...horror movie/psychological drama. Jacob's Ladder features Tim Robbins as Jacob; a Vietnam veteran who spends him time in New York with his girlfriend(being divorced) working as a mailman. He is haunted in dreams by the death of his son(Macauley Culkin) and of a viscious attack he suffered during the war, where he was skewered by a bayonet. These dreams become progressively more vivid and begin to infilitrate his waking hours as well as his sleeping ... ...A box office failure, Jacob's Ladder is the product of a screenplay which had apparently been floating around Hollywood for 10 years before Lyne finally snatched hold of it and made this unique movie. Apparently Lyne dumped some of the preachy religious elements and heightened the ambiguities to achieve the effect seen in Jacob's Ladder. The movie flashes back to the war and some horrific scenes as Jacob decends into madness(?) and back to the present ...
wampyrii 23.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Advantages: Gripping, thought provoking masterpiece! Disadvantages: None
Jacob’s Ladder is one of those unappreciated works of excellence, unappreciated in the sense that it was a box office failure, and few people know its existence. I asked my film-marketing friend what he thought and his insightful response was “Huh?” It is hard to believe that a respectable film critic such as my friend has never heard of this little gem!
Tim Robbns plays the role of Jacob, a Vietnam War veteran working as a mailman in New York. ... ...apartment, having to see a chiropractor to help him cope with crippling back pain (Louis, his chiropractor is a character to be taken notice of), and trying to come to terms with terrible memories of the war and even more devastating, the loss of his little boy in a tragic accident, still grieving though years have passed. Jacob leads a less than charmed life. But things suddenly seem to get worse; people are not whom they appear to be, times and ...
JsByrne 12.09.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Advantages: A Hollywood movie with a good plot line. Horror for those with intelligence. Disadvantages: I've been told it is a bit slow. Suffers from hype.
Jacob’s Ladder had the tag line “The scariest thing about this movie is that it’s real”. I am not sure I would agree with that. I remember a time when myself and a group of friends where sitting around, flicking through the video collection, trying to decide what to watch when it become apparent one of them (Evil Pawl) hadn’t seen Jacob’s Ladder.
“How is this possible?” we all asked the puzzled Pawl. “Jacob’s Ladder is one of the best films ever ... ...hype and fan fare the video was slotted in and the play button pressed.
Nothing happened. Well, that’s not true. Jacob’s Ladder started to play but Pawl didn’t break down in front of the television set and weep, “This is the best movie ever made!” As a matter of fact, Pawl looked rather bored. We made him watch it anyway. It works like a drug, you see, a drug that you’re not initially aware of but only once the insidious infection has taken control ...
Manx 14.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Advantages: Brilliant twist Disadvantages: Bit confusing
This film follows a Vietnam Veteran who is convinced that he was given aggression enhancing drugs during the conflict. He slowly gathers a group of fellow vets with similar experiences. Gradually his hallucinations take over his life . He hops back and forth between different periods of his life. The film build up to an ending that cannot be guessed by even the most twisted individual. A dark and disturbing film that leaves you doubting reality. ...
kitt 30.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Advantages: Cinematography was good, as well as acting Disadvantages: The feeling of being cheated by the end.
A friend of mine recommended watching this film. I'd always fancied it, but never took the plunge.
Being the sort of viewer that enjoys clever psychological horror, I thought why not? And now I know the reason why not!
Already being warned that the film got off to a slow start, I was still amazed to find that I was nearly falling asleep by the end of the first hour. To me a slow start is the first half hour, not nearly 60% of the film.
When the ... ...movie. The acting was good, and the atmostpheric scenery was interesting.
Having said that by the end of the film I fell totally cheated. Usually the catagory of film this one falls into, have a much more intelligent script to countermand this feeling. Getting to the end of the film, and feeling like throwing something at the screen in digust is not my idea of a great movie. (I shan't ruin it if you want to watch it!)
The central concept is sound ...
expert_info 23.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Advantages: UNUSUAL STORY LINE Disadvantages: MOST BE ABLE TO CONCENTRATE TO FOLLOW IT
Jacob`s ladder is a film that could seriously blow your mind , I watched it twice before I grasped the full meaning , the plot twist in the end must rank among the most surprising film endings of all time , Tim Robbins puts in an excellent and compelling performance , basically the film is about one soldiers story there is action, excitement, mystery, horror, but I certainly would not want to spoil anything by telling you about how it all ends. This ...
welshgold 13.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Jacob's Ladder (DVD)
Jacob's Ladder tells the truely terrifying story of a traumatised Vietnam war veteran who ... more
as he returns to civilian life begins to hallucinate. Visualising horned creatures and visited by his dead son Jacob Singer downwardly spirals into a life of ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
InJacob's Ladder, Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) thinks he is going insane. Or ... more
worse. When his nightmares begin spilling into his waking hours, Jacob believes he is experiencing the after-effects of a powerful drug tested on him during Viet...
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar