Rating: 
Summary: Innovative - undoubtedly; dramatic? - read on
Review: So Citizen Kane is, like, you know, the greatest film ever, considering it was made in 1941 and wow, they didn't have lasers then and stuff. And not even colour.OK, I must admit that I am a bit too angry to be able to review this film coherently, and I am only writing this to support the excellent review from Blacksburg, which sums it all up. However, I do have one coherent point to make, and it is this - as a member of the Star Wars generation (I actually prefer the Indiana Jones series), and a lover of all the fun and the frolics of eighties and nineties films, I nevertheless am aware that great stories have been told for quite a while. Production techniques in all media are going to keep improving, and one day film as we watch it now will be outdated by something I do not want to speculate about. On that day, only the truly enjoyable films, the well-told stories with great acting, tense drama, riveting humour and electric pace, whether super-quick or super-slow, will survive. No one will care about the techniques apart from the scholars, and even they will only feign interest. And I tell you, Citizen Kane will be among the forefront of those that survive - Welles' direction, and his acting, are truly supreme. I understand a bit about it having directed and acted myself, though never at the same time - and I cannot work out how he did it so well. Oh yeah, he produced the film too, but hey - why quibble over the minor points. This was his film, and not only did he conceive this great work of art, he realised it by getting great actors (as he says - vaguely - in the beginning - "I'm only going to say this actor's name once - after this film, you'll be repeating it over and over") and making them interact beautifully. And as for the artistic aspects of this film - well, he managed to create one of the very few films I have ever seen which are a pleasure to watch once, and then a joy to watch over and over, study in minute detail, and relish. Ignore my intro - that is the angry young man. If you have not watched this ever, all I am trying to say to you is that Citizen Kane is a condensed epic - not as long as Gone With the Wind by any stretch of the imagination, not as expensive as Waterworld...it is simply beautiful, the highest compliment I can bestow on a work of art. Perhaps such beauty is difficult to enjoy sometimes - but then again, patience is a virtue which arguably reaps more rewards than any other. Greatest? -let's just leave it at beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Elegantly done
Review: I'm 15 years old. Maybe that means my opinion "doesn't count." However, I thought the movie was beautiful. It was very psychological, and for that reason I think a lot of people were bored. I don't blame those of you who felt the movie was boring. American pop culture is fascinated by digitized action scenes and computerized special effects. I personally love them as well. But this movie is truly ahead of its time. I know this has been said hundreds of times, but the camera angles and innovative filming were truly astonishing, especially for the time period. I loved the way Welles showed weaker characters looking up at the camera, while stronger characters (such as Kane himself) looked down at the camera. It was subtle manipulation of the audience, and I thought it was brilliant. This movie is not for everyone, but I think those who did not like the movie at least respected it. It truly is the greatest movie of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: I finally know what people were talking about!
Review: My last semester of college, I took a film class. One of the last films we examined was Citizen Kane. I had always heard the hype that it was "the best film ever made". However, I was in doubt, in fact, I almost skipped the night we watched it. I'm so glad I didn't. Orson Welles techniques in this film are so unlike any others used in movies at the time. His editing choices are wonderful, and I found the story to be very interesting. In the story, you follow the man from his childhood, to his death. We see a man who has all the material belongings in the world, but is never happy. I found the story to be entertaining, and the filmwork magnificent. I don't know if it's the best movie ever made, but I definately think it was innovative in its' time, and still holds up today.
Rating:
Summary: No Jar Jar Binks!
Review: With all due respect for the reviewer from New York (April 11, 2000) who found Citizen Kane boring, may I suggest a flickering white light, that sits two inches away from your eyeballs. This will stimulate the nerves in your retina that have obviously been deadened by episodes of "the worlds greatest car chases." Although you may wish to rather view the nightly news for more relevant stimuli, the notion that the "Rosebud" plot of Citizen Kane is boring and been done, is well taken. However, I must confess igonorance to the subject. Might this poor player of a movie, be an original or dare I venture, an innovator of such a genre? While someone might indeed be able to find such filmmaking techniques in "A complete Idiots Guide to Filmmaking" as you suggest, I wonder whether those classic books were available at that time, and why no modern filmmaker has seen fit to read them, as is evidenced by the poorly shot, and poor plot films we are subject to today. I saw Citizen Kane recently, and though dissapointed there were no visable explosions or gratuitous violence, was entertained to the point of thought and retrospection. The story in the film was not a special effect (a departure I found unnerving) but rather a person, and the circumstance of fame. The filmmaking you mention as simple, did look pedestrian compared to the computer graphics we see today, and one can only wonder why they were once described as revolutionary. I mean we see those shots in film all the time today, so what was so special? Despite it's obvious flaws, the film remains probably the greatest ever. It's just a shame, they didn't have computer generation technology back then. It would've made the story of remembering one's innocence that much more compelling. Maybe with a character like Jar Jar, I would've felt his pain. As the reviewer from New York rightly states, this whole Rosebudgate has been done with better flair with Watergate, Irangate, and Monicagate. I mean, couldn't Mr. Welles have learned from the sensationalism of the Watergate affair to make a better movie? I guess we will never know. At least we have the nightly news, and Monica Lewinksy to provide us with great theater.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best? It's not even a good movie!
Review: Every time I see this boring film, I feel I really wanna get out of it. It's dark, long, and tedious. I think they try hard to make people think it's a masterpiece but it is not actually! If you wanna see this film because you are convinced by those critics voting it for the best film ever, you will find yourself deceived later I warn you.
Rating: 
Summary: IT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE TEST OF TIME..
Review: Although good, this picture didn't survive the test of time. Most of Chaplin's movies, for example, are much, much better, with direct and relevant points of view being clearly exposed.
Rating: 
Summary: Long and booooooooorrrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg!
Review: The movie starts off interestingly enough. A mysterious personin a dark, shadowy room whispers "rosebud" and drops a glassglobe to the floor. But it takes more than lighting, cinematography, atmosphere and camera angles to make a great movie. Orson Welles knows this too so he uses an intriguing question to hold the attention of the audience. "Who or what is rosebud?" But the movie bored me into such numbness towards the end that I didn't even care. The supporting characters in the movie from Kane's newspaper acted like this was a huge news story like it was Rosebudgate or something (capitalizing on someone's untimely death is obviously not a new phenomenon). But I'd actually rather watch the news (or an episode of Cops) because Watergate, Irangate, Monicagate, and now Eliangate make better dramas. I'd put Citizen Kane on the level of Filegate, because my reaction was the same: "Who cares?" "So what?" "Whatever." "Next." "Rosebud" is supposed to be this revelation that resolves all of the drama in the movie much like the whispered "Kaiser Soze" in the Usual Suspects and "Rollo Tomasi" in LA Confidential. Apparently, the purpose of the whispered "Rosebud" is to explain how the main character became such a bent and pathetic man as a result of early childhood trauma. Those who enjoy the technical aspects of filmaking will enjoy Citizen Kane (but you could also read a Complete Idiot's Guide to Filmaking). Those who enjoy intriguing drama with interesting plots should watch Chinatown. It is way better. AFI, you've got to be kidding!
Rating:
Summary: the POINT of the movie recieves 5 stars
Review: I really love this movie not because of its cinematography, not because of its acting, not because of its soaring plot, but because of the POINT of the movie. The POINT that this movie brings up has never and, it seems, will never be handled in such a perfect manner. The viewer never meets Kane, the people never meet Kane, and worst of all, Kane's friends and lovers never meet Kane. He exists as a compilation of his many selves he projects and of the many selves his close-ones percieve. A man can never be summed up in one movie, paragraph, or even one word. "Rosebud" is one of the most recognized words in movie history. I almost gave the movie 4 stars because it reveals the meaning of the word at the end and in a way strikes down what the movie stands for and reveals to the movie watcher the real Kane: a sad, tortured individual longing for the love he lost as a child. BUT, the movie's POINT still stands and WOW if this movie doesn't deliver its POINT! 5 stars - SEE IT!
Rating:
Summary: This movie blows!
Review: This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I can't tell you enough how much it disgusts me when I hear these "Hollywood Buffs" saying that this is the greatest movie of all time. What a joke, get a clue! Camera angles and "deep focus photograpy" don't make a movie good. The plot is what makes a movie good, and the plot to Citizen Kane was absolutely terrible. If you want to know what the best movie of all time is, it's Top Gun.
Rating:
Summary: truly boring
Review: i cannot agree more with the previous viewer from moscow. this is truly a boring movie.. i was shocked that this was voted afi number one movie. i have seen this movie twice in my life and could barely make it thru. i guess i just don't get it.. but i have never agreed with the hollywood elites that vote on this kind of thing... how this film ranks number 1 and gone with the wind ranks number four is beyond me... are you crazy?
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