MovieChat Forums > The Star Chamber (1983) Discussion > Good and Bad

Good and Bad

posted 18 years ago by MAFishman1
9 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else feel that this movie had some very good, well directed scenes and then every now and then had some really silly bad scenes. It was like this was a very good movie with a few B-movie actors mixed in here and there. I think this movie had a ton of potential and just fell apart in some areas. It was good, but could have been great. It had it's great moments and some very cool shots and scenes, but was pulled down by several very poor things as well. The Star Chamber failed to reach its great potential. Does anyone else think a carefully made remake would be much better?

"They put a gun in your face, you still have a choice." -Jack Foley

[–] famousmortimer-2 18 years ago

I agree with you about the film having some very strong yet short-lived moments. Scenes like Michael Douglas' meeting with the abducted boy's father in jail as well as Michael Douglas’ arrival at Monk and Cooms hideout not only look terrific but are thematically very interesting given such a great premise.

[–] f_elliott 18 years ago

The problem with this movie is that it pretended to be a "paranoia thriller" from the 70's... but shot in the 80's. And we all know how the 80's films worked.

[–] evas_protege 18 years ago

im watching this movie in my law class in school. its okay. like the storyline is okay, but i'm never totally engrossed in the movie or anything. its not a movie that grabs my attention.

[–] mecahill 17 years ago

I would give this film a mixed review. Although, I lean towards the positive side. (Meaning a marginal recommendation). The first half of this movie was interesting. I became engrossed in the story and wanted to see what would happen. Michael Douglas wad good as usual and I thought Hal Holbrook did a good job as well. The premise of the movie was quite interesting I must say. However, the movie started falling apart in the second half. The two guys that played the drug makers were ludicrous and over the top. (They were both driving me crazy with their wide eyed stares). I thought the confrontation in the warehouse seemed very contrived. It was the climax of the film, therefore it should have been orchestrated better. (That slide was cool though). Also, the ending was very abrupt. They should of spent a little time on the resolution of the story. I felt a bit disappointed by this thriller and I am a big Michael Douglas fan but it did have its good points too. Again, an intriguing story.

[–] golden-24 16 years ago

I can't believe anyone would say "Well, this film was sort of bad and sort of good." Come on. This film is simply awful, across the board, in pretty much every respect. A completely asinine script, ridiculous dialogue with all the subtlety of a fart in a church on Sunday. Horrible pacing. The plot: not even remotely believable. Pretty much every action by every character makes absolutely no sense at all. Example: the first hit - the hit man walks into the apartment and leaves the door wide open while he plugs the ex-con full of bullets, then walks out of the apartment without even closing the door!! Wow, a real professional . . . . Another one: some random guy at the party tells Douglas "Hey did you hear they arrested some guys they think might be guilty on the child porn charge?" And Douglas runs frantically over to Holbrook, "We gotta call it off, We gotta call it off". Doesn't he want to maybe verify this for himself before getting frantic? And that scene in the parking garage. Like the guy hiding under the car is actually going to be frightened when the cop says "I'm going to shoot you because that means less paperwork." Who would believe that?

And I like the way these 9 judges, supposedly highly educated, experienced jurists, sentence people to death based upon 30-second, detail-free narratives from their brethren. Yeah, that was believable.

This film sucked. A low point for Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook.

[–] GotaFeeling 16 years ago

If you really hated the movie because of those reasons I am not impressed.

1. I wondered at him leaving the door open as well but perhaps he was confident that it was a moot point. Maybe it was the end of the hall. Obviously this was a bad part of town. And no one said he was a great hitman.

2. Maybe the man at the party was someone Douglas really trusted. Why would he lie about it? They obviously knew each other very well and if it was a joke it would be terribly unfunny.

3. That guy in the parking lot was cornered anyway. If he wasn't he would not have to hide under the cars to begin with--he would have kept running.

"And I like the way these 9 judges, supposedly highly educated, experienced jurists, sentence people to death based upon 30-second, detail-free narratives from their brethren. Yeah, that was believable."

I understand this criticism but it could be a product of simply cutting in as they wrapped the evidence up.

"This film sucked. A low point for Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook."

I thought it had flat out brilliant moments and the only thing I did notlike was the judge's not even being bothered by ordering the death of two innocent men at the end. Other than that I liked it a lot. If you want a low point for Douglas please watch The In Laws.

[–] uvl 16 years ago

I'm with golden-24 on this. It is awful in just about every way. Sure, we'd all like the law to actually serve justice 100% of the time, but reality is quite different. This script is so lame, it does nothing to suspend reality and serve our fantasy about a better society through a fair and just legal system.

And btw, professional hits going on all over Los Angeles, and the police aren't going to figure out that something quite suspicious is happening?

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] sstack-3 13 years ago

All pretty good points. The entire premise is frankly ludicrous. Can you imagine nine judges involved in something like this and not expecting to have their cover blown at some point by something or another. Maybe 3 or even 5 very very close friends...but nine. Would never happen. But it was a pretty entertaining and engrossing film. Just watched it again last night. One point you didn't mention was the fact that the hitman pulls up at the end and a huge explosion has just come out of the building with the alarm going off and yet HE STILL GOES IN TO MAKE THE HIT?!!? I think most hitmen would have expected cops to be all over the place in a matter of minutes and gotten the hell out of there (not to mention that he's dressed like a cop in what apparently is a stolen police vehicle). Still, like I said, entertaining film.