Death Movie Reviews

I remember watching the reruns of The Prisoner when I was a schoolboy, and I have had a fascination with the series (and the village of Portmeirion in Wales, where it was filmed) ever since. The excitement as the screening of the final episode, Fall Out, neared, was palpable. I remembered blitzing every store in my hometown with posters I had made myself, encouraging people to tune in to find out the identity of the mysterious Number One.

I was not disappointed with the conclusion, and don't think any true fan would be. It is in keeping with the spirit of the entire series. Technically, Fall Out is rather a shambles; apparently the episode was put together in a rush, and edited at the eleventh hour; it certainly shows. The continuity is embarrassingly bad. As usual, the dialogue veers between inspired and pretentious. But that is all part and parcel of the unique Prisoner experience.

This final episode is without doubt the most memorable. Kenneth Griffith (The Girl Who Was Death) and Alexis Kanner (Living in Harmony) both make return guest appearances, as does the greatest Number Two, Leo McKern. It is in this episode that Number Two emerges as an equal and fellow-prisoner with Number Six. The conclusion is deliberately ambiguous (perhaps why so many disliked it), and leaves the viewer exhilarated after a climax that is playful, euphoric and victorious at the same time as it is melancholy, foreboding and haunting. The London and Portmeirion locations are a further treat for those who got fed up with some of the studio-bound earlier episodes. The music, as ever, is an eclectic selection of tunes and effects, but is perhaps the most memorably and excitingly scored episode of the series.

Also on this edition are Once Upon a Time (which segues into Fall Out, and follows the final, dramatic confrontation between Number Two and Number Six) and The Girl Who Was Death, an unusual episode which was never intended to be part of the original series, but which is fun nevertheless.

Don't get me wrong, the series is fantastic. One of the best paranoid fantasies I've ever seen. But A&E messed up when putting the show on DVD. First they used a debatable order for the episodes and now with Set 5 they have taken the final 2 episodes (which really NEED to be viewed back to back in a 2 hour sitting) and placed them on 2 separate discs.

They should have either saved the alternate Chimes of Big Ben from the first disc and moved the order down by one, thus making set 5 the final 2 episodes plus a disc of bonus material OR taken the bonus material and added it to "The Girl Who Was Death", leaving the final 2 episodes alone on the final disc.

Patrick McGoohan, was a genius in putting this show together. I have viewed the entire series several times now, and I am still mystified by the writting and the acting. For me the last several shows are the most difficult to watch. Ideas are nebulous, and resolution isn't fully sought. Its amazing that over thirty years later this classic remains timeless, and a bar set for other adventure shows to attain.

This is an exceptional film with an abundance of information not found in other Everest films. I used to think the short IMAX movie was the best-ever Everest documentary, but I've changed my mind after seeing this. The photography here is just as stunning, and it's 20 minutes longer than the IMAX effort. The photography here is breathtaking, and they show extensive footage of the south summit. In no other documentary have I seen the Hillary Step in such detail, especially with climbers on it.

The film focuses on a climbing party, complete with Sherpa's and the obligatory personal profiles of each climber. We follow them from Base Camp to the various points above, then descend, then ascend again gradually to the peak. The debilitating effects of AMS and HACE are shown in excruciating detail. There are many segments of climbers in their tents, scarcely able to breathe or function properly. The courage of these climbers is awe inspiring, especially in the face of violent weather and the prospect of death on the mountain.

If you're an actual climber or just a vicarious Everest person like myself, you will enjoy this movie. It offers as much, or more, than the IMAX film and that is indeed high praise.

Awesome DVD, tremendous filming !!!. Ed Viesturs and David Brashears couldn't do a better job. This a must see documentary for everyone interested in climbing all levels. Jodie Foster's narration seemed to be more than adecuated to the details of the film. Every single aspect of climbing at such altitude is explained very well; the preparation of the team, how do people behave at different levels of altitude, the problem of oxygen and the experiments taken every step allow us to realize that is not an easy thing to attempt climbing on this mountains. Compared to the IMAX movie wich is also an excellent piece of art, this one reveals other points of views and criteria that in another film you won't get. The only real question will be if the place signaled by the climbers was the real spot where Rob Hall spent his last moments. From what I have read in books and in another publications, it seems that the place was a little bit different. Never the less, this DVD is a high quality film. Highly Recomended !!!!!!!!!

I am not a climber, but the history and the current people climbing Everest still is an interest to me. I brought the DVD over to a friend's, who clearly at the start wasn't interested in it. About half way through, he was watching intently. It reminds us most real drama happens in real life. And you learn a few things too. I'd recommend it.

This was the very first martial arts movie I ever saw. Since then, there have been uncountable others, but I've never forgotten this one. I thought the effects were somewhat cheesy but when I first saw it, at about age 15, it was really exciting and made a huge impact on how I saw these kinds of movies after that. If you're into the genre, I'd say this was a real collectors item.

I just saw this movie for the first time, after watching Kill Bill sparked an old taste for kung-fu flicks. I was pleasantly surprised to find some influences that showed up in Kill Bill, especially a certain sound effect. Don't know what I'm talking about? Watch both movies to find out...

This movie is rather interesting despite the quality of the film. The film is really old but there are many good points to the movie. Here are some of the reasons why.

First, I would like to address the accuracy of the film in terms of actual Kung-fu. The Iron Fist kung-fu is a true kung-fu technique. However, even though my title says the movie is true it is true in the sense of how you do iron fist not necessarily based on actual fact of the story. The story of course is fiction and really makes very little sense but the actual working up to be an Iron Fist grandmaster there is some truth to how the movie depicts the training. In reality, Iron fist kills with one hit. And no they dont fly in the air to hit someone like they showed in the movie. The way you train for Iron Fist is correct but they only showed the end of the training. Nobody starts out burning their hands first like he did in the hot coals. Actually that is last in the training. Imagine if it was your first time doing Iron Fist and you had to melt your hands in coals first. Ya right then nobody would learn it. Actually what happens is you work up to that skill then when you burn your hands in coals you already feel nothing. You also train to kill with one hit not 50 hits. BUt of course the movie would be boring if someone hit and killed everyone with one hit. Also the Iron Fist only needed one strike not 50 strikes to actually hit somone but then again it would make a very boring film.

Secondly, if you were to train Iron Fist you started with hitting a brick but you laid a piece of cloth on the brick so you wont hurt your hand. Then when you progressed you took the cloth off. Later you hit iron, then again last you burned your hands in coal. After each work out you dipped your hands in herbal chinese medicine to make the injuries you sustained to your hands heal quicker and lessen the pain. Well you get the point.

Pros:
-General Accurate Depiction of Iron Fist technique.
-Uses Interesting rather modern fight coreography for such an old film.

Cons:
-Poor story telling. You understand what they are trying to explain but its not well done.
-Old reused storyline. I mean come on Japanese vs. Chinese kung-fu fights get a little old dont they. I mean Chinese Connection with Bruce Lee, Fist of Legend w/ Jet Li are some of the other martial art films w/ chinese vs Japanese.

This was the very first martial arts movie I ever saw. Since then, there have been uncountable others, but I've never forgotten this one. I thought the effects were somewhat cheesy but when I first saw it, at about age 15, it was really exciting and made a huge impact on how I saw these kinds of movies after that. If you're into the genre, I'd say this was a real collectors item.

I just saw this movie for the first time, after watching Kill Bill sparked an old taste for kung-fu flicks. I was pleasantly surprised to find some influences that showed up in Kill Bill, especially a certain sound effect. Don't know what I'm talking about? Watch both movies to find out...

This movie is rather interesting despite the quality of the film. The film is really old but there are many good points to the movie. Here are some of the reasons why.

First, I would like to address the accuracy of the film in terms of actual Kung-fu. The Iron Fist kung-fu is a true kung-fu technique. However, even though my title says the movie is true it is true in the sense of how you do iron fist not necessarily based on actual fact of the story. The story of course is fiction and really makes very little sense but the actual working up to be an Iron Fist grandmaster there is some truth to how the movie depicts the training. In reality, Iron fist kills with one hit. And no they dont fly in the air to hit someone like they showed in the movie. The way you train for Iron Fist is correct but they only showed the end of the training. Nobody starts out burning their hands first like he did in the hot coals. Actually that is last in the training. Imagine if it was your first time doing Iron Fist and you had to melt your hands in coals first. Ya right then nobody would learn it. Actually what happens is you work up to that skill then when you burn your hands in coals you already feel nothing. You also train to kill with one hit not 50 hits. BUt of course the movie would be boring if someone hit and killed everyone with one hit. Also the Iron Fist only needed one strike not 50 strikes to actually hit somone but then again it would make a very boring film.

Secondly, if you were to train Iron Fist you started with hitting a brick but you laid a piece of cloth on the brick so you wont hurt your hand. Then when you progressed you took the cloth off. Later you hit iron, then again last you burned your hands in coal. After each work out you dipped your hands in herbal chinese medicine to make the injuries you sustained to your hands heal quicker and lessen the pain. Well you get the point.

Pros:
-General Accurate Depiction of Iron Fist technique.
-Uses Interesting rather modern fight coreography for such an old film.

Cons:
-Poor story telling. You understand what they are trying to explain but its not well done.
-Old reused storyline. I mean come on Japanese vs. Chinese kung-fu fights get a little old dont they. I mean Chinese Connection with Bruce Lee, Fist of Legend w/ Jet Li are some of the other martial art films w/ chinese vs Japanese.

you can't go wrong with this. it is worth watching.

Three exceptionally skilled actors present a tense, critical and negative experience. Sigourney Weaver is a housewife shattered by repeated violence. Stuart Wilson is a rare "good guy" attorney/politician who doesn't understand that there are many shades to truth and justice. Ben Kingsley is a doctor who thinks that educated people can't possibly be evil, until he is tempted do be so. Paulina Lorca is a "supportive" politician's wife. She has met her future husband when they work for an underground South American liberation group. Gerardo is impressed with her resilence and determination. But, when she is kidnapped by the militia, his psychological and emotional stamina is tested beyond his endurance. After only two months, he comes to believe that she is dead. When she escapes and returns to him, he is already involved with another woman. They reunite anyway, but both her experiences in captivity and his "infidelity" taint their marriage. Little things remind her of the assaults she experienced. Years later, Gerardo is offered the politically charged post of chairman of the justice commission overseeing the tracking and trying the war crimes of this militia. She doesn't understand the compromises in politics and he doesn't understand the violence of her experience. All of this is brought to a head one very rainy night when Gerardo's car has a flat and he is aided by a native of the country. The native is the doctor who years earlier gave her medical care during her captivity. His kindness isn't nearly as caring as he would like it remembered. Gerardo invites his rescuer in for a drink on such a horrible night. From the bedroom, Paulina recognizes the guest's voice. When she runs away from home using the good doctor's car, Gerardo is embarrassed and offers their couch as a bed. He retires for the night. She returns and checks the doctor out up close. When she remembers his body smell, things get really tense. After tying the doctor up, she has a little conversation with him and this causes Gerardo to wake and investigate. After that, it is a three way battle to win trust and expose reality. In the end, no one is arrested, but justice is served. Only three people with the backgrounds that these actors have could carry off this type of project. There isn't any supporting cast to take the pressure off of them. Very few people know of Stuart Wilson because he doesn't do publicity. But, he is such a gem. Ben Kingsley isn't at all like his godly Ghandi. Sigourney Weaver isn't carrying around flame throwing/granade launching/bullet pumping fire arms. The bad guys don't bleed acid for blood. Her ability to be tough and vulnerable are balanced in this role.

Based on a play (by Ariel Dorfman ) which why most of the action takes place almost completely in the house. Might make some people feel "claustrophobic" (not me)

Signourney Weaver plays Paulina a woman who had suffered torture and rape by a doctor, during the revolution, when she worked for an underground newspaper and was "arrested" She refused to tell the name of her leader, the man that is now her husband

The movie is set in "A country in South America, after the fall of dictatorship" Paulina is seen preparing for the arrival of her husband Gerardo Escobar ( A lawyer & civil right activist), making dinner and listening to the radio. A story on the news concerning a formation of a commitee on human rights violations that'll investigate acts of tortures commited between 1975-1980 comes on, she looks uncomfortable and goes to switch it off, then hears her husband is being considered to chair the commitee (news to her) and rumor has it that he has accepted.

The power goes out, and she continues to wait for Gerardo, an unfamiliar car pulls up to the house, she runs around blowing out the candles and grabs a gun. But it's just Gerardo, their car had a flat and he hitched a ride with a doctor (Roberto Miranda) who also has a house nearby.

They fight about the comission. Paulina thinks it's whitewash, and 'dignifying a betrayal" "What'll happen to the men they can prove were on the death squads?" she askes "the evidence will be turned over to the courts" says Gerardo, Paulina scoffs "Maybe over the judge who told Maria Bautista, no her husband wasn't tortured, he just ran off with a younger woman." It'll only involve cases that ended in death for the victim, Gerardo says he has get the president to change the rules, but to Gerardo it's a job worth doing.

A car again pulls up to the house, and Paulina wakes Gerardo, they hide in the dark looking out the window. Someone knocks on the door, it's the doctor again, Gerardo has forgotten to take his tire, he also wanted to tell Gerardo what an honor it is to meet him. "But do you know to know the truth, the real real truth?" The doctor asks, Paulina is listening from the bedroom and gasps when she hears him, his voice, his laugh (he snorts when he laughs) and 'the real real truth"
She finds other things, like his smell, he likes to quote Neitzsche " I think it was Neitzsche..." and he has a tape of Schubert's Death and the maiden in his car. The music which "the doctor" played during the torture and rape.

Is he the doctor, or not?

Receives great direction from Roman Polanski, great preformances from Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley & Stuart Wilson. A well done mystery that'll leave you guessing till the end.

Even with the knowledge of the outcome, it is still a movie I can enjoy watching over and over. :-)

I've been waiting for years for this to come out on DVD. I won't recap the story, because most people have already heard it. Just want to say that the DVD version offers both wide-screen and full-screen versions. There's nothing in the way of extras, which was a little disappointing--I would have loved to have seen something about the real-life couple that inspired this movie. But I was just so excited to get my hands on this DVD, it's one of those movies that not many people heard of, but don't forget once they've seen it. And you'll never be able to take Keanu Reeves seriously again, no matter how many times you see him in the Matrix!!

This tale is about a highly energetic husband (Kevin Kline) who works and runs a pizza store next to his and his wife's rental apartment. His wife, who has glorified her productive husband as her knight in shining armor, suddenly is confronted with the fact that he has been cheating on her--with more than one woman. So...she sets off to kill him, only that turns into
an hilarious set of misadventures, in itself. Kline and Tracy Ullman make a great team. The script is fun and moves quite quickly. Look forward to our favorite additional character: the husband's mother-in-law.

As I've said before, this story is based on a true couple. He was cheating, running a pizzaria; and she had problems trying to bump him off. She went to trial, he was still alive and more than survived. She and he, as far as I can tell from last updates, are
still married and living happily together. From a talkshow interview, he claimed that the fury of his wife's attempts helped
to make him a better man. Go for the comedy movie!

up there with the whole nine yards. jealous wives , nice pizzaan husbands, and a hitman. who could do better.

For the plot to work about half a dozen people have to choose the worst of their options at several junctures in their life. Lovers of real detective fiction such as by Christie or Sayers will feel that their intelligence is being insulted.

The only redeeming feature of the program is the elderly Dianna Rigg playing the part of a skinny 40 year old. Dianna is wearing very baggy clothes to hide her portly figure which makers her look even more overweight.

Pure enjoyment. Diana Rigg leads the audience into intrigue with style and wit from the very beginning right up to the end. The story will keep you guessing till all is revealed and when you think you guessed it - there's another twist. No sex, no violence, the dialogue and fine acting is enough to keep the viewer glued. Refreshing. A must for Agatha Christie fans (and Emma Peel fans).

The Mrs. Bradley series appears to be loosely based on the series written by Gladys Mitchell. Gladys Mitchell began writing the series in 1929 with Speedy Death and continued until shortly before her death in 1983. They are not easy to find in the US, but well worth the search.

However, back to the DVD. Diana Rigg, who thrilled me in the Avengers in the 60's, continues to appeal in the first decade of a new millenium. While the black leather is now relegated to shoes and gloves, her smooth and sophisticated style adapts well to a 1929 setting. Neil Dudgeon, her chauffeur and crime solving sidekick, manages to inject just a frisson of possible romance (held back by class difference maybe?).

Fun to watch and it's worth adding to your DVD library for future reruns.

You may not wanna watch this one with your little brother. Sooo many people die in this movie it's insane. Cool story, plenty of action, original Venoms, need I say more? Sholin gets revenge on Wu Tang, Wu Tang strikes back, back and forth until Wu Tang viscously crosses the line. You have got to see it.

This is one of my top five Shaw brother movies. Original VENOMS, cool story, LOT'S OF ACTION. You may not wanna watch it with your little brother because so many people die in this movie. Sholin gets revenge on Wu Tang, Wu Tang strikes back, over and over and over, until the WU Tang commit an unforgivable offense. Bloodthirsty Kung fu fans will enjoy. A must have.

A treasure for me, as this was a Venoms film I'd never seen or even heard of before spotting it on Amazon. It's a good print, though not anamorphic as with Five Deadly Venoms and one or two of the others. The plot is predictably convoluted and lame, but apart from the Venoms (with Philip Kuo Tsui noticeably absent...?!) there are plenty of familiar faces from other Venoms efforts. The sets and costumes look to have barely been changed from Killer Army, but at the end of the day (or should I say night? There's something extremely nocturnal about these flicks), who cares as long as the combat's good, and it is. Lots of treachery, poison needles, ambushes and noble villains, all the classic elements are here. Highly recommended.

A previous reviewer refers to the choice of Diana Rigg to play Mrs. Adela Bradley as miscasting, due to age and a bizarre reference to Rigg being "overweight." Yeah, Dame Diana Rigg is 65, but that's hardly "elderly" unless one is 12. And if Rigg is "overweight" (which she's not!) then Americans are overweight/obese at a rate much higher than 50-60% that experts currently claim.

The character of Adela Bradley has a married son who is at least 25 (appears in first episdoe to be more in the early 30s range), so I hardly think Adela Bradley would be a 40 year old woman. She's "liberated" for the era, but hardly a flapper. Quite the opposite, as flappers were the 20's version of Jessica Simpson--ditzy airheads who live for the moment.

The writing often isn't very good, I'll agree, but that's not the fault of the actors, who ALL do a superb job conveying the essence of the characters they portray. The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries are fun and funny--great entertainment, with British sensibilities--to THIS American Gen-X'er (lest anyone reading assumes I must be "elderly.') Unfortunately, there won't be more in the future, as the BBC chose not to continue the "series."

Diana Rigg must have relished the role of an iconoclastic, Roaring 20's woman renowned as a happenstance crime-solver and sex-manual author. As Adela Bradley and her chauffeur George Moody travel to diverse destinations, they become embroiled in intriguingly convoluted, yet credible circumstances of murder. Though each of the four episodes results in a perfectly served-up solution, mystery lingers as to the nature of the relationship between mistress and driver. Is romance brewing between the two, or is Mrs. Bradley merely stirring the simmering pot of social upheaval? What is the audience to make of her countless coy gestures and pregnant expressions or of George's sparks of jealousy and demonstrations of rapt admiration? The question adds spice to the series' delectable stew of sly cultural commentary and expostulation upon the human enigma, rendering it imminently rewatchable!

Sure, the novels by Gladys Mitchell are not great as the books by Agatha Christie, but with a great actress like Dame Diana Rigg this episodes are pure fun (especially the last one "The worsted viper"). You will enjoy it!

Death in the Clouds is not the most engaging or entertaining of the Acorn series of feature-length Poirot's, though it offers international locations and therefore, international intrigues. Highlights include some excellent support performances and an interesting series of Jap giving a little grief and getting a little in return from a French contemporary. But the story leave a bit to be desired, and feels too contrived, as in--what's the most convoluted and risky way I can kill this person? Also, there's a coldness here that I don't find in most of the others.

Of course, my standard complaint with this series remains. Where are the multimedia extras? Get with it Acorn.

Complaints aside, if you're a fan of the series, you'll probably want this because you still get Suchet's always wonderful performance. But if you're new to the series, start elsewhere. In fact, try ABC mysteries.

One of my favorites in the "Poirot" series, "Death in the Clouds" nonetheless significantly alters the story of Christie's novel. While some of the changes are the inevitable result of condensation and simplification, the most noticeable seem to have been made more with an eye to drawing attention to the show's period reconstruction. That is what I find personally appealing about the adaptation, the fastidious style, as immaculately turned out as Poirot himself. The style is perhaps more perfectly realized in this episode than in any of the other feature-length adaptations in the series.

For example, the novel begins with the plane flight from Paris to London during which the murder occurs. In the adaptation, however, it takes quite a while to get to the flight, as the film makers dawdle in 1930s Paris, providing a meticulously reconstructed tennis match, trips to gaming houses, superbly recreated upper crust hotel rooms, even a brief trip to a museum to remind us this is the high point of Surrealism in the arts.

If you can enjoy these details for themselves, you will probably view "Death" repeatedly and with great pleasure. If you are more interested in seeing Christie's novel "faithfully" adapted to the screen, you will be disappointed. In addition to cutting characters, some of those who remain have been reduced quite a bit in importance, and not always to the benefit of the story. Others, like Jane Grey, the young hair dresser on holiday in Paris, have been changed so much that they are practically different characters.

Still, even with these reservations, it's difficult to imagine anyone who enjoys the Suchet "Poirots" not getting a kick out of such choice moments as the detective trying to determine if someone could use a blow pipe unnoticed in a crowded airplane, or Japp's hapless efforts to communicate with people in French. With the polished period exteriors dressing up these wonderful bits of business, it's almost impossible to resist the episode's charms.

Death In The Clouds was always one of my favorite of Christie's books, and while I really enjoyed this, I thought it wasn't as good as adaptation as many of the others, such as ABC Murders. But don't get me wrong, I loved it, and the story is great! To me it just wasn't quite as good as some of the other adaptaions. Usually I don't prefer the books over the movies, they're both good. But for once, I prefer the book.

Again, I still loved it and thought that Poirot and Japp did very good jobs in their rolls. My favorite scenes included Poirot's first talk with Japp, Japp cringing at Poirot's behavior on the plane, and Japp interacting with the French Inspector. Good stuff! And one of my favoite mystery plot-lines to boot!

I actually give it 4.5 stars, but that's not an option on the rate-a-ma-jig device!