The Devil's Backbone (Special Edition)

Amazon.com

Seething passions, wandering ghosts, and an unexploded bomb fill this beautifully filmed tale of war and suspense. Though The Devil's Backbone was advertised as a horror movie in the States, it's really more of a drama that happens to have ghosts in it. During the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage. The tensions therein have been building for years, exacerbated by the unexploded bomb resting menacingly in the courtyard. Bullies scheme, tempers flare, and a ghost that visits Carlos's bed seems to be the key to it all. The movie is full of excellent performances, especially by Marisa Paredes as the gruff-but-kind headmistress, Eduardo Noriega as the handyman with secrets to keep, and Federico Luppi as the benevolent professor who likes to keep deformed fetuses in jars. A rich, satisfying drama with some good, spooky fun thrown in. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews:

Another Del Toro's Spanish Civil War story with supernatural elements.......2007-09-13

This is a good movie, but I have seen it after seeing the more recent (and really brilliant) Pan's Labyrinth, so it's hard to be objective and judge the Devil's Backbone on it's own merits. However, all the necessary elements are there (the story is interesting, main characters are introduced with enough care, the ghost and the sectrets arount it is getting reveiled as the movie goes on), so it's a good movie for people who like to watch drama with ghost/fantasy elements. I found it not as stylish and frightening as Others (some people obviously did, according to the reviews printed on the back of the DVD box), but it's definitely worth watching.

THE STORY THAT DEFIES ALL BARRIERS!!.......2007-09-07

this movie was almost perfect. there could have been some changes here and there, but overall it was beautifully done. guillermo del toro does some wonderful stuff, and this film is proof. the story was great, the setting was brilliant, and the characters did they're best. it showed and although the language is in spanish you can't help but be intrigued and drawn in to the devils backbone. a story about an orphaned boy who sees this ghost who's bent out on seeking vengance, so the boys of the orphanage must get along to help this ghost boy find what or who he is seeking, all the while a backstabbing handyman turns on them because of his greed. their only protection, the headmistress, and the old professer. although spooky at times, it's filled with drama, and i really enjoyed this. it's hard to come across movies such as these.

Bonus Features.......2007-07-29

The movie is thoroughly engrossing, unpredictable, and worthwhile, as most of the reviews here attest. But the bonus features on this edition are worth the price of admission as well. Like Kevin Smith and a handful of other active directors, Guillermo del Toro makes an admirable effort to add value to his DVD releases with thoughtful extras for fans and film buffs. Excerpts from the director's notebook, storyboards, even the ubiquitous Making Of documentary all add more substance than the usual PR filler material. Of particular interest here is del Toro's commentary, which goes beyond the usual behind-the-scenes anecdotes to delve into the artistic and historical roots of the creative decisions he made in the film. From the history and conventions of the gothic romance to fine art and architectural influences, del Toro is like an unusually entertaining and articulate college professor with near-encyclopedic knowledge. The extras enhance an already excellent film viewing experience.

The Devil's Backbone.......2007-07-25

A shudder-inducing treat that shows artful restraint in the telling. Del Toro evokes the hard price of war in the school's run-down state and the frayed nerves of the adults who run the place, played by veterans Federico Luppi and Marisa Paredes. The ghost of Santi (Junio Valverde) is presented at intervals to jolt us back to a state of fear, but we also know Santi holds a key to the story's bigger mystery. Finally, a huge unexploded bomb is embedded in the center of the school's courtyard, an ingenious visual device that presages explosions yet to come, explosions you won't want to miss.

kiddie movie.......2007-06-26

gave it 5 stars -this is a great movie But for kids between 12-16yrs old.

Average customer rating:

The high school underworld
Not from professionals, comes from students
Reality is in the Eyes of the Beholder
Brick
I was turned off about halfway thru....

Brick
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt , and Emilie De Ravin
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FVQM2Y
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Amazon.com

High school collides with hard-boiled film noir in the twisty, cunning Brick. When he gets a mysterious message from his ex-girlfriend, a high school loner named Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mysterious Skin) starts to dig into a crisscrossed web of drugs and duplicity, eventually getting entwined in the criminal doings of a teenage crime lord known as the Pin (Lukas Haas), his thuggish henchman Tugger (Noah Fleiss, Joe the King), and a mysterious girl named Laura (Nora Zehetner, Fifty Pills). Brick has not only the seductive, labyrinthine plot of a crime thriller by Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) or Raymond Chandler (Farewell, My Lovely) but also a dense high-school version of hard-boiled lingo that's both comic and poetic. The movie unfolds with headlong momentum as Brendan manipulates, fights, and staggers his way through layers of high-school society. Gordon-Levitt is excellent; between this and the equally compelling Mysterious Skin, he's left his 3rd Rock from the Sun days behind. Also featuring Meagan Good (Waist Deep) and Richard Roundtree (Shaft). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Brendan Frye is a loner, someone who knows all the angles but has chosen to stay on the outside. When the girl he loves turns up dead, he is determined to find the "who" and "why" and plunges into the dark and dangerous social strata of rich girl Laura, intimidating Tug, drug-addled Dode, seductive Kara, and the ominous Pin. But who can he really trust? These are the ingredients of Brick, a gritty and provocative thriller that critics describe as "a clever, twist-filled whodunit!" (Claudia Puig, USA Today)

Customer Reviews:

The high school underworld.......2007-09-06

I guess I disagree with all of the people who wrote bad reviews. Yes, some parts of the movie are not quite realistic. It's a movie!! Movie does not equal reality. I think it provides a good look into the underworld that exists in many middle class American high schools. So if you grew up sheltered from the drug world in your high school it may be difficult to relate. However if you grew up in a high school with drug prevalence it will really resonate with you.

The movie deals heavily with drugs and their presence in American high schools. I felt that I could really relate to the movie. A guy in my high school got a bullet in the head when he didn't come up the money from a brick of coke that was fronted to him. Another guy got a gunshot wound to the leg when he knew too much about something with the message that the next one would be in his head. Four guys beat a guy to death for his wallet. I'm sorry if the movie and the plot seems unrealistic to some, perhaps if you hadn't led such a sheltered life it would seem more real to you.

The fact that the characters seem a bit too intelligent is again a product of perception. My high school group of friend's was very Dawson's Creek, our conversations seemed to be beyond our years. The main character brilliantly brings down everyone who was involved in his ex-girlfriend's death. The best revenge I've ever seen in a movie.

Not from professionals, comes from students.......2007-08-19

The whole things about this movie seems did as a movie's student. The script, the directing, the acting, the music, the timing, the tricks...all seems a student's homework or project to pass some test in a movie college.
If were my son's first movie perhaps I'll love it, but is not.

Reality is in the Eyes of the Beholder.......2007-07-23

Far-fetched as this may sound, "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" kept popping into my head when I saw "Brick". Think about it: both share the same basic conceptual premise, i.e. the improbable crossing of very specific film genres with a high school universe, both have larger-than-life, charismatic and virtually unstoppable protagonists, and both are propelled by fast, sharp, intelligent dialogue. They also raise similar problems concerning suspension of disbelief, of course, but Rian Johnson and Buffy's creator Joss Whedon deal with those very differently.

In "Buffy" the conflict between the supernatural and the prosaic not only isn't disguised in any way but actually highlighted for humoristic purposes, and self-deconstruction is even a trademark of the series. Not so with Johnson's work. Although obviously conscious of the film's lack of "realism" the director never lets his guard down, and these extremely articulate, focused, serious and animally elegant teenagers remain strangely believable throughout. There are a couple of buffyesque moments, like when the mysterious villain's mom prepares a nice snack for the boys and the "noir mood" just switches off for a few seconds, but the film simply returns intact to its previous intensity.

"Brick" has a definite dreamlike quality to it. Incongruous and unbelievable as most dreams, the film has the same ability to hold the viewer's attention regardless. In fact, one could even see "Brick" as an intricate, vivid dream by a Raymond Chandler loving, high school misfit who's just lost his girlfriend and is unconsciously dealing with it in his sleep. The almost complete absence of teachers, parents or any other grownups would be just a reflection of how he sees the world. And, returning to "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", weren't the vampires and monsters that she fought simply metaphors for her growing pains?

Brick.......2007-07-18

With a tough-talking teenage argot harkening back to the hard-boiled noir movies of the forties, and a cast of high-school-age characters with names like Dode, Tugger, and The Brain, Johnson's ingenious murder-mystery set at a Los Angeles high school is pure movie fancy. But what a clever, fascinating ruse he's devised--the plot itself is a mind twister worthy of "Kiss Me Deadly." And the acting, like the dialogue, is utterly sincere, even at its most outrageously hip. With hands jammed in his tattered coat pockets, specs dropping down the bridge of his nose, Levitt epitomizes shabby cool. Great support from Haas, Noah Fleiss, and Norah Zehetner give this "Brick" extra heft.

I was turned off about halfway thru...........2007-07-15

This movie started off pretty good in the first half building up intrigue and suspense with a girl's murder and making you wonder what happened to her; then it totally blew it and became comical. I come into all movies with an "open" mind and give everyone of them a chance by watching them instead of going by reviews but...SPOILER ALERT>>>>>THIS IS THE SCENE THAT "BROKE" THE MOVIE: I have a hard time buying the fact of a teen power figure dressed up like someone from Goodfellas and let alone having a cane with a duck head on top scaring anyone. Give me a break, it just doesn't do it for me. How could anyone be afraid of this "dealer" especially living in their mother's basement? Give me a break!!! If you want to watch great acting of this genre, I suggest watching the 1st season of "The Wire". People are either going to love or totally hate this movie. If you have an intellect over the average 13 year old, I think you'll be in the latter crowd. A rental at most as shown by the current standing of 111 new/used for sale on Amazon. People don't get rid of good movies. Think about it.

Average customer rating:

Not convincing and homogeneous arguments
Lying For An Oscar
The Hollywood Propaganda Machine In Full Motion
Excellent piece of work
Biased and dissapointing

Bowling for Columbine
Starring: Michael Caldwell , Dick Cheney , Dick Clark , Bill Clinton , and Byron Dorgan
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008DDVV
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Amazon.com

Michael Moore's superb documentary (following in the footsteps of Roger & Me and The Big One) tackles a meaty subject: gun control. Moore skillfully lays out arguments surrounding the issue and short-circuits them all, leaving one impossible question: why do Americans kill each other more often than people in any other democratic nation? Moore focuses his quest around the shootings at Columbine High School and the shooting of one 6-year-old by another near his own hometown of Flint, Michigan. By approaching the headquarters of K-Mart (where the Columbine shooters bought their ammo) and going to Charlton Heston's own home, Moore demands accountability from the forces that support unrestricted gun sales in the U.S. His arguments are conducted with the humor and empathy that have made Moore more than just a gadfly; he's become a genuine voice of reason in a world driven by fear and greed. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore (Roger & Me) takes aim at America's love affair with guns and violence in this Oscar(r)-winning* film that "demands attention" (People)! Mixing riveting footage, hilarious animation and candid interviews with everyone from the NRA's Charlton Heston to shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, Bowling for Columbine is a "brilliant" (The Hollywood Reporter) tour de force of filmmaking. *2002: Documentary Feature

Customer Reviews:

Not convincing and homogeneous arguments.......2007-09-13

Michael Moore hit the road of glory with this documentary. He speaks of the High School shooting in Littleton. He is always surprising. We expected an approach that would try to recapture the two young men who went berserk, their backgrounds, their surroundings, their friends and families. In one word try to explain why these two perfectly normal young men could have run into such a pile of guano. But no. Michael Moore attacks somewhere else. He attacks the National Rifle Association all along, and yet he comes to the idea that it does not explain anything because in Canada they probable have even more guns per head. And they do not have a number of killings with fire-arms that could come close to comparing with the US. That's just the point here. The whole film is built on a line that in the end he has to push aside. And he comes up with another completely different and hardly supported in the film: Americans have a problem with their psyche. He does not specify if it is their individual psyches or if it is their collective psyche. And I must say it is kind of disappointing. He brutally interrupts the President of the NRA, Charlton Heston who is speaking of the wide presence of violence in American history (and the ethnicity of that violence) by quoting Germany, Russia, England and Japan as violent countries. But that does not in anyway bring him towards his conclusion. In other words he concludes with an opinion that is not supported by what he has shown in the film. For a documentary it is harsh to say so.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Lying For An Oscar.......2007-08-28

Michael Moore is a disgrace to the left-wing society, much like George W. Bush is a disgrace to the right-wing society. "Bowling For Columbine" is a film that if it is taken seriously, the results are just laughable. The Columbine shootings weren't based on gun control, and the attackers didn't get their weapons legally either. Moore is just contradicting the second amendment and placing the blame on the firearms business. This isn't a documentary, it's a deceptive, biased, and opinionated hack job of a movie that Moore is shoving right into our faces. Weapons aren't a problem, humanity and lack of responsibility is the problem.

Somebody give Moore a laxative, because he's so full of [sh]it when it comes to his "documentaries".

The Hollywood Propaganda Machine In Full Motion.......2007-08-25

I can't see how the anti-gun movement is anything less than yet another radical feminist assault on the alpha male. I mean, let's face it, women don't own guns, don't use guns, don't want to have anything to do with guns. This comes in sharp contrast to the relationship men have with guns where firearms are seen as items of recreation, tools of security, a safety insurance for them and their loved ones. This sense of safety, security, and perhaps even empowerment amongst men is something the feminist movement absolutely WILL NOT tolerate. Every man must be emasculated because if a feminist were being robbed in her home or on the street and a man (say perhaps a boyfriend, husband, or father) came up and blew the robber away this feminist would have a hard time justifying her crackpot ideology. And of course the magnum opus of the Flower Power generation was that ideas never need to be justified so long as we feel "sincerely" about them. This has very little to do with guns and everything to do with feminist attempts to correct male behavior. They'd want to take swords and sheilds away if we had them.

Not suprisingly the already passified and waif Michael Moore had no qualms about reflecting these views in his film which is quite suprising given that Moore himself grew up in Kent, Michigan, a town where street gangs and other scum keep the citizenry in a constant state of fear. This is hardly anything new for urban America where women can't walk down the street at night, where adults can't even correct wild teenagers in public for fear of being pistol whipped.

Of course Moore presents no solutions to these problems but the idea that the police, given enough time and money, would be able to get things under control is always assumed. And that's exactly what this boils down to: Moore's and the anti-gun movement's inability to come to terms with the fact that any normal kind of police presence isn't going to be able to control crimes against civilians.

There are restrictions on state power and naturally criminals use that to their advantage. This is because we live in a free society, well, at least we used to. People don't want to see a team of cops on every corner, in every building, in every subway car because realistically that is what it would take to get crime under control. That's what it took in New York but what about the other hundreds of cities that don't have a hundred billion dollar budget and who have citizens that don't want to live in a police state? Well...

They could look to the Second Amendment but of course Moore has his own twist on that idea, ridiculously trying to cast the Right to Bear Arms as a "right to overthrow tyranny." The thing Moore fails to realize was that the Bill of Rights was written before the French Revolution and before Marxism; back when the idea that a few farmers could topple a central government would've been seen by anyone, especially the elites, as utterly preposterous. More than likely I would think that the Second Amendment was written with folks on the frontier in mind where having a tomahawk sunk into your skull was far from an uncommon event. Also this was written at a time when a great deal of the police work (keeping in mind that most folks did not live in cities) and keeping a state of order was done by regular folks. Defending yourself and your household would have, in most cases, been an entirely personal endeavor.

It's not so much repulsive as it is bizarre watching Michael Moore go to work on these little projects of his. I mean, in a documentary that is supposed to be about gun control he spends about a half hour on the Oklahoma City Bombing. What an attack that was carried out with a truck bomb has to do with guns or gun control I'll never know. Instead it's just a pathetically calculated excuse for Moore to mention that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols happened to be gun owners. Look, these terrible people owned guns so if you own one you'll be terrible just like them! Even Hitler had a gun! You don't want to be Hitler do you? Endlessly amateurish. Infinitely infantile.

It's really weird the way Moore is seen by so many millions as the lovable champion of the people. Sort of like a pretentious and much fatter version of John Candy. The truth is Michael Moore cares about the average person's problems but only in the same way that every one else in Hollywood cares about the average person which is not so much caring about them as it is wanting to make them "better." Typical Marxist hatred of the Middle Class. There's no place for this garbage in Middle or Working Class America.

Wouldn't it be better living in a world where instead of finding helpless victims criminals found themselves getting pumped full of lead? I'll give it 2 stars because it was at least watchable.

Excellent piece of work.......2007-08-13

Finaly something what portraits the reality of american life. Something different from the everyday Hollywood junk. I am very thankful that Michael Moore has the guts to do this kind of work: swimming against the tide of money and power.

Biased and dissapointing.......2007-08-08

I would say before I got involved in firearms, that I really didn't have much of an opinion on gun ownership. I figured what people did was their own business and that it didn't affect me.

As I started reading more into Columbine, I saw Michael Moores documentary called "Bowling For Columbine" and I had remembered seeing his film on Flint, Michigan when I was in highschool. I figured the documentary was going to be about Columbine, not about gun culture. Either way, the documentary started off pretty good and I couldn't really tell the direction it was headed. The direction of the film sounded like it was criticizing American culture rather than guns until the film compared us to Canada and the rest of the world how "similar" we were. The problem is, Moore makes the assertion that somehow Canada and the rest of the world are safehaven utopias where you can reside with your doors unlocked with a low number of murder statistics. What he fails to mention is the size of our country and many of the issues that are a result of it.

Take in account Canada, a population of 32,984,700 in 2007. The US has a population of 302,213,000. Population wise, we are going to have more homocides. What Moore failed to state was that Canada while they may have gun registration is that before it was ever implented into Canada, the murder rates have been unchanged for the most part and crime has actually increased. Does this signify that guns were never the problem in Canada to begin with? The same applys for the United Kingdom, before handguns were outlawed, the murder rate and gun crime was actually lower than it is now. While the European nations may have supposed "low" murder rates, gun ownership rates really have nothing to do with it but rather what fuels violence.

In the US for example, much of our crime is black on black crime, gang warfare, the drug trade, and illegal aliens coming into this country. Actually 20 percent of our prison population are illegal aliens. The folks killing each other are not law abiding gun owners.

Moore also fails to mention how some of the most violent nations are those that actually have some of the most strict gun control laws in effect. Mexico, South Africa, India, Russia all have much higher murder rates than our country yet they have very strict laws pertaining to who can actually have a gun legally.

Overall the movie was nothing more than propaganda meant to look like a sceptical view of gun ownership. I was rather dissapointed with the film. I've watched it 3 different times to try and get an understanding from Michaels point of view but I think that the Bowling For Columbine dvd I purchased on ebay will make better use for skeet shooting.

Average customer rating:

Prepare to have your heart broken
Paper Clips
Always the ones you least suspect
An extraordinary documentary about loss, hope, and a desire to LEARN
Great Documentary

Paper Clips
Starring: Tom Bosley , David Smith (XLI) , Peter Schroeder , Dagmar Schroeder-Hildebrand , and Linda Hooper
Director: Joe Fab , and Elliot Berlin
Manufacturer: Arts Alliance Amer
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ASIN: B000CMNJF4
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Product Description

In 1998, a group of Tennessee schoolchildren embarked on a class project that would change their lives and impact those of countless others around the world. Responding to a history lesson about the Holocaust, the students began collecting 11 million paper clips (a Norwegian symbol of Nazi resistance) to commemorate each of the lives lost in the concentration camps. As news of the Paper Clip Project spread through the Internet, the children found themselves aided by total strangers in their effort to build a permanent memorial to tolerance and diversity in their schoolyard. Filmmakers Elliot Berlin and Joe Fab document the project in their documentary, PAPER CLIPS, for a moving testament to Margaret Mead's assertion that "a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world."

System Requirements:

Running Time 84 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Paper Clips is an inspiring 2004 documentary about a consciousness-raising project that blossomed into something beautiful at a rural Tennessee school. When the principal of Whitwell Middle School sought a program that would teach diversity to a predominantly white, Protestant student body, the notion of focusing on the Holocaust--specifically Hitler's extermination of six million Jews--seemed like an obvious way to go. But understanding what "six million" looks like became a challenge. Thus was born the idea of collecting that number of paper clips at Whitwell as a visual reference.

But then it turned out paper clips actually have, in historical terms, symbolic value where the Holocaust is concerned. In this moving film, one sees Whitwell students dig into research on Germany's genocidal campaign, solicit clips from a variety of leaders and celebrities, and make a name for themselves on the national news. In time, the world comes to Whitwell's doorstep, via unsolicited donations of clips from people around the world, and in a tearful meeting of students and Holocaust survivors. The dimensions of the project, the lessons about prejudice and intolerance, are stunning to watch grow beyond anyone's wildest expectations. This is a great film for families and classrooms to watch together. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Prepare to have your heart broken.......2007-08-20

I had no idea, when I borrowed this DVD from a friend, that it would have such an overwhelming effect on my heart, on my teaching. There is more here than the documentary of a school project. I have purchased a copy for myself, and for my daughter, who is also a teacher. There are many, many lessons to be learned here, including the one I believe is the most subtle, yet the most powerful: Even nice, loving, kind people, when they are honest, will admit to prejudice; but when they become aware of it, they can change. This is a great little film.

Paper Clips.......2007-07-23

Thanks to sure-handed direction from film-makers Elliot Berlin and Joe Fab, this incredibly moving and inspiring true story unfolds without unnecessary embellishment, allowing us to witness a worthy project from its nascent stages to what eventually becomes an extraordinary human phenomenon. "Paper Clips" is an important, life-affirming film, must-viewing for parents and older children. Don't miss this one!

Always the ones you least suspect.......2007-07-11

This powerful documentary explores the amazing project undertaken by Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee in 1998, first just to learn about the Shoah and then to collect 6 million paper clips, to have some kind of visual idea of just how many 6 million really is. They chose the paper clip to represent the murdered because it was invented in Norway in 1899, and during WWII, under the Nazi occupation and the dictatorial rule of the puppet ruler Vidkun Quisling, it was worn on people's collars as a secret symbol of resistance. But as more and more people nationwide and worldwide heard about their project, they soon far exceeded their original goal of 6 million and ended up getting over 30 million. The film itself, which also began as a story of how this seemingly unlikely school collected all of these paper clips and began having this class on the Shoah, to teach about tolerance and the dangers of prejudice and discrimination to a group of kids in an extremely homogenous small community, eventually evolved into something more. It became a story about how 5 Shoah survivors from New York came down to Whitwell and spoke at a local church and the school, with each respective group learning something new about the other, confronting and dissolving their former preconceptions. And then it turned into an entirely different story again, about the school's efforts to get an authentic railcar from Germany and to convert it into a mini-museum of sorts and a monument to tolerance and love, complete with housing 11 million (now more) of the paper clips, to represent each person who died, and the other victims whose names will never be known because they weren't all documented or accounted for, finally giving a resting place and respect to them in the least likely of all places.

Like many other Northerners, I've often bought into stereotypes about the South and Southerners, just like a lot of the people in the film fell victim to stereotypes about the North and Northerners. But as this story teaches us, it's very dangerous to stereotype entire groups of people, and to judge entire peoples instead of just singling out individuals who act in unfortunate ways. The people in this small town, in particular the children at the middle school, embody the ideals of love, tolerance, kindness, and respect, shattering the stereotype that all Southerners are ignorant racist hillbillies who fear or hate anyone or anything that's different. It also shows that most people will do the right thing simply because it is the right thing, and that children are children wherever one goes, full of curiosity and love, with the power to change the world one step at a time. It also shatters the stereotype that the younger generation doesn't care about anything or anyone but themselves. And after watching this powerful film, the viewer may never look at a paper clip the same way ever again.

Features on the bonus disc are interviews with two of the Shoah survivors who came to Whitwell, Rachel Gleitman and Bernard Igielski, interviews with the teachers, students, and some of the townspeople, extended scenes (the most notable of which being the dedication of the railcar museum on 9 November 2001, the 63rd anniversary of Krystallnacht), and a bonus scene, "A Sabbath Lesson at Ground Zero." There's also an interesting audio commentary on the main disc. Overall, it's full of important, powerful, and thought-provoking lessons for people of all ages and from all geographic regions.

An extraordinary documentary about loss, hope, and a desire to LEARN.......2007-06-21

I purchased this movie last December.

I usually purchase movies only after viewing them. However, I was fascinated by this story, and purchased the movie without prior viewing.

The documentary is an interesting look not only at the Holocaust, but at relationships between people, and the desire to understand events of history.

In an effort to further diversity education at their school - teachers and administrators at a Tennessee school, along with students, developedh a project to collect 6 million paperclips to represent individuals destroyed by the Holocaust.

The individuals in the film - students, teachers, the journalists who assisted the project - are all absolutely genuine. They are not afraid to show their own judgements and prejudices, and also express why they have felt this way. The innocent perspectives of the students is endearing, and genuinely inspiring.

Yes, this is a deeply emotional film. It is heartbreaking, and amazing. The holocaust surivors who came and shared their stories, shared their tattoo'd numbers...broke your heart and warmed your spirit. But in the same respect the desire of these students and educators to learn and UNDERSTAND - their desire to really GRASP JUST HOW MANY 6 MILLION PEOPLE would look like...is phenomenal. This is a brilliant documentary.

I was also fascinated by the symbolic choice of a paperclip...

I am very glad I purchased this film, it is an amazing story, enlightening. And it gives you a sense of what people can accomplish. Gathering paperclips seemed overwhelming in the beginning, but what the students do, with the help of journalists, family, etc. is phenomenal. I truly get tingles and goosebumps thinking about this film. And was breathless when the journey of the Train car from germany intersected modern history on September 11.

There is much to learned from history.

When one sets out on just such a journey, I believe often, the resources come to us. And I think this story displays how seeking out to accomplish the goal of education brought many people together, and created an example of just what the world lost during the Holocaust.

Each paperclip represented one life, a life with lost potential. Each paperclip was treated with such an endearing respect; handled by someone who thought about the person who might have been...

I believe we should all see this film.

Great Documentary.......2007-05-16

I used this video as an introduction to teach the Holocaust for my Junior Hight students and it was well received by them.

Average customer rating:

Hackers is Classic Film
Jolie, Hufmann, Bracco!!
awesome but unknown movie
Classic Fav!
Good fun

Hackers
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller , Angelina Jolie , Jesse Bradford , Matthew Lillard , and Laurence Mason
Director: Iain Softley
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: 6305047456
Release Date: 1998-08-25

Amazon.com

As a depiction of the computer-hacker underground, this movie is bogus to the bone. As a thriller, it's cartoonish and conventional. The premise (computer-happy kids hack into the wrong system, and the Forces of Repression come after them) is recycled from John Badham's 1983 WarGames. And the corporate-creep bad guy, played by Fisher Stevens, steeples his fingers and growls mossy villainous clichés. ("By the time they realize the truth, we'll be long gone with all the money.") For all its postmodern trappings the movie is working with sub-prehistoric storytelling tools. But it does succeed on one level, as a movie about adolescent bonding and alienation. The director, Iain Softley, helmed the Beatles-in-Hamburg biopic Backbeat, and he seems to have an instinct for the emotions that pull kids together around common interests and the insecurities that drive them apart. The familiar crises of loyalty and betrayal have an ache of real loneliness. It doesn't hurt that the two stars, Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy Williamson in Trainspotting) and Angelina Jolie (Gia), are just about equally gorgeous and charismatic; their longing glances steam up the screen. --David Chute

Customer Reviews:

Hackers is Classic Film.......2007-07-21

As someone who grew up with computers, and has a fairly well grounded background in the tech sector. I find this movie to be a classic tech flick, yeah there are part that are cheesy. However I find that the story itself is solid. This is a movie I can watch over and over and never really grow board with it.

I will have to admit some of the phraseology is questionable and at times misplaced. However I don't feel that such gaps would harm the overall story that the movie is trying to tell. Although the fact that it has Angelina Jolie in it doesn't hurt either. Lets face it even then she was hot.

This is just my view of it, hope this helps ya.

Jolie, Hufmann, Bracco!!.......2007-06-30

Oh! Do I have your attention now!?? Buy this and watch three of the most talented actresses alive and two of the most beautiful (sorry Huffman, but you do frumpy like no ones business). A good look at Jolie tosee her roots. and a puzzle movie where allt he piece's fit!

awesome but unknown movie.......2007-06-15

This movie is very underrated. For how much great acting as well as the great story line this movie needs to be appreciated more as those two fat guys, ebert and roper (however you spell his name), say. "I give this movie 2 thumbs way, way up." On top of all this I think Penn Jillete, although a small part was AWESOME. Thank you and I take my leave.

Classic Fav!.......2007-05-28

This movie has always been a fav. of mine! Angelina Jolie never looks(ed) better then she does in this movie!! I love the special effects!! I bought this along with Hackers 2 (Track Down), and Hackers 3 (Antitrust) All a Must have for any geek!!

Good fun.......2007-04-13

This movie is a good fun time, with interesting characters and an intriguing story line. Although the technology is somewhat outdated it is easy to suspend belief and to become involved in the story. For me, Matthew Lillard was a standout character and his performance really made the movie for me.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful movie
looking for capoeira? this is the movie
Martial arts to a dance
If you like Capoeira you have seen this already
gREAT SHOWCASE FOR mARK DACASCAS, don't expect that good of a movie

Only the Strong
Starring: Mark Dacascos , Stacey Travis , Geoffrey Lewis , Paco Christian Prieto , and Todd Susman
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000DD76R
Release Date: 2003-12-16

Description

Ex-Special Forces soldier Louis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) returns to Miami to find his former high school overrun by drugs and violence. A master of the Brazilian martial art, capoeira, Stevens pledges to straighten out a dozen of the school's worst students by teaching them this demanding and highly-disciplined fighting style. Slowly, his program begins to work, giving the students new hope and purpose. But the local drug lord, himself a martial arts expert, vows to stop Stevens' positive influence. Now Stevens must fight to save his own life, as well as the lives of his rebellious young students.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful movie.......2007-09-10

If you are looking for a movie that showcases capoeira than this is the one to see. Actually based on true events, this movie tells of a soldier's return from where he was trained and the trials and challenges he takes on as he strives to make a difference in the lives of others and how that spills out into the community.

looking for capoeira? this is the movie.......2007-05-30

Amongst the thousands of martial arts films in circulation, it is near impossible to find one that focuses on Capoeira fighting. And among a few films that contain tournaments, such as the Bloodsport series, you can find a Capoeira fighter in the tournament. But if you are looking for a fighting style used throughout an entire film, Only The Strong is the only movie I know of.

In addition to a Capoeira treat, the movie stars Marc Dacascos, a fan favorite by many who has been in several notable films such as Drive, Cradle 2 The Grave, and American Samurai. Though not a true Capoeira fighter, Dacascos did a pretty good job of learning it for this film. Though the fights look unrealistic because of all the flash of the moves, nevertheless it is beautiful choreography that is quite original and never gets old. This is why we watch movies after all, to see fantasy fights that look sweet.

As for the story, though somewhat cheesy, I thought it too was quite original. The Mark Dacascos character returns to his old high school in Miami, Florida and begins a program to teach the absolute worst kids there the art of Capoeira. Unfortunately, one of the student's cousins, Silverio (played by Paco Christian Prieto - Street Law, Champions), tries to put an end to it, leading up to a big confrontation and fight between Dacascos and Prieto. I loved the fight scene. It lasted 4 minutes, about average length, and took place on a sgement of Miami beach at night. The choreography for this fight was amazing to watch.
You might even like the soundtrack for this film, which incorporates a lot of rhythm and beat for the fighting. Songs like "Bananawe" may stick in your head for hours and hours after watching.
I highly recommend Only The Strong if you want to see a lot of Capoeira fighting, or just something different in a martial arts movie. I also recommend Tony Jaa's newest movie "The Protector" if you want to see a really flashly fight involving Capoeira.

Martial arts to a dance.......2007-05-15

I love this Brazilain technique looks imposible. this is one of my all time favourite movie. good thing is it actually has a story line to it, it doesn't go straight to fighting. As a kid going to a bad schooll with a bad attitude a teacher straightens him out then ships off to the navy in brazil were he learns the deadily art of capoeira.

If you like Capoeira you have seen this already.......2007-01-03

So only the strong is not a great movie. Poor acting, formulaic plot, cheesy....everything but it is one of the only movies in the U.S. that has a lot of Capoeira. As a capoeirista myself I found the actual demonstration of the art to be very limited and the writers understanding of the art to be somewhat lacking. Mark Dacascos is not a Capoeirista but trained in a style of kung fu, explaining why his skill in Capoeira is less than desireable but his basic fighting knowledge pretty good. He trained for six months in capoeira for this movie which is not enought to really get any good. In response to one of the other posts, Capoeira is Brazilian. It is based on an African fighting style but does not currently , nor has it since the slaves modified it so much, resembled the lost African art it originated from. OTS is a campy movie that has a lot of flaws to it.

All that being said I have to say that I really liked. Admittedly it has so many things wrong with it that I could not list them all here but I didn't care when watching it. It is fun, and easy to get into. As a capoeirista I felt that they showed a good effort in displaying all the art in many parts, even if the writers really didn't understand on a higher level what it is about. The movie was memorable and entertaining. I recomend watching it but I just can't give it more than three stars because of huge cheese factor. If you like movies such as the last dragon you will like this. If you haven't seen TLD then buy them both, get a few friends together and watch them both. Great fun and a lot of memorable, cheesy quotes that will last you a lifetime.

gREAT SHOWCASE FOR mARK DACASCAS, don't expect that good of a movie.......2006-03-07

This is oen of your favorite movies from back when you were 10, you probably remember it. Most of the characters seemed like they are dubbed even though this is an American movie. No real great fight scenes, but if you are one of those people who like Jet Li's the Master, then you will probably like this.

Average customer rating:

Over the Edge
Rebels with a cause, and led by a young Matt Dillon
Failing to plan for the kids was a "Cheap Trick"
Over the Edge
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL...

Over the Edge
Starring: Matt Dillon , Tom Fergus , Jeff Fleury , Ellen Geer , and Kristina Hanson (II)
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A0GOEG
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Amazon.com

Return to the pre-Internet days of 1979, when teens had KISS on their T-shirts and Led Zeppelin on their walls (wait, other than the high-waisted pants, that could be today). Richie (Matt Dillon in an electrifying debut) and Carl (Michael Kramer) are two such teens stuck in the planned community of New Granada (rural Colorado). Richie is a two-bit hood in Jackie Earle Haley (Bad News Bears) mode. Carl, his partner in mischief (breaking curfew, setting off firecrackers), comes from a more stable environment. Once a gun enters the picture, petty crime leads to tragedy and then apocalyptic revenge. Over the Edge gets the details right: the kids, the era, and their frustration with an uncomprehending adult world. At times, it almost feels like documentary, except for a few moments of high Kubrick-meets-Walter Hill drama, as when Carl gets jumped by a couple of hoods, including Vincent Spano (Baby It's You). Directed by Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused) and shot by Andrew Davis (The Fugitive), Over the Edge was unavailable for too long and deserves to find the same audience as other teen rebellion classics like co-writer Tim Hunter's River's Edge. The period-perfect soundtrack ups the ante with potent tracks from Cheap Trick, the Ramones, and the Cars. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

"Tomorrow's city...today" is how the planned suburban paradise of New Granada promotes itself, but something has been left out of the plans. No one is paying attention to the town's teens. Jonathan Kaplan directs this hot-blooded cult classic (a 1979 London Film Festival Outstanding Film Award winner) about kids left to discover their own values and coming up with enough drugs, booze and discontent to push everyone Over the Edge. Fourteen-year-old Matt Dillon makes his screen debut as the kids' charismatic, doomed leader Richie. The anthemic soundtrack by Van Halen, The Ramones, Cheap Trick and others provide the film's rock-n-roll heart.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by Director Jonathan Kaplan, Screenwriters Charlie Haas and Tim Hunter and roducer George Litto
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Over the Edge.......2007-01-21

I liked this movie. It brought me back to when I was a teenager in San Diego. Although we kids didn't face the same environmental problems as these kids did (do) in the movie, we did face the same cultural situations. Running from the cops, getting stoned, drinking, and partying were the norm for some of us. Most of us were smart enough to control ourselves and not get into serious trouble with the law, but these kids didn't do that.

Shooting a gun at a cop car, waving a gun anywhere near a cop, and burning down a building putting life at risk isn't too bright - even we thought so back then.

A cool cult film that takes one back to the late 70s and early 80s; great for parties and high school reunions.

Rebels with a cause, and led by a young Matt Dillon.......2007-01-12

Over the Edge covers some common themes that are still prevalent among teenagers today. The key for this movie is the fact that these kids are in Junior High School, not High School. The movie is centered on the development community called New Granada, which lies in for the most part, a remote desert area that is quickly growing with urban sprawl. Matt Dillon stars as a juvenile delinquent that is somewhat of a leader of children similar to him. As the community continues to grow, the police become aggressive towards the kids that they feel are giving prospective buyers of property a bad image of the new area. When the children strike back, it takes the community by storm, and sends the message that when you treat someone with disrespect, it can go both ways.

The movie will make you laugh, but it's not because it's silly. Some great acting by many of the teens as they try to get through perhaps what is one of the most confusing and frustrating times in their life: Junior High School. The movie does a good job of balancing the abuse of police and also the rebellious teens.

The 1979 film also features a great soundtrack that ranges from Cheap Trick to Van Halen. Despite it being strong in style as far as the period it was filmed in, the film does a great job of being serious when it should be, and sticking to the script that shows a day in the life of a teen back in "New Granada". The film is based on a true story.

Failing to plan for the kids was a "Cheap Trick".......2007-01-10

What happens when a planned community fails to plan for its own youth? All hell breaks loose. That's what happens. This is the story of New Granada, a suburban Denver subdivision full of drab townhomes that just hasn't met the planner's expectations. In order to attract new business, they scrap the plan for the movie theatre and bowling alley so they can build an office park. That leaves a dilapidated rec center as the only place for the local juveline deliquents to hang out. The kids then find other things to do, such as smoke hash, drop acid, guzzle vodka, torment the hapless local cop and play with loaded guns. The good news is that their shenanigans are set to a kickass soundtrack, featuring the Cars, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and Cheap Trick.

Matt Dillon shines in his first role ("A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid"), as do Vincent Spano and Michael Kramer as the film's center, Carl. The rest of the cast hasn't done much professionally, although a couple of them can be seen in another Matt Dillon film Tex. Pamela Ludwig, the girl who plays Corey, ended up marrying the director Jonathan Kaplan (Unlawful Entry, Project X, The Accused and Bad Girls)

Over the Edge is based on the true story of a development in Foster City, CA (near San Francisco) where a bunch of bored kids went nuts and destroyed part of a school. It is co-written by Tim Hunter, who later went on to direct another great teen angst film called The River's Edge.

OTE is very moody and shocking in its realistic depiction of suburban kids in the 1970's. If you are 35-45 yrs old, WATCH THIS MOVIE. You will recognize these kids. You will KNOW these kids. These kids are you.

Over the Edge.......2006-11-11

a great movie about what can happy with big group of teens without much of pearent guidince

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL..........2006-07-10

I never heard of this film until I saw it on somebody's amazon list. I read many reviews and decided to give it a try. Wow, what a film!!!

The story is quite simple: a group of kids living in a new city eager to attract new investment... and that's it. No movie theaters, no malls, no parks... nothing. And they are there on their own. Then all things start to happen.

The planners just forgot that a quarter of the city's population was under 16.

Anyway, it is rare to see a film with so many kids delivering electrifying performances... and Matt Dillon and Michael Kramer DO leave you in awe. They're so so so good that i wonder why isn't this film considered the classic it is.

This is one of those small films where everything on it is big:

Cinematography: Top-notch. This film has one of the best cinematoraphy jobs I've ever seen. On this film, the image really speaks. There is one scene, when the protagonist is being hunted, when he spends the night in an empty house with the girl he likes... it's early morning... the Sun is just rising... they say goodbye... and the most beautiful sunrise (outside) is framed by the doors... simply one of Cinema's great moments. I am one of those people who hate intelectuals who "look for the meaning" of every scene of every film they see... and here is one scene that trully gives the viewer some space for interpretation. It really made me cry.

And that is great screenwriting. Period.

Music score: again another fine work. The kids only listen to 70's rock - but that's just diegetic music here and then. But the music score you'll listen when we get deep into the story is absolutely beautiful, rich and powerful. It is not just there instead of silence... it really contributes to showing the emotions those kids are going through.

And Mr. Kaplan does know where to put the camera. He really knows what he wants us to see.

It is true that, being from 1979, some situations are dated. Some problems are dated. Some conflicts are dated... but that only makes this film more valuable as a document about what it was like to grow up on that part of America at that particular time.

Still, this film aged a lot better than other better known films about the generation gap.

This is a film to be studied.
I strongly recomend this film. It's a gem!

Average customer rating:

Religious Apparitions Experienced by a Child
Millions
What a suprisely great movie...
Excellent condition & fast delivery!
Our Mum's dead!

Millions
Starring: Alex Etel , Lewis McGibbon , James Nesbitt , Daisy Donovan , and Christopher Fulford
Director: Danny Boyle
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000AP04GK
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Amazon.com

Millions wears its heart on its sleeve, and it wears it well. Two boys, still grieving the death of their mother, find themselves the unwitting benefactors of a bag of bank robbery loot in the week before the United Kingdom switches its official currency to the Euro. What's a kid to do? Director Danny Boyle takes a simple premise and, with the help of Frank Cottrell Boyce's sweet, smart script, finds something special to say about the hopes everyone has for the future of a changing world. Brothers Anthony and Damian have vastly different agendas for the stash, and then have to deal not only with the money's original thief but with the disarming woman who seems to be stealing their widowed father. The film is full of quirks that work--seven-year-old Damian (an endearing Alex Etel) has private conversations with a collection of eclectic religious saints--and a technically spirited way of commingling both the scary realities and fanciful imaginings of young minds. --Steve Wiecking

Description

From legendary director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) comes ?a family film of limitless imagination and surprising joy!? (Chicago Sun-Times)

It?s holiday season and seven-year-old Damian believes he?s received a divine gift from above when a suitcase filled with cash literally falls out of the sky. Damian is anxious to share the wealth with those less fortunate while his fun-loving brother Anthony would rather spend it like there?s no tomorrow! But when the loot turns out to be stolen, both the boys? plans are put to the test?with heartwarming and hilarious results.

Customer Reviews:

Religious Apparitions Experienced by a Child.......2007-08-07

This family film depicts a young boy who sees religious apparitions... with a bit of humor. The film is a sweet and innocent rendition of a child who experienced the loss of his mother through death. The story shows his passion for saints and martyrs, and how his faith in God helps him cope with the many changes taking place in his life.

Although the reactions of his brother to the little boy's apparitional experiences are very mild to say the least, this film still provides (perhaps unitentionally) an introduction to the phenomenon of religious apparitions experienced by a child. There is a classroom scene that does a good job of illustrating the seeming strangeness of the boy compared to his classmates. At the end of the film there is a twist concerning the skepticism of the boy's brother, which may leave one with a sense of "hmmm... Did he or didn't he...?".

Millions.......2007-07-23

Quirky, ingenious and altogether charming fantasy/comedy from director Danny Boyle combines warmth, humor and suspense, as predictably, the previous owners of the ill-begotten cash are vitally interested in its recovery. Young Edel steals the show as the adorable Damian, who happens to be an authority on all the saints, communes with them often, and fittingly, wants to use the money to help the poor but doesn't quite know how to do it. Boyle paints his story in vivid colors, so that the story's darker aspects never overshadow the prevailing sense of fun and wonder. Tip-top entertainment for the whole family, though the plot intricacies may be lost on the smaller ones.

What a suprisely great movie..........2007-07-15

This movie was really a surprise. Not knowing what it was about in detail, we rented this movie from a friends recommendation. This had a really refreshing religious theme from the perspective of a boy (who memorized and idolized saints) trying to do what is right with money found. I see that others who have reviewed this gave more detail, and I will suffice to say - watch this movie it is at time very touching and other times very humorous! Excellent movie!

Excellent condition & fast delivery!.......2007-06-14

Received this movie 3 days after ordering it!!!

Our Mum's dead!.......2007-05-27

Millions (Danny Boyle, 2004)

I don't know what happened to Danny Boyle in 2002, but whatever it is, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. I always avoided Boyle's films, save 28 Days Later..., because of my deep, abiding hatred for Trainspotting. Now, though, swayed by the critical acclaim (which is almost universal), I rented Millions to see if Boyle is, in fact, capable of making a decent comedy-drama. Surprise--he is.

Millions is the story of Damian (Alex Etel, in his first screen role), a kid who has a huge bag of cash fall--literally--into his lap a week before England converts to the Euro--so he's rich, for the sum total of a single week, unless he can find some way to change the money without being suspected of any wrongdoing or give it away to charity. His materialistic brother is all for the former option, while Damian, who's obsessed with Christianity and often sees (and converses with) the saints of antiquity, likes the latter idea. Unfortunately, he doesn't think too hard about it, and one particular sizeable donation draws the attention of Dorothy (Daisy Donovan), who finds herself both intrigued by the charitable nature of Damian, and attracted to his recently-widowed father (James Nesbitt). The four of them, and a cast of neurotic minor characters, count down the week to Euroization, but the original owners of the bag of money haven't forgotten about it...

While it's not as out-and-out hilarious as one might expect from such a ludicrous premise, it does fire on enough cylinders to make it well worth watching. The plot is crazy enough to keep everything moving, and the characters are as believable as possible given their unbelievable situations. (This rule is waived for some of the minor characters who exist in the film just for laughs--the Mormon collective at the end of the street, for example--but even those characters are at least consistently funny.)

Surprisingly good. *** ½

Average customer rating:

this movie sucked
a korean thriller better than lot of hollywood similar genre products
[3.5]--The period when Asian cinema was at its peak.
Kissingurami
zzzzzzzz

Shiri
Starring: Suk-kyu Han , Min-sik Choi , Yunjin Kim , Kang-ho Song , and Johnny Kim
Director: Je-gyu Kang
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B0000633R6
Release Date: 2002-04-09

Amazon.com

A dazzling action movie from South Korea, Shiri follows two South Korean government agents, Ryu and Lee, as they pursue a female super-assassin from North Korea. Meanwhile, an elite paramilitary squad from North Korea has stolen a shipment of CTX, an undetectable liquid explosive of enormous power, which they've planted all over the city of Seoul. As their investigations are successively foiled, Ryu and Lee begin to suspect that there is a mole within the ranks of the agency--and it may be one of them. Both hyperstylish and hyperrealistic, Shiri rips along as a smooth fusion of Hong Kong and American action movies. Ryu's troubled romance with his alcoholic fiancée adds a striking emotional counterpoint to the blazing gunfights and high-speed chases; the ending is unexpectedly moving. It's not surprising that this film beat Titanic's box-office records in Korea. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

this movie sucked.......2007-07-08

This movie is no action movie at all. There are certain action sequences which are so poorly shot (jerkey camera work) that they'll give you vertigo. Nor are the actino scenes even remotely believable--numerous times there are 16 highly trained south korean soldiers firing automatic weapons who can't hit a n. korean secret agent w/ a pistol in close quarters? good god, if this was all the rage in korea as an axn movie, hollywood can sleep well at night.

a korean thriller better than lot of hollywood similar genre products.......2007-05-03

this movie may serve a purpose to tell you how good the korean movie makers are catching up to share the once solely dominant hollywood movie industry. it's a good action packed thriller and of course, many holes could also be found in the screenplay, and that as usual is inevitable.
but there's a worst scripted and directed fighting scene in this movie, the largest hole in this movie that could championed as the worst fire fighting scenes in the action/thriller genre:
the gun fights started in the theater and then suddenly shifted into the street, over 50 south korean special forces with special agents against 3 north korean toughs: how could it possible with so many automatic weapons shooting against 3 north korean handguns failed to hit them like honey-cone bee hives? what kind of lousy training the south korean special force received. was the director and the screenplay writers tring to hint that how lame, how poor and how wimpy the south korean special forces were trained. so many automatic assault weapons failed to kill those 3 guys with handguns in the first 3 seconds of gun fighting? the directing of this scene was the worst i've ever seen in any movie so far. maybe the director and the screenplay writers were actually all north korean sleepers (just joking). or all the south korean special force were thinking it's just a training mission, they all used blanks and shooting blanks? otherwise how could it possible they never hit the targets and always missed? if you could call this great, then you should become a movie director and find such job in korea.
here's another unforgivable overlook of this movie's director and the screenplay writers:
when gtx exploded in seoul, so many north korean secret agents running around in the cappital engaged in fierce gunfights with the south korean special agents and special forces, how could it possible that the friendship soccer game between north and south koreas still go on like nothing happened? how could it possible that news anchormen-women still broadcasting on tv that the game and the unify meeting would still continue like nothing happened? were they nuts?
there's one more thing that i want to point out here specifically: the guy who played the north korean special force leader almost ruined the whole believable storyline, this guy who later played the role in 'oldboy', seems to me like to keep his long hair style no matter what. like jackie chan, no matter what the movie he played in ancient time frame, his flawlessly trimmed long hair modern style was always changeless, even all the other actors in those movies tried so hard to look like the people in that era, jackie chan always looked like jackie chan. the korean guy and jackie chan only show us one thing: they are simply not professionally enough to sacrifice their hairdos no matter what the realistic or the historical backgrounds might have required.
you want me to sign on for this movie? fine, my first condition is 'i won't cut or change my beloved hairdo!'
the other problem of this movie is the way of thinking of the south koreans. they want to let people know they are front runners now in the int'l society, so this movie they got nuclear scientists, they got nuclear submarine operators, they got the gtx they've invented that is 10 times more powerful than the traditional explosives, they got everything that no other countries could even dream about.
the problem of the north korean way of thinking is that they let them narrow-minded stubborn ideology blind themselves from the realistic and logic way of thinking. just like that north korean agent said on the phone: 'i'm calling from where all of your south korean young people drinking and puking around. while we north koreans without any food to eat, you south koreans are talking about diet and reducing weight.(roughly words i could remember)'
this is the way of the north koreans' thinking. they don't even think about that's their ridiculous north korean government making their lives miserable but blame their sufferings and hunger to south korea's prosperity. the blind ideological thinking is such a horrible logic that they never think twice if it's wrong.
one more message to warn other countries: if north korea in reality could train their special force or agents like what they've shown in this movie, then, the navy 'seal', the special forces in every thinkable military force of any country is just entry level child play. the north korean killing machines are just too superior to any other existing military force on the planet. could democratic countries train their agents like what they did?
conclusion: if you think all the problems i pointed out here are not important, then you should call this movie as a 'masterpiece', and you should thank your high school teachers and your parents for such a nice job they did to you.

[3.5]--The period when Asian cinema was at its peak........2007-04-11

I thought this film was decent enough to watch. "Shiri" is a generic modern action flick, heavily indebted to American movies like "Heat" and "The Rock" But for all its conventional plotting, convoluted situations and flashy style, there's something quite compulsive about the film. Writer/director Je-gyu Kang balances the action and drama with confidence, and the characters, while not given a massive amount of background, are intriguing and sympathetic. The relationship between Ryu and his girlfriend Hyun (Yun-Jin Kim) is handled rather melodramatically - you just know something bad is going to happen to mess up their blossoming love - but the acting is strong, particularly from Korean heartthrob Suk-Gyu Han and Min-sik Choi, playing head terrorist Park.

The violent set-pieces are restrained in their number but not in their ferocity. The film opens with a gruesome sequence detailing Hee's training by the North Korean military, as she chops off heads and slits throats with determined abandon, while there's a blisteringly exciting gun-battle later on that starts in a theatre before spilling bloodily onto the busy streets of Seoul. In general, Kang is a bit too keen to keep his camera constantly moving, but Sung-Bok Kim's inventive cinematography provides an arresting visual edge.

Kang attempts to give to his film a political dimension, emphasising the economic differences between North and South Korea, while the title derives from a fish that divides its time between the two nations. But this is all approached fairly simplistically, and to be honest, we've seen terrorists threaten the safety of a city with stolen explosives so many times before that the political element isn't hugely important to the suspense. But I guess it's still good to see an action film-maker interested in something other than blowing people up.

"Shiri" is a bit too long for what it delivery's and takes itself too seriously.The climax isn't nearly as exciting as some of the earlier moments either. Nevertheless, the film wears its influences proudly on its sleeve and entertains with conviction.

Kissingurami.......2007-03-14

I have to admit this movie is a bit slow paced but it's no snoozer! It keeps you interested.... with little bits of flashback and coincedences. They really try to give you the entire"picture". I find Most American spy movies cut corners here giving you a basic idea and you fill in the blanks. It's not the best Korean cinema I have seen but like I said it kept me watching.
Also those of you who watch Lost on ABC will see a familiar face; Sun Kwon, Yunjin Kim.

zzzzzzzz.......2007-02-28

Hey all ! I highly do not recommend this movie. First I can not understand how this movie shattered the box office? Is this really the best that a Korean film can offer?I already know that no is the answer. The movie was so boring i found myself fast forwarding through the so called action scenes. Anytime there is action the director chose to use the violent shaking of the camera technique. All that does is make you feel dizzy and confused. This movie introduces nothing new and is not unique in any way . At least in this movie its still possible to dodge automatic weapon fire from 20 M-16s , avoid being blown up by diving towards the camera in slow motion, and stop bombs from exploding alwasy at the last second! yeah for over hyped movies !

Average customer rating:

Oh, the misery.
You've fallen and you can't get up...but somehow you're still higher than a bunch of third graders on Ritalin...
Hilarious...because its horrible
It's 10 o'clock. Do you know why your children are cackling insanely?
Well, it's funny sometimes anyways...<