Rating: Summary: Nice setting and first half, but stupid ending.morelike 2.5* Review: I just saw the film, and I thought that it started off great with the bullying techniques of the locals. That was very true to life, since some of us might be in the same sort of situation. HOwever, the final confrontation was pathetic in the least. I really don't care much for peckinpah's action style, and it failed me even more here. The setting was great though, being in the northern part of England i suppose. I guess you should read the book if you enjoy the movie, they're always better, and adaptations are fairly easy and anemic in comparison. The film also dragged and is very aged. The actress did a perfect acting job though. Dustin was NOT the correct actor for the job though. I mean, the timid to kickass change was stupid, and there was no way he could keep 5 men out his house IRL.
Rating: Summary: Powerful excersize in isolationism Review: Straw Dogs is one of those movies that "affects" you. I saw this movie on the rack and realized it was a Dustin Hoffman movie I hadn't seen, so I grabbed it. I had no idea what I was getting into. I beleive that it was Peckinpa who directed the Wild Bunch, so I knew it would be edgy, but I was simply unprepared for what was to follow. This movie is riveting in its portrayal of an American mathematician who has recently moved to a small town on the Irish moors. He lives there with his pretty wife in a beautiful home. They hire a few locals to build a garage for them when the trouble starts. I won't tell you any more than that. Let me just say that I was furious and screaming at the TV! I had to keep scooting back onto the couch because I was literally falling off the edge of it! See this movie for the powerful message, but be warned it is not for the meek. It will upset you, I can guarantee it, but I think you will have no choice but to be awed by the performances in this dark tale.
Rating: Summary: very pregudiced against farmers Review: I did'nt think this film was particularly violent, but it was the rape scene that was more disturbing. It portrays English people as being sex mad violent Norfolk famers, and I love the film all the more for it. I think Hoffman was a bit to passive towards the end, and the laughs of that scrawny fella started to annoy me. But apart from that the film was very good, not as good as Taxi Driver however. The picture qualtiy is slightly dodgy im places but is moslty very crisp. It would've been nice for them to include the trailer though.
Rating: Summary: NATURAL BORN KILLERS WASENT BANNED BUT THIS WAS Review: this movie plays like a pg-13 film. the violence is just as cutting edge as a butter knife. The acting is about as stale as a 3 week old loaf of bread. but the brilliance of the vision sam P. has is phenomenal enough to recommend a truly over hyped "banned" film.so what if it isent as you'd expect from reading all the crap on the cover, its mostly building up to the last 40 minutes of the film which is more then worth the wait. Dustin Hoffman I'm sorry to say, sucked real bad. he had no flow for his character. he just sort of kicked back and coasted throughout the movie. very sorry to see that from such a talented actor all in all this film had its moments. if your as dumb as me and bought the film before seeing it just cause it has a "banned in the uk" stamp on it then your not gonna be very happy. I wont deny its images of violence, other films have done it better but its all the same anyway. a medicore if less then average film. either see it or dont, it wont make a differance. its not an influencial film at all. its just a drawing of the horror of every day life.
Rating: Summary: I fail to see what the fuss was all about Review: Upon seeing this film on its rerelease, I fail to see what the all the fuss this movie generated was about. Shaky camerawork and the dimly lit foggy environments don't make the film any easier to watch. Hoffman's performance is subdued and reserved and too easily overpowered by the villains' over the top performances. Definately not one of Peckinpah's best, although the film's violence does bear his distinct style.
Rating: Summary: One of the finest films by Sam Peckinpah Review: This is some film! The beginning and middle portions beautifully build up to the brutal and unforgetable finale. Dustin Hoffman's performance as a man who has been forced into violence is excellent. While his enemies use rocks, rats, guns, knives,fire, and the encouragment + influence of alcohol to kill him and his wife, Hoffman's character uses his wits to defeat them all. Peckinpah's use of the lonely, misty landscape and slow-motion photography add to the films tension and power. Very well done and highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: exactly what is all the fuss about? Review: I watched this movie after the case talked about how violent and controversial this film was, but what the heck? Peckinpah uses slow motion to express the violence, but it don't make it any more disturbing. I read a review saying it was more overboard then his earlier classic, The Wild Bunch, but, by all means, the bullet in the back of the head overpowers all the violence in this film by far. Good film, but far over-fussed.
Rating: Summary: Peckinpah. Review: "Bad Sam" once gave an interview in which he touched on pacifism. He said that pacifism was the highest form of manliness. But he also said that you couldn't let people come up and cut off your hands if you wanted to keep playing the piano. The anti-gun crowd needs to watch this film and imagine perhaps a different sort of ending, one in which Hoffman's character did not resort to the shotgun. Overall, the movie is kind of draggy up until the end, but Peckinpah makes his point along the way. He does set the stage for the end.
Rating: Summary: thoroughly not boring. Review: How could some of these customers consider this unremettingly gripping tale about a bashful mathematician forced into violent circumstances undeniably boring, even for the first half? Sam Peckinpah's previous classic "The Wild Bunch" easily had the slow spots, but nonetheless turned out to be a great movie."Straw Dogs" also demonstrates Dustin Hoffman's knack for creating believable characters. Alike Quentin Tarantino, I rank "Straw Dogs" among my favorite of all Hoffman and Peckinpah films combined.
Rating: Summary: A timeless movie. Review: The reason that this movie was boring in the beginning was to show what a normal guy Dustin Hoffman was. The next half shows what he is like under threataning circumstances. This is a very good movie that effectively shows the duality of man and his instinct to respond with violence when threatened. This is very poignant today due to the recent outbursts of high school violence and what people will do when they are pushed. Well worth a watch.
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