Jonny-Lee-Miller Movie Reviews


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VHS movie reviews for "Jonny-Lee-Miller" sorted by average review score:

Mindhunters
Released in Theatrical Release by (23 January, 2004)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Val Kilmer, LL Cool J, and Christian Slater
Average review score:

mindhunters
Fantastic!
A group of FBI wouldbe profilers sent to a remote island for a training exercise. Being killed off one by one. sounds a bit familiar? Not in the slightest!!!
This film isnt like anything you would be expecting, every little detail was thought out before production, the cast was to a T!wasnt too sure if LL Cool J would be able to pull off a role like this, as with my fellow Brit Johnny Lee Miller, but they were great. Slater back on form giving a fantastic performance as we all know he is capable of, Kilmer his usuall quirky greatness, and some fantastic performances from the lesser knowns.
Nothing in the movie is straight forward, you are kept on the edge of your seat from beginning to end trying to guess the outcome, keep trying but i dont think you will manage it as its twists keep going till the end!
BEWARE OF THE PUPPET MASTER!!!!!!!!!


Trainspotting
Released in VHS Tape by Miramax Home Entertainment (06 May, 2003)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, and Robert Carlyle
With its hallucinatory visions of crawling dead babies and a grungy plunge into the filthiest toilet in Scotland, you might not think Trainspotting could have been one of the best movies of 1996, but Danny Boyle's film about unrepentant heroin addicts in Edinburgh is all that and more. That doesn't make it everybody's cup of tea (so unsuspecting viewers beware), but the film's blend of hyperkinetic humor and real-life horror is constantly fascinating, and the entire cast (led by Ewan McGregor and Full Monty star Robert Carlyle) bursts off of the screen in a supernova of outrageous energy. Adapted by John Hodge from the acclaimed novel by Irving Welsh, the film was a phenomenal hit in England, Scotland, and (to a lesser extent) the U.S. For all of its comedic vitality and invigorating filmmaking, the movie is no ode to heroin, nor is it a straight-laced cautionary tale. Trainspotting is just a very honest and well-made film about the nature of addiction, and it doesn't pull any punches when it is time to show the alternating pleasure and pain of substance abuse. --Jeff Shannon
Average review score:

TRAINSPOTTING SHOWS SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE.
In 1996, "Trainspotting" took the world by surprise; it was a film that was compared to the classic Stanley Kubrick's film "A Clockwork Orange", due to it's kinetic energy, and fatalistic insight. This film is not a popcorn movie; it's a movie that requires patience and whether you like it or not, it will provoke you different emotions and thoughts.

"Trainspotting" tells the story of Renton and his buddies Spud, Sick Boy and Tommy; all these guys are junkies and they are stuck in a constant debate between choose a "normal life" (what is normal, anyway?) and the life style of a drug addict. So as the story unfolds, we see how they promise to quit drugs and almost immediately fall again in the addiction. Also, they hang around with the local psychotic drunk Begbie; he is not a junkie, but he loves to drink and to provoke fights with the slightest opportunity.

The movie shows some of the main consequences that the drug abuse brings: how you lose the perspective of the things that happen around you, how you affect your family and your closest friends, how you become a drug slave, how your body deteriorates, how you can become a threat to all the people, and how pathetic you can be once you become a junkie.

And yet, in "Trainspotting" we see that everybody has always choices: "Choose life or choose not to choose life". However this movie is not a preach...the only purpose of "Trainspotting" is to show you what can happen to you...after all, the choice is yours.

Definitely Not Hollywood
After the success of Shallow Grave, the triumvirate of director Boyle, producer Andrew MacDonald and writer John Hodge didn't sell out to Hollywood and grab the barrel loads of cash on offer. Instead they decided to take on the difficult project of filming the unfilmable, namely Irving Welsh's extreme, druggy vision, Trainspotting. The Edinburgh writer's cult novel is a shocking, sickening, but also blackly hilarious voyage into his city's dark nether regions, an dso is this film.

The movie follows the fortunes of likable, suede-head junkie Mark Renton (McGregor), and his dodgy gang of sidekicks: girl magnet Sick Boy, nerd Spud, and psycho Begsbie (Robert Carlyle). Exploring the oblivion and depredation of drugs, the film treats us to delights of acute diarrhea, 'toilet diving' in the filthiest toilet in Scotland, crime, unemployment, AIDS, copious vomiting, as well as some football. One of the more direct statements made in the movie is that being Scottish sucks. What is more apparent, however, is that being a f**ked up junkie sucks.

The fact that such unpromising material makes for compelling viewing is due to the sheer talent at work in the film. The center of the movie is Renton's cynical, world-weary view: "One day their won't be men or women, just wankers".

The soundtrack, mixing the cool of Lou Reed with techno and Britpop, is not a grubby attempt to cash in, but helps the atmosphere and the pacing of the movie.

McGregor's acting is assured. His sullen, hypnotic presence is the film's heart, but he is ably assisted by the other actors, particularly Robert Carlyle's Begsbie. Irving Welsh also makes an appearance as local dealer Mother Superior so called because of the length of his habit!

Certainly this is a dark and dirty, violent and sordid movie, but it is also strangely uplifting with a hint of optimism at the end. Hamstrung by its need to constantly make deals and cover all the bases, this is the kind of movie, Hollywood is no longer able to make.

Best ever
This must be one of the best movies ever. In my top 5! The surealisum of how live acutally is comes through in this very entertaining movie. Its deep and touchs on some of lifes more harsh side, but also is lighthearted and very comical - cool ending. Awesome, awesome movie!


Behind the Lines
Released in VHS Tape by ARTISAN ENTERTAINMENT (24 April, 2001)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Starring: Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, Jonny Lee Miller, and Stuart Bunce
This extraordinary World War I film concerns themes of heroism, sacrifice, duty, and self-knowledge as profound as any in Saving Private Ryan. The story, taken from Pat Barker's 1991 novel Regeneration and based on true events, is set in a British Army hospital in Craiglockart, Scotland, in 1917. There, a pioneering psychiatrist named Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce) works with shell-shocked soldiers in a gentle, humane manner that contrasts sharply with the brutality of his colleagues. (The film's most horrifying scene features a mute patient being forced to speak by means of electric shock.)

Among Rivers's patients is a mute, amnesiac officer named Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), as well as the emotionally depleted poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce) and another poet and war hero, Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby). Unlike the others, Sassoon is not, in fact, suffering from any disorder but is being quietly punished for writing a pamphlet denouncing the war. The army hopes Rivers can find some basis for mental incompetency in Sassoon, but the thoughtful doctor instead attempts to persuade him to add legitimacy to his criticisms of the war by returning to active duty.

Pryce brilliantly captures the cumulative effects of Rivers's responsibility--of fixing men and sending them back to their possible deaths--on the good doctor's nerves. Wilby is also fine as Sassoon, but the film belongs just as much to actors Miller and Bunce, whose characters are different kinds of men struggling to find their balance, one through a revived sense of duty and the other through his writing. Scottish filmmaker Gillies Mackinnon (The Playboys) is at the top of his form, telling a unique story about the invisible wounds of war while shedding light on the meeting of two visionary poets and one visionary physician. --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

A great film adaptation
BEHIND THE LINES is a film adaptation of the first volume of Pat Barker's excellent Regeneration trilogy. I was anxious to watch this DVD since I finished reading this book last week, but I had some reservations since film adaptations are often less than par. However, shortly after pressing the play button I was reassured that this DVD did the book a great justice. The directors did a phenomenal job in re-creating the atmosphere of the suffering of the soldiers and the horrific psychological consequences of trench fighting. BEHIND THE LINES follows a group of officers suffering from shell shock who are treated at Craiglockhart War Hospital outside Edinburgh. There is no doubt that what these soldiers experience can disturb even the most strong-minded individual today. The principle psychiatrist is Dr. Rivers, who suffered from his own personal demons and war symptoms. He created strong friendships with many of his patients and cared dearly for their well being. Rivers is a complex, nuanced character. While he portrays an exterior of believing in the War, he holds an internal debate of the War's philosophical warrants.

As stated by a previous reviewer, the original title of this film is Regeneration *not* Behind the Lines. I have no idea why the title was changed when it was released in the United States because the current title doesn't make any sense. Another complaint is that there is a lack of any special features on this DVD. It would have been marvelous to watch a director commentary or behind the scenes footage. It's unfortunate that this is a bare bones DVD. Regardless of these two negative aspects, BEHIND THE LINES is a wonderful and deeply moving film of British soldiers suffering from shell shock during the Great War.

Read Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy and watch this film. Both are highly recommended.

Far, Far Away the Thudding Guns [Regeneration]
Good grief, I finally found a US edition of this film so I can buy it. Can't the original title be put in brackets or something beside the 'nouveau' so you at least find it?! The philistine who came up with the new title didn't even bother to look at a Sassoon or Owens poem, obviously. My suggested title above (which admittedly may be no better as a film title) is from a Sassoon poem and I picked it more or less at random on the first page I opened in my anthology.

The film did manage to get across the awful (British) Imperial jingoism without ramming it down our throats more or less exclusively. The experiences that caused such acute suffering as displayed by the inmates of Craiglockhard were presented well, as was the personal humiliation of succumbing to mental illness or "shell-shock". Less successful however, was the treatment of the worst thing a soldier can do: failing to act with stoicism and diffidence. (Sassoon for example, developed an intense hatred for civilians as a result of this fairytale "let's all pretend we're having a lovely time in Flanders because that's what they want to hear at home, and we can't go upsetting the ladies, now can we, lads?", that at least outlasted the war.)

This was a well-scripted, well-acted,thoughtful and thought-provoking film. This is not a standard "tear-jerker" but if it does not make you shed a tear of sorrow and rage then you must have been multi-tasking.

This film actually rekindled a schoolgirl interest in the history of the First World War and in the extraordinary change in and range of poetry resulting from the experience of those in the foul trenches of France and Flanders.

a beautiful adaptation of the great novel...
...but why does the american film industry feel the need to change the titles of films. this film is called "regeneration". that it has mutated into "behind the lines" in the united states is ridiculous. that film companies will do anything to the "product" in order to secure an audience means that they will sacrifice anything about the film. the title "regeneration" is an important feature of the story of this book. it is NOT a film about being "behind the lines" (we are rarely behind the lines in this film) but about, as wilfred own put it so well, the pity of war. to make it sound like some gung-ho action movie is to do it an injustice. the director takes barker's orginal narrative - suffering, torment, passificism, objection to war, homoeroticism, class conflict - and turns it into a good depiction. it cannot repressent the book but it repressents something of its own. it is well worth watching for that reason.


Hackers
Released in VHS Tape by Mgm/Ua Studios (30 July, 2002)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie
As a depiction of the computer-hacker underground, this movie is bogus to the bone. As a thriller, it's cartoonish and conventional. The premise (computer-happy kids hack into the wrong system, and the Forces of Repression come after them) is recycled from John Badham's 1983 WarGames. And the corporate-creep bad guy, played by Fisher Stevens, steeples his fingers and growls mossy villainous clichés. ("By the time they realize the truth, we'll be long gone with all the money.") For all its postmodern trappings the movie is working with sub-prehistoric storytelling tools. But it does succeed on one level, as a movie about adolescent bonding and alienation. The director, Iain Softley, helmed the Beatles-in-Hamburg biopic Backbeat, and he seems to have an instinct for the emotions that pull kids together around common interests and the insecurities that drive them apart. The familiar crises of loyalty and betrayal have an ache of real loneliness. It doesn't hurt that the two stars, Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy Williamson in Trainspotting) and Angelina Jolie (Gia), are just about equally gorgeous and charismatic; their longing glances steam up the screen. --David Chute
Average review score:

Unrealistic, but in Hollywood, isn't everything?
Funny how so many people complain that this movie makes a complete mockery of everything computer-related. Well, it does! Yes, it represents a computer mainframe as a 3D world with what look like skyscrapers full of files. Yes, it represents virii (viruses) as animals and video-game characters. And yes, the supercomputer looks like it would work better as movie screen with a Star Trek-like "keyboard". So what? I happen to be a computer programmer (Not a hacker by the media definition, I admit), and I've made some of those complaints myself. But you know what? Their little peephole into the world of computer hacking is absolutely hilarious! The plot, though simple, moves along nicely... The characters are stereotyped but still entertaining... The archvillian, an "evil corporation" hacker who actually rides next to the car on a skateboard instead of inside (Pretty hilarious to see), is extremely well played! Bottom line, true computer people need a good sense of humor to appreciate this film, and everyone else... It's definitely worth seeing, but try not to take it too literally.

Just plain fun!
I loved this movie the first time I saw it in theatres... then I waited in agony for years because it was always hard to get on VHS until Angelina Jolie started to get big, and they figured they could make some money from her earlier work...

That being said, this is a true "cult classic": campy fun that you'll either love or hate. Many go out of their way to criticize the "unrealistic" portrayal of hacking and other technical "glossing over" done in this movie... PUH-LEEZE! Who wants to watch somebody sitting typing code or doing research by the hour? It's called dramatization, people!

The strength of this movie is the chemistry between the younger stars Jolie, Miller, Lillard, etc. Lorraine Bracco is forgettable, as always (except for the accent) and the FBI heavies are flattish; but Fisher Stevens is worth watching, being so cheesy as the bad guy he's actually fun, and so is Penn of Penn& Teller as his character foil and straight man.

What no one addresses is the soundtrack for this movie: it introduced me to some of legends of techno music like Underworld and Prodigy, back in the early '90's when techno was still pretty much the exclusive property of the underground club scene, and still sounds edgy today...

If you're a compulsive nitpicker, avoid this movie... but for the well-adjusted majority, you can't go wrong!

Hackers Some How Hacks Into ur Heart
This movie stars a young angelina jolie and mattew lilliard.The movie is about an kid who when younger gets caught hacking computers and is sentenced to not touch a computer till he is 18 the story picks up with him being but ofcourse 18 and getting right back into computer mischief but what could easily be a horrible flick is actually good its a fun movie and some how i find my self watching scarface the lord of the rings the professional and hackers over and over.its a good flick and penn or teller the big one is in it enuff said


Hackers
Released in VHS Tape by Mgm/Ua Studios (20 February, 1996)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie
As a depiction of the computer-hacker underground, this movie is bogus to the bone. As a thriller, it's cartoonish and conventional. The premise (computer-happy kids hack into the wrong system, and the Forces of Repression come after them) is recycled from John Badham's 1983 WarGames. And the corporate-creep bad guy, played by Fisher Stevens, steeples his fingers and growls mossy villainous clichés. ("By the time they realize the truth, we'll be long gone with all the money.") For all its postmodern trappings the movie is working with sub-prehistoric storytelling tools. But it does succeed on one level, as a movie about adolescent bonding and alienation. The director, Iain Softley, helmed the Beatles-in-Hamburg biopic Backbeat, and he seems to have an instinct for the emotions that pull kids together around common interests and the insecurities that drive them apart. The familiar crises of loyalty and betrayal have an ache of real loneliness. It doesn't hurt that the two stars, Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy Williamson in Trainspotting) and Angelina Jolie (Gia), are just about equally gorgeous and charismatic; their longing glances steam up the screen. --David Chute
Average review score:

Unrealistic, but in Hollywood, isn't everything?
Funny how so many people complain that this movie makes a complete mockery of everything computer-related. Well, it does! Yes, it represents a computer mainframe as a 3D world with what look like skyscrapers full of files. Yes, it represents virii (viruses) as animals and video-game characters. And yes, the supercomputer looks like it would work better as movie screen with a Star Trek-like "keyboard". So what? I happen to be a computer programmer (Not a hacker by the media definition, I admit), and I've made some of those complaints myself. But you know what? Their little peephole into the world of computer hacking is absolutely hilarious! The plot, though simple, moves along nicely... The characters are stereotyped but still entertaining... The archvillian, an "evil corporation" hacker who actually rides next to the car on a skateboard instead of inside (Pretty hilarious to see), is extremely well played! Bottom line, true computer people need a good sense of humor to appreciate this film, and everyone else... It's definitely worth seeing, but try not to take it too literally.

Just plain fun!
I loved this movie the first time I saw it in theatres... then I waited in agony for years because it was always hard to get on VHS until Angelina Jolie started to get big, and they figured they could make some money from her earlier work...

That being said, this is a true "cult classic": campy fun that you'll either love or hate. Many go out of their way to criticize the "unrealistic" portrayal of hacking and other technical "glossing over" done in this movie... PUH-LEEZE! Who wants to watch somebody sitting typing code or doing research by the hour? It's called dramatization, people!

The strength of this movie is the chemistry between the younger stars Jolie, Miller, Lillard, etc. Lorraine Bracco is forgettable, as always (except for the accent) and the FBI heavies are flattish; but Fisher Stevens is worth watching, being so cheesy as the bad guy he's actually fun, and so is Penn of Penn& Teller as his character foil and straight man.

What no one addresses is the soundtrack for this movie: it introduced me to some of legends of techno music like Underworld and Prodigy, back in the early '90's when techno was still pretty much the exclusive property of the underground club scene, and still sounds edgy today...

If you're a compulsive nitpicker, avoid this movie... but for the well-adjusted majority, you can't go wrong!

Hackers Some How Hacks Into ur Heart
This movie stars a young angelina jolie and mattew lilliard.The movie is about an kid who when younger gets caught hacking computers and is sentenced to not touch a computer till he is 18 the story picks up with him being but ofcourse 18 and getting right back into computer mischief but what could easily be a horrible flick is actually good its a fun movie and some how i find my self watching scarface the lord of the rings the professional and hackers over and over.its a good flick and penn or teller the big one is in it enuff said


Hackers
Released in VHS Tape by Mgm/Ua Studios (20 February, 1996)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie
As a depiction of the computer-hacker underground, this movie is bogus to the bone. As a thriller, it's cartoonish and conventional. The premise (computer-happy kids hack into the wrong system, and the Forces of Repression come after them) is recycled from John Badham's 1983 WarGames. And the corporate-creep bad guy, played by Fisher Stevens, steeples his fingers and growls mossy villainous clichés. ("By the time they realize the truth, we'll be long gone with all the money.") For all its postmodern trappings the movie is working with sub-prehistoric storytelling tools. But it does succeed on one level, as a movie about adolescent bonding and alienation. The director, Iain Softley, helmed the Beatles-in-Hamburg biopic Backbeat, and he seems to have an instinct for the emotions that pull kids together around common interests and the insecurities that drive them apart. The familiar crises of loyalty and betrayal have an ache of real loneliness. It doesn't hurt that the two stars, Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy Williamson in Trainspotting) and Angelina Jolie (Gia), are just about equally gorgeous and charismatic; their longing glances steam up the screen. --David Chute
Average review score:

Unrealistic, but in Hollywood, isn't everything?
Funny how so many people complain that this movie makes a complete mockery of everything computer-related. Well, it does! Yes, it represents a computer mainframe as a 3D world with what look like skyscrapers full of files. Yes, it represents virii (viruses) as animals and video-game characters. And yes, the supercomputer looks like it would work better as movie screen with a Star Trek-like "keyboard". So what? I happen to be a computer programmer (Not a hacker by the media definition, I admit), and I've made some of those complaints myself. But you know what? Their little peephole into the world of computer hacking is absolutely hilarious! The plot, though simple, moves along nicely... The characters are stereotyped but still entertaining... The archvillian, an "evil corporation" hacker who actually rides next to the car on a skateboard instead of inside (Pretty hilarious to see), is extremely well played! Bottom line, true computer people need a good sense of humor to appreciate this film, and everyone else... It's definitely worth seeing, but try not to take it too literally.

Just plain fun!
I loved this movie the first time I saw it in theatres... then I waited in agony for years because it was always hard to get on VHS until Angelina Jolie started to get big, and they figured they could make some money from her earlier work...

That being said, this is a true "cult classic": campy fun that you'll either love or hate. Many go out of their way to criticize the "unrealistic" portrayal of hacking and other technical "glossing over" done in this movie... PUH-LEEZE! Who wants to watch somebody sitting typing code or doing research by the hour? It's called dramatization, people!

The strength of this movie is the chemistry between the younger stars Jolie, Miller, Lillard, etc. Lorraine Bracco is forgettable, as always (except for the accent) and the FBI heavies are flattish; but Fisher Stevens is worth watching, being so cheesy as the bad guy he's actually fun, and so is Penn of Penn& Teller as his character foil and straight man.

What no one addresses is the soundtrack for this movie: it introduced me to some of legends of techno music like Underworld and Prodigy, back in the early '90's when techno was still pretty much the exclusive property of the underground club scene, and still sounds edgy today...

If you're a compulsive nitpicker, avoid this movie... but for the well-adjusted majority, you can't go wrong!

Hackers Some How Hacks Into ur Heart
This movie stars a young angelina jolie and mattew lilliard.The movie is about an kid who when younger gets caught hacking computers and is sentenced to not touch a computer till he is 18 the story picks up with him being but ofcourse 18 and getting right back into computer mischief but what could easily be a horrible flick is actually good its a fun movie and some how i find my self watching scarface the lord of the rings the professional and hackers over and over.its a good flick and penn or teller the big one is in it enuff said


Plunkett & Macleane
Released in VHS Tape by Usa Films (01 August, 2000)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Jake Scott (II)
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle
No one will be neutral about Plunkett & Macleane. Either you go with its notion of cheeky, stylish fun or you want to grab first-time director Jake Scott by the ear and slap him silly.

Your inclination may depend on whether you recall his dad Ridley's own directing debut, The Duellists (1977), and savor the correspondences. Dad took a Joseph Conrad tale of the Napoleonic Wars, cast it with the ultra-contemporary Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel, and filmed it with a swoopingly mobile camera. Son Jake has made a feisty period piece about a pair of thieves (Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller) in 1748 London and filled it with blatant anachronisms. A decadent aristo (Alan Cumming), asked whether he "still swings both ways," replies, "I swing every way!" A ballroom full of revelers dances the minuet (or is it the gavotte?) while our ears--if not theirs--are filled with a rock ballad. And so forth.

Is this sophomoric? Maybe. But it's also often fresh and inventive. Why shouldn't a filmmaker be allowed to speak directly to a contemporary consciousness, even flaunt it, as long as he also delivers startling imagery and convincing period detail? The solid cast includes Michael Gambon as a corrupt magistrate, Ken Stott as a very nasty enforcer named Mr. Chance (who favors a thumb through the eye socket and into the brain as a mode of execution), and Terence Rigby as a philosophical jailer; even Liv Tyler looks more interesting than usual. Plunkett & Macleane is in the end pretty frivolous, but it's a lively debut nonetheless. --Richard T. Jameson

Average review score:

Pretentious and Predictable
There is real plot in this film, it just follows two bumbling theives. Actually the two actors are the only aspect that make this movie watchable, just barely however.

The self-concious humour ends up being incredibly pretentious, it even seems to revel in the fact that it is pretentious, and somehow that makes the movie selfaware and hip.

Some people might leap to this films defense and claim that the forgetable plot was part of the grand scheme to keep it fun and exciting. The problem is asides from the an uninvolving plot, this movie is extremely predictable, which further deminishes the already trite affair.

Predictable, Brainless Fun
Robert Carlyle and Johnny Lee Miller are great actors, and they do an admirable job with this piece of period pulp. They've both been in better movies, but seem to have had a particlarly good time making this one. I guess that robbing the rich is more fun for them than being heroine junkies in "Trainspotting." Liv Tyler is pretty as always, and she's a good actress as well, but her role in this film is shallow and lackluster - something that should be attributed to the screenplay, not her.

This is a modern day swashbuckler where the good guys are outlaws and the bad guy (Ken Stott) is just a truly manipulative, nasty person. There's nothing really original about this film, but it is fun to watch and shows promise for Jake Scott as a director. It doesn't aspire to greatness, so it's easy to grant a little leeway.

You probably won't find anybody saying that it's the best movie they've seen but they certainly won't say that it's awful.

The DVD is a bit weak on added features - the featurette does not include anything that you couldn't really get out of the movie on your own. It is, however, kind of interesting to see the difference between the UK and the US trailers for the film. Overall, a decent rental.

Stand and deliver tale comes to life
For those of us looking for a different kind of adventure, Plunkett & Macleane fits the bill. I wasn't sure what to expect beyond the known premise of this being the story of notorious 18th century English highwaymen. What I discovered in my first viewing was not only the talents of the cast, but a visual feast as well. Updated with modern "slang", an uptempo soundtrack (that cleverly mixes the relevant classical fare with modern electronics), and authentic looking costumes and scenery, this one swept me away to another time and place. Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller make a great team (again, as in "Trainspotting") as the title characters, and display versatility in each of their roles....from the funny moments weaved throughout, to the dire consequences of their characters' actions, and finally to the loyalty of friendship. Liv Tyler, who's role as Lady Rebecca is not as dimensional as the leads, pulls it off well enough. All in all, I was pleased with this film, even with any minor flaws it contains (all being more in form with the sometimes uneven pace of the story, rather than the acting itself). Stereotypes do abound (esp. the artistocrats)in this movie, as do some gruesome violence, which could have both perhaps been a little less exaggerated. But, who's perfect? Finally, though Plunkett & Macleane is not the type of film everyone will enjoy, those of us with a taste for scoundrels' adventures long ago will find it generally satisfying.


Plunkett & Macleane
Released in VHS Tape by Usa Films (01 August, 2000)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Jake Scott (II)
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle
No one will be neutral about Plunkett & Macleane. Either you go with its notion of cheeky, stylish fun or you want to grab first-time director Jake Scott by the ear and slap him silly.

Your inclination may depend on whether you recall his dad Ridley's own directing debut, The Duellists (1977), and savor the correspondences. Dad took a Joseph Conrad tale of the Napoleonic Wars, cast it with the ultra-contemporary Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel, and filmed it with a swoopingly mobile camera. Son Jake has made a feisty period piece about a pair of thieves (Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller) in 1748 London and filled it with blatant anachronisms. A decadent aristo (Alan Cumming), asked whether he "still swings both ways," replies, "I swing every way!" A ballroom full of revelers dances the minuet (or is it the gavotte?) while our ears--if not theirs--are filled with a rock ballad. And so forth.

Is this sophomoric? Maybe. But it's also often fresh and inventive. Why shouldn't a filmmaker be allowed to speak directly to a contemporary consciousness, even flaunt it, as long as he also delivers startling imagery and convincing period detail? The solid cast includes Michael Gambon as a corrupt magistrate, Ken Stott as a very nasty enforcer named Mr. Chance (who favors a thumb through the eye socket and into the brain as a mode of execution), and Terence Rigby as a philosophical jailer; even Liv Tyler looks more interesting than usual. Plunkett & Macleane is in the end pretty frivolous, but it's a lively debut nonetheless. --Richard T. Jameson

Average review score:

Pretentious and Predictable
There is real plot in this film, it just follows two bumbling theives. Actually the two actors are the only aspect that make this movie watchable, just barely however.

The self-concious humour ends up being incredibly pretentious, it even seems to revel in the fact that it is pretentious, and somehow that makes the movie selfaware and hip.

Some people might leap to this films defense and claim that the forgetable plot was part of the grand scheme to keep it fun and exciting. The problem is asides from the an uninvolving plot, this movie is extremely predictable, which further deminishes the already trite affair.

Predictable, Brainless Fun
Robert Carlyle and Johnny Lee Miller are great actors, and they do an admirable job with this piece of period pulp. They've both been in better movies, but seem to have had a particlarly good time making this one. I guess that robbing the rich is more fun for them than being heroine junkies in "Trainspotting." Liv Tyler is pretty as always, and she's a good actress as well, but her role in this film is shallow and lackluster - something that should be attributed to the screenplay, not her.

This is a modern day swashbuckler where the good guys are outlaws and the bad guy (Ken Stott) is just a truly manipulative, nasty person. There's nothing really original about this film, but it is fun to watch and shows promise for Jake Scott as a director. It doesn't aspire to greatness, so it's easy to grant a little leeway.

You probably won't find anybody saying that it's the best movie they've seen but they certainly won't say that it's awful.

The DVD is a bit weak on added features - the featurette does not include anything that you couldn't really get out of the movie on your own. It is, however, kind of interesting to see the difference between the UK and the US trailers for the film. Overall, a decent rental.

Stand and deliver tale comes to life
For those of us looking for a different kind of adventure, Plunkett & Macleane fits the bill. I wasn't sure what to expect beyond the known premise of this being the story of notorious 18th century English highwaymen. What I discovered in my first viewing was not only the talents of the cast, but a visual feast as well. Updated with modern "slang", an uptempo soundtrack (that cleverly mixes the relevant classical fare with modern electronics), and authentic looking costumes and scenery, this one swept me away to another time and place. Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller make a great team (again, as in "Trainspotting") as the title characters, and display versatility in each of their roles....from the funny moments weaved throughout, to the dire consequences of their characters' actions, and finally to the loyalty of friendship. Liv Tyler, who's role as Lady Rebecca is not as dimensional as the leads, pulls it off well enough. All in all, I was pleased with this film, even with any minor flaws it contains (all being more in form with the sometimes uneven pace of the story, rather than the acting itself). Stereotypes do abound (esp. the artistocrats)in this movie, as do some gruesome violence, which could have both perhaps been a little less exaggerated. But, who's perfect? Finally, though Plunkett & Macleane is not the type of film everyone will enjoy, those of us with a taste for scoundrels' adventures long ago will find it generally satisfying.


Dracula 2000
Released in Theatrical Release by +‹@` (22 December, 2000)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Patrick Lussier
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, and Gerard Butler
As a director, Wes Craven has been able to infuse his horror movies with humor and some smart, often genuinely creepy, thrills, even on his lowest-budgeted films. As a producer of horror movies, well, his record has been spotty at best. Craven tapped his longtime editor Patrick Lussier to direct Dracula 2000, and the movie ends up with all the good and bad of "a Wes Craven production." A modern-day update of the Dracula legend, the script has some genuinely good ideas. Christopher Plummer (The Insider) takes a relatively juicy role as Van Helsing, owner of an antiques shop specializing in ancient weapons. He takes exception to how his namesake was portrayed in Bram Stoker's classic novel, which he's more than happy to tell his assistant (Jonny Lee Miller, "Sick Boy" from Trainspotting) without telling him the whole story. When Omar Epps leads a band of high-tech criminals to break into Van Helsing's high security vault (thinking that with so much security there's got to be something extremely valuable in there), what they end up stealing is the body of Dracula, who of course awakens from his slumber. When the story shifts to New Orleans, where Van Helsing's estranged daughter is working for the local Virgin Megastore (here metaphor is replaced by product placement), Dracula is drawn to her. The undead start to multiply, and the vampire hunt resumes. Another excellent idea deals with a new origin to Dracula, flashing back to biblical times to explain his aversion to silver and crosses. But there is a downside. Under the inept direction of Lussier the movie is never scary, inspiring instead an occasional feeling of pity for the actors. Overall, this a vampire movie for the mind, not the heart. --Andy Spletzer
Average review score:

DEFFINATELY BUY IT!!!
I shouldnt be the only poor schmuk who had to sit through it! It was excellent until the last 1/2 hour. I despise it when a movie sets a great premise and then ends horribly.I really thought this one would go the distance but the end was so campy in comparison to the rest of the movie!

Wes Craven Presents A Pretty Good Movie
'Dracula 2000' isn't very original, but has great cast, good soundtrack, good special effects, and great acting. The opening sequence is a little disturbing but later on in the movie you will understand it. I really thought this was a very good movie. The soundtrack was good, I liked the vampire special effects, the acting had you in the moment. I espically enjoyed the cast full of great performers including: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Omar Epps, Sean Patrick Thomas, Jennifer Esposito, Lochlyn Monroe, Danny Masterson, Colleen Fitzpatrick aka Vitamin C, Christopher Plummer, Jeri Ryan, Shane West, and Gerard Butler as the well-acted Dracula. You should see it.

Wes Craven's Mix
We all know what to expect when it comes to horror and Wes Craven: A mixture of a nightmarish world and dark humour. We've seen it done wonderfully in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Scream, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and many more. Dracula 2000 is no exception, except for the fact that it adds something new to the mix. Intense action sequences. Sure they rip off The Matrix, but they work in a film about creatures who are supposed to have unique skills and powers.

The back story created that connected Van Helsing, Mary, and Dracula was very interesting, and kept the movie together. You can tell by the commentary given to the movie by director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter Joel Soisson that research went into coming up with the story, and they wanted the film to be serious and have a story. I believe that's why some people didn't enjoy the movie. They didn't know whether to take the film seriously, or just let it be "eye candy". True, it does have the appeal of "eye candy", but when you understand the going on behind the film, you can begin to take it seriously. So I highly recommend giving the audio commentary on the DVD a listen.

Dracula 2000 managed to snag a talented cast full of up-and-coming stars (Sean Patrick Thomas, Jennifer Esposito) and veterans of acting (Christopher Plummer), and even a pop star (Colleen Fitzpatrick aka Vitamin C). Justine Waddell, who plays the main female lead, Mary, did very well at putting heart into her character, but her given dialogue is sometimes - to me - overacted, but in the end she does quiet well. Her voiceover in the end was effective. And I can't write a review without mentioning the person who played Dracula, Gerard Butler. Butler had the actions, the eyes, and the voice to play a perfect Dracula.

Watch Dracula 2000 the first time with an open-mind, and then watch it with the commentary. Both times, it will be like a different movie.


Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000
Released in VHS Tape by Dimension Home Video (04 December, 2001)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Patrick Lussier
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, and Gerard Butler
As a director, Wes Craven has been able to infuse his horror movies with humor and some smart, often genuinely creepy, thrills, even on his lowest-budgeted films. As a producer of horror movies, well, his record has been spotty at best. Craven tapped his longtime editor Patrick Lussier to direct Dracula 2000, and the movie ends up with all the good and bad of "a Wes Craven production." A modern-day update of the Dracula legend, the script has some genuinely good ideas. Christopher Plummer (The Insider) takes a relatively juicy role as Van Helsing, owner of an antiques shop specializing in ancient weapons. He takes exception to how his namesake was portrayed in Bram Stoker's classic novel, which he's more than happy to tell his assistant (Jonny Lee Miller, "Sick Boy" from Trainspotting) without telling him the whole story. When Omar Epps leads a band of high-tech criminals to break into Van Helsing's high security vault (thinking that with so much security there's got to be something extremely valuable in there), what they end up stealing is the body of Dracula, who of course awakens from his slumber. When the story shifts to New Orleans, where Van Helsing's estranged daughter is working for the local Virgin Megastore (here metaphor is replaced by product placement), Dracula is drawn to her. The undead start to multiply, and the vampire hunt resumes. Another excellent idea deals with a new origin to Dracula, flashing back to biblical times to explain his aversion to silver and crosses. But there is a downside. Under the inept direction of Lussier the movie is never scary, inspiring instead an occasional feeling of pity for the actors. Overall, this a vampire movie for the mind, not the heart. --Andy Spletzer
Average review score:

DEFFINATELY BUY IT!!!
I shouldnt be the only poor schmuk who had to sit through it! It was excellent until the last 1/2 hour. I despise it when a movie sets a great premise and then ends horribly.I really thought this one would go the distance but the end was so campy in comparison to the rest of the movie!

Wes Craven Presents A Pretty Good Movie
'Dracula 2000' isn't very original, but has great cast, good soundtrack, good special effects, and great acting. The opening sequence is a little disturbing but later on in the movie you will understand it. I really thought this was a very good movie. The soundtrack was good, I liked the vampire special effects, the acting had you in the moment. I espically enjoyed the cast full of great performers including: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Omar Epps, Sean Patrick Thomas, Jennifer Esposito, Lochlyn Monroe, Danny Masterson, Colleen Fitzpatrick aka Vitamin C, Christopher Plummer, Jeri Ryan, Shane West, and Gerard Butler as the well-acted Dracula. You should see it.

Wes Craven's Mix
We all know what to expect when it comes to horror and Wes Craven: A mixture of a nightmarish world and dark humour. We've seen it done wonderfully in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Scream, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and many more. Dracula 2000 is no exception, except for the fact that it adds something new to the mix. Intense action sequences. Sure they rip off The Matrix, but they work in a film about creatures who are supposed to have unique skills and powers.

The back story created that connected Van Helsing, Mary, and Dracula was very interesting, and kept the movie together. You can tell by the commentary given to the movie by director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter Joel Soisson that research went into coming up with the story, and they wanted the film to be serious and have a story. I believe that's why some people didn't enjoy the movie. They didn't know whether to take the film seriously, or just let it be "eye candy". True, it does have the appeal of "eye candy", but when you understand the going on behind the film, you can begin to take it seriously. So I highly recommend giving the audio commentary on the DVD a listen.

Dracula 2000 managed to snag a talented cast full of up-and-coming stars (Sean Patrick Thomas, Jennifer Esposito) and veterans of acting (Christopher Plummer), and even a pop star (Colleen Fitzpatrick aka Vitamin C). Justine Waddell, who plays the main female lead, Mary, did very well at putting heart into her character, but her given dialogue is sometimes - to me - overacted, but in the end she does quiet well. Her voiceover in the end was effective. And I can't write a review without mentioning the person who played Dracula, Gerard Butler. Butler had the actions, the eyes, and the voice to play a perfect Dracula.

Watch Dracula 2000 the first time with an open-mind, and then watch it with the commentary. Both times, it will be like a different movie.


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