Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Movie
Review: If you view this movie within the world of Mr. Hundert (kevin klein) and and his view on life as a teacher, you should appreciate this movie more then i have. I instead gave it a perspective from judging the maturity and psychological development of all the characters throughout the storyline and as a result found it disgustingly random and inconseqential. The only real character in the movie was Mr. Hundert. The other figures in the story have a simplistic one-sided personality to augment the movies only apparant conflict of intergirty vs. corruption. Remember, if you ever do see it, concentrate on Kevin Klein, and no one else.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring and Hopeful
Review: In these jaded times, morality, honesty, and integrity are often viewed as flaws in a person's character. In The Emperor's Club, we meet Mr. Hundert, a seasoned Classics professor at an all-boys private school. Dedicated to instilling these sadly-fading character traits in his students, Mr. Hundert finds his own sense of morality challenged. Mr. Hundert's life is comfortably predictable. He is a popular teacher, who runs his class with discipline and dignity. His students learn from him, not only the history and literature of the Ancients, but character, as well. Mr Hundert's life, however, in inexorably altered when an angry new student, Sedgewick Bell arrives. Bell is a troublemaker from the start. Hoping to reach Bell, Mr. Hundert encourages him to prepare for the Mr. Julius Ceasar contest, a legendary honor. Inspired, Bell applies himself academically. He falls short of the mark, however, and does not qualify for the contest. It is at this pivotal moment that Mr. Hundert find his own integrity challenged...and fails that challenge. Hoping to bring out Bell's potential, Mr. Hundert changes Bell's grade, thus knocking the deserving and honest Martin Blythe out of the contest. To Mr. Hundert's dismay, Bell does not magically reach his potential; rather he cheats, and eclipses back into the troublemaker he was before the contest. Twenty-five years later, Bell demands a rematch of the Mr. Julius Ceasar contest, in order to prove himself an honorable man. Mr. Hundert arrives to officate the contest, hoping that he was right all along about Bell... I admit, I was surprised by the ending, but pleasantly surprised. I had expected a fairly traditional "student meets teacher, teacher inspires student, student becomes a decent man" story. However, the ending was a study in character. What makes a man a good man? Are morality, honesty, and integrity outdated concepts? A truly inspiring movie.
Rating: 
Summary: very well done
Review: I thought the film had a challenge of having to be compared with several good previous films ie, Good-bye Mr. Chips, and Dead Poet's Cociety. Therefore, I felt that these preconceived expectations for my view of the film for the first 20-25 minutes a big bang beginning. However, after that I thought the movie was very well structured, and it presented a very true to life showing og how "things" really are. People most of the time "do not" change that much. The film was well done. Kevin Kline did an excellent job.
Rating:
Summary: We should see Kevin Kline more often
Review: For the average moviegoer, Kevin Kline is isn't up there with the giants: Washington, Gibson, Hanks, Cruise, Cage and Crowe. And it's too bad, because he's awfully good in his infrequent screen appearances. LIFE AS A HOUSE comes to mind, and now THE EMPEROR'S CLUB. In this new release, Kline plays William Hundert, a teacher at the very exclusive boarding academy, St. Benedictus School for Boys. His forte is Western Civilization, especially the contributions of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Hundert's authority over his freshman class is complete - a "tyranny" as he calls it, but a benevolent one. Then Sedgewick Bell, the son of a prominent U.S. Senator joins the student body and Hundert's Western Civ. A smart-mouthed rebel who neglects his studies, Bell soon gains a following among the other boys with his antics. In despair, Hundert pays a call on the Senator. Soon, Sedgewick gets a short, terse call from Dad, who essentially says, "Don't make me have to waste my valuable time again cleaning up your mess." Apparently now channeling his anger at his father with the thought "I'll show him!", the young Bell begins to apply himself. In a series of essays on the contributions of Roman emperors, Sedgewick does well enough to rank number 4 in the class, the top 3 of which will advance to the annual Julius Caesar contest, a question and answer competition before the student body, the winner of which is crowned with laurel leaves and eternal honor. Thinking that Sedgewick has turned himself around, Hundert inflates the boy's grade on the final essay to give him the number three spot. During the ensuing contest, moderator Hundert is taught hard lessons on school politics and his ability to judge another's character. All this leads into the film's conclusion, which comes twenty-five years later when Sedgewick Bell, now a millionaire businessman, offers the school a large sum of money on the condition that his Julius Caesar contest, with the original three contestants, be repeated at his Long Island mansion with the now retired Hundert again as moderator. Hundert is perhaps each of us - possessing high principles in theory but flawed in their practice in the face of internal and external pressures. What makes Hundert endearing to the audience is his recognition of his shortcomings. At the end of THE EMPEROR'S CLUB, I was vaguely dissatisfied that all loose ends weren't tidied up with everyone getting what they deserved. But then I realized that Hundert attempted to set things right within his limited ability to do so, and perhaps this reflects real life rather than the ideal. Effective men with better things to do don't tilt at windmills. The lesson of THE EMPEROR'S CLUB is, I think, that all of life's at bats don't generate hits. Just getting up to the plate results in a few strikeouts. But it's the fortunate man remembered for the former rather than the latter, and he's more apt to be the one who's contributed something to society. Much honor is due if that man is a teacher.
Rating:
Summary: The Emperor's Club
Review: This movie was excellent because the story focused on character, integrity, right behavior, wrong behavior, obedience and rebellion, caring about others vs. selfishness, etc., etc. The story line about a professor in an upper class private boy's school who does something he knows is wrong in order to achieve what he believes will eventually be something very right, backfires on him 20 years later. The audience waits breathlessly to see if his integrity (for which he is so famous) will come to the front, or if he will remain silent and cover up his wrong-behavior. There are others involved who will be hurt, so this is a gut-wrenching decision. The other angle I like in the character development of the boys was this: People don't seem to change their inner moral values----while the outside, jobs, wives, families, money all change----the core character and integrity (or lack of) remain the same.
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful lesson of values to add to your life
Review: This movie is one that everyone should see at some point. It is really well done, and thrusts the sad reality that not all people learn from their mistakes. At the same time, however, it presents the beauty in how much a teacher cares for the lives and ethics of his students, not only for the years that he taught them, but for the rest of their lives. The actors in the movie played their parts extraordinarily and it flowed so well. I really truly liked it and without a second thought give it five stars and recommend this to anyone who is willing to learn from it.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: I never wanted to see this movie because I'm not really into movies like this. I only went to see it because my grandmother asked me to go see it with her. I was very surprized when the movie was over because:
1. I didn't fall asleep like I usually do when I see movies like this, and..
2. I was touched on some level. Mr. Hundert (Kelvin Kline), longtime teacher of classics and assistant headmaster of St. Benedict's Academy for Boys. His love of his students and his subject shine through in his interactions in and out of the classroom. When the senator's son, Sedgwick Bell, (Emile Hirsch), who is a troublesome, underachiever in need of Hunderts help, but rejects it. Hundert tries to show him the the rewards of learning--even at the expense of another, and better, student--by putting him in the top 3 of a contest that he shouldn't even be in. Sedgwick takes advantage of that by cheating. It then switches back to the present (the above is a flash-back to the early 70's). Sedgwick (Joel Gretsch), now older, invites Hundert back to a vacation place he owns, to have a re-contest of the original Mr. Julias Cesar Contest (yes..... you read this right, I kid you not). I wont say what happens, but I will say Sedgwick doesn't turn out the way you expect.
Rating:
Summary: For anyone who likes good acting and good stories
Review: I think the constant but understandable comparisons to Dead Poets Society will hurt this movie, causing people to dismiss The Emperor's Club as a copy of a classic. Besides similar names, both films center around a charismatic teacher at a boys' school and focus heavily on tradition. However, the similarities end there. I love Dead Poets Society, but I hate to see this movie hurt by that one's popularity. Kevin Kline plays Mr. Hundert, an extremely flawed but extremely dedicated and noble teacher. In his attempts at giving young men a love of history, he finds himself helping a student for the wrong reasons, and in the wrong ways. The movie takes place in two different times, with a constantly changing cast. Kline is the only actor who appears all the way through it, with older actors replacing younger ones in certain roles. Some of the other characters come and go too quickly, and the movie probably should have been longer, so we could more fully understand and feel how all of these lives intersect with Mr. Hundert. Still, Kline's skillful study of a man constantly facing difficult choices makes up for the sometimes-rushed nature of the narrative. I recommend The Emperor's Club for anyone who likes good acting and good stories, not just for fans of Dead Poets Society.
Rating:
Summary: A realistic Mr. Chips
Review: Both students and teachers can lose their way, as this movie seeks to point out. The question is, do they have the right ethics and moral aptitude to set themselves right again? Kevin Kline stars as Mr. Hundert, who speaks in plummy tones like Sideshow Bob. Is he British? Or a wanna-be, the way Madonna has suddenly become british in the last few years? At any rate, this movie takes place in New England, mostly in the 1970s as Hundert relates his first few years teaching at an exclusive all-boy's academy. His first year finds him especially involved with four boys -- one an honest legacy whose father and grandfather attended the school, one an earnest student fron India, a nice but easily swayed boy, and the mixed-up handful (who sways others) Sedgewick Bell. Hundert sees potential and good in Bell, even as he cuts up continuously in class, taking the other boys with him. Hundert teaches classical history and each year there is a pageant "Mr. Julius Ceasar", where the top 3 students compete academically to win the laurel leaves and toga. This is a big deal to the boys both academically and psychologically. The majority of this film hinges on who competes and wins. But there is a twist at the class reunion 25 years later as well. Watch this movie -- it is more than a Dead Poets Society rip-off. It is actually good and will make you think.
Rating:
Summary: The Moral Failure of the American Elite
Review: The irony is that the financial success of The Emperor's Club depends on people buying tickets to see a film concerning a formal education that they cannot even begin to afford. Kevin Kline (William Hundert) brilliantly portrays an instructor of the ancient classics to the male teenage progeny of the very rich and well connected. Our egalitarian ethos pretends that everyone has an equal chance of being successful. The Emperor's Club quickly disabuses us of such ridiculous notions. These young men have enormous advantages and will almost certainly find it relatively easy to climb the American social and economic ladder. Even earning low grades will not derail their virtual guarantee of getting to the top. Personal merit is still of value, but seemingly not as valuable as being born to the right parents. Hundert is confronted with the son of a powerful United States Senator who knows full well that he's got it made. Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsh) is a scoundrel who knows how to manipulate the system. Is Bell's character already too corrupt to turn around? What about the other boys? Will they be able to resist Bell's baleful influence? There is a competition to decide which one is the best student. Will this contest deteriorate into a cynical attempt to rig the results? What type of adults are they likely to become? Director Michael Hoffman should have quickened the pace of the movie. Yet, the Emperor's Club is still worth seeing. Superb acting performances are also given by Ron Morrow, Embeth Davidtz, Edward Hermann, and especially Harris Yulin as the cold and amoral Senator Bell. I can't give it five stars, but the movie deserves a strong four.
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