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Fabulous Movies


I will soon start to review recent movies that I have seen. I'm still very new when it comes to watching and criticizing movies seriously, so please bare with me. I haven't really reached out of my comfort zone so I also hope that this will help me branch out to movies that I otherwise wouldn't bother watching. This site has helped get the ball rolling, so thank you for that.

Review List

Page 1
#1 - Saving Private Ryan

#2 - John Wick


Page 2
#3 - Life of Pi

#4 - A Few Good Men

#5 - Unbroken

#6 - Top Five

#7 - The Maze Runner

#8 - Lucy

#9 - The Bourne Identity

#10 - Ted

#11 - Slap Shot

#12 - The Dictator


Page 3
#13 - Apollo 13

#14 - Black Sea

#15 - The Truman Show

#16 - The Last of the Mohicans

#17 - The Drop

#18 - McFarland


Page 4
#19 - In Bruges
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Hey great to see you do some reviews!

The box underneath the reply box suggesting the post for inclusion in the 'Reviews' area. Do I select it after each movie post, or just once now on the first post?
You select the box for inclusion in the review area, each time you write a review.



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Looking forward to this thread. Ime glad your getting involved more.
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#1 Saving Private Ryan 1998





Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

Director
Steven Spielberg

Writer
Robert Rodat

Starring
Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns

This movie has Spielberg's usual trademark style; the structure is all tied up and unified from beginning to end, emotional symbols alive and well, the music of John Williams swelling when he's working at your emotions, and perhaps the most remarkable feature, it stays with you for a while. Spielberg has a long history of blockbuster success, but none can affect me the way Saving Private Ryan does.

For this movie to work Spielberg needs a strong and capable lead. He needs someone who the audience can empathize with. We need someone right off the bat who can pull us in and make us root for him on a personal level. Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), fits this role excellently. Tom Hanks reveals a really complex military leader in this story, and does so without overacting; somehow it comes from within. While you may not empathize deeply with many of the platoon, you will still feel something because of the relationship that is formed with Hanks.

The first 30 minutes or so of this movie is the most realistic and intense action I've ever seen. Everything feels authentic, and this carries on for the rest of the movie. Scattered in between the heavy action we get some priceless scenes involving the rest of the platoon. We get to hear about their backstory and their lives before being shipped off to war.



The final battle of the film is one my most memorable ones. I have studied it and watched it countless times, and it always gets better. I always find something I never noticed before, or I pick out something that Miller could've done better. The movie starts and ends with a bang. Spielberg begins our journey with Miller's platoon on the beaches of Normandy, and we say goodbye to them in the ruined streets in the fictional town of Ramelle.

Overall it is excellent despite the U.S. flag waving and the usual Spielberg love of sentimentality. Spielberg expertly puts us as close to experiencing the horrors and the humanity within war as I hope we'll ever be.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I'm not a fan of war movies, so I rarely watch them, but I'm a fan of Spielberg, so I saw Saving Private Ryan in the movie theater way back when it was released. I don't remember a lot about the movie, but there are some scenes that stuck in my mind as being very graphic. I also remember that the movie was hard to watch, but it was a very good movie. It's been a long time. Maybe it's time for a re-watch?



Nice start Fab
You're right about Hanks. I really like him, he can always appear to be an ordinary man in his films. There's never any showboating with Hanks.
I'd be careful at giving films 10/10 at the start as you've got nowhere to go after that!
Looking forward to reading more reviews



Nice start Fab
You're right about Hanks. I really like him, he can always appear to be an ordinary man in his films. There's never any showboating with Hanks.
I'd be careful at giving films 10/10 at the start as you've got nowhere to go after that!
Looking forward to reading more reviews
I give it what I think it is. Don't care about all the other non sense.



I'd give Saving Private Ryan a

the most remarkable feature, it stays with you for a while. Spielberg has a long history of blockbuster success, but none can affect me the way Saving Private Ryan
does.

Of all the films I've ever seen it's Saving Private Ryan that stays with me. I've only seen it once when it first came out and yet I think about that film from time to time. Some say that Spielberg isn't a great director because he's too sentimental. That's true in some of his movies...but Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece that captures both the horror and the soul of WW2.

Excellent review! I love the way that you reviewed the movie from the director's viewpoint, speaking about the film elements and character types that go to make the movie great.

I have one qualm with your review:
Overall it is excellent despite the U.S. flag waving
I see your in Italy, so you might not know how important WWII and honoring our soldiers are to Americans. There's no over abundance of flag waving in the movie. It's after about the honored American soldiers, made for an American audiences.



I'd give Saving Private Ryan a




Of all the films I've ever seen it's Saving Private Ryan that stays with me. I've only seen it once when it first came out and yet I think about that film from time to time. Some say that Spielberg isn't a great director because he's to sentimental. That's true in some of his movies...but Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece that captures both the horror and the soul of WW2.

Excellent review! I love that way that you reviewed the movie from the directors viewpoint, when you talk about how Tom Hanks is cast to draw us into the story and care about it.

I have one qualm with your review:
I see your in Italy, so you might not now how import WWII and honoring the men who gave their lives to help free Europe is to us Americans. There's no over abudance of flag waving in the movie. It is after all about the honored American soldiers made for an American audiences.
No, I understand it, but I just feel that there were many other nations who fought and sacrificed lives in this war. I know it's an American film, so it makes sense that he would have that. I just think it would mean more if he waved every nations flag as a tip of the cap to everyone who enlisted. I don't mean to be rude or ignorant, but it's just how I feel.



OK, you're of course the reviewer and a review should reflect your views. Excellent review.
Again, I'm really sorry if I came off as disrespectful. I have family who served for Italy in the war and I know it is not something to take lightly. I have the utmost respect for every American who enlisted and fought.



No, you weren't disrespectful. I'm sorry if I didn't word my post better. I was just pointing out that as Spielberg is an American and the film is made about American vets for American audiences there was no over the top flag waving, IMO.

There are films that do show Americans overly patriotic and so are silly. But I never felt that Private Ryan was one of them. Have you seen Fury? I just reviewed that.



No, you weren't disrespectful. I'm sorry if I didn't word my post better. I was just pointing out that as Spielberg is an American and the film is made about American vets for American audiences there was no over the top flag waving, IMO.

There are films that do show Americans overly patriotic and so are silly. But I never felt that Private Ryan was one of them. Have you seen Fury? I just reviewed that.
Yes, I have seen it. I enjoyed it for the most part, until the final battle where it became more of a video game, in my opinion.



#2 John Wick 2014





An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.

Director
Chad Stahelski

Writer
Derek Kolstad

Starring
Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen

Keanu Reeves has always been very hit and miss with me. If he is put in the right role, I think he shines. A movie like John Wick is perfect for him. Keanu's dedication to perfecting his combat and stunts in his movies deserve much respect. Performances like this remind me why I like Keanu so much.

I must admit, the combat and fight sequences in this movie were a work of art. I don't think I've ever seen something quite like it. Everything was so fluid and pretty to watch; the way the camera stays put after Keanu takes down a bad guy, giving him time to take out a couple others without cutting to a different angle is a really nice feature.

At the beginning of the movie, much of the lighting is that depressing dark blue rain which does well to match our character's mindset at the time. Once he gets back to business, however, we get a nice colourful array of bright lights that liven everything up. I also enjoyed the fast paced club music playing in the background when Keanu was on the hunt in the nightclub.



Another aspect that I wished they played around with a little more was the sort of hitman hotel. I was intrigued by the whole idea, especially when it lead to a pretty funny interaction with a fellow colleague of Keanu. I guess in the grand scheme of things they didn't want to waste time exploring something that really didn't have too much to do with the plot, but a little more would have suited my taste.

In the end, I felt pretty good about the movie. It had excellent fight choreography, a nice little soundtrack, and a basic premise that I could buy into; which is quite hard these days with action movies.



Can there be too much flag waving for an American audience? Have you seen the numbers American Sniper did?

I'm with CR on this one, though. It's an argument I've heard often in relation to SPR, especially over here, but it's an American film about an American story of American soldiers. It's not the tale of D-Day and what followed. It's one American unit briefed to find and save one American soldier. Sure they could've bumped into every other Allied nationality to show they're all there (and I don't mean a few accents as you get in the film. That's actually more annoying than not bothering at all, IMO) but it wouldn't have (and doesn't) serve the story of the film at all.