Amazon.com essential video

Comic actress Goldie Hawn takes a serious turn in the affectingcoming-of-age story CrissCross. Hawn(Shampoo, The First Wives Club) plays Tracy Cross, asingle mother in Key West, Florida, who turns to stripping to support her son Chris (newcomer DavidArnott). Meanwhile, Chris struggles to find himself, faced with a father(Keith Carradine, Choose Me, Nashville) who abandoned him,his mother's new boyfriend (Arliss Howard, Full Metal Jacket), andthe temptation of selling drugs. The plot elements may sound melodramatic,but CrissCross keeps everything real with detailed performances,attention to the mundane (but telling) aspects of daily life, and a viewof human nature that goes beyond the good-guy/bad-guy simplicity of mostmovies. CrissCross captures some of the ambiguity of human life,and that's an impressive feat. Also featuring brief appearances bycharacter actors Steve Buscemi, Paul Calderon, and Anna Levine Thomson.--Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Blonde...
A 'coming of age' movie of sorts, this particular feature is a tad slow for my general taste. However, David Arnott is so incredibly gorgeuos, I find myself watching this one again and again. A good and believable young actor he is as well. I've always enjoyed Goldie Hawn, which makes this one well worth owning in my book.

Crocked Chriscross
So-so movie with so-so acting - think of an unsuccessful cross between one of those many made-for-television grade-B drama films on the Lifetime Channel and an ABC Afterschool Special and you have a general idea what the film is like.

See on cable if you must, don't waste your time renting it out or buying it.

Correction
Just in case anyone is confused, Arliss Howard does not play Goldie Hawn's son. Arliss Howard is an MAN, not a teenage boy.

A movie to relax by, with beautiful locations
Goldie Hawn plays a single mother who resorts to stripping to support her son, played by David Arnott. In fact, the movie centers on David and his coming-of-age. Nothing really new here, but the film has a good heart (which it wears on its sleeve often enough).

Certainly this is not a great movie, but the Key West locations are beautiful. It's summer all the time there, and you can practically feel that muggy heat coming through the screen. The film has a languid (okay, slow) pace, befitting its 'life is a beach' flavor. Goldie looks great and the performances are fine. It's just unfortunate that the trivial story fails to develop the dramatic tension required of a better film. So basically this will appeal to fans of Goldie Hawn, movies set on the Florida coast, and lovers of old Mopars (Goldie drives a really cool '59 DeSoto). Made me wish I grew up there. :> ... Read more

Description

Freed from prison, Frank White (Christopher Walken) challenges his fellow druglords in bloody battles for a piece of the action.In New York, crime gets done Frank's way - or it doesn't get done at all.Unable to keep him behind bars, the cops declare war on him - and Frank responds by putting out a contract on the cops. ... Read more

Reviews (53)

The best gangster film you've probably never seen
Ranking up there with Scarface and even Goodfellas, King of New York is one of the best gangster films ever made, thanks largely in part to the magnetic and explosive performance by Christopher Walken. Walken is Frank White, a ruthless kingpin freshly released from prison who vows to use his connections and money for charitable means. On his trail however, are three cops (David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, and Victor Argo) who, by any means necessary, vow to bring Frank down. Profane, action packed, and filled with unforgettable performances (Walken, Caruso, and Laurence Fishburne are incredible), Abel Ferrara's King of New York is hypnotic from it's first frame to final shot, and the action scenes are pulled off better than most major budget pictures. This new Special Edition from Lion's Gate/Artisan includes a nice amount of extras to tide fans of the film over, and the commentary by director Ferrara must be heard to be believed.

THE KING IS DEAD...LONG LIVE THE KING
Frank White (Christopher Walken) is a crime boss just released from prison. He rejoins his henchmen, headed up by Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne). No sooner does White step out of prison, that the killing games begin. White is out to finance a local inner city hospital that is on the verge of being closed for lack of funding. He is determined to do this by using the ill gotten gains of drug trafficking, his and that of other drug lords. Since the others apparently will not relinguish the money voluntarily, force is used, quite a bit of it as a matter of fact, to get their money and/or drugs.

Officers Dennis Gilley (David Caruso) and Thomas Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) are part of a team of cops that are looking to stop White. They are outraged that he is on the street and that they are seemingly unable to stop him by fair means. They decide to resort to foul means and end up all the worse for their efforts. Throughout the film, the line is sometimes blurred between the good guys and the bad guys. There is no happy ending here, and justice may or may not be deemed to have been served, depending upon the viewer's own subjective viewpoint.

The performances are good overall, and in particular, Fishburne's manic character, Jimmy Jump, is a good foil for Walker's coolly detached character, Frank White. This is not really a character driven movie, however, but rather a plot driven one. There is a lot of action, a lot of shootings and carnage, and some car chase scenes that will keep the viewer on edge. The violence, when it occurs, is bloody and protracted. Moreover, in addition to being bimbos and sex toys, the women also pack high powered heat and shoot with the best of them. Despite some plot holes, the film entertains, though just how entertaining the viewer will find this film will depend on the viewer's tolerance for violence.

The DVD itself is pretty much no frills, offering pretty standard features, such as widescreen, a theatrical trailer, scene access, and a music video. There is no commentary. The picture, though dark, is clear, as is the sound.

"King Of New York" DVD Review
Just like "Scarface" and "New Jack City" before it, "King Of New York" is a gritty gangster flick that takes real-life issues and mixes them with charismatic characters and stylized action that is so over-the-top that it could only work in a cinematic world. Walken's Frank White is the ultimate anti-hero, a murderous drug kingpin who uses his money for good purposes. No matter how good intentioned his motives are, the police are sick of his whole operation and are ready to go to war. The first half of the film has a rough but realistic edge to it while the second half spins into a bullet-riddled, blood-soaked, Hollywood action movie. The movie does have its faults. Fishburne's violent sidekick, while providing some entertaining moments, does occassionally come off looking like a dated and ignorant sterotype of Black youth in the late 80's. Not that it ever kept this movie from acheiving a type of urban cult following that is rivaled only by "Scarface". This movie was one of the first to showcase such young unknowns as David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, and Steve Buscemi and while it can't exactly be credited for launching their careers, it can at least boast their talented performances. But everyone in this film pales in comparison to Walken. He steals the show here. Speaking of steal-showing, this special edition DVD features an audio commentary with director Abel Ferrara that has to be heard to believed. I can safely say that I've never heard a director's commentary like it. A documentary on Ferrara should have been as entertaining but due to the fact that it has no interviews with the director himself, it doesn't quite live up to my expectations. There are a few colorful stories here and there but nothing like what you get on the commentary.

Nice new DVD package
I own the new special edition 2-disc set that includes 2 versions of the film- standard frame and widescreen, and contains the director's audio commentary track voice-over the video portion the film.
The director is a very very sick dude, folks, who hates the police and makes films which accuse the police of being responsible for everything thats bad in this world- both Bad Lieutenant and this film contain the cop haters theme to the max.

What makes this director a nihlistic sick mother is his attitude and language in his commentary (which quite frankly I enjoy!)- during the film his voice-over commentary reveals a sick mind- every woman who appears on the screen is singled out by the director and called a "piece of ..." while other such ditties do not pass unnoticed. This director has a serious mental abberation, a problem which he uses film to work out- hes basically working out his emotional problems by directing very sick films. While I enjoy his choice of language in the commentary and his absolute honesty, I cant help thinking what a sick mother this director is in real life.

The most darkest charecter, Frank White
This is one of Chris Walkens best movie, rated and nomminated for 4 oscars, King of New York is a classic gangstar movie based on 1930s crime caper lifestyle and the hunger of ruling the crime world, Frank who recently is released from the pen, he too has eyes set on dominating the crime world and goes into deep trouble and gang bangs to get to where he is, a grand kingpin.
This movie may be cliche but the storyline is like no other and the acting is what makes this movie great, sure it may be low budget but its a one of a kind and frankly, this is the movie the started all dark crime gangstar movies like Goodfellas and The Untouchables, it deserves props. 10/10. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Proving that he may be the most fearless actor of his or any other generation, Harvey Keitel gives an amazing, no-holds-barred performance in director Abel Ferrara's uncompromising 1992 film about a New York cop on the edge of self-annihilation. The film's title is meant to be taken literally: Keitel's character has no redeeming values whatsoever, save for his desperate need for redemption. Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide is correct in calling this an "over-the-top Catholic guilt movie," but it's been made with such conviction that Ferrara and Keitel transcend the sheer unpleasantness of the material to give it a kind of tragic divinity. Here's a character so vile and corrupted that he consumes or re-sells the drugs he confiscates, but when he's assigned to investigate the brutal rape of a nun who refuses to press charges, he feels that this is his opportunity to redeem his rotten soul. Deservedly rated NC-17 due to its rough content and a frontal nude scene that even Keitel's most loyal fans could do without, this film tends to divide viewers into love-it-or-hate-it categories, but few could deny its raw power and the deeply anguished humanity that Keitel brings to his role. Whatever your reaction may be, few would deny this is an unforgettable film. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (61)

How can you forgive that...
I had heard, by word of mouth over the years, that "Bad Lieutenant" was truly extraordinary, but nothing could really prepare me for the sheer visceral impact of the film, or the electrifying, career best performance, given by Harvey Keitel, in fact I watched the film 3 days ago, and have deliberately waited 'til now to write this review.

After much thought I have to say that "Bad Lieutenant" really is a monstrous train-wreck of a movie, but what keeps you watching, utterly mesmerized, unable to look away for an instant, is Keitel's performance as the titular character. He's never given a name in the film, or even in the credits, he's just the "Lieutenant," and "Bad?" "Bad" doesn't even begin to describe this guy, as the front of the DVD case puts it, "Gambler. Thief. Junkie. Killer. Cop."

After surviving on the mean streets of New York for 20 years, he has seen, and pretty well done, it all; the "Lieutenant" is a man who exists in a nihilistic Hell of his own making, and we watch as he roars headlong towards his own destruction, along the way, plumbing the very depths of abject human depravity.

A lapsed Catholic, he is still wracked by guilt for the truly awful deeds he commits, whether it's doing and/or selling drugs, booze, sex, gambling, thieving, killing, the "Lieutenant" is a soul in torment. Unable to find a way out, he is sinking deeper and deeper into a morass of yet MORE drugs, MORE booze, MORE bets he can't cover, and more, meaningless, cold, emotionless, and depraved, sexual acts.

Yet somewhere deep inside this blasted shell of a man, there still exists a spark of humanity, so lost in the wretched, savage squalor of his life, that even HE doesn't know it's there. Then one day he becomes involved in the investigation of a crime that shocks even him... the brutal rape of a Catholic nun. Initially coldly dismissive of what the young woman had been through, he listens in on her conversations with her superiors and is shocked to his core to discover that even though her bruises are still fresh, she has already forgiven her attackers. She knows their names but won't pass them on to the police.

The "Lieutenant" can barely comprehend how can such a thing can be, how can she forgive such a terrible act... such a terrible sin? If she can forgive so much, then maybe, just maybe, he himself can find some kind of redemption, maybe someone - God? - can forgive him HIS sins. After his confrontation with the nun, howling out his characters pain, and anger, and hurt, and fear, Harvey Keitel gives the most searingly honest, desperate, and emotionally raw performance of his career.

Bleak, brutal, depraved, and honest, are some of the words that I would use to describe this film, which is NOT easy to watch, especially this NC-17 version, but it's a film that SHOULD be watched by anyone who is serious about Cinema as an art form. Between them, Ferrera and Keitel have produced an extraordinary cinematic experience, unbending and uncompromising in its exploration of the human condition, powerful and unforgiving, it forces you to actually THINK about the subject matter, and to face the rotten darkness in the heart of this particular human soul.

I would like to end this review with a bit of trivia concerning Keitel's performance. Regardless of whether you love this film or hate it - like "2001," this film seems to generate extreme reactions - no one can argue about the power, and sheer gut-wrenching truthfulness, of Keitel's performance. Depending on exactly when the film was released, Keitel would have been eligible for a shot at either the '92 or '93 Oscar for Best Actor. So who won? Well, I looked it up, and Keitel "lost" to, either, Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" in '92, or, God help us, Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia" in '93! Next time I find myself getting even mildly curious about who's taking home one of the gold statuettes, this little bit of trivia will kind-of put the whole tawdry circus into perspective!

A great movie that should be given its due.
A friend of mine once recommended me the "Bad Lieutenant" and raved how great it was and how I had to see it. After seeing the film, I realized why the "Bad Lieutenant" is such a cult classic. You would think that Keitel's character would be a good cop who does the right thing. Instead you get a corrupt junkie cop who is damned from the very beginning and knows it. The scene where a delusional Keitel sees Jesus is the most intense emotional performance I have seen since De Niro's jail scene in Raging Bull. Abel Ferrara thankfully resisted any temptations to glamorize Keitel's drug use because it would have made his downward spiral less real and tragic. This is not an easy movie to stomach. It provokes so many conflicting emotions about the character because you hate the cop for being so evil. On the other hand, you want to understand why he does what he does, because deep down, you want him to be saved even though he is too late. I can't believe Keitel wasn't even nominated for an Oscar because his performance in this film is the best of the decade. Keitel and Ferrara took a big chance on the "Bad Lieutenant" but those two seem to create their best work when they do.

Bad Movie
There is no other way to put it this movie is banality at its worst.

There is no real story here, other than Harvey Keitel's character going around doing bad things over and over again throughout the movie. No real plot, not real story line. It's just a montage of scenes of a bad cop doing things bad cops do.

Thumbs way down.

Bravado filmmaking at it's finest!
As tough as any review might seem, behind this trainwreck of a movie lies one of the most important pieces of work in bravado film history. Often compared with Taxi driver, Abel Ferrara 1992 effort is a disturbing hell of a ride from title to end credits. I consider myself lucky for having the stomach, the patience and the strengh to watch it repeatedly and still being able to absorb it without passing out with the high ammount of ultra disturbing material this film dares to offer...and I still enjoy it very much. Drugs, death, addiction...good lord...you should be asking yourself... why should I watch a piece of junk like this? this is no junk at all, this is a lesson too important! This film is strong, powerful, realistic, impressive, daring and bold in every aspect, and it does have the power to disturb and shock hundreds of thousands of viewers...and I believe that's a beauty! This is a film where no one's innocent, everyone is evil and redemption is the only cure. I hate doing reviews cuz films should speak for themselves, but all I have to say is that Harvey Keitel's bold self destructive and out of this world performance should be considered as the most viceral, dramatic, original and impressive charaterization of the 90's. This is his best performence ever!!! This guy showed the world that he can play anything you throw at him, no matter how difficult or dihumanizing it might be, he's the guy to pull it off brilliantly!. I can keep on writing for hours and hours about his impressive and jawbraking job on this movie but I wont...all I have to say is that if it wasn't for him, Bad Lieutenat wouldn't have 90% of its raw power...this guy is a class A actor all the way. And this also makes Abel Ferrara one of the most amazing directors alive...this movie is incredible!

Be prepared for this highgly recommended film that should go down in history as the most viceral and daring film of the 90's. But be warmed, this film has the power to bring everybody down!. I haven't watch a film like this again!

He's a bad cop and out of control. But there is redemption.
In this 1992 film Harvey Keitel is cast in the role of a bad cop. He's a addicted to cocaine, abuses power and is at the bottom of a downward moral decline. He shows us his weaknesses and bares his soul and we hate the acts he does but also see a tortured man who is out of control in every way. When another cop is about to arrest some thieves, Keitel sends the other cop away, takes their money and then lets the thieves go. He gets his payoffs in cocaine from drug dealers. He uses his police power to force some teenage girls to satisfy his sick needs. And he is constantly drinking to counteract his cocaine high. It's rather surprising, but not unbelievable, that he still lives with his family and four children but he has long since given up any attempt at reconciling to a middle-class life. And, to top it off, against the background of the World Series, he is way over his head in gambling debts.

Then he is brought into a case where a young nun is brutally violated. She knows the two men who have committed the terrible act but refuses to name them to the police. "I have already forgiven them," she says. This throws Keitel into a moral and spiritual quandary, and how he resolves it might be shocking to some but is understandable, given his character.

This is perhaps Harvey Keitel's finest performance. I felt his humanity in spite of all his nasty acts. Underneath it all was a very troubled human being. Wisely, the screenwriter didn't give him a name. We just think of him as the bad cop. And also, wisely, we don't get any back story. I had been actually waiting for it. I wanted to know the reason that would make a man act this way. But my curiously was never satisfied. Instead, I was thrown into the man's current moral dilemma. The result was a deeply disturbing journey into the depths of depravity and redemption. I applaud the filmmakers, as well the director Abel Ferrera, who, with the help of Zoe Lund, also wrote the screenplay. It took a lot of courage to bring this story to the screen. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

It would be difficult to underrate this film.
Watching this film is a little like being a spectator at a bad acting competition, with spot prizes for wooden expressions to play for. Jenny Lumet wins both, with extra credit for random overacting, but Timothy Hutton puts up a grand fight for second place. The script is wordy way past the point of tedium: it HAS to be based on a bad play. It's like a very literate writer trying desperately to be authentic, but unwilling to discard a single line he's ever heard in a cop movie. Never mind: you can have a fine time playing 'count the hard-boiled cop cliches'. Cheap special effects, along with a listless score and jarring theme song,reinforce the impression that nobody's heart was in it.
Some distinguished people were associated with the making of this film. I hope they've had a good long think about what they've done.

VERY UNDERRATED CLASSIC NYC CRIME FILM MUST SEE!!!
Being a nyc hispanic native i know this film is true in its essence. the performances especially by nolte are fabulous. nolte should have at least been nominated for his portrayal of a nyc corrupt cop. if you have lived in nyc this is a film that you should see for its location scences and gritty story. one reviewer wrote what did the main character (hutton) see in her, i can tell you she was smoking hot in the film. i am surprised i have never seen her in anything else and that is a shame.. there is also a touch of humor especially when the evil nolte meets his maker. however the scene between blumenfeld(character) and hutton towards the end about things being buried is very haunting in deed considering the atmosphere that we all live in this society.

I love this flick!
This is a must-have for anyone seeking a gritty portrait of the shadier slice of life in New York. This movie has it all- corruption in high places, police brutality, institutional racism etc. Nolte turns in a really great performance!

Props to Edwin Torres
While I agree with some reviewers who felt that this film started off strongly then fell off a bit as it progressed, I have to take issue with a couple of reviews that stated (not verbatim) that the racial politics of NYC as depicted in the film do not accurately reflect real life. One reviewer (the Amazon critic, I believe) went so far as to refer to the race dynamics in Q&A as far-fetched.

Wellllll.. as a Latino, raised in the Big Apple but having spent much time up and down the East Coast, I have to respectfully disagree on that one. Granted, Q & A does take liberties with the interpersonal-relationships-as-microcosm-of-the-social-picture thing, but the actors, some of whose performances go waaaay over the top, are more to blame than the story itself .

The film is based on a book by Edwin Torres, who also authored After Hours and Carlito's Way, both of which provided the basis for the Al Pacino starrer of the latter name. Torres, who grew up in Spanish Harlem, wrote these books while working as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. He is now a Judge in Manhattan District Court. Point being that though the general suspicion and distrust among the races might appear to some of us in the 21st century as inaccurate, they are based on Torres' observations of the various peoples in and around Spanish Harlem during the 1960s and 70s, and are actually quite on target.

Anyone who has ever found themselves staring down the business end of a police department-issued service pistol during a routine traffic stop can attest to this. And I say this not as a gripe, or as a means of using this forum as an online soapbox, but to state that sometimes, just sometimes, the veracity of a world create for the screen but based on "real life" can only be determined by the subjective views of those who've experienced it, one way or the other. But don't take my word for it, ask a cop, white, black, Latino or whatever else, if race plays a part in how people treat him or her when they answer a call.

That said, Q & A does present a bleak, seemingly hopeless picture, but viewers shouldn't fault it for not providing cut-and-dried solutions to our social problems. Instead, watch it as a small slice of life, as experienced by a select few, and glean your own answers.

A down-to-the-gut real, exciting, bold cop movie
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A truly gripping, action-packed and yet really moving cop film with a _raw_ complex plot (no other way to describe it) and some absolutely brilliant performances by Nick Nolte (as Brennan, a puritanical white cop too blurred by his convictions to see the error of his racist, reckless ways), Armand Assante (as a latin drug warlord and the antagonist of Nolte's character) and Timothy Hutton (as Riley, an ex-cop lawyer assigned now by the DA's office to investigate Nolte).

This is no LA Confidential or City Hall because there is much lesser of Hollywood here. Instead, expect some in-your-face narrative of police corruption, compromised idealism, racism, even a pithy take on homosexuality. The biggest surprise is the Puertorican druglord character played to the T by Armand Assante, right down to latin American quirks and verbal cadence - easily Oscar nomination material.

What's a review without some gripes though, so here. The one thing that befuddles the plot a little is the character of Riley's subplot romantic interest. Lumet's daughter herself played this role and I found her to be more than a little taut. This little apparition of an ex-love will have you wondering about what it means to the story otherwise (clue: not much) especially a reference to Riley being surprised on seeing his latin american girlfriend's father because he was black. Why this was anything special I do not know -- I'd be surprised to have a latin girlfriend for 2 years and then see her father and find out that he was black. If there was some highfalutin racism meme intended, I'd venture to say it fell flat on its foot.

Secondly, perhaps some (only some) scenes may be a tad overdone in terms of their dramatic rendering e.g., a totally unnecessary scene with a transvestite prostitute snitching away in front of the druglord or a scene with Nolte dealing with prostitutes and actually groping one of them to determine whether (s)he was a woman. Such needless scenes, and there are preciously few of them thankfully, somewhat bogged down the otherwise perfect pace of the movie.

Nonetheless, this is quite an intelligent film with a very real, gripping theme and terrific acting all round. Definitely worth at least a good evening's rental. ... Read more

Description

Lotto Land is the story of a $27 million New York lottery jackpot and the missing ticket that holds the key to four lives and a neighborhood full of dreams. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This first film adaptation of a John Grisham novel is a crackerjackpopcorn movie that satisfies even though it radically changes the last half of the book. The novel's dynamic setup is intact: Mitch McDeere, a hot law graduate (a well-suited Tom Cruise), finds a dream job in a luxurious Memphis law firm. His superiors (Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook) provide Mitch and his young wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), with a house and plenty of money in exchange for lots of work, and maybe something more. Soon FBI agents (including a bald Ed Harris) encircle Mitch, telling him his firm has a sinister secret, forcing Mitch into a heck of a pickle. How Mitch deals with his situation is where the book and movie differ, yet by the time Mitch is running from bad guys with suitcase in hand, the movie delivers Grisham's goods. For Sydney Pollack's film, Mitch is more confrontational and heroic. Plot aside, the care Pollack put into this fair-weather thriller is unimpeachable, as is his cast. There's hardly a better all-star cast in any '90s thriller, from Hackman and Harris in key roles to actors in smaller parts, sometimes with only a scene or two. Standouts include David Strathairn as Mitch's wayward brother, Wilford Brimley as the head of security, film producer Jerry Weintraub as an angry client, Gary Busey as a private investigator, and Holly Hunter in a delicious, Oscar-nominated supporting role as Busey's most loyal of secretaries. The cast seems to have had as much fun making the film as we do watching it. It's slick Hollywood product, but first-rate all the way. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Description

King of New York:Academy Award ®-winner Christopher Walken* stars in this shattering action/adventure story of a city on the edge.Larry Fishburne, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, and Giancarlo Esposito also star in director Abel Ferrara's (Bad Lieutenant, A Dangerous Game) riveting and horrifyingly realistic story of one man who takes on a whole city. Freed from prison, Frank White (Walken) challenges his fellow druglords in bloody battles for a piece of the action.In New York, crime gets done Frank's way - or it doesn't get done at all.Unable to keep him behind bars, the cops declare war on him - and Frank responds by putting out a contract on the cops. The Sicilian:ONLY ONE MAN EVER DARED TO STAND ALONE.From Mario Puzo, the best-selling author of "The Godfather," comes the riveting saga of the life, loves and dreams of the infamous Sicilian bandit, Salvatore Giuliano.Filmed entirely on location in Sicily, THE SICILIAN stars Terence Stamp ("Wall Street") and Christopher Lambert ("Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan") in a powerful portrayal of Salvatore Giuliano, a man whose dream became a legend. World War II is finally over, and a war-torn world is at rest.But for Sicily, who dreams of independence from Rome's oppresive, ironhanded regime, the struggle has just begun.Three powers have always ruled the island - the Church, the Landowners and the Mafia - until Salvatore Giuliano pronounced himself the fourth. Determined that Sicily shall gain its freedom, Giuliano and his "brothers" rob and ransom the rich, cold-bloodedly murdering all who dare to defy or betray them.As Giuliano proudly redistributes his newfound wealth among the peasants, Don Masino, the head of the Sicilian Mafia, declares that Giuliano must be stopped - at any cost.Now it's a fight for survival, as the bloodiest manhunt in Italian history sweeps the countryside in search of the notorious outlaw, Giuliano. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Street Art - Live And In Color
Laurence Fishburne has displayed his talent as an actor in films since the mid 70's. He has memorable performances in the Matrix series and Apocalypse Now and less memorable in Cornbread, Earl, and Me. The point is he has done them and survived in the fickle world of film making.

Now Fishburne writes. This script is not to for the tender ear but if you want to take a walk in the world of the hoodlum and you want to take in style, this film is a delight. The characters are well developed and the plot pulls you right in the room with them.

Emmonn Walker and Titus Welliver put on very good performances as best friend and half brother. The fact that Titus is a white guy makes the half brother thing alittle humorous but it works really well.

The sets were downtown and colorful. The feel was beleivable but at the same time somewhat surreal. I loved the graffitti scenes while Tony was reciting poetry. It shouldn't have fit in a somewhat violent film about a drug steal gone bad; but it did.

Very fine film!

A must-see for Titus Welliver fans
Finally an opportunity for Titus Welliver to let his exceptional skills as an actor sparkle. His portrait of Torch, 20/20 Mike's dangerous, scared and increasingly suffering brother, is so intense and captivating, it makes you forget that you are watching a movie. I don't know why he has not been considered for an Academy Award; he certainly would have deserved it.

This is not an easy movie to watch, but the cast, the story and Laurence Fishburne's talent as a story-teller makes it a breathtaking experience for those who enjoy theatrical cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (557)

Postmodern Crime Film
I know it's hard to believe, but I hadn't seen this movie until a few weeks ago. I was definitely not caught up in the Tarantino craze (I was 13 when the movie first came out), but I was able to objectively analyze it without the hype. Here is what I thought:

Pulp Fiction is a movie that I both thoroughly enjoyed and profoundly hated. On one hand, it is one entertaining yarn of a film. The dialogue is peppered with brutal humor and the actors are all fantastic and seem to be having a good time. Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, and Tim Roth are the three standouts here, in my mind. Jackson, especially, gets infused with a deluded righteous anger when he executes a man, and gets so far out there it is just exciting to watch. The interconnected vignettes are all interesting in their own right. All in all, this movie does much right on the technical side.

But it also went wrong. Pulp Fiction is full of sound and fury, but it is a postmodern movie, which means that the point is that there is no point. Tarantino has cooked up a delicious sizzle rather than a meaty steak. The only interesting and even remotely admirable character is Jackson's, who actually decides to hang up his spurs at the end. Everyone else is a viper and a parasite, and Tarantino evidently expects us to feel sorry for them after they go through misfortunes. In spite of all the internet analysis of this film I couldn't help but get the feeling that Tarantino himself was putting a big joke over on all of us and that at the end of the film he was going to say "Gotcha". The fact that this film could be listed along with The Godfather, Part II and Citizen Kane as one of the greatest films ever made is one of the most disturbing evidences of media glorification of pop culture detritus I have ever seen.

I unfortunately loved and hated the same film. I suppose it is possible, after all. It was a great popcorn film, but that it is considered a harbinger of culture is a very disturbing notion indeed. Besides, Jackie Brown had more depth anyway, and thankfully somewhat less self-indulgence on the part of the director. See it, definitely, and make up your own mind.

-m-

Great Movie
Terintino is an Excellent film maker, and Samual Jackson is excelent as the assasin that turns over a new leaf.

Symptomatic of the age
Quentin Tarantino: The most overrated director around. Nothing but a cheap, pandering nihilist. A friend of mine recently asserted that Pulp Fiction is the most important film of the '90s. Without commenting on the kind of plebeian tastes such an evaluation requires, his assertion is true only as far as Pulp Fiction serves as a diagnostic tool for the physician of culture: Its popularity says everything about the 90s and little about the actual merits - rather, demerits - of Pulp Fiction. Is it entertaining? Absolutely. Is it trash? Absolutely. The very fact that it is so entertaining makes this waste of celluloid all the more insidious. Someone might say, "But's it's only MEANT to entertain!!" Nonsense. Tarantino sees his childish, self-indulgent work as much more than mere entertainment. He considers himself an artist. How sad that such "art" is taken seriously today. In truth, Tarantino and his ilk are nothing more than snake-oil salesmen pandering to the poor tastes of the mob.

Merely symptomatic of the age
Quentin Tarantino: The most overrated director around. Nothing but a cheap, pandering nihilist. A friend of mine recently asserted that Pulp Fiction is the most important film of the '90s. Without commenting on the kind of plebeian tastes such an evaluation requires, his assertion is true only as far as Pulp Fiction serves as a diagnostic tool for the physician of culture: Its popularity says everything about the 90s and little about the actual merits - rather, demerits - of Pulp Fiction.

Best movie I have ever seen in my life!
The fact that amazon only lets you give this movie 5 stars is a shame. This movie is, without a doubt, the best movie I have ever seen in my life.

John Travolta and Samuel L are both hit men. It starts off with them attempting to do a job, and running into a lot of trouble. The chemistry between Jackson and Travolta is unbelievable.

Then, we have Bruce Willis, an over the hill boxer being tempted to throw a fight. Inevitably, he ends up with a tough bookie out for his blood!

Basically, the movie is a bunch of short stories, all of them related. A LOT of drug use, graphic violence, and sex. Really a guy kind of movie, but I can't see any woman not loving it either.

I think when all is said and done, this will go down as one of the best movies ever made, if it's not already. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The talents of John Turturro, Lili Taylor, and Will Patton are wasted on this pointless, "quirky" film. There's a particular subgenre in American film of eccentric characters leading eccentric lives, generally written and directed by people who don't actually know anyone remotely eccentric but feel that their own lives are too ordinary to make a movie about; the result is both dull and dishonest. All Revved Up is about a teacher (Taylor) whose car breaks down and who goes to a dishonest mechanic. Meanwhile, a writer for a nature magazine (Patton) seems to be having some kind of nervous breakdown or depressive withdrawal, which is somehow related to fondling gecko lizards. A welder (Turturro) is in love with a bank teller to whom he has never spoken. There's a subplot about a car-theft ring that holds a little more interest than the shambling scenes about the main characters, but not much. The dialogue is redundant and ineffective, the editing is sluggish, and the visual style is banal. Movies like this give independent film a bad name. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (557)

Powerhouse film will enhance your DVD collection
I will admit to being a huge fan of Pulp Fiction from my first 10 minutes into the theater and getting yanked by my shirt colllar into the story and not being released until the final credit rolled. OK, so I'm biased.

BUT...it's not without well-earned bias. This movie easily qualified as an instant classic. The story is top notch, even though it comes in several different, smaller packages, Tarantino earns his directing stripes in effortlessly taking these seemingly random tales and believably weaving them all together. The acting/casting doesn't leave any stone unturned (It's Uma Thurman's best performance to date, Samuel Jackson WAS the best supporting actor winner that year, even if they didn't give him the trophy. Even Willis demonstrates some wicked acting chops in a beautifully understated performance. Christopher Walken, too, provides the most satisfying and memorable cameo!), and even the choppy editing style works.

Casual movie lovers will enjoy this as just a great film. Movie fanatics will love this DVD for the satisfying extras it provides.

Too good a DVD for you to pass up!

"Saved by a miracle of God..."
You know what, some people say that this movie sucks because it is way too hard to follow in story. I don't believe a word of that. The first time I watched the movie I wasn't a bit confused about this movie's un-cohesive plot.

This movie is reminiscent of the Pulp comics and magazines from yester-year, with it's high octane violence, graphic depiction of drugs, and of course...sex.

What I personally liked about Pulp was that characters can enter or exit the movie at anytime without much explanation. One minute you see John Travolta...next minute he is blown to bits by a M-16 machine gun. No questions asked.

Quentin definitely establishes that he knows what he doing, with unique camera angles, sparkling script, and wonderful acting...some of it done by the master himself!

I reccomend anyone watch this movie. It's completely awesome if you can handle the content.

oh yeah. "saved by a miracle of God" refers to a memorable line by Samuel L Jackson who plays a hitman that is convinced that the reason he survived near death is beacuse God's mighty hand came down and stopped the bullets. He soon quits his profession while on the other hand John Travolta stays...and we all know what happens to him! heh heh heh heh heh heh

Quentin Tarantino's best before Kill Bill
This classic by Quentin Tarantino was the first ultra-violent movie and it was fantastically well executed. An American Independent movie at its best.

The Most Fun You'll Have Watching A Movie!!
From the beginning five minutes of two people planning on holding up a diner, you know you're in for some fun. This is Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino's undisputed masterpiece. Simply put, a genius rollercoast ride from beginning to end. With a large list of stars, including Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman in some of their greatest performances to date.

The movie is broken up into three stories, all revolving around two hitmen (Jackson, Travolta), a mob boss's wife (Thurman), a boxer planing on retiring (Willis), and a mysterious breifcase, this fast paced film is probably one of the greatest action films EVER. The dialogue is what you would expect from Tarantino, with plenty of funny but memorable lines that you will remember forever.

With a die-hard cast, a chaotic but focused storyline, and an unbelievable soundtrack, including the classic "Miserlou" by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, this film is definately Tarantino's funniest, most violent, and most fun romp to date, and one of the top ten greatest films ever! See it and you will not regret it.

awsome
this is one of the must see crime movies. very funny and never dull. great acting. not actually that hard to follow like some reviewers say. there are not that many jumps between time. the dvd is great. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fantastic! I Wish I Could Rate it More then 5 Stars!
I haven't read the Ernest Hemingway book yet nor have I seen the old Spencer Tracy movie yet but I saw this television remake starring Anthony Quinn and I loved it, it was a wonderful movie and I though Anthony Quinn was outstanding as Santiago the old fisherman. Anthony Quinn's daughter Valentina plays Santiago's concerned daughter in this movie and his son Francesco plays Santiago as a young man and the movie also stars Gary Cole and Patricia Clarkson as an American couple and I think this movie also had a young boy who befriended Santiago but I do not recall the actors name. This is a wonderful movie and I wish I could give it more then 5 stars and I very highly recommend it. The last time I looked up this movie on Amazon it was only available on video and now that it's also available on DVD I will definitely think about buying the DVD! I don't remember how long this remake was but I think it might have been a two part 4 hour mini series movie.

The film is better, really!
In my opinion, the film perhaps of its release date in 1963 is not at least standard for what I expect from a movie, but if you've read the book from Ernest Hemmingway it's pretty interesting watching the shark attacks, the big fish, the man and the boy and other events or protagonists of the whole story.

The visualisation makes the boring story a bit more exciting and the new elements that are implemented like the author Hemmingway itself and other persons not mentioned so directly in the novella surprise everybody who read the book at first in a positive way.

Once one said to me that a film as a visualisation of a novella could never as good as the written form. "The Old Man and the Sea" proves the contrary opinion because this movie simply is better than the original book.

Nevertheless also a good visual form cannot hide a weak story. For whose who have read the novella with pleasure or do like the great actor Anthony Quinn I can recommend the movie version.

Everyone else who don't like calm stories with philosophical background should take another video tape or DVD like "A Land Before Time" or "Predator"!

Great Remake!!
This film is a great remake of the former Spencer Tracey Film.Anthony Quinn Rules!! ... Read more