Young writer Sal Paradise has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou. As they travel across the country, they encounter a mix of people who each impact their journey indelibly. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Salles
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and others
Dean and Sal are the portrait of the Beat Generation. Their search for "It" results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Salles
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and others
Dean and Sal are the portrait of the Beat Generation. Their search for "It" results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Salles
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and others
In all fairness, this is one totally bad straight-to-video looking B-flick, that gets only made worthwhile by its amazing cast and performances.
This movie is a good example of how not to tell a story. Halve way through the movie we still have no idea of what's going on and what the main plot line is and who wants what. And while the first halve of the movie focuses mainly on Elias Koteas, the second halve is all about Christopher Walken, Christopher Walken and Christopher Walken. Not that I mind though, it just makes the storytelling pretty incoherent.
On top of that it's not like the story itself is also actually much special. Like I said, it takes too long for things to finally really start off and when it does it's just mostly disappointing. I mean, it's about the second battle in heaven but yet all we get to see is Christopher Walken against occasionally a different angel. You can say that this movie is a bit of a lackluster.
All the more reason why this is obviously a B-movie. Also thing with this movie is, is that it's really made as a B-movie, so with bad and predictable editing and camera-work. And director Gregory Widen must have really counted his blessings when he learned that all those fine actors agreed to appear in this movie, since he himself obviously is not the most talented director around.
So the movie gets only mainly purely uplifted by its actors. I just can't believe how many fine actors there are in this movie. This is of course one big fun role from Christoper Walken, who plays the fallen angel Gabriel. It's a delicious fun villainous role, with which he obviously can go over the top with at times. I'm not really accustomed to seeing Elias Koteas play a big role but he is a capable actors so he definitely pulls it off alright. Besides that the movie also features Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen, Amanda Plummer and Adam Goldberg. What a cast list! Although yes it's true that most of them at the time were still fairly much unknown actors but that doesn't make them any less good to watch in this movie.
I can't really say that the "The Prophecy" is a recommendable movie, although when you watch it you'll probably enjoy it for its acting.
I can't believe they made 4 more sequels for this movie!
Of course this is not a bad movie but it's just that the movie is nothing too remarkable and doesn't stand out on too many fields, compared to other genre movies.
The first halve of the movie just wasn't always as good and interesting enough. It went on and on about the diary, which to me just wasn't the greatest or most compelling element of the story. The movie should had progressed faster and build up earlier to the clearly better second halve.
In the second halve the twists and turns kick in. It's nothing too shocking but it just makes the movie a little bit more interesting to watch and gives the story as a whole also some more depth and feeling. In the second halve you get to understand all of the motivations, that were all still mainly clouded in the movie its first halve. In its second halve it also becomes all the more obvious that this is a Cronenberg movie. Some graphic action kicks in and things tend to get more dark.
Cronenberg's tries hard to create a new genre within the crime movie-genre. A genre that takes a more subtle and realistic approach and is very character driven. Guess it's just not my type of thing, since I also didn't like "A History of Violence" as much as everyone else seemed to do, even though I certainly enjoyed and appreciated the movie, just as I do this one.
Just give me back the 'old' David Cronenberg. I preferred the Cronenberg that made movies such as "Videodrome", "The Fly" and "eXistenZ". But he obviously now likes making this 'new' sort of crime movies, since this is his second attempt, right after "A History of Violence" and he has success with it, so why would he stop?
The movie is also different because it's set in London. If you're being completely critical you could ask why? What does it add to the story? It isn't even made that clear through the images that the movie is set in London, because it doesn't show any of the famous well known landmarks. The only thing that basically gives it away are because the car's are driving on the 'wrong side of the road' and Naomi Watts talks in an English accent, that by the way just seem to come and go randomly. The movie could had just as good had been set in any standard American or Canadian town, in which Cronenberg previously shot all of his movies. For the atmosphere and story of the movie it seems to be totally insignificant and random that the movie is set in London. But well, this is something to ponder about if you're overly critical. It of course isn't something that distracts or downgrades the movie or its story.
It's above all a character driven movie, with Viggo Mortensen as the lead man. He plays- and looks like such a different character then he normally does. Perhaps it's an Oscar worthy performance he is giving in this movie, although the probably went get further than just a nomination this year. The character within the movie are characters but above all also humans. They look and feel real. Even though they are not in some everyday situations, they still deal with it as 'normal' humans.
Some people complain that Armin Mueller-Stahl and Vincent Cassel don't look and talk like Russian's but I have no problem with this. Especially Vincent Cassel fits his role right and it's also surprising to see Armin Mueller-Stahl for a change as a big crime-boss. I thought they did a really excellent job with the casting in this movie.
It's a good watch as a sort of a different approach of the crime-genre but in the long run the movie is just nothing too remarkable or something that will life on for a long time in your memory-, to consider this movie one of the year's-, or Cronenberg's best.
(Review originally written at 11 February 2007) "Crimson Tide" is a movie that has grown onto me in the last couple of years. The movie had never been really any of my favorites, I never really cared much about the story and never thought the movie was tense enough for a thriller, in which never enough happened. This has changed the recent years. I now see how relevant the movie is and I am able to appreciate what the movie tries to tell and of course also the performances from actors Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, which already is reason enough to watch the movie. Mutiny occurs on a nuclear submarine when the captain and his Lt. Commander disagree about firing a nuclear missile on the Russians, when the launch message is received, followed by an incomplete followup. Hackman is legally, by the Navel rules right, while Washington is morally right. So both are right in a way but you can't help routing for Denzel Washington, since Gene Hackman just basically plays a mean old piece of...Not that I mind though. It keeps the movie totally great and interesting to watch, since Washington and Hackman are just great in every sequences that they're together in. There always is a constant tension between them. They're different characters with different opinions and they perhaps never really liked each other but yet they always respect each other, right till the end. It provides the movie with some really effective and memorable moments. The movie is filled with many more big names in it, of who most were still fairly unknown actors at the time, such as Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini, Rick Schroder before his "NYPD Blue" period and Ryan Phillippe among others. So a real good job on the casting here, since it also features some already at the time established actors, that really all fit their roles really well. But lets face it. How much tense and interesting can be going on in a movie set almost entirely in a submarine. The movie does a good job at keeping the movie always interesting to watch, despite its subject and settings, mainly thanks to a high pace. It keeps the movie surprisingly tense and provides the movie with a constant atmosphere of tension. The story itself is quite interesting and thought provoking, once you start thinking about it how much power a submarine captain actually has (had) and how he can unleash a nuclear war with the push of a button. They try to also put some sequences in it with deeper meanings and layers and it certainly provides the movie with some memorable moments but the pace it is too high to actually allow you to absorb things and think about it. The movie also starts to repeat itself after a while. It also features far too many technical details that the viewers just don't understand and only work distracting from the true story and atmosphere of the movie. It really doesn't make the "Crimson Tide" the best, or most tense, movie ever written, though its premise is really more than great thriller material. I can understand that they hired other writers (Robert Towne, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Zaillian) the spice up the movie a little, by putting in some more dialog, character development and deeper meanings. Yet the movie really doesn't feel as if it had been written and re-written by different writers. I think that we can also thank director Tony Scott for that, who provides the movie with one overall consistent fast style and atmosphere. Some of the things that really make this movie better than just your average submarine movie is the very lively cinematography by Dariusz Wolski and the suiting musical score by Hans Zimmer, that works very effective and powerful for some of the sequences. In a way this movie also was his big Hollywood breakthrough, though he had composed some successful Hollywood scores before. Both really lift the movie to an higher level. Not an essential viewing (though perhaps it are Washington and Hackman that still make the movie one) but nevertheless a movie worth seeing if you can appreciate a well constructed movie, set almost entirely aboard a submarine. 7/10 Watch trailer
The movie starts of promising; slow, realistic, mysterious and tense. A real Cronenberg gem. The movie mostly remains this good for at least half of its running time. After that the movie takes a not so positive turn and the movie goes from realistic to unrealistic, rapidly.
I appreciate the straight-forwardness of the movie. The movie doesn't hold back with its violence, which is really brutal and graphic to watch. The straight-forwardness of the violence and the movie in general is probably the only reason remaining why this movie is better than the average thriller. The fact that the movie doesn't hold back and the characters in the movie, all make the movie very realistic to watch.
From the moment on the Ed Harris character arrives the movie becomes both tense and mysterious. These are the best moments of the movie. The movie does have some great moments and twists in it, which I'm not going to spoil. However about halve way through the movie the story takes a not so positive turn. Suddenly all tension and mystery is gone and the movie turns into some average action flick, that above all is highly unrealistic and unlikely as well. Especially from the moment on when William Hurt's character gets introduced in the movie. The movie is filled with more flaws and improbabilities story-wise, such as the moments with the school bully, which I found to be utterly ridicules and not completely necessary. I understood the purpose of him for the story and for the forming of the Jack Stall character but still I have the feeling that the movie would had been better of without him. It are all obvious indications that this movie is too mainstream for David Cronenberg's style. Yes, there are moments of greatness both overall it's a fairly disappointing effort by Cronenberg, especially after hearing all the praise which the movie received. The hype-machine apparently did over-time for this movie. It's original, refreshing and it doesn't hold back but it however also has way too many flaws and improbabilities especially toward the ending, to regard this movie as one of the best of 2005. I can't imaging that a person who is familiar with Cronenberg's most other work won't be slightly disappointed by this effort of him. But yes surely, I would have said just as much negative about this movie if it was directed by a different person than Cronenberg. After all it's not the disappointment of seeing this movie being directed by a director who has made so much better and more realistic, straight-forward movies than this that makes the movie flawed but it's the story that mostly makes this movie a flawed one.
But yes, of course the movie still has more positive thing as negatives things in it. The movie will probably still surprise and delight people. There really are moments which makes this movie tense and mysterious to watch, so as a thriller it surely serves its purpose. It still is a very powerful movie to watch, for most of its running time.
The cast is good and the actors are cast to fit their characters as good as possible. Viggo Mortensen is good as a 'normal', recognizable every day person, who gets into some difficulties that seems bigger than him. Really great is Ed Harris in his role. He's mysterious and tough, the perfect combination of his character that is one of the most memorable performances by him of the last couple of years. On the other hand, William Hurt feels terribly out of place in his role. I can't believe that he actually received an Oscar nomination for his role in this movie.
There are plenty enough reasons why you should watch this movie but I still feel that I need to warn, to not believe all the hype, which still surrounds the movie.
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