Rating: 
Summary: One of the best films ever made
Review: So emotionally raw that that watching this movie will exhaust you. Be prepared to live through a plane crash. Peter Weir is a genius.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer Excellence
Review: One of the greatest films ever made, hands down.
Delves deeper in philosophy and normal life than ever before.
Peter Weir makes very interesting films, all of which require some thinking and mental growth upon watching them.
Rating:
Summary: Peerless
Review: "Fearless" begins with one of the best opening sequences ever: a dishevelled man steps between rows of corn in a cornfield. In one arm he holds a baby, a young boy is holding his other hand. As he emerges from the corn onto an asphalt road, the camera pulls back to reveal what is in the field behind him... the smoking wreckage and human debris of a commercial airplane which has just crashed.With this memorable beginning, "Fearless" quickly establishes a tone of simple beauty, honesty, and pathos in the face of disaster and tragedy, a tone which is maintained through every single scene. Though the plot of the film is important, this is a movie about people more than about events. The characters are what carry "Fearless" to the end, and the changes they go through as the story progresses are what it's all about. The main character is the man we first saw in the cornfield. His name is Max Klein, and simply put, his world is turned upside down by the plane crash. Though he survived the crash (and in fact, as the audience learns, saved the lives of several others), he cannot accept the idea that he is still alive. He begins to experience his life as if he were an outsider to it. Something in him is changed, perhaps irrevocably so, and his journey is the main story of the film. Max is played flawlessly by Jeff Bridges, in perhaps the finest and most nuanced role of his career. Bridges has been good in many films, but in "Fearless" he truly outdid himself. The other actors in the film also turn in excellent performances, from Isabella Rosselini as Max's wife struggling to love the new Max as she did the old one, Rosie Perez as another crash survivor who lost her child in the crash, John Turturro as a psychologist who tries to help Max, and all-too brief appearances by Tom Hulce as a delightfully self-deprecating lawyer representing the crash victims. The acting in "Fearless" is of such quality that the audience can forget that it's acting, and just allow the performances to be real. Peter Weir's direction, always of high-quality, is honed to fine effect for "Fearless." As always, Weir uses some very powerful imagery to carry the story, but he walks the fine line of never allowing the images to overpower the story. Not a single image is there for its own sake, each shot helps to move the audience towards the conclusion. Weir's careful hand is evident throughout the film, but never moreso than in a stunningly moving plane crash sequence, in which the images have both metaphorical and literal meaning. The imagery of "Fearless" is subtle, but much of it is nonetheless unforgettable. The music chosen for "Fearless" could not have been better. Maurice Jarre's usual soft touch, an excellent match for Weir's visual style, is used here perfectly. As for the other music... from the Gypsy Kings' joyous "Sin Ella" to U2's striving "Where the Streets Have No Name" to Henryk Gorecki's rich and moving "Symphony No. 3," each piece is chosen for its effect as stand-alone music, and also for how it fits with the images and the plot at that point. The film's climax, set to the Gorecki piece, is greatly enhanced by the music, so much so that it's now nearly impossible to imagine one without the other. Sadly, it seems that yet another of my favorite films has been given the short shrift in terms of DVD presentation. Still, I simply cannot bring myself to give "Fearless" anything less than what it so richly deserves. There is no question that it is a five-star movie in my book, despite the fact that the DVD is disappointingly weak in terms of presentation. Shown in fullscreen "pan & scan" only, with fair picture quality and no extras to speak of, the DVD for such a fine film as "Fearless" deserves far better than this. As a film, however, "Fearless" has remained one of my favorites ever since I first saw it. In fact, whenever I'm listing my favorite movies, "Fearless" is the name that almost always pops out of my mouth first. If I have a single favorite movie, "Fearless" would have to be it. For its lyrical beauty, its unique, well-drawn characters, and for the way it brings me to breathless tears every time I watch it, there's simply no other film quite like it.
Rating:
Summary: If for no other reason...
Review: ...see this film for it's haunting score and the film's coda, which, in my opinion, has the most memorable plane crash sequence in film. Absolutely emotionally devastating. If you manage to ward off the wetworks, you're not human.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterful Drama
Review: This is an exceptionally poignant drama, with a truly powerful and emotionally moving script and fine performances from the cast. Jeff Bridges is superb, as always, as Max Klein, the architect who survived a plane crash and has to deal with the emotional effects that came with it. He has become a changed man; and this is what this intense character study is about: a man emotionally adrift and unable to reconnect with his old life.
Director Peter Weir has succeeds in giving us a powerful view of the human condition and a complex examination of the emotional depths of us humans ; a taxing psychological challenge that the viewer will have to take in order to profoundly understand this brilliantly moving work.
A highly recommended masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: I created the 3D graphics scene for nutty nicks
Review: So, obviously I am a bit biased. But this is a movie I have returned to several times over the years. The existential issues it raises are so universal that I think it will be relevant forever. Fantastic performance by Jeff Bridges. Early performance by one of my favorite actors, Benicio del Toro. I was working at Virtus Corporation in 1991 late on a Friday evening when I received a call from Suzanne Peck, the art designer for the film. At that time we were teaching our 3-D design software for Macintosh at the American Film Institue in LA. Peter Weir had heard about our software and was interested in having it for one of the scenes. I think that there was originally more background to a character named Nutty Nick. But I guess he was cut from the film. Suzanne asked me to create a 3D model of the Nutty Nick's project and save it as a real-time 3D model for Bridges and De Lancey (Q from Star Trek), playing partners in an architecural firm, to review in one scene on the plane. I created the model over the weekend and sent it to Paramount for shooting by Monday afternoon. I had forgotten all about it until I went to the movie two years later and saw my work on screen. I didn't make the connection because all of my correspondence with Weir and Suzanne had the movie titled "Joyride". This was one of the first examples of real-time 3-D "CAD" software in a motion picture. Get this movie and watch it on rainy afternoons. It will definitely give you some perspective on life.
Rating: 
Summary: really bad movie
Review: Not a very good movie. It was almost trying too hard to be meaningful, and the only thing it gave us to convey this deep meaning is the mile-long stare of Jeff Bridges. The movie got progressively more annoying the more I watched. I'm sorry, I really tried to like this movie. It is just BAD. I'll give it two stars simply because the last 5 minutes they FINALLY showed the actual plane crash, so we get some visual stimulation to see and feel what he went through. Maybe if I had been in a plane crash before this movie would have worked better.
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional film
Review: We just watched this film again the other night, and I was amazed at just how powerful it remains. There's nothing amiss here--Peter Weir has made one of his best films (from a great portfolio), and the actors have given extremely intense performances that make everything here work. Probably the most important aspect of the film, though, is the treatment of the fear of death and the difficulties involved in having "cheated" death. The movie makes us ask ourselves, "How would I feel if I survived something that should have killed me?", and of course, there really is no answer. How would I look at the world after surviving a plane crash? How petty and unimportant would all of my everyday trivia become? How difficult would it be to be around people who still found the trivia to be important? Max is faced with life after having cheated death, and life no longer makes as much sense to him now that his fear of death--his fear of losing things--is gone. The greatest strength of the film, though, is that it doesn't give us a condescending view of the trivial things that we see as important, but treats with respect those things that give meaning to our lives and help us to go on. And all this is accomplished in a very watchable way, with characters that we can care about and a story that keeps our interest with seemingly little effort. This is well worth the time it takes to watch it--several times. Hopefully, they'll release a widescreen version someday.
Rating: 
Summary: To survive surviving ...
Review: The jet is in a dive toward the earth. It is out of control and cannot be saved. Can anyone survive the impact? What if you were on the plane and fate brought you through? That is the drama - how to live with the reality that you lived while hundreds of others died. Jeff Bridges, as Max Klein, survives. Once the plane is grounded, he has the strength of mind to get others off the plane, and he is a hero. He does not feel like a hero, but rather like he cheated death. Yet, survival means he must take a complex journey to find his inner peace and equilibrium. He helps Rosie Perez (Carla), who was ripped apart by the knowledge that she was responsible for her infant son's death. His wife (Isabella Rossellini) cannot understand his emotions or his journey, and is alienated and jealous of the new friendship with Carla. Nothing shows the break with reality for survivors as well as this trio's relationship If you have ever experienced an event that, by all known logic should have killed you but did not, then this movie is for you. It is not easy living with the fatalistic view that "when it's time, it's time..." but for those of us who do; this movie is a revitalizing look at life. This is great drama, not a sugar coated action thriller, but a look at humanity.
Rating: 
Summary: full-screen format DVD - beware!
Review: Why they took this wonderful movie and only released it in full-screen format is beyond me! Forget the DVD - this film deserves better.
| 
