Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

J Besser This is how Scorsese follows up Goodfellas? Shame on him. It's so bad... I remember back then Scorsese said that DeNiro talked him into making this movie. Well Martin, if Robert was going to jump off a bridge...? Come on, friendship only goes so far. The script is just so dumb. Scorsese was doomed from the start. What's really shocking is that he managed to get pretty bad performances from this usually rock solid cast. The only ones that came off well are Peck and Mitchum (sorry Joe Don). He takes the great (and sexy) Jessica Lange and turns her a shrill, screaming annoyance. Nolte, strong movie bad ass, is turned into a weak (most of the time), dumb (almost all the time) movie bad ass. And legendary DeNiro is somehow over-the-top and uninteresting at the same time. He only has one really good scene. His accent alternates from okay to silly but always remains distracting. The movie is also too mean. I'm fine with violence in movies (only) but meanness is a huge turn off. I don't like having my nose rubbed in it. On the bright side, the last half hour or so is laugh out loud bad. Unbelievably bad considering the giant talents involved in this one. I don't remember how I felt about it 27 years ago. I think it wasn't one of my favorites but I don't remember thinking it was that bad. But now, wow, it's a borderline camp classic.

HotToastyRag The remake of Cape Fear was perfectly timed. With thirty years between the original starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and the remake with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro, an entirely new generation can grow up with their own idea of what this scary classic is all about.The skeleton of the story is the same in both films: a paroled convict seeks revenge on the lawyer who put him behind bars. In the original, it's earie, tense, and creepy for the time. But, since the bad guy is hunky Robert Mitchum, it's a bit of a toss-up as to whether you want to root for the good guy or the bad guy. The remake is infinitely scarier. Put your kids to bed early if you rent this movie. And if there's ever a re-release in the movie theaters, don't do what my mom did and go see a late night showing by yourself. You won't be able to sleep.Nick Nolte, the charming Southern lawyer who loves his family, is easy to root for and wins over the audience in the opening scenes. Robert De Niro is the horrifying bad guy, and director Martin Scorsese takes full advantage of filming him from different scary angles and building unsettling tension during his entrance scene. If this is the first Robert De Niro movie you watch, you will be scared of him for life. In his quest to torment Nick Nolte, he starts up a relationship with Nick's underage daughter, Juliette Lewis. Those scenes are not Lolita; it's not a little taboo and a little sexual tension-this movie is frightening, upsetting, and completely earns its 'R' rating.That being said, now that I've scared the pants off you with my warning, this is a well-made movie, if you think it should have been made at all. Martin Scorsese creates an incredibly scary atmosphere, and Robert De Niro makes The Silence of the Lambs look like Dr. Seuss. This was one of the first Jessica Lange movies I ever saw, and not only does she look beautiful in this movie, but she gives a wonderful performance. I'm not even a mother, but I was moved to tears by her protectiveness of her daughter.I can't in good conscious recommend watching this movie, because of how scary it is. However, if you have your remote control nearby and are prepared and willing to fast-forward the scary scenes, then I can recommend it-but only if you really love someone in the cast or if you like horror movies. Or if you're obsessed with the original and want to see Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Martin Balsam thirty years later! To me, those cameos were the best parts.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to extremely frightening scenes and violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.

Nicolas F. Costoglou What Robert Zemeckis did with his masterful homage to Hitchcocks Thrillers "What lies beneath", is what Scorsese is doing with his remake of "Cape Fear", an every-minute-intense Suspensethriller without a clear line of "right or wrong".This aspect is what makes this movie very interesting, the protagonist (played believable by Nick Nolte) and the antagonist (played expertly by Robert De Niro) are both neither right or wrong.This is also the reason why many people don't think that this movie is as good as it really is (in my opinion anyway), because in the end there is no happy conclusion were good defeats evil, the movie even ends without triumphant music, the only thing you hear during the credits are the waves of the lake they are at in the end. For me that's something unique and therefore great, because it fits the theme of the movie. Justice and Injustice: How we see it as ordinary people and how the justice system sees it, because without it, our society would crumble.But even without those themes and interesting ideas this would be a great movie on a technical level alone. The camera-work is exceptionally great, and very much like Hitchcock would have done it, if he had directed this film, same for the editing (that's one reason for the Zemeckis reference above, the other reason is...). The score by Elmer Bernstein is based on the original score from Bernard Herrman, and some pieces he originally composed for Hitchcoks "Torn Curtain", is amazing, although it feels odd at first hearing such music and seeing such a Hitchcockian intro sequence in a movie from 1991, but it works.Now to the acting: Everyone is superb in this film. Most of all Juliette Lewis, who plays one of the most believable teenagers i ever saw, most of all in a scene she shares with Robert De Niro, where he lures her on his side. Speaking of him, he is more frightening in this movie as ever and it's great.There are even some visual effects used in this movie (the first time for Scorsese, who used effects for great use ever since, most effectively in his masterpiece "Shutter Island") which hold up so well, that i wasn't even sure at times if there where any to begin with.If we have to talk about weaknesses, there is only one scene in the movie which feels like it had no purpose whatsoever, but to create a bit more drama. It's the scene in the final act, where Juliette Lewis character burns De Niro, so that he jumps off the boat into the water. Now she and her mother free Nick Nolte and they could try to flee, but De Niro immediately comes back and everyone is in the exact same situation as before. It's even more strange because De Niro showed them only minutes before how it doesn't bother him that much to get burned...it's not a bad scene and nice to see that the little teenage girl is capable of helping herself, but in the end it had no effect on the final act. Except for that tiny little weird moment i loved the movie very much and think it's one of Scorsese's best with "Bringing out the dead" and "Shutter Island" which are my favourites...

joshyates1980 If you hang onto the past, you die a little each day. I was 11 years old when this movie came out and I remember all the "grown ups" talking about Cape Fear. Finally, at 37 years old I watched the movie since it was on Netflix. I thought it was great!I studied the characters in detail and how their daily lives where fear based (for obvious reasons.) But, the plot was great because it brought out some sins tucked away. Each day that passed, their fear grew stronger.Numbers 32:23, "Thy who chooses not to, behold, thy sinned against'd the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out."Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte did an excellent job going back and forth as lawyers.