Rating: 
Summary: an entertaining movie
Review: This movie isnt perfect,but it is entertaining,and the acting is great.Michael Douglas,Robert Duvall,and Frederic Forrest all give great performances.Forrest is one of my favorite actors,and I love his role as the neo-nazi shop owner and his offensive dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Film...
Review: The first time I saw this film, I didn't like it... yet for some bizarre reason I felt compelled to come back to the theatre and watch it again... and again... and again...
The film is particularly interesting because it plays on a common human fantasy : The wimpish underdog suddenly becoming empowered and turning the tables on his enemies in a very Hollywoodish manner... Though many films may have unlikely superheroes, the film plays upon this fantasty to a most ridiculous extreme and the realism inherent in the plot (he's not a superhero in blue tights) is what makes the film so unique... I mean, its one thing to punch out some guy you don't like... but to gradually acquire an evergrowing and more powerful arsenol of weapons along the way and use them to confront every single menace of daily urban living ? - - Oddly enough, though no idealistic Billy Jack (see "The Born Losers") Douglas's cartoonish laid off white male pencil pusher turned madman vigilante easily strikes a chord in the viewer... Yes, the guy is obviously off his rocker... but you can't help chuckling at him as he confronts one social ***hole stereotype after another... You watch the film - - understand that he's obvoiusly the bad guy, yet can't help cheer him on as he confronts everyone from gangsters to cheeky fast food convenience store workers (one who looks amazingly like one of the Brady's) ... and of course a paranoid homophobic neo-nazi Army/Navy Surplus Store owner. - - One downside of the film however is that at times it seems to try so hard to make its point.... My favorite is the "poignant" shot of the American flags falling to the ground in slow motion as Douglas "turns back prices to 1955" and teaches the Korean store owner a lesson about living in "his" country ! - - and also the various "montage" type sequences the director uses to demonstrate urban angst with the eerie incidental music... or even the "not economically viable" viable guy sequence and the shots of Douglas's character sadly watching him as he's arrested and how suddenly (...oh so dramatically) as the cop car stops he turns to him and says, "Don't forget me !" (cue the violins !) - - but the biggest example of the director's possibly intentional use of "over-dramatization" has to be the about to retire cop on his last day of work meaning from the start of the film you wonder when he's gonna it, and the director milks this to the utmost in virtually every line of dialogue whenever Duvall's character appears. - -With all this said, in the end, FALLING DOWN wins back every point in being a great film about urban angst and frustration, even "white rage" (though you don't have to be white to associate with many of Douglas's frustrations) and a film that bears repeated watching... all in all, I would say that by any standard, be it a message, action or "exploitation" film, this is a highly watchable and re-watchable film, so you'd be at a miss not to own a copy of it !
Rating:
Summary: Intense and Darkly Funny
Review: Falling Down is one of Douglas' greatest performances as a 40-year-old nerd who, on a hot day in the middle of traffic, starts to have a breakdown, trying to get to his young daughter's birthday party, even though he's divorced and his wife keeps telling him he can't come. Along the way, no matter how big or small the obstacles, (including un-fair fast-food restaurants, lazy construction workers, expensive convenience stores, a gang of punks, or fanatic military vets), he's determined to make it home, even if it means death. Duvall is the cop who is tired of the job and is retiring within the day, yet who quickly and voluntarily gets involved with tracking Douglas' rampage across Los Angeles. Douglas, although inspirational at first at how he makes a stand for himself among the many inconveniences of society, gets genuinely and convincingly creepy and loony as the movie progresses from big to enormous. Although what happens along his trip home is anything but funny, this movie has plenty of dark comedy for even the most shocked viewer. This movie is one of my favorites because of how Douglas reacts to the many stupid laws and regulations of society, some of which I agree, and if you're fed up with how places and people are acting these days, you're sure to love this movie too. A damn good time!
Rating: 
Summary: White man as the victim
Review: I watched Falling Down once on USA Network and love the whole concept where the white male is the victim in the movie. Rarely does Hollywood portray the white male star as the antagonist of society. Throughout the movie, he is attacked by three sociological factors: government (laid off from the defense department), family (wife divorced him 'cause of his aggressive and dominant behavior) and culture (confronting various ethnic groups in downtown Los Angeles). These events leads to a chain reaction which causes D-Fens downward fall in society, even though he claims that he is doing the right thing.Michael Douglas did an exceptional job portraying the monster in every white-collar worker in this country. I'd suggest if you have a really bad day at work, watch this movie for anger management (or any Adam Sandler movie will do). And yeah, thanks for the DVD advice. I'll consider purchasing it after the holidays.
Rating:
Summary: I had to laugh.........
Review: Michael Douglas as a nerd-gone-psychotic...living at home with his totally oblivious mother...flashbacks of his wife and child who could not stand the "horsey" he made her ride when she was a toddler.... Robert Duvall's shrew wife demanding he be home on time for dinner.....and going ballistic when his female partner answers his phone... This film has it's stereotypes, but it was entertaining. I especially liked the fast food restaurant scene, when MD demanded BREAKFAST! Also when he went up on the freeway demanding the DOT workers to answer "why" the road was being torn up.....his bungling of the rocket launcher (and the kid telling him how to fire it) was totally comical! Ahhh, Michael, what a gorgeous NERD you made! ;)
Rating:
Summary: A Film That Isn't Afraid Of Boundaries
Review: The film starts off with Michael Douglas sitting in his car, caught in traffic while on his way to work. His hair is cut short, he wears thick black-rimmed glasses, nice black pants with a nice shirt and a tie to go along. He represents the average American businessman. As we see from the very opening, this man has been pushed over the edge by society. He believes that he is right, and everyone that argues with him is wrong. After a few long minutes of sitting in completely stopped traffic, he becomes so frusterated that he gets out of his car in the middle of the freeway, and just walks off. This is how the day starts for D-Fens (License plate name) as he looses his mind, and encounters many people on his way. The initial thing about this film that surprised me was that it wasn't afraid of boundaries. Michael Douglas' character is bold, racist, violent, and profane...so there's a good chance that a handful of viewers would find this film to be highly offensive. I give this movie credit for pushing the envelope and not caring what anybody says. The main thing that I liked about Falling Down was how much it struck a chord with me. I always look for films that are different and share some same ideas that I have. I also believe that society is corrupt, and this film shows it. Along with the great acting, Falling Down is highly enjoyable and holds up on repeated viewings. The DVD is average, with good picture and sound quality, so I don't have any reason to complain. It seems that most viewers either love or hate this film, so see it for yourself so you can determine...which category do you fall into?
Rating: 
Summary: Take your pick!
Review: "A tale of urban reality". It's not like this round our bit of urban. Michael 'nepotism' Douglas stars as either a victim of modern society frustrated to the point of madness by the callousness of a post-industrial wilderness where the rights of the individual are challenged at every turn and decency and civility are lost in a maelstrom of consumerism and corporate heartlessness, or a self-obsessed moany nutter - take your pick. The best bit is right at the start in the convenience store because the Korean bloke's hilarious, but it's got a good cast including Robert Duvall and Barbara 'obvious nickname' Hershey.
Rating:
Summary: The name is Nick
Review: The best part of this movie happened in the army/navy supply store. The guy Nick played his part so well that one couldn't help but be impressed. Even the most politically correct people can't help but laugh at him. Nick was the movie and well someone should tell Duval to play another role besides a cop.
Rating:
Summary: I like Bill...I want to be his friend.
Review: Falling Down...a movie that I bought after hearing about the main character, Bill (his name is said maybe once or twice in the whole movie). Bill does everything I want to do. He holds up a resturant hostage (sort of) after being just a few minutes late to order a breakfast, smashes up a small store that charges too much for a can of Coke, stab and shoot a Nazi because he smashed his daughter's birthday present (that really made me mad, I don't like seeing kid's stuff broken), and much more. The whole movie has a real weird vibe to it. Maybe because it takes place on a hot day, when Bill gets out of his car in the middle of this massive traffic jam, and goes home. After that, he goes on his own little quest to make it home for his daughter's birthday. The only problem is, a lot of people side track him, and that's when he stops dealing with it. Bill is awesome. I want to be his friend. I swear this movie is like a game. Every time he pays a "visit" to a place, he gets a new weapon. A baseball bat, butterfly knives, a gym bag full of guns, a rocket launcher, everything. Bill is the man as far as I'm concerned. There's more to the movie than that, as it's about Bill and a cop who is on his last day before retirement. His part of the movie's ok, but Bill is where the action's at. In the end, the two meet, and it's a very sad ending for such a good movie. All Bill wants to do is go home, and all the cop wants to do is have a good last day and make it home ok. The DVD has no real extras worth mentioning, but that doesn't matter, this is one of the best movies I've seen all year. Michael Douglas is now a king in my book.
Rating:
Summary: The "editorial review" missed the whole point
Review: This will be a commentary on the "editorial review" of the movie for other Amazon users have already given good reviews of it.
It seemed to me like the pro. missed the first 10 minutes of the film, and missed what was happening around him in the early '90s.
As a former defense worker I can assure you that this is the only sympathetic movie out there for the tens of thousands of people who lost their jobs due to permanent downsizing. I was not one of them but I survived a 50% downsize, no morale booster in itself. Michael Douglas has been in defense for 2+ decades.
He's laid off. Just like that. It's about how a def. worker comes out into the real Central/East/South LA at that time and is in disbelief that people treat each other the way they do.
In silence, he looks around at this place and I'm thinking he's wondering why he spent his life building weapons to save these people from being occupied by other countries. It has cost him his wife, custody of his child, and now he is "thanked" by being made redundant.
He'd just like to show up at his daughter's birthday party, against his wife's wishes. Yeah, as he runs into trouble along the way he gets more desparate and more isolated. The cop pursuing him played by Robert Duvall is also obsolete, which gives him insight into finding him. I guess the editor, Marshall Fine, was living in his own world when he wrote his review of the movie.
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