Rating: 
Summary: Impressive film!
Review: "Witness" is defineately one of the greatest thriller/romance movies ever made. Directed by Peter Weir, the plot concerns a yuong Amish boy (Lukas Haas) who witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station bathroom while traveling to the city with his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis in her best performance). Detective John Book (Harrison Ford) is assigned to the case, and quickly discovers that a corrupt narcotics cop (Danny Glover) is the killer. After a close shave, Book, Rachel, and her son escape to Amish country, where Book hides out as an Amish farmer--while also protecting the witness and his mother.
Of course, at the end there is one whopper of a scene when the corrupt cop & friends discover Book's safehouse.
"Witness" received several Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and won for Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound, and Film Editing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so hot
Review: A big city cop (Harrison Ford) is charged with protecting an Amish woman (Kelly McGillis) and her son (Lukas Haas)--naturally, the sparks fly. Can anyone say "high concept"? I was far less impressed with this film than most people were, although I would not say that it is a bad movie. It is somewhat slow and obvious, and McGillis's character, Rachel, never behaves believeably as an Amish woman. She is much too quick to dance and squeal with Ford in the barn, not to mention the scene in which she exposes her naked body to him, inviting him to fornicate with her right there in her father's house. It entertained me, but I have no desire to see it again.
Rating:
Summary: Witness
Review: I love this movie. I have seen it at least 10 times. Harrison Ford is my all-time favorite actor, and he is impressive as the investigator in the plot. This movie has lots of information about the Amish way of life. It is presented in a way that is fascinating, yet factual. The songs of the 60's-ah, so good! "What a Wonderful World It Would Be." Done by Ford in his own inimical way, brings the romance out in a person!
This is another DVD, however, with no sub-titles, which was extremely disappointing, as that was why I had bought DVD, not VHS.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT MOVIE - POOR DVD TRANSFER
Review: I own the VHS copy of this movie and it is one of my favorite Harrison Ford movie roles. So I was so glad to see it offered in the DVD format - unfortunately when I received my copy I was extremely disappointed. The transfer was grainy and too dark in places. The extras were few. I was surprised that Paramount - who usually does a good job - offered such poor quality. I would not advise you to purchase this - keep your VHS tape - it's a better quality. Hopefully Paramount will take a second look and redo this. I sent them an email complaint - hopefully they will give it some attention.
Rating:
Summary: Harrison-sama was ROBBED of an Oscar!!!!!
Review: I am deeply upset. Harrison-sama was nominated for Best Actor for this movie-and he LOST. Oh my God! He LOST! No, not LOST, ROBBED! Oh my God, ROBBED!!! I think it's time ofr a comeback. Okay. 'nuff babbling my opinions on this movie: It's simply, ahh, romantic, charming, action-packed and an edge of you seat thriller! Man, this is one of the top 10 best Harrison Ford movies. Expect the ending complety distrubed me. But, oh well. It's still a good movie, man!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and heartwarming
Review: A nearly forgotten gem with a beautiful score. They don't make 'em like this anymore. And if they did, people wouldn't watch it. No aliens and not one single explosion. Witness is a love story, of sorts, and a compare/contrast of two very different cultures. Harrison Ford is better remembered as Indiana Jones and Han Solo but did some of his best acting as John Book, a Philadelphia police detective. A little Amish boy (Lukas Haas) witnesses a cop's brutal murder in the Philadelphia train station. John Book handles the case. He has to juggle the jittery Amish mother, Rachel Lapp, played wonderfully by Kelly McGillis, while working with the wide-eyed boy to identify the killers. Things get out of hand and Book is forced to flee the city and attempt to return his charges to their farm where, if he has the records destroyed, the Amish, in their decidedly unmodern setting, are untraceable. He is unable to leave the farm, however, and this is where the film really takes off. Book and Rachel grow closer. But her insular Amish world with its peaceful farmers and strict religious and moral codes clash with the technology and violence of his "English" world. The Amish see the intrusion of the outside world as an insult. The outside world sees the Amish as quaint and strange; to be gawked at like circus freaks. John Book is very rough around the edges but also a very kind man. The Amish who initially fear and distrust him come to appreciate and like him, though they would still rather he be in his own world and not theirs. The kindness he shows the boy is sweet and genuine. Rachel Lapp is modest and disapproving but kind and spirited. She lightens up and begins to see this violent policeman as just a man. Both cultures are realistically portrayed and the farmland is beautiful. The Amish are very kindly and fairly portrayed as people who are a close knit community: deeply moral, plain, peaceful, spiritual and close to the land. A beautiful movie with very simple and kind messages. Witness is more about what different people have in common than their differences.
Rating:
Summary: To tell you the truth..
Review: this is a pretty average film, Although Harrison pretty much carries the movie with his good acting. That's about it.
Rating:
Summary: Ford's Best Preformance...A Classic
Review: Why didn't Harrison Ford win an Oscar for this movie? He gives a performance that is still the best of his career, he is surprisingly...emotional. Near the end, anyway. Witness is a story about many different things, and suceeds in nearly all of them. Young Amish boy Samuel Lapp is the witness to a grisly murder, and immediately becomes crucial to the investigation to find the killers, headed by veteran police officer John Book. It doesn't take Book long to figure out that there's a conspiracy in the Philadelphia Police Department, a conspiracy to sell drugs above the law. Book gets into a gunfight, then skips town to save himself, Samuel and his mother, Rachel, a widow. As the story progresses, John and Rachel become attracted to each other, which leads to lots of tension because of the Amish angle. You wonder if one will abandon their life to join the other. This tension is part of what makes the movie great. There's humor, although a little more would not have been out of line, and there's plenty of excitement when the crooked cops return to silence Book once and for all. Sure, the ending is pretty disappointing, and there are some goofs, like some of the other reviewers have mentioned (I honestly didn't notice them until I looked for them), and this movie has a defininte eighties feel, with those wonderful synthesizers that you remember (or are unable to forget, as is my case), but this is the best film of Ford's career, he was nominated for an Oscar, and he should have won it in my opinion. The DVD, however, offers little, just a commentary by Weir and decent sound and picture. Still, worth buying on its merit alone. I've seen this movie a dozen times, and I think its great.
Rating: 
Summary: The Witness
Review: I must say the I did indeed enjoy the Witness. The movie was well thought out and showed the strugle of Good and Evil thru out the whole movie. The sene after Harrison Ford walks in on the amish wideow, and saies "if we had made love Eaither you would have to leave or I would have to stay. And neither of us could stand doing that to the other.". That more than anything showed how this man ,hat the amish thought of as first as one of the evil english, was indeed a good man and cop. When Harrison Ford punched the face of that Jerk in Town I stood up and said yeah kiss his ass.
Rating:
Summary: Harrison Ford's best movie--even better than Star Wars!
Review: Witness is a great movie. Harrison Ford protects a young Amish boy who's also a murder witness, and he also protects the boy's mother. Top-notch performances by Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The suspense is awesome! A perfect 5.
I only wish the MPAA developed rating reasons when they developed movie ratings. Witness is rated R, for some graphic violence, explicit language, and nudity. Not for preteens.
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