Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I am a film noir but I haven't watched it in years because of Polanski's conviction and subsequent flight to avoid imprisoment for molesting that little girl. For that reason I am boycotting all of his movies.The tough part is, this is a good movie. Not the greatest of it's genre, but still worth seeing. So it's for each person to decide. Does the quality of the art out weigh the crimes of the artist? For me the answer was no.
Rating: 
Summary: Chinatown: A Cinematic Masterpiece
Review: This is simply one of the finest films EVER made. It is MY personal favorite film of all time and was judged one of the top 25 best films of all time by the American Film Institute for very good reasons. First of all, the script is brilliant. This film was MADE to be owned, since on first viewing the spectator won't realize that EVERYTHING in the film, down to the pictures on the walls and seemingly off-handed remarks by the characters are PART of the story. In one line from the film, Noah Cross says ".... you may THINK you know what you are dealing with, Mr. Gittes, but believe me, you don't" and that statement could not be more "on target".... This movie gives the viewer clue after clue along the way.... but one should NEVER rewind or go back until the entire movie is viewed.... but absolutely play it a second time a week or so later... and suddenly you find the clues, the lies and the deception stands out in bold relief. I have seen Chinatown at least 25 times over the years... and it still fascinates me. Nicholson deserved the Oscar for this film. Dunaway was sultry and marvelous. John Huston was absolutely convincing as Noah Cross, the man with unlimited power and even Diane Ladd, in a minor role as "Ida Sessions"... a small time "working girl" was perfection. The DVD transfer is not perfect... I would say it is a 9 on a scale of 10, some fuzz here and there and some background noise in the quieter parts... but overall it looks clear, color corrected and clean. The soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith, although composed in a week, is probably his best score. THIS FILM IS NOW 30 years old and we deserve a 2 disc boxed set with the COMPLETE score (the CD soundtrack only has about 35 minutes of SOME of the cues) and we deserve some still frames, some information about WHERE the scenes were filmed and so forth. ON the Criterion release on Laserdisc several years ago, you could see the entire film with ONLY the music score (L.A. Confidential has that feature on DVD)... this one would be terrific to watch that way. Overall... this film is a MUST have for any fan of film noir and cinematic perfection.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection
Review: This movie sets the standard for all detective movies (and film noir as well) that proceeded and, dare I say, preceeded it. The direction (who could like Polanski in person, but his direction of anything is leagues above others), the screenplay and, of course, the acting. A must for any "Jack" fan.
The average moviegoer would be blown away by this film, and most would find it much better than its contemporary offspring such (e.g. LA Confidential). I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in this genre. You won't be disappointed.
I would put it in my top ten list. Period.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection
Review: This movie sets the standard for all detective movies (and film noir as well) that proceeded and, dare I say, preceeded it. The direction, the screenplay and, of course, the acting. A must for any "Jack" fan. Yes, who could like Polansky in person, but his direction of anything is leagues above others - the guy gets it.
The average moviegoer would be blown away by this film, and most would find it much better than its contemporary offspring (e.g. LA Confidential). I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in this genre. You won't be disappointed.
I would put it in my top ten list. Period.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good period piece detective story
Review: Chinatown is a great story that moves along at a fairy good pace but does stall in parts. The real reason for seeing this film is Polanskis masterpiece direction of noir 30s LA and Jack Nicholsons wise-ass and wonderfully mouthy P.I. The story is pretty complexed and you will have to stay awake for a lot of it or else it will pass you by because there are lots of plot twists and turns. I had to go back a few scenes now and again to figure out what was going on. Overall it is great entertainment and the dialogue is pretty snappy and on que. You will like and although I would love to give this film full marks it is prolonged in parts and these scenes do break the momentum of the movie. Good stuff all the same..
Rating:
Summary: Ten stars. The movie that redefined the term, film noir
Review: Bad boy Roman Polanski filmed this gorgeous movie with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway set in Los Angeles during the 30s - it's about water rights for southern California, which is all about money, money, money. One gets the feeling while watching this film that it's patterned on maybe a Raymond Chandler/Sam Spade book. It's all about incest, infidelity, politics, treachery, lying, secrets - and no one who has seen it is likely to forget the scene in which Polanski himself appears for a brief and memorable sleazy cameo performance as a slimy scumball in cinema's best tradition.
Watch it again. It heralded a new wave of really well done crime films from Hollywood.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: Perhaps the best film noir screenplay ever written. Performances are flawless, direction is impeccable and the casting is without parallel. "Chinatown" leaves one awed.
Rating:
Summary: Forget "The Pianist" and buy Polanski's masterpiece...
Review: With all the Oscar hoopla this past year around director Roman Polanski's sprawling, if flawed "The Pianist," one would think that it's the only Polanski movie out there. Well, if you've seen "The Pianist," you've seen a Holocaust movie like the rest of 'em. Take a trip back to Polanski's 1974 movie "Chinatown" and forget all you know.
Who knew a movie about a water conspiracy would be so nail-bitingly intriguing, and who'd a thought that screenwriter Robert Towne could take an old, dying genre (the "gumshoe" movie) and turn it into arguably the best screenplay this side of "Citizen Kane" and "All About Eve"? It's all here, with Jack Nicholson as smooth private eye Jake Gittes, and Faye Dunaway as the cryptic Evelyn Mulwray. Look closely, though. As "Chinatown" unfolds, it looks like it's going to be the typical detective movie, but twists and turns in the film's complicated narrative turn a simple San Fransisco water conspiracy into a twisted, perverse, nightmare that reeks of the Electra complex.
Yes, "The Maltese Falcon" has the style that set a trend, and "The Big Sleep" juggles plot strands like a sideshow freak, but "Chinatown" adds a tragic depth to its narrative that was never seen in such a movie and has never been seen since. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are no Nick and Nora Charles - there's a deep secret lying beneath it all that makes the movie a haunting and unforgettable experience. Dunaway hides the film's tragedy well, revealing it in an infamous scene that proves this is the finest work she's ever done. And Nicholson. Drawn slowly into a twisted web of corruption and deceit, he seems almost too smart for it, but Towne's script proves that there is a heart beneath his inquisitive glare, and it, along with all of ours, is broken in the film's devastating finale.
If you're into gumshoe flicks, this is the best one out there, but it also stands as one of the finest American films of all time. Just look at the film's ending - though "American," it carries a tragic, "European" touch that was no doubt a product of the painful history of Polanski. In a way, this movie relays the torture and pain of his Holocaust experience in a better fashion than "The Pianist." Even without digging into director's intentions, the final product of the movie is haunting, tragic, and won't get out of your head for days. One of the great lines of the film is "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." Fortunately, forgetting "Chinatown" is something anyone that ever sees it will never be able to do.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great films of the 70s
Review: Chinatown is a superb film noir and one of the landmark films of the 1970s. The script by Robert Towne (winner of the Oscar for best original screenplay for 1974) is justly famous as perhaps the best screenplay ever written in Hollywood. This is not only a superior detective story but one of the most incisive studies of the morality of the American ruling class ever committed to film. Truly, Roman Polanski's best film with great performances by Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway (both Oscar nominated) and John Huston in a memorable turn as the face of evil. If you have lived in Los Angeles, you will not want to miss this film as it details the machinations that brought water, and the Valley, to the city of angels. Hell -- if you have lived anywhere in the world you will not want to miss this film. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Watergate & the Holocaust
Review: Sure its about incest and the rapacity of LA but without Polanski's eyewitness to the Holocaust and a country in the midst of political, social and moral crisis, there wouldn't be, "Chinatown." The music for the opening credits couldn't be more perfect, capturing the big band sound of the thirties but hinting at a deep and painful weariness that goes to the heart of the film. This is a film of beautiful surfaces where evil suddenly appears and shocks like maggots swarming the pit of the perfect peach. Jack Nicholson makes J.J. Gittes sleazy, angry and desperate whose quest for truth is both foolish and noble. Fay Dunaway displays a fragile strength and desperate pain as Evelyn Mulray that she doles out beautifully over the course of the film. John Huston uses his oily warmth to great creepy effect. And then there is the screenplay; beautifully constructed, wonderfully original with dialog that is both memorable and natural. Is there a better original screenplay in Hollywood history? Finally what is a mystery to me is how this film which is so sad and hopeless manages to feel so inspiring. Is it that in its richness like all great works of art is the stuff of life?
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