melissab

I did not have huge expectations for this movie, not after hearing a few reviews and seeing it go from two screens to one after only a week, but I did expect some entertainment value. There was none. The characters are cartoonish and one-dimensional, the dialog runs from stupid to downright pointless and there is no attempt to develop or even justify the many cliches that are dumped in. Nothing in this movie hits the mark--there is no tension, the effects are so-so, the interplay between characters is vaporous and the so-called humor is forced and unfunny. I am extremely disappointed that David Duchovy chose a mediocre vehicle like this after the wonderful Return to Me. A pure waste of money. I'm glad I went to the discount matinee and didn't pay full price.

I've only seen this movie once, when it was originally broadcast, and I have never forgotten it. Recently I've been trying to find it on video, but have been unsuccessful. This is an excellent movie. Even if the premise is a little far-fetched, the movie is wonderful in the way it allows the emotions of the characters to unfold. I still hold out hope that one day this movie will show up on video.

There are some movies that you know ahead of time that you'll just need to check your brain at the door and enjoy. This is one of those. However, even escapist fantasy should be able to pull you in, to make you forget it's a movie, to make you want it to be real--and this one had way too many obvious problems to fit the bill. Oh, sure, it's fun, but when you hear your brain saying, "That's really stupid," every ten minutes, it's hard to suspend belief and enjoy the escape. This movie made absolutely no attempt to incorporate anything even remotely resembling scientific fact into it, with the result being that it was an unwitting spoof. Kinda like "Mars Attacks" played straight. Deep Impact, altho not perfect (and a completely different slant), was a much better movie.

This movie is ALMOST perfect, and definitely goes into my top 10 of all time list. I could have done without pasting in Clinton (I don't know why, it just doesn't work for me), and I felt the end of the trial was falsely ambiguous. After all, when Ellie first gets the signal, she goes to great pains to make sure it's not "local," so at the end of the trial to admit it could have been a hoax from a satellite is anathema. And as far as validating her journey--why didn't they just put Kitz in the pod for the next trip? Seems to me that would have solved everything. I work for a national observatory, and one of the engineers made a comment to me one day that, I think, illustrates this movie in a nutshell. He said astronomers are just looking for God. I think he's right. Whether we look thru the lens of religion, spirituality or science, aren't we all, really, looking for God?

This movie was an unfortunate mix of great acting (Hopkins) and silly slapstick (Banderas) that just never came together. The swordfights, although beautifully choreographed, were not the least bit credible, and the final duels went way longer than they needed to. I can't remember how many times I heard myself say, "That's stupid!" It's probably worth seeing once, just to watch Hopkins and look at Banderas and Zeta-Jones, but that's about it.

This movie is one of those rare instances where everything comes together in the most perfect way possible. So often when I see a movie, I'll think afterward, "They didn't need that part," or "Someone else should have played that role." But not with Apollo 13. There is not one tiny detail I would change about that movie. The entire cast is wonderful, the pace is a perfect blend of drama, suspense and comedy, and the music is probably the best soundtrack ever written. I've seen this movie at least 20 times, and I still watch it every few months--whether I need to or not!