Rating: Summary: Bad marketing Review: I thought it would be a huge martial arts movie. There were some key fight scenes that played out well. Then, when the movie opened, I though maybe it'll be a horror movie. Some horror scenes were great too. Those looking for those things probably wouldn't enjoy this too much. What ended up dominating the movie was a love story and a metaphor for revolution, and a bunch of deaths that weren't really deaths or resurrections or I don't know.... Also, it took an hour and 28 minutes for our first real look at the wolf. The beatifully shot French countryside was a definite plus, but too many elements muddled the picture.
Rating: Summary: brotherhood of the wolf Review: I have not seen it yet but I am a big mystery/legend person who gets pulled into a movie. I already know from reading the reveiws that I will enjoy this film. Even though I have to travel 5 hours and stay overnight in another city/town in Alaska, I am more than willing to go by my self on my snowmobile. If I am willing to do this, I think that YOU should be willing to see it. Some thearters have the movie in subtitles and some have it dubed into english. So do not delay, see it as soon as you can.
Rating: Summary: Enchanted by the Wolf Review: Spellbound is an appropriate title for this previously skeptical viewer. In the past I have steered clear of movies with sub-titles feeling I missed much of the body language of the film trying to read what was being said. Brotherhood of the Wolf has perhaps changed my opinion of sub-titled foreign films forever. From the very beginning to the very end it did not fail in any aspect of it's quest to entwine one in it's delicious tale of 18th Century France and the legend of the beast. With a enchanting love story, plenty of action, a historical plot with new twists, and very realistic spell effects, not to mention the breathtaking presence of Mark Dacascos as a Iroquois warrior/priest, Brotherhood of the Wolf to this viewer was as entertaining as Lords of the Ring. And contrary to the Editorial Review - it is Chrisopher Lambert who takes a poor second to Samuel Le Bihan in every aspect. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: Superb DVD Review: The director that brought us the substandard live-action adaption of the comic book "Crying Freeman" steps up to the plate and delivers a beautiful cinematography, interesting plot, good acting, detailed sets and a movie like none before. The combination of fast-paced action including martial arts sequences, elements of horror, set in France centuries ago, makes for an interesting movie.This is European cinema at its best, delivering on both the artsy-fartsy and the commercial tip. Now on wide release in theaters (Feb 2002). However, for the DVD collecting freaks who can't wait to replace their SVCDs downloaded from IRC, head over to http://www.amazon.fr. There is not only the double disc edition of Brotherhood of the Wolves but also the 3-disc (!) edition for fans of this excellent film. Euro DVDs are region 2 and PAL so you need a DVD player and TV combo that can handle these requirements.
Rating: Summary: Great; lacked French baton fighting though. Review: Every film has its good and bad points, and this was no exception. However, the beautiful cinematography, direction and performances, all compensated for its minor flaws. I really enjoyed this film, but I am a stick-fighting enthusiast and was really disappointed at the lack of French Cane and Baton fighting. The commercials made it look as though it were a martial arts movie with French stick-fencing bouts taking place every few moments, and this was not the case. There is a brief baton encounter in the start of the film and the fight scenes were, overall, good, but a French director, filming a French film about an actual event in French history, really should have known that a French "special investigator" of the time would have been schooled in French martial arts, (even if, by chance, he had been schooled in those of the Mohawk nation as well). It's still a great film, but a great opportunity was missed to display genuine French martial arts.
Rating: Summary: Crap Review: This movie started off on a promising note. The photography was lush and beatiful and I thought I was about to watch an old French tale unwind. As it was, it was an hour too long and the story completed drifted from the original plot and became utterly ridiculous. I found myself laughing at scenes that were meant to be serious and foreboding. It just didn't make sense.
Rating: Summary: GRRR!!! Review: I think it's safe to say that this is the best French-language/period-piece/costume-drama/kung fu/werewolf movie ever made. This film has been a big hit in Europe for some time so I've been anticipating it for a while. I'd heard it would be this year's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Well, truth be told, it's not in the same league with the Ang Lee film, but that was an unfair comparison to make. The Brotherhood is what it is - namely fun and scary - and doesn't make any pretensions of being anything else. The very outlandishness of the story is its primary virtue: it IS a Kung Fu film, AND a monster movie. Once you accept the premise, just sit back, enjoy the ride, and don't ask any questions (i.e., "Did everyone in pre-Revolutionary France really know Wu Shu?") Fortunately, we are now in an age when computer-generated images are accessible enough that European cinema can afford them (see Amelie). Since Hollywood of late seems to be creatively bankrupt, we now need to look to Europe to do things other than just blow stuff up. The movie's main flaw is that it is paced a bit slow and it drags in places. Also, its basic premise and plot-twists make it seem Scooby Doo-ish in places. However there is enough imagery, nudity, horror, and violence to make up for it.
Rating: Summary: A movie trying to be what it isn't. Review: I decided to watch this movie because the trailer looked very interesting. The first few minutes into the movie were very well done and were really scary. The sound was crisp, the cinematography was luscious, and the first murder scene was very suspenseful and brutal. But then, things kind of went downhill from there. My impression is that the movie was trying to be something that it wasn't -- a Crouching Tiger / Matrix / Angels and Insects / Titanic / Plot-Twisting epic. It just took pieces from different kinds of movies and put them all together. You know how in some Hong Kong / Bruce Lee martial arts movies, the good guy gets surrounded by all these goons who get their... kicked because they attacked him one at a time? There's about half a dozen of those scenes in the movie. The effects were also not very good. The fast-slow motion effect was very gratuitous and pointless in certain scenes (and that is really the ONLY "The Matrix" link to the movie). Even the effects for the movement of The Beast was cheap. It was very choppy and it made me think of bad computer animation. As for the plot, it didn't even twist. It was just a conglomerate of different ideas that hardly had anything to do with one another since there wasn't enough storyline or character development. It tried to be complex but the lack of creativity actually made things predictable. Lastly, the movie was so damn long - about two and a half excrutiating hours. I really considered leaving earlier (like some of the viewers) because it just keept going on and on. I suggest you wait for the video or watch a cheaper matinee in the afternoon. This movie was hyped up as if it was really good because in reality, it's quite bad.
Rating: Summary: just a horrible disapointment, really sucks Review: Really excruciating to sit through, I wanted to leave but the theater was packed. It ends like the cover of romance novel, fabio and all. I love Vincent Cassel, but why did he decide to be in this movie!? If you want a gory french flic done well, stay in and rent "The Crimson Rivers" if you have any smarts in you.
Rating: Summary: Awesome potential for Interpretation Review: This movie not only captivated my attention but also gave me something that no other movie has been able to provide for in about five years: an intriguing plot, **AWESOME** cinamatographty, and the formum for me to be able to read and interpret exceptionally executed metaphors and symbols as you would in a great book. Every scene made me wish that I could understand French so that I would not miss a single frame and I awaited every minute anxiously. ....
|