I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

A Perfect World (1993) Director:  Clint Eastwood Cast:  Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, Keith Szarabajka, T.J. Lowther, Bradley Whitford, Leo Burmester Writers: John Lee Hancock Synopsis: Two criminals Butch (Costner) and Terry (Szarabajka) escape from prison, taking a young boy, Phillip (Lowther) as a hostage. As the pair race to cross state lines, they are pursued by venerable Texas Ranger Red Garnett (Eastwood) and criminologist Sally Gerber (Dern). As they travel together, Phillip begins to view Butch as a father figure after discovering that they hold a number of common bonds. First Impressions: I wasn't really aware of this movie when it hit theaters and didn't see it until it came out on video some months later. In fact, I don't even recall seeing many TV spots or trailers for the film, which is odd considering that the cast at the time was quite prestigious. I saw the film with a group of friends who rented it pretty much o...

Amistad (1997) Director:  Steven Spielberg Cast:  Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman,  Stellan Skarsgård, Pete Postlethwaite, Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Paymer Writers: David Franzoni Synopsis: In 1839 a group of African slaves led by Cinque (Hounsou) escape and kill the crew of the Amistad, the ship transporting them from Cuba to the U.S. They are soon captured by the U.S. Navy and imprisoned as runaway slaves in Connecticut. The local abolitionist movement led by Mr. Tappan (Skarsgård) and Theodore Joadson (Freeman) enlist the help of a real estate lawyer, Roger Baldwin (McConaughey) to find a legal way to set the slaves free. Baldwin is successful in showing hat Cinque and his kin were not born on a plantation and, thus illegally acquired. However, in an effort to preserve a treaty with Spain and prevent a Civil War, John Forsyth (Paymer), the Secretary of State to President Martin Van Buren, takes the case...

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Director:  Peter Jackson Cast:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Mirando Otto Hugo, Brad Dourif, Weaving, Liv Tyler, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, David Wenham, John Noble Writers:  J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Stephen Sinclair (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay) Synopsis: As Frodo (Wood), Sam (Astin) continue their journey to Mt. Doom, Gollum (Serkis) begins to sow the seeds of dissent among the two Hobbits, with the hopes of procuring the ring for himself. Meanwhile, Gandalf (McKellan) and Pippin (Boyd) race to the city of Minas Tirith to help in its defense against the coming forces of Mordor. Aragon (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhy-Davies) walk a dangerous road, seeking an advantage in the coming battle. Merry (Monaghan) looks to pr...

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Director:  Peter Jackson Cast:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Mirando Otto Hugo, Brad Dourif, Weaving, Liv Tyler, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, David Wenham Writers:  J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Stephen Sinclair (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay) Synopsis: After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) continue on their journey to Mordor, with the assistance of the duplicitous Gollum (Serkis). Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) pursue a group of Uruk-Hai in an effort to rescue the capured Hobbits, Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd) but instead get embroiled in a quest to free Theoden (Hill), King of Rohan from the influence of Saruman (Lee) and his agent Grima (Dourif). Meanwhile Merry and Pippin encounte...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Director: Peter Jackson Cast:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm Writers:  J.R.R. Tolkien (novels), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay) Synopsis: The young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Wood), along with his loyal servant Samwise (Astin) and his cousins Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd), leave the comforts of their home in the Shire to embark upon a dangerous quest to destroy The One Ring, an artifact of great evil that could bring about the destruction of Middle Earth. Frodo and company are joined by the wizard Gandalf (McKellan), Strider (Mortensen), the ranger, as well as Boromir (Bean) the warrior, Legolas (Bloom) the elf and the stout dwarf Gimli (Rhys-Davies). Together the fellowship must brave p...

The 13th Warrior (1999) Director:  John McTiernan, Michael Crichton Cast: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora,  Dennis Storhøi, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif Writers:  Michael Crichton (novel), William Wisher (screenplay), Warren Lewis (screenplay) Synopsis: Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Banderas) falls in love with a powerful man's wife and is sent by the Caliph from Baghdad to serve as ambassador in a far away country. On the way to his new post, he encounters a Viking encampment led by Buliwyf (Kulich). During his visit with the Norsemen, Ahmed becomes unwittingly embroiled in a quest to rid a distant kingdom of a great and ancient evil.  First Impressions: I saw this movie in theaters when it was released in 1999. It appealed to me for a couple of reasons, I had read the book the movie was based on and, as I've mentioned a few times now, I am a big fan of the fantasy genre. I remember enjoying the movie on first viewing mostly because I love stories ab...

Enemy at the Gates (2001) Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud Cast: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ron Perlman Writers:  Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Synopsis: During the Battle for Stalingrad, political officer Danilov (Fiennes) turns a young Russian sniper named Vassili Zaytsev (Law) into a folk hero and a symbol of Soviet resistance against the Nazis for his sharpshooting abilities. The Nazis, unused to fighting a war against guerrilla tactics, call in their own sharpshooter, Major  König (Harris) to hunt down and kill Zaytsev. What follows is a cat and mouse game as each sniper attempts to out-think the other and gain the upper hand set against  the backdrop of one of the most brutal battles or the war.  First Impressions: I saw this movie in theaters when it was released and I remember enjoying it quite a bit. The early part of the aughts saw quite a few movies about the former Soviet Union and this...