Rating: 
Summary: Epic!
Review: The film is truly epic. One to own on archival medium. This film requires a particular kind of viewer, and I can see where some stray negative criticism could slip in. Long film. Limited action. Few special effects. And little feeding. For people who need to be "fed" by their movies, look elsewhere. This film requires you to become involved, and to be emotionally susceptible. Once you give yourself to the film, you are grasped by the power of the story and the mastery of the talent which brought this film to being. You will be intimately absorbed. Hats off to the entire staff of this film. The casting was superb, and I cannot think of better actors (past or present) to perform the roles of this film. Fiennes' character is initially a tough nut to crack, from viewer's vantage. He evolves from a magnetic, enigmatic soul to a love-driven obsessor, all the while maintaining a well-cultured and educated stature. No sugar-coating on this character, nor should there be. A particularly difficult character to portray, I should think. Thomas' character: lovely, vulnerable, temptable, and very well acted. Binoche's character was very true and immediately sympathetic, giving viewers automatic compassion. Andrews (Kip) was immediately likable; perhaps slightly underplayed, but no hint anywhere of flaw that would diminish the role whatsoever. Dafoe, powerful as usual. Each of the remainder of the actors are to be applauded as well. Marvelous cinematography; wonderful scenery. Fabulous script. Not your typical adventure film, not your typical love story. Refreshingly unique. This film was heavily awarded, and rightly so.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Dreamy of a Movie!
Review: This film lacks a lot of things, in my opinion. It lacks character development for the main characters, at least not enough. It lacks more action! It lacks more emphasis on its historical background of the war setting. It seems like its doing too much and skipped through a whole bunch of why this person is like this, and why he or she acts that way, and how come this resulted, etc. all emphasizing on character development. Oscar quality? On the cinematics and the acting but best film?! c'mon! This movie didn't have much of a competition that year in the Oscars. In comparison to the book, the movie skipped a lot of character development and did not enjoy it as much as the book, of course its a common result. But there are films where the movie is just as good as the book and well-written and directed that correlates well with the book but this one was just disappointing. I was bored.
Rating: 
Summary: Not One Star! Negative Five Stars!
Review: That's right. Negative five stars. Why? Number one: The acting. I did not like it. In fact, you could call the acting bland. Number two: The ACTOR. Ralph Fiennes is pronounced "Rife Fines"? Come on! He is merely trying to cover up a common pauper's name, pronounced as it is spelled, "Ralf Feens". This guy made Red Dragon almost unbearable. In fact, you could even say that Mr. Feinnes is the cause for all evil in the world. That is all I have to say for this overrated piece..., which shll be known forever as The English Patient. Case closed.
Rating:
Summary: A TRULY EXCELLENT FILM
Review: The English Patient is one of the few films where you can find excellence in every aspect.The film is superbly made:acting,cinematography,art direction,musical score,costume,editing,direction;all of these pieces were crafted by the best in their fields.I believe attention was given to every detail by the director A. Minghella.
The acting by the three principals:Fiennes,Scott-Thomas and Binoche is so good that you forget that they are actors and you only see their characters. I have to disagree with some reviewers, in that in my opinion the best acting in the film belongs to Kristin Scott-Thomas.Her portrayal of Katherine is complex,true to the personality of her character. I remenber Janet Maslin's review in the New York Times in which she said that the film set up sparks with the grand entrance of Scott-Thomas(Katherine).
This a film that deserves viewing;deserved all the nine Oscars it won and the few ones it did not win.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars for the film, 3 stars for the DVD
Review: I just want to make a comment on the picture quality of the DVD as the 5/5 picture quality rating is misleading. I watched it in a theatre and was impressed with the quality of the film in every aspect. The DVD is in widescreen letterbox format -- standard 4:3 screen with top and bottom chopped off to achieve 16:9. The resolution and details really suffer compared with anamorphic DVDs (a good reference is The Fifth Element, superbit version). The picture noise and artifacts are apparent through out the scenes, especially if you watch it on a big screen HDTV, though overall color reproduction is close to the film. The DD 5.1 sound is excellent -- I'd rather watch the DVD with my eyes closed, as the resolution of my mind is almost infinite (though not very accurate. The original theatrical experience helped :) This film deserves a DVD re-release with better picture encoding/compression, which I hear is coming "Real Soon Now".
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite movies
Review: The film that made me fall in love with Ralph Fiennes.
Rating:
Summary: Hope without a happy ending
Review: First, I have watched this at least a dozen times and still cry in places. Perhaps people who hate this movie can't find a character they can imagine themselves being.(I see myself as the nurse Hana -- wonderfully played by Juliette Binoche!-- a badly traumatised human being fighting to hang on to her humanity in the midst of horror and tragedy.) This is about imperfect people in a flawed, often cruel and ugly and apparently pointless world, trying to find meaning and beauty and love and achieving it -- at least for a few precious moments. It is a movie that says that although there is no everlasting happy ending, there is still hope. If you are at all sensitive (and, no, you don't have to be wearing lip gloss) this movie will haunt you forever.
Rating:
Summary: All In The Name of Love
Review: During WWII, Hanna is an allied nurse, caring for a mysterious patient,who is burned beyond recognition. Both of their stories are told simutainously in this sweeping saga.
The patient's story unfolds in flashblacks of his love for a married woman. Hanna's story deals with her acceptance of her losses in the present.
We learn that he is actually a Hungarian count , an expert in map making, working for the Royal Geographical Society,helping to secure passageways through Africa as the war grows closer. He becomes passionatly involved with Katherine, the wife of another man. They eventually part ways, but the feelings remain. They do see each other again, but under tragic circumstances, she is injured and he promises to do what he can to save her. The fullfilling of this promise adversley effects other lives, including his own.
Hanna's story is one of grief as the war claims the lives of the people she is closest to. She feels that she is cursed and anyone that she loves will meet with death. However, she is a dedicated nurse, she is a life giver to those around her. She is strong and independent but in some ways like a little girl.(She plays hop scotch to pass the time). She meets Kip. a bomb expert who opens up a whole new world to her and we see that her life will begin anew with the end of the war drawing near.
It has a superb cast including Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristen Scott Thomas, Colin Firth and Willem DaFoe. It was directed by Anthony Minghella and the cinematoghraphy is breathtaking. Filmed in the countryside of Italy and the deserts of Tunisia. It was honored by Oscar with 9 Awards in 1996 (including best picture,supporting actress for Binoche, and best director) in a year when The Independents reigned supreme. Think the Academy was trying to say something to the big studios? I do!
The film was a little long for the story, I would have liked to have spent more time getting to know more about some of the characters, and less time looking at the desert. It was the second time I viewed it (having known about the characters already) that i really appreciated it.
The DVD(Miramax) is of superior quality. If you already know that you like this film and are thinking of buying it you will not be dissapointed by the picture ,in the original widescreen presentation or the sound 5.1 dolby digital. They are both well presented. I did see a couple of spots where it pauses for a second(I'm told due the pixelazation process), but hardly noticable. If it is "Bonus Features you are looking for in a DVD, you Won't find them here. There are however, subtitles in English and Spanish and Captioned for hearing impaired viewers.
Watch it again!.........Laurie
Rating:
Summary: The English Patient
Review: After the badly burned Hungarian patient Count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) is pulled from the wreckage of a plane, he is taken to a military hospital with no memory of his past. During the journey through Italy, his Canadian nurse Hanna (Juliette Binoche) insists on staying behind in a monastery to prevent further injury and discomfort to her patient. While secluded in the countryside a different world with new meaning unfolds for both of them. The Count flashes back to recall his life as an archeologist on a map making expedition, where he meets and falls in love with a married English woman, Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas). During his stay, he slowly regains the memories of their life together. Meanwhile, Hanna who has lost a lover and a best friend in the war, meets Kip (Naveen Andrews), a Sikh bomb disposal expert, and she becomes romantically involved.
Anthony Minghella, director of The English Patient, remarkably brings cultural diversity, compassion, and emotion all together in this film. The cinematography captured by John Seale shows not only the beauty of the desert and its unknown secrets, but also the coldness of the villages during the war. After viewing this film, it leaves no doubt to why this film won nine Academy Awards and Best Film in 1996.
Rating:
Summary: People who dislike intelligent storytelling look elsewhere
Review: I notice that many people have come to review this movie strictly for the purpose of trying to destroy it, rather than to give a thoughtful review. In fact, I'm convinced that many of the one star reviews are from people who have never seen the movie who only "heard" that it was a boring chick flick, or "heard" that it was morally puerile. What "The English Patient" IS is a smart and beautiful film. There is no moralizing, rather the movie presents passion as it is in our real lives: the good, the bad and, yes, even the ugly. Ralph Fiennes is destroyed by his passion, almost literally consumed in flames by it. While Juliette Binoche is uplifted by her passion, and is even able to save some small part of the two destroyed men who come into her life (Fiennes and Willem Dafoe) You do not have to agree with the characters' choices to enjoy the movie, only understand them. The brilliant direction of Anthony Minghella, and the stellar performances of the cast (Fiennes, Scott Thomas, Dafoe, Binoche, Naveen Andrews, Jurgen Prochnow, Colin Firth, Julian Wadham to name only a few) make this understanding easy. The movie just gets better and better with repeated viewing, and I cry like a baby EVERY TIME (and, yes, I'm a guy). In fact, I would say if you can get to the end of this movie without a tear in your eye you either weren't watching or you're dead. This movie deserves every Oscar it got!!
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