Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing
Review: By now you know that this film is a feature-length prequel to the "Twin Peaks" series, which I loved. Lynch junks everything that made the show fun and cryptic, leaving a movie that's just cryptic and interminable. We meet Laura Palmer, an outwardly happy and beautiful girl with a none-too veiled dark side. We also meet her father - yeah, we knew him from the show already, but he's a different person entirely around his daughter. Cooper also figures prominently, as does his boss, Gordon Cole (Lynch, himself). The film begins with the FBI investigating a murder committed under circumstances similar to those that will mark Laura Palmer's death - this one looked at by agents Chester "Chet" Desmond (Cris Izak) and Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland). Looking alone into a lead near the victim's trailer park home, Desmond dissappears, leaving the FBI to scramble for a solution before the killer makes an all-but-certain reprise. After an interlude in which Cooper briefly finds and then loses missing Special Agent Phil Jeffries (David Bowie), the film shifts to Laura Palmer's last days - of trying to confess her fears and pain to her best friend Donna (Moira Kelly, replacing Lara Flynn Boyle), taunted by Killer BoB, molested repeatedly by her father, and drawn deeper into a world of sex and drugs. To Laura, Donna stands for the purity she herself has lost. Though she knows her inescapable fate will be a violent death, she holds out hope for a pure redemption.This was a frustrating film. Diehards can blame the panning on lazy fans who wanted a clearer story, but "Fire Walk With Me" got off to easily on that score. When the film starts, and until David Bowie's exit, this was a tense and scary film, perfectly mixing sound effects, music, cinematography and script to make for a truly chilling film. There are hints that the Feds know more than they're letting on - one of Cole's assistants wears a pin with a flower that we later learn has become emblematic for BoB's crimes. The David Bowie scene is not only cryptic, but incomprehensible - Bowie appears in one of Cooper's dreams, one set in the FBI's office. Because Coop relates his dream to Cole in an FBI office, it's hard to see at first where the dream ends. The chill of Bowie's 30 second performance - of a man who's managed a brief escape from some otherworldly prison - overcomes just how hard a sequence it is to follow. Then it goes downhill, and the film becomes an unending look at Laura Palmer, filling in some gaps but not creating any mystery. Even the not scary parts - pairing Southerland and Izak's as feds tracking the earlier murder in another remote northwest town - could have carried the film. But Lynch abandons that too. If anything, the film isn't too vague, but actually tells too much. There are a few scary bits (Annie, who ended the series trapped with Cooper in the Red Lodge, puts in an appearance to warn Laura), but never reclaims the dark spirit lost earlier in this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Eh.
Review: This film, as were the final episodes of the TWIN PEAKS tv series, seems to be an effort of deliberate confusion on the part of Lynch. There is too much left unexplained and too much that remains nonsense for this film to completely satisfy. Lynch did use this movie to tie up some of the loose ends from the tv show, and there are a couple of genuinely chilling moments in FIRE WALK WITH ME. Overall, though, I find the film to be a low-end effort for the director.
Rating: 
Summary: anitclimatic and frustrating
Review: Twin Peaks reminded me of Poirot, Northern Exposure, and the Twilight Zone. I guess a combination of these elements was a good idea because the pilot and first season of the show were rivetting. I was hooked. I was dying to hear agent Coopper tell me who killed Laura Palmer. But the first season ended on a cliff hanger. The show was not a murder mystery anymore; Twin Peaks was a soap opera. I have seen hundreds of murder myteries and I have never watched one that lasted more that two hours. As the series dredged along I lost interest. In fact, Agent Cooper did not solve the case until episode twelve.
Fire Walk With Me must be the low point of David Lynch's career. This is a B-movie. It was just thrown together to answer the thousands of people saying "What the hell?!" Fire Walk With Me makes no sense. The motive of the killer is diferent in the movie than in the series. It has alot of loose ends. Chris Isaak and David Bowie are completely insignificant to this program. Essentially this show ruined the entire series for me. If you bought the anniversary dvd (or tapes) and you are considering buying this to figure out who killed Laura: don't. DO NOT BUY THIS FILM. This movie killed Twin Peaks. Dont ruin this enjoyable series for yourself. Buy episodes 6-29 or dont buy any of them. Fire Walk With Me is garbage.
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent
Review: As other reviewers have stated, you may have a difficult time with this film if you've come straight from the television series. As offbeat and out of left field as the Twin Peaks TV show was, it's much more mainstream than this prequel to the series. You'll need to watch the DVD several times to let it grow on you. I almost didn't make it through the film in the theater, and the audience was restless and unimpressed. The first half hour is quirky and somewhat light--Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland are FBI agents who are investigating the murder of a teenaged waitress/drifter in Twin Peaks. The predictable refusal of local law enforcement to help the feds is humorous. But the movie quickly kicks into high gear when it moves ahead one year to present day. Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer is absolutely brilliant--the gorgeous homecoming queen who has a drug problem and a horrifying secret that is driving her to the edge. There's not that much of a plot, other than the fact that Laura is racing toward her death. But Lee is breathtaking in her ability to portray the heartbreak, terror and hopelessness a seventeen year old girl must feel upon discovering her father's desires for her. Likewise, Leland Palmer (played by Ray Wise) is most convincing in the role of killer...he's the consummate nice guy and well-respected around town, but get a load of him drugging his wife before contemplating visiting his daughter's bedroom. There are occasional audio dropouts in the DVD that are disappointing, though none are serious enough to mar your enjoyment. David Lynch clearly has his quirks, and it's fascinating to watch the peculiar characters and interludes which take place throughout this film. This begs for repeated viewing and makes me wonder why Sheryl Lee didn't take off the way Lara Flynn Boyle did. By the way, the Donna Heyward character is not played by Boyle, which is too bad--she was excellent in the TV series, and the interplay between her and Lee in this film would have been terrific. But despite my complaints, this is a classic in its own, odd way.
Rating: 
Summary: Greatest Lynch Work Ever... one defect
Review: This was the first Lynch film I'd ever seen. I saw it when I was very young. 12 years old. I had bought the soundtrack to Lynch's Lost Highway and was mesmerised. I went and bought soundtracks to Blue Velvet and Fire Walk With Me - when I finally decided to watch Lost Highway they wouldnt sell it to me because it was rated R. So I went ahead and asked for Fire Walk With me, which was also rated R but they sold it to me! So I watched it about a hundred times that summer and fell in love. I didn't understand some of it but went out and found the entire series and fell in love with that. The work of Twin Peaks is extremely strong and heartfelt for me and some other people. Its obsessive and mind blowing. So real and so surreal all at once!! It's incredible. The only problem with this DVD, which I think they'll fix soon, is the deleted scenes... they will come someday... that's the final offering I believe. The sound and quality of this film is incredible!! This is one of Lynch's best looking works. Beautiful. Enjoy ... I know you all will - unless you are one who is from the black lodge...
Rating:
Summary: Ok, but missing a lot of what made the TV series special
Review: This movie was ok but certainly doesn't hold a candle to the original TV series. Much of the offbeat humor and some of the best characters didn't even make it into the movie. Of course, this is a prequel, so that explains some of it. Nice to see this title on DVD but the special features aren't all that special. Kind of cheap with a thrown in at the last minute feel. Other than that, it's worth having if you're a fan.
Rating:
Summary: Unless you are a Lynch fanboy, skip this steaing pile.
Review: As a HUGE fan of the show I was excited to see this finally released (I missed it in theatres). Having recently re-watched most of the shows episodes I can honestly say that this worse than leaving things unanswered. Most of the actors did a fine job diespite the fact that the script seems like it was written by a 16 year old heroin addict that had only seen a handful of episodes. I have not seen a follow-up this bad since Highlander II.
Rating:
Summary: Quintessential Twin Peaks
Review: "Fire Walk with Me" is the prequel to David Lynch's
surrealistic masterpiece "Twin Peaks", and is more
than vital to the understanding of the plot twists
than you might guess. Fans of the series will think
of it as the penultimate "missing" episode which fills
in the gaps, sets the stage for murder and vice, then
provides telling reinforcement of Laura's character.
Perhaps an even greater hero of the story than you would
have thought otherwise! Her personal struggle against
demonic possession shows us that not only did no one really
know the real Laura Palmer, but that we were ALL wrong
about her. Fiercely talented writing and directing make this
DVD a must whether you're a Twin Peaks addict or just want
to see David Bowie's eerie cameo.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing yet Gripping
Review: This movie is like a car crash that you just can not turn your eyes away from. The first time I saw it I was not sure if I liked it. Yet a few weeks later for some reason I was propelled to watch it again and I loved it. It is definately the most distubing movie that I have ever seen yet it is also the compelling film I have ever seen. The unique fashion in which the story unwinds and the odd story twists. It is really a work of genious. A very disturbed genious. I just loved that scene in the Canadian bar. One of the coolest ever. I only recommend this film for David Lynch fans, film conocuers and those who enjoy the dark or unusual. Otherwise it will freak the pants off you.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie (so-so DVD)
Review: Yes, this movie is terrific, one of Lynch's best. I felt, personally, it was better than the series.
This DVD, however, is only so-so. I totally disagree with his policy of not having chapter selection. Why not? Sometimes idiosyncratic is just idiotic. If it comes from some sort of artistic integrity, something about the purity of form, then it shouldn't be on home video to begin with. It's nothing more than a poor decision made on tenuous artistic and intellectual grounds.
I love the movie and would have bought it even if I'd have known about the chapter issue. Coming as a surprise as it did just totally irritated me.
As for his policy of never including a running commentary: artists talk too much anyway.
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