Rating: 
Summary: raising arizona meets er
Review: this movie starts out like a straight film but by halftime turns into a black comedy that looks and feels like "raising arizona" (coen bros) meets "er" (george clooney). the second half works better. in fact, the movie really only comes alive after john goodman exits. i don't know if that's a coincidence, but of cage's 3 sidekicks, goodman was the least interesting. it's exaggerated, but scorsese does uncover another seedy side of the big city that we "normal" people usually don't see. worth a watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Resurrection amidst death
Review: There is a lot of darkness in this film as in other works by Scorcese. But this one moves into a space where life is not ended by death (a Catholic philosophy). I like that because although we see a lot of evil and death in this movie, the perspective is broader. This helps us to have not hope but a more secure place to live; death is not the end, so anxiety need not rule.
Rating: 
Summary: Long and boring movie
Review: I got this for a christmas present the year it came out
and I was pis$ed tht it wasted my time. I understand
that it's showing that paramedics go through alot.. But
why is nothing is to offer? I mean, the case leads you
to believe it's going to be more worth while than it
really is... I think Cage plays well and does what he
can with such a limited script.
It isn't so much that it's a depressive movie that
turns me off... There just isn't a reason to watch
it more than once. I remember I just kept waiting
for something to happen other than just hearing Nick
ramble on and on for so long. It might have stood a
chance if it had more to offer and had more depth.
Rating: 
Summary: An Average Film(For Scorsese)
Review: Director Martin Scorsese can only blame himself for the high expectations one brings to any of his ventures. When you have a track record like he does anything less than a "Raging Bull" is a letdown. For anybody else "Bringing Out the Dead" would be an above average film;for Scorsese it's merely average. You get the sense that Scorsese was not fully engaged with the material he was working with and is kind of on auto-pilot. The story of the pressures and rigors of being a paramedic is a compelling one and you do feel what these individuals do for a living. That said, you can get that same feeling watching an above-average episode of "ER". Scorsese has assembled a first-rate cast here with Nicholas Cage as the star here. Able support is offered by Ving Rhames, John Goodman, and Tom Sizemore as Cage's fellow paramedics, Patricia Arquette as a woman whose father is on life support, and Cliff Curtis as a genteel drug dealer. This is a rewarding viewing experience but one has to ignore the pedigree of the man who is helming the directorial reigns.
Rating:
Summary: Cage is Bringing Out The Dead
Review: depressing, dramatic, powerful piece of art skillfully directed by none other then Martin Scorsese (Gangs Of New York, Goodfellas). we see the life of an ambulence driver threw the eyes of Nicolas Cage (Snake Eyes, National Treasure) who is so depressed and sick he cant even quit his job or even get fired by his own boss. Cage has a new partner in the ambulence each day. first is John Goodman (Roseanne, The Babe) who is in more then a few scenes but hey, it's John Goodman. Ving Rhames (Dawn Of The Dead, Rosewood) is his second partner, the crazy preaching one and Tom Sizemore (Heat, True Romance) is the third in which case Sizemore is a nutball. Along the while Cage develops a friendship with a woman, Patricia Arquette (Lost Highway, True Romance), whose father is on the death bed. Cage goes crazy in the coconaut as he sees the faces of dead patients he's lost and he can also actually here them as well. surreal film takes a nifty direction, goes places but ends back up in the right direction steered by Cage's brooding, deep performance along with the supporting cast, Sizemore and Rhamesm especially Rhames. Patricia Arquette isnt that good of an actress in my book so shes miscast in this movie in my mind. Other cast members include Mary Beth Hurt, Marc Anthony (Man On Fire, The Substiture), Aida Turturro (Deep Blue Sea), a fantastic Cliff Curtis (Training Day, Three Kings), Nestor Seranno (The Negotiator), Larry Fessenden (Habit), Jon Abrahams (KIDS, Meet The Parents) and the voice of Martin Scorsese as a dispatcher over the radio.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Review: It was a fantastic view of the struggles paramedics go through.
I absolutely think Nicolas Cage is a great actor and I loved this movie.
Rating:
Summary: An obscure masterpiece by Scorsese
Review: A comparison between Martin Scorsese's most recent two films - Bringing Out The Dead and Gangs Of New York - goes to illustrate the scope of the master director's genius. In direct contrast with the grandiose epic that is Gangs Of New York, Bringing Out The Dead is a dark, almost claustrophobic, intimate movie that takes place more within a man's soul than in the streets of New York.
The soul belongs to Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage), a paramedic who is haunted by the ghosts of people he could not save and feels the very things that make him real are slipping away from him. Following four years of mediocre to horrible action films (The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, 8 MM, Gone In 60 Seconds, Snake Eyes), Bringing Out The Dead was Cage's most impressive performance since Leaving Las Vegas at least, and one of the finest performances of his career, and it reminded viewers that Cage is still one of the finest character actors in Hollywood, and always at his best when playing disturbed, off-beat characters. Frank Pierce is indeed disturbed, and the entire film is shown through his eyes, making it a difficult - often intolerable - dark, depressing, surreal experience. It focuses on character development much more than it does on the plot - but all of the characters are merely mirrors to reflect Pierce himself. Three co-workers - played by John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore, in this order, each one representing a different way of coping with their stressful and demanding line of work, shed their respective light on Cage's character, as do his relationships with the daughter of a comatose patient, played by Patricia Arquette, and with a mentally ill patient played by - surprisingly impressively - Marc Anthony.
Bringing Out The Dead tells two stories - one is of the insanity and hopelessness of a busy, understaffed E.R - A much more bleak and disturbing view than that of the TV series with that title - and the other is of the private insanity and breakdown of Frank Pierce. Between the two, the viewer hardly has time to catch his breath. The film is brilliantly manipulative, combining editing, cinematography and music like only Scorsese can to create a truly hypnotic and staggering experience. It's not an easy movie to watch by a long shot, and I can understand perfectly well why so many reviewers didn't enjoy it. Still, give it a chance; it's a real work of art that's well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: The best and worst time you can spend.
Review: I have this sense of dread about liking this movie. I feel like I'm going to get my berated because I think this is Scorsese's best picture since TAXI DRIVER. Did I miss something particularly boring, stupid or pointless?
Sorry, folks, but for me, BRINGING OUT THE DEAD was a visceral tour de force, a 2-hour nightmare full of hopeless characters and situations; one of those rare films that's so dreadful it's wonderful. Scorsese directs with absolute flourish. His use of music is, as usual, impeccable (aside from the Natalie Merchant song -- someone needs to kick her into a coma). Paul Schrader's script seethes with intensity, and Nicolas Cage is as haggard as he is flawless.
This is the story of Frank Pierce, a paramedic working the late, late shift in grubby, pre-Giuliani New York City. The neighborhood he covers is horrible: we see a drug dealer impaled on his top-floor balcony, a virgin giving birth to twins in a rotting apartment, drug-related shootings, madmen begging to be killed. He's plagued by visions of a girl who died in his care -- he sees her face everywhere. Frank wants out, but his supervisor keeps telling him he'll fire him "after tomorrow," and he can't seem to quit on his own.
The only ray of light is Mary Burke (Patricia Arquette), the daughter of a heart-attack victim Frank picked up. Between each rendezvous in the city, he sees her in the hospital, waiting on her father. They strike up conversation and soon cultivate a much-needed relationship.
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD is absolutely brilliant. It's a visually stunning film with great depth, pulsing with originality. Somehow, some way, Schrader and Scorsese make these relentlessly terrible events seem like one big party -- albeit a very grim one.
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