Conference bookie::movies

    
    MJ,
    
    Can you give a hint as to what the basic story plot was.  I have heard
    about this movie (references to title and Pitt) but that's it.  
    
    THanks in advance
    

    The youngest brother has been attending college Back East and returns
    to the family ranch in Montana with his fiancee.  Romantic
    complications and family drama ensue.

    The story is about the three sons of retired colonel (Hopkins) who,
    fed-up with the US Government and it's ways, moves to Montana to
    operate a working ranch/farm.  The sons Alfred (Quinn), Tristan (Pitt)
    and Samuel (Thomas) are the focus of the movie (particularly Pitt).
    
    Raised virtually motherless the boys are all different from each
    other, Tristan being the wild one.  When Samuel returns from University in
    Boston with his fiancee, she enters all of their hearts, including
    Hopkins, who is wonderful in this film.  What follows is really an epic
    story of sibling rivalry, competition for father's attention, and the
    effect that this beautiful woman in the wild has on all of the men. 
    
    The movie is beautifully shot (lots of big-sky locals) and beautiful
    costumes/locations, etc.
    
    Enjoy.
    
    MJ

    
    I've been hearing about this movie for months and months but as of
    yet its not playing anywhere in the New England area (as far as I
    know).
    
    I think there were "coming attractions" for this flick on the 
    "Bram Stokers Dracula" video when that was released some time ago.

    All the ads I've seen say that Legends is open in "selected theaters"
    now, which I think means L.A. and New York, and will open everywhere
    on January 13.  I've been really looking forward to this film since
    I'm a Brad Pitt fan.
    
    Karen.

    Well you'll get your fill of him in this movie.  He's all over it.
    
    MJ

    Who plays the fiance, any popular actress?
    
     Chris

    Her name is Julia Ormond, she's British.  Word is she's in line to be a
    popular actress, since she has several films on the way.

Perhaps most notably, this summer's "First Knight", starring Sean Connery and
Richard Gere (and directed by Jerry Zucker, and coscripted by William
Nicholson [Nell, Shadowlands]).

    There were a bunch of cool previews before this movie.  Alas, some of
    them held my interest more than the movie itself.
    
    
    I was disappointed with this one.  Forwarned that it was an
    angst-fest, that didn't bother me -- I like angst as much as the next,
    uh, angst-liker.  There was eye pleasing scenery, including the
    majority of the actors (Brad Pitt, Adian Quinn, Henry Thomas, Julia
    Ormond).   There were horses and cows and World War I and Native
    Americans and all sorts of stuff.  There was grandiose music by James
    Horner.   There was family strife, unrequited and requited love, death,
    birth, death, family bonding, and did I mention death?
    
    
    Not a happy-fest, to be sure.  
    
    Again, that didn't bother me, really.   What did bother me is that the
    movie became too involved with its own story to get the story across in
    a manner that didn't feel...well, flat.  It's slow moving to be sure. 
    (One of my movie companions, who seems to have liked the movie much
    more than I did, thought it was slow, too.)  The directory, Ed Zwick,
    who gave us the wonderful "Glory" and the angstful "thirtysomething"
    musta forgot what made "Glory" really good.   "Glory" was hardly a
    comedy, but the characters were involving.  The story moved along.  It
    didn't feel the need to pound the audience with emotional Moments to
    convey emotion.  Just too involved with it's own pretentiousness to
    involve me.  
    
    I dunno.  I wanted to like this.  Brad Pitt said that his role as
    Tristan (the "wild" brother) was a role that "only he could play
    right". I'm not convinced.  It was the most interesting role, granted,
    although I thought Adian Quinn as his older, not-wild brother did a
    better job with what he was given--at least, he seemed more convincing. 
    I kept seeing "Brad Pitt as the Cool Brother" rather than Tormented
    Tristan.  The flaw, I suspect, is in the screenplay rather than the
    actor.
    
    Was there goodness?  Well, there was eye-pleasing scenery, including
    most of the actors.  Some nice period things, even if the movie strayed
    a bit into things that felt anachronistic (language, mostly).  The
    score, if trying too hard, was another score which will probably sound
    nicer as a stand alone rather than in the movie (although, for those of
    us who care, there's an entire track lifted directly from "Patriot
    Games".  Which is something this composer is known from, but this
    instance, for me, felt particularly jarring since Patriot Games kinda
    has an Irish flavor and this movie is oh-so-Montana.  Go fig....).
    Julia Ormond did a great job with pining for someone who is already
    taken, although she had the bonus that the guy at least loved her back. 
    Henry Thomas did a good job with the thankless role of the wide-eyed
    idealistic younger brother who is, alas, pretty much a throwaway
    character.
    
    All in all, not a total waste of almost $7, but I did find myself
    wishing I'd paid matinee.   Not something I'd drag kids too, unless
    they are real keen on Brad Pitt.  Tasteful sex, some violence, lots of
    male emoting (and some female emoting, but there's like, only three
    women in the whole movie, one of which takes about 10 movie years to
    age at all :)
    
    
    **.5 out of ****
    
    
    kim  

Legends of the Fall is a little tough for me to review because I have mixed
reactions to the film.  I plan to see it again in hopes I'll get clearer on
my feelings about it.

The easy stuff first.  The Montana scenery is absolutely georgeous and Brad
Pitt as the middle, wildest son is equally georgeous.  These alone made it 
worth the price of admission at least once.  On the flip side, the story seemed 
to drag a bit, and covered so much ground that some things had to be glossed 
over.

The thing that most indicates a good film to me, though, is whether I care about
the characters, and whether I keep thinking about them.  I really cared about
a lot of the characters in this film, and I'm still thinking about the story.  
First and foremost is Tristan, Pitt's character.  He's the focus of the film, 
and is the son who feels things.  He's the passionate one, the emotional one, 
the one who seems most effected by what's going on around him.  He does the 
most crying, the most screaming, and the most running away.  He also does what 
he needs to, following his heart if you will, and everyone seems to love him 
for it.  His older brother Alfred sums some of it up when he says something 
like "You've spent your life breaking the rules, and I've spend mine following 
them, and everyone loved you the best."  In a story full of tragedy, one of the 
saddest moments for me was when Tristan wrote home saying "What was between us 
is dead, as I am dead ...".  The thought of this passionate young man feeling 
dead was unbearably sad.

I also really felt for Isabelle II, the "half breed" who says (at the age of
13) that she's going to marry Tristan.  She's one of the those quiet, background
characters who manages through looks, a few words, and an occasional sweeping 
gesture to get across her feelings.  When Tristan leaves the ranch for an 
unknown amount of time, it's Isabelle who runs alongside his horse, showing 
her feelings for him in a very overt and charming way.  

One of the things I had a little trouble with is how devastating the presence
of the woman was on the three brothers.  The movie starts by showing us how
incredibly close they are to each other, and yet their love for the same woman
tears them apart, particularly Tristan and Alfred.  I kept wondering why they
couldn't talk about it, and yet I suppose the movie's realistic in that way.
It happens all the time that people don't talk about what they need to.  Maybe
the level of frustration I felt at them says volumes about how the movie did
really effect me.

I found the woman who inadvertantly caused all the trouble extremely confusing.
I couldn't figure out who she loved and when.  Or maybe she just loved them all 
in different ways and at different times.  I felt for her angst, without fully 
understanding it, perhaps because I've never really been in that sort of 
situation.

I think only time and another viewing or two will tell me whether this is a
film that really impresses me or whether it falls short.  So far the jury is
still out.

Karen.

    This time I'm again furious, I never heard anything about this movie
    and we will probably see it in Swiztzerland in 6 months !!!! I'm Brad
    Pitt fan too and apparently he is playing a role in this movie, am I
    right ? In case of the video tape of "Legends of the fall" is already
    available for sale would it be possible to buy it for me, I will pay
    everything : the video tape and the mailing. I really like to have
    movies with original voices because here in Switzerland it's quiet hard
    to find movies in english. In case you can help me you can send me a
    mail directly to Florence BUGNON @GEO or by Vaxmail : GVA05::BUGNON,
    
    Thanks a lot for your help.
    Flo
    
    P.S I have the NTSC system and I have already some movies in english
    that I bought in USA. I love movies and I have a quiet big collection
    of video tapes, it's my hobby.

    At theAt the same time if somebody can help me to give me a list of
    Brad Pitt's movies : I know that we can ee it oin "Thelma & Louise",
    "Inteview with the vampire", and ...????
    
    The problem is that sometimes in USA you have a lot of different movies
    that we never see in Europe so at the same time if you can find a video
    tape with him feel free to take it for me - even "Interview with the
    vampire" - (I have already ask it in the right conference). I really
    like this actor so don't hesitate if you find something great !
    
    Thanks a lot for your help.
    Flo
    

    I don't think Interview and Legends are out on tape yet.  Maybe by
    spring or summer.
    
    Renee

    Legends is definately not out on video yet.  It just opened in wide
    release on January 13.  
    
    Brad Pitt not only has a role in Legends, he's the lead character!
    
    As for a list of his films, from the internet:
    
      Happy Together (1989)  [Brian]
      Cutting Class (1989)
      Too Young to Die? (1990) (TV)  [Billy Canton]
      "Glory Days" (1990)  [Walker Lovejoy]
      Across the Tracks (1991)  [Joe Maloney]
      Thelma & Louise (1991)  [J.D.]
      Cool World (1992)  [Frank Harris]
      Johnny Suede (1992)  [Johnny Suede]
      River Runs Through It, A (1992)  [Paul Maclean]
      Kalifornia (1993)  [Early Grayce]
      True Romance (1993)  [Floyd]
      Favor, The (1994)  [Elliott Fowler]
      Legends of the Fall (1994)
      Interview with the Vampire (1994)  [Louis]
    
    Karen.

    
    	He was in "Cutting Class"??  I guess I didn't know who he was
    	at the time, because I don't remember him!!  [The most memorable
    	part of the film is Jill Schoelen, who is a doll and a half, and
    	an honorable mention to Martin Mull as the bumbling father.]
    
    							GTI
    

    
    I'm not so picky, and enjoyed this film a lot.
    
    Boy, what life can dish out to a family.
    
    Dave
    

I totally agree with those who have entered mixed reviews on this movie. I 
echo the sentiments that boththe scenery and Brad Pitt were gorgeous, and 
that went a long way in making the movie worthwhile.  However, I found that 
there was just too much story crammed in - maybe it would have been better 
served as a mini series?  It might seem like a contradiction that I found 
there was too much story since the pace of the movie was rather languid, but 
I think more attention to the details of plot would have helped us feel more 
of the characters emotions.  If you take Tristan as an example... he's on 
the ranch, he's off to war, he's on the ranch, he's off to sea, he's on the 
ranch, he's off to....etc....  I thought that Brad Pitt did an admirable 
acting job, but the plot left too many holes.  Still, I enjoyed the 
movie (although I wouldn't go back again - a sure sign that I didn't "love" 
it, because I'll often see movies 2-3 times in the theatre and then rent 
them again when they come out on video!)

Chris

I liked this film.  Previous noters have summed up pretty much all that
is good and bad about it.  Yes, it's a tear-jerker; but there's more to it.

As mentioned in the previous response, the story seems to have 
too many serial episodes for a film of this length.  I'm actually
grateful that Legends got squeezed into a "normal" film length, even though
you have the feeling at times of a built-in fastforward button.

Like .10, I would have preferred that the Suzanne character were better 
devloped.  In her final moment, you don't know if she is simply drunk,
or wants to make sure she never harms her nephews in the way she harmed
the brothers.

Brian

    I saw this movie already 2 times. The first day was on 31st March in
    Switzerland, I just love it. I will try again to see it in english and
    maybe a 4th time with my husband and my friends, It's just great, no
    words to describe this superb and beautiful movie. Actors play
    especially Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins are perfect even if it seems
    that the story is long but I don't think I really had the impression
    that I was inside the movie with them. For me horse riding in Montana
    is like a dream.  The landscape is spectacular. After leaving the
    cinema I and my friend felt like we were still in the film. 
    This movie is very full of emotions that we no longer feel.
    
    My vote would be 10+ on 10 - best movie I saw since a long time.
    Flo 

    I, too, loved the scenery - it's breath-taking, and basically 
    enjoyed the film.
    
    What I couldn't understand (and didn't like at all) was the audience 
    laughing in several places where some of the Native American culture 
    was displayed. 
    
    This is a film to be seen on the big screen (the scenery), not video.
    
    Sue
    

    I saw the Royal Prem here in Britain last night.
    
    I think the film was excellent and definately one for my video
    collection.
    
    Brad Pitt was great, Aidan Quinn good.
    
    Brad looked great with short hair at the prem, but I am bias, he could
    be bald and i'd still like him.
    
    I recommend people going to see it.
    

    Hi,
    
    Would you know if there is a novel/book about this film ?
    
    /diana

    There's a book called "Legends of the Fall" by Jim Harrison. I'm not
    sure whether it's a novel or a collection of stories.  I believe the movie 
    was based on this book (or one of the stories.)
    
    -Stephen
    
    

    I got the book finally and am quite disappointed after reading it...
    I like the movie a lot more.

         Bonanza meets The Godfather. Not as good as either one. Felt like
    I waisted two hours watching it, although Julia Ormond sure looked
    beautiful!
    
    	Mike