Wolfgang Petersen (1941–2022)

Life on board a U-boat near the end of WWII.

It had a lot of potential. There are a lot of scenes that seem like they should be suspenseful, but I just didn't feel it. But even if everything were carried off perfectly, it's 3½ hours of pretty much the same thing continuously. Meh.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: D

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.3/4

How easy it is to feel claustrophobic watching a big screen! God, this is tense. Superb. Get the longest version you can find. Special recognition to Gunter Lamprecht who steals the sendoff party scene as the gloriously, cynically bitter drunken captain of the "Weser."

Would have been a decent movie but turns out to be just another example of the fact that Brad Pitt can't act. Screenplay, cinematography, costumes, set design,and other actors all good, so worth watching once.

A boy reads a fantasy book about a quest.

I don't know if it's nostalgia that makes me love this movie, or if it's just because I put such a higher priority on writing than on anything else in movies. It's probably the former, but I don't want to admit it. I mean, come on, this movie's awesome, right?

Concept: B
Story: A
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: F

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 2.4/4

(Jul. 2010)