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Dead Again

Dead Again

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Suspense, keeping you guessing all through the movie
Review: Dead Again was the first time I ever heard of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. I became a fan of Mr. Branagh when I saw this movie. I think this was his best work ever. This guy knows how to director. If you like suspense movie and you are a big fan of Kenneth Branagh, this is the best movie to see since the Alfred Hitchhock movies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ''Dead Again''A Delicious Whodunit
Review: I've been a mystery fan for as long as I can remember, and ''Dead Again''was a delicious whodunit which satisfied my cravings, keeping me on the edge of my seat as we rode the dizzying roller coaster between black-and-white flashbacks and present-day color, and if anyone has another mystery video in their collection which they've considered near and dear to their hearts, GET RID OF IT, GET THEE TO A VIDEO STORE, and rent, if not BUY, ''Dead Again''! You won't be disappointed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST!
Review: This has got to have been one of Kenneth Branagh's best films. The acting was excellent as well as the casting. Great thriller about reincarnation of a murderer and whether he'll strike again. Was glad to see Robin Williams and Wayne Knight in the movie, not to mention Andy Garcia. I highly recommend this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Review: This is an extraordinary film staring people that eveyone knows like Kenneth Branagh staring as an L.A. detective, Emma Thompson as an atractive young woman suffering amnesia, Derek Jacobi as a strange hypnotist helping this woman find out her present life as well as her past life. In the midst of it all the detective and the amnesia suffering woman find themselves falling in love. This movie is a must see thriller.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Television Quality Plot
Review: Kennneth Brangh's american accent was the most believable part of this story. Weak plot and even weaker performances by otherwise decent actors. The implausability of the story required a greater suspension of disbeleif than I could muster.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A HOLD YOUR BREATH MASTERPIECE
Review: IF YOU LIKE TWISTS AND UNUSUAL TURNS THEN YOU WILL LOVE THIS MOVIE. nOT ONLY DOES IT HAVE TWO OF THE BEST ACTORS EVER BUT THE PLOT IS MESMERIZING. IT WAS THE FIRST VIDEO I EVER PURCHUSED TO WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An all-time favorite you can watch again & again!
Review: A brilliant and brilliantly-realized film using modern film techniques to evoke the best old films. A young woman suffering from amnesia and violent nightmares turns to a cynical private detective to help her uncover not only her present, but also explore her past, as they begin to suspect she's been reincarnated after a violent murder in the '40's. Kenneth Branagh directs a superb screenplay by Scott Frank and plays two roles (as does Emma Thompson and a few bit players). The film is shot in black and white AND color, with both stars using different accents and realizing two complete performances each. Cleverly, the script has characters both believing in -- and not believing in -- the idea of reincarnation, which gives depth and balance to both cynics and romantics in the audience. Beautiful film score by Patrick Doyle, which only heightens the melodrama. Everything about this film is tops (including an uncredited performance by Robin Williams -- and it's a gem). I'll never understand why it never received a single Oscar nomination -- Hollywood, you've done it again! If you truly love thrillers, this is one you can't afford to miss! END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent film with excellent performances
Review: This is one of the best films I have seen in many years. What makes Dead Again so wonderful is the great script and especially the gripping performances by everyone in the cast, especially Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh and Andy GarcĂ­a, magnificent as always. A must see! END

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Masterfully done
Review: I'm often dubious of movies that are dubbed "suspenseful thrillers" -- doubly so when they are recommended to me (as this film was). My supreme disappointment with the easily predicted The Usual Suspects has taught me to approach such recommendations with extreme caution. Fortunately, Dead Again was so thoroughly enjoyable that my extreme caution will be at least temporarily lifted.

Kenneth Branagh sheds his all-too-familiar Shakespearean persona to don that of Mike Church, an L.A. private investigator who gets involved with trying to piece back together the life of the woman he calls "Grace" (Emma Thompson): a woman who suffers from amnesia coupled with debilitatingly frightening dreams. These dreams are presented to us as an alternate reality -- filmed in black and white -- which is eventually further explored by an amateur hypnotist. The plot is highly engaging from the start, mostly due to superb characterization in the writing, and excellent acting to back it up (watch for the extended Robin Williams cameo).

There are parts where the directing is a bit heavy-handed. If you're at all familiar with Branagh's directing, though, you'll probably expect this from the outset. It works more often in his Shakespeare films than it does here, but you'll find yourself so involved in the plot that you'll excuse Branagh's occasional directorial overdramatization. Just as you can forgive his overzealous American accent.

Overall, this is just a fun film. The tone is decidedly dark, but the plot rolls along with such a rapid pace that it becomes a fun ride to see what happens next.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A First-Rate Murder Mystery With Branagh and Thompson
Review: This is one of the best murder mysteries to come out of the Nineties, and probably for some time before or since. It's Hitchcockian without being an homage. Mike Church, a private detective in Los Angeles, is called on to try to identify a young woman (Emma Thompson), given the name Grace by the Catholic order which took her in, who at first is mute. Gradually, and with the help of an antiques dealer who is a talented hypnotist (Derek Jacobi), she begins to speak and identify herself with a woman, Margaret Straus, who was murdered shortly after WWII in Los Angeles by her husband, Roman. Roman Straus was a famous composer/conducter, an imigre from Germany whose life was saved by his now housekeeper (Hanna Schygulla), who has a young son.

Roman and Margaret Straus are played in black and white flashback by Branagh and Thompson. And while Roman was executed for stabbing his wife to death with a pair of scissors, he maintained his innocence. The motive was said to be jealousy, driven by the obvious love a reporter, Gray Baker (Andy Garcia), had for Margaret.

In trying to find the sources of Grace's distress, Mike finds some issues of his own. And he finally identifies the real murderer who is still alive and dangerous.

Yes, the story is complicated, but Branagh tells it in a clear, straight-forward manner which also requires the viewer to stay alert. He uses big film-making gestures, including great camera angles and lighting. And just as effectively, he uses some wit and humor as the story unfolds.

The cast is uniformly first-rate, including a best-friend part by Wayne Knight and a small but effective cameo by Robin Williams. One scene cleverly acted between Church and an aged, sick Gray Baker should put you off cigarette smoking.

I think this is one fine movie, and I hope it doesn't become forgotten.


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