Rating: 
Summary: New lows
Review: As an avid film-watcher, I have seen my share of bad movies. Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate", however, ranks among the worst I have ever seen. The plot had so much potential, which simply went unexploited and failed to even create mild interest. The film is bland and fails in all areas that it seemed to target: suspense, intrigue, and the supernatural, among others. In short, avoid the movie; it is not even worth the rental fee.
Rating: 
Summary: Its OK. Not Great, But OK
Review: This is not a film about the occult in the same style as the "Exorcist", more like "Rosemary's Baby". Events in the film can have both paranormal and non-paranormal causes. Both Roman Polanski and Johnny Depp do their jobs competently but there is something missing from the film, like a better ending. It was goofy. What does the picture in the book signify? Was the Frank Langella character just crazy or was there more to the whole mystery of the book?It was better than I thought it was going to be; don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
Review: While I won't give away any of the storyline as reviewers sometimes do, I will comment that this movie makes Satanism look like a nude romp in the park. This may equate something with Polanski's odd existence but call me old-fashioned, I like at least one good-guy per flick. I enjoyed the chase during this film but like many reviewers found it anti-climactic, to say the least. Johnny Depp plays it close to the vest adding a brand-new character to his repertoire. You can easily forget it's him. All the acting is top-notch. If you are watching this film for the first time - pay very close attention - especially when the camera turns to something written on paper. Many clues are written. Also follow the names of the characters closely. For fans of the film, the DVD (itself) is excellent. Includes an audio soundtrack of Polanski describing every iota of the film while walking you through it, as well as a separate musical score. Worth at least a rental.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre movie based on an excellent book
Review: I'd say that all reviewers of this movie can be divided into two groups: the ones who've read the book by A. Perres-Riverte "The Dumas Club", on which the script is based, and those, who haven't. I belong to the first group. That's my pride and my bad luck at once. For if you've NOT READ the book, this creation by R Polansky might seem rather decent and thrilling: a detective-bibliophile (J Depp) hired by another rich book-collector to find a book presumingly written by Satan. Line of deaths follow J Depp's search and he also acquires a mysterious girl friend that can be out-of-this-world herself. J Depp fits into this part very well (angular lupine features, black-rimmed glasses, thin moustache). The music is menacingly demonic. There are no cheap x-effects or grotesque demons, a nice plot-twist at the end and on the whole it can be called "an intellectual thriller". However, if you HAVE READ the book, the poor plot of the movie can't be even compared with a subtle puzzle of two sub-plots of the book (the Satanist one and the Dumas one) that hold your attention till the last pages, tons of information provided on ancient books, their authors and culture of collecting books, as well as on A Dumas, "the Three Musketeers" and their prototypes. I advise you: 1) Watch this movie 2) Read the wonderful book 3) See for yourself how, for the hundredth time, a good book turned into a mediocre script as a victim for Director's ambition "to please everyone" and not to burden the audience with "intellectual ballast". What a pity...
Rating: 
Summary: A Long-Awaited Return to Form for Polanski
Review: If you're looking for what you got on the stupid preview, then forget it. If you're looking for ROSEMARY'S BABY all over again... forget that too. This "horror" film is definitely a change of pace for Polanski; it has no relation to his earlier horror masterpieces except for the devilish subject matter (and the bizarre humor is still intact). Johnny Depp is Dean Corso, a rare-books dealer who is commisioned by the sinister Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to recover the other two copies of an ancient Satanic text called "The Nine Gates". On his journey, Depp makes many new friends: Liana Telfer (Lena Olin), a crazy society sorceress who wants the book at all costs; Baroness Kessler (Barbara Jefford), an elderly wheelchair-bound German occultist with a sardonic sense of humor and a missing limb; and mystery girl Emmanuelle Seigner (Polanski's real-life wife), who seems to possess supernatural powers and who always knows what's going to happen next (unlike Corso). I won't tell you the ending, but even if I did it wouldn't help you. You have to see this film several times before the point of it sinks in; and when it does, you'll howl with laughter. This is a horror film, but it's also a very ironic (and very disturbing) comedy. Just get a load of Depp's reactions to the murders of the strange characters (he seems intent on keeping a hold on the book rather than cracking the mystery of the murders); listen to that music on the soundtrack; pay attention to the dialogue; and tell me that this movie was meant to be taken totally seriously. The people who were disappointed with this movie would do good to view at least once more and reevaluate their feelings on it. Just remember that people booed when THE TENANT came out, but everyone talks about it now as if it were a masterpiece. (And speaking of which, hey Amazon, when are you gonna start selling THE TENANT? It's my favorite movie!) All in all, THE NINTH GATE is a feast for the eyes and ears, and the ultimate Polanskian joke on the audience. Excellent European location photography (in Spain, France, and Portugal). And for all of you who seem intent on drawing parallels between Polanski's film and that of his friend Kubrick's (EYES WIDE SHUT), here's something else I'll bet you didn't know: like Kubrick, Polanski didn't leave Europe at all (of course, Polanski isn't allowed into the USA) to film the New York scenes; instead, he shot on soundstages and on location in Paris. Computer graphics did the rest of the work.
Rating:
Summary: Completely Frustrating
Review: The entire movie, until the last 10 minutes, is absolutely fantastic. Johnny Depp does a wonderful job as an unscrupulous antique book dealer researching an occult book. My boyfriend and I were leaning forward on the sofa the entire movie, eagerly wondering what would happen next. It is relatively slowly paced, but not so much that the interest or suspense is lost. It was fascinating. Then the ending happened. I was so frustrated I came close to throwing a shoe at the television. ...
Rating:
Summary: God-awful piece of crap
Review: When I watched this movie with my sister soon after we saw the theatrical trailer (which was much more intriguing than the movie) I looked at my sister and we both said "What the hell just happened?" This movie was terrible, boring, bland, boring, absolutely uninteresting, and I forgot to say BORING. Don't waste your money on this crap. Roman Polanski directed one of the worst movies ever with this one. People, don't see it.
Rating:
Summary: Ending with no pay off
Review: This movie might have been as memorable as any Hitchcock film ever made if the screenplay had left you with any sense of what happened at the end. Johnny Depp turns in a strong performance of a book detective looking for two of three books supposedly capable of conjuring Satan himself. The film is beautiful to look at from a cinematography aspect - the lighting is extradordinary, and the acting is solid. The slow pace of the film wouldn't have bothered me, but I waited for the "pay off," which never came. The ending is vague, and most people - me being one of them - will have no idea what became of the main character. Even less satisfying than "Eyes Wide Shut." Both films are technical works of art if set design, cinematography, editing, and soundtrack score are the only things you take into account. This movie could have been a lot more engaging and a lot less confusing.
Rating: 
Summary: A well done mystery movie
Review: I am not the type that would have picked this movie up off the shelf, but after reading The Club Dumas, I had to watch the movie. While The Ninth Gate suffers from the typical book to movie problems, it is actually a good movie. The book is, of course, much better since you get the full story and deeper insights into the characters. The movie though manages to capture the main elements of the book. After watching it, I was amazed how much of the book they managed to fit into the movie (in one form or another) even though most of the book was cut out. <to understand what I mean you have to both read it and watch it...> Johnny Depp did an amazing job as Corso. He fit exactly the image I had created as I read the book. All of the nuances of his character came out in the movie - the rumpled, alchoholic, smoker who is both like a wolf and a rabbit... For all of you who have complained about this movie - I agree, the music didn't fit. The music itself was not bad, but it was used incorrectly. They tried to make The Ninth Gate a suspense/horror movie when it is anything but. It is a mystery drama, and it was only the music that created any sort of suspense at all. More mellow music would have been much better. As for the ending, I loved it. It was completely different that the book's ending, but it was still very good. It provided closure to the movie without having to get into a lot of cheezy explainations. In all I really liked the movie and was glad I watched it.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie climbs up a slow hill, then just falls to hell.
Review: I have to say, this movie starts very well. It STARTS well. The premise is very good, the buildup story was very intriging. I didn't expect this movie to be good, but as I started watching, I just got really involved and had many questions. Too bad, those questions never got answered. I won't go into the plot too much in my review, as there are many reviews here already that probably spoil the plot, but here's a quickie. There were some books made, only few in existence, a few pages must be gathered from all the books to open super evil powers. The main character (Johnny Depp) is led on a chase after chase, looking for this looking for that. It was very mysterious but became overly reptitious after a few times. Then there's a woman that seemed supernatural that helps him along the way. The movie never explains who this woman was and why she was doing this. The ending just shocked me because it made no sense whatsoever. The movie will leave you shocked and angry. It seemed like someone made a good film the first half, then gave it to another person to just finish it off poorly. I give it 2 stars for the first half of the movie. This is a renter, and even after watching it, I wish I didn't rent it.
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