David Sterritt

A few scenes indulge in overstated hokum or thriller clichés, but Pfeiffer is first-rate and several sequences are suspenseful enough to deserve that overused adjective, Hitchcockian.

There's precious little to think about despite the screenplay's comic-philosophical musings on fate and coincidence.

Iceman is often engaging and sometimes exciting, but despite its jumpy cross-cutting between the technological and natural worlds, it never crosses into the magical realm it reaches for so earnestly. [17 May 1984, p.27]

Paints a sincere and serious portrait of the seductiveness of evil and the self-destructive nature of depravity.

Metropolis has a place in world history as well as in the annals of fantasy. Adolf Hitler was said to have loved it, and Lang eventually fled Germany for Hollywood when the Third Reich wanted him to run its movie industry. Few movies of any era offer so much varied food for thought, cinematically and politically. Its new restoration is a major motion-picture event.

The film's real appeal won't be to Clooney fans or adventure buffs, but to moviegoers who enjoy thinking about compelling questions with no easy answers.

The overall effect is about the same -- slow start, then escalating suspense and violence. Today's shock-movie fans will enjoy shrieking at it, and others should skip it. In space, no one can hear you ask for your money back.

Not a great movie, but contains fascinating historical material.

The acting is endearing and the story has great charm before predictability and sentimentality eventually take over.

Most of the movie is standard action fare, but the political commentary is interesting when it's allowed to surface.

Michell treats the Irish troubles of the 1970s with clear-eyed compassion, and Walters's performance ranks with her best.

This historical fantasy is too ambitious for its own good, but contains some striking imagery and likable performances.

Linklater keeps it lively with imaginative camerawork and razor-sharp editing.

Well acted, capably directed, not as substantial as it might have been.

Although some of the acting is strong, the atmosphere is so relentlessly sleazy that many moviegoers will want to go long before the final credits.

Although the film is slow and sometimes ungainly, it takes on surprising power from the dignity of its performances and the moral strength of its ideas.

The story is dark and often violent, but it's told with a remarkable sense of visual energy and imagination.

Plenty of surprises, almost all of them nasty.

Bottom line: Kingdom of Heaven is the most exciting action-adventure yarn so far this year. Just don't expect anything deeper.

Would have benefited from more flamboyant film clips and fewer folksy conversations with the garrulous old-timers it focuses on.

If a mildly magical story is what you're after, it'll be worth the price of admission. Otherwise save your milk money for something more substantial.

Has a sense of emotional urgency and deep-dwelling grief.

Resembles the yacht where it takes place. Everything is arranged for fun, pleasure, and amusement. But the vehicle itself is heavy and cumbersome, and it takes a tad too long to get us where we're going.

The performances are persuasive but the plot rattles on much too long.

The drama's elegant structure, which takes you through a series of surprises so smoothly and logically that it might be over before you realize you've seen one of the new year's most intriguing, intelligent movies.

Adaptation is sort of like the mythical Ourabouros mentioned in the screenplay -- the snake that eats its own tail -- or like a series of mirrors repeating their images to infinity.

Unoriginal.

The murder-mystery plot is told in rough-and-tumble style, full of sound and fury but signifying almost nothing in the end.