This is a typical dog/pet/foster child fitting in film. If you saw Free Willy, Homeward Bound, and Beethoven, (and maybe more) this film basically sums the three up in a way. Foster child (Chuckie) finds dog but can't have him, then dad (who is NFL kicker) has to work some where else, and Chuckie tries to take Bingo but leaves behind. Bingo makes his way cross country to find Chuckie, running into several obstacles. Eventually he runs into two crooks and puts them in jail. But when Bingo himself winds up into trouble not only does it complicate things for him because of the crooks, it also complicates things for Chucky.

Pretty cheesy 80s film, few but strong horriable words, but yet the crooks do come up with a pretty (although sick) clever scheme when they get Chucky and Bingo.


Okay.....I can't believe people are brain-dead enough to actually LIKE this piece of dog poo. I saw it as a child and it insulted my intelligence like no movie ever has. It's so bad it SHOULD get no stars. Not even the cute dog saves it. The dog gets drunk. HE ACTUALLY GETS DRUNK. He "saves" a boy...from drowning in AN INCH OF WATER. May I bang my head on a wall now? No, that's right, I've gotta stay for the most touching part of all: the boy and dog get separated and the dog TRACKS THE BOY BY SNIFFING EVERY PLACE THE BOY HAS URINATED AT TRUCK STOPS. WHICH, I MIGHT ADD, IS ACTUALLY SHOWN. Isn't that oh so charming and cute? Even if it's SUPPOSED to be a parody of child+dog films, it doesn't work. It's not cute. It's not funny. It's atrocious and stupid with atrocious and stupid scenes. The actors are also so bad that you'd swear it was a sketch from All That except THOSE sketches actually are amusing at times. The "special" effects look like they had a ten-dollar budget. Bottom line: DON'T WATCH THIS. Don't watch it even if you love dogs or kids or dogs and kids. It's bad bad bad. Not so bad it's good-just so bad like "Can I kill myself now?" Don't even make your dog watch it. This is the WORST kid and dog movie ever made. And it's definitely NOT appropriate for children.


If you read the book, it's really not a spoof. Justa funny dog movie where the dog is more human then dog and nobody seems to notice. I loved the movie and book. This is a great family movie, especially for those with younger kids, although it has many scenes more older kids and adults would understand. it was a GREAT movie. I don't want to spoil anything so i don't know what else to really say. the movie is a great movie for a cold day when you want to light the fire and watch a movie with the family or if there are many kids around for a party or something and you want to quiet them down. They will start to watch it and forget everything else (check on them to make sure they remember to breath) :)


My kids watch Bingo, wall to wall, So I've it seen a few times, it's really quite witty. Everyone plays very well. Even though its from Disney there's no Syrup.

I don't know why so many people gave this low votes, perhaps they never realised it was being played for laughs!


With 3 kids (now 16, 13, 11) I have seen a lot of kids movies over the years, this one is pretty funny! Even though my kids are getting older they still enjoy watching this movie, and I do too. The dog is so cute and trained so well that you can't help but root for him.

If you haven't watched this one yet, I recommend it for a fun family movie evening. Not only is it funny, it doesn't have all those annoying songs that your kids will sing for weeks on end!


The language and obscene gestures used through out the movie, do not make this one suitable for children under the age of 13.

It starts when the main character meets Bingo with delightful screams of "HOLY SH__!" and screaming matches calling each other "Chicken SH__!" as well as the Parents bickering like 10 year-olds and giving each other the finger when they turn their backs.

Some of the humor is suitable for young adults and adults but small children should not see this one.

As an adult I found the language offensive and it did not add to the movie's value one bit.


It's hard to describe just how bad this movie is! Let's put it this way, my girlfriend and now wife both love dogs. We both love movies. We both hated Bingo! It is easily the worst movie I have ever seen. We walked out after 30 minutes and got our money back.


This is a fun little spoof of the crappy 80's style horror flicks we grew up with... the twist (the same kinda hook that Scream used about five years later) is that the hero is a guy who's seen so many of said crappy horror flicks that he realizes that he might actually be IN a crappy horror flick, then uses it to his advantage.

The best news tho is that the new DVD edition of "There's Nothing.." not only has a MUCH better transfer than the earlier video release (and is letterboxed), but also a bunch of fun extras and commentary. The movie is a hoot, and the extras make it even more worthwhile.

Sometimes it's fun to kick back with a b-movie that knows it's a b-movie and has fun with that. Low budget and cheesy, but far more fun than most of the Hollywood horror flicks released in the past decade.

*** = movie ***** = DVD

Enjoy!


Scream talked about the rules if you are going to survive a horror movie. Well there's nothing out there is the pretext to that and have other rules of surviving a horror movie in the woods which includes no skinny dipping. I love the Mike character, reminds me allot of me. He is the best written character in this whole movie. The others are good too but he has to be my favorite. The brilliant writing and subtext. The acting is better then some serious horror movies and the effects are incredible. This has got to be the best movie that you never heard of. All and all a great movie worth watching over and over again. 9 STARS.


7 teens on Spring Break trek up to one of their Uncle's cabin in the woods just in time for some kind of alien being to land nearby looking to eat some people and find a mate. While this might sound kind of campy, the film manages to approach the project by surrounding all the situations with elements of fear and suspense. A few things to take in mind if you've never seen this film before: the alien is supposed to be scary and undoubtedly some teens will survive.


A genuine rarity, this one: a truly good, funny, even smart and respectful send-up of low-rent tacky'n'terrible cheesy backwoods-set teens-in-peril fright films that effectively pokes fun at assorted clichéd'n'contrived horror movie conventions without ever becoming the least bit cutesy or condescending towards its Grade B schlock picture subject matter. Writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky's droll, low-key, properly straight-faced and restrained style never devolves into the overly broad or excessive, instead nicely maintaining a dryly deadpan and ingratiatingly affectionate tone throughout.

The slyly generic plot concerns three libidinous college student couples and token fear flick fanatic Mike (winningly played by Craig Peck, who's really goofy, but thankfully none too annoying) vacationing in a remote wilderness area. Said secluded forest proves to be the stalking grounds for a slimy, toothy, grody little lethal alien frog monster that sees the guys as yummy meals and the gals as ideal mates to reproduce its species with. Mike's comprehensive knowledge on and keen understanding of bromidic horror film banalities, which is initially a source of irritation to the other disbelieving chowder-head collegians, winds up saving the day, much to geeky Mike's own surprise and the viewer's slack-jawed astonishment.

A very amusing, enjoyable and mercifully uninsulting spoof (unlike the atrocious "Scream" stinkers, this film never seems either archly ironic or smugly patronizing in its pointed satiric potshots at corny stock characters and tried'n'true standard situations), blessed with witty dialog (Mike has the feature's single most sidesplitting line, tersely commenting after seeing one victim's face melt: "Now, that's disgusting"), personable acting from a cast of deliberately overage thesps who trying unsuccessfully to palm themselves off as twentysomethish young adults (one dude even has thinning hair!), nifty on-target parodies of such groan-inducingly familiar trash horror film ingredients as gratuitous nudity ("It's skinny-dipping time!"), the ever-absurd false cat scare, an especially uproarious swipe at the making hot, passionate love in front of a roaring fire sequence (the guy's zipper gets stuck!), glaring blatant continuity errors, and a hilarious technical gaffe involving a conspicuously visible boom microphone dipping into the frame, crisp, sprightly cinematography by Ed Hershberger, an endearingly cruddy extraterrestrial beast, a rollicking bang-up score by Christopher Thomas, and some gut-busting joke-ridden ending credits, "There's Nothing Out There" overall sizes up as a brisk, frequently riotous, and highly pleasing low-budget (it only cost $350,000 in total) tongue-in-cheek horror film genre lampoon.

The first-rate deluxe Special Edition DVD by Image Entertainment offers a fairly grainy, but generally solid and up to par widescreen presentation loaded with a wonderful wealth of awesomely abundant extras which include the theatrical trailer, a still and poster gallery, funky animated menus complete with songs and music from the picture, screen tests, bloopers and rehearsals (the bloopers in particular are an absolute hoot), pre-production footage and storyboards, animation test footage and work print outtakes, and, most savory of all, a very funny, entertaining and informative commentary provided by Kanefsky along with various cast and crew members.


I love this spoof of alien movies. The cast was excellent, especially Craig Peck as the nerdy guy who knows there is something out there. He had the best lines, and even though at times he was a little too winy, he was the most likable of the bunch.

In this one ALL the lead actresses take their clothes off, and two of the guys too (I could have done without the hairy ass shot).The alien creature was very funny looking, not scary at all, the effects were somewhat poor, but I still love this film.

It has something that appeals to me, I don't know if its the girls (they all are so hot) or simply because is a very funny film.


*A Spoiler or two*

'There's Nothing Out There' starts off ok aswell as Mike who seems to know all about horror movies which makes it slightly amusing but that was done better by Jamie Kennedy in Scream. It is all let down by the actual monster who is really the sorriest monster you will ever see in a horror movie. It looks like somebody with a very bad cold has sneezed on the floor and hasn't bothered to wipe it up. A small green fat blob which is a cross between Slimer from Ghostbusters, a critter from Critters and a piece of clay. It actually does rip a bit of the story from critters. I think the guys behind this should have stuck a maniac with an axe in this instead of a bad looking midget monster. It is occasionally funny and does poke fun at the horror genre but it is pretty bad. Worth watching for the cliches alone, not much else though. 4/10.


This is a great low budget flick, has an atractive cast, lots of male and female nudity, decent special effects, funny one-liners, stereotypical characters that are fun to watch: the tough guy, the dumb blond, the foreign chick, the guy who's seen every horror movie out there, the nerd, the guy that worries too much and the not-so bright heroine. This flick is about 7 college students who go to a house in the middle of the woods where they are attacked by a funny looking creature.


Buster Keaton, never heard of him. I only new Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, before i turned into a comic titles searcher. And guess, I would have missed some of the best works from the silent era.

"The General" is the best Silent movie, I have seen. Even if I remove the last 3 words from the previous sentence, it would be true.

The Plot is known as "The Great Locomotive Chase". Keaton plays a railroad engineer and story is all about how he saves his side, without any help (with some help from his love), in the war. Keaton's less expressive face suits great to the subject.

I enjoyed the background music. A commenter said it is repetitive. Yes, it is, but the action goes on steam engines throughout the movie and the music just felt like going with the engine.

Fans of Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy, will love Buster Keaton for sure. A Must watch movie.


Old stone face (Buster Keaton) is never better than in this film. The way the comedy is done, you'd never suspect how much real history is done in this film. This raid by a group of Union Spys (Andrew's Raiders in real history) was actually done in Tennesee during the Civil War.

Keaton's Confederate character Johnny is a composition of a couple of real people from this historic settings. His physical comedy performance in this film is priceless.

Andrew's Raiders really did steal the locomotive (The General) & tried to bring the engine North & cut the wires & the rail lines to try & disrupt the Confederates Defense. Keaton's character is based partly on a real Southern railroad conductor who chased after the raiders. The Texas, the engine used in this film really was the engine used to pursue the GENERAL in the Civil War. Even though the GENERAL was sitting in a rail yard available in 1925 when this was being filmed, the railroad would not let Keaton use it. This made them use the Texas as a double for the General.

They really do wreck the engine while filming one sequence, & it sat on the lot where it was wrecked until WW 2 when it was salvaged for scrap iron. The Andrews Raiders were the first people Abe Lincoln awarded with the Congressional Metal of Honor. Big Shanty, Tennesee is where the engine was stolen.

The actual raiders didn't actually get the engine to the Union lines. But a lot of what Keaton does with the stolen train as comedy was actually done seriously by the raiders. This is a very funny film & the real history behind it makes it even more interesting to watch.


019: The General (1927) - released 2/5/1927, viewed 8/17/05.

KEVIN: After much talk of the genius of Buster Keaton and his seminal masterpiece, we finally convinced our parents to watch The General with us, on the condition that they must be sucked in within the first 30 minutes. No problem. Many of the best gags in the film are in the first half hour, including the bits with the planks of wood, and Keaton's gut-busting deadpan double take to yet another bizarre mishap, which had all of us laughing. It didn't take long before both my folks were totally into the film. There were quite a few gags that I'd forgotten about, mostly stuff after the bridge collapses, like the gag with the faulty sword. Even so, looking back on the piece, I'd say that this is one of those movies where there's not a single wasted moment in the entire picture. From start to finish, it's perfect.

DOUG: We watched Keaton's The General before in Film Expression class, and it is thanks to this that we have so many Keaton films on the agenda. Still, although The Navigator and Sherlock Jr. were excellent, they still don't quite measure up to Keaton's crowning achievement. We actually showed this movie to our parents, and they were impressed too (okay, Mom fell asleep, but Dad loved it). Dad's favorite part was also mine, the part where Keaton sits down in the conductor's seat to find an obstructing rail car that he just disposed of has miraculously reappeared, and then a moment later he sits down to find that the car has vanished once again. The subtle tics on his face at this moment are absolutely priceless. Not just the surprise, but the frustration of "why does this keep happening to me?" Another of my favorite scenes is when Keaton knocks an obstructing beam off the track with another beam. Mom was like, "I wonder how many takes that took," to which I responded, "You only get one." We recently were shown this film in our History of Silent Film class, and our textbook had a section comparing The General with Chaplin's Gold Rush (comparing Gold's circular style with General's linear style, contrasting their approaches to women, and so forth).

Last film viewed: Metropolis (1927). Last film chronologically: The Kid Brother (1927). Next film viewed: College (1927). Next film chronologically: It (1927).

The Movie Odyssey is an exhaustive, chronological project where we watch as many milestone films as possible, starting with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in 1916 and working our way through, year by year, one film at a time. We also write a short review for each and every film. In this project, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the time period, the films of the era, and each film in context, while at the same time just watching a lot of great movies, most of which we never would have watched otherwise.


I actually got my son a typical 16 year old to come over and see what i was watching and laughing at. He walked in just as the bridge was collapsing under the train. He sat and watched the end of the movie with me, then he actually started it over to watch the whole thing. This from a "its a black and white picture dad and where the heck is the sound turn it up" kid.

And he absolutely floored me when he said after he watched the whole thing he thought it was great "but I prefer Chaplin". Seems he has been digging into my DVD collection when I wasn't watching.


I had the privilege of seeing the restoration of the film "The General" in Munich in the 60's. Buster Keaton came to the the premier. He didn't go into the theater, but he was rewarded by the sound of the audience. Recently, I viewed a video tape of the movie, and was disappointed that it was not from the restored version which had excellent picture and sound quality. One should take care in choosing among available copies.


This movie is by far one of the all time greats. It is pure genius fom start to finish. This film will have you in stitches from start to finish. Set in the American civil war, Johnny Gray goes on a one man mission to get his beloved train and girlfriend back after both are stolen at a routine stop. Buster plays a wonderful part with some outstanding stunts. Unfortunately this film is out of it's era and finds itself hard to be appreciated in todays society. Still a worthy watch though.


This is the movie to see for those of you who have troble with slow pace and tedium of silent movies. This is an action packed thriller. Complete with an incredible actor, doing his own stunts decades befor Jackie Chan, and not to mention he wrote and directed this movie.

So, Johnny Greys just a regular old guy living in the south, running his train, "The General" , around the south in like the middle of the civil war. Some how or another the yankees steel the train and drive it off. well, Johnny wants his beloved train going in to enemy hands to he sets off after it. The meat of the movie is increble whil E Coyote stunts as Buster Keaton, as Johnny, trys to catch his train.


A couple of interesting footnotes. The wrecked train in the film is still visible today in the river where it sank in the film, somewhere in Tennesseee, I believe. Also, check out the civil war general played by Mike Donlin. Donlin was a star player for the New York (baseball) Giants, who parlayed his ballplayer's love of night life and glamor into a film career.


Though it runs only seventy-five minutes, it still seems remarkable that Buster Keaton's fertile imagination is built upon short, quick gags that pass by quickly--so quickly that it staggers the mind that anyone could come up with enough to flesh out seventy-five minutes. The gags themselves are gracefully athletic and consistently come unexpectedly, given Keaton's slight build and features that make him look old beyond his years. He plays a train engineer whose attempts to join the Confederate army are rebuffed (as are the affections of his beloved, believing him to be a coward) but who almost single-handedly manages to win a major battle by using his train to confound the Union army. There's great attention paid to detail--quite a bit is happening both in the foreground and the background of the frame--and the jokes are both laugh-out-loud funny and amusingly ironic; but Keaton's genius is his ability to isolate the individual within the crowd and draw out that individual's endearing strengths--his connection with each member of the audience is subtle but sublime.


One of the best if not THE best silent or "purely graphic" comedies ever made. Yes I am a huge Keaton fan, but no one can doubt his influence after watching Harpo Marx, Jackie Chan or Jim Carrie. How Mr. Keaton could transform his artistry from Vaudeville to the big screen is more of a tribute to his genius . You might not like the trains or the ragtime music but you'll have to appreciate the situational and physical qualities of this film.


In what is said to be his landmark film, Buster Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a train engineer in Tennessee in 1861. When war breaks out, he decides to enlist but is turned down because he is more valuable as an engineer. His girlfriend's father and brother believe him to be too afraid to enlist, and his girlfriend refuses to speak to him until he is in uniform. A year later, Gray is engineering his train, the General, which is then stolen by Northern spies and used to halt supplies to the South. Gray pursues the train by handcar, bicycle, and engine car, then after rescuing his girlfriend, who was on the train, the tables are reversed as the spies chase him Gray, on the General. Pretty innovative comedy, with great stuntwork by Keaton ( including knocking away the railroad tie with another ), and a good feeling all around. Keaton turns in an absolutely great performance with a great showing of slapstick, sympathy, and and romance. Rating 10.


I do agree that "The General" should have been on the top 100 list. Buster Keaton is the icon of the successful comedy writer/director/actors in the 1920's. It just so happens that "The General" is a history lesson as well, and scholars at the time felt that this movie was about as authentic looking as a Matthew Brady photograph of the Civil War. It contains the most expensive stunt done up to that time-the locomotive plunging into the river (not a model). The movie was a labor of love from Keaton and crew and deserves to find a place in movie history long after other silents of the era have disintegrated. After viewing this movie, go on to "Our Relations" and the other fine(and perhaps funnier) movies that Keaton made, and discover the two-reelers, especially "Cops". But this one is special. It is right out of your history book.


''The General'' clearly ranks at the top of Keaton's work in silent film. This movie is eerily beautiful, funny and evokes what may be film's closest version of what the Civil War was really like. By the way, the story is based in truth. Keaton did other solid work before and after ''The General.'' But this is his best. Check out the scene in which he's on the train...the water spout douses him with water and he looks into the sky to see if it's raining. Or when he throws the chunk of wood at the cannon. Very simple, very memorable.


How this movie could have been left out of the top 100 flicks of all time I will never know. I remember Keaton as a grumpy old man in the cinema of the 50's and 60's. It was only later when in college film school that I recogized his true genius. The General was one of the first silent movies that I was ever able to sit though long enough to fully appreciate the medium. It had everything, drama, comedy, action, romance. It was also pretty much true to the real event also. My favorite part is when Keaton has rescued the train and his girlfriend and they are escaping the federal troops in full pursuit. His girlfriend having run out of wood to stoke the engine hands him a twig. Keaton looks at the twig and thinks about hitting the girlfriend but instead hugs and kisses her. The other thing that I love about the movie is that there is not one second of wasted film, every scene has definite purpose and it holds your attention every minute. This is Keaton's masterpiece always.


Superhero movies are again a hot property thanks to the big screen adaptations of Spider-Man, X-Men and Superman. As such, many film buffs who know little or nothing about Captain America have no doubt been picking this one up at the video store. Too bad nothing but pure crapulescence awaits them.

Where to begin? The movie has a dim look to it; the acting is second-rate; and the action and battle scenes are few and far between. It will disappoint most die-hard comic book fans, perhaps as much as those silly 1970s Cap films were. On a positive note, the action scenes aren't awful when the viewer finally gets to them. As well, the characters stay pretty true to their illustrated roots, and kids aren't going to be nearly as fussy as adult moviegoers about this one.


I've never read a Captain America comic book. But I don't have to to know that any fan of the comic won't be too pleased with this film. Matt Salinger does his best with a lousy story. Captain America doesn't even finish one mission before he's frozen in ice, only to be thawed out 50 years later. The Red Skull is the villain, but in most of the movie he looks like a guy with acne problems. However, we do learn that the Red Skull had a hand in the JFK assassination. How Oliver Stone missed that lead is beyond me. The Captain's super powers seem to be limited to throwing his shield and faking car sickness. On the positive side, at times the film does have the feel of a 40's serial. I would've liked to see that carried out, but the film never decides whether to be serious or kind-of-corny. Instead it just ends up being boring.


First of all, who knew that famed reclusive J.D. Salinger even had a son, let alone a B-Movie actor son? That's right, the actor who plays Steve Rogers/Capt. America is Matt Salinger, son of the aforementioned author of "Catcher in the Rye". About the movie though. I wouldn't rate this as a horrible movie, but it sure wasn't good. Salinger did an OK job as the Cap but his acting prowess wasn't quite good enough to pull off the 50's guy coping with the 90's lifestyle the script called for. And the Red Skull? How do you mess that up?! He's one of the scariest freaking villains in all of comicdom, how could you go wrong? Oh, buy making him a Caucasian Greek mob boss, that's how. I would only recommend this film to die hard fans of the cap or true movie geeks. I happen to be both so I made myself find some good qualities (but it was really, really hard).

As for those of you who share my affinity for comics and bad movies but can't seem to get their hands on this gem, I can only tell you that it's been out of print for more than a decade now and your best bet is to find it at the next comic con in your area or at a flea market that sells bootleg tapes (ditto that for the Fantastic Four movie from '94).


You really have to be a fan of............oh what the heck, this movie just plain stinks! The costume looks horrible, too many liberties were taken with the characters and the plot lurches forward badly. It basicly starts out with a few minutes in one place, a few minutes in another, a few more elsewhere......you get the idea, and then all these separate incidents gradually and slowly lead to one single plot. MST3K's Pod People was easier to follow ! Few good things about this, Matt Salinger looks enough like Steve Rogers should, but is hampered by the lousy script and implausible plot. The culture shock he has returning home after too many years is done fairly well, and the Red Skull seen at the top of the movie reminds me of a cross between Freddie Kruger and Jason Voorhees. This movie could have been so much better set entirely in WW2 with the opening scene of Hitler screaming at his generals, "I could make that bellboy a better leader than any of you !" That is from the mythos of the comic book. After the opening credits, we should have seen the process of Rogers becoming the hero who goes on to fight the Red Skull, who through most of the movie should have been spoken of and referred to, but not seen. This movie needed that sort of impact, the indication of the sort of evil the Nazis represented, but as it is, it's just one big car wreck on the "to-do" list at MST3K.


As the planet whirls toward the devastation of floods and earthquakes, famine, disease and war, I will remember the horrible onslaught this movie defacated into my memories and nightmares. This... "film", will utterly lower your I.Q. It is an assault on your intelligence and dignity as a human being. The Red Skull is not even the Red Skull!! It's the Red Skull after plastic surgery to make him look human. I wonder if there is a category of movies that is BELOW low budget. If even ONE actor in the movie could act, this film might be able to pass for a piece of crap. When all is done and I lay on my death bed, I know these are 2 hours of my life I will never get back.


After two made for TV movies that failed to launch a TV series back in 1979, Captain America finally made his motion picture debut in 1990, but thank God not to American movie screens. Only in Europe!

I have this movie in my video collection just for the fact I love comic book superheroes and their movies and TV shows. Yet I despised this movie for numerous reasons. I will not tell you all of them, but the main reasons were:

1. Red Skull was not German, but Italian! (He's working for Mussolini during World War 2, not Hitler)

2. Almost all the good guys, including Cap's old lady love and the reporter played by Ned Beatty, gets killed off sometime in the film

3.Red Skull is responsible all the way for such events as the JFK assassination, among others

How stupid is that? Very stupid! Kids will get scared out of their pants looking at The Red Skull just like I was so sickened at Red Skull's annoying comment to Cap calling him "brother". Praise God Captain America managed to shut Red Skull's mouth after that and started to kick Red skull's worthless ass.

Oh, how did Red Skull manage to get such cheap slut daughters in this movie to do his dirty work? There is no mention of him anywhere during the movie of him being married at some time. He must have been playing around with a lot of women before Captain America came back to life.

Jack Kirby, god rest his soul, hated this movie as well. And I don't blame him. For Jack Kirby created Captain America and other heroes, too!

If they ever make a new "Captain America" movie in the future, I pray that they do it better than this piece of crap. I've never been so disgusted in my life.

Thumbs Way Down!


This is not the worst comic book adaptation as many have said. It is a dull movie with almost no special effects and a story that has no delivery whatsoever. Most of the actors sleepwalk through this film(the Red Skull's daughter for example looks particularly sleepy) and there is hardly any adventure to speak of. Matt Salinger is OK as Captain America but even he can't shake the boredom out of this movie. The only positive is the costume and shield. Too bad Captain America is in costume for so little screen time. The least said about the Captain's modern day girlfriend the better.

Don't waste you time on this one. It makes the 1944 Captain America serial look like a masterpiece in comparison.


I have loved this film since I was a little kid, I would'nt change anything about the story: Steve Rogers applies to be the guinea pig in a US experiment to make super soldiers to help win the second world war. After fighting the German warrior the Red Skull, Cap is frozen in ice for 40 years only to be awoken in Alaska. His long lost love is murdered by the Red Skull and the current US President is kidnapped and its up to Cap to don the Red, White & Blue suit and shield to redeem himself and make up for his loss 40 years previously.

This film stuck pretty close to the character and I think people should give it more of a chance, I really hope that when the new Cap film is released in the next couple of years people go back and re evaluate their opinions.

Personally I would give this film two thumbs up. watch if your a fan of films such as 'Spiderman', 'Superman' and 'The Punisher'.


Captain America (1991) is a lame attempt to bring one of Marvel Comic's cornerstone characters to the silver screen. Whilst it's better than the mediocre t.v. movies, the end results are still the same. I wish that the filmmakers would have bothered to spend a half hour of their time and picked up an old issue of Captain America. They changed too much of the original story for this to have worked. I mean they had all the right parts to make a decent film but it winds up missing a few cogs and gears. The final product is a lemon. It has a nice body but the engine is totally trashed.

Dude, my advice is if you're going to make a movie about a comic book hero please read it first. Because if you don't, you're going to wind up with a real stinker.

I would recommend this movie for die hard Captain America fans only. This movie had a chance but the filmmakers blew it! They dropped the ball big time. Oh well, maybe next time.


Captain America is good movie. All of the cast was good and the characters were used properly. It was funny that Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin were in another film together. Matt Salinger played Captain America very good and Scott Paulin played the Red Skull excellently! It was unusual to see Ronny Cox as the president and Ned Beatty in yet another superhero movie! Very good directing by one of the most underrated directors Albert Pyun. I really don't know what is so bad about this movie. Sure its not like the current Marvel movies but this was made a long while ago. If you like Marvel Comics, Captain America, and the cast mentioned above then I recommend you watch this movie!


I am like the other reviewer who saw the poster of this in a theater, oddly enough I think I was there to see Batman Returns. The poster was a picture of his shield and I said that might be cool, but alas this movie would never make it to the big screen. The problem is they apparently ran out of money after the first scene. Captain America goes after the Red Skull beating up Nazi soldiers then totally gets beaten up by the skull that doesn't look like a skull, but it is still creepy. Cap gets tied to a rocket which is launched at the White House then he diverts it to Alaska. After this the budget runs out and the middle is just the guy without his costume running around in modern America. The skull is still around and he now looks like a guy with a bad sunburn and he is trying to kidnap the Pres. There is a little action at the end, but it is not as good as the promising beginning. Cap does get to beat up the skull at the end too, but the guy has to be pretty old at this point so it isn't really a fair fight.

The costume is pretty good and the guy looks like Captain America, but he is kinda whiney. This film isn't very good, but a worse Marvel movie is The Punisher, they couldn't even get the costume right in that one.


This is one of the great bad movies of all time. The thought that someone even made this movie makes me laugh. I love it. Don't look for any greatness here just dumb dumb fun. A movie to laugh at not with. This movie had such a cult following that although it's not listed here, and I have yet to see it, there was a Captain American 2. I really must get my hands on that.


Steve Rogers is turned into a super soldier to fight the Red Skull during World War II. He loses and is frozen for fifty years. When he comes back, he finds the Red Skull has assassinated Kennedy, King and has become one of the world's most powerful supervillains and businessmen. Can he stop the Skull now?

This film is fun if you like seeing a guy in a bad costume run around and throw a shield, while a man who looks and acts like Jimmy Carter is a crime-fighting president (and protector of the environment). It's light on plot, light on character development and even the action comes off as more cheesy than anything. But to be honest with you, this was more fun than almost any of the modern comic book films. (For example, "Batman Begins" is a phenomenal film -- but it's not as easy to sit back and laugh at with a beer.)

Why is the Red Skull Italian? As I recall from the comics, he's quite German, and there was no real reason to change this for the movie. I mean, if you're fighting the Nazis, isn't it just more logical to have the villain be German? Where did he get a daughter from? This remains unanswered. Other things seemed fishy... and even the decoder ring, which was important to the story, never paid off as fully as I would have liked (and what exactly did it decode?).

If you get a copy of this movie, keep your expectations low and your supply of Busch Light very high. Not a good movie, unless you love ripping apart such films. I do, so I loved it. But I wouldn't foist it anyone... but maybe the old "Punisher" film...


Gee whiz, what a flick! It's so stupid it's almost funny. Almost. But not really. Mostly it's pretty dull, but still somehow quite watchable. The music is fantastically awful in its eightiesness. Who better to play Captain America than Matt Salinger? Yes, you read that right. THE Matt Salinger. What? You've never heard of him? Me neither, and considering his performance in this movie, it's no wonder.

Serious mindf-ck occurs at the very start of the movie. The blue, red and white title "Captain America" unceremoniously appears on the screen - but we're in 1936 Italy! Some Italian dialogue makes me wonder if I have accidentally gotten hold of a dubbed copy, but my fears are thankfully never confirmed - although I doubt that the Italian dubbing mafia could've done a worse job at characterization than the American cast. Anyway, we see a little Italian dude playing the piano. Some anonymous military bad guy smashes a window and sends his henchmen to blow Italian dude's parents to pieces. It takes a while before we understand what the hell this has to do with anything - no, it's not a scene from "The Godfather" which was accidentally spliced into the film during production - because we quickly cut to:

SEVEN YEARS LATER

(as an afterthought) 1943

World War II is running full throttle and dazed-looking Steve is mugging his way through a tearful farewell to his family and girlfriend, Bernie (and here I was thinking this was a guy's name!). We are treated to such wonderful dialogue as: "It's just that... I love you and I can't stand thinking that I won't know where you are or what you're doing!" Sparks fly, chemistry's high (or maybe it's the scriptwriter) and Steve leaves his old neighbourhood... never to return... OR WILL HE?

It turns out Steve signed up for some lab rat work for the accent-ually challenged military. Before he can say "no paycheck is worth this!", he's strapped to a chair, attacked by flashing colours, and Captain America is born. There's no time for celebration, however, because an evil nazi bastard shows up and starts peppering everyone with a prop. What I love about this scene is that the military is carrying out this secret, important experiment in the basement of a bar and it's free for anyone to just drop in! Oh, that and the flashy colours, of course.

Captain America is hit and we find out that he's immune to bullets. The accent-ually challenged military guy sends him to stop Red Skull - the Italian dude from the beginning of the movie - a bad guy with a really awful case of acne who thinks the concept of jokes about English lessons is the best thing since spaghetti bolognese. Steve arrives at the bad guy's hideout, some bland action occurs and Captain America shows that he's a complete loser by actually letting this walking advertisement for Clearasil get the better of him. Suddenly strapped to a nuclear missile, Steve grabs hold of Acne Man's wrist and the latter makes the only sensible thing: he uses a knife to slice off... his own hand. That's truly brilliant thinking there, buddy.

Then we cut to a poor child actor telling his mum that he's going to be president of the USA when he grows up (FORESHADOWING!). The kid goes outside for some reason and sees Steve America and the nuclear missile in the sky. This is so inspirational to him that he has to rave about it to his blonde-haired snob of a friend, who touches his shoulder in a very disturbing way. I'd just like to point out that this is the WORST CHILD ACTOR I'VE EVER SEEN, EVER! And I've seen The Omen 2006, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and Stephen King's version of The Shining.

50 or so years pass and - voila! - poor child actor #1 has indeed become president of the United States. A lot of boring stuff happens as Steve America is carved out of a block of really authentic-looking ice in Alaska; meets Bernie who's now supposedly 66 (I must say she ages extremely well!), married and has a seriously hot daughter; and has to cope with the cultural changes of the US since 1943, sort of like in "Austin Powers" only less touching. We also find out that Acne Man has magically transformed into Incompetent Plastic Surgery Man (whom I will refer to as IPSM from here on).

Some filler scenes, filmed as an excuse for the cast and crew to go to Italy, ensue until we finally get to the climactic showdown between IPSM and Steve America. Now Steve finds himself in a situation where he has to stop IPSM from blowing up Europe (!), but can't because... I.P.S.M. is armed with a machine gun?? What the hell? I thought he was immune to gunfire? Whatever. My brain hurts now.

I wouldn't want to spoil the film's ending for you so I'll just leave this already too long plot summary now. Add to what I've just said porn movie actors, a very eighties soundtrack, overly ambitious action with none of the budget it needs to not be a complete joke, and Matt Salinger's... um... original performance as the Captain himself, and you have a film which is actually pretty watchable in an F-movie kind of way.

In conclusion: It's exactly stupid and unintentionally silly enough to keep your attention to the bitter end (unlike something like "Bloodrayne", whose stupidity bored me to tears) and really all you could ask for from a good bad movie. It's pretty mean to call it one of the 100 worst movies ever. Remind me never to write a review this long again. My next stop is also an early nineties cheese-fest, this time about vegetable-lovin' freaks: "Troll 2". Pray for my sanity.


When Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created the character of Captain America he was an inspirational action hero. The movie does the same without the inspirational and action hero part. You do not sympathize with Cap because the actor is so stiff he is in no way believable. No wonder his brilliant father is a recluse. The Red Skull is only the Red Skull for about five minutes, then because I guess they could not afford to keep making him up so they make him look stupid for the rest of the film. It is a real shame it potentially could have been a great looking make up job. What was the point of making him Italian? To further separate this travesty from the great comic book character? And why was this pollution bill such a big deal?! It was an environmental bill that so angered the bad guys so bad that they kidnapped the leader of the free world! In case you did not understand what I was getting at, they kidnapped the leader of the world's most powerful nation because of an environmental bill, not protesting or boycotting or writing their Congressman or circulating a petition but kidnapping a prominent world leader. Avoid this movie at all costs.


This film is so bad, that there isn't even one good thing to be said about it. It's not even unintentionally funny. Well, at least it isn't as bad as Steel, because they at least tried to get Captain America's costume right.


This is without question one of the worst films I have ever seen. It fails in so many ways that I feel it is a perfect example of a what a film should be to rate a "1" on the IMDb Vote.

1. It fails as an adaptaion of a comic. Captain America is not a great hero who is frozen and thawed in this film. He is a ill prepared looser who gets his butt kicked in his first ever fight. Then we don't even see the red white and blue and shield again until the final fight. Captian America was an "action" comic folks. A film about Captain America should have lots of action!

2. This is somewhat related but even if you decide to give the film maker a break on the lack of action the rubbish in the middle is so boring that you will wear out the head on your VCR as you fast forward looking for something that looks promising.

3. I don't care what the apologists for this film say the acting is not good in this film.

4. The plot is terrible. Come on. Even if Cap could have diverted the rocket launched at the White House by kicking the fin, and even if he could have survived the impact I really have trouble figuring out why a rocket that is supposed to only have to travel to Washington DC has enough fuel to get to Alaska.

Over while the beginning and ending of the film show flashes of what this film should have been like the incredibly boring middle of the film and the lame plot make this one of the few films I feel really deserve a "1". For other "1's" see "Superman 4" and "Hudson Hawk"


The reason why Marvel can't get a decent box-office hit is because they don't have a big motion picture corporation backing them like DC does (DC is owned by Warner Brothers). Even though Men in Black was a success, Marvel has had more hits than misses: The Spider Man TV movies, The Punisher (a guilty pleasure of mine to watch), and The Fantasic Four (I remember E! making a big deal about it, but I never saw it in the theatres or the video stores). Captain America is also another Marvel movie miss. Talent like Matt Salenger, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Bill "Don't call me Billy" Mumy, and Darren McGavin are wasted in this 97 minute disaster. You don't get to learn much of the characters and the storyline is bouncing all over the place. Kim Gillingham shows promise as she plays a duel role as Cappy's girlfriend back in the 40's, and his girlfriend's daughter in the 90's. There is some songs by Southside Johnny and one of the Neville brothers on the soundtrack for what it's worth. Still, this looks like a thrown together production of a super hero film that deserved better treatment. What a tragedy.


This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. It was plain and simply a horrible film. Some awful films are great to watch and bring genuine excitement to the viewer as he/she laughs hysterical at the awful development. This movie had none of that and in fact made me cry. Have you ever watched a movie and felt uncomfortable watching it because it was so awful? Well, if you have, then you know what i'm talking about. If you haven't, watch this movie and you'll quickly realize what i'm talking about.


It's obvious that the people who made this have no feel for the characters or the comics. The story is full of holes, lacks logic (why did the Red Skull cut off his own hand to escape Cap instead of plunging the knife into Cap's chest? And why was there no blood gushing from the Skull's wrist?) While they did some things right (they did manage to make Matt Salinger look scrawny before the experiment), overall it was another attempt to take a character with a long history in the comics and put the filmmakers' own spin on it to poor effect. Captain America is a great character, and I'd love to see him done right, but after two poor TV movies and this wasted effort, I just don't think there's anyone in Hollywood who's willing to take the chance and make movie about a straight arrow superhero.


You haven't known mental anguish until you've seen this movie. In hindsight it is a major miracle that any studio would have touched any Marvel franchise with a ten foot pole after this stinker. Production values hover near zero, the dialogues make you cringe all the way through the movie and the whole story is beyond nonsensical, even for a comic.

The only upside are a few female Italian bad guys in the latter half, but the price to suffer through to see them is not worth the admission. Watch this movie with a couple friends so you know just how great straight to video stuff can be in comparison. Give Eddie Murphy a copy for his birthday so he'll feel much better about Pluto Nash.


to say it lightly, i loved this movie. it's one of those cheesy types that is so poorly done that you can't help but smile. if you're the type who likes dumb movies like bring it on, the mummy, and chicken run, this could be the one for you!


The movie is quite bad, but not that bad. It has its good moments. If it plays on cable TV and you have nothing better to do, it's a nice way to waste a little time. Captain America deserves a better treatment, but what's done is done...


Yes! Another superhero film comes and goes! What I love about these kinds of films are that we have the hero. We have the villain. We have a damsel in distress. Heck, we even have a problem in the world, like a shortage of cows, or that we need help opening a nasty carton of milk! This movie, "Captain America," does all of that. No, there isn't anything in this movie that has to do with cows or opening milk cartons or anything. However, there is the hero, Captain America, and the villain, The Red Skull, and so forth.

"Captain America" is a superhero movie that may not be as exciting as "Spider-Man," but believe me, if you are lucky enough to find a copy (and they are extremely difficult to come by nowadays!), then you can watch this movie and see what all the buzz is about.


To many people bash this movie, and personally, I think it is one of the most faithful adaptations I've ever seen from anything to screen for this time period.

THE BAD: The red skull's look at the end of the movie wasn't really all that crappy... it just wasn't the red skull... I have to admit they did take their time to get where they were going in the middle of the movie.

THE GOOD: The good greatly outweighs the bad in this film. Matt Salinger does a perfect rendition of Steve Rogers/ Captain America in his childish "gee whiz" kind of way. The Red Skull's make up in the first half of the film is breath taking, and Scott Paulin (with a great assist from the script) gives more character depth to the Red Skull than I've ever seen in the comics. The opening half hour rushes by with grace, ending with a fantastic battle inside a Nazi stronghold, and the climatic battle between Cap and the skull at the end is also unbelievable. And don't get me started on the "Pull over. I feel sick." parts of it.

OVERALL: One of the best comic films out there, even after seeing some of today's, it's the perfect adventure for the whole family!


Say what you will about this movie, the Captain America costume in it and the shield was amazing to watch. the costume designer faithfully recreated the costume and did a wonderful Batman like thing with the cowl. I own the Matt Salinger cowl and tunic from the movie and I assure you they are works of art. The movie? Well, thats another subject. I think if I didnt have pieces or props from the movie it wouldn't seem as interesting to me....but some of the eyeball candy in the movie is worth it. I just despised the physical depiction of the Red Skull...they could have done so much more with the make up...instead it looks like a bad Darkman rendition.


Many critics have panned this film, and I think it's a sad fate for such a well done and thought-out movie. It doesn't rely on over-the-top special effects and overblown action scenes. Instead, this is a thinking man's superhero movie, focusing on the power of the characters to show what true heroes are.

Captain America and the Red Skull are counterparts, both representing the pride of their countries, America and Germany, respectively, back in WW2. Both have been shot with a super-serum which transforms them into world-class athletes. They fight, Cap loses and is tied to a runaway rocket, which crashes into Alaska. He is preserved there until the 1990's, when he get resurrected and he realizes Red Skull is still alive and healthy, because the serum has allowed him to last this long. He is responsible for the deaths of several historic figures, including Robert Kennedy, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. And his next target is the newest U.S. president. Cap must stop him before it is too late, and at the same time, he must come to grips with the fact that he is in a strange new world and everything he has ever known in gone forever, and that if it hadn't been for him failing to defeat Skull the first time, many people would still be alive.

The Red Skull, also, hates what he has become, and Captain America resurfacing represents a part of him he wishes was dead. He therefore takes all measures to make sure Cap is killed. The way they constantly pursue each other is both exciting and moving.

As someone mentioned, this is a great deal like "Forever Young," especially the way Cap comes back to life and finds his girlfriend extremely old. And "Cap" is the better of the two movies. It has a government-conspiracy plot worthy of a Dean Koontz novel, and it also throws in a lot of comic-book silliness. The balance works, and combined with tremendous acting and a moving theme song, "Home of the Brave," I will proudly state that this is the best variation on a comic book super hero that has ever been put to the screen!


With a new "Spider-Man" movie due out this May, an upcoming sequel to "Blade," and "X-Men 2" to start filming soon, I thought it would be appropriate to review some of the previous attempts that Marvel Comics has made to get their characters onto the big screen. It's no questions that their films have never been as successful as their arch rivals, DC Comics, especially in the nineties. While there was a successful TV Incredible Hulk series in the seventies, a never-released, low-budget "Fantastic Four" flick, and an *ahem* film version of "The Punisher" that is not even worthy of mention, at the end of the day, the only cinematic interpretations of their heroes that are worth commenting on at all are "Blade," "X-Men," and "Captain America."

In an earlier review, written back in my naive, less-educated-in-Cinema-days, I stated that "Captain America" was the greatest super-hero film ever made. This is not a true statement, and it was one I made having not seen the film in a few years, and the flaws were less-apparent in my mind. Yes, there are many flaws in this film: Some of the dialogue is cheezy, many of the characters are underdeveloped, and there is simply not enough time spent with Captain America in costume. However, in the heart of this film there is a very sincere, very respectable tribute to the golden-age superhero, and I feel that the movie is still very much worthy of praise.

Without going too much into detail about the nature of the plot, I will say that it successfully sums up sixty years of comics into one movie. Both the characters of Captain America and his facist counterpart, the Red Skull (brainchild of Hitler in the comics, created by Mussolini and sold to the nazis here) are depicted as much more tragic than in the comics. Both characters are well-constructed and sincerely acted by Matt Salinger and Scott Paulin, and the film is basically a tribute to old 1940's serials with two strong characters taking center stage.

When I say a tribute to 1940's serials, this is exactly what I mean. Every plot point, every character save Cap and the Skull, serve nothing more than to move the story along from action scene to action scene. Many things happen that make little sense- for example, upon being revived in the nineties after being frozen in ice for fifty years, Captain America is found by a conspiracy theorist who has been piecing together his story for years. How does the guy find our hero? He just happens to be driving through Northern Canada and stumbles upon him. Once the Red Skull realizes that Cap is still alive, he determines that the hero must be out to destroy him. Now, Cap has been out of commission for fifty years, and the Red Skull is now a mysterious, Corleone-esque kingpin. In this film, they only encountered briefly in the 1940's before Cap was frozen in ice. Why on earth would Skull jump to the conclusion that hey! Cap is thawed out, and his first objective will be to stop the Red Skull? In another part, realizing that the Skull is hiding in Italy, Cap jumps on a plane fro the U.S. and flies there. Um.....how did he get on board of that plane? Surely his passport wasn't perserved with him in the ice?

But nevermind....these plot holes, and many like them, are irrelavent to what this film is trying to do: Put our hero in a series of spectacular action scenes and watch how he gets out of them. It is not trying to tell a serious story, it is simply trying to give us some silly, comic-book action in a movie-serial kind of way, and the movie does just that. Our hero is strapped to a German rocket headed toward the White House, dodges nazi villians in Northern Canada, is amazed in some cleverly-written scenes how many American products are made in former enemy lands of Japan and Germany, fights the Red Skull's henchmen in Italy, and finally has an explosive showdown with the Skull himself in the kingpin's castle, where the villian threatens to blow up all of Western Europse with an atomic bomb which he receives from a piano. All this combined with the fact that the Skull is responsible for the deaths of JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King, and now he plans to use a brain transplant to make the new economically-aware U.S. President his slave.

It is impossible to take this film any more seriously than you would take an old serial or a four-part issue of the Cap comic book, and this kind of treatment is exactly what a Captain America movie needed. As a result, the low-budget, occasionally hammy acting, and confusing storytelling only add to the film's effect and heighten director Pyun's well-choreographed action sequences. There is just something grand and, dog-gonnit, patriotic about the President of the United States leaping from a tower in order to keep the Skull from using him in is experiments, only to be successfully caught and saved by Captain America, who is crawling up the wall vigorously. In real life, this would have ripped both their arms out of their sockets, but in this movie, what difference does it make? It's such a well-shot scene!

This said, Cap and Skull are well-developed, and they hold the film together when it threatens to go over-the-top in its comic-book silliness. Cap fights the Skull and fails to defeat him in the 1940's, only to be frozen in ice and thawed out in the nineties, where he learns that, because he failed to defeat the Skull, his arch villian is responsible for the deaths of many historic figures. Feeling he has failed his country, plus realizing his old girlfriend is now old with a family of her own, Cap is a determined, meloncholy hero with nothing to lose. There is a sincerity to the part that Matt Salinger brings, and with his niavity and his boyish-good looks, it looks as if Cap is truly a hero from the 1940's, who has stepped out of his time and into ours and is truly amazed at the changes that have come (though attempts to give him lines featuring old 40's terms such as "Gee-wizz" and "holy mackeral" don't come off so well). The Red Skull watched the slaughter of his family as a small boy in the 1930's, and this tramautizing event that led to his transformation into the monster he now is has bittered him over the centuries. In a film which emphasized overacting, he probably has the sublest role, yet he still has the film's best over-the-top lines ("Assassination isn't worth the trouble. It took two years to find Sir Hans. Three to find Oswald. The King job alone cost us over twenty two million dollars. What do we get for our troubles? Saints. Martyrs to the cause.") Must like Michael Corleone in the "Godfather 2" (though on a much smaller level), in the film's final scenes, he builds himself up as a great, powerful crimelord, but to the viewer, he simply comes across as pitiful.

In the end, "Captain America" is a fun, low-budget, patriotic, feel-good action flick which works in a Saturday Matinee sort of way. While never released to theaters here in the U.S., it made the theaters, perhaps ironically, overseas and, as a result, built the bridge for the bigger-budgeted, more-serious Marvel Superhero movies that came years later and are still to come. Certainly worth watching, certainly worth owning, certainly a tribute to sixty years of "Captain America" comic books.

*** out of ****


Scheduled to be released in the Summer of 1990, to coincide with Marvel's 50th anniversary, Captain America eventually plummeted to American home video and cable in 1992. If you don't remember the movie, it's for good reason, because it is an entirely forgettable film. It's too bad too, because this one could've been okay. Early, on Ahnold, Dolph Lungdren, and Val Kilmer were up for the role of Cap and they were supposed to get a real budget to turn this thing into a Hollywood blockbuster. Instead, Jack Kirby is rolling over in his grave, giving screenwriter Stephen Tolkin the finger.

The film starts out promisingly enough with a group of Nazis that burst in to an Italian villa and start doling out pain via MP40s. They end up kidnapping wunderkind Tadzio de Santis, after wasting his entire family. After being subjected to Nazi experimentation, Tadzio eventually grows into that ugly menace, The Red Skull.

Cut to America where our hero, the young, gimpy Steve Rogers (Matt Salinger - JD's kid!), is gearing up to join a covert US operation that will eventually lead Steve to become the most jingoistic hero of all. He is accepted into the program, and is injected with the super soldier serum, recently imported from Germany. For some reason the governments "secret lab" is inside a diner, and it gets infiltrated by a Nazi spy that kills the only person who knows the formula for the serum, Dr. Maria Vaselli. Dun-dun-dun! Eventually Cap makes his way to Germany, thwarts the Red Skull, and is sent to Alaska via rocket, where he ends up getting frozen in the ice. Fast-forward to modern day, and ol' Ice Cap is discovered and thawed. After he's unfrozen, he goes to find his long lost love, she gets gunned down by the Red Skull's goons, and decides he has to stop him once and for all! First of all, let me just go ahead and say it; this movie sucks. It is an absolute train wreck of a film that suffers from bad direction, acting, action, sets, writing, and production value. It would be hard to find another film that had so much potential that ended up being such a waste. The fights are so badly choreographed, it gives old episodes of the Power Rangers some legitimacy and the cinematograper couldn't have been over the age of 12.

Now, let me tell you why you should watch it. Have you ever wanted to see Captain America putter around the streets of Italy in a really tiny car? Ever wonder what any of these new Marvel films would look like if they had a $72 budget? Want to see what JD Salinger's son looks like? You've found your movie. And those are really the best reasons that I could come up for anyone wanting to watch this travesty. Actually, you don't to see a particularly dastardly Darren McGavin, so it's not all bad.

Unfortunately, if you do want to punish yourself and actually watch this thing, it may be easier said that done. As far as I know, the only home video format that Captain America has been released on is VHS. You can probably find it on eBay or Amazon if you want, but I wouldn't pay more than a couple of bucks for it.


(Many Spoilers). I know that "Batman and Robin" was a pitifully bad film. I regret to have wasted time and money seeing that film. "Captain America" on the other hand, I wasted no money by watching it free on Hulu.com and it was completely deprived of anything that could make a superhero movie enjoyable. Huge waste of time, talent, and film.

I mean wow! this film was horribly scripted, cheaply filmed, and awfully directed. The cheesy set pieces, special effects, costumes, make-up, and poor photography makes the film look like it came out at the 70's. Unfortunately it came out in the 90's!

Some people have defended this film because of the film's star Matt Salinger, giving a serious performance. He is of course the son of author J.D. Salinger, which means nothing because...

MATT SALINGER CAN'T ACT! HIS PERFORMANCE WAS A LOAD OF CRAP!!

In this film Salinger wore only two facial expressions the whole time. 1. Exhaustion, like he's been overworked and sleep deprived. 2. Vacancy, like he's stupid and confused. He looks like he's about to say, "Duh, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or say, somebody give me direction!" He even sounds like he's reciting his lines without conviction. He could have been reading cue cards for all I know.

There are many plot holes, but the biggest one I can't stand is that after Salinger is given the Super-Soldier Serum (At the beginning) transforming into Captain America, he becomes a lousy superhero up until the end for no reason. Throughout the rest of the film Captain America loses in a fist fight with Red Skull, gets tied to a rocket, fakes car sickness to steal his friends' vehicles, learns about world history he missed while he was frozen for 5 decades, flees from henchmen, hides, and lays low. That's right a superhero who saves no one and only fights well at the climax! lays low!

Final Note: The only reason why anyone would see this film is for the fight scenes. Sadly these fight scenes are boring, choppy, and repetitive, the editing and cutting of each fight is so fast and phony that viewers have no idea what the hell is going on.


I hate the way this film has been criticized in the press. By insisting, as the BBC does in their review of her film, that any treatment of Asian queerness needs to be portrayed as brutish and gritty, and that any story of an Asian family coping with a queer member must be shown through the lens of a "multicultural family and their troubled psyches", the press is putting the same straight-jacket on Asian filmmakers, as they do on black filmmakers, when they insist that the only stories that can come of out the black community are stories of gun violence and rat-infested squats.

The critics demand that queer Asians aren't allowed to do "Kissing Jessica Stein", that domain is reserved for whites only. Reading the reviews, you get the clear picture that the crime they want to charge Pratibha with, is not "making a bad film" but for "not telling an Asian queer story in the appropriate manner", as set out by films like East is East and My Beautiful Laundrette. That bloody sucks. More power to her for daring to challenge the stereotypes.


I think it is wrong when people attribute a certain quality to a community and expect that to be the their only quality. With this film, it attempted to steer from the stereotypical way of thinking and not focusing so much on the trials and hardship of lesbian romance within a Brit/Asian family, because by so doing, it will not be different or stand out for better or worse from other scenes. For those who say the film is not well shot, i thought it was beautifully shot, the first kiss was magical, not because of the kiss, but because of the location. If you're looking for soft porn or anything remotely of the sort, this is not the film for you. But if you love a romance, that is about love and what love should be, then this is a film for you. People spend so much time looking for more, that they forget the actual message of the film; love comes in different shapes and sizes, if you're Asian you can fall in love with someone who isn't, and if you're a woman you might fall in love with another one. We cannot pick and chose who we fall in love with, it just happens, love happens. Critics are always looking for something extreme and dramatic and forget about the simple and real; life isn't always a drama with explosions in every corner.


I saw this movie at The Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, though this funny, witty and entertaining movie about love and passions set against a cross-cultural, Glaswegian background could be featured at any film festival. I laughed at the witty, self-humorous dialogue, jiggled in my seat alongside the Bollywood songs, and drooled at the sight of all that delicious food. This is a rare gem which entertains the majority and identifies with the minority. You'll end up rushing to your nearest Curry House and checking out the chef! Here's one funny girl loves girl story which doesn't end in tears for a change. It can and does happen! Thank you Pratibha! Hope we don't have to wait another 7 years for the next one.


This film does not tick the 'right' buttons for white expectations of an Asian British film or a queer film and so people may be wrong footed. So there is no culture clash with parents who are living an 'Asian' read outdated culture with westernised children, no arranged marriage, no white person learning and being surprised by 'Asian' culture. No belly laughs ensuing from said conflicts. Instead we have a film about being true to yourself and learning to follow your passions for whatever - cooking, dance, love. I wait for the day that Black filmmakers can make work without having to conform to the prescribed script written for them to fulfil and they can just follow their passions.


Knowing the struggles that a lot Asians go through with coming out and their acceptance by their families, this movie is a breeze of fresh air. It is OK for parents to have preconceived ideas and hopes for their kids but a little bit of open mindedness can make everyone so happy!

I watched this movie at the GLBT Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where this movie was selected to be screened on the closing night. Its a movie I can comfortably watch with my parents without making them uncomfortable also.

I also got an opportunity to hang out with Ms. Parmar, the director of the movie, who I interviewed for a magazine. A very down-to-earth, real person, who has kinda lived the story.

Kudos to Pratibha Parmar for giving me 2 hours of smiles and happiness through her movie!!


Loved it! I hope the upbeat feel of the film will attract audiences away from so much of the downer energy out there. People can get so jaded and cynical about feel-good fairy-tale romances. The story-line was fantastically unraveled and handled. This was a refreshing change.

Its a film that represents many people's lives (family, culture, sex and religion). So many films that deal with gay culture build on a huge foundation of shame. This kind of film helps ethnic minorities feel more comfortable about their sexuality. Its pioneering films like this that turn the concept of shame-about-sexuality, upside down. Easily on par with Bend It Like Beckham, yet so different from other East/West films. Cooking and food theme was wonderful - very cleverly done. It did capture the Bollywood escapism and the feel good factor. And the acting was superb! Really enjoyed Suman.

And our family belted out singing along to the soundtrack which we are looking forward to buying.


"Scottish-Asian woman returns home to save her family's ailing restaurant." That was the scant, not to mention inaccurate synopsis that I read before viewing. I rather expected a dull, perhaps gritty story of a dysfunctional family with likely a bit of outside racism thrown in for good measure. But hey, it was set in Scotland and we don't see too many films like that so I sat down to watch... So what a treat I got!! This film is well-acted (especially by the two leads) and utterly engaging. I agree parts of the plot were wafer thin but it presented as a fairytale and a cracking good one at that. It was just joyful and poignant and above all uplifting. I am Scottish but neither Asian or gay so others can discuss any significance about such matters, for me it was just a great watch and that is all I care about.


Love this movie,just saw it at our Gay & Lesbian Film Festival here in Wellington.Love the story and it is a movie that should go to general release.Music good,Story awesome and I really don't think people can get offended by the story line.It is just a great love story. I would have like to got more of the recipes,they were wonderful. Managed to get the DVD from England so will be playing every night.Soundtrack is wonderful as well,so will be keeping the eye out for that. Thank you for finally getting the film to the screen.Only took the director 5 years to get someone to fund it.unbelievable.Keep up the good work and looking for more. Chris


Okay - the film is not some earth shattering piece of cinema, but I'm sure that was not the intention of the director. She has made a very gentle love story come to life without huge trauma. As a big cinema fan, I know it's not on a par with other slick films, but again, this doesn't appear to be the director's intention. I think it was brave to make a film that didn't fall into making stereotypes of Asians or gays (although a queer man doing drag is old hat) and the choice of very attractive leading ladies doesn't hurt either. Regarding the accents, there were four that wobbled for me. That of Nina's and her mother's, Sanjay and his father's, but that doesn't make it a bad film. They've done a darn sight better than us mortals could have done. So more power to your elbow Ms Parmar.


This film was at the International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in Turin, and it was a real pleasure to see it and to meet the film-maker afterward. Parmar is a well known documentarist, and she brought in this feature film the richness of her past experience. It's a fresh, delicate comedy, with very sensuous details about food. But what I appreciated most it's the multicultural view, the idea of multi-layered identities (Indian-Scottish, Indian-Lesbian, etc...). It makes you feel it's possible to combine successfully the ingredients of your personality, like in a good recipe, instead of having them at war with each other. The actress who plays Nina's mother is wonderful. I'd like to see her more on the screen.


Great to see this kind of film out on general release in British cinemas and now on DVD. It's about time! One thing I would say is that if I were a sixteen year old girl or so, this would be my favourite film for a good while because of the 'girl-on-girl action'. But don't get me wrong this is definitely about women and not girls!

Well done Pratibha Parmar for bringing this fun-loving film, full of diversity of many kinds, out for all to see. I look forward to seeing more.

This film marks a time where more and more expressions of true love, identity and passion should be allowed onto the big screen for the mainstream to see. There are plenty of interesting works out there, which are simply not being allowed into the cinema for people to see because there is deemed to be 'no audience'. So pay attention to what you chose to see! It's people that determine what's out there and what isn't.


My wife liked it, the two lesbians sitting behind us loved it, but I wouldn't say it was the best film I have ever seen.

PLOT I thought this was pretty simplistic. It is my own taste of course, but I didn't find myself being drawn into the films plot. I thought the storyline was good enough - girl returns home to make good, but it could have been expanded upon to add some lighter moments and perhaps a few twists here and there, but there were none. I found this pretty surprising as the film East is East had them but this did not.

ACTING Not bad. I cannot remember what the actors names were, but they were OK, not outstanding.

CINEMATOGRAPHY Pretty good overall. Use of lighting was good. In particular of note was when the two lesbian lovers first discovered themselves.

I thought long and hard about this submission. I don't like giving bad reviews, but then I don't like being sold something that does not work, and for me I was sold something that did not work.


Very odd but fun cartoon short that was nominated for an Academy Award. It shows a bunch of dogs that act like humans constructing a building. The foreman comes out and has them play like a symphony while building! This leads to countless sight gags as the dogs construct a mammoth building in record time. No dialogue--just the music which is "Hungarian Rhapsode #2". Bright, cheerful, fast-moving Merrie Melody. TCM shows this every once in a while and their print is in pristine shape. The music is loud and the colors are so bright and vivid that they pop out at you. Also there is a character from other 1940s cartoon in this. He's a small dog with a terminally depressed expression. He has a hand in the ending. Well worth catching.


When I first watched this cartoon short ages ago, I was amazed by the film itself. Such a hilarious cartoon playing out to the tune of a classical song, there are few of.

The story is that of a foreman, who is a lion, who "conducts" a group of human-like animal construction workers to build the tallest building, the Umpire State Building, a clear parody on the Empire State Building. While the animal workers strive to build this construction, hilarity quickly ensues in the form of the workers messing up each others' workings and a multitude of hilarious events which make this cartoon short well worth watching! I recommend it to all who enjoy a good musical parody.


This cartoon short SHOULD have won the Oscar instead of Lend A Paw! An absolutely perfect blending of music and action throughout, well-executed at every turn. Incredibly funny with no dialogue-sight gags only and the running gags are great! Wonderful marriage of beautiful music and antic lunacy with a drop dead ending! Fanatically, totally recommended! I love this cartoon!!!


I've always found it neat when classic cartoons play famous songs to move the action along, and Friz Freleng's "Rhapsody in Rivets" adds to that. This is one of the many instances* (it may have been the first one, in fact) where they play Franz Liszt's inimitable "Hungarian Rhapsody #2". In this case, a construction foreman conducts/instructs the builders to that tune as they erect a skyscraper...with a surprise at the end.

The Academy's decision to not give this cartoon an Oscar was matched only by their decision to not give "The Shawshank Redemption" any Oscars. It's one of the all-time classics and one that I recommend to everyone. Among other things, it goes to show that a cartoon doesn't need dialog to be great; as a matter of fact, that makes it easier for people in other countries to understand. Available as a special feature on "The Bride Came C.O.D." DVD.

*Other Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons that play that song are "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Back Alley Oproar", "Wise Quackers" and "What's Up, Doc?". Many years later, Daffy Duck and Donald Duck played it in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".


Like 'Pigs in a Polka' and 'The Band Concert', this cartoon short centres on a piece of music with an inventive animated theme - this time, the 'orchestra' are workmen building the 'Umpire' State building, whether the little elevator dog or the scrawny cats knocking pegs into the ground.

Beautiful colour and music enhance this short, which was Oscar nominated but just pipped to the post. The foreman, with baton and whistle, monitors and directs the action, including an inventive bricklayer and a lift which can dodge obstructions.

Wildly funny and well constructed, 'Rhapsody in Rivets' is a real find, and is a Merrie Melodie well worth tracking down.


If you're a fan of the movies of David Lynch, then you will most likely enjoy this. A tailor is somewhat mediocre at his craft, and when his sister shows up on the scene and starts showing him up, well, he becomes a little nutso. It has certain touches that make it quite a bit more than ordinary, like Thomas's dad, who has a thing for garbanzo beans (they're everywhere) and a bleak, industrial-type setting in a big city. Lots of dark, dark, imagery, and some inexplicably strange things that go on that are never explained, they just ARE. The Annual Tailor's Ball, wherein participating tailors guess the sizes of models as they dance around on stage, is beyond weird. I have to mention the giant needle sticking through the wall of the tailor shop, because it's the point of focus many times, and one just waits for someone to be skewered on it, but that never happens. The ending leaves one wondering exactly what was going on, since some things that preceded seemed to never have happened, but overall this is a excellent watch, very well done. If you're not picky about movies making sense, then this might well be for you. Eight out of 10 stars.


I caught this film in New York and it left me creeped out. It may not be for everyone, but if you like cinematic films with a Hitchcockian flavor, old Polanski thrillers, Greenaway, or Lynch type of stuff, you'll probably appreciate it. It's not a gore or exploitation film, but takes its time and sucks you in, little by little, into the world of the deranged young tailor. It's more about psychological deterioration, like the feeling you get when you haven't slept for many days and you start seeing things, imagining horrors, or getting paranoid. The final ballroom scene fascinated me with the outrageous dancers and leering old tailors. I would recommend it to anyone interested in bizarre or different films.


I saw Kill By Inches at the Brussels International Fantasy Film Festival 2000 (last year) and I can say it was the most unique and stunningly original film there. Great cast of strange characters.

I was truly struck by the studied, chilling atmosphere and dark mood in this story of a young tailor (played by Emmanuel Salinger) who goes insane, inch by inch by inch, by degrees. Very singular, unique film, very rare to see these days.


I saw this film on DVD. Really creepy stuff. I couldn't help wondering why it was so creepy. First, the music is very eerie. And also the visual, with very strange colors, almost candy-like. The actor looks like a french Robert Downey junior. This film could have been made as an animation. It's so detailed with fantasy and fairy tales themes. It's worth taking a look at it. I've never seen a film quite like this before. The story is very bizarre, a tailor going on a mad rampage! The kid who plays in the film is very cute and a pretty good actor. The film reminded me of a lynch/ Gilliam atmosphere with strange characters.


Many Holocaust films present the ethical dilemna of trying to stay alive at the cost of allowing others to die or even sending others to their death. A few films might focus on the dreaded Kapos in the camps -- or on the elitist Jewish Council members who helped organize the transport groups -- or on the musicians/performers who entertained the Nazis -- all of whom hoped that they would be allowed to survived. But this film focuses on the Sonderkommandos -- the special workers -- who ushered Jewish victims to the gas chambers and burned the bodies. They too hoped to survive. But they must have known that they were going to be murdered eventually, if only because they had become the most dangerous witnesses to the cold Nazi horror. And the film begins by informing us that these groups of Sonderkommandos were never allowed to live longer than four months.

There are several reasons you must see this film. First, it is based on the diary of Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, a Hungarian Jew chosen by Josef Mengele to be the head pathologist at Auschwitz. And it dramaticizes the true attempt by Sonderkommandos to destroy the Auschwitz gas chambers.

Second, it focuses on ethical dilemnas faced by Dr. Nyiszli and the various Sonderkommandos who are trying to save themselves, their families, or ... just someone ... anyone. To say that these men were "co-opted" by the Nazis is to ignore the horror of the coercion, debasement and dehumanization that the Nazis inflicted -- not only on their prisoners, but upon themselves. One can imagine that some Sonderkommandos were selfish -- just as some Kapos were cruel and some doctors who assisted the Nazis were accomplices. But the question remains -- what would you have done in the face of such coercion and duress?

Third, the film -- based on Tim Blake Nelson's play -- is not the typical Holocaust film. There is very little redeeming behavior. There is no uplifting ending. The grey zone of moral ambiguity is presented as a cold, unfeeling, horrifying place -- where you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't -- which means that they are all damned! For the first third of the film, the script is obtuse, confusing, and disconnecting -- as it should be, considering that we may as well be taking the point of view of someone who just arrived on a train and entered the gates of hell. How can any of this make sense? In the opening scene, the Doctor is asked to save the life of a Jew who attempted suicide. How absurd can that be -- to save the life of someone who will sooner rather than later be murdered by the Nazis anyway?!

In conclusion, the play/film contains dialogue and scenes that are memorable. This is one of my favorites. One Jewish leader is demanding that they destroy the gas chambers as soon as possible. But another Jewish leader is still planning on escape, arguing that he has every right to expect to live. The first leader replies, something to the effect that, after what he has seen and done, he does not want to live!

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, April 18, 2004. Last night, after seeing a Holocaust documentary on Kurt Gerron ("Prisoner of Paradise") a friend of mine asked me what I would have done? I told her that it would depend on whom I was caring for -- my wife and my daughters -- my parents. It was then that I realized that I would have probably done everything that every Jew did during the Holocaust. I would have tried to save myself and my family. I would have abandoned others -- even betrayed others. I would have killed. I would have fought the Nazis. And I would have probably been killed for it. I would have despaired -- tried suicide -- become depressed, useless to everyone. I don't think I would have survived. I think the only question in that regard -- and it shows how irrelevant the question really is -- is "how soon would I have died." That is why I remember Holocaust Memorial Day -- so that I will never forget -- and I can help work towards a time when such a hell will not occur in Europe, in Africa, in the Middle East, in the US, ... anywhere.


This movie is by far the best holocaust movie ever. It covers an aspect of the holocaust is rarely seen in other Holocaust-movies, namely the destruction and cleaning of gassed Jews by other Jews.

The acting work of David Arquette, Harry Keitel and Steve Buscemi is excellent. The setting is perfect (very depressing, as it should be). The music fits superbly in.

You should pick a right night for this evening though, because everything, from the gassing to cleaning to burning, is shown uncensored in this movie. The ruthless executions by the German SS is uncensored. As you can imagine, it's quite heavy on the stomach, but this is a MUST-SEE movie.


This might not sound like a recommendation, but when you consider the film's subject matter, "painful" is actually a good word to describe THE GREY ZONE's brilliance. Director Tim Blake Nelson has crafted a fascinating portrayal of the Sonderkomando, Jewish concentration-camp prisoners who help the Nazis in order to ensure for themselves a few extra months of life, as well as creature comforts denied to the other prisoners. The script and cast are equally effective. David Arquette proves himself to be not merely the idiot bastard son of the Arquette family with a powerful performance; Harvey Kietel and Steve Buscemi are brilliant as always. The film's real strength, making it the greatest Holocaust film I've ever seen, is its relevance; we may think ourselves to noble to sell out our brethren to save our own lives, but we would certainly reconsider if actually faced with this choice. In the end, Nelson brilliantly implies that perhaps the nightmare world of the Sonderkomando is really not so different from our own workaday reality.


I think I am approaching this film with a slightly different perspective than a lot of people here. 2 months ago I visited both Auschwitz, and Birkenau as I passed through Poland. It is arguably the most horrifying and at the same time the most important thing I have done in my life. I watched the 'Grey Zone' some months before I left, and yes to echo some I found the acting somewhat overdone in places and the first bit of the movie rather confusing. Having come back, it is a different story. The acting is heavy because the emotion of the place is heavy. The confusion you might feel in the first part of the film is what you *should* feel. Never forget, that Auschwitz is where the rule of law, decency and normality ceased to apply. This movie will not make you feel good, so don't expect it too...it is not its intent to present a happy victorious story. Its intent is to show those who have not lived through or visited Auschwitz just a small part of the horror of everyday existence, the juxtaposition of what may be right, and what you would do for another day of life. Having seen the cells in Block XI, having seen the womens camp, having stood in the remaining gas chamber and crematoria at Auschwitz I, I can assure you that this movie does its best to do justice to the memory of those who died. It is well worth seeing.

Scott


This is the second film from writer/director/actor Tim Blake Nelson to disappear into film limbo. Known for his leading role in O Brother Where Art Thou, he also wrote and directed O, which was shelved after the Columbine massacre. It has taken 3 years for The Grey Zone to arrive on Australian shores, and it has now gone straight to video. This is a great shame as this is a stunning film worthy of far more attention. It is the true story of the Sonderkommando groups in Auschwitz, the most infamous of all Nazi concentration camps. The Sonderkommandos were Jewish prisoners who volunteered to work on the gas chambers and furnaces in exchange for better treatment and extended life. No team ever lasted more than 4 months, and would themselves be added to the groups herded into the gas chamber by the next sonderkommando group. This is the tale of the 12th group, who used their position to revolt against the Nazis and blow up the two primary gas chambers/furnaces. There are many flaws within the film; the dialogue feels too much like a play which makes the discussions somewhat static, everybody has an American accent except for Harvey Keitel who somehow manages to sound like Mel Brooks impersonating a German, and the details of how they select Sonderkommandos and their lifestyles are not very well dealt with. However, these faults do very little to diminish the power of this film. For above all else, this is a story that not only succeeds in answering the question of why Jews would volunteer for such a duty, but also allows the viewer a stunning and horrifying look into human psychology and the politics of oppression. While a film like Schindler's List allows us a broader view of the overall situation, it failed to truly give any insight into the individuals who allowed the machines of war to keep operating. How could people not rise up and at least to try fight knowing they were going to die anyway? The Grey Zone gives the viewer a very clear and very painful view of the weakness within humanity, of how humans allow themselves to be convinced that everything will be ok, no matter what evidence we have in front of us. In telling the story of the one uprising to occur within the most destructive of all concentration camps, we get to show the good in man, and the evil. And in this the film succeeds above many other films, and is worthy of praise far surpassing the melodramatic tripe that Hollywood usually tries to feed us in regards to the second world war. And, in our current political climate, it is more important than ever to understand how easily we fall back on our ability to turn a blind eye and believe the lies that even our next door neighbour will tell us.


When I visited Auschwitz in 1990, I remember that my companion and I sat down outside the gates, once we were done, and cried for about an hour before catching the train back to Krakow.

When I saw the first few minutes of this film, and those horrible buildings and the piles of ash that were still there when I visited, it brought everything back, but told a story I didn't know much about.

It makes sense that the Nazi's would have used Jews to dispose of other Jews...they were totally expendable, and it's very logical, and perhaps that is why it is so horrible.

The dialog is a bit Mamet like, yes, and you definitely know that you are watching something that was once a play, based on the somewhat mannered dialog and direction. And yet, it's a great story, well acted.

Who is culpable? What would you do to survive? If you knew you were probably going to die, wouldn't you want to enjoy your last few weeks eating and drinking well? It's one of the very few films on the Holocaust I've seen that doesn't draw everything in black and white....what some of these men do to their fellow Jews is despicable, yet who amongst us can say that if he were hungry and desperate, he might not do the same.

Definite food for thought.....and warning.. I wouldn't eat during this movie. You may experience some queasiness.


This movie can absolutely cause a depression for the rest of your weekend. It is the absolute hardcore movie of the inhumanity at Auswitch Birkenau. It shows a group of Hungarian Jews how are forced into working the gas chambers and crematoria the so called 'sonder commandos'. The scale of the mass murder has never been shown so graphically , and I have seen quiet a lot of WOII movies. Forced participation in the mass murder and the inhumanely dally routine this creates is the central theme of this movie. Through out the movie the mass of people being murdered and the 'alien' situation this creates makes it difficult to identify whit any of the victims or other characters in the movie. This remains until the 3 minutes before the end of the movie. After the rebellion of the sonder commandos is smashed by the SS, a trilling poem by a murdered gill sums up the final end of the sonder commandos. The poem and imagery shoots through the hart.


Absolutely one of the most powerful, disturbing and brutally honest movies on the holocaust ever made, this is far superior to such glossed over Hollywood portrayals as ceaselessly produced by Steven Spielberg and his group. Though those films certainly have their moments of merit, The Grey Zone is the absolute last word on Holocaust movies, a picture that so endlessly dives into the terror and banality of death that eventually absorbed the prisonners. VERY DISTURBING, and beautifully made, this film is too grim to have the Hollywood machine to support it, but it NEEDS to be heralded so it will live on. It is definitely up there with THE NIGHT PORTER and IN A GLASS CAGE as one of the most disturbing movies on the holocaust.

Also it is quite clever in the manner that it gets away with everyone speaking English, an obvious commercial constraint. Interesting that a company like Nu Image, which usually backs First Degree Monster On The Loose movies and No Brainer action films (with the exception of the surprisingly enjoyable Undisputed), would produce this.

A film to be cherished, though with a thoughtful warning...

It is EXCEPTIONALLY disturbing.


Tim Blake Nelson takes his stage play--an adaptation of a book by Miklos Nyiszki--to the big screen,and what a story it is!

An unthinkable,unconscionable deal has been worked out between a certain group of Nazi death camp inmates and their captors: in order to avoid the ovens(in all likelihood,only temporarily),these inmates would use their talents(among them,musical) to placate and ease along the funneling of other Jews and "undesirables" into the death chambers. A strong cast and an even stronger screenplay/script is augmented by very intelligent cinematography. Particularly good turns by David Arquette,Steve Buscemi,Daniel Benzali and Mira Sorvino as the inmates,all desperate,all convinced of what they have to do to survive and in Arquette's character's case,not even certain if it is even worth it.

It would be tempting to slam "Schindler's List" after seeing this,but I won't. SL is meant as an epic,a tribute,a story of the upside of surviving through the most dense of human tragedy,whereas GZ is a decidedly darker exploration of what happens to people in the same situation but are pushed into much less noble,much more selfish and desperate devices. Both are strong examples of the genre,but where GZ triumphs is that that it explores the most damning actions through the consciences of people faced with decisions that nobody should have to make. It is an unflinching portrait of a dark chapter in human history,rife with detail and completely lacking of lecturing. THis film is for anyone who wants to see an unvarnished and stark portrayal of the human condition brought to its lowest denominator. A must-see for college classrooms and Holocaust museums anywhere!


This is truly one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen. If the goal of a great movie is to make its viewer changed forever, "The Grey Zone" certainly has succeeded. Yes it is not "Schindlers List". It has no uplifting theme, other than that in the face of no hope, doomed individuals tried desperately, if for nothing else, to save one life among millions of doomed. In the end even that effort is futile.

It's images are haunting.

Do to its depressing topic and even more disturbing ending others have criticized this movie as not being "entertaining". In fact it is entertaining. It is a horror movie of the real kind. The horror of human evil based on prejudice and hatred.

Everyone needs to see this movie, with the exception of those who lived through it, as they already know!