Rating: 
Summary: Fantastically good for the first 118 minutes...
Review: ...then blows it in the last minutes with a Hollywood feel-good ending.All thru the movie I sat in wonder at a truly amazing piece of what-if type of storyline. Near the end I could not figure out what would happen. When it did end it was a major letdown and an insult to the story and the breakthru that could have happened. That left me wondering what kind of ending should it have been.
Maybe if it was filmed in Europe if would have turned out differently.
In spite of the ending I still liked this movie immensely.
Rating: 
Summary: Fearless Incomplete
Review: One of Australian director Peter Weir's finest. His trademarks of inteposing rock and classic sound tracks (Galipoli had Jan Michael Jarre with Albinoni, Year of Living has Strauss' 4 last songs and Vangelis, Truman has Glass and so on) uses Gorecki's 3rd Symphony and U2 to deep emotional effect. Jeff Bridges is at his best and Tom Hulce as the ambulance chasing lawyer is a comic relief but very effective. Benice del Toro, Rosie Perez, Isabella Rossini, and John Turturro round out a formidable cast. So what's the problem with this movie? They released in pan and scan not widescreen. This is nothing short of a disgrace as this wantonly and indiscrimanently edits fine camera work and direction. So until Warner's releases this on widescreen, this reviewer advises against purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing for the performance of Rosie Perez
Review: A disturbing account of a man's survival and recovery from the post-traumatic effects of a plane crash, _Fearless_ will probably never be one of my "favorite" films. But it certainly raises some interesting questions. In brief, Jeff Bridges, in probably his best performance in any movie role to date, plays Max Klein, an architect who is intensely afraid of flying. Max is traveling with his business partner from his home in San Francisco to a meeting in Houston. Somewhere along the way something goes terribly wrong, and the plane crashes. The film actually opens with Max leading some of the survivors to safety across a cornfield. Through a series of flashbacks, we get a sense of Max's realization during the long descent in the plane that he's not afraid anymore. Further, he's able to calm some of the other passengers, including a little boy who is traveling alone. After the crash, Max has (somewhat predictable) trouble dealing with his family (Isabella Rosselini as his wife, Laura), with his partner's widow, the attorney involved in suing the airline (Tom Hulce), and the psychiatrist hired by the airline to counsel the survivors (John Turturro). I mean, had he NOT had these difficulties, there wouldn't be much of a movie, would there? His feelings of invincibility, his "testing" of God and fate -- all seemed almost cliche'd reactions. That said, however, they were very well acted by Bridges. The only person he *can* relate to is Carla, a young mother who also survived the crash, who is having a lot of difficulty coping with the fact that her 2-yr-old son, who she was holding in her arms at the time of the crash, did not. Rosie Perez gives a brilliant performance as Carla -- I was absolutely amazed at how good she is in this role. I'd only seen her in light comedies (White Men Can't Jump; It Could Happen to You), and thought she was an "OK" actress. I was totally blown away by her performance, and found it the most emotionally challenging aspect of the film. You *can't* watch her anguish and walk away unmoved by it. Without giving away too much more of the plot, suffice it to say that Max is finally able to come to grips with his reaction to the aftermath of the crash. The final scenes of the movie, in which the actual crash is replayed, are remarkable for their special effects. I'm giving this movie 4 stars -- it's a good movie if you're in a particular frame of mind. It's NOT a lightweight subject, and certainly not lightweight performances by the principals. I thought parts of it were maybe a little *too* predictable, but all in all, worth a look. Prepare to be "WOW!"ed by Rosie Perez.
Rating: 
Summary: A true classic
Review: This movie is a must see. I can not tell you how much I love this movie, and why you should go see it, but if you need a sad movie, this is it. I am not going to tell you about plot, because I feel when one goes to see a movie, looking at only the cover (and not reading the description on the back) should be enough. The movie touches themes like "death, love, fear, and devotion" without getting more complex than that it is about a mans struggle to come to grips with reallity after his involvement in a planecrash. The DVD is somewhat lacking on the extras, but the movie justifies that, and so much more in both sound and picture quality. I highly recommend this movie to anybody, because I owe it to you, and you owe it to yourself to see, and own this one.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant film, but not in widescreen on DVD.
Review: I have the widescreen version released on Laserdisc, but why is it not so on DVD? There are no extras on the DVD either. This is too exceptional a film to be ignored this way.
Rating:
Summary: A definite MUST SEE film!
Review: This is a "change your life" type of film. A survivor of a plane crash must come to terms with this new and improved, awakened and liberated version of himself, this version of himself that has suddenly been unburdened of a lot of timidity and fearful emotional baggage he'd been lugging around through his adult life. And those around him must also come to terms with this radically changed person that has emerged in the wake of his Near-Death-Experience. The movie is beautifully acted. Bridges' performance is exceptional, perhaps his finest. As are the performance given by Perez and Rossellini and the rest of the cast. Weir's directing is superb and sublime. The script is a beautiful distillation of finer points of the novel of the same name; and the use of time in this novel is brilliant. And the music ................. what can I say: this is one of my favorite soundtracks. This is movie of profound substance, profound enough to disturb, to awaken, to cause one to question one's life, perhaps even to effect real change. As Kakfa wrote, in a letter to a friend, "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. We need the books that affect us like a disaster, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us." I think Kafka would have really liked this film as it has high ax potential. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: "Fearless" is a haunting chunk of reality, where two survivors of an air disaster come to grips with their own mortality, in vivid, unforgettable ways. Few films have ever shaken me to my core, but this was one of them. Years later, I havent forgotten the haze from which Jeff Bridges emerges at the start of the film nt will I ever forget his God-defying challenge atop a skyscraper. Rosie PEREZ (not Flores) is gripping in an Oscar-nominated performance that shakes you to the core. Jeff Bridges, one of the great actors of our generation gives his finest performance in a role that demands his soul, and a deep connection to a spirit, few actors can convincingly pull off. His achievement - pure and simple- is an ability to make each film viewer actually inhabit his skin..even for a moment. All of us can relate to the man and the tremendous lessons he learns throughout. We all cheer him in his victory over death, and yet, fear him when he challenges his God to push him over a ledge. Quite simply this is a keeper - a film of extraordinary depth and passion that holds up as a lesson n life, and at the same time, a character study of two deeply traumatized survivors. If you've never seen Fearless...rent it. But be prepared for a near-fatal collision with your own demons. A MUST HAVE film.
Rating:
Summary: This Film Is Something Special
Review: This film cannot truely be described by something as trivial as a capsule review.I could toss around supurlatives like "life-affirming", "divine","gorgeous","inspiring","stunning",and the like 'till I was blue in the face,but they really wouldn't do this film justice.This is one of those rare works that really does connect with something deep inside,a primal,instinctive realm that all of us possess but few have(or can) recognize.The film deals with the most elemental of all of life's inevitabilities,death--or rather,the way it can affect every facet of our existance.I won't go into it any more-like I say it's basically indescribable and it would be pointless to do so.Just buy it,and treasure it.The first time I saw it,I sat in a speechless stuper,then watched all the way through again,and cried.I've never been affected by any other film that way except "American Beauty".The director,Peter Wier,and the star,Jeff Bridges,are among the most criminally underrated talents in movie history,and the film they've made together is of truly historical proportions.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Weir. Jeff Bridges. No more info needed.
Review: Oh, you want me to rant how spectacularly crafted Fearless is? Or what a talent Jeff Bridges, Rosie Perez and director Peter Weir are? Well, all I am going to say is that The Truman Show and Dead Poets Society, both Peter Weir movies, look pretty shallow next to this. Jeff Bridges must be the luckiest actor in the world- Weir, the Coens, Gilliam. And he gives a preformance that should have earned him a golden statue. This is deep, intense material folks. Not as deep as Barton Fink, Raging Bull or any of Fellini's movies, but definetly one of the best ten movies of the century. Buy it without hesitation and see what story-telling art is. Thank you Weir.
Rating:
Summary: mortal immortal
Review: Does Max Klein think he's dead? Is he testing his own mortality by flirting with danger? My theory is that Max isn't sure if he's crossed the threshold between life and death. He believes he's cheated the Grim Reaper, escaped fate's clutch, and now is free to take risks to prove he's still alive. The tremendous guilt he feels for surviving the plane crash goads him into teasing God--was I really supposed to survive? Did I live for a reason? Am I better than the slain victims or was I simply lucky? After the wreck, he has a new outlook on life, one that shoves aside triviality and approaches reality with a renewed vigor and urgency. How long does he have left to make peace with the world? Only when he bites into the strawberry (the forbidden fruit), does he realize he wants to rejoin the human race, accept the fact that his days are numbered, and admit he's been existing in a state of shell-shocked terror that renders him invulnerable. He's fearless--until he recognizes the origins of his suppressed horror.
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