Martin-Sheen Movie Reviews

There are two things extremely wrong with this DVD. First and most important are statements made by Martin Sheen as a representative of Rome stating that during Mass, the miracle that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ does not happen. This is one of the basic tenants of Catholic belief and a representative from Rome would NEVER state that this miracle does not happen. No wonder the monks revolt!

The transfer to DVD is HORRIBLE! The color continually fluctuates, skin tones go from almost black and white to flech tones to green tints all in the same scenes. The picture is very grainy in some scenes. One of the worst transfers I have seen.

The original title of this film was "Catholics" and, while "Conflict" is a better indication of the content of the story, it should have been released under the original title.

All things considered, in spite of strong performances, this DVD is a mess and a definite affront to Catholics.

This made-for-TV movie from 1973 was shown full-length on U.S. public broadcasting stations in the 1970s. It is a visually and intellectually impressive film. The story line is very faithful to the 1972 book "Catholics" by Brian Moore, with only a couple of scenes sequenced differently, and in my opinion, rather more effectively than in the book. Unfortunately, later VHS versions have been shortened, with about the first ten minutes of the original film deleted. This DVD version shares the same significant defect.

The first few minutes of the original film were essential in setting the context for the conflict portrayed between the traditionalist Irish monks led by their Father Abbot (Trevor Howard), and the modernist representative (Martin Sheen) of their order's Vatican Father General. During these missing first few minutes, we would have seen Sheen meeting with the Father General (Raf Vallone) in Rome, and discussing the "problem" of the return of Latin Mass celebration by the monks of Howard's abbey and the growing world-wide popularity of that celebration. The first scene made it clear that the time period portrayed is hypothetical and futuristic. In this fabulous Roman Catholic Church, additional modifications and liberalization of doctrine are supposed to have taken place beyond those that have been in effect since Vatican II. Within the film, there are mentions of a "Vatican IV" and other hypothetical conventions. Missing the original initial scene, many may believe that the film has grossly erred in, or deliberately distorted, current Roman Catholic beliefs. This was not the motive of the movie as originally filmed, and it is a tremendous loss to the integrity of the original story that the vital first scene of the movie has been edited away. However, this does explain the crediting of Raf Vallone as Father General at the start and end of the film, when in fact Raf Vallone/Father General never appears in the VHS or DVD versions. It would be well worthwhile to read the first chapter of the book before seeing a shortened home video release, if at all possible.

The DVD video quality is disappointing. The color is washed out, and in several scenes it is strangely yellow-tinted. It is definitely inferior to my ten-year-old VHS copy issued by USA Home Video. The sound is occasionally clipped, with words lost in several places. Not so my VHS copy. The original film title was "Catholics, A Fable" but the cryptic title of "The Conflict" has been used for the DVD. The DVD also contains an idiotic special feature in the form of an interactive quiz about the movie content. One may entertain one's self with such challenging questions as "What was on the sign carried by the man in the brown suit?" or "What color was the priest's car?" The quiz even has incorrect answers!

In spite of these problems, I state without reservation that this DVD is well worth owning. Since Vatican II there has existed a Roman Catholic traditionalist movement that today seems to have more Vatican-sanctioned success than would ever have been thought possible at the time this film was made. Some have tried to relate the events portrayed in this film to that movement. But by movie's end, this film actually depicts far more important issues of religious belief, and its loss. This is a film, like the book, that will be of interest to anyone, of whatever faith or none, for whom philosophy of religion is of interest.

The acting by Trevor Howard is absolutely flawless and authentic. It is art and it is masterful and it is heartfelt and it is beautiful. Almost equally so is that of Cyril Cusack, who plays the role of Father Manus, a monk. Sheen's role is important, but not nearly as much as Howard's, and not remotely as well-crafted.

This is as intelligent and entertaining a film today as it was when it was made 30 years ago. Let us hope someone in the near future will gather an old PBS copy of the complete film, digitally re-master it, and finally give us a proper and fitting version of this film. I know of no other film that deserves it so much.

Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen star in this portrayal of an attempt to completely destroy the Catholic Church. Trevor Howard is the abbot of an Irish monastary that continues the two thousand years of the Roman Latin Rite of the Church. People come from all over the world to participate in the last of the Roman Latin Rite Masses and the Vatican (Vatican V) wants to put an end to it. The Vatican sends a priest, Martin Sheen, as emissary to end the latin Mass. Catholics is a supposed futuristic view of the Church while in reality it is about the struggle Catholics face today.

There are two things extremely wrong with this DVD. First and most important are statements made by Martin Sheen as a representative of Rome stating that during Mass, the miracle that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ does not happen. This is one of the basic tenants of Catholic belief and a representative from Rome would NEVER state that this miracle does not happen. No wonder the monks revolt!

The transfer to DVD is HORRIBLE! The color continually fluctuates, skin tones go from almost black and white to flech tones to green tints all in the same scenes. The picture is very grainy in some scenes. One of the worst transfers I have seen.

The original title of this film was "Catholics" and, while "Conflict" is a better indication of the content of the story, it should have been released under the original title.

All things considered, in spite of strong performances, this DVD is a mess and a definite affront to Catholics.

This made-for-TV movie from 1973 was shown full-length on U.S. public broadcasting stations in the 1970s. It is a visually and intellectually impressive film. The story line is very faithful to the 1972 book "Catholics" by Brian Moore, with only a couple of scenes sequenced differently, and in my opinion, rather more effectively than in the book. Unfortunately, later VHS versions have been shortened, with about the first ten minutes of the original film deleted. This DVD version shares the same significant defect.

The first few minutes of the original film were essential in setting the context for the conflict portrayed between the traditionalist Irish monks led by their Father Abbot (Trevor Howard), and the modernist representative (Martin Sheen) of their order's Vatican Father General. During these missing first few minutes, we would have seen Sheen meeting with the Father General (Raf Vallone) in Rome, and discussing the "problem" of the return of Latin Mass celebration by the monks of Howard's abbey and the growing world-wide popularity of that celebration. The first scene made it clear that the time period portrayed is hypothetical and futuristic. In this fabulous Roman Catholic Church, additional modifications and liberalization of doctrine are supposed to have taken place beyond those that have been in effect since Vatican II. Within the film, there are mentions of a "Vatican IV" and other hypothetical conventions. Missing the original initial scene, many may believe that the film has grossly erred in, or deliberately distorted, current Roman Catholic beliefs. This was not the motive of the movie as originally filmed, and it is a tremendous loss to the integrity of the original story that the vital first scene of the movie has been edited away. However, this does explain the crediting of Raf Vallone as Father General at the start and end of the film, when in fact Raf Vallone/Father General never appears in the VHS or DVD versions. It would be well worthwhile to read the first chapter of the book before seeing a shortened home video release, if at all possible.

The DVD video quality is disappointing. The color is washed out, and in several scenes it is strangely yellow-tinted. It is definitely inferior to my ten-year-old VHS copy issued by USA Home Video. The sound is occasionally clipped, with words lost in several places. Not so my VHS copy. The original film title was "Catholics, A Fable" but the cryptic title of "The Conflict" has been used for the DVD. The DVD also contains an idiotic special feature in the form of an interactive quiz about the movie content. One may entertain one's self with such challenging questions as "What was on the sign carried by the man in the brown suit?" or "What color was the priest's car?" The quiz even has incorrect answers!

In spite of these problems, I state without reservation that this DVD is well worth owning. Since Vatican II there has existed a Roman Catholic traditionalist movement that today seems to have more Vatican-sanctioned success than would ever have been thought possible at the time this film was made. Some have tried to relate the events portrayed in this film to that movement. But by movie's end, this film actually depicts far more important issues of religious belief, and its loss. This is a film, like the book, that will be of interest to anyone, of whatever faith or none, for whom philosophy of religion is of interest.

The acting by Trevor Howard is absolutely flawless and authentic. It is art and it is masterful and it is heartfelt and it is beautiful. Almost equally so is that of Cyril Cusack, who plays the role of Father Manus, a monk. Sheen's role is important, but not nearly as much as Howard's, and not remotely as well-crafted.

This is as intelligent and entertaining a film today as it was when it was made 30 years ago. Let us hope someone in the near future will gather an old PBS copy of the complete film, digitally re-master it, and finally give us a proper and fitting version of this film. I know of no other film that deserves it so much.

Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen star in this portrayal of an attempt to completely destroy the Catholic Church. Trevor Howard is the abbot of an Irish monastary that continues the two thousand years of the Roman Latin Rite of the Church. People come from all over the world to participate in the last of the Roman Latin Rite Masses and the Vatican (Vatican V) wants to put an end to it. The Vatican sends a priest, Martin Sheen, as emissary to end the latin Mass. Catholics is a supposed futuristic view of the Church while in reality it is about the struggle Catholics face today.

This action/mystery set in Brazil several years ago is a bit dated but still gripping. The writers seem to have been very troubled by the well-publicized abuses of the street children in Rio and looking for a story that would make the problem real in the minds of American film viewers. They came up with an obvious but believable plot line--an American journalist (Rae Dawn Chong) travels to Rio during Carneval determined to find out who really is behind the murder of these innocents. No one wants to tell her anything until she comes in contact with a shadowy local boss named Boca (Mouth, which is short for Mouth of Gold, because his teeth are all gold). As she continues to dig, she becomes increasingly immersed in the Carneval state of mind, with not entirely happy results. The story builds up to a stunning plot twist, followed by an apocalyptic shootout--at which point, I'm sorry to say, the writers seem to have run out of inspiration and have to introduce a character from some other movie (played by Martin Sheen) to bring the film to its conclusion without everyone in Rio getting killed. The ending really disappoints, but nevertheless this is an engaging and entertaining film, featuring Rae Dawn Chong at her best (how an actress of her ability wound up doing network TV is beyond me). She dominates every scene she is in, which is almost every one. She looks great too, and I should add that by the time the film is done we have seen just about all of her--if nudity offends you, you definitely don't want to rent this video. Again, this is a very intriguing and engrossing film, marred only by the writers' failure to come up with quite enough ideas to get to the end of it.

This is a different and interesting film that involves the viewers emotions. Chong's performance is outstanding. Her talents are often underated.Watching this film that mistake is almost impossible to make.The film has weak points,but is certainly worth watching.At times touching,brutal,erotic--it can take you for a ride.

Very stylish melodramatic movie. I wish they would put this movie on DVD already. Superb acting. There is a great love scene from the incredibly gorgeous Rae Dawn Chong. Other than Quest For Fire this is her best movie.

This move isn't horrible, it isn't the worst movie I have ever seen but it left me feeling flat. While some would compare this to the classic "Wait Until Dark" it never comes close to the quality of that film.

The plot centers around the rarest coin in the world. Everyone wants it except for Marlee Matlin, inevitably, it ends up in her possession. This movie has the typical cop on the take, unknown reporter trying to make a name for himself, good guy drawn in by the damsel in distress, and best friend of the heroine along to show that this whole business is dangerous.

The characters are not well developed, and none really earned any sympathy from me. The bad guys were laughably bad (albeit with a taste for opera) and thuggy. even the main characters seemed to never be committed wholeheartedly to the events around them.

The ending might have been a real shocker to those who did not follow the movie closely at the beginning, but to the rest of us it was just marking time waiting for the closing credits to roll.

Amazing... The ending was a complete and total surprise. It's a classic. Everyone acts good. The plot is quite unpredictable, and I like that in movies... See this movie, and it's well-rounded performance will not disappoint you.

This movie was really good. I liked the way the protagonist of this movie tries to figure out what they want from her, and how she can stop them. All throughout this movie I was wondering what was going to happen to the main character, and I was on the edge of my seat. It had so much suspence, and if you view this movie, you will see it for yourself the way it never lets up and delievers heart-stopping performances by all the actors. This was just a really good movie!!!!

Jodie Foster gives a first-rate performance in this provocative thriller. She plays a composed and independent 13 year old who dispatches a few nasty adults. The script is flawed somewhat, but the suspense compensates. There's also a poignant relationship between Jodie and Scott Jacoby, who supports her endeavors.

I've never been a big Foster fan, but when I saw this movie I was impressed. Jodie starred in this movie when she was a teenager. The movie is mainly about a girl whose father and mother have seemingly abandoned her, and she's left alone to fend off nosy teachers, and a would-be child molester. Although it seems Foster's character has it hard, her sagacity is amazing- -for Foster's the smoothest kid ever...nothing in this movie is what it seems.

This movie would be only a one star if not for Sheen's heartwarming performance. He even outshines the child star which is unusual in most films that I have seen. He has a way of acting that is engaging and makes the movie worth viewing. The plot is pretty much nonexistent and is something you can find on t.v. channels most anytime, the difference being they don't have a Martin Sheen starring in them. There is one particular scene where he is playing with a barbie doll with the child actor and the way he talks for the barbies, playacting, is just really funny. I think this one scene alone was what made the movie worthwhile to view. The movie is a romantic comedy where Sheen is portraying a maid but is in real life, a busy Wall Street man with a flare for sucess. He becomes a maid for Bisset's character at first because he is attracted to her, not really thinking he would actually have to become a maid. But Bisset is desparate and he works for her until he starts his new job at a bank where Bisset is the manager in Paris. She does not know that he is the new man coming from New York and he does not know she works at the firm he will be starting at as soon as he has settled in at his new surroundings. Anyways pretty one-dimensional storyline with not much to offer in the way of thoughts and provoking subject matter but funny and cute only because of Martin Sheens acting ability!

Lisa Nary

Martin Sheen doesn't need me to introduce him, but this romantic comedy is one of his lesser known films which deserves to be better known. The plot is very light - a banker arriving in Paris for a new job is attracted by a colleague (Jacequeline Bisset) but does not reveal to her that he is a financier too, and instead takes on a job as the maid for her apartment, and nanny for her young daughter in order to get close to her. Martin Sheen is a joy to behold in this film, and has excellent lines too. The eventual attraction between hero and heroine is built up carefully, and at the end is convincing. The film is also a great tutorial for men on how to behave with their young children ! A sweet film which I can strongly recommend. Bisset appears as attractive and feminine as ever.

Traditional western fans will appreciate this european-adapted tale of a father and band of brothers toting a coffin around the desert full of yankee cash, with the intended goal of restoring the financial fortunes of the civil war South, post-defeat. Even though the plot is incredibly thin and contrived the film works well and traditional western fans will appreciate this story but of course spaghetti western fans will love this 1967 Sergio Corbucci creation even more! This film is a Spanish-Italian co-production and some of the ideas were evidently borrowed by Sergio Leone for 'The Good, Bad, and the Ugly' which was produced the same year. While it is tempting to think of this cross-pollination of ideas as plagiarism, it is clear that tremendous creativity was pandemic in Cinecita and it's associations during a 60's explosion of ideas, when Fellini was contemplating 'Never Bet your Head with the Devil' and 'Satyricon'. Any chance the media corporations and Big Bux producers can step aside and allow a period of creativity to return in the year 2003? Ziiinggg or as 'cheyenne' might say, 'rap 'em on a stone and they go -- "diiiiiinggg"' guess that says it all about today's movies! Be sure to watch this one: 'Hellbenders' -- you won't regret it!

This movie is a superb spaghetti western about an ex-confederate soldier using stolen money to revive the confederacy.It's a must see!!

Traditional western fans will appreciate this european-adapted tale of a father and band of brothers toting a coffin around the desert full of yankee cash, with the intended goal of restoring the financial fortunes of the civil war South, post-defeat. Even though the plot is incredibly thin and contrived the film works well and traditional western fans will appreciate this story but of course spaghetti western fans will love this 1967 Sergio Corbucci creation even more! This film is a Spanish-Italian co-production and some of the ideas were evidently borrowed by Sergio Leone for 'The Good, Bad, and the Ugly' which was produced the same year. While it is tempting to think of this cross-pollination of ideas as plagiarism, it is clear that tremendous creativity was pandemic in Cinecita and it's associations during a 60's explosion of ideas, when Fellini was contemplating 'Never Bet your Head with the Devil' and 'Satyricon'. Any chance the media corporations and Big Bux producers can step aside and allow a period of creativity to return in the year 2003? Ziiinggg or as 'cheyenne' might say, 'rap 'em on a stone and they go -- "diiiiiinggg"' guess that says it all about today's movies! Be sure to watch this one: 'Hellbenders' -- you won't regret it!

This movie is a superb spaghetti western about an ex-confederate soldier using stolen money to revive the confederacy.It's a must see!!

Ok, I admit it. While most kids grew up sucking their thumbs, I was more interested in the ear. It had a soothing quality that would put me to sleep. Needless to say, when I read that this family had an ear fetish, I just had to see what this was all about. No, this movie is not just about sucking an earlobe that belongs to your husband's corpse, though I was laughing so hard during this scene, nor is it just another film trying to come across as artsy with an overdose of weirdness that just cannot seem to blend well. Instead we are presented with a rather strange and different story of a family and their haunting secrets. It captures a well deserved four stars.

What was supposed to be a family reunion for the reading of the will, due to Jeremiah Sparta's (Martin Sheen)death, turns out to be a weekend that reveals just how little they all knew about each other. Seen mostly through the eyes of Jeremiah's grandson, who decides to be mute after being told to shut up, we see him interact with Jeremiah and his ancestors in the spirit world. They unload all the juicy tales of the past and it's quite fun to hear all the live folks' interpretation. After the will is read, this sets the stage for everyone's personal struggle with their haunting secrets. With solid performances and an engrossing script, you can't help but be drawn into everyone's life as you see all the anger, pain, jealousy and even an unquenchable fetish dissolve.

Definitely a keeper. One you could watch again. Good sound and picture quality too.

A wonderful film, by a talented (new?) writer/director. A well crafted, intimate portrait of an old Texas family, it's history, and the ghosts (literally & metaphorically) in the family closet.

Fine performances all around. M. Sheem & Robert Patrick are SOLID.

Refreshing change from the slick, impersonable films from hollywood these days.

I look forward to future films by B. Herron.

The landscape of an island of Ireland, the music, and the subject of this movie prompts introspection in one's religious behavior, what is meaningful in such behavior, what is not.

Add to that the question of conflict of personal BELIEF with OBEDIENCE to church dogma and you have the makings of a heavy story, which the actors and director delivered in an "excellent" manner, and I rated it a "4" as a result.

There is an emotional and intellectual hangover produced by getting involved with the film, so beware. It is NOT just ENTERTAINMENT. It should make you THINK about your FAITH and the practice of it.

Bill Schaefer