Rating: Summary: Great Story Telling Review: Alejandro Amenabar has done a wonderful job with the direction of The Others. On top of this is a cast of actors who work seamlessly together. Nicole Kidman brings to life her role. What I loved most about The Others was the little use of special effects. The unknown is much more fearful than a 50 million dollar FX budget. Place this movie among the classics like Halloween. This type of film will make you jump and cringe at what might be around the corner without losing your interest in the middle. I loved The Others and think that any horror movie freak will also have a fond enjoyment of it. Apart from the film the DVD transfer is excellent. Most of the movie takes place in a dark house. Colors are dark and deep. I recommend to turn out the lights taking away the reflection which might occur. In Digital 5.1 I heard an array of sounds perfectly placed to enhance the experience. I felt as if I was in the house.
Rating: Summary: This is a boring ghost movie. Review: I bought Mick Martin & Marsha Porter's Video & DVD 2003 Guide about a month ago and they actually gave this movie 5 stars. They even said that this was an "ultraspooky ghost story". But in my opinion, this movie was way too long and boring. I went with my family to see it in the theater and I didn't like it a whole lot. It did have a couple of jump scenes and a very unpredictable ending, but the film took too long and I nearly fell asleep watching it. Rent this movie before you consider buying it. Some people liked this movie, others did not. Rent it, and if you like it and wish to buy it, then feel free to do so. As for me, I've seen a lot better than this. The acting is pretty good, the plot is convincing, but the movie lacks in action and suspense. It only picks up near the end.
Rating: Summary: One of the best "ghost " movies! Review: This movie ranks up there with "The Innocents", and "The Haunting", definitely one of the best ghost movies made since those classics. Creepy and atmospheric, it still makes me jump every time I watch it. If you enjoy spooky ghost tales without the blood and gore, then this movie fits the bill.
Rating: Summary: The Best Movie Of 2002 Review: I think Kidman Does a very good job playing Grace. She brings the mood out. It is the very oppisate of what you think it is going to be. I have to give 2 thumbs up to the movie
Rating: Summary: Haunting Tale Review: I was so involved watching this video that when the ending came, it was hard to believe almost 2 hours had passed. The mother and children, the house, and the servants that arrive at the door unexpectedly all have an eerie edge. Nicole Kidman does a great job as an uptight mother raising her two children in a lonely environment. The children are home schooled, never go outside the house and the shades are always drawn because they are sensitive to light. After the servants arrive, the house is filled with mysterious sounds, voices and strange happenings. This movie is top notch because it is well written and the acting is so good. I was totally unprepared for the ending and thought it was very original. If you want to watch a good mystery that holds your attention and has a surprise ending, you'll love this video.
Rating: Summary: The Others Review: The compelling supernatural thriller THE OTHERS, starring Nicole Kidman is one of the most effectively-shocking films since THE SIXTH SENSE. The hook of the film is to not so much visual exposition, but cleverly implied with Kidman's brilliant performance and incredible tension-building suspense. Sharp editing a brooding score add to the film's visual panache, and with so much talent behind the project, it certinally delivers. The director, Alejandro Amenabar, assembles the film like a jigsaw puzzle by not giving too much away until the gripping climax, including several moments which made me jump in the cinema! Great stuff. The DVD extras are impressive with this "Special Edition" 2 disc set including "A Look Inside The Others" - 30 minute documentary, a visual effects featurette, a doco about director Alejandro Amenabar, The Others photo album and theatrical trailers.
Rating: Summary: Whos hauntin' who? Review: It's the ghosts getting with the living here and it goes over perfectly without all the gore seen in many horror flicks these days. This movie uses a great storyline and suspense to keep the viewers at the edge of their seats.
Here we have a case of the ghosts being haunted by the living except who is alive and who is ghost? Pick this one up for a classic ghoststory that scares you cuz it can!
Rating: Summary: Better than most others. Review: With *The Others*, director Alejandro Amenabar doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Despite certain unique aspects in the plotting, the basic story is unashamedly unoriginal. But I agree with the reviewer below who says that it's not just another *Sixth Sense* . . . even though *The Others* probably wouldn't have got made (and certainly wouldn't have featured Nicole Kidman) if M. Night Shyamalan hadn't created his blockbuster just 2 years earlier. So be it. *The Sixth Sense* is a fine film, but I ultimately prefer Amenabar's effort because, in my opinion, Amenabar is perhaps better at mise-en-scene basics. He's aided in this regard by his cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, who photographs this thing in such rich, velvety darkness that I regretted watching this on home video. (I had failed to catch the movie at the theatres.) The modest scares in *The Others* perhaps would seem less "modest" and more primal in a darkened theatre rather than in the sunny comforts of home, which probably negate to a large degree the movie's effectiveness. Amenabar clearly understands the cinematic value of exploiting humanity's oldest enemy: the dark. Indeed, the fiendishly ironic twist here is that the children-heroes in the story suffer from a rare condition whose symptom is extreme light-sensitivity. In this movie, there will be no relaxing moments spent in the sun before gearing back up for more scares. In other words, the very enemy of superstition -- light -- is fatal to our heroes. This is as profound as it is clever. I don't think all the plot elements withstand logic when light is finally shed on them by movie's end. But this is the sort of film whose pleasures reside in the means rather than in the end. -- The performances are excellent all round: Fionnula Flanagan stands out as the alternately kindly and creepy housemaid. This type of role has a long movie tradition, which Flanagan adds TO, rather detracts FROM. Even the kids are good. As for Nicole Kidman: all is forgiven. (I'm referring to *Moulin Rouge*.) Her portrayal of the tense, pathologically religious young mother of the ailing children brings to mind her best work in Jane Campion's *The Portrait of a Lady*. This is an actress quite capable of greatness when she refrains from impersonating Ann-Margret. [The DVD looks good. It is also BARELY AUDIBLE. A quiet movie like this is actively harmed by Dolby 5.1 digital blah blah whatever: Dolby tends to squash spoken dialogue while bringing out the big bass-y sound effects -- and *The Others* has very little of those. So be prepared to turn your TV up to maximum volume, unless its hooked up to surround-sound speakers, in which case you can probably ignore this criticism. Also, there is a 2nd disc with about 20 minutes of extra material, none of which could not have easily fitted onto the first disc. The result is that the DVD costs more than it should. Didn't they make enough money during the theatrical run? (Dumb question.)]
Rating: Summary: A return to classicism Review: Already being an admirer of Alejandro Amenabar, The Others cements him in my mind as one of the classiest directors of today. His previous works, Thesis and Open Your Eyes, demonstrated Amenabar's ability to use images and sounds to unease an audience and keep you hooked until the last frame. Differing in feel and appearance to Thesis and Open Your Eyes, it is again the style of The Others that is the movie's strongest point. It is a return to the classic techniques of Hitchcock and Wise rather than the easy approach taken by today's directors of slasher and gore fests. The cast is superb, with this being Nicole's finest hour to date. You can feel the tension in her performance and her obsession for her children oozes through every scene. Both Alakina Mann and James Bentley are believeable and convincing as the children with the house and scenery almost characters in their own right. The DVD (2 discs)comes with some wonderful features including an overview of Amenabar's work today. We can only hope the Spaniard Amenabar stays true to his craft and continues to direct films such as The Others. It is a true spine tingler - unnerving, elegant, self assured and destined to be a classic.
Rating: Summary: Not just another Sixth Sense Review: A few weeks ago, while browsing through DVDs, I overheard a store clerk dissuading a customer from purchasing The Others because it was just another Sixth Sense. What a pity! I found The Others to be much more enjoyable than "Sense", much like an old tapestry with so many subtle colors and layers. The performances are extraordinary, headed by Nicole Kidman as the mother. At first and unsympathetic character due to her stifling austerity and rigid religiousity, she gradually and subtley transforms into a poignant, lonely and vulnerable young mother awaiting her husband's return from the war. The two children, Nicholas and Anne are wonderful.Alakina Mann as Anne is stubborn and somewhat rebellious, constantly tormenting her younger and terribly insecure little brother played by James Bentley. The caretakers, especially Ms. Mills, played by Fionnula Flanagan dispaly such subtelty that the slightest nuance can change seemingly begninity into cold calculaing malice. Only at that end do we learn who they are and what they want. It IS somewhat of a demanding and somewhat sophistacated movie, heavily atmospheric and claustrophobic, but a terrific denouement makes it all worth it, and make it more enjoyable over repeated viewings.
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