The Ninth Gate

Rating:
Summary: the ninth gate
Review: i read the book. i was deligted. i saw the movie. i was dissapointed. a lot. little johnny deep does not look at all like the lucas corso described in the book, wich is tall, eagle looking, in his 40's, and with a certain glitter inside him wich deep has not. the book is a thousand times better. the film is predictable, remiss,the alcoholic looking actress wich flies downstairs is riduculous. in the book you don't need that: special effects, flames burning behind you, girls who doesn't need to fly and float to give you the meaning of magic and mistery. again the book has a powerful argument, whitin there's a reason for corso in every step he takes, and what about the club dumas thing? it is never mentioned in the movie. the very essence of the journey is forgotten, is oversighted just because it does'n work for the producer. read perez-reverte. you'll agree with me.

Rating:
Summary: "Hell has its heroes too senor"
Review: Roman Polanski has done it again. In a movie only rivaled by "The Omen" and "Rosemary's Baby," "The Ninth Gate" takes viewers on a journey of degeneration. A journey of such sublime malevolence that I cannot see why the theatre that I saw it in last night had only four people in it. "Not all books should be read with impunity," as Fargas says in the movie, and maybe some movies should not be seen with impunity.

First some concerns: Johnny Depp looks suspiciously like former ESPN SPortcenter anchor Keith Olberman. Second: Depp/Olbermann is on the screen in every single scene. Third: The penultimate scene at the Chateau is so horribly reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's disastrous scene in Eyes Wide Shut. It was filmed in the exact same chateau (but Kubrick put his somewhere on Long Island (go figure)). I was tempted to walk out of the movie right there and then. Fourth: The over-the-top symbolism of Depp taking off and putting on his glasses, drinking scotch at every turn, and smoking butts nearly did the movie in. Fifth: Boris Balkan is nearly the greatest non-factor if it weren't for the fact that Depp could not have consumated his love for the witch with the backdrop of fire without him. Sixth, why would Boris Balkan pay presumably in the neighborhood of $20,000,000 to a detective who can't figure out on his own that the best way to get by the baroness's sectretary is to visit during her lunchbreak; and Sevent, it really doesn't take a "book expert" or even a mediocre PI to figure out that the signatures are different on the stupid pictures. Eighth, and most important: The cheesy seventies touches were numbing. To wit: the code for the elevator in Balkan's building is 666 (overused even in The Omen); The LCF signature for Satan's drawings (puh-leeze!); The luminesence fire that lined the driveway leading to the Chateau; the death/sex/satan cult chanting Latin in robes they borrowed from Kubrick's set. The cheesy tattoo on Lena Olin's hip(in a role straight out of the Mickey Rourke school of bad acting--maybe she did learn something in Wild Orchid); the goofy way the witch "flew" down the staircase to save Corso from the man who looks like Madonna's boyfriend; the whole basis of the movie that someone would WANT to conjure up the prince of darkness.

It took some doing to get over these eight concerns. But I did, and in doing so, I saw the genius of the movie. The author of the book that the movie is based on is known as a master--one of the most underrated authors of our time. Arturo Perez-Reverte is a genius, and that genius shines through Polanski's gothic vision of the Second Anti-Coming. If Christ's words are in a book, then why not Satan's? I bought into it hook, line, and sinker. And I applaud Mr. Polanski for one thing especially. He is credited for creating one of the most shocking endings in the history of movies: "He has his father's eyes." How could he top that? He couldn't, he knew, so he thought he would end the movie in the least shocking way possible. I applaud the genius implicit in that decision.

Rating:
Summary: Depp - Yes; Polanski - No.......... Read the Book Folks!
Review: If this movie had a different last 15 minutes, I'd have given it 5 stars. It seemed to me that Polanski ran out of time or budget, and just threw the last bit in, spoiling what was an interesting mystery/good vs evil tale.

Johnny Depp's portrayal of the manipulative, mercenary Corso was so interesting that I was actually on his side as he wound his way through the story. But not even Depp's considerable talent could save the end of this movie. If he agreed to act in this project based upon the premise that the movie would be fairly faithful to the novel "The Club Dumas", he would have chosen well. Sorry to say that Polanski trampled all over a wonderfully crafted tale.

Will I buy this movie when it comes out in video/DVD? Yes, because Johnny Depp. Certainly not because I need some movie to pitch a "Gee, the devil is so attractive" scenario at me. I figured that is why we have that lovely thing called temptation in life............

Rating:
Summary: Breaking the mold
Review: The Ninth Gate is a story that intrigues and slowly captivates the audience by inticing you with small bits of information and requiring you to take some guesses and look at the details. The film doesn't give you a clear sense of who is good or bad like most films. That's the best part of the movie because it makes you try to figure out who the mysterious characters are. The unnamed woman is best unnamed. She leaves you wondering what her intentions are until the very end. Depp as Dean Corso is fabulous. He plays an average person looking out for the one person he cares about, himself, who gets drawn into the intrigues of his search unwittingly and perhaps, against his will. His search for answers becomes the audience's search. The movie requires you to think and become a participant in the plot, not just an observer. The film also forces you to examine your own preconceptions of Satan and look at the darker side of humanity. It deserves more credit than most people give it. In the end, the film is more enjoyable than most people realize, unless you're the type of person who needs a bomb to explode or a gun to go off every five seconds. Audiences should appreciate how Polansky deliberately creates more questions than answers them. It's more realistic and much more envigorating.

Rating:
Summary: What are you trying to say, Polanski!
Review: I'd like to think that reviewers like Ed Cardenas and Lawrence Boat-something were right. I made the mistake of watching this expecting the usual Hollywood horror, Hollywood suspense, and Hollywood wit (term used loosely). I didn't get any of that. I waited and waited for the big payoff, the big sign that says "this is what you came here to see, this is what we wanted to tell you, or at least this is our interpretation of Satan." But in the end, the movie faded to white. Just like my memory of it. It had nothing to retain, I certainly didn't find any meaning from it. And listening to the music, there were times I thought the movie stopped being serious. It wasn't the director Roman Polanski, it wasn't Johnny Depp (I almost fell in love with this man, and I'm a man!), and I'm not sure it was the script exactly. Just the entire concept, I couldn't understand. And I really wanted to enjoy this.

I don't think anyone will remember this movie. But for what it's worth, the mood was spellbinding, the two-faced angel with her own agenda was great, if quiet, and Johnny Depp was --oh, somebody bless that cheek bone -- a dark character facing something darker than he is.

Rating:
Summary: Not Hollywood, but a European Horror Film
Review: It seems most viewers expect The Ninth Gate to grab them by the viscera, hoping to meet and recognize the standard Hollywood formula. Just like the Blair Witch film, this film breaks normal Hollywood conventions, except one-suspense through antecipation. The Ninth Gate requires the observer/participant to analyze along with the protagonist. The sex and its allure are integral to the plot, only superficially paralleling an essential ingredient in the Hollywood formula. The last sex scene was not meant to titillate, but to awaken us to the horror in the realization of the final step to open the portal to Hell.

Rating:
Summary: Its so bad I had to apologize to my friend who watched w/ me
Review: WHat more can I say to exaggerate the terrible action/ direction/ story of this movie? It was over 2 hrs of boredom. If you've seen the preview, thats pretty much it. The actual story lacks any subtelety, wit or twists. It has no intrigue, no mind-boggling plot/ puzzle, or any surprises. Its so boring its even an embrassment to the stuffy book dealers who are portrayed in the movie. Trust me, this was hands down the worst movie ever made. At least hollywood flicks have some empty-minded action, sex or CGI... or even sound. This movie has none. Except for the salary given to the actor/ actresses, I bet the entire budgetdid not exceed five grand. Dont, plz dont watch. Anyone who gives this movie anything more then 1 star must be a personal friend of Polaski or an investor.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant masterpiece despite all the negative reviews
Review: This movie has puzzled and disappointed the majority of itsreviewers. This is hardly surprising, given that this highly originalfilm does not fit any of the usual patterns of excellence. Like many artistic masterpieces, it requires us to discard expectations and discover its creators' unique way of seeing and making meaning. The Ninth Gate is not a horror movie, not a thriller, not a campy comedy, not a drama. Critics have claimed all these categories and more for the movie, but if you judge it by a traditional category's standards, the movie is doomed to seem stupid, ludicrous, simplistic, etc. The Ninth Gate is a profound character study that explores the way good and evil operate in contemporary society. At the same time, the movie is a piece of entertainment that plays with the representation of good and evil in popular culture. Polanski satirizes cinematic conventions related to Satanism, heros, and villains, all the while adhering to his very serious analysis of the main characters. In the final scene, which has to be one of the most brilliant scenes ever filmed, the contrasting light and dark tones of the movie emerge as two aspects of a single, disturbing vision. What exactly is this vision? Many critics have found the Ninth Gate to be ambiguous and obscure. Some say, for example, that the unnamed girl in the movie could be an angel, a demon, or a person with supernatural powers. Which should we choose? Well, anyone who watches the movie closely and sees how she reacts to various murders should have no trouble determining the essence of her nature. Once we understand her essence as viewers, we do not need to know more; at the same time, the mystery of her exact identity is what allows her to get what she wants from Dean Corso, the protagonist. Other critics say that the ending is either heavenly or hellish and that it's impossible to say which. The film does leave open the question of whether hell is actually a reprehensible place, but this is not ambiguity; this is a question that troubles countless people today, a question the film raises with intellectual mastery. Evil does have its attractions; that's why it's so prevalent throughout the world. Polanski's vision is not a simple moral or intellectual stance. However, it is a CLEAR and STRONG vision. The Ninth Gate teaches us that insane psychopaths who spend all their time and money trying to wake the devil are not what the devil wants. Rather, the devil wants those millions of lukewarm types--people who are centered on their own survival and comfort, without strong feelings of morality, love, or hatred. To win these people over to the side of hell by offering them knowledge, power, and pleasure would be to win a great battle against God. Are knowledge, power, and pleasure ignoble goals? Polanski looks into the hearts of a few people as they face this unsettling uncertainty. I have discussed the movie in broad terms in order to defend it, and yet there are so many little details throughout the movie deserving of praise. Take the resemblance of the figures in the film to the figures in the books--clear but not at first obvious. There's so much here, so much. This is one of the very best movies every made, a perfect ten.

Rating:
Summary: Before you check this movie out WHOAAA !
Review: I can't believe someone would make a movie this horrible. First of all the the movie had a bad story line (This film is directly for devil fans) that drug you two hours of this book bounty-hunter-searching for a book to resurrect satan (TWO HOURS), and a minimal amount of action with too much dialogue. Like the other reveiwer said for the Love of GOD save your money, don't waste your time on this flick.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Absolutely, mind-numbingly horrid. I was checking my watch throughout the whole awful ordeal. The biggest disappointment about this film is the tease factor. Roman Polanski keeps you hoping and praying that the end of the movie will justify the almost 2 and a half hour trip through. Well, it doesn't. Not even close. You get left hanging. There is no closure, no reward for sitting through this onscreen trash.

I suppose some goth fans might find it at least a little interesting to look at, but it doesn't even satisfy His dark fans. It's BORING. It's a big snore. The sexuality between Depp and whatsherface, Polanski's real-life wife, is not even sexy. I mean, by the end of the movie, when the sex scene appeared, I was so annoyed by Depp and whatshername that I couldn't picture them as sexual beings. They were just a couple of jerks that were wasting my time. Skip this one, please.