If anyone asked me to sum this story up in a few words I would say "airport story."
The director, (famous Steven Spielberg) cleverly portrayed the tale of an eastern europe man who got stuck at John F. Kennedy airport in America.Tom Hanks stars as Victor Navorski who has just arrived in New York city, whilst in the air the government of his home country has perished in the wake of a rebelion. Victor's passport is now invalid leaving him unable to return home or enter America. Leaving him with no choice but to live in the airport's terminal unable to speak any English.
From the beginning to the end, in the terminal you can not help but to sympathise with the character of Victor. Tom Hanks gives an amazing performance that will touch the hearts of all viewers as he brings the character of Victor to life. Hanks is able to portray so much humour and emotion from this character that it really makes the terminal a film to see this year.
I personally was transported to another place. I was transfixed by Viktor's plight. I was on the edge of my seat when he might have got the girl and I almost cried when he didn't. I was horrified at the lengths that the airport official would go to in order to stop Viktor from entering New York!
I think the film was really ubelievable and I asked my self these questions:
So what if some parts where not very believable? So what if the authorities would have arrested Viktor and put him in jail at the outset? So what if this is the most unbelievable story ever? And I realised it's supposed to be one of those films that are just completely weird, and not suppose to be reality at all other wise how could Victor arrive in the US with only "Yes" and "No" to his English vocabulary, yet only days later is near fluent after purchasing a handbook from an airport shop and watching a news report.
And why was Catherine Zeta Jones a air hostess? I think they've got her there because shes so beautiful, and to show how far away from reality it really is....
One side-plot is particularly comical: a Russian traveler purchases medicine in America in order to cure his father back home, then is asked to withhold these medicines. The Russian threatens to commit suicide, and Navorski is brought in as a translator. The evil terminal czar Frank announces that '[The Russian] lives across from Krakozhia's border, and may converse in a different dialect.' As anticipated, the Russian man and Viktor comprehend each other beautifully. After an explanation that these pills are for a goat, the Russian man is set free to take a plane back home. As a show of Hollywood ignorance and simplicity, this could be deemed the worst episode in the film, and one may suppose it could have been a lot more elementary for Hanks to speak in Russian.
And the soppy Spielberg ending doesn't disappoint either. Apart from the Indian on the runway, we also get half of the airport following Hanks down an escalator (why? - not everybody in the airport is gonna know, or care, about the guy), and then to top it off we get a member of airport security going against orders and actually giving Hanks his jacket. Then we get snow...
I haven't gave too much away so I feel you should all go see it, no matter how unbelievable it is, it's still really good, I suppose only pielberg could do that!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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i havent seen this but would like to just out of curiousity really! Em x
Lucie_S1984 01.01.2005 14:06
I never got round to seeing this, mainly as people didn't really rate it very highly but think I'll probably rent it anyway - just so I can say I've seen it! Lucie xxx
Like an airport running at peak efficiency,The Terminalglides on the consummate skills of ... more
its director and star. Having refined their collaborative chemistry onSaving Private RyanandCatch Me if You Can, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks mesh like the prec...
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Life is waiting... After arriving at New York's JFK airport Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) ... more
gets unwittingly tied in bureaucratic glitches that make it impossible for him to return to his home country or enter the U.S.! Now caught up in the richly compl...
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![The Terminal [DVD] (2004)](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78512844.jpg "The Terminal [DVD] (2004)")
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Sep 9th, 2004
(Sep 11th, 2004)
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