Schindler's List (1993)

Schindler's List (1993)

Starring; Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsly.

Plot: Oskar Schindler is a wealthy member of the Nazi Party in 1939 who wants to create a factory in Poland, using Jews as a workforce.  However, after a violent liquidation of a ghetto that contains his Jews, Schindler begins to realize how horrible it is being a Jew at this time.  After the Jews are moved to a concentration camp, Schindler begins focusing his efforts on saving Jews by letting them work in his factory.  He ends up creating a list of around eleven hundred Jews to work in his factory.  With his partner Itzhak Stern, he will try to save as many Jews until the war ends. 

Good: This is probably Spielberg's best cast in any of his films.  Liam Neeson does a stellar performance as Oskar Schindler.  He really sells the transformation from a womanizing business man to a humanitarian who cares deeply for the Jews that he ends up saving and wishes that he did more. His breakdown during the final scene is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in cinema. Ben Kingsly also does a great and subtle performance as Schindler's business partner and eventual friend.  They have a lot of good chemistry, and their evolution from partners to friends is very fluid and natural.  The rest of the cast is also amazing as well, including the minor Jew characters.  They really do a great job at portraying the pain of an ordeal such as this.  It can be very heartbreaking at some points.  John Williams's music is fantastic as always, but in a different way this time around.  In this case, the music is much more subtle and heartbreaking, with much of it being a violin solo.  It fits the tone of the movie perfectly, and it's one of his best pieces.  This film has a very unique look to it.  The majority of it is in black and white, but there are key moments where color is used.  This gives it a timeless feel, where at some points it feels like the movie is older than it actually is.  The colored portions of the movie are well realized and give more depth to a film that was already pretty deep.  The rest of the production values are great, especially the look of the camps and ghettos, which feel like characters themselves.  Surprisingly, there are a few moments of good humor in this film that add a bit of levity to this otherwise very serious film.  They don't feel intrusive, and Liam Neeson really helps make them work.

Bad: This film has a length of epic proportions at 195 minutes long, and can be a very exhausting experience for some.  I would recommend that you watch it in either two or three parts, unless you're used to powering through long movies.  It's also kind of confusing as to what Oskar Schindler's plan is in the beginning, but it does become clearer as the film goes on.  This film also has some very disturbing imagery due to its subject matter, so if you're feint at heart, this is not the film for you.

Trivia:

• Spielberg was initially hesitant about making this movie, thinking he was not mature enough to pull it off.
• He was not paid for this film, since he thought his salary would be blood money.
• Although they had permission to film within Auschwitz, they chose to build a mirror image of the camp on the other side of the gate out of respect for the victims.
• Spielberg decided to make Jurassic Park before Schindler's List because he thought he would be to drained to make the former after doing the latter.

Final Verdict: There's a reason this film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) in 1994.  It's a masterpiece of cinema, and one of the greatest films ever made.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know about how terrible this time period actually was, or if they just want to see a magnificent film.

Next time, we'll travel to Isla Sorna, the secret Jurassic Park never wanted people to know about in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

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Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Starring: Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.

Plot: 120 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, John Hammond is in the process of creating the world's greatest biological preserve.  But instead of lions, tigers, or bears, this park contains living, breathing dinosaurs, brought back from blood found in ancient mosquitoes trapped in amber.  However, he needs experts to sign off on the park in order to maintain funding from his investors.  This includes two paleontologists and a mathematician, who predicts that the park will go horribly wrong due to a lack of respect for the power they're wielding.  When his predictions start to come true, the group must try to survive a park full of dinosaurs on the loose.

Good: This film has a great and diverse cast.  Sam Neil plays a great leading man as Dr. Alan Grant, who pulls off the scientist aspect to his character.  He also does a great job at showing the evolution of Grant from a child-hating grump to someone who legitimately cares for the kids he helps during the movie.  Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm was an inspired choice, with his charm and charisma turned up to eleven.  He can be very entertaining to watch.  The rest of the cast does a good job, including Richard Attenborough as the kindly but naive John Hammond, and Bob Peck as the delightfully hammy Robert Muldoon.  The music in this film (done by John Williams) is iconic, and one of my all time favorite scores.  It can have you on the edge of your seat with suspense, sit in quiet reflection, or cheer with delight with ease.  The action is also excellent, from the T. Rex attack in the rain, to the Dilophosaurus sneaking up on Nedry, to the suspenseful Velociraptor hunt in the kitchen.  Of course, you can't talk about Jurassic Park without also mentioning its special effects.  The practical effects used on the close ups of the dinosaurs are amazing, with may of them looking like there are real dinosaurs on set.  Two scenes that show this off the best are the sick Triceratops scene and the Tyrannosaurus escape.  The computer generated dinosaurs, even though they have dated a little bit, still looks amazing, even surpassing some modern day CGI creations.  This combination of practical and computer effects makes the dinosaurs really come to life.  The dinosaurs even sound real, from the ear splitting T.Rex roar to the terrifying Velociraptor raptor scream.

Bad: Although the kid actors in the film play their parts well, their characters feel kind of superfluous to the story most of the time, and can sometimes act pretty annoying.  This especially happens to Lex, asking dumb questions and screaming when it's unnecessary.  Luckily, this doesn't happen too much in the film, but it makes an impression when it does.  Also, while the way the dinosaurs were depicted was pretty close to what science thought of them at the time, they haven't aged that well.  We now know that Velociraptors were much smaller (about the size of a turkey) and had feathers, Brachiosaurus couldn't make loud noises, and none of the dinosaurs would've made booming noises when they walked (just look at an elephant walking).  However, this is more of a minor nitpick, as the people making the film were trying to portray the dinosaurs as accurately as possible, and science just moved on.

Trivia:

• The T. Rex animatronic was not meant to break the glass on the top of the car when it attacked the kids, so it produced genuine screams from the actors.
• The Tyrannosaur's famous roar was a combination of dog, penguin, tiger, alligator, and elephant noises. 
• On one of Nedry's computer screens, you can see Jaws playing when he's arguing with Hammond.
• Universal bought the rights to Michael Crichton's novel before it was published.

Final Verdict: While it does have some very minor flaws, Jurassic Park is still an amazing movie, and one of my favorite films of all time.  It has great action, amazing music, and top notch special effects.  This is a must see for anyone who ever wanted to see dinosaurs come to life, or if you just want to appreciate all the hard work that went into it.  I highly recommend it.  

Next time, we'll once again fight against the Nazis.  However, this time, it'll be in a much more serious tone, with Schindler's List.

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Hook (1991)

Hook (1991)

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts.

Plot: Peter Banning is a father who has too much time on his hands from his job to spend time with his wife and kids.  When the family takes a vacation to London to visit Granny Wendy, the woman who took of Peter when he was a boy, the children are kidnapped by a man known as Captain Hook.  As it turns out, Peter is none other than Peter Pan, who grew up after falling in love with Wendy's granddaughter.  Now he must travel to Neverland, and with the help of Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys, he will try to rescue his kids from the titular villain.

Good: Robin Williams may have been an unconventional choice to play Pan, but he fits into the role very well.  He effortlessly shows both sides of his character, from the overworked and stick in the mud father, to the boyish and energetic hero.  It's very cool seeing his character transitioning between these two extremes.  As per usual in a Spielberg film, the kids do a good job with what they're given, especially the actor who plays Jack Banning, who has a lot of good emotional scenes.  The rest of the cast does a good job as well, but the best performance would have to be Dustin Hoffman as Hook himself.  He fits this role like a glove, bringing a sophistication and charm to the role, while also being delightfully hammy when it's necessary.  This film also has great production design.  The sets look incredibly detailed and fun to look at, especially the pirate village.  The matte paintings of Neverland are also spectacular, adding to the great visual style of that world.  The sword fights during the climax are fantastically choreographed, with great banter between Pan and Hook.  The special effects are quite good, with the flying sequences being particular stand outs.  John Williams brings one of his best scores in this movie, especially in the scene where Peter remembers how to fly.  It's surprising that it's not as well remembered as some of his more famous scores.

Bad:  While Julia Roberts's performance is good, the way Tinkerbell is written is not that great.  Tink should be spiteful and jealous, while this version is too nice.  It feels out of character and makes her kind of boring.  Also, the climax, even though it contains some great sword fights, can feel a bit too cheesy, with the pirates being defeated with eggs, vegetables, and multicolored water.  This, along with some other scenes that are smothered in cheese, can take the audience out of the movie big time.  Plus, there are some major leaps in logic throughout the movie.  The biggest plot holes would have to be how Peter could understand what his mother was saying when he was a baby and how he grew up to be a ten-year old when he was in Neverland.

Trivia:

• The actor who played young Peter Pan is Dustin Hoffman's son.
• Glenn Close plays the pirate who gets sent to the Boo Box.  It's unclear as to why.
• The Peter Pan book that Granny Wendy is reading to the children is a first edition copy from 1911.
• The word 'bangarang', which is said multiple times throughout the movie, is Jamaican slang for disorder, hubbub, or an uproar.  

Final Verdict: Despite some of it's flaws, I still recommend Hook.  It has great acting, fantastic production design, and amazing music.  If you can suspend you disbelief pretty high, and focus on the charm of the film, you can enjoy it a lot.

Next time, we'll go on a weekend inspection of John Hammond's new attraction on Isla Nublar.  Jurassic Park.

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Always (1989)

Always (1989)

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman

Plot: Pete Sandich is a pilot who helps firefighters by putting out forest fires from the sky.  He regularly endangers himself by doing reckless stunts to impress his wife Dorina, much to her dismay.  After risking his life to save his flying partner and best friend, Pete tragically dies when his engine explodes.  Now he must do what all souls do once they die; help subconsciously guide another pilot to greatness.  What Pete soon realizes however, is that the pilot he's guiding is in love with his now widowed wife.  Can he learn to move on from his old life, or will he remain connected to his beloved Dorina?

Good: The last time Richard Dreyfuss was in a Spielberg movie was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, so it was a welcome surprise to see him again.  His charisma is dialed up to eleven and is very enjoyable to watch.  His humor is hilarious, especially when he's experimenting with the fact that he can influence other peoples actions.  However, he also brings a lot of drama to the scenes that require it.  You can see the internal conflict inside him when he's deciding whether he should hold on to his past life, or let go and let Dorina live her life without him.  Speaking of Dorina, Holly Hunter is also very good, mastering a wide range of emotions in every scene she's in, from joy when the couple celebrate her birthday, to fear when Pete is doing one of his stunts.  The chemistry between these two characters is amazing, and you can really buy that these two are a couple, despite the eleven year age difference.  John Goodman, as always, brings a lot of charm and humor to his scenes, while also pulling off very emotional scenes.  Spielberg does a great job with the romance between Dorina and the pilot, while also making her connection with her past husband just as strong, which adds to the internal conflict.  This is especially notable, since this is Spielberg's first film centered mostly on the romance aspect.  John Williams's music is still great, though it's less bombastic and more subtle, which works well with the tonne of the film.  Despite not being very effects-heavy, the scenes when characters are fighting fires.  Those scenes are probably the best in the film, with suspense that will put you on the edge of your seat, and effects that look so real, you'd think that they were from a documentary if not for the amazing cinematography.

Bad: While there is a lot of great acting in this film, there are some notable exceptions.  The main one being the pilot that Pete has to help.  He's not a bad actor, he's just kind of bland, and doesn't quite hold up to the acting chops of Dreyfuss, Hunter, or Goodman.  The pacing is also very puzzling.  While the movie is about two hours long, it feels like it's moving too fast.  I'm not sure how it managed to do this or if it's just me, but it would've been nice if the pacing slowed down just a bit, so that the audience could see the romance grow in a less speedy way.

Trivia:

• This was Audrey Hepburn's final movie before she died.
• The scene when Dorina and the pilot are doing John Wayne impressions was added after a similar interaction happened between the actors during filming.
• This film is a remake of A Guy Named Joe, which can be seen playing on the television during a scene in Poltergeist.  
• During production, Spielberg told John Goodman that he would make a great Fred Flintstone.  In 1994, Goodman starred in The Flintstones as that character.

Final Verdict: Despite its flaws, this is a very solid movie.  It has great characters, amazing action, and a memorable story.  I would recommend it to people who love romance in general, or people who live Spielberg's lighter work.

Next time, we'll travel to Neverland, and find out what would happen if Peter Pan grew up, in Hook.

Stay Tuned  

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and Alison Doody.

Plot: Indiana Jones is back once again, this time in a search for the holy grail (insert Monty Python joke here), but he's not the only one.  The Nazis have also returned, and this time they've captured Indy's father, who has dedicated his life to finding the grail.  With the help of Sallah, Marcus Brody, and the lovely Dr. Elsa Schneider, he will attempt to save his father while also searching for the grail before the Nazis do.

Good: The biggest difference between this film and the last two instalments is that it has a noticeably lighter tone.  This ends up working in the favor of the film, making it more like the somewhat cheesy serials it's based on.  There's a lot more comedic moments, such as when the Jones's are trying to escape the burning castle.  Harrison Ford once again returns as the titular hero, and he still does a great job after taking a five year break from the role.  His wit and charm really bring the character to life, as it did in the last two movies.  Due to the lighter tone, he really gets to show off his comedic prowess.  However, his best scenes are when he interacts with Sean Connery, who plays Indy's father.  Their banter is great fun to watch, and is the heart of the film. While it might seem kind of gimmicky to bring the main character's father along for the ride, but through a mixture of the way the character is written and Connery's charm, the addition is a welcome presence.  The returning cast does a good job as well, especially Denholm Elliot as Marcus Brody, whose role has been expanded upon in this instalment.  John Williams's score brings back the Raiders March again, while also adding some new pieces.  The music during the bike chase sequence manages to leave a memorable tune stuck in your head, and it's one of Williams's best.  The action is excellent, with action scenes being frequent and well placed and staged.  Finally, there are some great visual effects in this film.  The two that stand out are the invisible bridge and the rapidly aging villain. 

Bad: While the lighter tone may work for the most part, at some points, it comes off as too cheesy, with the actors sometimes playing their roles in a tongue-in-cheek manner.  At some points it feels like the movie is more of a comedy than an action/adventure flick.  One of the best parts of the original was how despite the cheesy moments, all of the actors played it straight.  Another issue is that while some of the effects are top notch, there are also some that don't look quite as great.  This is especially true with the green screen that they used for when they were either flying or in a boat.  The shot when the Nazi commander is yelling at the blimp probably looks the most fake.

Trivia:

• During the book burning scene, Spielberg had the extras cross their fingers whenever they did the Nazi salute and said "Sieg Heil".
• Neither Sean Connery nor Harrison Ford wore pants during the plane sequence, since the set was too hot.
• For his scenes as young Indy, River Phoenix based his performance off of Harrison Ford off screen, not the titular character.  Also, Ford had recommended Phoenix for the role.
• Speilberg has always wanted to direct a Bond movie, so having Sean Connery (the first James Bond) in his movie is the closest he's come so far.

Final Verdict: I would say this film is probably the most forgetable of the Indiana Jones franchise.  It's not as iconic as Raiders of the Lost Ark and it's not as infamous as Temple of Doom or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  However, it's still an enjoyable watch, with its great action, excellent music, and fantastic banter between Ford and Connery.  I definently recommend this film for anyone who is a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, or who just wants a light action/adventure movie.

Next time, we'll see take a look at one of Spielberg's lesser known films, Always.

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