TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

scman-68854 I guess the detective had No Body he could trust or No Body he could go to about the corruption. Movie lost me when Ford gave up his gun and bullets to the woman. NO police detective would ever give up his gun when hunted by other corrupt cops. Totally Unbelievable. Found something else to watch.

betty dalton Police thriller in Amish country. Harrison Ford plays a policeman who protects a little Amish child that witnessed police brutality. The policemen go after the kid. Harrison Ford is there to protect the kid. They both flee to Amish country. Will they corrupt policemen find the kid? That is the suspense of this story. Really great suspense and I have seen decades of police thrillers. Witness is out there with the very best.Seriously.However back in the eighties the studios werent interested in this script about a rural Amish community sheltering a little boy who was witness to a police killing. Rural stories dont sell, was the fear of the studio executives. How wrong could they haven been! Witness became the second biggest box office hit of 1985. This movie was directed by Peter Weir known from "The Truman Show" with Jim Carey, "Dead Poets Society" with Robin Williams and "Fearless" with Jeff Bridges. It is one of the few movies that are highly praised by critics and the movie masses simultaneously. Witness is Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies and was one of the biggest box office hits of the entire eighties.Initially the Amish community was asked to take part in the movie, but they refused for several reasons: one being the fact that they dont want their picture taken, the other being the violence that was portrayed in the movie. In preparation for her role, Kelly McGillis lived with an actual Amish widow and her seven children for a while before filming began to get the speech cadence down and to observe the daily life of an Amish widowed mother. Harrison Ford worked alongside real policemen to learn the police jargon and attitudes. Harrison Ford was nominated for Best Actor, his one and only Oscar nomination in his entire carreer! When a movie is praised by critics and welcomed by the popular masses it is difficult to choose where I want to begin in reviewing the brilliance of this movie. I want to highlight 2 brilliant parts of this movie that really mesmirized me with their beauty. One being the lighting of this film. I rarely have seen such excellent qualities of lighting and photography in other movies. Some still shots almost resemble the beauty of paintings. Kelly McGillis playing an Amish widow, was lighted and photographed in such a splendid way that it looked as if the director had created a painting like aura of light around her. Breathtaking beauty.The other part I want to highlight is the synthesizer music by Maurice Jarre. Almost resembling church organ sounds, Jarre's soundtrack is overwhelmingly powerful. Altough very modern sounding it fits perfectly into the old fashioned Amish style of living. Some viewers hated it though, but I am very picky about music in movies and I really was impressed by it. I have seen it over 10 times now and some movies just stay as powerful as they were when they were first released. 30 years old, Witness has become a timeless classic. I love it!

classicsoncall Take Harrison Ford out of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and he still delivers the goods. In "Witness", his character Captain John Book, becomes aware of a conspiracy within the ranks of his own police force, and has to fend off his department chief to save a widowed Amish woman and her young son. The film explores the clash of cultures between the Amish and an outside world that often doesn't respect their religious beliefs or the simple way they live. To the picture's credit, the story line doesn't cop out with a feel good ending in which Ford's character and the Amish woman Rachel (Kelly McGillis), wind up as a couple running off together. Neither one, against all temptation, compromises their personal beliefs and morals to take advantage of the other. Though there was that one scene in which they exchanged a passionate moment that ended with a quick cut away leaving their relationship somewhat unresolved. Fair to say that you're not likely to see another film with as ironic an ending for one of the bad guys as you have here - death by corn.

okk07 I think whether Amish is described in various view. A point that I was interested in especially, is the view from young Americans. They come in contact with Amish through prejudice. This is because, I think, in fact young Americans tend to come in contact with Amish through prejudice and they tend to think new things or thought are good while old things or thought are not good. I think whether this scene express the real situation and view to Amish. I felt that silent performances is wonderful at last. Although there are no words between John Book and Rachel, their silent performance tells us their love and sadness. Also, because there are no words, I think that we can concern a situation and sympathize with them deeply. At last, I think that this film is excited and wonderful film that has two plots, suspense and love story. I enjoyed this film very much.