think me or one of my friends cracked a joke when the japanese village was first shown "When does Godzilla attack?" I might watch this movie again sometime, if i have 3 hours to kill, and maybe it might come out better a second time for me. But as of now...I doubt it.
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
There is no best one in this series...they're all great!
Ok, if you've seen this movie then its safe for me to assume you have seen the other two, am I right? While people claim this was the worst one of the three, I have to disagree. I think all of the three films are good in their own way. The Ewoks may have pulled this one down a bit, yet there was still many aspects that helped it along.
If you really think about it, the series could have gone to hell in the Empire Strikes Back when Vader said "I am your father." People could have been like "What is this crap!" The majority could have thought as that being the corniest line, however, it worked, and the series became a classic.
Regarding the prequels, I was too contemptious of the Phantom Menace to even consider it a real Star Wars movie. It just doesn't seem like a Star Wars film without Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, Chewbacca, Leia, C-3PO, R2D2, etc. (This is apart from the fact that The Phantom Menace itself wasn't all that great anyway...).
Overall, there is no "best" Star Wars. Their all classics in their own aspects. (I'm only talking about the FIRST three...episodes 4,5,6)!
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Not the worst movie ever.
Ok, when I saw the advertisements for this movie I knew it wasn't gonna be anything really good. Everyone who knew what this movie was about before-hand probably suspected something really cheesy, am I right?
While, the movie was pretty damn cheesy, it was still enjoyable. It has some of the funniest death scenes ever filmed (Samuel L. Jackson??? HAHAHA, fat lady blown away by exploding helicopter??) and LL Cool J was pretty funny (his relativity theory).
Alright, it was no Schindlers List Or Godfather by a long-shot, but it was definitely not the worst movie ever (that goes to Battlefield Earth or House on Haunted Hill). It accomplished its purposes; scared its viewers, brought up ethics on scientific research etc. It's a crappy movie, but still fun to watch. 6/10
The Big Hit (1998)
This will be quick.....
All I have to say is that this movie completely sucks. Period. No one should ever try and tell me there is something good about it. I thought this movie looked good, so I rented it, and I couldn't even finish watching it it sucked so much. Dont put yourself through the agony I went through. 0/10
Them! (1954)
I like this movie!
I recently had to watch this movie for a science class to illustrate ethics in scientific research, and I will say it was good. I thought I was in for a cheesy horror flick, but this was some fine film material!
Following the detonation of the atomic bomb in the deserts of New Mexico, gigantic ants are on the prowl after being mutated by leftover radiation. A goodguy cop, an FBI agent, and two scientists now must track down these ants and stop them from colonizing the earth.
This movie had very good acting, pretty decent special effects for a 50's movie, and brings up a lot of interesting debates and ethics regarding scientific research. If you ever wanna just sit back and watch a classic horror film and have a good time, I definitely reccomend this. 8/10
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
Hey, it was decent! (SPOILERS in here)
I don't know why this movie got a bad rap. I personally thought it was well-done. Some parts were actually pretty scary (ie. when Pinhead traps everyone in the nightclub and kills em with chains, and Pinheads demolition of New York. The whole idea of Pinhead's "good self" (capt. Elliot Spencer)was nicely drawn out and contrary to popular belief,was not corny at all. It made the movie more interesting. The new cenobites were actually kinda cool and funny (Joey's camera guy's funny line after he was turned into a cenobite-"Look what he did to me, you little bitch!") Anyway, I could go on and on about this but to keep it short this was a pretty good horror flick. It didnt have all the unnecessary gore like Hellraiser II did, and it still was scary and good to watch. 7/10
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Really good if you can stomach it! (SPOILERS)
Ok, now this is not a bad movie at all, if you can stomach it and your not a soft person. There was a lot of disturbing stuff that kinda backfired on the overall rating of the movie (ie. the mental patient cutting himself up-was that really necessary, couldnt Channard have just sat him on the mattress and Julia kill him? Did he have to butcher himself like that?).
However, some of the gore made the movie great, like watching what happened to Channard (Ive watched the movie many times, and I still cringe watching him getting turned into a cenobite!). And the scene when Channard visits his patient is pretty scary and pretty graphic.
Now as far as giving the cenobites a human side, I personally liked the idea. It worked nicely with the fight scene with Channard and watching the cenobites die and going back to their human side. Its the best scene in the movie if you ask me.
Overall, I liked the movie. True it was excessively gore, but if you dont get upset by that then this is a good movie. The music is absoloutely great, their are a lot of scenes that make you cringe (the whole point of a horror flick), and the plot is simple yet enjoyable. A must see if you like true horror and this great series. 8/10
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
this guy is immortal (SPOILERS)
Ok,Im not going to comment to much on this movie but on the series as whole. Does mike myers ever die. He has now been shot over 70 times in the seven movies hes been in, set on fire in a gas explosion, gotten hit by a truck (funniest thing ever to see), shot and thrown into a pit (which was then set on fire too), clubbed by Loomis in H5, beaten with a leadpipe by tommy in H6 (an absloloutely hilarious scene), taken numerous stabbings in his lifetime, and now had his head chopped off. He must require a tetnaus shot after every movie he is in. How could he possibly be still alive for the eight halloween which is supposedly coming out soon? Just let him die, please!
This series should have done itself a favor and ended itself after Halloween 2, with Myers dying in the explosion together with Loomis. That was a classy way to end the series. People would look back and appreciate the Halloween series instead of associating it with the 4 or 5 crappy sequels. By the way, didnt anyone find it funny in Halloween 7 that Jamie Lee Curtis totally forgot she had a daughter named Jamie too? That is the ultimate plot destroyer for any series. Anyway, just watch Halloweeen 1 and 2 if u havent alreaduy and forget that there is 5 sequels to it
Dazed and Confused (1993)
one you should own
This is one of those movies that can be watched anytime with your friends. At a party, sleepover, getting drunk, or even by yourself this movie will work. The main reason why is that teenagers (like me and mostly anyone who saw or should see this movie) can identify with it so much.
Every high school social group is represented in this film. There are the cheerleaders (Jodi, Sharone, Darla, Simonne) the stoners(Slater,Pickford,Michelle) the jocks (Benny, O'Bannion, Melvin, Dawson) the two freshman at their first night partying (Mitch- maybe the only downside to the movie with his ratty appearance, and Sabrina) the freshman getting their asses busted (Carl,Tommy,Hersch)the losers (Cynthia,Tony,Mike) and then there is Randy Floyd who is the best though-out character in the movie. Thats because if you noticed he blends in with all of these groups. He was a football player/stoner, loved by the cheerleaders, invites the freshman Mitch out, and is friends with the losers. Also another classic character was Wooderson, the 30 year old hanging out with high schoolers.
All in all, any teenager should see this movie to see an exact reflection of their lives. Like i said, every social group is present and accounted for, and the characters portrayal of them is outstanding.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
What other plot could they have come up with?
The producers of this movie honestly tried, I can give them that. If your making a movie about warfare, you can't just have planes swooping down and shooting at everyone and blowing up everything. You need to have some sort of plot. Alright, so maybe the love story was as sloppy as a used kleenex, but what else could they have done. And maybe, just maybe, some love story like this did REALLY happen to the setting of Pearl Harbor. You just never know?
A better way to tell the story of Pearl Harbor may have been to take two soldiers, one Japanese, the other American, and tell it from their sides (did you ever see GETTYSBURG?). That would have made a much better story.
As far as historical accuracy, Im big on WW2 history and most of what was said in the film was correct. No one knew the location of the Japanese fleet at the time, Admiral Yamomotto reluctantly led the attack,some military personnel did suspectan attack on Pearl harbor etc. The only thing terribly wrong in this department was saying the Doolittle raid was the truning point of the war(err sorry that was Midway and Guadalcanl). But in terms of showing the Doolittle raid had a psychological signifigance, I guess we can let this error go.
In short, this movie is worth seeing. Sure the love story is garbage but its the best they could come up with. The battle scenes and Doolittle raid make up for it. See this movie and try to delete the love story. 7/10
Red Dawn (1984)
one event makes a big difference how you see this film.....
Its funny, I looked at reviews on this site for this film prior to and after 9-11-01. People before 9-11-01 said it sucks horribly, people after 9-11-01 commend this movie for its realistic portrayal of Americans when we are "invaded". This view is exactly what the producers of this movie wanted; to show Americans what happens when we get invaded and how we can strike back. To tell you the truth, when I woke up on 9-11-01 and heard about and saw what was happening and all the talk of America being "invaded" I immediately began to think of this film....
Ok, maybe the acting was pretty bad in some places (notably Lea Thompson and Patrick Swayze) but the character Robert (C. Thomas Howell) definitely makes up for it. He is a true example of what the typical American would become under these circumstances; a trigger happy, out-for-revenge, die-honorably patriot. I saw this movie long before 9-11-01 and honestly the events of that day have made me appreciate this film more. A must see. 9/10
Out of Sight (1998)
do not touch this with a 10-foot pole
How could this movie have gotten a 7.5 on IMDB? For the hype surrounding it, the respectable cast, and the excellent previews, this movie just bombed out. I couldn't even finish watching it I was so bored by it. The plot was nonexistent, the acting wasn't that great, and how the hell would a robber fall in love with a Federal marshall (jennifer Lopez? Maybe? :) ? To be short, this movie is terribly boring, and should only be viewed if (a) your a diehard J-Lo fan or (b) you dont have to pay for it.
Young Guns II (1990)
Attempt at repeating the first
After seeing this movie, I realized I just saw an attempt at recreating the original Young Guns. Three members of the posse are the same, and the 3 new guys (Arkansas Dave, Henry, Tommy) bear resemblance to the 3 other guys in the first one (Dirty Steve,Dick, Charlie). Arkansas Dave doubles up as the guy trying to lead the gang like Dick did in the first one as well as being the guy who hates Chavez like Dirty Steve in the first one. Henry and Tommy share Charlie's role as the innocent memebr of the gang who didnt belong as outlaws and have no idea what they have gotten themselves into.
The music is decent in this one (especially Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory") but I still feel the main musical theme of the first one was more touching and resembling of the characters in that one. Overall, this movie was inferior to the first one, but is still worth watching to relive the first one.
A View to a Kill (1985)
One of Moore's best (Spoilers in here)
After looking at other reviews for this movie, I was rather disappointed by the feedback I saw it get. I think it is a classicly good James Bond movie. What made it great was (a) the music, which was absolutely brilliant and (b)Christopher Walken as the insanley evil Max Zorin. You get so many displays of his evil throughout the film (dropping the skeptic company VIP out of the Blimp, the KGB agent in the propellor, and the execution of the mine workers). Grace Jones was also excellent as Mayday, Zorin's assasin, although i think her love-making scene with Bond and her sudden crossing-over to Bond's side at the end are a little far-fetched. Tanya Roberts kind of stunk as the Bond Girl ("James! James! James!" god what a headache)but she was adequate for the role. All in all, a very good Bond film, one of Moore's best, and definitely deserving of more praise than it gets.
The Stöned Age (1994)
Funny the second time
To really appreciate how funny this movie really is, you may need to watch it twice. The first time I watched it, I thought it was so stupid and then my friend forced me into watching it a second time and I couldn't stop laughing. Stuff you might miss the first time-the multiple camera shots of the Blue Torpedo during the opening credits, the classic expression on Hubbs face when Joe plays "Dont Fear The Reaper", Officer Dean, and Tack's classic lines- "Get you some!" and "hey, babe, get naked or shut up!" The list can simply go on for ever. To put it simply, this movie is a classic comedy (and an EXTREMELY accurate portrayal of teenage suburban life) if you watch it a second time and appreciate the small funny details.
Young Guns (1988)
more than a western
SPOILERS Watching this movie 10 years ago when I was a kid, the only thing I really remembered was the shootouts. But after watching it again this summer, you really get an appreciation for the characters and the unfairness and hardships that their lives became. Watching the movie, you really sympathize with these orphans and the friendship and bonding that they go through. A good example is Dirty Steve and Chavez. Two guys who hated each other in the beginning and by the end are almost like brothers after what they went through together. Did you notice in the last shootout that Chavez got away and Steve died because Steve gave him his horse and told him to go? Another example is when Chavez was going to walk out on the posse after telling the guys the fate of his family with the U.S. army, but then Billy tells him "were your family now, you got 4 or 5 good pals, then you got yourself a tribe,aint nothing stronger than that, you desert us then you brake our sacred hoop."
Character change was also big in this movie, if you really noticed. Take Billy for example. Look at his two different meetings with pat garret. the first one he is awed by Garrets size and then says "im gonna be as big as him someday, no ill be bigger." The second meeting at Charlie's wedding, Billie is much more stronger against Garrett and threatens him with his pistol. this is after Billie has become the most wanted man in New Mexico. and speaking of Charlie, he went from a kid so afraid of dying to being absoloutely trigger happy in the last shootout when he takes on John Kinney, the bounty-hunter he feared the most, and takes down Kinney before he falls too.
To be general, this movie is much more than a shoot-em-up western (although the gunfights were absoloutely fantastic). The characters were brialliant and well-portrayed. Especially Emilio Estevez who was hilarious as Billy the Kid ("yeah i seen Red Smitty hang, I see his head come clean off, it was a hell of a sight!" and "Pippin, Charlie Crawford aint with you anymore!) To put it simply, when you watch this movie, dont just watch it for the shootouts, try and appreciate the characters and the storyline too.