The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

Rating:
Summary: Three Hours and Seven Dollars I'll Never Get Back...
Review: This was the absolute WORST movie I have ever seen. I actually warn people in the video store when I see them about to rent it. One guy rented it despite my warning and the next time I ran into him he said he wished he'd listened to me. WHO TOLD MILLA JOVOVICH SHE COULD ACT????????????
Awful, awful movie.

Rating:
Summary: A grate action movie and very touching
Review: this movie was good as a action movie and just as good as a spiritual type of movie. It was sad, touching, and hartwarming. I say this movie is a must see.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh! Argh! Stay away from this pile of fuming dung!
Review: Holy Cow! Who told model-girl she could act? I'm sure the casting director who made the call is long out of work by now. The only redeeming quality of this film is Dustin Hoffman. Other than that, it's a total joke. Even John Malkovich made me wretch (and I usually love him). If you're really curious, rent it, or maybe catch it as it flies out of someone's window, or perhaps you'll find a copy at the dump?

Rating:
Summary: An Uninspiring, If Entertaining, Epic
Review: Epic war films have, thankfully, been given a new life in recent times. Historical peices, in particular, owe their success to Braveheart - unquestionably one of the best epic films ever made. The Messenger tries very hard to BE Braveheart, and yet it always comes up short of its goal. In spite of Luc Besson's talents, this is, quite frankly, a Braveheart clone that somehow manages to lose one of the most important aspects of the war epic - inspiration. The Messenger is rarely inspiring. It certainly does nothing that Braveheart or Gladiator haven't already done far better.

For starters, the script is lukewarm. Frankly, the script lacks the intelligence and life of others in the genre, and sometimes the dialogue borders on cheesiness. The acting leaves a bit to be desired from some of the cast as well. Mila Jovavich screams like a mad woman when she wants to inspire her troops, and instead becomes nothing but an annoying, shrieking thing devoid of inspiration. Who would follow her into battle carrying on as she does is beyond me.

The battle sequences in The Messenger are suitably graphic in the tradition of realistic epics, but they somehow manage to cheapen the violence in the process - something that neither Braveheart nor Gladiator managed to do (to use those examples yet again). The battles are also harder to follow, because the battlefields are not wide open and the French and English all seem pretty much the same in their armor. This is more accurate, certainly, but not quite as cinematic.

And yet The Messenger is not all bad. There are some interesting characters that Joan meets on her road to immolation, and they liven things up when they are onscreen. Chief among these is Tcheky Caryo. Dustin Hoffman as Joan's conflicting Conscience is also a welcome addition.

All in all, The Messenger is a decent, if not thoroughly engaging, epic.

Rating:
Summary: true fans beware!
Review: If you truly love Joan of Arc and admire who she was and what she did beware of this film, it will leave you in tears (and NOT because it was so good it made you cry). If you don't know much about her and want to learn more I recommend the 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc or read Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (both are actually based on FACTS that were recorded during her life). However if you aren't and fan, and you don't want to learn more about this brave young woman, go ahead and watch the movie. After all, ignorance is bliss, you will probably enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Joan burnt again
Review: This stinkeroo is getting as much effort from me in this review as director Luc Besson put into his scenario.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful film, with only minor faults.
Review: The Messenger: The Story of Joan Of Arc, was extremely moving. I thought the film portrayed Joan Of Arc as she would have likely been. Her constant compulsion to confess her sins, and her visions of God, seemed realistic. For a late-teen, female, during the Hundred Years War, to have convinced the King of France to give her command of an army, Joan Of Arc must have been as eccentric as Milla Jovovich presented her. Jovovich, and her surrounding cast, did a good job.

I think the film's use of Dustin Hoffman as Joan Of Arc's conscience was very well done. I noticed in other reviews, that several people found Hoffman's role to be confusing. I understood clearly what his character represented. He symbolized Joan's conscience, and her process of self examination after being captured.

Also, I think the film's battle scenes were well done. The costume and prop work was nice too. The Hundred Years war saw the dawn of some amazing advancements in armor, battle tactics, and weaponry, and The Messenger did a good job in demonstrating that. Many other films from this era show only a handful of men-at-arms, with the remainder of the armies being lightly armored infantry. Finally a film had a majority of it's fighting men in full armor, the way they actually were during the closing years of the Hundred Years War.

The only flaw that I found was minor and superficial. I found some of the musical pieces to be a little too modern sounding. I do not like it when period films use modern style music. But I only noticed a couple ballads that bothered me. Other than that, I found no problems.

Overall, The Messenger receives four stars. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the history of either The Hundred Years War, or that of Joan Of Arc.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible voice to soundtrack balance
Review: I assume the dvd that ... is selling is the same one available in rental stores. If it is I must say the movie is extremely difficult to hear. Most of the time the dialogue is extremely quiet or not even evident. If there is dialogue present then the soundtrack is recorded so strongly and loudly over it that you don't hear it. Plus, if you have a dvd player with dynamic sound which evens things out you will NEVER hear the dialogue unless you turn it off due to the poor overpowering imposition of the soundtrack over the dialogue. The neurotic bit with Joan grows tiresome as well. It is very nice though in it's way of gloriously demonstrating midevil warfare :)))

Rating:
Summary: Give this movie a chance -- you might be surprised.
Review: Because the critics universally panned The Messenger, I had very low expectations for it. I was surprised that I found it interesting. Bresson's direction and pacing are not sure enough for this to be a quality film, but his story of a conflicted, manic Joan nevertheless has appeal. I have often wondered how Saints were in real life. Bresson's Joan is both self-confident and self-effacing. Her self-confidence wins her fame, but it is her honest examination of conscience, her total self-effacement that ultimately makes her a Saint. Joan loves God passionately; her spirituality is real. She eschews amulets as a false and facile form of spirituality. But she is still fallen in her humanity (as all saints are) and her motives to serve God are perhaps tinged with pride and, possibly, a desire for revenge. Joan's hunger to 'be confessed' is a touching recognition of her sinfulness. 'The Messenger' is a flawed film but not without merit.

Rating:
Summary: Painful to watch!!!
Review: What is with all of the screeching and yelling?? I got so tired of it I had to FF through the last half of the movie. The best part is when they finally burned her at the stake! I knew she could scream no longer... What was Dustin doing playing Obe Wan? I must have missed something but could not stand to go back and look! I love history and the legend of Joan, this fell short. I would not recommend this movie to anyone!!! Unless you are deaf...