Brazil

Rating:
Summary: maybe my favorite movie
Review: If you have no appreciation for metaphor, you'll think this is merely slapstick, as my roommate did, and you won't get over half the stuff in Brazil. In fact, you might think it's boring and juvenile. But if you are a societal discontent, or disgusted by the bureaucracy and mind control of modern culture, it will be a memorable viewing experience. The ending is perfect. The only place you can be free now is in your mind, and even that is a battle.

Rating:
Summary: Brazil: A visual feast for the eyes and imagination
Review: Director Terry Gilliam combines amazingly futuristic visual element with black satire to give us a future Orwell would have appreciated. Beautiful tracking shots and wide angle lenses are nothing short of breath-taking. Combined with writing from tom Stoppard and you end up in Brazil. A definite must-buy for any cinephile or aspiring film-student.

Rating:
Summary: great film, it really happens!
Review: I've already watched this film more than 10 times last few months. When I saw the film at first time, about ten years ago, I didn't understand the concept of this story at all. Maybe I was naive to watch this film at that time. For last ten years, I've been struggling to survive in this society. Then I watched "Brazil" again. Somehow, I understand this film so easily at this time. Since then, this film became one of my favorite one. I even own the soundtrack of this film. This film was made more than 10 years ago, long before the computer and other hi-tech become so common like we have right now. Eventually, our society become much similar to the one in this film, so does people's charactor. That's the weird things about cult film.....

Rating:
Summary: Not too spectacular.
Review: Brazil was a file about a man, Sam Lowry, whose life it put into a tail spin after a bug falls into his typewriter which, consequently, changes some information on the paper being printed. Because of this bug, the police arrest a man that they shouldn't have. They should have arrested Archibald Tuttle; however, because of the mix up, they arrested Archibald Buttle. They used tactics of torture to get their prisoners to confess to the crime and since Archibald Tuttle had no record of a heart problem, they weren't aware of Buttle's bad heart and he died during torture because of it. Once they found out their mistake, they decided that Mrs. Buttle should get some kind of reimbursement. As Sam delivers the check, he, literally, sees the women of his dreams. As he pursues her, he finds out that she is really a criminal and in his relationship with her, he too becomes a criminal. With the help of his newly befriended friend, Archibald Tuttle, he escapes... or does he? I found this film to be a touch on the boring side. Although there was some good dark humor in it, it seemed to me like it dragged on a little too long. I found that it had a pretty good plot; however, I don't think they put it together well. I got lost at the end and I really can't even remember which ending was real. In one ending, he escapes through a very long and boring chase to end up in a house that is being driven by the girl of his dreams. I think this is where he wakes up and realizes that he is still in the torture chair ready to be tortured. I think this was the ending although I'm not sure. I found myself shifting throughout the movie trying to keep my attention towards the film. Although I might have been able to follow the movie better had I paid more attention to it, I really don't think it would have been worth it. On a more personal not, I found myself uncomfortable during the movie because of all the small spaces that they used in the film. Everywhere he went was either very small or very crowded which added a little something to the movie that I couldn't get over. This also made it easier for me to not pay attention to the movie. I would have to say the best part of the movie was when Sam entered his new office (which was uncomfortably small) and found his desk moving. As he stacked his books on the wall of his desk, he found that they kept falling down. Only half the desk was in his office and the other half was in the office next door and this is how they shared their desks. I found it humorous that the two colleagues kept wrestling for as much of the desk as they could possible get. One scene in the movie that was so bad that it was good was when Tuttle gets covered with all the paper and disappears. What the hell was that all about? When I think about it, I find it so stupid that it's funny. What had happened was that Tuttle ditched his disguise and then, as he was walking away, he found that papers kept sticking to him. More and more paper stuck to him and it seemed as if he couldn't breath because of them. As Sam tried to save him from the horrible attack of the papers, Tuttle disappeared. All I have to say about that is ???????.

Rating:
Summary: people
Review: educted

Rating:
Summary: Not the European version -- but full length
Review: I'd just like to correct one misconception: the version of the movie on this DVD is *not* the original European release. (I have the European version on tape, and the annotated screenplay. I've seen "Brazil" more times than I'd care to admit, so trust me on this.)

Basically, this is the "definitive" version Gilliam made for the Criterion release. It's very similar to the European release -- the only obvious change is that it starts with clouds and music, rather than just the time on a black screen.

Anyway -- in my opinion, this is the second greatest movie ever made. (#1 is "2001".) Like most good movies, it polarizes the audience -- you'll either love it or hate it. Either way, you owe it to yourself to watch it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Watch While Sleepy or Intoxicated.
Review: Great concept and acting. A true spectacle of a Cult Classic, yet so much more. Wickedly funny in a depressing way. If you watch this movie, every philosophy teacher from high school through graduate school will love you 'till the day you watch Rambo IV.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best films ever made.
Review: Brazil is the film that many consider the highlight of director Terry Gilliam's carreer. It is about an average joe named Sam Lowery who is lost in a drab world of buisness and proceedures. To escape this world he often dreams. In his dreams he seeks the woman of his dreams, whom he later discovers is a real person. He persues her but runs into constant setbacks. This version is especially worth having because, even though unadvertised and unmarked on the case, this is the original version released in Europe. The version released in the U.S. was about ten minutes shorter (so is the home video.) For a fan, the extra ten minutes are a real plus if you don't feel like shelling out the $200 for the Critereon Laderdisc version. The tranlation is also visulally excellent. The picture is incredibly clear (especially compared to my old video version.) I'm glad this one came out.

Rating:
Summary: Director's Cut better than original version
Review: This movie freaked me out the first time I saw it. It didn't make sense. But unlike some movies which make no sense and turn me off from wanting to see it again, this one held my interest. I saw it a few more times, trying to understand the imagery, the scenarios, the interplay between the characters. Even today I still can't say I fully understand it. But I love movies that make me think; movies which challenge me to accept it for what it is instead of trying to make some sense out of it. BRAZIL will leave you dumbfounded, laughing out loud, grimacing in digust, and rapt with childlike interest. Not many movies can claim such attractions. Love it or hate it, BRAZIL is going to go down in history as one of those near-masterpieces too weird to simply ignore.

Rating:
Summary: A docudrama for our times
Review: I first saw this movie in a movie theater, which I hear is rare, as the studio barely publicized the film. While watching it, I had an overwhelming sense that I had to get away.

Reflecting on the movie in the months that followed, I came to two conclusions. First, that if this movie could affect me so much, it had something going for it; second, that the reason it affected me so much was that it stuck a nerve.

Since then, this has become one of my all-time favorite movies. For years, I told my friends that it was a documentary about working for {generic large computer firm}, but over time, I revised that to the realization that this is just how our corporate society is headed.

I should be so lucky to find such a happy ending as does the story's protagonist!