This is a strange one to grade. You see, the first 2 hours of this movie are among the best I've ever seen. The cinematography is astonishing: each frame is a work of art, and each scene has its own distinct look and feel. This owes a lot to the absolutely staggering live-action sets and set pieces; this simply wouldn't have been anywhere near as good with CG. The acting is top-class, each character feeling completely real - something essential to the movie's goal of truly showing what war is like. And by god, does it reach that goal: no other movie has as effectively communicated the emotions, the despair and the moral conflicts as this one. It avoids the clichés and replaces them with genuine grit.

But. The last 30 minutes are a strange thing. While the cinematography remains overwhelmingly gorgeous and the acting loses none of its authenticity, the tone and story of the film seem to go out the window. We are presented with a discomforting, ambiguous, anticlimactic sequence that goes against all the wonderful build-up of the last 2 hours.

I certainly get what Coppola was trying to achieve: without spoiling it, this sequence was attempting to play with the audience's emotions in such as way as to make them feel the conclusion rather than to actually have one. The entire point of the movie is that whatever happened in the first 2 hours would only lead to the circumstances of the last 30 minutes. But to me, that simply wasn't enough. I was getting gradually more excited at seeing what this mythical Col. Kurtz was going to be like, what motivated him... and the movie certainly implied that the answer would be massive! But no, instead we have an artsy confusing mess of an ending that airily attempts to deal with Marlon Brando's obesity, and only halfheartedly comes up with a few meandering sentences to explain what the whole journey had been for. It's disappointing.

That being said, the movie's strengths are still colossal enough to overshadow this glaring flaw. Perhaps I simply didn't get it, as others clearly loved the ending very much. To me, while it is a sad waste of potential, it isn't enough to cancel out the fact that this is probably the best war movie I've ever seen.

A bit of an odd movie, but its awkwardness is intentional and the effect is fascinating. You see, Fast and the Furious this is not. Indeed, there are but a few action scenes in the entire movie. The bulk of the movie is based on characters and silence, and there is very little dialogue from the main character. When the action does come, however, it is glorious and holds back no punches. It's basically the smart man's action movie.

It's a very classic story structure, and in the end it doesn't really have anything to say other than "don't be a selfish idiot". But still, it has a handful of deeply memorable scenes, some brilliant acting and cinematography and a story that stays interesting to the end. It's not hard to see why this is a classic.

I'm trying to think of a better-made action thriller, but I can't think of one. What is immediately striking about this movie is the stunning cinematography - every shot feels meticulously thought out. But it then becomes apparent that in terms of execution, this movie pretty much has it all: acting from everyone involved simply could not be better, the sound work is fantastically atmospheric and somehow always finds the perfect music, and the editing is as good as it gets - creative and mood-setting.

On the other hand, the story is fairly standard save for the intriguing premise, and pacing falters slightly near the middle. I found myself thinking, in the final minutes of the film, that my opinion of the movie would all depend on how it ends. The fact that I had a stupidly huge grin on my face when it did cemented my opinion that this is pretty much my favourite action thriller as far as execution goes.

As weird as "Chavs vs. Aliens" sounds, I don't think it would have been possible to pull this off any more successfully than this. The filmmaking reminded me of Edgar Wright's stylish fast-paced modern style, but with the humour ripped out and replaced with more badassery. Shots and editing are vivid, action sequences are original, the story is better than you might expect, and the alien design is just wonderful. Watch it.

I was led to believe this wasn't really a chick flick and that it was well written. The former wasn't so true, but I didn't really mind when I realized the latter was. The progression of the story is as predictable as they come, but the movie generally handles it rather well - character interaction feels real instead of being cookie-cutter people saying their lines and going home. Jokes are pretty funny, and the acting is on the whole solid for this type of movie (as is cinematography), but what really sells it is the heart brought by Wiig's writing/acting style. A good chick flick.