Reviews (186)

"Once this baby hit's 88 miles per hour..."
"Back to the Future" has to be one of the funnest movies I've ever seen and it's one the greatest films of the 1980's, if not of all time.

Marty McFly is a 17 year-old living in the small town of Hill Valley (not sure of the state) and hasn't got a great life; he's stuck in a family of losers, notably his wimpy father, and is not a successful student. The only things Marty has going for him are his pretty girlfriend Jenny and his friendship with the zany Doctor Emmett Brown. Marty's life begins to make a huge turnaround when he travels to the past in a time machine that Doc Brown has invented out of a DeLorean sports car. Landing in the year 1955, Marty inadvertently prevents his parents from meeting the way did as teens and this change ends up disrupting the events of his future; if Marty is unable to get his parents toghether, he'll cease to exist! Marty's is forced to go onto a madcap scramble to save the future and his very life.

So many things work great in "Back to the Future." Rob Zemeckis gives the film some excellent direction, packing it with lots of energy and excitment. Something else I really love about the film is the script. You can describe it in three words: smart, snappy, and witty. You don't see that in a lot of sci-fi movies and it's certainly a welcome addition to this film. The acting, meanwhile, is superb. Michael J. Fox gives what may very well be the best performance of his career playing Marty McFly. Christopher Llyod and Crispin Glover, who play Doc Brown and Marty's dad respectively, are just as good. Llyod virtually steals every scene that he's in with that eccentric look of his and Glover plays the role of a nerd to perfection. Though this film was made almost 20 years ago, the special effects look pretty good, even by todays standards. I'm betting this film laid a lot of ground work for special effects later on.

This movie is a must-see. If you really consider yourself a movie fan, then you can't miss out on "Back to the Future." It's the complete package. Check it out.

Its a wonder I was even born at all !
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, time travel and an ingenious story. What more could you want. All of these terrific actors disappear melting into their original characters. When you think of Michael J. Fox, you may think of Spin City, but more likely than not the name Marty McFly enters your mind. Christopher Lloyd has done many characters in several movies, but none compare to his perfect portrayal of Doc Emmit Brown. Lea Thompson's post Caroline in the City role had me wondering when I was a child whether it was possible that she was playing both young and old versions of Marty's mom. In fact, I had an argument with my own mother about it. "No way!" I said. Now that Im older I know better, but it just seems that a more perfect cast has never been assembled.

Robert Zemeckis has crafted a fine story envolving a paradox and simplicity. Guess what? The Trilogy is coming to DVD in December! I can't wait to add them to my collection. I'm sure you can't either!

Back to the Future is a movie so close to so many heart's that it will forever remain a classic, whether or not it makes A.F.I.'s top one hundred list. I consider it to be one of the funniest and incredible movie's ever made. What would you do if you could take a trip into the past?

Time Travel Adventure filled with Pop-Culture
An 80s high school kid (played by Michael J. Fox) must travel back in time to make sure his parents actually end up together. A "nutty professor" has come up with the machine to enable the trip: A 1985 DeLorean powerd with plutonium. Fox not only manages to make his parents fall in love with each other, but ends up changing the future of his entire family forever.

There are many enjoyable references to 50s life (they never heard of skate boards or using your hands to twist the cap off a bottle of Pepsi, not to mention "Calvin Kline briefs" or the "devil music" of Chuck Berry). This is a wonderful film for any age audience. It's in my personal all-time top 10 (and I've seen my share of good films!). Zap yourself an Orville Reddenbacher, grab a "ring pull" Pepsi and enjoy this fun fun fun film!*****

Really movie-like movie
As a tenager in the real life 1980's I personally testify that no one had life like the fictional character of Marty McFly in BTTF. Nobody! His whole life, dialogue, situations all totally Hollywod style and thus movie-like. Oh yeah-- and we didn't travel around in cars that could go back in time eithr.

maker that made the story nobody have thought is wonderful.
The Back to the future‡T is the best favorite works in1-3. Certainly for 1985 film, the fashion and film making etc is a little out of date. But the comedy and wondeful story that nobody have though ever will not be inferior to all other works. From a long ago, time mathine etc, there have been such tume theme stories, but they go back old age and by varying the codition as should exist originally, they recover now truth themself. The story was tempted very much.

The character of the cast was tempted me too. For instance, the docter that is devoted to the crazy experiments always or the timid but comic father that can not resist to the aggresive boss and funny dog that was named to Ainsyutaim.

Though it was pitiful, the scene that the father was tease to the boss in the child age even in a coffe shop was fun. the last scene that the father beated the boss is happy to me too.

Certainly the maked film is old, for instance in the movie Chicago Cubs was said the lowest rank all the time and could get to the victory, but last year the team advanced to the play off games.
But the story was very wonderful. After I wathced to the film, my feeling became refleshing though I can not express very well. Anyway old, young, woman,man, it is the movie that everybody can enjoy.

Thank you for reading poor English. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor Tom Hanks, this unlikely story of a slow-witted but good-hearted man somehow at the center of the pivotal events of the 20th century is a funny and heartwarming epic. Hanks plays the title character, a shy Southern boy in love with his childhood best friend (Robin Wright) who finds that his ability to run fast takes him places. As an All-Star football player he meets John F. Kennedy; as a soldier in Vietnam he's a war hero; and as a world champion Ping-Pong player he's hailed by Richard Nixon. Becoming a successful shrimp-boat captain, he still yearns for the love of his life, who takes a quite different and much sadder path in life. The visual effects incorporating Hanks into existing newsreel footage is both funny and impressive, but the heart of the film lies in its sweet love story and in the triumphant performance of Hanks as an unassuming soul who savors the most from his life and times. --Robert Lane ... Read more

Reviews (484)

The best movie of the 1990s
Forrest Gump guarantees to be one of the greatest movies you ever see.
Forrest is a simple man who lives by his beliefs, and lives by his mother's advice. He talks of his incredible life while sitting at a bus stop in Alabama, of teaching Elvis new dance moves, of bceoming a war hero in Vietnam, and of meeting several Presidents. At the same time, he recollects about his childhood sweetheart Jenny, who is living a horrible life after being abused as a child.
This is a truly inspirational movie, one of humour and light-hearted fun, while looking back at some of America's biggest moments.
Tom Hanks richly deserved Best Actor, as did the film deserve Best Picture, and Forrest Gump is one of the least-challenged Academy Award decisions in recent memory. This film really can say that it will make you laugh and cry, as well as thoroughly enjoying the best movie of its decade.
Forrest Gump is a must have movie, and is one to watch many times!

A Powerful Story Of Love And Adventure
FORREST GUMP is a movie about a backward young boy who grows up to lead a remarkable life while managing to get involved in some of the most important world events of the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon years. The film is a powerful story of love and adventure-especially love.

Tom Hanks is superb as Forrest Gump. The strong supporting cast includes Robin Wright, Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and a very young Haley Joel Osment.

FORREST GUMP won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (Robert Zemeckis), Actor (Tom Hanks), Adopted Screenplay, Art Direction, Film Editing and Visual Effects. It also received nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Gary Sinise), Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Make-up and Original Score.

Robert Zemeckis will be remembered in addition for his direction of BACK TO THE FUTURE and ROMANCING THE STONE.

The best
Tom Hanks at his best. A very intelligent comedy and one of the best reviews of 20th century America in a very light hearted way. Fully deservant of the shower of Oscars it received. Must have!

THE BEST FILM EVER MADE
The first time I saw this film, I was amazed beyond beleife. Tom Hanks is outstanding as Forest Gump, and every sapporting actor was perfect for the role. This movie has so many memorable lines in it, its almost insane. This movie is almost a modern day Rocky, in which it shows what one man could do with his life, and what we should do with our lives. Easily deserved every reward it got.

the best family film ever
a special guy sits on a bench and tells anyone who will listen about his story book adventure style life.it stars tom hanks.he is abselutely hilarious while simaltaneously being simple and blissfully unaware.the kids can watch it but they should really not look when jennys around.shes a whore and a half.it is easily the best tom hanks movie ever made.this movie is for everybody.if you do not like this movie you need help because something is seriously wrong with you.it is a very emotional movie from watchimg gump struggle to walk as a child up to when his loved ones began dying.if you are the sensitive type,do not forget to take your prozac or youll ball your eyes out.the only chick in it is jenny.she toys with forrests emotions throughout the entire movie and puts out at least 9 or 10 times.there are a lot of people who play thier roles well here.most everbody does well.its one of those movies you have to watch on tape because it never stops being good long enough to stop for a snack or a bathroom break.its that good!if a second one were somehow dreamt up it would be only a shadow of its predecesser.it is long,but an abselute gem in any video library. ... Read more

Reviews (357)

Thoroughly satisfying
One of my favourite ways to spend two and a half hours is to watch this excellent film over and over again. I can't remember any science-fiction film after 2001: A Space Odyssey to be this thought-provoking, and while Contact is not quite as profound a statement as the aforementioned opus, it still has quite a lot to say for itself. Jodie Foster plays an earnest scientist who spends her whole life searching for extra-terrestrial life and finds vindication when a message is received from outer space. Naturally, it throws the world into a huge frenzy, and despite the efforts of kitschy bad guy Tom Skerritt and military operations-head James Woods, she gets to go on a journey to the heart of the universe and see whether or not she can find the answers she's looking for. Perhaps it's a little hokey, but I found myself totally captivated throughout the whole film, and the adventure Foster goes through in the last third of the picture is one of the most thrilling sequences in the films of 1997 (not the least because Foster, surrounded by all these new worlds she's viewing, can act the scene to pieces, which is amazing considering the fact that we know she really sat in front of a blue-screen for two weeks). Truly moving.

One of my favorite DVDs!
I feel like Contact is a gift to humanity from astronomer Carl Sagan. It's an incredibly moving story about a scientist who lives out a scenerio that has played out in the minds of real life dreamers like myself. The ultimate "what if...?". Indeed, what if THEY (E.T.'s) contacted US (Earthlings). Director Zemeckis does an excellent job of transferring novel to screen. "Too long" say some critics. No way! Perfect. Things play out quite well. The "backing into space" opening sequence is probably my personal favorite of all time. I'm thrilled to live in a time when movie makers can create such magic. It's worth the price alone to see the first few minutes of this film.

The cast is very good with Jodie Foster and John Hurt standouts. Foster is as good in this as she was in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. She has moments of pure magic...I get misty eyed. And John Hurt's "Wanna take a ride?" is my favorite character.

The DVD transfer is one of the best in my collection. The picture and sound are excellent. If you're into 2001 A Space Odyssey and the like, then Contact should be on your shelf.

One of my favorite movies
One of my favorite subjects as I was growing up and into my early 20s, was backyard skywatching and astronomy. I believe this movie accurately portrays the emotional aspects of science in general and astronomy in particular: the sense of awe and beauty when confronted with infinity, and the sense of lonliness felt by everyone with an idealistic passion.

If you have ever read Carl Sagan's books, you'll see that this movie touches upon the usual staples of a Carl Sagan read: the foundation of religion vs. the foundation of science, the mutual misunderstanding and struggle between those governed by curious optimism versus those governed by primal fear, and a demonstration of the dangers of a world that depends on science which is filled with so many people who do not understand it.

Some have argued that they find Contact to be "preachy." I don't really see much of a foundation in that assessment of the movie. Just like in real life, the ultimate philosophical answers are left wide open at the end of this movie, leaving it open to many different interpretations. And I think it's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't follow the contemporary pattern of avoiding any serious discussion about morality and philosophy. These are some of the conversations the human race will be forced to have with itself if we want to survive the coming centuries. Recent events since this movie was released and Carl Sagan's death only accentuate the importance of facing this fact.

I love this movie. From the beautiful computer-generated opening sequence, through the middle sequences detailing the main character's relentless and passionate quest for scientific knowledge and exploration, to the adventurous surreal climax, I felt that I had a personal connection with almost every aspect of this movie.

Read the book, ignore the movie.
The themes of this movie were better told in 2001; A Space Odyssey, this movie with it's bad script and cliched love story, made both boring, predictable, and very preachy. Zemmeckis should be ashamed of himself. Then again he is a Spielberg wanna be.

A movie about relationships
This is one of the most layered, thought provoking, dramatic, and moving films I have seen in years. On the surface, it is a great space adventure film, but look deeper, and it takes all of our wonder about the meaning of existence, and boils it down to how we learn about ourselves through our relationships...work, family, and love. See it. See it. See it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This zany, eye-popping, knee-slapping landmark in combininganimation with live-action ingeniously makes that uneasycombination itself (and the history of Hollywood) its subject.Who Framed Roger Rabbit is based on classic L.A.private-eye movies (and, specifically, Chinatown), withdetective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) investigating a case involving adultery, blackmail, murder, and a fiendish plot to replace Los Angeles'sonce-famous Red Car public transportation system with theautomobiles and freeways that would later make it the nation'ssmog capital. Of course, his sleuthing takes him back to the placehe dreads: Toontown, the ghetto for cartoons that abuts Hollywood andthat was the site of a tragic incident in Eddie's past. In additionto intermingling cartoon characters with live actors and locations, Roger Rabbit also brings together the greatest array of cartoon stars in the history of motion pictures, from a variety of studios (Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Fleischer, Universal, and elsewhere): Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy Dog, and more! And, of course, there's Maroon Cartoon's greateststar, Roger Rabbit (voice by Charles Fleischer), who suspects hisultracurvaceous wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner: "I'm notbad; I'm just drawn that way"), of infidelity. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Contact), notsince the early Looney Tunes' "You Oughtta Be in Pictures" hasthere been anything like Roger Rabbit. --Jim Emerson ... Read more

Reviews (130)

VISTA SERIES DVD well worth the wait!! Fabulous fun!
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was a huge hit when it was released in 1988 and made Bob Hoskins a star. It successfully combined live action with animation and featured a strong and funny cast of characters and an entertaining storyline.

To best describe this film to the uninitiated would probably require a comparison with "L.A. Confidential" (with PG-friendly/cartoon violence) and a Looney Tunes movie. It is fun, boisterous and entertaining with memorable performances by Bob Hoskins (as Eddie Valiant), Christopher Lloyd (as Judge Doom), Roger Rabbit (as himself) and that sultry scene-stealer Jessica Rabbit (as herself and voiced by Kathleen Turner). A veritable who's who in animation, this film features cameos by Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Goofy and Betty Boop, to name a few.

The VISTA SERIES is especially impressive given the many, many special features that are included. The packaging alone - with a case that looks like a detective's portfolio/folder - is a treat. Add to that the following:

1) Audio commentary by the filmmakers led by director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)
2) Facts and trivia
3) "The Pig Head Sequence" deleted scene
4) "Before and After" split-screen comparisons
5) 2 behind-the-scenes documentaries, including an new, exclusive in-depth featurette
6) A DVD game
7) 3 animated shorts
and more!!

The film itself is well worth the price of the DVD. Add to that the wealth of special features and this promises to be one of the best DVDs of the year. Animation, action/adventure and comedy fans will find this a special treat and I highly recommend this family-friendly (PG) film to everyone!

"Thanks! I needed that!"
This DVD set is sure to please anyone who enjoyed the ambitious, innovative and hilarious movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In 1988, Roger Rabbit earned several Oscars, combined animation with live action, made British actor Bob Hoskins a star and featured cameos from dozens of Disney, Warner Bros, MGM and Universal cartoon stars. Director Robert Zemeckis would also direct the Back to the Future series.

The story takes place in 1947 and it all begins with the lovable goofball Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer) co-starring with the cute but not-so-innocent Baby Herman (offstage, Herman is a whiney, scowling cigar smoking midget) in What's Cookin'. It's not long before Roger is under investigation by hapless no-nonsense detective Eddie Valiant (Hoskins). Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), owner of Toontown, has been murdered. Judge Doom (Back to the Future and Taxi's Christopher Lloyd) and his pack of scheming weasels suspect Roger is the culprit, particularly after Acme plays a game of patty-cake with Roger's sultry wife, Jessica (Kathleen Turner). Jessica's defense: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way!" Roger, Jessica and Valiant do their best to prove Roger's innocence and save the fate of Toontown. Benny the wisecrackin' Cab is there to help Valiant get to the bottom of it all. Cameos include Daffy and Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny (voiced by the late Mel Blanc), Yosemite Sam, Mickey Mouse, Tweety, Droopy Dog, Betty Boop (with the original voice of Mae Questel) and many others. The musical score is composed by Alan Silvestri (Forrest Gump, Lilo and Stitch).

Now for the extras. There is a spoken commentary as well as a "pop-up video" style commentary on the picture, outtakes including the "pig head" sequence, information on before/after animation, a DVD game Trouble in Toontown, options of widescreen and fullscreen, and (if you're bi-lingual) dubbed in versions in French and Spanish.

Finally, it includes 3 Roger Rabbit short films, including Tummy Trouble (where Baby Herman swallows everything), Rollercoaster Rabbit (where Roger babysits Herman in an amusement park; my favourite of the 3) and Trail Mix-Up (where Roger takes Herman camping around Yellowstone Park; watch for Jessica's cameos in all of these!).

Give yourself a week or 2 to enjoy the movie and all the extras! Enjoy the ride and leave the driving to Benny, your faithful tourgide!

Tonsa 'toon fun!

I was 10 when "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" came out and it is just as much fun to watch now, maybe funnier because I missed some of the humor back then. Roger's a riot and his wife, Jessica Rabbit ("I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way"), is truly a toon vixen. Bob Hoskin's Eddie Valiant is sent to find out the truth when the owner of Toon Town is murdered after playing patty-cake (literally) with Jessica. Everyone assumes a jealous Roger did it and that washed-up detective Eddie can't hack it anymore. There is lots of subtle humor, like when Eddie asks for a scotch on the rocks in a 'toon bar and instead of ice he gets actual rocks. Eddie seriously hates Toon Town because his brother had a piano dropped on his head, but he eventually becomes pals with Roger, overcomes his hatred of Toon Town and clears Roger's name. Christopher Lloyd's Judge Doom is perfectly creepy and his squad of weasels are funny as they try to stop Eddie and Roger from discovering the truth.

The interaction between the live actors and the toons is seamless, probably why the movie won four Oscars. The behind the scenes features and commentaries are great, the entire 2-disc set is incredibly well-thought out and packaged, making it a must-have for the fan.

A worthy dvd for one of the greatest movies ever.
When Roger Rabbitt came out, I was probably too young to ever know what it was. I am sure I saw it many times as a kid, but never saw it as the genius piece of filmmaking that it is. This movie is brilliant in every way, and with the release of the Vista Series DVD I have been reacquainted with it. I am 20 years old now and this is one of my top 5 favorite movies. That is the great thing about this movie, that all ages can enjoy something that this has to offer whether it be the animation sequences or just the fun storyline. I love both.

Here is the story. Someone has killed Marvin Acme, owner of ToonTown and Roger takes the heat for it. Of course he was framed but by who and why? Roger seeks the help of Eddie Valiant, a once prominant detective that fell into hard times after his brother was killed by a toon. Thus was his reluctance to help Roger since he was a toon. But he does help Roger, and he must get to the bottom of the mystery before Judge Doom finds and kills Roger by "dipping him". Eddie feels sorry for the rabbit so he investigates before it is too late, and along the way he discovers more and more about why Acme was killed and that ToonTown itself is in danger. Oh yeah, and Roger was the perfect one to frame because his wife Jessica Rabbit had been seen meeting with Acme before he died. So most people probably know the plot already, but if not it is highly original and entertaining.

This masterpiece couldn't get any better treatment than this, a fully loaded 2 disc set sporting both a family-friendly version on disc 1 and enthusiast version on disc 2. There are so many extras that it will take you a long time to see everything. I admittedly have just begun to see the treasures contained within. But it is obvious that the utmost care was taken to give this the fair dvd treatment it deserved--mission accomplished. This is probably my third favorite movie of all-time, and is without a doubt the best mix of live action and animation. So many great characters appear in this movie such as Bugs and Daffy in the scene where Eddie is falling and they hand him an anvil instead of a 'chute. It is sheer movie magic, and something I could watch all the time and never get tired of seeing it. Director Zimeckis has done a remarkable job with this film, and we also great great performances from Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant), Christopher Lloyd (Judge doom) and pretty much everyone else appearing in the film with the addition of the voices of Roger and Jessica who were terrific. To me this is a perfect movie so if you havent seen it before rent it, and if you like it then buy it. If you are a fan then you must own this dvd. It is truly a great thing and this dvd set presents it in all of its glory, the way it should be done.

Brilliant Animation
If you love classical (2D) animation, get this masterpiece. What's more, the master (and director) of animation himself, Richard Williams gets to say a few things too in this Vista-Series edition (that was a very pleasant surprise). Seriously though, I've never in my life seen such mind-blowing animation. I must have seen this film hundreds of times and till today, there is nothing comparable, no "Space Jam" or "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (even with Eric Goldberg as animation director) comes anywhere near Roger Rabbit. We have to thank genius Richard Williams and his very talented team for this.

Do to the fact that 2D animation doesn't seem to generate much interest these days, it's very unlikely that Disney will ever complete Richard Williams' other masterpiece "The Thief and the Cobbler" properly (there is a butchered version out there from Miramax, with very poor animation next to Williams' brilliant sequences). ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Contact) had a hit with this 1984 comedy that first teamed Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. Turner steals the show from the guys, however, playing a pushy romance novelist who gets stuck among some dangerous figures in Colombia and has only a rumpled guide (Michael Douglas) as an ally. The chemistry between the stars is infectious (the trio went on to make a sequel, Jewel of the Nile, and then an interesting, dark comedy directed by DeVito, The War of the Roses). Zemeckis--whose specialty at the time was creating set pieces of raucous action (as in his Back to the Future)--keeps things hopping with lots of kinetic material. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Neither Good Nor Bad
ROMANCING THE STONE could be seen as the poor man's Indiana Jones movie. It's short on snappy dialogue, coherent plot and memorable characters.

Essentially this is a vehicle for Douglas as rough and ready Jack Colton, and Turner to show her versatility as Joan Wilder, the novelist who sheds her loner image and eventually becomes a heroine. Danny DeVito crops up as a slimy rival to the duo's quest, but his part is overplayed and underwritten.

The story as it is revolves around Wilder going to Columbia to rescue her kidnapped sister. This leads her into a journey of adventure to recover a fabled jewel with adventurer Colton. An almost sinister kidnapping becomes a farcical adventure comedy: I found the switching in tone of this movie at times confusing, and at other times far too blunt.

Whilst ROMANCING THE STONE is not a movie that will leave any lasting impression on you, it is passable as entertainment - saved as it is by the one thing that causes it so many problems: the reliance on the Turner-Douglas on-screen relationship to carry it through.

On A Par With Indiana Jones Movies
Without even looking at other reviews, I'm sure I'm the first to draw this parallel.

*uses pliers to remove tongue from cheek*

Romancing the Stone jumped in to ride the wave of adventure movie semi-fanaticism spawned by the Indiana Jones movies, but gave us a more comedic villain in Danny DeVito; a less indomitable and less scrupulous hero in Michael Douglas; more pratfalls, and a stronger, less nice, more sultry heroine in Kathleen Turner.

There are several things that make this a five-star adventure movie. The action and the pace are great; there is a moderately complex plot; the special effects, while less than what you see in an Indy movie, are well-done; the music is rousing, and the scenery/setting is gorgeous. But, what I see as setting this film apart is the same factor I've noticed in most of my favorite films: the actors appear to be having the times of their lives playing their parts to the utmost. They seem to be enjoying being their absolute most in their parts, and their enthusiatic spills off the screen and flows through the room.

If you are a fan of adventure movies, you should see this one.

Romantic Comedy Adventure: Turner And Douglas
This 1984 film was the first that brought together the incredible on-screen chemistry of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. The film, a romantic and comic version of the Indiana Jones films, involves a romance novelist (Kathleen T) and how she gets wrapped up in a hunt for a rare and valuable diamond. As her love interest and her partner in the search is Michael Douglas. At first, the two don't get along very well. Their fighting and bickering as well as game-playing (they each plan to dump the other and take the diamond for themselves) is only an overture to the subsequent romance and passion that overwhelms them. At the end of the movie, they are on a boat on top of a car in New York City headed for a romantic world travel adventure.

This movie also stars Danny Devito (this team- Turner, Douglas and Da Vito would later make War Of The Roses which was a darker comedy about a nightmare divorce). Danny DeVito is hilarious as he is a shlemiel. The location was shot in South America, specifically Columbia, and the lush scenes of photographic landscapes - jungles, rivers, waterfalls, rapids and villages, make this a very engaging adventure story. Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas are really great together and it is the real salvation of the movie. For Turner's character, her life becomes an adventure and a romance as any of the novels she has written. Highly enjoyable, very comedic and never aging, this movie is a welcome fill for any space in your DVD collection. On DVD, it's even better. Greater color and sound, picture quality and bonus feature such as insight on the film, the actors and commentary.

Jewls For Romance
This is the story of a romance writer, who needs a romance. It's a silly story but fun none the less. It's a chick flick I guess but it's fun.

Great casting
Who knew that Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas would turn out to be such a super casting duo? And then add Danny DeVito to the mix as the inept, addled wannabe villain, and you've got an instant winner. The story line revolves around a romance novelist (Turner) accidentally gone astray in Colombia. Douglas is her opportunistic rescuer/ally, and the pratfalls and plot twists keep coming fast enough to keep an audience on the edge of their seats. ... Read more

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Shot back-to-back with Back to the Future II, this final chapter in the series is less hectic than that film and has the same sweet spirit of the first, albeit in a whole new setting. This time, Michael J. Fox's character ends up in the Old West of 1885, trying to prevent the death of mad scientist Christopher Lloyd at the hands of a gunman. Director Robert Zemeckis successfully blends exciting special effects with the traditions of a Western, and comes up with something original and fun. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (50)

The End Of A Brilliant Trilogy
This 1990 sequel was shot back to back with Back To The Future 2. Again, it was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. In this, the third and final chapter in the series, Marty McFly(Fox)is transported, thanks to the delorean, to the year 1885. The Old West. There, he tries to save Doc Brown(Lloyd)who is to be shot and killed by a mad gunmen. Is it any surprise that the guy who is supposed to kill Doc Brown is a relation to Biff?. No, it isn't. But there are a few other problems as well. On his trip to 1885, the delorean gets a hole punctured in the fuel tank. They are trapped there. The other, is that Doc has fallen in love with a sweet school marm(played by Mary Steenburgen). Doc is conflicted between leaving and saving his life, or staying and being with the woman he truly loves, and face the chance of getting shot. The two find a way to gain enough speed to get the delorean in motion and send them back to 1985. If you haven't seen it, I won't say how. This chapter in the brilliant series is a real fun, crowd pleaser. However, it lacks a lot of the punch the first two had. The effects and everything are mild and tame in this one. Not as exciting as the previous ones. Still, it is a wonderfully made and put together film. It is thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable. A very satisfying end to the whole saga. Fox and Lloyd are, as always, top notch. Thomas Wilson as Biff's ancestor is, well, he's still Biff. Would we want him any other way?. Probably not. Steenburgen does the best with what she's given. It's too bad that Lea Thompson, who had such an important and prominent role in the first and second, was relegated to almost 'cameo' status in this one. Oh well. In the end, a good romp for the whole family. Watch and enjoy!!!.

Weak way to end the trilogy but still lots of fun
Picking up right where the second movie leaves us Marty McFly learns that Doc has ended up in the old west of Hill Valley and now its up to Marty to get back to him to save his life. With the help of the Doc of 1955 Marty is able to get to the past and take on an old west thug nammed "Mad Dog" Tannen. Besides taking on that gun slinging criminal , Doc has fallen in love with a school teacher named Clara who he has to tell the truth to about where he is from. If things weren't bad enough, the DeLorean has no gas and now they have to figure out a way to get back to the future again by getting the time machine to 88mph. Its a true wild west romp and it ends the trillogy in a decent mannor.

This movie sorta slows down the pace a bit , and unfortunatly I think a bit to much, when you look back at the two previous to this installment. It lacks the fun and newness of the first and the action and story of the second and pretty much turns into a second rate western with Back to the Future characters in the roles, with them trying to relive the idea of a kid from the 80s trapped in another time period like in the first film, but it just doesn't work for a 1880's setting. Bottom line, while it is a good movie at points, the fun just isn't here as it wants to be.

While not as good as the other two it does have its moments. The fun of seeing Doc's lab at the begining in 1955 which has a lot of the hidden jokes from the first within. Some good western jokes like him taking the name "Clint Eastwood" and a very exciting climax with a huge locomotive pushing the DeLorean on traintracks, all make this movie still worth it and a good one to watch. Just don't expect the fun time traveling and characters that were in the other two. They stay trapped in the west for most of the movie and the amount of things that just seem to not make sense are very high in this movie. A lot of contradictions show up at various points to things that were well established in other movies (IE Not remembering who put Marty in the tacky clothing he winds up wearing). It is still a must have for anyone that is a fan of the Back to the Future series especialy as it just isn't complete without knowing how it ends or even a fan of a good movie to pass the time. Just don't expect to much as it doesn't deliever like the other two did with flying colors. It does end the trillogy on an up note and something that will make you smile and still want more. It will also make you wish they had more going on in 1985 at the end then the quick rushed ending they seem to come up with. A fitting end none the less, just could have done much more then they wind up doing and at times it may even leave you unfullfilled.

a fitting end to a wonderful trilogy
A film by Robert Zemeckis

"Back to the Future Part III" is the third and concluding chapter to the "Back to the Future" trilogy. For many years this was my least favorite film in the trilogy, but watching it again for the first time in years I have new appreciation for it. "Back to the Future Part III" is a satisfying and worthy end to this trilogy.

At the end of the second movie the DeLorean is struck by lightening (which we already know provides the necessary 1.21 gigawatts of energy required for time travel) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is sent somewhen in time. Marty (Michael J Fox) is stuck in 1955 Hill Valley, but just after Doc and the DeLorean disappears a letter arrives for Marty. The letter is from Doc and was written in 1885. It was left as the post office with the instructions to be delivered on that particular date at that particular time. The letter says that Doc is alive and well in 1885 and under no circumstances is Marty to try to go back and rescue him.

Marty returns to the 1955 Doc Brown and enlists his help to recover the DeLorean which was left in a cave for 70 years. While recovering the DeLorean Marty discovers a tombstone with Doc's name on it...and the date that Doc died was only a week after he wrote the letter! The tombstone reads "shot in the back by Buford Tannen (Thomas F Wilson) over a matter of $80". There is no way Marty is going to let this happen, so he puts gas in the DeLorean and travels back in time to 1885 to help Doc. Of course, if it was that simple, we wouldn't have much of a movie, so complications evolve. The DeLorean ruptures its gas line, so that it leaks gas and can no longer be driven under its own power. Part of the movie is Doc and Marty trying to get the DeLorean back up to 88 miles per hour, but there is also the matter of Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen who still intends to shoot Doc over that matter of eighty dollars...or will history change and will Marty's name on that tombstone? This final installment also introduces a love interest for Doc Brown in the person of Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen), the new school teacher with an interest in science.

This movie is much more of a straight forward action/adventure/comedy (whatever) movie. The time travel serves to get Marty in the past and back to the present, but there isn't as much playing around with time travel as there is in the second movie. I still think this might be the weakest of the movies, but it is a very fun ride. While this movie will never reach the "classic" status that I feel the first one will, this is a very enjoyable movie and is a fitting end to the trilogy. Good stuff.

The Best of the Back to Future Films
This is the best of three in the Back to the Future trilogy. It was set in the past and in the west during the times of cowboys, indians and especially gun sliggers. I loved all of the reference to past events, and the humor it brought to the film. This is a film I can watch over and over again, unlike the first in the trilogy. Unlike the second film in the trilogy this film kept my attention, and wasn't so off-the-wall that it was unbelievable. This is one that will be in my home collection.

Love Story?
This is the final part of "Back to the Future" trilogy...now Marty has come back to the year 1955 where is the young Doc who has sent him just back to the year 1985. At first Doc can't believe his eyes when he sees Marty...but after seeing the letter which his older self sent, he understand. He's now...or was in 1885 in old west but then they found a history book where is told that he will be killed just after being a week there. Marty has to go and save Doc's life. He travels again with time machine and finds Doc...but then he must fight with Tannen, who is a bad boy...they have to get 88 mph somehow but how? Well, watch this film, the same actors again...but there's also a teacher Clara Clayton who has a great role in this story...a happy end or...? ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This 1980 film by director Robert Zemeckis gives no indication of things to come in his career(Contact,Forrest Gump), but it is representative of a certain cynical humor he shared early on with writer-partner Bob Gale. Kurt Russell and Jack Warden star in a sketchy comedy about competing used-car salesmen who resort to outrageous tactics to lure customers away from each other. The jokes, like the characters, are intentionally recycled, self-conscious comic fodder from a baby-boomer's lifetime (such as Gale's or Zemeckis's) of immersion in pop culture. That makes Used Cars more pastiche than original (the film's title itself suggests that), but as such it has some good, if vaguely familiar, laughs in it. Russell, particularly, is very funny as a practiced con man.--Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (58)

Hiliarous movie!
This movie is incredibly funny! It's a movie that pulls no punches, and will hit you square onto your funny bone. Kurt Russell's best role, starring as Rudy Russo, a used car salesmen who's ambition is to run for congress. Rudy works for a guy named Luke Fuchs, who owns the used car lot. His brother, Roy Fuchs, owns another lot directly across the highway. There's one thing Rudy must do before going to the Capitol Building - he first must protect the used car lot he works at before Roy claims the property, which would ultimately be used as part of a new new highway, which would increase business for Roy's lot. Roy will stop at nothing, even murdering his own brother! The script is amazing, the plot is original, and you'll finally know the schemes a used car salesman will employ to get you to buy a total klunker. Toby the dog is a riot! The dog, alone, had me rolling on the floor. Jack Warden puts on a great, great dual-performance as the rival brothers. 'Lenny' and 'Squiggy' from "Laverne & Shirley" star as friends of Rudy's. Al Lewis, the beloved 'Grandpa' from "The Munsters", stars as a mean, tobacco chewing judge. If you are into great movies, don't rent this one... *BUY IT* as part of your video collection!

Buckle up for a great ride down a cheap highway
"Used Cars" is the mother, or ugly stepmother, of great American bathroom humor. Long before the politically-correct craze of "Forrest Gump," director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis spit up "Used Cars" with a little help from executive producer Steven Speilberg. Not quite sweet enough for 'Gump-isms,' "Used Cars" explores the seedy world of the car lot and the stereotypical husslers running the joint. With gags that include strippers atop automobiles, reeling a customer across a busy city street with $20 hooked to a fishing line and a commercial jammed during a presidential address, "Used Cars" rips apart middle America to the tune of 50,000 laughs per second. Kurt Russell shines as the cheeseball in charge in one of his first post-Disney era films. Russell gets plenty of support from an ensemble cast that includes Gerrit Graham, Frank McRae, Joe Flaherty, Deborah Harmon and David L. Lander and Michael McKean (better known in the early 80s as Lennie and Squiggy). However, the real salesman is veteran actor Jack Warden who easily handles a dual role of twin brothers with competing car lots. Although not likely to appear on Zemeckis's or Speilberg's Oscar-winning resumes, "Used Cars" is hilarious, sharp and clever. I consider this vehicle one of the greatest comedic rides ever made. Trust me.

A gut busting classic!
BEHOLD! PERHAPS THE GREATEST COMEDY EVER MADE,USED CARS IS A MUST HAVE ON DVD.I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THE BONUS FEATURES ARE NOT LISTED ABOVE SO HERE THEY GO:VINTAGE ADVERTISING GALLERY,AUDIO COMMENTARY:ZEMECKIS,GALE,RUSSELL, OUTTAKES,RADIO @ TV PROMOS,PRODUCTION NOTES AND A COOL THING FOR TRUE FANS OF RUSSELL,A TV AD FOR THE ACTUAL CAR LOT,WITH THE REAL OWNER INTRODUCING RUSSELL WHO THEN GIVES A SALES PITCH FOR A CAR ON THE LOT!

one of my favorite movies
"well i don't wanna look inside". "ohhh, just get in the motherf_ckin car". i lose it everytime that part comes on. this movie is such a riot. if you havent seen it, check it out.

Hilarious Movie - Great DVD
Where do I start? "Used Cars" is one of those "movies for guys who love movies". I have watched it who knows how many times, but I still get a kick out of certain scenes almost 25 years later. But there is an added bonus now if you buy the DVD, an hilarious commentary track with director Bob Zemeckis and actor Kurt Russell along with Bob Gale, who co-wrote the screenplay with Zemeckis.

The movie features Russell as Rudy Russo, a used car salesman with absolutely no morals (OK, most used car salesman don't have morals, but Russo takes it to another level). Jack Warden takes on dual roles as twin brothers trying to win the battle of used car lots at the same corner. Garret Graham plays Russell's sidekick Jeff who tries to help Rudy move the cars through illegal television commercials, which are absolutely hilarious. Other performances of note are those of Deborah Harmon, the daughter of one of the twins who wins Rudy's heart, Joe Flaherty from Second City as an unscrupulous lawyer and Michael McKean and David Lander (of Lenny and Squiggy fame) as techno wizards who assists Russell and Graham in their illegal activities.

All of the above are great, but the two who steal this movie are Frank McRae, who plays Jim the Mechanic and Toby the Beagle. McRae may say less than 200 words in the whole movie, but he may have the highest laughter to words ratio in movie history. Toby pulls off some funny stunts as well and is a memorable dog in movie history as well.

The movie is great and the DVD commentary of the three principal parties is hysterically funny. I think the three must have stopped at the local brewpub before the taping and slammed a few because they are giddy, but they let you in on on some interesting facts about the movie. There are also some outtakes as well as a real used car lot commercial that Russell shot in Arizona in Russo character.

Rent it or buy it, you won't be sorry. As Rudy Russo would say "Trust Me!" ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This 1992 black comedy by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Back to the Future trilogy) features some of the most eye-popping special effects of the '90s in its story of a narcissistic star (Meryl Streep) who steals the husband (Bruce Willis) of another woman (Goldie Hawn) and continues her rivalry with her even after death. A magic potion keeps both women going despite the punishment of murderous bullets and fatal plunges, and the joke is that even as they rot they remain vain about appearances. Though he's fashioned a one-note movie, Zemeckis gets a lot of mileage out of such impressive sights as Hawn walking around with a hole in her chest the size of a basketball, and Streep--her head and arms twisted 180 degrees--moving like a broken crab. It's weird, it's sick, it's hilarious, and the stars push the whole project to a classy entertainment. Isabella Rossellini is great as a scantily clad witch who sells the immortality brew. The DVD release has a full-screen presentation, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, optional Spanish subtitles, and Dolby sound. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (64)

A wickedly funny film!
Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn make a perfect comedic pair in this great comedy/fantasy from director Robert Zemeckis.

Streep plays Madeline Ashton, a has-been actress, who tries to re-invent herself as a musical star. The hilarious opening sees Streep in a musical version of "Sweet Bird Of Youth" that has been titled 'Songbird'. It is at the first (and last) performance of the show that Madeline's old friend (and enemy) Helen Sharp (Hawn) and her fiancee Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) become re-acquaninted. Madeline then proceeds to seduce Ernest and marries him herself. Ernest is a plastic-surgeon and the idea of free face-work is irresistable to the shallow Madeline.

Ten years later, a new svelte Helen is having a book-signing party for the novel she has just published. By this time Madeline has turned into the 4th Gabor, and is completely paranoid about her complexion and her age. Madeline is completely unaware that the reason why Helen looks so God-damn fabulous is because she has a potion that will let her stay young forever.

A lovely 'young' enchantress Listl von Ruman (Isabella Rossellini) is the woman behind the potion, and Madeline will do anything to get it.......

This film is a delight, and features a great performance by Streep, who has mostly stuck to dramatic roles, and it is very refreshing to see her letting her hair down here.

Hawn is as wonderful as always, although the restrained performance of Willis is at times very annoying.

a strange, quirky, and entertaining movie
A film by Robert Zemeckis

I think that it is fair to say that this is a strange movie. Helen (Goldie Hawn) is engaged to be married to Dr Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), a famous plastic surgeon. They watch a rather awful show at the theatre and go backstage to meet the star, Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep). Madeline and Helen knew each other in high school, and Helen believes that Madeline intentionally steals every boyfriend Helen has. This is the final test before the wedding. Naturally, Madeline, who is vain about her appearance and worried about aging, does steel Ernest away and ends up marrying him herself. This drives Helen crazy, literally. We flash forward seven years to get an update on the characters, then another seven years to bring us to the main section of our story. Madeline is aging and she hates it. She meets up with Helen again, and Helen looks fantastic, as if she hasn't aged a day in the past 14 years. Helen is all glammed up and looks like a star. Madeline is starting to look frumpy. It is all starting to come full circle and Madeline's jealousy is driving her to do something rash.

Rather than do something predictable (in the movies, anyway) like start killing people, Madeline goes to a strange woman named Lisle (Isabella Rossellini) and gets a potion that halts the aging process and returns the body to its youthful, more perfect image. It also bestows immortality. Now Madeline can compete with Helen again! This rivalry and this fight will continue on through life and even into death.

"Death Becomes Her" is a comedy. It is a very strange comedy, and has something of a dark humor, but it is without question an original movie. It is one of the more overlooked movies in Robert Zemeckis's filmography. He is better known for "Back to the Future", "Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away". This isn't a perfect movie, but it is entertaining, creative, and interesting. One important thing that I can say is that I did not find this movie predictable at all. I had no idea where Zemeckis was going with "Death Becomes Her" until the end.

-Joe Sherry

Siempre Viva!
The passage of time weighs upon us all: the loss of youth's energy, agility, beauty. But let us say there is a potion, an elixir, "a touch of magic in a world obsessed with science." Drink it and you will be forever young. Do not drink it and watch yourself rot away with old age. Just such a potion falls into the hands of two women who are not only consumed with vanity but fierce rivals, determined to best each other no matter the cost. Siempre Viva: Live Forever! Whether you like it or not!

With excellent performances, an invective-laced script, and remarkable special effects, DEATH BECOMES HER takes on several great philosophical and literary concepts--and subverts them into one of the most wickedly funny black comedies in recent memory, dishy, bitchy, mean spirited, and a tremendous amount of fun. Film buffs will particularly relish this film, which references everything from THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW to THE WIZARD OF OZ and a host of classic horror films such as FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, and CAT PEOPLE--and also tacks in everything from Tennessee Williams plays to rock legend Jim Morrison for good measure.

Unfortunately, the DVD release is commonplace, offering the film in pan-and-scan only. To give the release its due, the shift from widescreen to pan-and-scan is expertly done and not in the least distracting--but still, a widescreen option for such a special effects heavy film would be preferred. And while this would seem to be an ideal film for a making-of documentary, the DVD offers only a handful of production notes as bonus. Even so, the film is so extremely well done that I wouldn't miss it on that account! Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

great farce of female issues
Mainly the issues of jealousy and not losing one's looks.

Helen (Goldie Hawn) is the mousy pal of glamourous Madeline (Streep.) Madeline constantly has to one-up Helen, who believes the trip ethat comes out of the mouth of her 'friend'. When Madeline successfully steals and marries Helen's boyfriend Ernest(Willis), Helen becomes obese and obsessed, ending up in a mental home where she bores the other patients by talking about Madeline, who knows of and delights in Helen's plight (the witch).

A few years later, though, Madeline sees Helen at a party looking slim, young and happy. Turns out Helen has the secret to immortality and Madeline wants in on it. When she gets it, the fight really begins -- with incredible special effects -- and poor Ernest caught in the middle of it all.

This is a great comedy on some real issues women face as they get older -- it's nice to see it in an exaggerated humorous light.

failed black comedy falls flat
A big effects thriller and that turns into a flat joke - that's how I typify this flick. Goldie Hawn is Helen, a premature frump who wasted her life in the shadow of the more glamorous Madeline (Streep). A painfully untalented and hated actress, Madeline managed to get by on her good looks with the help of a lifetime of plastic surgery - but even that is nearing its end by the start of "Death". Though cozily enconsed in a tony Beverly Hills mansion, Mad's looks and her career are history. Bruce Willis is Ernest, the plastic surgeon they seem to be fighting over without actually loving him. When given the chance to experience immortality, the two still find themselves fighting over Ernest and everything else that's gone wrong with their lives. "Death" introduces us to this unfortunate trio during the disco era - when an already aging Madeleine stars in a reviled "Studio-54" version of "Sweet Bird of Youth", and Ernst is both a highly sought plastic surgeon and Helen's fiancée. Though Eernest loves the mild-mannered Helen, it's clear that he's falling under Madeleine's spell, and will be one more of the many men Helen lost to her friend. The plot jumps ahead decades later - Helen is a bloated version of herself, having never gotten past losing Ernst to Madeleine. Madeleine hasn't weathered the years any better - unable to handle losing her youth, she's become a crone who embittered her own life and Ernst's. Ernst by then is shriveled version of his younger self - a self-deprecating alcoholic who's long since learned of Madeleine's dark side (in his home-office, he tosses scalpels like darts at pictures of his hated wife, and refers to her as "it") but can no longer escape. No longer trusted to work on the living, he's become a designer mortician (the dead can't sue for malpractice). And then there's Lisle (Isabella Rosellini) - a reclusive silent-film era star who may have discovered the secret of eternal life...maybe.

What starts off as a bundle of preachy ideas (potshots at a culture obsessed with looks and youth) quickly turns into a string of special-effects fueled sight-gags. Helen and Madeleine use Lisle's secret formula to remake themselves, but find that not even the youth it offers can survive their mutual hate, and the two poke CGI holes in each other. Both learn the hard way that Lisle's formula gives both life and youth, but not in equal portions (i.e. - you can live forever, but your new youth remains as fragile as the one you lost in your 30's). It's supposed to be ironic that in fighting each other, both "Mad" & "Hel" lose what they really wanted - to be "girls" again. Unfortunately it doesn't really work because Lisle's formula never really offers them that - neither wanted immortality, it's that fragile youth they wanted to keep, not their lives. It's a forced irony that doesn't work, and the plot wastes without something meatier to chew on than Mad & Hel's catfighting. While Streep & Hawn try to get some gags out of the script, the flick really belongs to Willis, proving again he can do just about anything. The story also gets some good action in the seductive form of Rosellini as Lisle - "keep your ass handy" she tells her buff entourage. If only they kept her handy as well, but her loss hits this movie once she disappears. ... Read more

Reviews (503)

Man Out Of Time
It's hard to think of a movie in which the hero ponders a metaphorical crossroads in his life while standing at a literal crossroads. Insipid or inspired? The problem with Robert Zemeckis's visually and viscerally eye-punching Robinson Crusoe ins that you can't say for sure. Could the movie really be as thematically trite as an insprirational office poster? Or is it an admirably stripped- down examination of the ancestral essence of being human?
Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) doesn't worry about such big questions. He's airlifted into Moscow and other emerging capital hot-spots when local operations are absolutely, positivly running from that tireless hunter: time. (It's alerrgorical! Get it?) Summoned on Christmas to make an emergency run, Chuck leaves his fiencee Kelly (Helen Hunt) with the promise that he'll return New Year's Eve. Cue from a "Perfect Storm": Chuck and the FedEx jet crew lose radio contact and crash into the Pacific Ocean in a truly harrowing, you-are-there disaster sequence. This is no film for the squeamish, particularly after Chuck and a few FedEx packages wash up on an unnamed, utterly uninhabited island (Fiji's Monukiri and Mana, actually).
Almost everything, from what Chuck's forced to eat to his horror at consequences of a desert-island toothache, is accompanied by all the blood and guts left over from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
Add in Chuck's deteriorating hold on sanity---evinced by the inspired conceit of his relationship with a volleyball on which he has drawn a face---and you have a long middle section of bravura filmaking.
But once Chuck get home, the film turns anticlimatic and emotionally nil, and there's a startling lack of chemistry between Hanks and an unimpressive Hunt.

Cast Away
Cast Away
The first thought I had after seeing this film was whether or not I fully understood all of what I had seen. Posing this question will undoubtedly offer no easy answers, which for a film like Cast Away is probably a good thing. Cast Away begins with Fed Ex Executive Chuck Nolan (Tom Hanks in another stellar performance) explaining to his employee's that quote "We live by the clock". It's Christmas Eve and Chuck is enjoying a good meal with family and friends when his beeper rings and he finds himself forced to go out on a quick job. He tells his beautiful girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) that he will be home in time for new years celebrations. He promises. However a tragic plane crash into the ocean (which is very thrilling and realistic) changes all that. Now Chuck will no longer be living by the clock because he's now got all the time in the world. A trailer that gives away the entire movie ruined cast Away for many people. A spokes man for 20th Century Fox Entertainment said that Cast Away is movie about a man lost at sea and how he deals with coming home to world of change. Frankly I do not see it that way. I am a firm believer that people want to be surprised when they go to the movies. The only other quibble I have about the movie is the ending from which I think we the viewers are left with too many questions. Besides those problems I walked out of the theatre feeling really satisfied with what I had seen. The acting is top flight. The cinematography is excellent and the score is also a plus. One thing to mention to people is that there isn't allot of dialogue in the movie which may turn some people off. However, those people not too fussy may find this film truly riveting. For me it was a breathtaking experience. Review: **** out of five

unwooden Hollywood
Greeting comrads. Whats all can be said. read Yugijouohs' stunning review here in this Amazon customer review section, and you can believe me, he be harsher than I would have been if i talk , but that's repeating, he has said all there is to say! But I'll toss my 2 lira - Helen Hunt is the cats pajamas for ME personally--as opposed to me impersonally haha eddu make funny--and if had known she was not going to appear in Cast Away, I would not have even gone to see it.As mia santa momma said , flattery is no pizza,...but I will smash that rule here. WHENEVER Ms. Hunt is on picture, the movie is EYECATCHING! Again, see Yugijouohs review for more "depth" , I only write to urge you, the last TWENTY minutes of this movie recall the label on minestrone soup cans when i was a boy- Mm Mm GOOD! Probably the best use of digital storage in this crazy filmmaking world. Happily, this is my first positive review on Amazon, and this kind of filmmaking must "be a shining city on the hill" like Ronald Reagan speech! I say, Stay away from bad foreign film, go see Hollywood..(you may learn english)! To say 1 negative thing, the scenery shots ARE boring & Hanks seems a very disengenous man. To believe this movie was hardly "test screened", I love that this type of movie ending is not what world "wants"(?) At most you cant turn your DVD off when Mr Hanks is rescued,the movie would get malto bazillioniano stars I give in the review. This is my best advice.

I shared the same experience as Chuck Noland did...
This movie is very touching, and it's been hard for me to watch it again. Why you ask, because I use to date a girl back in 1996 when she lived here in Fitzgerald, GA. Her name is Kelly aswell. We dated briefly, but that all ending when her dad had to move to Houston, TX because of his job being transfered from the railcart co. here in Fitzgerld, GA, to Houston, TX. Me and her lost contact with each other until 2002, when I was able to find where she was and to finally get in touch with her again. She came back to Fitzgerald and We hugged each other for a long while. She stayed for a day or so here in town with another family member of her's, then they left to go back to Houston, TX. Sadly she started dating someone there in January of 2003. She told me that she did not think she could take having a long distance relationship, which that does make since. She did however came back later that year, but it was different. She saw it as a Friendly visit instead. But we still email each other everynow and then.

I know you could care less about my experience compared to this movie, but anyway Tom Hanks again brings in a great performance in "CastAway", just like he did in "Saving Private Ryan". The only thing I dislike about this movie is that he sounds like he is apologizes for not coming back to Kelly(Helen Hunt). It's not his fault the plane went down and he got stranded on an island, and Kelly(Helen Hunt) should have held out longer to see if he would indid be found. Which he is found and returns to Texas, and to his job as a Fed-Ex worker. But Kelly(Helen Hunt) is now remarried and has a daughter. But the movie does end on a positive note.

I recommend this movie to anyone wanting to see an adventure type movie, after you watch this movie it will make you look at life a different way and to stay close to the love ones you so dearly treasure.

Tom Tanks
Castaway was gravely lacking whether it was a true story or not. I hope it was true because that would at least validate the reason why somebody would put an anti-climactic and obvious-to-the-point-of-silliness story like that on a screen. The only enjoyable parts were where he lost something: Wilson the volleyball and his only companion of four years; blood, in the ocean accident where he tries to row a deflated lifesaver tube towards a light in the distance and breaks his leg open on the coral; his flashlight burning out; his soul-mate re-marrying and starting a new family; etc. It was enjoyable because I wanted him to suffer further. I think sympathetic feelings should only be lent to greatness, like Stalin or the Hindenburg exploding into flames, not to some shlub lost at sea who survives against great odds and endures to what? Saving his life only to give into the convention of letting things be as they are? Of course if there is resistance one shouldn't push and pull, but it seemed the only thing holding him back were the qualms and strictions of leaving well enough alone. Too bad this didn't register in his brain on that island and save the two hours and twenty plus minutes of film. Although there were some amusing parts there was never really any suspense as the viewer knows without any advance warning that he would survive his ordeal no matter the severity or peril he faced. Two stars begrudginly because it was 50 times better than Wendigo and I like to be consistent. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Critics and audiences didn't seem too happy with this inventive, perhaps too clever sequel to the popular 1985 comedy about a high school kid (Michael J. Fox) who travels into the past and has to bring his parents together (or lose his own existence). Director Robert Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication to this follow-up, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It's well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Fox's character watching his own actions from the first film. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (101)

Inventive but uncharming sequel
"Back to the Future Part II" is an inventive 2nd adventure of Marty McFly and Doc Brown aboard their suped up Delorean, it is not however a great movie like the first film was. Part II retains none of the charm, warmth or wonder of the first film. Instead it's an effects filled roller coaster ride of confusing time paradoxes and visual effects.

The film begins as Doc Brown transports Marty and his girlfriend to the year 2015 to avert a McFly family disaster. This is certainly a promising start. After some brief exposistion seting up this installment by Doc Brown, Marty ventures into Hill Valley of 2015. This brief adventure is the best sequence in the film, in fact it's the only sequence that bears any similarity to the charm, wit and awe of Part I. I'll admit, I loved the future sequences. Marty from the 1980's, sees flying cars, bizarre people and a "Jaws" sequel.

The film soon leaves the future setting and focuses on a sinister alternate timeline which finds Marty and Doc Brown fighting for thier lives and travelling back and forth through time to repair damage to the space time continuum. This is an interesting premise, however it only hides the lack of a solid story. In each era Marty visits, he has no time to absorb the surroundings as he did in the first film, and no relationship to establish and this is due to the frantic fast pace.

The film would have been more appealing if the story focused entirely on the future and had Marty help his children. It would have served as a good counterbalance to the first film and be more appealing visually.

Overall "Part II" is NOT a bad film. It is filled with inventive plot twists, action and great visual effects. However, knowing how great the first film was, there was no reason for "Part II" to have been so disappointing.

Best of the 3
I am a big fan of the Back to the Future series, and I think the second one is the best. This one starts out where Marty McFly has recently returned from the 50's and is about to start relaxing when..................Doc Brown comes in and tells Marty he has to go to the future with him to save one of his future kids. While in the futur, Marty takes the place of his son, who looks like him, and tell's Biff's grandson he does not want to particapate in whatever get Marty's son in trouble. After that is settled Marty buys a sports almanac. He plans to go back to the 80's and win money on predictions (or already-known-answers) from the book. But, Biff steals the book, steals the time machine, goes to the 50's, gives young Biff the book, and soon Biff becomes powerful, rich, and married to Marty's mother. So now Marty has to go back to the 50's, get the book back, and safely return to the 80's without screwing anything up. How? Watch this GREAT movie to find out!

BEST MOVIE EVER!
I am a real sci-fi geek, but this movie was superb! It's a true sequel to Bttf Part 1 and I personally think it's the best movie EVER! It's my absolute favorite! This is a must-see!

My favorite of the trilogy
A film by Robert Zemeckis

The story of Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) continues in this sequel to 1985's "Back to the Future". The movie picks up right where the first film left off where Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) returns in the DeLorean and tells Marty and Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue, replacing Claudia Wells) that they have to come back with Doc to the future to help their future children. This scene was re-shot for this movie because of Elisabeth Shue taking over the role of Jennifer from Claudia Wells, but it is otherwise the exact same scene that we saw in the ending of "Back to the Future."

They are off to 2015 so that Marty can prevent his son, Marty Jr (also Michael J Fox) from getting into some trouble with Griff Tannen (Thomas F Wilson), the grandson of Biff Tannen (also Thomas F. Wilson). While they are in the future, there is a little problem. Marty stops Marty Jr from getting into trouble, but Jennifer is picked up by the police (Doc gave her something so she can just sleep and not get into any trouble) and returned to her future self's home. While Marty and Doc go to get her before she is seen by her family, the old Biff Tannen overhears them talking about time travel and grabs "Gray's Sports Almanac" and goes back to 1955 and gives the almanac to his younger self. Now the young Biff is free to gamble on sporting events knowing the outcome. When Marty and Doc return to 1985, it is an alternate 1985 because the town was changed when Biff won millions gambling. It changed everything in Hill Valley. The rest of the movie is Marty and Doc trying to find out what happened and fixing things back in 1955 (where a different Marty is already there doing what he did in the first "Back to the Future" movie").

This has always been my favorite of the Back to the Future movies. I like how it shows even more how seemingly small events can change what happens in the future. I like watching Marty see himself helping his parents in 1985 (more scenes that had to be re-filmed to get Marty in two places at once). I also appreciate how much attention to detail there was in relation to the first movie as well as what would foreshadow the third movie. The first movie may be considered the best, but this is my favorite.

BEST MOVIE!!!!!
I am a HUGE fan of the Back to the Future triliogy!! If i had to recmmend any of the 3 to own it would be this one, # 2!!!! It is the best of both worlds, going from present to past and future!!! It shows how the town transforms weather it is 1985, 2015 or 1955!!! BUY IT, WATCH IT, LOVE IT!! ... Read more

Reviews (344)

A nice change of pace for Pfeiffer
After 'Scream' rehashed the horror genre, 'Lake Placid' tried to do the same for the horror genre. The ghost genre inevitably came next, but fared somewhat better. Take 'The Sixth Sense' and 'House On Haunted Hill' for example, both well above your average scary movie. Now this film sold itself on the basis that it was an 'adult' horror movie. By that it simply meant old-fashioned, for supposed teen flicks such as 'Scream' were actually far more intelligent. This is just sophisticated.

Still, it's nice to see a movie where Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer manage to move away from type-casting and prove that they can both act. Also impressive is the fact that director Zemeckis filmed this whilst on a hiatus from his other film 'Castaway'. Unfortunately though, it drags a lot at the start. After things hot up a little you'll be at the edge of your seat but for a long while it's a little dull. Of course, this was passed off as being adult and a great tension-builder and no-one dared say anything. It was just kep quiet about whilst everyone raved about the ending.

If you're not accustomed to the genre then this is probably a really good start to ghost movies. But there are far better ones out there and this is little more than ordinary. In fact, it is only really a fantastic turn by Pfeiffer that makes it anything special. Watch out throughout the movie for key points that are heavily earmarked as future plot elements - what's with the mysterious (and conveniently misty) lake? the old photos? and the seemingly insignificant fact that you can't get mobile phone reception on the deserted bridge?

Highly entertaining in parts, very dull in others.

A brilliant, complex and masterfully engaging horror.
What Lies Beneath, a brilliant, masterfully played out homage to Hitchcock is quite frankly the scariest movie I have ever seen. I came out of the cinema pale and shaking and while I was watching the film I was so scared I even had to shield my eyes at parts. All the scary parts are brought to life by a great score with manages to grab you in the nuts at the most unexpected times. The movie is over 2 hours long but never tires. I have watched this about 5 times now and every time I get the chills and always appreciate the film more. Robert Zemeckis excellent direction reminds us of how many great movies directors can do in 1 year. Cast Away and this film were both brilliant experiences and Zemeckis directs them both brilliantly. The performances excel, with Michelle Pfeiffer excellent as Claire Spencer who, while trying to uncover a masterful mystery, is slowly losing her mind. Harrison Ford brings up many shocks and takes a surprising back seat. His performance is fabulous. What Lies Beneath builds its suspense - especially in one horrifyingly Hitchcockian bathtub sequence - and always uses its ideas. I couldn't find many plot holes but the film can be complex at times. If you watch the film carefully and take note of everything that's happening I'm sure you'll understand the ending and the mystery that is slowly unlocking. What Lies Beneath has many great camera shots too like Michelle's toe peaking above the bath water, her hand clutching the side, her grabbing a sharp piece of glass and it reflecting her terrified face and a freaky close-up on Harrison Ford's eye. I love this movie, and it will always be a heart-stopping and fun experience for me to sit through.

verrry suspenceful
i was focused on this movie the whole time, and i'm the type of person wondering when it's going to be over. i was litterallyon the edge of my seat for some of the parts. if you like scary movies, you should see this one. it was great.

"A Thriller"
Well Harrison Ford has a heel turn in this movie, well the whole movie until the last 30 min of it he trys to kill his wife cause she finds out he killed a student.Well this was a great movie.

horrific horror (that means good)
this is a good horror movie, but i don't know if it would still be suspensful the 2nd time around. (i only like em super scary.) ya. that's it. ... Read more

Book Description

"Bein' a idiot is no box of chocolates," but "at least I ain't led no hum-drum life," says Forrest Gump, the lovable, surprisingly savvy hero of this wonderful comic tale.When the University of Alabama's football team drafts Forrest and makes him a star, that's only the beginning!He flunks out--and goes on to be a Vietnam war hero, a world-class Ping-Pong player, a wrestler, and a business tycoon.He compares battle scars with Lyndon Johnson, discovers the truth about Richard Nixon, and suffers the ups and downs of true love.Now, Forrest Gump's telling all--in a madcap, screwball romp through three decades of the American landscape.It's Gump's amazing travels...and you've got to hear them to believe them. ... Read more

Reviews (484)

The best movie of the 1990s
Forrest Gump guarantees to be one of the greatest movies you ever see.
Forrest is a simple man who lives by his beliefs, and lives by his mother's advice. He talks of his incredible life while sitting at a bus stop in Alabama, of teaching Elvis new dance moves, of bceoming a war hero in Vietnam, and of meeting several Presidents. At the same time, he recollects about his childhood sweetheart Jenny, who is living a horrible life after being abused as a child.
This is a truly inspirational movie, one of humour and light-hearted fun, while looking back at some of America's biggest moments.
Tom Hanks richly deserved Best Actor, as did the film deserve Best Picture, and Forrest Gump is one of the least-challenged Academy Award decisio