Ethan Manning – Google

This had to be one of the biggest let down movies I’ve ever seen. I gave up 3 hours into the 4 hour garbage fire. Awful acting, including an all child cast that drug for over an hour, poor dialogue, poor writing, and lackluster cinematography. I love DeNiro, but they tried their hardest to make him as unlikeable as possible in the film. There’s no way in hell this movie wasn’t written by a group of 14 year old boys. The decisions most of the characters followed through with made no sense whatsoever. Overall the biggest flaw was the fact that it was so amoral/sexist (coming from someone who likes A Clockwork Orange), drawn out, cliche, predictable, unintelligent, and uninspired, it had no redeeming qualities to show for it. None whatsoever.

Now if I hadn’t seen the original first, I’d have easily given this 4 stars. First half is pretty good, but it cut a few too many important moments from the original and REALLY drags in the second half comparably. Best improvements in this remake were the dialogue, James Stewart and Doris Day with their stunning performance, and the added context to their characters. The absence of Uncle Louis, the dentist scene, the chair fight, the intense shootout, and a few iconic cinematography moments from the original are strongly felt. Also Peter Lorre’s character being played rather blandly with this new actor really doesn’t help. This version also added two big plot holes in the story as well as a far less enjoyable ending. I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to rewatch the film again, but I watch the original every year or two, if that’s any food for thought. Also it’s conveniently short compared to this version which is 45 minutes longer. I highly recommend just watching the original to anyone considering watching this.

Decent execution and awesome set pieces. Pacing in the beginning is rough. The film definitely pales in comparison to its predecessor from 1953,, Wages of Fear. The main flaw is even though it briefly goes into the characters’ backstories, we never get a real chance to see their personalities fleshed out. The one thing lacking that the original soared with was the dialogue and the way the characters interact with each other. It just felt like an afterthought to the spectacles. The original felt more natural and real and easier to identify with. The one thing I did like with this film more than Wages of Fear was the ending.

Criminally under appreciated!!!!! It’s one of the greatest movies of all time. It was never meant to be considered an action/war movie so much as a breathtakingly accurate psychological war drama. Spoiler alert: The wedding definitely drags a bit, but it’s done intentionally to flesh out the characters and make you care for them. When the viewer is thrusted straight into the middle of their time in the war, it’s already well into the movie, so as far as you know anything could happen. The first Russian roulette scene is highly regarded as one of the greatest and most intense scenes I’m film history and is definitely DeNiro and Walken at their very best. It drug when Michael returned home to underscore the physical emptiness of Nicky not being there and Stevie being crippled, as well as the psychological emptiness they would feel just from attempting to return to civilian life. Those who went to Vietnam would go on to take most of the horrors they experienced to the grave to protect their loved ones who got to stay home. In doing so, they would forever feel a vast distance between them. Admittedly they kinda phoned in the ending with the song, but the message was resonant even with those who don’t seek deep meanings in movies. War is hell. I’m tired of modern war movies like Lone Survivor that are all about action and just glorify “heroism” because it instills a sense in young boys that they need to serve their country and become a macho heroic person, even if it means they martyr themselves. What makes this movie thrive is it doesn’t fall in for the gimmicks of big budget over the top action sequences, while still managing to show us the horrors in other ways, to show viewers there is nothing to be glorified.