Reviews (277)

Brave New World II
Gattaca pleasantly surprised me as a thoughtful and rather worrisome view of the possible future instead of the special-effects-laden sci-fi movie I was expecting.

The story takes place at a time when genetic excellence is the yardstick by which individuals are measured. The ability to preselect genes among offspring and measure one's genetic potential through simple biological tests gives rise to a new form of discrimination that bars the genetically flawed protagonist, played by Ethan Hawke, from his lifelong goal of becoming an astronaut. Undaunted, he sets out to fool a genetic screening system and gain admission to the space program where he can pursue his dream. A scandalous incident at the space center (Gattaca) casts a scrutinizing light on each of the employees and threatens to expose his deception.

The details of this movie are clever and well thought out. The film has a graceful, almost poetic quality bolstered by a lush musical score. The acting is quite good all the way around. Ethan Hawke's fine performance certainly puts him on the map if he wasn't already there. Jude Law almost steals the show with his convincing portrayal of the broken golden child made miserable by his own misfortune but who comes to share in the dream of Ethan Hawke's character as he helps him outwit the system.

Gattaca shows us that lackluster natural potential coupled with unwavering desire and ambition can ultimately reach higher than mere genetic predisposition. Well worth seeing; four-and-a-half stars.

Celebrates the strength of spirit and desire
This is truly one of the most inspiring movies I've ever seen.

It's replete with symbolism: helix shaped stair cases, red and green lights indicating valid and invalid, the heart disease of Vincent (the natural born) as opposed to the lack of heart (spirit) of Jerome (the "superior", genetically engineered human), etc. The setting also makes use of connotations associated with the past. Slick hair styles, clothing, and sterile interior furnishings have an organized, repressed feeling evoking the controlled and prejudiced 1950's. This helps enhance the mood of lifeless surrender. Even the bald head of the geneticist at the beginning of the movie was a statement against the pursuit of perfection by means of perfecting the body and brain. Wealth of living is not found in the the physical plain, but in the spirit in which each day is lived.

Add to all this wounderful cinnematography, an unforgettable musical score, and fine acting that meld together into a fluid whole, and you've got a fantastic movie that repays many viewings.

Biology Lovers Unite and watch Gattaca
If you love Biology, especially genetics and DNA, this movie is for you. Gattaca combines a love story, with high-paced action, that is sure to get your adrenaline pumping. Gattaca will at first be confusing, but it will all make sense in the end, and it will be sure to make a place on the front of your DVD/VHS shelf.

Gattaca is an unforgettable warning
The best exploration of the possibility of genetically modified people becoming a separate social and economic class leaving behind and opressing those who are not genetically modified.

My favorite film
The word "Inspiring" is grossly overused in film reviews. Gattaca is one of the very few that genuinely deserves it. In a nutshell, it's the story of a mutt (Ethan Hawke) bypassing and surpassing a world that's designed against him. This movie really affected me (another overused appraisal.)

Maybe I just love this movie because I relate too much to the protaganist, Vincent. Despite everyones expectations, from my high school counseler on, and my lack of any prestigious schooling, I'll soon have my physics PhD.

This is a wonderful movie. That it didnt sweep the Oscars only validates the movies point. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Following in the reptilian slime trail of Anaconda, this derivative monster movie from early 1998 plays like a cross between Titanic and Tremors, with parts of Aliens tossed in for good measure. Director Stephen Sommers couldn't recognize an original idea if it swallowed him whole--which, by the way, is exactly what happens to a lot of passengers on a luxury ship that is attacked by a giant serpent-like sea creature with a voracious appetite for human flesh. Treat Williams plays the leader of a mercenary crew whose members discover the ravaged ship and wage war on the creature; Famke Janssen joins him as an onboard thief and con artist who just happens to be highly skilled with automatic weapons. Of course, the action grows more intense as the body count rises and along the way the monster is gradually revealed in all of its gruesome glory. A guilty pleasure if ever there was one, Deep Rising arrived in theaters shortly after another waterlogged thriller, Hard Rain, and if nothing else it provides proof that the B-movie monsters of the 1950s are alive and well and as cheesy as ever in the age of digital special effects. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (104)

A little bit of humour goes a long way!
The more I watch this film, the more I like it. I recently re-watched it after seeing DEEP BLUE SEA. DEEP RISING is aimed at a lower level, really, and I think it's better off for it. A B-movie at heart, DEEP RISING conquers DEEP BLUE SEA because it never once takes itself seriously, and the blend of light comedy and horror works well (director Sommers proved it a successful formula later with THE MUMMY).

It's not just the gags that I like, either. There's something about the beginning of the film that I find curiously evocative - this high tech speedboat racing racing racing with single-minded, straight-line purpose toward an unknown destination in complete darkness. The fact that the audience knows what the crew will find when they arrive makes it more tantalizing.

Still, with a B-movie one must have B-movie expectations. The CG effects are only average and often unconvincing. The plot motivations are ridiculous. The acting ranges from extremely engaging (Treat Williams) to labored (Anthony Heald).

The DVD presentation is sparse (typical for a Hollywood Pictures release). The transfer is great, but non-anamorphic. There is a trailer, but nothing else of note. The sound quality is exceptionally good.

Sorry to go back to this comparison, but here I go anyway. Where DEEP BLUE SEA is lofty, DEEP RISING is lowbrow. Both are decent films, and each has its strengths over the other, but since this one is a heckuvalot of fun (and the other just plain isn't), I'd rather watch DEEP RISING again.

I hope you found this review informative! Thanks for reading.

Don't be afraid...
Don't be afraid to admit that you like this movie. Deep Rising is a terrific monster flick that delivers all that can be expected of a film of this type. You get thrills, chills, kills and more than a few laughs. The computer generated creature from the depths, is an ugly and vicious man-eater, that manifests itself in several different forms throughout the film. A twisting shiny gray mass, with numerous slimy looking tentacles, capable of great speed. This terror from the deep devours its victims with zest. All in all, a very cool looking monster, and a formidable opponent.

The human cast is not bad either. Treat Williams as "Finnegan" is a steady, likeable leading man, delivering some incredibly silly lines with an engaging smirk on his face. Pickpocket Famke Janssen, is dynamite in a red dress, and handles a gun like a pro. Comic relief is provided by Kevin J. O'Connor as "Joey", a character you will either love or hate. Anthony Heald as "Canton" the pompous ships owner, provides the "weasel factor". The hard-boiled mercenary group, led by "Hanover"(Wes Studi), ably performs their most critical function, that of being bloody fodder for the monster.

The plot enfolds in time tested fashion. Finnegan is hired to take a group of mercenaries to an unknown location at sea. They rendezvous with the "Argonautica" a disabled cruise ship, expecting to find it filled with passengers, only to discover just a handful of survivors. A mysterious creature is apparently loose on board. As the survivors continue to investigate the crippled ship, the monster makes its presence felt, and the fun begins. The body count continues to rise, and blood flows freely, up until the film's climax, where the monster pursues a jet ski through the ship's corridors. Wild mindless fun.

Writer and director Steven Sommers took the experiences gained from his first "creature feature", and put them to good use in his next films, the more commercially successful "The Mummy", "The Mummy Returns" and the yet to be released "Scorpion King".

Deep Rising is a great choice for pure escapist enjoyment. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack also adds considerably to the atmosphere and excitement. The DVD features just the movie and the trailer, and is perhaps a good candidate for the "Special Edition" treatment common these days, especially as this film has been overshadowed by Sommers latter efforts.

Greatest horror movie ever created by mankind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie is so great that they should make 2nd movie call "Monster Island:DEEP RISING 2". With different characters.

The #1 lousiest movie of all time!!!!
Well, what can we say? absolutely one of the most painful movies we've ever watched! The plot was non-existent and the acting - oh my god! with a guy called 'Treat' I guess we should have guessed! it was cheesy line after cheesy line, rather than a "fine wine" he was more like a cheap bottle of Boone's Farm that made you want to hurl in the sink!

If you have to watch this, we recommend you have a drink or two (hell, drink the whole bottle!) at least to numb the pain! Oh yeah, and amazingly Treat's hair quif remains perfectly intact after being underwater and everyone else is drenched - oh dear.

Saw better special effects in Godzilla 2000.
Well it is a B-monster movie all right. The sea creature is really just some bad CGI effects thrown in for bad measure. There is little to be said about this movie other then the fact that Steven Sommers made it, and he is turning out to be a pretty bad movie maker. At least after this movie, some of the cast did go on to appear in much better movies, but Sommers still makes crappy movies. This movie was not Jaws or Aliens, it was more like Plan 9 from Outer Space. I think I will go and watch Godzilla 2000 now. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Motion Picture Travesty!
To say that I disliked "For Better Or Worse" would be an understatement...a very large one. Perhaps it takes quite a talent to make a comedy this awful. Personally, I think everyone involved with this film should be ashamed.

The worst offender in this movie would have to be Jason Alexander. Not only is he the main character but he directed this flop as well. It is painfully obvious that in nine years of "Seinfeld" he probably never once contributed any material to the show. He evidently doesn't have a clue as to what is actually funny.

Alexander plays a perpetual loser named Michael Makeshift. One day, his scummy brother Reggie (James Woods) shows up on Michael's doorstep with his new bride Valerie (Lolita Davidovich). She's unconscious. Reggie asks his brother to look after her for a couple of days and then leaves. It turns out that Reggie has to meet up with a couple of goons, played by Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna, in order to develop plans to rob a credit union. Great lengths are taken to try and squeeze humor out of the fact that they are robbing a credit union instead of a bank. Why this would be even remotely funny to begin with is absolutely beyond me.

This all culminates in one of the most horrendous bank robbery scenes ever put on film. The soundtrack to this movie only makes things worse...if that's possible. It was so unbearable that I would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard.

Even if you are a die hard Jason Alexander fan, you will be much better off watching a thousand episodes of "Seinfeld" instead of watching this movie even once.

this movie rules!
This move rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

pretty freakin' bad
The only reason this gets more than ONE star is because Elizabeth Mitchell is spellbinding in almost everything i've seen her in - just forward it to the moments she's on screen - well worth the admission!

Bottom of the Barrel
Even if you give this movie the benefit of the doubt and assume it was _trying_ to be bad--trying to reinvograte the "B" flick genre, it's still terrible.

The writing is bad. The Baldwin brothers both provide mailed-in, vanilla performances. Tons of gratuitious violence are lost against a plot that's not at all engaging.

The lighthing tries to give a sense of place, but fails miserably. The extras aren't even handled well. This movie will take 105 minutes away from your life and you'll never get them back.

Better than I expected....Jon Seda steals the show!
"Double Bang" opens with the murder of police detective Vinnie Krailes (Adam Baldwin), who manages to finger his killer for his former partner Billy Brennan (William -- no relation -- Baldwin) before he expires. A series of somewhat tedious flashbacks follow which reveal that Vinnie was a dirty cop on the take from the mob. Brennan, who admittedly has "gotten dirty" a few times himself, magically sprouts a set of ethics and decides to avenge his ex-partner's death.

Enter flashy Salvatorre Piscaterre a.k.a. "Sally the Fish" (a highly entertaining turn by Jon Seda, who steals all his scenes and nabs the best lines), the baby-faced mobster who took out the hit on Vinnie. Sally sees his world not as a place where people either break the law or enforce it, but as an elaborate game where the best player on the field wins. For example, when Sally gets roughed up by the police, he literally takes his punches and chalks it up just as one of the costs of doing business. And having a dirty cop offed is nothing personal -- it's just a management decision meant to downsize his operation. Everyone's a player, and no one should be trusted.

So it comes as no surprise to Sally when Brennan finds an unlikely ally in Sally's Uncle Frankie (John Capodice), the local mob boss who is handed an ultimatum by the vengeful detective. Frankie, himself a prudent businessman, must decide whether to protect his impulsive nephew and risk giving up his entire operation to the Feds, or give up Sally and be seen as a snitch by his Family. In the end, Frankie devises a clever way to give satisfaction to all the parties involved.

In a slightly distracting subplot, Elizabeth Mitchell (here, incidentally, almost a dead-ringer for Carrie-Anne Moss) plays the conflicted Dr. Karen Winterman, a psychologist who has an ill-fated affair with one of her patients and manages to get caught up in the mess between Sally and Brennan.

To sum up, this movie is rather more cerebral than the average cops-and-robbers offering, and tries to flesh out each character's motivations instead of just presenting two-dimensional cliches. The pacing is a bit slow and uneven in places, so do not expect to see a shoot-em-up action flick. In the end, it was easier to respect the villains, who were willing to live and die by the sword so to speak, than to sympathize with the crooked cops who took bribes when it was convenient but got all self-righteous when things not surprisingly turned sour for them. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

pretty freakin' bad
The only reason this gets more than ONE star is because Elizabeth Mitchell is spellbinding in almost everything i've seen her in - just forward it to the moments she's on screen - well worth the admission!

Bottom of the Barrel
Even if you give this movie the benefit of the doubt and assume it was _trying_ to be bad--trying to reinvograte the "B" flick genre, it's still terrible.

The writing is bad. The Baldwin brothers both provide mailed-in, vanilla performances. Tons of gratuitious violence are lost against a plot that's not at all engaging.

The lighthing tries to give a sense of place, but fails miserably. The extras aren't even handled well. This movie will take 105 minutes away from your life and you'll never get them back.

Better than I expected....Jon Seda steals the show!
"Double Bang" opens with the murder of police detective Vinnie Krailes (Adam Baldwin), who manages to finger his killer for his former partner Billy Brennan (William -- no relation -- Baldwin) before he expires. A series of somewhat tedious flashbacks follow which reveal that Vinnie was a dirty cop on the take from the mob. Brennan, who admittedly has "gotten dirty" a few times himself, magically sprouts a set of ethics and decides to avenge his ex-partner's death.

Enter flashy Salvatorre Piscaterre a.k.a. "Sally the Fish" (a highly entertaining turn by Jon Seda, who steals all his scenes and nabs the best lines), the baby-faced mobster who took out the hit on Vinnie. Sally sees his world not as a place where people either break the law or enforce it, but as an elaborate game where the best player on the field wins. For example, when Sally gets roughed up by the police, he literally takes his punches and chalks it up just as one of the costs of doing business. And having a dirty cop offed is nothing personal -- it's just a management decision meant to downsize his operation. Everyone's a player, and no one should be trusted.

So it comes as no surprise to Sally when Brennan finds an unlikely ally in Sally's Uncle Frankie (John Capodice), the local mob boss who is handed an ultimatum by the vengeful detective. Frankie, himself a prudent businessman, must decide whether to protect his impulsive nephew and risk giving up his entire operation to the Feds, or give up Sally and be seen as a snitch by his Family. In the end, Frankie devises a clever way to give satisfaction to all the parties involved.

In a slightly distracting subplot, Elizabeth Mitchell (here, incidentally, almost a dead-ringer for Carrie-Anne Moss) plays the conflicted Dr. Karen Winterman, a psychologist who has an ill-fated affair with one of her patients and manages to get caught up in the mess between Sally and Brennan.

To sum up, this movie is rather more cerebral than the average cops-and-robbers offering, and tries to flesh out each character's motivations instead of just presenting two-dimensional cliches. The pacing is a bit slow and uneven in places, so do not expect to see a shoot-em-up action flick. In the end, it was easier to respect the villains, who were willing to live and die by the sword so to speak, than to sympathize with the crooked cops who took bribes when it was convenient but got all self-righteous when things not surprisingly turned sour for them. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Smart Science Fiction Movie
This movie really was the first smart science fiction movie i have seen. The plot is quite complex yet interesting. What surprised me the most is that this world that the characters live in is not far off from the world we might live in in the true future. This movie explores a future that is not too weird but plausable. Everything is done right. I recomend this movie to everybody.

Thought provoking and lovely style.
'Gattaca' is lovely work of science-fiction where the science and technology are mixed believably with its social implications. The interactions between the characters are believable, and truly moving, with excellent performances from Uma Thurman, Jude Law and Ethan Hawke. Though the fabulous setting, music and costume truly set the tone of the film. They are not intrusive, but one is aware of their magic. With the benfit of a great script, and suspenseful plot, this truly a great movie. ... Read more

Reviews (277)

Brave New World II
Gattaca pleasantly surprised me as a thoughtful and rather worrisome view of the possible future instead of the special-effects-laden sci-fi movie I was expecting.

The story takes place at a time when genetic excellence is the yardstick by which individuals are measured. The ability to preselect genes among offspring and measure one's genetic potential through simple biological tests gives rise to a new form of discrimination that bars the genetically flawed protagonist, played by Ethan Hawke, from his lifelong goal of becoming an astronaut. Undaunted, he sets out to fool a genetic screening system and gain admission to the space program where he can pursue his dream. A scandalous incident at the space center (Gattaca) casts a scrutinizing light on each of the employees and threatens to expose his deception.

The details of this movie are clever and well thought out. The film has a graceful, almost poetic quality bolstered by a lush musical score. The acting is quite good all the way around. Ethan Hawke's fine performance certainly puts him on the map if he wasn't already there. Jude Law almost steals the show with his convincing portrayal of the broken golden child made miserable by his own misfortune but who comes to share in the dream of Ethan Hawke's character as he helps him outwit the system.

Gattaca shows us that lackluster natural potential coupled with unwavering desire and ambition can ultimately reach higher than mere genetic predisposition. Well worth seeing; four-and-a-half stars.

Celebrates the strength of spirit and desire
This is truly one of the most inspiring movies I've ever seen.

It's replete with symbolism: helix shaped stair cases, red and green lights indicating valid and invalid, the heart disease of Vincent (the natural born) as opposed to the lack of heart (spirit) of Jerome (the "superior", genetically engineered human), etc. The setting also makes use of connotations associated with the past. Slick hair styles, clothing, and sterile interior furnishings have an organized, repressed feeling evoking the controlled and prejudiced 1950's. This helps enhance the mood of lifeless surrender. Even the bald head of the geneticist at the beginning of the movie was a statement against the pursuit of perfection by means of perfecting the body and brain. Wealth of living is not found in the the physical plain, but in the spirit in which each day is lived.

Add to all this wounderful cinnematography, an unforgettable musical score, and fine acting that meld together into a fluid whole, and you've got a fantastic movie that repays many viewings.

Biology Lovers Unite and watch Gattaca
If you love Biology, especially genetics and DNA, this movie is for you. Gattaca combines a love story, with high-paced action, that is sure to get your adrenaline pumping. Gattaca will at first be confusing, but it will all make sense in the end, and it will be sure to make a place on the front of your DVD/VHS shelf.

Gattaca is an unforgettable warning
The best exploration of the possibility of genetically modified people becoming a separate social and economic class leaving behind and opressing those who are not genetically modified.

My favorite film
The word "Inspiring" is grossly overused in film reviews. Gattaca is one of the very few that genuinely deserves it. In a nutshell, it's the story of a mutt (Ethan Hawke) bypassing and surpassing a world that's designed against him. This movie really affected me (another overused appraisal.)

Maybe I just love this movie because I relate too much to the protaganist, Vincent. Despite everyones expectations, from my high school counseler on, and my lack of any prestigious schooling, I'll soon have my physics PhD.

This is a wonderful movie. That it didnt sweep the Oscars only validates the movies point. ... Read more