[Micheal]

I managed to see "The Terminal" at a special DreamWorks advanced screening last night. I must say that I was very impressed with Spielberg's latest offering. Not only was it extremely funny, but at times it was also very touching. Tom Hank's does a top notch job of playing Viktor Navorski, a lost soul who becomes trapped in an American airport terminal because of a war going on back in his home of Krakozhia. Viktor is not allowed to go home and he is refused access to the United States, therefore "The Terminal" becomes his home.

There are some very funny moments in this film as Viktor tries his best to learn english and make some money during his stay. He makes a lot of friends during his stay but it's the one enemy that he encounters that stirs things up a little. Stanley Tucci is excellent in this role, he runs the entire airport and is always in control, until Viktor shows up.

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Viktor's love interest, her character has some real relationship flaws that come out as the film progresses. The way that this film progresses and ends may surprise some Spielberg fans but I will not give anything away. All and all I enjoyed it thoroughly, it reminded me of an old classic at times.

I would rate it...
1/2 out of

[Micheal]

Quote:

"But the core of this film is, again, its heart… its simple, pure, loving, human, flawed, beating heart...Character after character, beat after beat, shot after shot, act after act, the heart beats with the thrills of a rollercoaster, even though you are stuck in an airport terminal."

I agree with this 100%. Especially the "character after character" remark, I loved all of the characters in this movie. The casting was perfect!

[Aren]

I saw a sneak preview of The Terminal and I was surprisingly shocked on how well it was done.

NO SPOILERS

From the get go, the movie shines in every way imaginable. Right off the bat we get into Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) character. The way the movie progresses is unbelievably perfect. The Terminal gives offers fun and comedy for the whole family to enjoy.

This movie reminded me of Finding Nemo. The way out there is a world underneath the ocean matches the way there is a world in this airport. Viktor Navorski goes through a lot of phases and emotions throughout the movie which makes this film stand out. Tom Hanks portrays Viktor Navorski in a brilliant manner. The emotions he shows from start to end makes you feel good and bad. Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) played a good role, although I didn't know what to think of her at times. She was a mystery character throughout the movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) played a great villain/enemy type character. I loved how he did everything in his power to prevent Viktor Navorski from leaving the terminal.

The support cast did an excellent job bringing much more to the story. Chi McBride, Diego Luna, and Barry Shabaka Henley added rich humor and great acting to this film. These characters all brought something to spice up the table as well as many other characters, which turned out to add more humor and story to the film. Debra Zane did an excellent job on the cast, as well as Steven Spielberg for using them in a superb manner.

This is without a doubt one of the greatest movies written. What the characters go through, discovers, finds, shows, loves, and does are mixed into one great film. Steven Spielberg did an outstanding job on directing what could be one of the best films of the year, if not, thee best. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that's this original and unique. You can go into detail Viktor Navorski learns the US ways, and he quickly adapts to its system.

The Terminal is a movie that'll shock you. It turned out to be a great film. From the acting to the story, this film has it all. See this fun flick with anyone and they will enjoy it. The Terminal offers great laughs, a great story, and an overall great experience.

Story: A+
Acting: A+
Visuals: N/A
Cinematography: A
Overall: A

[Phil L]

Quote:

This is without a doubt one of the greatest movies written.

I wouldn't go nearly that far.

I saw it last night. I enjoyed it while I was watching it and had completely forgotten about it a few hours later.

It was fun, in a light comedy kind of way. I didn't feel that any of the characters really had any depth though.

Some things felt unfinished (in the story, not technically) to me.

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "The Terminal". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

[Adam_S]

The Terminal - ½ (out of four) recommended with reservations

There is a great deal to love in the Terminal, but unfortunately there's a lot of little things to be annoyed by as well. Spielberg clearly shows he has no trouble with comedy or romance and does a wonderful job on both of those ends. The cinematography is excellent and the editing creates rythms reminescent of the forties and fifties--I smile when I see the end credit in Spielberg film, "edited on Movieola station" because I think using a Movieola really can affect the way a film is constructed, especially in the hands of a master like Michael Kahn. The performances, especially Tom Hanks are impeccable, Spielberg shows he's one of the best directors of actors there is, especially good is work by the many luminous supporting players, especially the girl at the visa desk, she was wonderful (and drop dead incredibly gorgeous)--and she also gets what's probably the best moment of the entire film, live long and prosper indeed!

The Terminal is an absolutely lovely, charming film that easily seduces us into the whimsy and earnest nostalgia of Victor Nevarsky, more than any other Spielberg film I've seen this seems to capture the spirit of what made Capra's best films work so magnificently, and I think that The Terminal could very well endure in the same manner. However, I was kinda hoping that The Terminal might have the same grace and magic of the best Frank Capra film of the last fifty years, Forrest Gump, but it seems clear after one viewing that the story doesn't care about addressing significant themes or taking a firm stance, or just have that extra intangible oomph to catapult it up into the ranks of Forrest Gump, It's a Wonderful life, You can't take it with you, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; and it's too bad, since Tom Hanks is the only actor living today who can compare to Jimmy Stewart.

The following issues I had with the film don't really affect major enjoyment, but they annoyed me, and without that extra oomph, they're enough for me to not ignore, but I feel I need to talk about them to be fair. One is the racism inherent in the Indian character. True he is given identity in the one scene when he discusses his past with Nevarsky, in fact that's another one of the best scenes in the film. Unfortunately for us Spielberg felt the need to turn him into a sort of Indian Uncle Tom/Stepnfetchit character. The stunts during the romantic dinner were incredibly offensive and seemingly out of character, why does he know how to do that other than white people assume all people of his station are natural entertainers just bursting to show off their talents to the good massas--even more annoying was how easy the laughs came at this point, the audience responded instantly to the social coding of laughing AT this representation, any sort of serious treatment of him is erased (also note the way he's set up to unfeelingly laugh at his wet floor victims and how we're set up to laugh at his lack of compassion which Nevarsky of course, as the good white boy, has in spades). And the final coup de grace is Spielberg's indulgence of an archaic and incredibly offensive stereotype when he sacrifices himself so that Victor doesn't have to give up his dream--sorta like the good blacks in Gone with the Wind or the thirties Imitation of Life who wouldn't ever dream of rising above their station, they only know that they gotta protect and please the white folks. Gah okay I'm making a bit much of this, but as the film went on the excessive stereotypical portrayal of Gustpa just grated more and more on my nerves, it's cheap ways to get a laugh and below the sweet nature of the film.

My second biggest complaint was the extremely cheap appeal to sentiment made in the way the terminal workers suddenly start showing solidarity for Victor. Like the whole hand montage and the utterly inept scene with Gustpa telling his story, I really loathed that scene, it wasn't needed and it felt all wrong, like it didn't even belong in the same film. the resulting montage of horrible excessive smiling face after horrible excessive smiling face was pretty sickening and over the top. Every character was mugging for the camera and it made me INTENSELY aware I was watching a more, and more annoying, made me more aware than I've ever been that someone is trying to manipulate feel good emotions out of me--enough smiling faces and their bodies will flood with endorphins sort of thing. However the story with Hanks is so honest I was quickly able to put this behind me, until of course Spielberg repeats the same scene on a larger scale, same exact problem, except this also made me aware of the construction of the film, the sets suddenly seemed gaudy, extravagant waste filled with expensive extras. It was a defensive backlash reaction by me, seeing this scene resulted in the film suddenly showing the money behind it and the utter lack of restraint in the scale, it completely collapsed the intimacy of the Nevarsky story to suddenly be made aware of its scope. I would have been fine if Spielberg had stayed with simply the initial shot that showed employees watching Nevarsky leave, I liked that, but the resulting montage and mob solidarity were way over the top and annoyed the hell out of me.

Since the film doesn't really have the oomph into greatness all spielberg's recent films since Lost World have possessed, and because of these other complaints with the film, I can only offer my recommendation with strong reservations.

Adam

[Adam_S]

The Terminal - ½ (out of four) recommended with reservations

There is a great deal to love in the Terminal, but unfortunately there's a lot of little things to be annoyed by as well. Spielberg clearly shows he has no trouble with comedy or romance and does a wonderful job on both of those ends. The cinematography is excellent and the editing creates rythms reminescent of the forties and fifties--I smile when I see the end credit in Spielberg film, "edited on Movieola station" because I think using a Movieola really can affect the way a film is constructed, especially in the hands of a master like Michael Kahn. The performances, especially Tom Hanks are impeccable, Spielberg shows he's one of the best directors of actors there is, especially good is work by the many luminous supporting players, especially the girl at the visa desk, she was wonderful (and drop dead incredibly gorgeous)--and she also gets what's probably the best moment of the entire film, live long and prosper indeed!

The Terminal is an absolutely lovely, charming film that easily seduces us into the whimsy and earnest nostalgia of Victor Nevarsky, more than any other Spielberg film I've seen this seems to capture the spirit of what made Capra's best films work so magnificently, and I think that The Terminal could very well endure in the same manner. However, I was kinda hoping that The Terminal might have the same grace and magic of the best Frank Capra film of the last fifty years, Forrest Gump, but it seems clear after one viewing that the story doesn't care about addressing significant themes or taking a firm stance, or just have that extra intangible oomph to catapult it up into the ranks of Forrest Gump, It's a Wonderful life, You can't take it with you, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; and it's too bad, since Tom Hanks is the only actor living today who can compare to Jimmy Stewart.

The following issues I had with the film don't really affect major enjoyment, but they annoyed me, and without that extra oomph, they're enough for me to not ignore, but I feel I need to talk about them to be fair. One is the racism inherent in the Indian character. True he is given identity in the one scene when he discusses his past with Nevarsky, in fact that's another one of the best scenes in the film. Unfortunately for us Spielberg felt the need to turn him into a sort of Indian Uncle Tom/Stepnfetchit character. The stunts during the romantic dinner were incredibly offensive and seemingly out of character, why does he know how to do that other than white people assume all people of his station are natural entertainers just bursting to show off their talents to the good massas--even more annoying was how easy the laughs came at this point, the audience responded instantly to the social coding of laughing AT this representation, any sort of serious treatment of him is erased (also note the way he's set up to unfeelingly laugh at his wet floor victims and how we're set up to laugh at his lack of compassion which Nevarsky of course, as the good white boy, has in spades). And the final coup de grace is Spielberg's indulgence of an archaic and incredibly offensive stereotype when he sacrifices himself so that Victor doesn't have to give up his dream--sorta like the good blacks in Gone with the Wind or the thirties Imitation of Life who wouldn't ever dream of rising above their station, they only know that they gotta protect and please the white folks. Gah okay I'm making a bit much of this, but as the film went on the excessive stereotypical portrayal of Gustpa just grated more and more on my nerves, it's cheap ways to get a laugh and below the sweet nature of the film.

My second biggest complaint was the extremely cheap appeal to sentiment made in the way the terminal workers suddenly start showing solidarity for Victor. Like the whole hand montage and the utterly inept scene with Gustpa telling his story, I really loathed that scene, it wasn't needed and it felt all wrong, like it didn't even belong in the same film. the resulting montage of horrible excessive smiling face after horrible excessive smiling face was pretty sickening and over the top. Every character was mugging for the camera and it made me INTENSELY aware I was watching a more, and more annoying, made me more aware than I've ever been that someone is trying to manipulate feel good emotions out of me--enough smiling faces and their bodies will flood with endorphins sort of thing. However the story with Hanks is so honest I was quickly able to put this behind me, until of course Spielberg repeats the same scene on a larger scale, same exact problem, except this also made me aware of the construction of the film, the sets suddenly seemed gaudy, extravagant waste filled with expensive extras. It was a defensive backlash reaction by me, seeing this scene resulted in the film suddenly showing the money behind it and the utter lack of restraint in the scale, it completely collapsed the intimacy of the Nevarsky story to suddenly be made aware of its scope. I would have been fine if Spielberg had stayed with simply the initial shot that showed employees watching Nevarsky leave, I liked that, but the resulting montage and mob solidarity were way over the top and annoyed the hell out of me.

Since the film doesn't really have the oomph into greatness all spielberg's recent films since Lost World have possessed, and because of these other complaints with the film, I can only offer my recommendation with strong reservations.

Adam

[Patrick Sun]

I think the film is about how one man, trapped in a terminal due to circumstances beyond his control, can affect many lives around him while the world catches up to set things right. It how the little things in life culminate and make for bigger life-turning moments. Tom Hanks' character, Viktor, is a metaphor for a terminal in that through him, he allows others to make connections that allow them to get from point A to point B (good or bad).

The film opens a bit slowly as Viktor gets acclimated to his new surroundings, but the 2nd act is very entertaining as it shows his resourcefullness to adapt and operate in this strange new "economy" that resides inside a terminal. The 3rd act does its best to tie up the loose ends, some are tied up well, some are left loose.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.