Reviews by max

This movie is flawless. I have watched it many times and each time I find something new that "ties in".

This dvd also had the international version. I watched each version to compare them. I had not seen the movie before. I only want to comment on the differences between the versions and don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seen the movie. I watched the Directors Cut first as most reviews indicate that without the "narrative" you wouldn't understand what was going on. I found this not to be the case. In fact, after watching the theater version I felt only the first "narrative" when he is reading the newspaper was one I might have left in. The others were unnecessary although they added a little understanding to characters and the last ones (on the rooftop and the ending) I felt actually took away from the movie. I preferred the ending in the directors cut as it left more to my imagination, I could end it how I wished. The one added scene (with the unicorn) which the director indicates is supposed to open the possibility of Ford being a replicant as well was so obscure in its purpose as to have no meaning at all. To me, it bore no relevance to anything and was the one bad chord in the cut. The international version is different from the theater version only in that it has a couple of scenes where the violence is shown and I felt it greatly detracted from the mood and the movie. You already know how menacing Hauer'r character is. All that said, I liked the Directors Cut best.

To make a good movie, take a good book and stick to it. Selleck IS Jesse Stone. Very well done. Due to the length of film some of the book plot has been left out, but it is word for word in some scenes and overall very true to the book. It's the best thing Selleck has done. In a word, excellent.

I wouldn't classify this movie as a comedy. Granted there are many, many funny, laugh-out-loud moments, but it is really a story of how a few, quiet, unlikely hero types made a risky decision that meant that those of us who are old enough (and had our noses glued to our tv screens) could witness what I would still call the event of our lifetime. It is a quiet little movie - no car chases, no gun fights, no hot sex scenes - what it does have is a great cast who will teach you about courage and give you a movie that you will enjoy and remember.

While writing a mystery column on 'mysteries that made it to the movies' for our library e-newsletter I came across this one and decided to see how much it was changed from the book by Fearing and how much it differed from its later appearance as 'No Way Out'. This was very well done. Both my husband and I found it suspenseful and enjoyable. It is much closer to the book. The situation plays out in a publishing venue rather than 'No Way Out''s military background. The 'twist' at the end, if you could call it that, is not as dramatic as it is in 'No Way Out'. I think we were surprised to find that 'No Way Out' managed to use about all of the point plots that appeared in The Big Clock. Bottom line - It is both a good mystery and a good movie. Charles Laughton is very good as the publisher. Yes, you can tell it is from the late 40's era but that does not detract in any way.