How the hell is this movie a 6.3?
It's incredible.
shareI said the same thing just now.
This movie for me is an 8/10, if not almost a 9.
Acting was great, original story, etc.
MovieChat Forums > Phenomenon (1996) Discussion > How the hell is this movie a 6.3?
6.3 is a fair rating. It was very blah (at least to me), but gets better towards the end.
Grade: C+.
SPOILER ALERT -
I was quite surprised, too. Thought it would at LEAST be a 6.9 or 7.. Saw it in a crowded theater during its initial release. Audience response was very positive, and I think it did pretty fair box office (not necessarily a measure of a good film, of course, but it was no flop). I Think it was an above average fresh take on the "Flowers for Algernon" story angle. But, ratings are very subjective. There are titles in the IMDb Top 100 that I wouldn't put in the top 500. Different strokes for different folks.
I love this film. It's got Robert Duvall and Forest Whittaker! Nuff said. 10/10
http://youtu.be/oHg5SJYRHA0
@SniperRiggs At the time - and probably even today - people dismissed it as Scientology propaganda.
What's funny is that the director Jon Turteltaub, after reading the script, thought it was amusing that a Jew was going to tell a Christ allegory. Then Travolta got involved and everyone thought it was an L. Ron Hubbard story or something.
And as much as I like this movie, even I've gotta admit that the last 15 minutes (after George escapes from the hospital) is weak. Still, I rated it a solid 7. Better than the overrated Limitless (2011), that's for sure.
I have to disagree about the last 15 minutes. I thought it was played out beautifully.
George was an average man in a simple town who fell in love before anything special happened to him.
It played out with Lace reciprocating his love, and George dying under the best circumstances possible, and then honored by the town that at first misunderstood him, then loved him, and celebrated his existence.
And he made the lives of so many people in his town better.
Would you have preferred that upon his death, his head cracked open, and the 'tumor' evolved into a 'Blob' like creature and consumed the town?
Short Cut, Draw Blood
@montrossboc-1 You left out the scenes with the government agent and the scientist, but I don't blame you because both those scenes are dull as dishwater.
I liked the final sequence with the town celebrating his life, but the section from the hospital escape until the final sequence was too long and too slow.
I would have preferred that they compressed that section so that it didn't drag on. When rewatching this I just skip from "Night, dude" to "one year later."
I have to disagree about the last 15 minutes. I thought it was played out beautifully.
George was an average man in a simple town who fell in love before anything special happened to him.
It played out with Lace reciprocating his love, and George dying under the best circumstances possible, and then honored by the town that at first misunderstood him, then loved him, and celebrated his existence.
And he made the lives of so many people in his town better.
Would you have preferred that upon his death, his head cracked open, and the 'tumor' evolved into a 'Blob' like creature that consumed the town?
Short Cut, Draw Blood
Exactly. It should be 4/10 tops.
We'll buy some drugs and watch a band
Then jump in the river holding hands
I just saw this movie for the 10th time (I watch it more than once when it is on Netflix). To me, this movie is a 10. I too was surprised at the low rating.
I thought John Travolta did an incredible job. His chemistry with Kyra Sedgwick was wonderful. Kyra is a great actress. She wears her emotion on her face, and she easily took me with her where she was going in the film.
He was a wonderful person before his "transformation" (which I won't say what that was if someone who hasn't seen it reads this), and that never changed. He just became more phenomenal as the movie progresses.
It was a simple movie about a simple man that something extraordinary happens to, and how it affected those around him. I personally didn't find this to be a Christian analogy at all, as the Jewish director said, but I did appreciate it as a wonderful film.
I felt the pace was good. This isn't an action film, so expect a drama. This movie is beautiful in the story it tells.
I gave it an 8. Haven’t watched it in a long time, just about to re-watch it now.
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