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Summary: The Aspirations of a Hawk
Review: "Under it my genius is rebuked" - William Shakespeare: MACBETH: Act III, Scene 1 When Bruce Willis' 1991 film, HUDSON HAWK, opened to poor reviews and a small box-office take, it was due largely to the fact that audiences were expecting another DIE HARD - another slam-bang Summer action-fest - and were not prepared for the sophistication required to comprehend (let alone enjoy) the twisting account of Eddie "The Hawk" Hawkins' quest for his own Holy Grail. Just as Dickens was originally considered the equivalent of modern-day pulp fiction, so too was HUDSON HAWK initially scorned (if not overlooked entirely!). And again, just as Dickens eventually gained recognition for his skills in story-crafting, so too is HUDSON HAWK; slowly coming to be know as a well-crafted tale employing several great and classic themes of our culture and its literature. Eddie's tale begins when after years of exclusion from society, he finally returns and begins the search for the one thing that society has that can make him whole again: a cappuccino. Many audiences, at first blush, will not catch this detail and hence, lose all understanding of the film's purpose. Now this cappuccino is metaphorical and indicative of something in all our lives - it is that thing (different for each of us) for which we yearn with an unquenchable longing; and so, a simple caffeinated beverage is a perfect device, for anything less material or more important would dilute this sense of metaphor. Just as in all classic works, a great many obstacles arise to thwart this protagonist in his quest for his true desire. Whereas some of these obstacles are larger than life (a couple of would-be world conquerors) and directly assault him to keep him from his destined prize, others (a love interest) work through subtlety and quietly distract him from his path. These are both classic story-telling techniques: Odysseus had his Cyclops and Alec Leamas had his Liz. The key interest, though, is that HUDSON HAWK is careful to make the point that while some obstacles must be done away with entirely, others can be drawn into a sort of cohesion with the prize and they are never necessarily mutually exclusive. Besides the use of classical themes of the culture, HUDSON HAWK demonstrates a wonderful talent at character exposition and utilizes traditional literary devices - the most notable of which is the absolutely blatant use of a 'deus ex machina' ending. All said, if film (as I've long maintained) is in fact the literature of the modem culture, HUDSON HAWK stands as a bastion of innovative literary quality.
Rating: 
Summary: If you can develop your own opinion.....
Review: Only a mindless lemming would not admit to liking this movie (or someone who only likes depressing, boring movies). Witty humor, great sight gags, excellent dialogue and a chemistry between Bruce and Danny that is ...well...fun. A great musical comedy masterpiece. Bruce Willis, I wish you would write/create a sequel just to urk the critics. I would go to the theater to see it.
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Summary: This Movie is the Reason You Need to Ignore Critics
Review: Plain and simple: it's funny. Maybe not refined funny or artsy-fartsy funny, but workingclass yuks abound. Three reasons to see this film: 1) Sandra Berndhard ("Bunny! Ba-ba!) 2) "Swinging on a Star" 3) Sandra Bernhard covered in molten gold 4) I know I said 3, but the whole secret Vatican spy network is a hoot. This, and other movies I have throughly enjoyed over the years, is why I only take critics advice with a grain of salt. Nyah.
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Summary: Skipping rocks
Review: So what I'm seeing here is this: the "professional" critics hated this movie-- berated and slandered it to the masses and to this day chuckle at its mere mention. It is categorically rated as one of the worst movies of all times. But the actual PEOPLE who watch it? They LOVE it! I used to watch this over and over again on VHS, back when it first came out. That was years ago, but I can still remember every scene. The music was terrific, the style was incredible... this was a classic, and it got reamed. Why? Because the critics are paid to look at a movie, determine whether it fits the "formula" and bash or praise it. I think that Bruce Willis himself summed it up best. When faced with the overwhelming criticism of the film, he replied, "Hey, I've made enough money that I could sit by a lake and skip rocks for the rest of my life and still be happy." As for me, "Hudson Hawk" was one of the biggest influences on my own writing. Great job, Bruce! You have a fan for life.
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Summary: Entertainment not art.
Review: The critics hated it - who cares?! These same critics think "Ghandi" is one of the best things to happen to film which just goes to show you what they know. This move is about fun and entertainment and is not meant to be scrutinized, analyzed or otherwise -ized. Watch and enjoy.
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Summary: Oh, the Pope warned me never to trust the CIA!
Review: First let me say that this movie gets slammed way to hard by everyone. Not just Movie Critics, but by the common people too, even me. take this example for instance. I have "With Nails : The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant" in my bookshelf, and my housemate at the time was checking out my room because he just moved in. He saw the book and we started talking about the movies Richard has done, then Hudson Hawk came up. I shot it down and talked about how it "borrowed" from John Woo's "Once a Thief". But I was perplexed as to why there is someone with somewhat good taste praising this movie. I rented it and saw it for a second time, and I loved it. So you should do the same. It's about a world famous cat burglar (as if there was any other kind) played by Bruce Willis in one of his best roles. He goes by Hudson Hawk and is just getting done with his prison time. The Hawk meets up with his old buddy (the annoying Danny Aiello who I will try not to bring up anymore in this review) and makes an attempt at leading a normal life. But alas he is pulled back into "the life" for one more crime. To steal a work of art that is about to be auctioned off. He and his buddy (ugh) pull it off, and life goes on. But looking at the paper, it's as though the theft never happened, so the Hawk goes to the auction and we meet Andie McDowell (How come she and Danny get jobs in Hollywood and I don't? I'm better looking and have more character and charisma than them, but then so do rocks), and we meet the Mayflowers as well (Richard E Grant and Sandra Bernhart in their best roles ever) and after that hilarity ensues. We meet some crazy CIA operatives, the pope watching Mr Ed, Lee Marvin as a rogue CIA agent, a butler that would give Oddjob a run for his money, some great song and dance routines, and a few twists before twists became trendy. I know that you have some little part of you that wants to see this, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten this far in the review. It's written and directed by the same guy that brought you Heathers, so you know it's smart and witty, unlike most the other movies Bruce did through the early and mid 90's, anyone remember Striking Distance? Richard E Grant (buy his book) is great as always and so is Sandra. The only downside is Danny and Andie are in it. Maybe the producer owed them a favor or lost a bet. Who knows? If you watch it again and hate it, let me know, my email address is on this website if you see more about me. But I know if you give it a second chance you'll end up loving it (if you don't already)
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Summary: "Veja Du" - something you wish never did happen!
Review: I recently met a couple of friends for dinner and somehow we all found ourselves discussing movies. Best movie of all times, worst movie of all times and so on and so forth. Then I said: "here's the most misunderstood movie of all times: Hudson Hawk". One of the other guys immediately replied with: "Yeah! You definitely misunderstood it if you still call it a movie" and then continued to mention that it was, in his opinion, one of the worst movies ever made. Well, I think it is a great movie. It is one of the best action-adventure spoofs ever made, parodying and messing up virtually every convention ever established in this genre... or story telling in general. The relatively insignificant mess of a plot is only a place-holder for the incredibly witty script and slapstic comedy. If you look at it for what it is, there's really not a lot to dislike about Hudson Hawk. It's a very funny, superbly directed and very well acted piece of... well... nonsense. The DVD contains a very nice, tounge in cheek, commentary track by director Michael Lehman who seems to have handled all the criticism and bad publicitly rather well. He definitely acknowledges the fact that this movie was a badly marketed and grossly misunderstood joke... yet "it was very successful in Europe" (what can I say, the Europeans obviously know better). The bottom line is this: if you like action scenes, witty dialogs and cool special effects all wrapped up in a completely non-sensical plot, this movie is definitely for you!
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Summary: Most Underated Movie of All Time
Review: I first saw this movie when it first came out on video. I fellin love with it instantly. Due to poor reviews, the movie flopped. Iagree with most of these reviews, the movie is not for everyone. Youjust can't take the movie seriously. The movie seems to mock itselfat many points. This is one of my favorite movies. This is the bestmovie that nobody has heard of.
Rating: 
Summary: hideous
Review: Okay Mr. Willis, how many aliases and separate e-mail accounts do you have? You sure are clever to leave so many positive reviews of "Hudson Garbage" on this site. But Bruce, this movie is a blatant Bruce Willis self-love fest. So stop trying to get people to see this Bruce Willis tripe. Because only people who would enjoy watching an ego-maniac worship himself in the mirror for an hour and a half would like this Bruce Willis brain-dead, witless, predictable, monotone, waste of perfectly good video tape. Some say the jokes in "Hudson Garbage" are too deep for everybody to understand and appreciate. I say the so-called humor can be seen from a mile out and it still isn't funny when it arrives. And by the way Bruce, calling this epic waste of time "camp" is a viscous attack on lovers of camp everywhere.
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Summary: Amazon Editorial Review is totally wrong!
Review: This was a cool movie with some fun stuff that obviously the reviewer didn't get. Most of the art and music references probably went over the heads of many Bruce Willis fans and (presumably) reviewers.
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