Description

Sidney Poitier, one of film's most distinguished and acclaimed actors, returns to the screen after a decade-long absence in this must-see, action-filled thriller. When a cunning murderer vanishes into the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest, pursuing FBI agent Warren Stantin (Poitier) must exchange familiar city streets for unknown wilderness trails. Completely out of his element, Stantin is forced to enlist the aid of expert tracker Jonathan Knox (PLATOON'S Tom Berenger). It's a turbulent yet vital relationship they must maintain in order to survive ... and one that becomes increasingly desperate when Knox's girlfriend Sarah (Kirstie Alley) becomes the killer's latest hostage. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

A nifty outdoors action thriller
"Shoot to Kill" is a solid action adventure that stars Sidney Poitier who makes his return to the screen after a 10 year absence as a determined FBI detective on the trail of a killer who has murdered a hostage and a fisherman and makes for the Canadian border. No longer a young man, Poitier's Warren Stantin has all he can do to keep up with his trail guide Jonathan Knox [Tom Berenger] who guides him through treacherous mountain terrain in pursuit of this calculating killing machine who has seized another hostage, Knox' girlfriend, and forces her to guide him through rugged country to British Columbia. The film's scenery is beautiful and offers fetching views of the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and makes subtle parallels to 1972's "Deliverance" during the search for the killer and a party of hikers. The resentment between Agent Stantin and mountain man Knox, thick and palpable at first, later thaws and both men come to respect each other. Kirstie Alley's gritty Sarah keeps her captor on his toes during her unwilling mountain hike. The DVD release is in beautiful color in the widescreen format and the sound is excellent.

Great story and excellent acting
This is the first movie I saw Sidney Poitier in, and I have to say he did an excellent job.

The main characters are Sidney Poitier as an FBI agent out to catch a serial killer, Tom Berenger as a mountain man who lives in the woods, and his girlfriend Kirstie Alley who is giving a bunch of men a guided tour through the wilderness.

Some other well known actors are in the movie, but those three play the more dominant role.

I won't give away any scenes to spoil it, but I will say that the movie starts out in the city and quickly heads to the wilderness where the majority of the movie takes place. It only heads back to the city at the end.

This is one of the best suspense movies I have ever seen. You don't see the killer through most of the movie. Even once he is shown, there are so many other actors on screen as well that you don't know which one he is.

Suffice to say, excellent movie and terrific acting! Once the movie kicks into high gear, you won't leave your seat.

The killer has an unusual trademark he does to all his victims after he kills them. You will see what I mean. The ending is very good and very well thought out. Not too many criminals would do some of the things this killer does to avoid being seen or caught.

If you like suspense, definitely check this out! You can't go wrong with Shoot To Kill!

RIVETING ACTION ADVENTURE IN THE WILDERNESS
A rare action movie that manages to rise above its formula, Shoot to Kill delivers mystery, exciting action, and beautiful cinematography.

Tom Berenger has done many action/thriller movies, but Sidney Poitier steps out for a change of pace in this movie. Its formula is "double-fish-out-of-water buddy picture", and it stays pretty close to the formula throughout the movie.

Poitier plays an FBI agent who blew an arrest and wound up with a dead civilian, and has tracked the (unseen) thief/killer into the Pacific Northwest. Berenger plays a tracker, whose girlfriend runs a trail guide business. The girlfriend (Kirstie Alley in an outdoor role!) has taken her latest group of travelers out into the woods, and Poitier believes that the killer is among them. If that's not bad enough, a deadly storm looks like it's coming on.

The real fun in this movie is in the first half, where you see all of the men in Kirstie Alley's group. All of them are recognizable character actors, and most of them have played villains in other movies before. So which one of them is the killer? I guessed wrong the first time.

Unfortunately, this gets revealed about halfway through, and the movie returns to the formula. However, the excellent performances and lush cinematography elevate it beyond the norm. I thought Poitier did a great job as the city-based FBI agent, and Alley was surprisingly good as the trail guide.

Definitely worth a watch. Or two.

One of my all-time favorite movies!
This is a GREAT movie. I hate gory movies - this wasn't gory. The first time I saw "Shoot to Kill" I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. For the first part of the movie you don't even see the killer's face, so when you finally DO see him in a group of other men, you don't know which one's the bad guy. And just when I thought I had it figured out -- bam! -- it turned out to be someone else! Even after knowing which guy is the bad guy, you can't sit back and relax... it's still so suspenseful as to what's going to happen next, both when the killer is in the scene as well as when the scene revolves around Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger. The location of the film is beautiful, too. I can't say enough good things about this movie -- it's simply terrific, and if you haven't seen it -- you should!! I was so disappointed that the DVD wasn't released when planned, because we'd been waiting a long time... I'm happy that we finally got it on DVD!

TERRIFIC MOVIE - BUT WHERE'S THE DVD?
I absolutely adore this movie! I have been waiting forever for it to come out, then got notified that it was, then it wasnt. What's happening? This is a cast of greats who were very well cast. The movie is suspenseful, has breathtaking scenery, great acting....but.....it's worth seeing the film just for the bear scene and the moose scene! (won't spoil it anymore than that!) Now PLEASE bring out the DVD so we can purchase it! ... Read more

Reviews (385)

How could they do that?
How can they make movie from a book without, obviously, ever reading it? Even recieved as a gift, you paid too much for this video.

Other then a few people and place names, the movie was all wrong. Even if you over look the problems of bringing a realistic 12' tall alien to life without CGI this was a turkey.

I didn't think it was that bad....
Some of the writers here are more critical of Scientology and are making up facts; the truth is that the book Battlefield Earth is quite entertaining. The movie was not the greatest mainly due to its not sticking with the novel. Read the Mission Earth series instead. Wouldn't a cartoon series of Battlefield Earth communicate better?

ARRRGH!
Oh My god!! What a hell is that?!
My Dog could make a better movie!
I don't know what this movie is about, I stopped watching it with 15 minutes! Two hours of my life are too important to spend whith this garbage!

Absolutely Great.....just ignore the bad reviews
Everyone who gave this movie a less than stellar review hasn't a CLUE what they're talking about. This movie is great fun. If you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan, you can't go wrong with Battlefield Earth. Great soundtrack, awesome special effects, amusing characters, and a more than decent storyline all amount to Roger Ebert being a moron. :)

A must-see.

New classic!
This abomination is what Ed Wood would have created if someone gave him 70 million dollars and a lot of booze.

At first my tortured mind recoiled in horror and I could actually see myself watching a clumsy looking John Travolta stomp around in platform boots terrorizing petty humans. Battlefield Earth is SO bad had to watch it four times in a row just to get my confused brain to accept what it was being forced to watch. After the shock wore off, Battlefield Earth gust got funnier and funnier. Like, how did the ape-like humans learn to fly complex jump jets in one short lesson? Why would such an advanced civilization need gold so badly? Why did the aliens have beaded dreadlocks? If the aliens were so smart, why didn't they find Fort Knox on their own? Was Travolta's character supposed to be the new Darth Vader? Did at least one studio executive loose their job for giving this a green light?

I don't know if it was intentional, but there is actually an Ed Wood line in the film. An amused alien played by Travolta calls the inhabitants of earth "stupid humans". Too funny. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Something is awry at Boston General Hospital.Dr. Wheeler's (Genevieve Bujold) friend Nancy goes in for a routine procedure, but never comes out of the anesthesia and slips into a coma.Wheeler learns that a tissue sample from the young woman went to the lab, then soon finds out that a high number of patients have become comatose recently.She digs a little deeper and finds a conspiracy mired in hospital politics, running afoul of the head of anesthesia, Dr. George (Rip Torn) and the head of surgery, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark).Nobody believes the young MD, not even her boyfriend Dr. Bellows (Michael Douglas), but she soon uncovers a black-market trade in body parts, conducted offsite at the Jefferson Institute, a state-of-the-art coma-care facility. As a thriller, Coma certainly has its moments (the scene where a hit man is buried under a pile of frozen-stiff cadavers is an inspired touch), but it's not without its problems.Director Michael Crichton is an MD himself, and the film has a seamless, almost mechanical structure and plotline (taken from the Robin Cook novel).However, the movie's cold, detached feel works against it at times, making the suspense scenes oddly more effective but rendering the emotional content of the characters rather flat.Douglas in particular seems to not put much into his performance; Bujold, on the other hand, is strong and resourceful as the movie's protagonist.More telling, perhaps, is the way that the story shows its age in a time when medical ethics have changed and the phrase "organ harvesting" has made its way into our lexicon.--Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Medical Curiousities
I first saw Coma sometime in the mid 80's, at a time when the VHS format was king, and to be honest, my memories of the film were fuzzy at best. With that in mind, I decided to give it a look, knowing that popular figure Michael Crichton was behind the camera, made me even more curious to see it again.

Based on the best-selling novel by Robin Cook, Coma tells a creepy tale and is a solid thriller, though not without its problems. Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) suspects her colleagues of foul play when her closest friend lapses into a coma following a routine operation. When Wheeler discovers an alarming pattern of unexplained comas in her hospital, she becomes obsessed with finding an answer, even when it puts her own career and life in danger. Her lover, Dr. Bellows (Michael Douglas), admits there is a mystery but doubts there is a conspiracy and even suspects Wheeler of suffering from a mental breakdown.

While I never read Mr. Cook's novel, having Michael Crichton, as a former physcian, adapt the script and direct the film seemed like the right way to go. The film boasts fine performances from Bujold, Douglas, and the "creepy" Richard Widmark as Dr. Harris. Composer Jerry Goldsmith gives the movie another stellar score adding to the chills factor. All of that being said, I still noticed some problems with pacing and other technical gaffes that could have been avoided. Thanfully, there's not enough of these problems, to be of any real concern.

The DVD loses points from me, because, of the lack of any real extras. All you will be treated to, is your standard, run of the mill, theatrical trailer. I would have been interested to hear some comments from Crichton, about the film and his take on it now, given the time that has passed. A missed opportunity---in my opinion. Special Edition anyone? Viewers can choose to see the film in either the widescreen, or pan and scan formats.

Coma is an apt thriller that acts as a metaphor for the state of medicine, that is as notable even today. Recommended, especially to those interested in following Crichton's film work.

You won't fall asleep during this thriller
Writer/director Michael Crichton's second film was an adaption of Robin Cook's bestselling novel. Michael Douglas plays the role of the heroine while Geneviene Bujold has the hero's role in this role reversal thriller. This was made prior to Douglas becoming a break out star. There are a number of fine performances including a great turn by the always interesting Rip Torn.

The extras are slim; we get the trailer and both the widescreen and standard versions of the movie. No director's commentary or observations from the cast; no "making of" documentary (or promo fluff piece for that matter). Which is a pity as this fine thriller does deserve better but then that was SOP when DVD's started coming out.

You can't argue with the price nor with Crichton's direction. He really never got any better than this as a director (although there are a couple of films like The Great Train Robbery that hold up to this and Westworld). Crichton isn't a great film director (he's a better writer) but he gets the job done. Coma will keep you guessing.

What a surprise!
I discovered this film when I was in desperate need of some blank tapes. All the local shops were closed, but I managed to find a bunch of used tapes in a second hand shop for about 50p.
Anyway, I bought them and went home with the intention of taping over them. When I got back, my brother was curious to see what was on them. First tape he stuck in was Coma. He had already seen it years earlier, and wouldn't let me tape over it.
So I didn't. And I'm glad I didn't, because what a great movie it is.
It's odd to see films like this nowadays. I get so used to modern Hollywood melo dramas, with there laugh a minute format, that when I see a film like Coma, it reminds how much better a serious film is, when it's actually serious.
And it's so true. Crighton paces this film very well, it keeps you on your toes throughout the whole thing, and it never fails to be interesting.
It's even got some X Files espionage type moments, that I can't help but enjoy.
Anyway, without giving anything away, let me just tell you that you won't regret buying or renting this film.
It's a breath of fresh air, or, it was anyway.

MEDICAL MAYHEM
The book by Robin Cook. Directed and adapted by Michael Crichton. 1978...ironic that the two masters of medical suspense at that time came together to create this effective, if at times, muddy thriller. Genevieve Bujold carries the film very strongly on her delicate shoulders as the heroine, Susan Wheeler. Michael Douglas fills the shoes of her amorous lover, and Richard Widmark, Elizabeth Ashley and Rip Torn are good villains. There are some really eerie scenes, including the ghostly Jefferson Institute where comatosed bodies dangle from wires. Organ harvesting is the culprit, and it's evident early on, that something's afoot. The main problem with the resolution is we're never really clear on just who and how many conspirators there are. But, Bujold is fascinating and the movie plays well.

WELL EXECUTED THRILLER
I discovered by chance that this 1978 thriller with Michael Douglas was written and directed by Michael Crichton, who was himself a qualified medical doctor, but this film would have one believe that he had no love lost for his original profession (as would "The Andromeda Strain".)

Coma despite being an "old" movie by many standards, is surprisingly fascinating on DVD. Crichton gets good performances from the whole cast, with Genevieve Bujold, in particular, reminding us of what a fine actress she can be. As a doctor suspicious of certain goings-on in her hospital but disbelieved by everyone around her, she shows courage and determination (without ever losing her femininity) which is welcome in a female lead. She finds herself forced to question her own sense of perspective, even her sanity, as she struggles to uncover the mystery of comatose patients that surround her.

There's one sizeable twist towards the latter half of the movie, but you generally know what's going to happen. The beauty of this movie is in the overall execution -- it's VERY well done.

Recommended rental. Especially for the medically inclined. ... Read more

Description

What do you do when your best friend is a 400-pound gorilla? Anything she likes.Year: 1995Director: John GrayStarring: Will Horneff, Jean Marie Barnwell, Helen Shaver ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The Greatest Family Movie ever Made
I thought this movie was made really well. This has been the greatest family movie I have ever seen. It had me laughing and crying at the same time. This is a film that the whole family can enjoy from 0 to 99 years old. And I believe that your whole family will love this movie and watch it everyday like I do.

One of the best family flicks ever.
This movie was made for everybody likes comedy. There are no boring parts at all. It is a bit sad at the end but not very sad. It is half sad half happy at the end. Every minute of this is entertaining. Buy this and enjoy.

Great movie
It is the best movie for kids. My kids watch it over and over again. So if you have kids aged 5 to 10 you should buy this vidio.

Sad,boring I hate it
It is very sad not as bad at the begining but very very sad at the end. It also went by to slow

Excellent for adults and children
Very entertaining for all ages, the gorilla was very well done, good for teaching children about commitment and responsibility. Makes you laugh and cry. ... Read more