|
 The Da Vinci Code (Widescreen Edition) :: 0632046325
Description
| Product Description |
|
| Critics and controversy aside, The Da Vinci Code is a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and The Da Vinci Code has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to a certifiable franchise. The leap for any story making the move from book to big screen, however, is always more perilous. In the case of The Da Vinci Code, the plot is concocted of such a preposterous formula of elements that you wouldn't envy screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the man tasked with making this story filmable. The script follows Dan Brown's book as closely as possible while incorporating a few needed changes, including a better ending. And if you're like most of the world, by now you've read the book and know how it goes: while lecturing in Paris, noted Harvard Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to the Louvre by French police to help decipher a bizarre series of clues left at the scene of the murder of the chief curator. Enter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), gifted cryptologist. Neveu and Langdon team up to solve the mystery, and from there the story is propelled across Europe, ballooning into a modern-day mini-quest for the Holy Grail, where secret societies are discovered, codes are broken, and murderous albino monks are thwarted… oh, and alternative theories about the life of Christ and the beginnings of Christianity are presented too, of course. It's not the typical formula for a stock Hollywood thriller. In fact, taken solely as a mystery, the movie almost works--despite some gaping holes--mostly just because it keeps moving. Brown's greatest trick was to have the entire story take place in one day, so the action is forced to keep moving, despite some necessary pauses for exposition. As a screen couple, Hanks and Tautou are just fine together but not exactly memorable; meanwhile Sir Ian McKellen's scenery-chewing as pivotal character Sir Leigh Teabing is just what the film needed to keep it from taking itself too seriously. The whole thing is like a good roller-coaster ride: try not to think too much about it--just sit back and enjoy the trip. --Daniel Vancini Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
Reviews
Customer feedback
|
|
Voting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Guest
i have not seen the movie, nor read the book, but someone must like it. the movie made 750 million, so far. several friends and relatives have, and the general consensus is that it is entertaining, which is the only point. this type of story is not my favorite genre, but i am tempted, and will probably give in.
|
Author: Guest
I don't really believe there's more than 10 people in the world that haven't seen the movie or read the book, so probably not a big audience for this review.
It is a great movie, quite entertaining with a great plot. It is indeed full of polemic issues (that might be the only reason you would need to watch the movie), but is also a well thought drama. The puzzles and riddles are entertaining and the action is quite decent as well.
However, I still like the book better. In the movie, sometimes you wonder how the main character solves all the puzzles. In the book, Dan Brown doesn't simply have the character solve the puzzle, but goes through his reasoning, so you can solve the puzzle with him.
I understand it's quite impossible to fit a whole book in a movie, and that's why most movies don't quite compare to their original books, so it might not be fair to compare.
|
Author: Guest
This film has to be one of the most ridiculous ever made. It is an incoherent, baffling and tedious tale about some vast conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up the truth about Jesus (that he was married to Mary Magdalene and had offspring), and apparently just about everything that has ever happened in world history since has been caused by this continuing cover-up. I have seldom seen a film both so ridiculous and so boring. It is slow, dull, pretentious and almost entirely incomprehensible. It is depressing to think that the novel on which this film is based has been a massive best-seller. Absolute drivel from beginning to end.
|
Author: Guest
The DaVinci Code deserved better reviews than it received from the critics. Ron Howard did a good job of condensing a very long and complex plot into a comprehensible movie of reasonable length. Tom Hanks does an excellent job of portraying the American symbologist who is suspected of murder, and Audrey Tatou is an excellent counterpart to Hanks. I didn't even mind Tom's hair--it seemed appropriate for his character. My husband, who had not read the book, had no problems following the plot, whereas I, who have read the book, am impressed that they managed to get as much of the book in there as they did. Forget the controversy about the book; don't even think of the idea that the main premise might be true, and concentrate on enjoying the movie.
|
Author: Guest
I gave the movie 3 stars. I could have given it 5 stars, but Tom Hanks was the wrong guy there. I could understand Ron Howard's respect for Tom Hanks, but he could have noticed the expression on Hanks' face while seated and listening to Teabing explain things to Sophie. He got that Forrest Gump look on his face! Tom Hanks playing a professor? NO!!! It could have been Johnny Depp or a much younger guy.
|
Send to Friend
Send to friend
|
|
