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After her success with Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone opted for familiar territory with this campfest that purports to be a sexualized thriller about voyeurism but in reality is more of an excuse to get Stone and costar William Baldwin out of their clothes. Rear Window it ain't. Stone plays it drab and quiet as a successful career woman on the rebound from a bad marriage who moves into a mysterious Manhattan high-rise. Once there, she discovers that she has a few admirers: a hunky and enigmatic neighbor (Baldwin), a popular writer of crime novels (Tom Berenger), and someone who seems to enjoy watching her every move on the building-wide surveillance system. And is one of them the serial killer who's stalking the comely female tenants? Scripted by the erstwhile Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge), Sliver follows the standard Eszterhas plot line of a protagonist suspecting that his or her lover may or may not be a vicious killer, the tension mounting as clue upon clue is discovered. Unlike both Instinct or Edge, though, Sliver delivers little suspense, thanks in part to a reshot ending that changed the original identity of the killer in the Ira Levin novel and confounded students of rational thought. However, if you're looking for an unintentionally funny thriller with loads of extraneous nudity, Sliver is an enjoyably huge hunk of cheese. --Mark Englehart ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Stone in yet another over-charged sex-thriller.
This super-sleazy sex-mystery features Sharon Stone as a lonely book editor who moves into a handsome, slender Manhattan apartment building(the "Sliver" of the title), and later learns that it is the scene of a series of brutal and unsolved murders. Unfortunately, this filmization of Ira Levin's reasonably suspenseful novel focuses more on Stone's steamy relationship with practicing voyeur William Baldwin rather than the mystery/suspense angle. This muddled mess was obviously an ill-fated attempt to cash in on the success of "Basic Instinct" and attract that same audience, but it was all for naught because "Sliver" still crashed and burned at the box-office. Admittedly, there are several hot and heavy sex scenes, but they would be more at home in a hardcore skin flick rather than a film like this that tries to pass itself off as a suspenseful murder mystery. The unrated version features several minutes worth of even more sexually explicit material. If you're going to buy it, get the unrated version since the few sex scenes are the film's only real virtue anyway.

SLIVER, WANNA WATCH?
Sliver is a fantastic film. The best out of all the erotic thrillers filmed between the years of 1987-1995, preferably the time in which the Erotic Thriller genre was big. Ending with Eszterhas's JADE. Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Jade, Jagged Egde) wrote Sliver. A film starring Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, stuck in this age of loneliness after coming out of a 7 year bad marriage. Moving into a slick and sleek sliver apartment building, she is warmly welcomed by all of it's tennants. Including, Vida Warren a woman with a dark double life. Gus Hale, a man that is willing to tell all dirty little secrets. Zeke Hawkins a handsome young man that takes a sexual interest in Carly, FAST. And Tom Berenger a classy writer, with a macho jerk attitude. When Carly gets involved, very involved, with Zeke she begins to learn that inside the walls of this building hides a secret that could reveal everything. With an ending so fast paced it will blow right by you, but a very satisfying ending if I do say so in the least. Again, buy SLIVER in the unrated version, sit down and relax in the darkness and remember that there is no place more frightening than home...

Very sexy but empty
There was a time when movies were slicker than they are now, when they pushed the buttons of sexuality/abhorrent sex. This is a lot about voyeurism and the thrill of being stalked. Sharon Stone was of course capitalizing on the Basic Instinct success. Billy Baldwin is very attarctive and they make a sexy couple but it didn't make a good movie. The soundtrack is amazing though!

LONELINESS - exemplified !!!
Few films have a matching soundtrack.This is one of those few.
The script is strong.The pace is quick.Actors/Actresses have done a commendable job.It's all about people , who have made good money - stable lifestyle - those who are already out of the daily rat race - who now have time for some mischief & pleasure.And , a rare combination of Money & Loneliness formulates a unique approach to life.This is it.The best that the people of this status can do in life.The beginning is simply superb - mystery commences right from shot 1 - excellent dialogue quality - absolutely no useless chatter - just to the point action & dialogues.A great addition to the collection - for sure.

So much for the "erotic thriller" genre
Sharon Stone is Carly Norris, one of those sucessful types who, in Hollywood's mind, must be tortured by insecurity and self-loathing. She's just moved into a new building which, for its stark loveliness, leaves her feeling even more unsettled than usual. (Because Joe Ezsterhaus perpetrated the script, the regular denizens of the building are into rough and otherwise generally unconventional intercourse. Closer to Carly are two suspicious admirers ' Lanford (Tom Berenger), a hardboiled crime novelist, and the building's owner, Zeke (Billy Baldwin). Lanford telegraphs his problems in the way he introduces himself ' running into people while jogging in Central Park. Zeke has a bigger problem ' he's wired the building for sight & sound, using a hidden control center stacked with monitors and recorders on which to view whatever's going on in his building (lover's pressuring their mates into rougher sex; parents molesting their children, women shaving, etc..) When suspicion exuded by the characters isn't enough to get the story going, a string of murderers is tossed in. ... Read more

Reviews (115)

A very touching biographical movie
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a true and real life biography of a girl being snapped away from her mother because she is a half-caste - offspring of a white man and an aboriginal woman. The movie has a very detail description of the intention of the Whilte Australians in the 30s to whiten all these children by removing them from their mothers, sending them to the training camps. The story depicted 3 girls running away from the camp and walked 1200 miles back home to reunite with their mother. The movie is very natural and touching that you will just be drawn inside the hearts of those girls, who has nothing but strong determination to go home and live a life they want. The movie also described the arrogance of the Whitle Australians until the 1970s, who tried every effort to justify their whitening process of this Stolen Generation. It is a very honest portray of the experience of Molly, who was unfortunately being forced into this generation and lived a wandering and heart breaking life due to this policy. It should be watched by all people so that we could learn to respect other people's life and culture as they are, instead of superimposing what we think is the best for them, for they might end up to be a curse of life for these people. This is a very touching and introspecting production that should not be missed. It does not attempt to achieve a melodramatic effect, but a simple honest reminder for respecting the aboriginals who are actually the native people who live on this island continent. Things haven't been really improved in Australian over the aboriginal issues, but this is a very good attempt to raise the conscious of people over the land that the White Australians conquered 200 years ago, and how much the mentality of some of these people have and have not changed. The cinematography is also spectacular. In all, this is not a movie to be missed.

Courage and determination during a dark chapter of history
Between 1905 and 1971, the Australian government had a horrible policy. They forcibly removed all half-caste Aboriginal children to special training schools. The grown daughter of one of these children wrote a book about her mother's experiences. This film is an adaptation of that book.

The story takes place in 1931, when Molly, then 14, her sister Daily, then 8, and her cousin Gracie, then 10, are literally torn from the arms of their mothers, put in a cage, and taken 1,200 miles away to a school which is actually a sort of prison. Here, they are forbidden to speak their own language, they have to attend a Christian church, and are taught the ways of the white Australian culture around them. Led by Molly, the girls run away. And most of the film is the odyssey of their trek back home, following the rabbit-proof fence that bisects Australia, constructed to keep rabbits out of the pastureland.

The villain is clearly the white director of the school. It is amazing, but he actually believes in the racial theories that were prevalent at the time. He believes he is helping them and plays his role well, coming across as stupid and misguided rather than evil. The Aboriginal girls are all unknowns, and terrific actresses, as are the women who play Molly and Daisy's mother and grandmother. The courage and determination of the girls during their three-month journey, the people they meet along the way, and their efforts to dodge the trackers who have been sent to retrieve them by the school, is truly inspiring. This is all set against the backdrop of the Australian outback; the cinematography certainly captures its beauty.

The film is 94 minutes long and moves quickly. I immediately identified with the girls and felt their fear as well as their bravery as they made their way across the Australian continent. In a postscript to the story, we learn more about their lives. It did not turn out to be pretty. But two of the girls have survived into their nineties, and we meet them briefly. They are strong women with weathered faces, one of them walking with a cane, but clearly at home in their Outback surroundings.

The film is a lesson in inspiration and courage as well as a geography and history lesson about Australia. I loved it and highly recommend it.

A Universal Wake Up Call
This is probably the most emotional a film has ever made me. It's powerful, disturbing, and full of hope in the same breath. For "westernized" reviewers who acknowledge the content of this movie as an atrocity, this film is a wake up call to truly challenge to your beliefs. If you were in the same situation as a white person in 1931, would you still feel the same as you do now after seeing the movie or would you believe assimilation was the right thing to do? The most important thing to take away from this film is to never forget.

"In spite of himself, the native must be helped."
Set in Australia's bleak outback, this 2002 film takes place in 1931, when white bureaucrats forced their own morality on aboriginal half-castes living in the bush. Believing that these half-white children "deserved" the "advantages" of "civilization," and convinced that in three generations their blackness could be "bred out," the Australian government forcibly removed them from their families, brought them to settlements hundreds of miles from their homes, and trained them to be domestic servants. Forty years later the government finally abandoned the policy, leaving a "Stolen Generation" in its wake. Molly Craig has long been the symbol of the Aborigines' refusal to accept this genocidal policy, and this film, brilliantly directed by Philip Noyce, celebrates her unconquerable spirit in the face of sanctioned governmental cruelty.

Molly Craig (Everlyn Sampi), her cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan), and her sister (Tianna Sansbury), aged thirteen to eight, are cruelly removed from their mothers in Jigalong (Western Territories) and taken a thousand miles to the Moore River Native Settlement, which is directed by the self-righteous Mr. Neville (convincingly played by Kenneth Branagh), who believes in the inherent correctness of the resettlement policy. Placed in overcrowded dormitories, prohibited from using their own language, and required to live according to another world's rules, Molly, her sister, and her cousin decide to escape by following the 1500-mile "rabbit-proof fence," which borders both the settlement and their distant home. They must avoid detection by a hired Aborigine tracker (played menacingly by David Gulpilil) and by government workers and white settlers. For nine grueling weeks, the girls live virtually on their own, surviving through their ancestral knowledge of the land.

Written by Molly Craig's daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara, who, later, was also removed from her mother Molly and forced to live in a settlement, the film is a moving celebration of the human spirit, a tribute to Molly Craig, and a plea to acknowledge the rights of aboriginal peoples, wherever they may live. The harsh and unforgiving land is beautifully photographed, and the haunting music of aboriginal voices and instruments in the Golden Globe-nominated score by Peter Gabriel further the realism. The cast of young girls, all making their film debuts, never makes a misstep, conveying the trauma of their separation, their commitment to returning home, and, in Sampi's case, an anger which is only barely hidden. Branagh, though effective, really does not have to do much to be the villain here. In this beautifully realized depiction of a wrong-headed policy, director Noyce wisely chooses not to embellish the message with unnecessary, artificial melodrama--reality here is drama enough. Mary Whipple

A heartbreaking and inspirational story about the Aborigines
I was aware that the treatment of the Aborigines by those that settled Australia was fairly consistent with that of all European settlers dealing with indigenous people when "colonizing" someone else's land. I specifically recall how during the 2000 Sydney Olympics much was made of the symbolism of Cathy Freeman, an Aborigine on the Australian Olympic team, lighting the Olympic torch. Even more was made of the symbolism when Freeman went on to win the gold medal in the 400 meter. But I have to admit that when it comes to Australian films I tend to think in terms of "Breaker Morant" and "Gallipoli," where the point was how the British Empire was treating the Australian citizens of the Commonwealth as if nothing had changed since the first convicts were sent from Britain Down Under. Still, to see Australians turn around and treat others even more inhumanely was rather something of a shock.

"Rabbit-Proof Fence" is the story of three young Aborigine girls who escaped from a government camp in 1931 and tried to walk home 1,500 miles. Molly (Everlyn Sampi), her sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) were taken from their mothers because they are half-castes, their white fathers long gone after constructing the rabbit-proof fence which saves Australia's farm land from being devoured. The fence, of course, is both a metaphor for the separation of the children from their families as well as the touchstone that can help the girls get home.

The reason the girls are removed is because of the edict of A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), who was the administrator in charge of Aborigines in Western Australia. As portrayed in the film Neville is concerned about the creation of a third race and has the idea that with the proper breeding within three generations the half-castes will look white. Now there is conflicting historical evidence on how Aborigine children ended up at the Moore River Native Settlement pertaining to half-castes being ostracized by pure bloods and Aborigine parents wanted their children to receive an education. But in "Rabbit-Proof Fence" the reasons are clearly to "save" these children from themselves, and there is an implication the education is so these children can be domestic servants for white families.

Even if you did not see Branagh in "Conspiracy," the TV movie where he played SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, and chief architect of the "Final Solution" at the Wannsee Conference the parallels are unmistakable between Neville's theory of eugenics and the Nazis. But once Molly leads the other two girls into the outback Neville is not as important to the chase as Modoo (David Gulpilil), the native tracker who is required to enforce the policies that are resulting in "The Lost Generation" of his people. If this is a film that wants to see the world only in terms of black or white, there is no doubt which side wins your sympathy.

Having made big budget Hollywood films like "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Bone Collector," director Phillip Noyes provides a more intimate film like he did back in 1977 with "Backroads." His three stars are a trio of first time actresses, selected (as he explains in the accompanying featurette) so that everybody in the world who say them would want to adopt them. But they also turn out to act and Sampi as Molly Craig is at least as good as Keisha Castle-Hughes was in "Whale Rider."

This is a true story and as such you know not to expect a happy ending, but that does not stop your from harboring such hopes as the three girls continue on their journey and the authorities try to stop them before they reach their home and their families. As a true story there will be the obligatory title cards at the end telling you the rest of the story and explaining how the practice of separating half-castes from their parents continued until 1970, which may well be a more depressing thought than anything engendered by the film. But be forewarned that the most devastating scene on the DVD is not in the film when the girls are taken away from their wailing mothers, but in the featurette when we see what happens to the cast and crew after they finish filming that scene.

Special note needs to be made of the commentary track provided by director Phillip Noyce and featuring musician Peter Gabriel, actor Kenneth Branagh, screenwriter Chiristine Olsen and author Pilkington Garimara. This is not a track where everybody is in the room at once talking about the film. Instead this is mostly Noyce talking about the film, totally independent of what is on the screen, and when he talks about one of the other principles we get to hear their thoughts on the process of turning the original book and the story it was based on into this film. This is usually the sort of deep thoughts you get from a film critic doing the commentary on a Criterion Edition of a classic film, so finding it on this 2002 drama is a nice bonus. ... Read more

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Lightly enjoyable but a disappointment in the context of author Leslie Charteris's popular character, the Saint--who has been played by several actors, most notably George Sanders--this 1997 film is more in keeping with the requirements of high-octane contemporary action than it is the requirements of a particular legacy. Val Kilmer plays Simon Templar, the mercenary spy, who is hired to steal a fusion formula but falls in love with the scientist (Elisabeth Shue) who cooked it up. Kilmer's portrayal bears little resemblance to Charteris's rakish hero, and the film itself becomes increasingly improbable and ponderous the longer it goes on. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (86)

'You can't come to Russia and not play Russian roulette'.
If you are like me then you can't resist a good spy film; especially if my saint, Val Kilmer, appears in it! The film doesn't really follow the storyline of the books or the series, with Roger Moore. If you are nostalgic about the series then this probably isn't the best film for you. The film itself is a blend of action, romance and comedy at times. The stars of the film; Val Kilmer (Heat) and Elizabeth Shue (Hollow Man), have a genuinely believable romance that leaves any Val Kilmer fan wishing that they were Elizabeth! As for the Russians in the film; they add a refreshing edge which reminds us of how corrupt the World can be. The film follows the life of a thief who's only aim is to make $50 million, any way he can, and he uses the names of Catholic Saints to hide his trail. Meanwhile in a small corner of the World, Dr. Emma Russel has just discovered a scientific Phenomenon. The Russians want her discovery and they are willing to pay whatever and kill whoever it takes to get hold of it. The Saint then gets caught up in a web of Russian Maffia, intigue and love. When you have seen the film as many times as I have you learn to love each Saint for all their different qualities!

Abstract and grim, but that's what makes it good
My mother was uncertain about me buying this video at first, but when I insisted on getting it after reading the reviews here I was satisfied that my money had been well spent. The Saint is unlike any movie I've ever seen before. Like in my title: yes, it is abstract and dim, the dialogue gets a little backward and hard to understand, and Simon Templar seems to have very few motives that made him an international spy. His disguises give the movie it's comedy, of which there is not much because the lovely Elisabeth Shue is the co-star which of course catches your eye. The romance is rather weird but charming, and some things in the movie seem to happen for no reason at all. But it's still good spy action as Simon and Emma, Shue's character who has created the formula for cold fusion, are pursued around Russia by a politically powerful and corrupt group of authorities whom Simon tried to trick. Their adventures there, in Russia- which the movie displays as cold, crowded, and rather malevolent- are definitely worth your time. Val Kilmer is quite handsome and suave as the Saint, and although he's not english, this unique film will serve you well.

you wont need the patience of a saint...this is GREAT
I have no complaints at all about this version of The Saint.
I grew up listening to The Saint on radio and reading about him. This film version doesn't do the character any harm. It tells the tale of his early days. On second thought I do have ONE complaint...where's the sequel?

clever modern prequel
The folks who made this flick deserve credit. They cleverly decided to create a modern prequel to the classic character of The Saint. They didn't just ditch the character and steal the name. This isn't I SPY folks. This film IS The Saint. The modern prequel approach let them introduce a whole new audience to The Saint, but it also gave established Saint fans (like me) a rare glimpse at a part of Simon's life that I'd been wondering about for years: just how he got to be The Saint.
This is a great film!

A MIXED BAG IN THE SCRIPT DEPARTMENT BUT STYLISH POPCORN FUN
Short story: Val Kimler makes this absolutely worth it.

Long story: Yes, it may be a weak throwback to the notorious Saint comics and all that. So what. The movie is modern, stylish and always keeps you on the edge with its elaborate pseudo-politics, intriguing ideas and rehashed romantic mishmash.

Whenever it starts to drag Kilmer turns up in a new disguise and that alone carries the film through to its next thrill. Not to mention that the chemistry between Shue and Kilmer is hot enough to sizzle a steak.

Add to that mix a high-octane Prodigy-induced sountrack and you've got a fun flick with an exciting roulette of action and suspense.

Highly recommended rental. ... Read more

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Let's see--he's been Han Solo in three films and Indiana Jones in three more. So why shouldn't Harrison Ford take on a new continuing character in Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan? In this film, directed by Phillip Noyce, Ford picked up the baton when Alec Baldwin, who played Ryan in The Hunt for Red October, opted for a Broadway role instead. In this film, Ryan and his family are on vacation when Ryan saves a member of the British royal family from attack by Irish terrorists. The next thing he knows, the Ryan clan has been targeted by the same terrorists, who invade his Maryland home. The film can't shed all of Clancy's lumbering prose, or his techno-dweeb fascination with spy satellites and the like. But no one is better than Ford at righteous heroism--and Sean Bean makes a suitably snakey villain. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (58)

Patriot Games - A fine adaptation of Clancy¿s masterpiece!
Not for honor. Not for country. For his wife and child. These three bold statements are emblazoned on the cover of the DVD which, quite briefly, sums up the theme behind this fairly decent adaptation of Tom Clancy's best selling novel of the same name. While, as with all of the "Clancy" movies, the screenplay, written by W. Peter Iliff is very loosely based on the actual novel, this film is excellent as a stand alone. A minor note about the screenplay, they should've stuck with the original ending from the book, it would've been much more dramatic. This film certainly stuck a little closer to the original novel than the summer 2002 adaptation of "The Sum of All Fears."

Replacing "The Hunt for Red October's" Alec Baldwin and Gates McFadden (best known as Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek The Next Generation) as Jack and Cathy Ryan are Harrison Ford and the ever beautiful Anne Archer. The films producers couldn't have made a better choice to fill these two integral roles. Reprising the role of Admiral James Greer, James Earl Jones gives another fine performance. The recently departed Richard Harris of Harry Potter fame performs admirably as well. Samuel L. Jackson does well with the role of Commander Robbie Jackson, fellow professor and best friend to Jack Ryan. Performing admirably in the primary antagonist's role is Sean Bean of Lord of the Rings fame. Outstanding performances by all mentioned.

The score, performed by James Horner, is quite in keeping with his usual high standards. It meshes beautifully with every scene. The DVD itself is not much to speak of, in that the only feature on it is one theatrical trailer. Ultimately this is fine though, as I rate/review movies based on the movie itself, not all of the extraneous other items...

Dr. John Patrick Ryan and his family are on a working vacation in London, England. As he and his family meet up in a park, what appears to be IRA terrorists, blow up a car and are attempting to kidnap members of the Royal family. Throwing caution to the wind, Jack Ryan jumps into the fray...

What follows is an extremely intriguing and well made movie. Many "Clancy" fans may not have found this film to be up to the standards of his novels. This, in my opinion, is not the case, being that it is entirely impossible to film a five hundred plus page novel into two hours. This is not the "Patriot Games" that I've read a couple times now, but it is very good as it stands on its own merits.

I highly recommend this film to all those who are interested in a good, suspense filled and action packed thriller. {ssintrepid}

Protecting His Family
Harrison Ford was a great choice to take over the role of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games. Ford has that everyman quality that works really well when he finds himself and his family (wife Anne Archer and daughter Thora Birch) thrust into international events when they witness an assassination attempt on a British royal. Ford thwarts the attempt, which makes his family revenge targets. The assassins, an Irish militant group, counts amongst its members, a hotheaded Sean Bean who makes it his mission to kill Ford, Archer, and Birch. But needless to say, Ford has other ideas!

Patriot Games is a well-crafted thriller from director Philip Noyce. He keeps the tension going from the beginning, mixing periodic bits of action into the drama that drive the film to its' climax. There's also a good mix of gadgetry and politics to spice the plot up as well.

Ford does a great job portraying the hero as a family man out to protect his loved ones. Archer is an ideal, classy wife, and Birch isn't the typically annoying or cute movie kid ... she's very likeable. Samuel L. Jackson is wasted in a smaller role as Ford's buddy, while Bean and Patrick Bergin make the most of their bad guy roles.

I've seen a lot of action films that have the heart stopping chases and intrigue, but Patriot Games is a step above them. It's a great combination of cast, director, story, and action, and it holds up to repeated viewings.

Slasher films a poor substitute
For sheer excitement on the edge of your not-so-easy chair, there's nothing like a good Jack Ryan story, and I think this is the best of them. The plot involves one of the most obsessed bad guys you'll ever see, a fanatically militant member of an IRA splinter group whose attack on the British royal family is thwarted almost unconsciously by Ryan, who is visiting England as a tourist/lecturer. Now ex-CIA, Ryan's family is nearby, and family is central in this tale of the cold-blooded world of international espionage and terrorism. The family angle is one that keeps the story so chilling throughout, as the terrorist's brother is shot to death by Ryan as he ruins their try on the royals, and our star villain then sets out to stalk Ryan and his wife and daughter.

The film moves at an almost perfect pace, and unveils to us some modern aspects of this shadowy world. For instance, even Ryan, played with understated perfection by Harrison Ford, is creeped out by his participation in a nighttime strike on a desert camp believed to be IRA training ground. In this scene he and several other jacket-and-tie types watch soldiers take out this nest of vipers a half-world away, thanks to infrared and satellite technology, all while detached voices calmly note "Target neutralized" and spies dressed like businessmen smile and nod while whispering to one another in thorough detachment from the blood and guts of the operation. All this technology and we are not removed from the days of the rich people perching on hills near the battles of Civil War days, sipping tea while viewing the entertainment.

I cannot give less than five stars to a film that draws me in so completely as this one, making me feel the tension with such clarity and indeed making it so easy to actually hate the villain. Yet the film strikes sour notes with the drunken Richard Harris's half-hearted performance as an IRA bigwig, and with the cliched ending moment of an otherwise superb boat chase at the film's climax. Two distracting moments would mean a score of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10, or, in Amazon terms, 4-1/2 stars. These being minor, a full five stars is quite reasonable. Nearly a perfect action film; even the understated music score is just so right that it can't be imagined being done any other way.

Reasonably good film - but what 'good' things?
I must admit to being disappointed in this version of the Clancy novel. Much as I like Harrison Ford, One can't help thinking Baldwin would have done a better job in portraying Ryan once again.

Sean Bean is eerily psychotic as Sean Miller - the man on an obsessive hunt for vengeance after the death of his brother at Ryan's hands, but there is an awful appearance by Richard Harris as a stereo-typical IRA man who forges an almost symbiotic relationship with Ryan.

Having said that, the end of the film is well-done and gripping - if you can manage to suspend belief that the security in place to protect the Ryans and their high-ranking visitor could possibly be so slap-dash.

In amazed disbelief at the previous critic who states that the IRA have done some 'good things', I am just sat here wondering what they could possibly be.

Perhaps he is thinking of the Warrington bomb - left randomly in a waste-bin in a crowded shopping centre? That had the distinction of killing two children.

Or perhaps the Omagh bombing? Scores of innocents died there, including a party of visiting Spanish schoolchildren.

Maybe the Rememberance Day parade at Inniskillen? Among the many Irish victims, I suppose the best known was an 18yr old Student Nurse.

Or the Harrods bomb, or the Hyde Park bomb, or the Chelsea Harbour bomb?

The knee-capping of young Irish men who refute the 'cause' or happen to disagree with them?

Could it be the weapons assistance and training with well-known Arab terrorist groups?

Or the solid refusal to lay down their arms and resort to the political process/ballot box in spite of the on-going Peace Process . . .

Just one or two of those 'good' things . . .

Patriot Games, Sean from Dublin
In many respects the film is an improvement upon the original book. The main plot remains fairly intact, but is greatly simplified. This makes the film much more accessible than the book, although purists will miss some of the endless details from the book. By having a minor member of the royal family as the target rather than Prince Charles the film is also more plausible and less cheesy.

Some individuals seem to feel that somehow the IRA is portrayed in a bad light. But it is scarely mentioned, as it is clearly stated that it is a splinter group not the the main branch or the terrorist organisation. Though admittedly one can draw fairly obvious comparisons in that both are vicious terrorist organisations willing to use violence against any who stand in their way. Those who seem to feel that the IRA are a noble bunch of freedom fighters might do well to look at the numbers and occupations of their victims. They include women and children as well as many other innocent bystanders and social undesirables in the view of the IRA. The unwillingness of Sinn Fein to place its faith in ballot box by disarming its supporters also illustrates the nature of the organisation.

Overall it is a good film, with impressive acting, special effects and a sound plot. ... Read more

Reviews (92)

Caine scores again
Michael Caine gives yet another outstanding performance in "The Quiet American," Philip Noyce's 2002 adaptation of the Graham Greene Cold War novel (the first movie version was released in 1958). Set in 1952 Saigon, the film features Caine as Thomas Fowler, a world-weary British journalist who's been sent to Vietnam to cover the attempt by colonial French forces to hold back the communist insurgence from the North. But Fowler has a problem. Despite the fact that he is a reporter, he freely admits that this country exerts a sort of magical hold on him and that, in order to maintain that image, he must will himself to look beyond the ugliness and strife that are tearing the country apart. In fact, reporting is the last thing on Fowler's mind. He is even madly in love with a beautiful young Vietnamese girl who lives with him. When his publishers back in England threaten to call him back, Fowler realizes that he must become more actively engaged in the events around him if he hopes to be allowed to stay.

One day he meets Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an American eye specialist who falls in love with Fowler's girl. Even though they are drawn together by much that they have in common, Fowler and Pyle soon become rivals for the woman, though by the end, their conflict has broadened to include the issues of war vs. peace, truth vs. deception, and personal feelings vs. political expediency.

"The Quiet American" is typical Greene in that it provides an intense personal drama played against the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil in an exotic setting. Both Caine and Fraser bring a quiet intensity to their scenes together. Caine, in particular, is brilliant at conveying the many moods of a man who wants to be left alone to live a simple life with the woman he loves but who knows that circumstances are conspiring to make such a life impossible. He is heartbreaking as he sees that ideal existence suddenly slipping away, with little he can do to stop it from happening. He also begins to see just how difficult it is to remain emotionally detached from the horrors happening around him once the atrocities begin to encroach on his world directly. Fowler also has to decide whether his final action is truly rooted in a humanitarian impulse or the product of wanting to eliminate a pesky rival from the field of competition.

In addition to telling a fairly solid story, "The Quiet American" also provides a glimpse into the history of its region, particularly showing how the Americans ended up usurping the role of the French in that far off, alien country in the late '50's and early '60's. This is reflected in a wonderful coda that chronicles the steps leading up to this slow handoff of power and responsibility.

But for all the film's various virtues, it is Caine's performance that is the real reason to catch "The Quiet American."

The seduction of American innocence
Of all the films I've seen over the years concerning America's involvement in Vietnam, THE QUIET AMERICAN is perhaps the most seductive.

It's 1952, and Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is the aging correspondent for the London Times in Saigon. France is in the process of being tossed out of Indochina, but the former doesn't realize it yet - Dien Bien Phu is still in the future - and its military fights on ineffectually against the communists. In the meantime, Fowler submits the occasional story to the head office while finding comfort in the arms of opium and his Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Do Hai Yen), a former taxi dancer at a local club. Then, one day, THE QUIET AMERICAN Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) shows up. Pyle claims to be with a medical aid mission in country to combat trachoma, a bacterial disease causing blindness. But what is Pyle, really? He seems awfully chummy with the conniving powers over at the U.S. legation. In any case, Alden very soon falls in love with Phuong, attention that neither the jealous Fowler can prevent nor Phuong finds particularly unwelcome.

Not since LITTLE VOICE (1998) has Michael Caine acted so powerfully, and this is perhaps his greatest role ever. An Academy Award nomination is deservedly due. Fraser is perfect as the clean-cut, idealistic and naïve Yank who may be something other than he claims. Yen is positively exquisite as the delicate Phuong. As Fowler puts it, his death would begin if he lost her.

THE QUIET AMERICAN, based on the Graham Greene novel, can be seen as an allegorical story of America's fledgling interest in succoring Vietnam from the Red Menace. After all, the French seem unequal to the task. Pyle perhaps comes to symbolically represent the American innocence that is seduced by Vietnam in the form of Phuong, and the former wishes "to save" the latter from the escalating national chaos. Only the tired and world-weary Fowler knows that this is impossible. He would "save" Phuong himself if he could, but he can't.

THE QUIET AMERICAN is an anti-war, anti-intervention film best viewed these many years after America withdrew from its Southeast Asian debacle and passions have cooled. This is one of the best films of 2002.

Beatiful film
I've always loved both Michael Caine and Brendan Frasier, but I was surprised when I saw them in a film together.

'The Quiet American' contemplates the effects of unbridled passion, jealousy, and war. The violence is not overwhelming, and not over-the-top gorey, but is honest, nonetheless. Besides the Vietnamese war that is omnipresent, the film focuses on the mental anguish that it causes, as well as the relationships that are the product of it.

Overall, a wonderfully acted film. I highly recommend!

Fine performances, good story, well acted; questions.
This adaption or adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, features fine performances, by Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, and the lovely actress who played Caine's mistress Do Thi Hai Yen. Set in Vietnam, when the French were involved, the movie surrounds the relationship of these three people. It concerns the involvement of an American (Fraser) and a journalist (Caine), and their love for the same woman (Yen). It also poses questions about the involvement of the Americans (especially as the headlines are shown at the end of the movie-about U.S. troops and others). All is not quite as it seems with Fraser's character turning out to be a CIA operative and dealings with the regime, who it turns out is as bad as the communists it's trying to replace; with help from the Americans. The brutality that is set against the backdrop of the "love story" is truly horrific and leaves one (at the end of the movie) questioning the United States' involvement, like that of the French before, in Southeast Asia. [Not unlike our involvement now in the Middle East.] A well acted movie with stellar performances, as usual by Mr. Caine, who is among the premiere actors Britain has ever produced, to my mind, and who always brings a certain class and passion to his roles. Mr. Fraser is also good. Worth seeing.

A bright diamond of a film.....
The plot has been described well by a number of reviewers. This is a steadily paced film. In it we see the lives of its characters growing more complex and nuanced, precisely as Vietnam itself is undergoing the same. Michael Caine is in love with a beguiling, beautiful and disciplined Vietnamese woman, but tethered to a wife in England. In one remarkable scene, a man joins Caine at a table at an outdoor bar and laments to Caine the loss of his son, about which he's heard from home, but Caine cannot spare the time to listen, and appears puzzled by the story, perhaps doubting the credibility of his guest. A bomb explosion in the city is vividly captured. Everyone and everything is growing more difficult in this country, and to all expatriates the home country beckons in one way or another. A brilliant introduction to the country on the eve of a chaotic epoch. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The third installment in the cinematic incarnation of Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan and the second starring Harrison Ford, this follow-up to Patriot Games is a more complex, rewarding, and bolder film than its predecessor. Ford returns as Ryan, this time embroiled in a failed White House bid to wipe out a Colombian drug cartel and cover up the mess. The script, by Clancy and John Milius (Red Dawn), has an air of true adventure about it as Ryan places himself in harm's way to extract covert soldiers abandoned in a Latin American jungle. There are a couple of remarkable set pieces expertly handled by Patriot Games director Phillip Noyce, especially a shocking scene involving an ambush on Ryan's car in an alley. The supporting cast is superb, including Willem Dafoe as the soldiers' leader, Henry Czerny as Ryan's enemy at the CIA, Joaquim de Almeida as a smooth-talking villain, Ann Magnuson as an unwitting confederate in international crime, and James Earl Jones as Ryan's dying boss. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, theatrical trailer, closed captioning, optional French soundtrack, and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Wars Abroad, Wars At Home
Clear And Present Danger is the third Tom Clancy novel, featuring hero Jack Ryan, to be made into a movie. The story deals with the war on drugs and corruption in the government. The end result is a better film than Patriot Games, taking its cues more from the original novel, than that film did.

Former CIA analyst Jack Ryan, (Harrison Ford) is asked by his mentor and friend, Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) to take over for him, while he battles cancer. Ryan reluctantly accepts. When a friend of the President's (Donald Moffatt) is killed, Ryan learns that a drug kingpin (Miguel Sandoval) may be responsible, for the crime. As he briefs the President, forces inside the administration, are working to take the cartel out, even without any proof. Ryan must discover the truth, about who is working against him before it's too late

The cast also includes the great Henry Czerny as Ritter, a smarmy guy at the CIA who butts heads with Ryan, Harris Yullin as the National Security Advisor, and Anne Archer returns as Cathy, Jack's wife. Directed by Philip Noyce, who also directed Patriot Games, the film stays within the framework of the book. The movie also is detailed enough to keep fans of the book happy, while at the same time it is nicely paced Ford proves once again why he's so right for roles like this. He wears his hero hat so well. It is Czerny though, that makes things really interesting for Ryan and, he gives the film an extra spark or two.

As part of the reissued "Jack Ryan" series on DVD, Clear And Present Danger, contains a retrospective featurette on how the film was made. It's pretty good and does a decent job taking you back, to what it was like on the set. The standard theatrical trailer tops off the extras. I wish there was a commentary track to go along with the other stuff--or maybe some deleted footage-that would have helped.

Still the DVD is recommended over the "movie only" edition from a few years ago

Ryan, The Drug Cartels, And CIA Abuse
The third installment in the cinematic series based on Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is a long but engrossing political action thriller that once again puts Harrison Ford, the thinking man's action film actor, in the role of Ryan.

This time around, Ford investigates the murder of a close friend of the President (Donald Moffatt) by Colombian drug cartel hitmen. When his mentor (James Earl Jones) falls ill due to pancreatic cancer, Ford is suddenly put in charge as deputy director of the CIA. He continues his investigation of the murders and ties them in with one particular drug cartel leader (Miguel Sandoval) with whom the murdered man had a little issue with ill-gotten money,....

But what Ford doesn't know is that, on orders from the revenge-minded Moffatt, his second deputy (Henry Czerny) and the president's national security advisor (Harris Yulin) have ordered a rogue officer named Clark (Willem Dafoe) in with a covert military team to put a huge dent in the cartel's activities. Dafoe and his team are successful at what they do, but the cartels retaliate with deadly results on Ford's friends in the FBI during a visit to Bogota. And when Ford finds out about the operation, he finds himself going down to Colombia a second time to help spirit Dafoe and the covert team out of harm's way.

Ably directed, once more, by Phillip Noyce (DEAD CALM; PATRIOT GAMES), CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER gives Ford another chance to prove his mettle in the action genre. The suspense and CIA intrigue are all laid out exceptionally well by Noyce and his first-rate cadre of screenwriters, Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, and John Milius. Jones is at his usual best as the now-dying Admiral Greer, and Anne Archer returns as Ford's wife.

But a performance really worth noting here is Czerny's as the unconsciously corrupt CIA deputy director Robert Ritter. About as uncouth and conniving a heavy as there has ever been in the movies, his performance is absolutely chilling and believable. It makes the whole notion of our government going beyong reasonable bounds even more credible than it already is.

Some will object to the film not pandering to Clancy's right-wing political points of view or his gung-ho pro-military stance, but that isn't necessarily what this movie is about. It does not condemn covert military action, but it does question the wisdom of sending men into a war zone where the risks are extreme, the reasons for such actions are vague at best, and there is no clear exit strategy. Such points are made extremely well in this film's action format; and for those reasons, it gets the highest marks.

Best Clancy Movie
Out of the four Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan movies, I think Clear and Present Danger is easily the best. Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, and even though he's made some dreck in recent years, his string of successes post-Star Wars and Indiana Jones reached their peak around this time.
The story of the film revolves around the U.S. war on drugs, attempting to stop the flow at the source of production in Colombia. To this end, Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan becomes caught up in the action along with the always-great Willem DaFoe as CIA agent Clark. Just about all of the actors in this movie are great, including Joaquim de Almeida, Donald Moffat, Henry Czerny (the slime dripping off his character might damage your TV), and Raymond Cruz.
Not only is this one of my favorite spy/government intrigue movies, but it's just flat-out one of my favorite movies. Great story, great actors, great movie. Highly recommended.

Not even close
Once there was a man named Jack Ryan. That's about where the similarities to the book end.

For what it's worth, I'm not a picky movie viewer. I'll watch nearly anything. So for me to complain about this movie means that something was really off-base.

As far as an action movie goes, it was passable. As far as the technological thriller that the book was, it doesn't even come close. There is no character development (never felt anything towards Ding), random changes in a character's persona (Clark goes from wanting to kill Ryan to making the chopper go back), thing missing that are important to the plot (downing of drug running planes), and things that were never in the book (yacht owner tied to the President).

To make what could be an extremely long review somewhat shorter, if you've read the book and are a fan of Tom Clancy, don't bother. If you're just looking for a film with " 'splosions," this might work.

The Best Jack Ryan on the Screen, and with Good Reason!
Harrison Ford isn't the person who wrote this story, Tom Clancy is. But, Harrison Ford is the perfect Jack Ryan, a spy with a conscience and a man who does the right thing not the expeditious thing. While this is not close to his biggest role or hit, he plays the character, Jack Ryan, as perfectly as he can be portrayed in a movie. He gives the right feeling to his character, the right indignation to wrongs done in the name of Patriotism and Justice, and portrays the right kind of patriotism to the fullest. But, the rest of the cast is also well played, including the good guys, Clark, Chavez, and James Earl Jones' character, and the bad guys, the President and his sleazy administration, as well as the drug dealers. Tom Clancy wrote a great book with this one and the book is well served by the overall excellence of the movie. I strongly recommend the movie to fans of Harrison Ford, Tom Clancy, and William Dafoe. ... Read more

Reviews (181)

Unwilling Suspension of Disbelief
The Bone Collector is two movies in one; the good movie has some nice acting from Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, some creepy special effects, and a couple of really terrifying and suspenseful moments for the killer's victims. That's the movie you'll want to suspend your disbelief for--and that suspension would consist solely of accepting that this serial killer would leave clues to engage the police in a game of Cat and Mouse rather than just go directly for his real target. That fictional convention would have been enough, and had the premise that forensics will triumph been followed though, the film could have been truly excellent.

The other movie just asks too much; that a patrol cop who's never worked a crime scene would be the only policeperson allowed on a scene; that the scene of a crime would reveal only those clues intentionally left behind by the killer (isn't that the whole point of forensics, that you find out things the killer didn't intend you to discover?); and on and on. This second movie apparently takes place on that alternate Earth on the opposite side of the sun from ours, where the writing is all backwards and the superhero the Flash looks like the FTD florist's logo. When audience members find themselves thinking (or saying aloud) "That wouldn't happen!" over and over, there's something drastically wrong with the plot and the screenplay. It's certainly not a problem unique to the Bone Collector; in fact I'd venture to guess that plot implausibility is one of the leading cause of death for Hollywood's hit status, only capable of being overcome by the infusion of massive star power. Washington and Jolie, as attractive as they are, don't quite make it here. All in all, The Bone Collector is probably worth renting, probably not worth owning. I certainly wouldn't bother to see it again.

One of the best
I read over some of the other reviews putting this movie at an "average" rating, but I kinda disagree. First off, I think the director and producer put this movie together perfectly. In case you do not know about this movie, Ill start off by describing it a bit... The main theme lies in the thriller/mystery department, so if you like these kind of films, you will most definitely like this movie. The two main charactors in the movie are Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Denzel plays a disabled Crime Scene Investigator and Angelina plays a rookie police officer who laters finds out her talent as a crime scene investigator. The setting of the story takes place in New York City (which is a perfect spot for this type of movie) and is cast in modern day life. Basically, the plot of the movie is about a phsyco murderer who, very strategically, plans killings by using his job as a taxi cab driver to kidnapp people. I dont want to get too in depth, but the good guys would be Denzel and Angelina and a few other police bureau workers who try to solve the mystery behind all the kidnappings and hopefully get to the crime scene in time to save innocent people. You might have preconcieved notions about this movie being kind of average, but what makes this movie stand out is its outstanding film features. By features I mean, great music and excellent effects (everything such as lighting, settings etc). If your going to watch it, here are some VERY recommended suggestions...

1. Make sure its dark- 50% of the movies general "effect" comes from the ambience in which you watch it. 2. Watch on a fairly large television with a fairly good sound system. - try to get the best TV and sound system to watch the movie otherwise dont even bother with the movie. 3. Must get it on DVD! - Dont watch the VHS version, I saw it and its horrible. Film quality is bad and it doesnt include all the extras which tell about the Bone collector. Sound is also improved on DVD version. Any way you look at it, you need to give the Bone Collector a try. Great movie for all.

A Chilling, Above Average Suspense Thriller
"The Bone Collector," based on Jeffrey Deaver's best-selling novel, is a gothic suspense thriller that takes the viewer below the streets of New York City, to places dark and chilling, where an evil serial killer does his dirty deeds. Creepy!!

Police detective Lincoln Rhyme, (Denzel Washington is wonderful in this role - but isn't he always?), is considered to be THE genius of forensic science. His books on the subject are mandatory study at the Police Academy. During an investigation, four years before, Rhyme was involved in a terrible on-the-job accident which left him a quadriplegic and bedridden. Attached to life sustaining machines, he is only able to move one finger and his head and neck. He is subject to seizures that threaten to leave him a vegetable. A very angry man, he is bored and, at times, suicidal. Still an official member of the force, his former colleagues visit him constantly and involve him in difficult cases. A new, troubling case forces them to seek his help, yet again.

Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie), works with the city's troubled youth. By chance she discovers the half-buried body of a powerful New York City businessman, near a railroad track. She, almost intuitively, knows what to do to protect the forensic evidence. Sending a witness off to buy a disposable camera, she takes photos of the crime scene before a rainstorm can wash away the evidence. She then, single-handedly, stops a train to preserve valuable clues. Rhyme decides she has natural forensic talent and demands she be placed on the case. So she reluctantly joins his team. Donaghy does the leg work, connected by a headset to Rhyme, while he instructs her. The two puzzle over clues and work the case from his bedside. And the leg work is brutally grim. This killer, intelligent and demented, thinks up some awful ways to commit murder. The crime scenes are elaborately set-up and clues are purposefully left that would stump the most avid puzzle addict. The gruesome crimes remind me of those in the movie "Seven."

The mystery is intriguing and the forensic work absolutely fascinates. The chemistry between Rhyme and Donaghy is palpable. This is more than a student-mentor bond, although it takes them a while to get the relationship off the ground. He is cranky and imperious - she is just plain ornery. Amelia brings him to life again and he stops contemplating euthanasia. In turn, he brings new energy to Amelia's life and forces her to open up. Queen Latifa (as Rhyme's nurse) and Luis Guzman (as a fellow cop ands friend) are show stealers.

This is no "Silence of the Lambs," but it is good entertainment. The camera gives the ambiance a dark and brooding look and provides some interesting angles. Often predictable, there are still surprises and the growing closeness between the detective and the cop is very well done and subtle. Although "The Bone Collector" is not a "must see," it is certainly an exciting way to spend a rainy night.

Fractured Bones
Why does almost every film about a serial killer, made after Silence Of The Lambs, have to be compared to it? I can't think of one example where that turned out to be true. Despite the prescence of Denzel Washington and a usually surehanded director, behind the camera, The Bone Collector is just another predictable thriller, devoid of any real spark.

A murderer is loose on the streets of Manhattan. The killer leaves a trail of cryptic messages hidden at the scene of the crime. Clues which only a brilliant mind can interpret. Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) a gifted New York City detective specializing in forensics, was one of the the country's leading criminologists. Rhyme has a keen eye for details and a nose for clues. Following a near fatal injury in the line of duty, Rhyme is left bed-bound, his arms and legs useless, and with little will to live. Now as the city lives in fear, Rhyme is persuaded to help with the case. A rookie cop Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) is assigned to become Rhyme's eyes, ears and legs. The two must work together in order to get inside the mind of this madman and defeat him before the next victim falls.

Phillip Noyce, the man behind the intense Dead Calm, and actioners Patriot Games & Clear And Present Danger, certainly knows what he's doing. But as is the case with the thriller, the film rises and falls, with its script. Unfortunately, the screenplay, based on the book by Jeffery Deaver, adapted by Jeremy Iacone is pretty weak. The killer reveal and other twists and turns are easy to figure out. It's a shame that Washington makes almost no connection with Jolie. In one of her other thrillers, Taking Lives, she had similar troubles with Ethan Hawke---Do I sense a pattern here? What tension the film does have, is moot, thanks to the problems the movie has.

As far as the extras found on the DVD are concerned, most of it, comes across as fluffy filler. The audio commentary track from director Noyce is worth a listen, if only to get insight on directing in general. The "making of" spotlight on location is just a pre release bloated commercial for the film. The theatrical trailer, production notes, filmographies, and previews for other Universal products, top off the disc.

The Bone Collector is just for those Washington fans or when there's nothing else to watch

My opinion: Waste of time!
Shallow characters and a story with many holes. Judge for yourself, if you must...I want the time I wasted watching this BACK! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Rutger Hauer has Blind Fury
If you're wondering why I give this film such a high rating it's because I'm a big Rutger Hauer fan. The Dutch actor is one of my favourites and even a bad movie is good if it has Rutger Hauer in it. This is one of three films with Hauer that I like the most.
Nick Parker, blind vietnam vet is taken in by a group of natives and is trained in swordsmenship. He then returns to America many years later trying to find his long lost vietnam buddy (Terry O'quinn from TV's Millenium and Jag)that is being blackmailed in making chemical drugs to a Las Vegas mobster (Noble Willingham from Walker, Texas Ranger). The mobster tries to kidnap his young son (Brandon Call from Baywatch) but the son is rescued by Parker and the two try to get to the boys father.
If the movie didn't have such good actors and especially Hauer it would be another acton flick on the shelves of the videostore. The action is good and the actors make the most of the plot but it is the special bond that developes between Hauer and Call as the young boy that works the best. All actors make good, Terry O'quinn is the father that tries to be a hero and save his loved ones but always chickens out. There is only two really unnecessary characters in the film but they are mostly used as the comedians to make up for the two heavies, Noble Willingham as the main mobster and his hitman Slag, a great Randall "Tex" Cobb.

An Fun, Strange, Unusual Action Flick.
When an Ex-Vietnam Vet (Rutger Hauer) loses his Sight, because of a Explosion in the War, that's nearly kills him. When the Japanese take him as Prisoner and Decided it, to Teach Him of the Way of the Samurai Fighting without his Sight and He Becomes a Professional Blind Swordsman. More than Twenty Years Later as Passed, Now wanting to Visit his War Buddy (Terry O'Quinn). But when he finds out that his Friend is Kidnapped by Gangster and Forced to Make Designer Drugs. He Comes to Rescue his Friend with the Help of his Only Son (Brandon Call) and His Father's Girlfriend (Lisa Blount).

Directed by Philip Noyce (The Bone Collector, Clear and Present Danger, Dead Calm) made a Extremely Entertaining Tongue in Cheek, Action-Adventure Martial Arts Flick. Rutger Hauer is a Hoot as the Lead, He's Terrific. Although This Film was a Box Office Disappointment Upon It's Realase in 1989. The Film did Become a Cult Hit in Video. Noyce did a Great Job with this Complelety Over the Top Fashion Works. Don't Miss this Enjoyable Incredible Movie. Panavision. Grade:A-.

disappointed
I first viewed this movie on cable, that same night, I purchased the movie from this seller. To date, I have had no responses to email, no communication what so ever, and still have not received this tape in the mail. Very disappointed, and not recommended to purchase from this seller.

A lot of fun
The film is not very well-known at all, which is a shame,
because it's an excellent film, full of both action and humor. Rutger plays a Vietnam vet blinded in the war. Concerning his
affliction, he comments that his life didn't end..."it just
changed." He becomes an expert swordsman, with his sword of
course hidden in his cane. Some people try to pick on him because he's blind--swish. They no longer pick on him. Rutger is what makes this film; had it not been him I don't think it would have worked. It's definitely worth seeing.

Very uneasy mix of action and comedy
This film combines these two genres and is kind of unsuccessful.There are some interesting action scenes and it does capture the essense of the late '80's action flicks very well,but you're thankful at the end of how short it is. ... Read more

Reviews (115)

A very touching biographical movie
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a true and real life biography of a girl being snapped away from her mother because she is a half-caste - offspring of a white man and an aboriginal woman. The movie has a very detail description of the intention of the Whilte Australians in the 30s to whiten all these children by removing them from their mothers, sending them to the training camps. The story depicted 3 girls running away from the camp and walked 1200 miles back home to reunite with their mother. The movie is very natural and touching that you will just be drawn inside the hearts of those girls, who has nothing but strong determination to go home and live a life they want. The movie also described the arrogance of the Whitle Australians until the 1970s, who tried every effort to justify their whitening process of this Stolen Generation. It is a very honest portray of the experience of Molly, who was unfortunately being forced into this generation and lived a wandering and heart breaking life due to this policy. It should be watched by all people so that we could learn to respect other people's life and culture as they are, instead of superimposing what we think is the best for them, for they might end up to be a curse of life for these people. This is a very touching and introspecting production that should not be missed. It does not attempt to achieve a melodramatic effect, but a simple honest reminder for respecting the aboriginals who are actually the native people who live on this island continent. Things haven't been really improved in Australian over the aboriginal issues, but this is a very good attempt to raise the conscious of people over the land that the White Australians conquered 200 years ago, and how much the mentality of some of these people have and have not changed. The cinematography is also spectacular. In all, this is not a movie to be missed.

Courage and determination during a dark chapter of history
Between 1905 and 1971, the Australian government had a horrible policy. They forcibly removed all half-caste Aboriginal children to special training schools. The grown daughter of one of these children wrote a book about her mother's experiences. This film is an adaptation of that book.

The story takes place in 1931, when Molly, then 14, her sister Daily, then 8, and her cousin Gracie, then 10, are literally torn from the arms of their mothers, put in a cage, and taken 1,200 miles away to a school which is actually a sort of prison. Here, they are forbidden to speak their own language, they have to attend a Christian church, and are taught the ways of the white Australian culture around them. Led by Molly, the girls run away. And most of the film is the odyssey of their trek back home, following the rabbit-proof fence that bisects Australia, constructed to keep rabbits out of the pastureland.

The villain is clearly the white director of the school. It is amazing, but he actually believes in the racial theories that were prevalent at the time. He believes he is helping them and plays his role well, coming across as stupid and misguided rather than evil. The Aboriginal girls are all unknowns, and terrific actresses, as are the women who play Molly and Daisy's mother and grandmother. The courage and determination of the girls during their three-month journey, the people they meet along the way, and their efforts to dodge the trackers who have been sent to retrieve them by the school, is truly inspiring. This is all set against the backdrop of the Australian outback; the cinematography certainly captures its beauty.

The film is 94 minutes long and moves quickly. I immediately identified with the girls and felt their fear as well as their bravery as they made their way across the Australian continent. In a postscript to the story, we learn more about their lives. It did not turn out to be pretty. But two of the girls have survived into their nineties, and we meet them briefly. They are strong women with weathered faces, one of them walking with a cane, but clearly at home in their Outback surroundings.

The film is a lesson in inspiration and courage as well as a geography and history lesson about Australia. I loved it and highly recommend it.

A Universal Wake Up Call
This is probably the most emotional a film has ever made me. It's powerful, disturbing, and full of hope in the same breath. For "westernized" reviewers who acknowledge the content of this movie as an atrocity, this film is a wake up call to truly challenge to your beliefs. If you were in the same situation as a white person in 1931, would you still feel the same as you do now after seeing the movie or would you believe assimilation was the right thing to do? The most important thing to take away from this film is to never forget.

"In spite of himself, the native must be helped."
Set in Australia's bleak outback, this 2002 film takes place in 1931, when white bureaucrats forced their own morality on aboriginal half-castes living in the bush. Believing that these half-white children "deserved" the "advantages" of "civilization," and convinced that in three generations their blackness could be "bred out," the Australian government forcibly removed them from their families, brought them to settlements hundreds of miles from their homes, and trained them to be domestic servants. Forty years later the government finally abandoned the policy, leaving a "Stolen Generation" in its wake. Molly Craig has long been the symbol of the Aborigines' refusal to accept this genocidal policy, and this film, brilliantly directed by Philip Noyce, celebrates her unconquerable spirit in the face of sanctioned governmental cruelty.

Molly Craig (Everlyn Sampi), her cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan), and her sister (Tianna Sansbury), aged thirteen to eight, are cruelly removed from their mothers in Jigalong (Western Territories) and taken a thousand miles to the Moore River Native Settlement, which is directed by the self-righteous Mr. Neville (convincingly played by Kenneth Branagh), who believes in the inherent correctness of the resettlement policy. Placed in overcrowded dormitories, prohibited from using their own language, and required to live according to another world's rules, Molly, her sister, and her cousin decide to escape by following the 1500-mile "rabbit-proof fence," which borders both the settlement and their distant home. They must avoid detection by a hired Aborigine tracker (played menacingly by David Gulpilil) and by government workers and white settlers. For nine grueling weeks, the girls live virtually on their own, surviving through their ancestral knowledge of the land.

Written by Molly Craig's daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara, who, later, was also removed from her mother Molly and forced to live in a settlement, the film is a moving celebration of the human spirit, a tribute to Molly Craig, and a plea to acknowledge the rights of aboriginal peoples, wherever they may live. The harsh and unforgiving land is beautifully photographed, and the haunting music of aboriginal voices and instruments in the Golden Globe-nominated score by Peter Gabriel further the realism. The cast of young girls, all making their film debuts, never makes a misstep, conveying the trauma of their separation, their commitment to returning home, and, in Sampi's case, an anger which is only barely hidden. Branagh, though effective, really does not have to do much to be the villain here. In this beautifully realized depiction of a wrong-headed policy, director Noyce wisely chooses not to embellish the message with unnecessary, artificial melodrama--reality here is drama enough. Mary Whipple

A heartbreaking and inspirational story about the Aborigines
I was aware that the treatment of the Aborigines by those that settled Australia was fairly consistent with that of all European settlers dealing with indigenous people when "colonizing" someone else's land. I specifically recall how during the 2000 Sydney Olympics much was made of the symbolism of Cathy Freeman, an Aborigine on the Australian Olympic team, lighting the Olympic torch. Even more was made of the symbolism when Freeman went on to win the gold medal in the 400 meter. But I have to admit that when it comes to Australian films I tend to think in terms of "Breaker Morant" and "Gallipoli," where the point was how the British Empire was treating the Australian citizens of the Commonwealth as if nothing had changed since the first convicts were sent from Britain Down Under. Still, to see Australians turn around and treat others even more inhumanely was rather something of a shock.

"Rabbit-Proof Fence" is the story of three young Aborigine girls who escaped from a government camp in 1931 and tried to walk home 1,500 miles. Molly (Everlyn Sampi), her sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) were taken from their mothers because they are half-castes, their white fathers long gone after constructing the rabbit-proof fence which saves Australia's farm land from being devoured. The fence, of course, is both a metaphor for the separation of the children from their families as well as the touchstone that can help the girls get home.

The reason the girls are removed is because of the edict of A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), who was the administrator in charge of Aborigines in Western Australia. As portrayed in the film Neville is concerned about the creation of a third race and has the idea that with the proper breeding within three generations the half-castes will look white. Now there is conflicting historical evidence on how Aborigine children ended up at the Moore River Native Settlement pertaining to half-castes being ostracized by pure bloods and Aborigine parents wanted their children to receive an education. But in "Rabbit-Proof Fence" the reasons are clearly to "save" these children from themselves, and there is an implication the education is so these children can be domestic servants for white families.

Even if you did not see Branagh in "Conspiracy," the TV movie where he played SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, and chief architect of the "Final Solution" at the Wannsee Conference the parallels are unmistakable between Neville's theory of eugenics and the Nazis. But once Molly leads the other two girls into the outback Neville is not as important to the chase as Modoo (David Gulpilil), the native tracker who is required to enforce the policies that are resulting in "The Lost Generation" of his people. If this is a film that wants to see the world only in terms of black or white, there is no doubt which side wins your sympathy.

Having made big budget Hollywood films like "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Bone Collector," director Phillip Noyes provides a more intimate film like he did back in 1977 with "Backroads." His three stars are a trio of first time actresses, selected (as he explains in the accompanying featurette) so that everybody in the world who say them would want to adopt them. But they also turn out to act and Sampi as Molly Craig is at least as good as Keisha Castle-Hughes was in "Whale Rider."

This is a true story and as such you know not to expect a happy ending, but that does not stop your from harboring such hopes as the three girls continue on their journey and the authorities try to stop them before they reach their home and their families. As a true story there will be the obligatory title cards at the end telling you the rest of the story and explaining how the practice of separating half-castes from their parents continued until 1970, which may well be a more depressing thought than anything engendered by the film. But be forewarned that the most devastating scene on the DVD is not in the film when the girls are taken away from their wailing mothers, but in the featurette when we see what happens to the cast and crew after they finish filming that scene.

Special note needs to be made of the commentary track provided by director Phillip Noyce and featuring musician Peter Gabriel, actor Kenneth Branagh, screenwriter Chiristine Olsen and author Pilkington Garimara. This is not a track where everybody is in the room at once talking about the film. Instead this is mostly Noyce talking about the film, totally independent of what is on the screen, and when he talks about one of the other principles we get to hear their thoughts on the process of turning the original book and the story it was based on into this film. This is usually the sort of deep thoughts you get from a film critic doing the commentary on a Criterion Edition of a classic film, so finding it on this 2002 drama is a nice bonus. ... Read more

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After her success with Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone opted for familiar territory with this campfest that purports to be a sexualized thriller about voyeurism but in reality is more of an excuse to get Stone and costar William Baldwin out of their clothes. Rear Window it ain't. Stone plays it drab and quiet as a successful career woman on the rebound from a bad marriage who moves into a mysterious Manhattan high-rise. Once there, she discovers that she has a few admirers: a hunky and enigmatic neighbor (Baldwin), a popular writer of crime novels (Tom Berenger), and someone who seems to enjoy watching her every move on the building-wide surveillance system. And is one of them the serial killer who's stalking the comely female tenants? Scripted by the erstwhile Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge), Sliver follows the standard Eszterhas plot line of a protagonist suspecting that his or her lover may or may not be a vicious killer, the tension mounting as clue upon clue is discovered. Unlike both Instinct or Edge, though, Sliver delivers little suspense, thanks in part to a reshot ending that changed the original identity of the killer in the Ira Levin novel and confounded students of rational thought. However, if you're looking for an unintentionally funny thriller with loads of extraneous nudity, Sliver is an enjoyably huge hunk of cheese. --Mark Englehart ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Stone in yet another over-charged sex-thriller.
This super-sleazy sex-mystery features Sharon Stone as a lonely book editor who moves into a handsome, slender Manhattan apartment building(the "Sliver" of the title), and later learns that it is the scene of a series of brutal and unsolved murders. Unfortunately, this filmization of Ira Levin's reasonably suspenseful novel focuses more on Stone's steamy relationship with practicing voyeur William Baldwin rather than the mystery/suspense angle. This muddled mess was obviously an ill-fated attempt to cash in on the success of "Basic Instinct" and attract that same audience, but it was all for naught because "Sliver" still crashed and burned at the box-office. Admittedly, there are several hot and heavy sex scenes, but they would be more at home in a hardcore skin flick rather than a film like this that tries to pass itself off as a suspenseful murder mystery. The unrated version features several minutes worth of even more sexually explicit material. If you're going to buy it, get the unrated version since the few sex scenes are the film's only real virtue anyway.

SLIVER, WANNA WATCH?
Sliver is a fantastic film. The best out of all the erotic thrillers filmed between the years of 1987-1995, preferably the time in which the Erotic Thriller genre was big. Ending with Eszterhas's JADE. Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Jade, Jagged Egde) wrote Sliver. A film starring Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, stuck in this age of loneliness after coming out of a 7 year bad marriage. Moving into a slick and sleek sliver apartment building, she is warmly welcomed by all of it's tennants. Including, Vida Warren a woman with a dark double life. Gus Hale, a man that is willing to tell all dirty little secrets. Zeke Hawkins a handsome young man that takes a sexual interest in Carly, FAST. And Tom Berenger a classy writer, with a macho jerk attitude. When Carly gets involved, very involved, with Zeke she begins to learn that inside the walls of this building hides a secret that could reveal everything. With an ending so fast paced it will blow right by you, but a very satisfying ending if I do say so in the least. Again, buy SLIVER in the unrated version, sit down and relax in the darkness and remember that there is no place more frightening than home...

Very sexy but empty
There was a time when movies were slicker than they are now, when they pushed the buttons of sexuality/abhorrent sex. This is a lot about voyeurism and the thrill of being stalked. Sharon Stone was of course capitalizing on the Basic Instinct success. Billy Baldwin is very attarctive and they make a sexy couple but it didn't make a good movie. The soundtrack is amazing though!

LONELINESS - exemplified !!!
Few films have a matching soundtrack.This is one of those few.
The script is strong.The pace is quick.Actors/Actresses have done a commendable job.It's all about people , who have made good money - stable lifestyle - those who are already out of the daily rat race - who now have time for some mischief & pleasure.And , a rare combination of Money & Loneliness formulates a unique approach to life.This is it.The best that the people of this status can do in life.The beginning is simply superb - mystery commences right from shot 1 - excellent dialogue quality - absolutely no useless chatter - just to the point action & dialogues.A great addition to the collection - for sure.

So much for the "erotic thriller" genre
Sharon Stone is Carly Norris, one of those sucessful types who, in Hollywood's mind, must be tortured by insecurity and self-loathing. She's just moved into a new building which, for its stark loveliness, leaves her feeling even more unsettled than usual. (Because Joe Ezsterhaus perpetrated the script, the regular denizens of the building are into rough and otherwise generally unconventional intercourse. Closer to Carly are two suspicious admirers ' Lanford (Tom Berenger), a hardboiled crime novelist, and the building's owner, Zeke (Billy Baldwin). Lanford telegraphs his problems in the way he introduces himself ' running into people while jogging in Central Park. Zeke has a bigger problem ' he's wired the building for sight & sound, using a hidden control center stacked with monitors and recorders on which to view whatever's going on in his building (lover's pressuring their mates into rougher sex; parents molesting their children, women shaving, etc..) When suspicion exuded by the characters isn't enough to get the story going, a string of murderers is tossed in. ... Read more