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Summary: One more Citizen Kane review
Review: Looks like there's about 130 reviews here, so I'm sure nobody will read this one.;) I just got finished watching Citizen Kane for the first time. I'd obviously heard of it many times as most people have, but I'd just never gotten around to seeing it. I already knew what Rosebud was, but that didn't seem to be as important to the movie as everyone makes it out to be.Unlike some of the adolescents here, I won't try to pretend that I know anything about the ins and outs of filmmaking. Even so, I can see how this movie would have been revolutionary. Welles was obviously very gifted, and I can't say that I've ever seen a film as thorughly UNIQUE in its approach and techniques, even with all the modern "technical wizardry" we've become accustomed to. Having said that, I had some pretty big problems with it. Even though it was made before I was born, and I'm not familiar with the era and climate in which it was made, it seems fairly obvious that Citizen Kane is a political diatribe, and that Welles' reputation as a genius probably had as much to do with his own opinion of himself as it did with anyone else's. Personally, I despise being forced to listen to someone else's political views for two hours. As we all know, opinions are like...everybody's got one, and they all stink. On top of that, I often found it hard to decide whether the raging egotism (bordering on megalomania) that I detected throughout the film was a product of the character Kane or if it was just Welles himself. Somehow I suspect the latter, and that doesn't make me want to say "great film". Nevertheless, I think that the importance of the film cannot be denied. There was rarely a frame that went by in which I didn't see some element that has been "paid homage" (ripped off) by a subsequent film. I guess I would say that I came away with an appreciation and respect for the film, but I'm not sure I can say I came away LIKING it. In the end, I think it may be more a triumph of technique (and ego) than one of art. The way I see it, there are two sides to any artistic creation- what you say, and how you say it. In terms of "how it was said" Citizen Kane gets not five, but ten stars in my opinion. However, in terms of what Welles had to say, I didn't find myself particularly caring.
Rating: 
Summary: Politics, real or imagined?
Review: A hard hitting story of the corrupting of a politician. The most original look at the time, of how power can mold the human nature. Black and white format only served to bring out the starkness of the drama.
Rating:
Summary: An Incomparable Film
Review: I do not remember how old I was when I first saw Welles's cinematic classic. For me, at the time, I initially couldn't make much out of the movie because upon seeing it, I was perhaps too young to understand fully the artist's narrative and stylistic intentions. All I can say is that no other Hollywood-made film has left such an impression for life on me as "Citizen Kane." It will always remain top drawer, so I champion it to people of all ages and future generations. Even today, as I watch it on occasion, I remain imbued with its freshness of thought and the perceptive and haunting approach to cinema created by the peerless Orson Welles.
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Summary: For the mindless MTV people and the Intellectual snobs
Review: NOT JUST 5 STARS - 6! This is was one of the greatest, most powerful movies I have ever seen. No wonder it has won so many awards and is agreed to be to the film of the century by critics. I saw it for my American Lit/History class, and I could only say a mature person could truly enjoy the film, understand its different meanings and symbolism. I can't even believe Orsen Wells was only 26 when it was made. The directing was awesome. The lighting is great, and the content keeps you interested all the way through. I was captivated by the mystery of Rosebud (and I'm proud to say I figured out what Rosebud was - I watched that episode of the Simpsons about Mr. Burns and Booboo...). Now I just HAVE to see more of Orsen Wells' films. A true film classic, it should be livened up some more people could see it or remade (oh I forgot, it doesn't have to be... Hollywood directors steal all the ideas of the old classics anyway). If I could give this powerful movie 6 stars, I would, I'm just sad that people can't appreciate great artistic, as well as historic films like this. It's also somewhat of a true story, based on Hearst and Pulitzer, historical rival newspaper editors. It was an epic story of a very rich old man that died unhappily and a captivated America who loved and hated him. People wanted to find out what his dying words, "Rosebud" meant. Live in this age, we may probably judge a film in a very different way, but to compare this film with Star Wars Series or Titanic or Saving Private Ryan, I can say only one thing: don't compare an art work to those commercial flyers. Those big hits, are just made for earning the viewer's money and tears, but I don't care what the heck they really are,cause Hollywood (Hollybooo) producers can only make worse than Citizen Kane. They have no standard of ciematogphy, and directing (some director I didn't include: Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Robins, Spike Lee, Clint Eastwood, Robert Alterman, and ....). This movie may not be the best of the American Film History, but it must be top ten. Let's see how many trashes the 100 great movies have. Star War Series? Jaws? Rocky? King Kong? Oh! geez! should I name more? If a film is worthy because of its visual effects, then the film artists should all face the Pacific and finish themselve with sorrow. And I will also feel embarrassed to who may think deep impact, godzilla, or scream are better than Citizn Kane. Some other recommended movies: And Then there Were None, The Great Gatsby, and The Shawshank Redemption.
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Summary: A rarity for American films
Review: Seldom, before or since, have American producers or directors been successful in tapping into the mutidimentionality of the human psyche. Welles, one of the great experimentors of American cinema, did so extravagantly with Citizen Kane. Though the politics of the day almost killed it, Welles left the world a tremendous legacy. The American film consumers of his day, as well as today, tend to prefer melodramatic morality plays in which there is a " good guy" and a " bad guy" in order that their personal sensibilities will not be upset. If your favorite film is STAR WARS, don't waste your time or emotions with Kane. But, if you are not bothered by the notion that the "good" and the "bad" may reside within the same character, by all means, treat yourself to this feast.
Rating: 
Summary: SPIKE STRIKES BACK
Review: THIS REVIEW IS LESS ABOUT CITIZEN "PAIN" (TO WATCH)AND MORE A FOLLOW UP ON THE RESPONSE TO MY FIRST REVIEW. AS OF 12/2/99, 32 PEOPLE DID NOT FIND MY REVIEW HELPFUL. IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?
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Summary: You Have to Be Old Enough to Appreciate It
Review: I remember seeing this movie when I was 17 and thinking, "What's so great about this?" I saw it in my 20's and still thought it was a clunker. It wasn't until my mid 30's, when I gave it one more try, that I found it had blossomed into an amazingly satisfying creation, and I now make a point of seeing it every few years. Like really good books, the measure of a good movie is that the older you get, the more it means to you. So we should forgive youth for its whippersnapper ways. It's all as it should be.
Rating:
Summary: Citizen Kane
Review: It has been called the greatest film ever made (but then again, so has Star wars). Judge it for yourself (but please, do judge it fairly, unlike many of the other reviewers; it's not a one star film). This film is a work of art; it is not a film meant for "commoners".
Rating:
Summary: Still alive and kicking
Review: Since Citizen Kane was voted top of the AFI list it's been attacked more than it ever has been since it's release. 4 stars? Come on people! Ok, maybe it's not the greatest movie ever made, but who can define such an ambiguous award? There isn't really one greatest film, only degrees of greatness. And Welle's first masterpiece is still in the top degree. A wonderfully deep, complex film. Each viewing reveals new resonances. In fact, there's enough thought provoking material in this one movie to fill dozens of movies. Read Simon Callow's "Road to Xanadu" for some fascinating insights into pre-Kane Welles.
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Summary: Funny when you think about it
Review: Why do people say it's overrated? Like there could be a best movie of all time without receiving opinions like that. Star Wars, as simple and slightly hokey as it is (I liked it), received a better review average than this movie. Seeing it, I knew it would be extremely boring to very many a people (I fell asleep the first time I watched it. That doesn't make it any worse. I was younger), but the same could be said of many other works. What people would do well to understand is that there are more than one kind of "best".
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