Netflix DVD – they rated it at 4.9 stars for me, and 4.0 for the general audience. It might not have been perfect, but it was definitely a masterpiece, and I’m giving it 5 stars. I didn’t know it was such a long movie, and at 2:49 it covers a lot of ground. I didn’t find it to be slow at any point, and the only real letdowns that I had are not surprising at all. I mean, how could it have been done any better? I didn’t know Matthew McConaughey was in this movie, I wouldn’t have picked him as an actor in this type of movie, but he did alright. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have chosen Anne Hathaway for her role, I would have thought somebody more serious-looking would have been better-suited, say, Jennifer Connelly?

Anyway, it was a great movie, but as usual, people could certainly find things to nitpick. Reviews compared it to 2001, A Space Odyssey, which I haven’t seen, and now I’d like to watch it to see what they are talking about.

Netflix DVD – they rated it as 4.4 stars for me and 3.7 for the general audience. I’m going to give it 5 stars. I had seen it before, and this second viewing was just as good as the first – it didn’t lose any of its power by knowing what was going to happen. This time, it was easier to see what theme filmmaker Danny Boyle was going for – that of somebody who lived his life in an adventurous, but self-centered manner. We all know what happened to this guy, and the story of his survival is amazing. Could we do such a thing? Maybe not, but look at how he has moved on to live a good, perhaps better than good, life because of that choice.

Danny Boyle does such a great job of making this story engaging. It’s fun to watch his use of extreme close-ups and extreme pull-backs, and every film-making trick he pulls helps out with telling the story. I would like to know if meeting the two girls and dropping through the crack with them into the water really happened. Maybe I should read the book, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, by Aron Ralston? The story itself is engaging and captivating, and it’s no surprise this movie was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor (James Franco).

Netflix dvd – they rated it as 4.6 for me, but only 3.7 for the general audience. I don’t think I’d seen it before, so I’ve never seen the regular release. This special edition adds much, apparently. It is a spectacularly-made epic movie, but in a small way somewhat let down by its ending. I’ve read that it was quite difficult to make, given all of the underwater scenes. It certainly is very claustrophobic and there is no way in the world that I would have been able to be in those enclosed spaces or underwater suits! At 2:51 it’s pretty long, but by far the vast majority of the time is engrossing. Before the ending I was starting to think what a great movie this is, but after the ending I am a bit subdued. I still think it’s a masterpiece, though, and well worth watching.

One scene in particular is spectacular – you’ll know which one it is when you come to it. I really liked the leads in this movie, Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and the rest of the cast was good, too. I think I always avoided this movie because the title made me think it was a horror movie. More like an action thriller, and I’m giving it 5 stars.