Siskel & Ebert Review - Heaven’s Gate, Modern Romance, Napoleon (1927), Excalibur, Nighthawks

[@jorel6745]

I love revisiting Excalibur. I was fascinated, as a kid, getting to watch this

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

would have liked to have seen it on a big screen...

[@geoffroy1970]

I hear ya

[@reneedennis2011]

My oldest sister was in college when Excalibur was released. One of her friends was an Excalibur enthusiast, and he wrote a long letter to Siskel and Ebert calling them out after their negative reviews of Excalibur.

[@hungwilliam44]

ebert probably got chocolate all over it

[@andrewk2996]

Good for her, it's a great movie and their criticism is very harsh

[@adamgottschalk5423]

They were two of my first real teachers but they got it wrong plenty of times - I've come to believe the primary value of a critic is to help you develop your own taste and worldview rather than tell you whether a particular film is any good or not

[@oobrocks]

Concur

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

The directors cut made more sense

[@d.a.thorndike8772]

Excalibur is NOT supposed to make literal sense. ThaT is why it is called a FANTASY! But it is breathtaking in every sense. The music, the scenery, the epic battle scenes, the spot on English accents, the horse riding, the weapons- it is all so perfect and well done like no other Arthur film has ever done before or since.

[@donshults7772]

Come, father. Let us embrace at last!

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

You are so right.

[@doddsino]

Modern Romance is one of my favorite comedies. Honestly, I think Albert Brooks is better than Woody Allen in the same type of role.

[@JorgeTorres17-2]

Hard agree. I’ll take “Defending Your Life” over most of Allen’s stuff.

[@krisj827]

So true.

[@djdon60]

doddsino: I could not agree, more! (I'm not, particularly, a Woody Allen fan, also. I don't, really, get him.)

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I agree. I always thought Brooks was way more palatable. I can only take Woody Allen in small doses.

[@philiphatfield5666]

He is also not a pervert.

[@seabhac1000]

The "undeveloped" the characters in Excalibur add to it's dreamlike quality and accentuate the tragic yet heroic ending. Its a great film.

[@oobrocks]

MR 6:55 HG 12:15 Excalibur 17:28 A great film Napoleon 22:20 a great, must c film, if u think u love movies

[@stevenwatchorn9816]

I would have loved to be able to see Napoleon in that way. I was not able to make those journies myself until a few years later :)

[@jackscratch785]

Brooks reminds me of George Costanza.

[@moviola12]

16:92 . Ebert says the movie is unpleasant to look at. I wonder what he would think of the criterion version which was restored to remove the sepia tone look.

[@kkampy4052]

I love Excalibur. A very young Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart. Plus a great Wagner soundtrack.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Very true.

[@peterbeth2027]

And Liam Neeson

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

I’ve seen all the versions of Heaven’s Gate. I get why people like it. I get why people don’t. I really wish Cimino had time to properly cut it down to under three hours because there are some really great scenes. Excalibur also had a good directors cut. It is a good movie, but I couldn’t help but quote lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[@Emulous79]

Rutger Hauer played some of most insane and chilling characters. Like Richard Lynch. R.I.P to both.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Very true.

[@johnwhite1721]

I would love to see their original review of Brooks' Real Life. It's one of my favorite comedies of all time. It totally predicted the reality TV age. I love Modern Romance, but I love Real Life even more.

[@patrickshields5251]

Gene liked it, but Roger hated it.

[@peterbeth2027]

Apparently off screen, Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren did not get along at all, but they delivered bravura performances. Two brilliant actors. They eventually made up years later. You can’t keep truly great actors hating each other forever Both Gene and Roger are wide off the mark on Excalibur. It’s amazing

[@drumfulofsoul]

This was Rutger Haurers (sp?) First American film. Who can forget his "tears in rain" scene from Blade Runner?

[@jonathanharris6307]

Just watched heaven's gate what a beautiful film and Excalibur is a great film. Let them continue to watch nighthawks I say

[@branagain]

I turned off Heaven’s Gate after 20 minutes. Terribly boring.

[@KRhetor]

Mac Davis could have had a decent acting career after North Dallas Forty but Cheaper to Keep Her pretty much killed it!

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Wow the underground was a pretty dangerous place, Pelham 123, Death Wish etc etc lots of violence

[@Bacalao2929]

Joe Spinell and Rutger Hauer in the same movie thats crazy

[@adamgottschalk5423]

Still is!

[@alexnejako777]

I think for Excalibur you need to read Tennyson first. And Malory if you have time. Then the characters and events have more meaning

[@pandaeyes42]

Heaven's Gate? In the immortal words of Monty Python, GET ON WITH IT!!!

[@freemangriffin4953]

Watch the fully restored director's cut - it is one of the greatest films of all time.

[@SharkWhosFondOfBond]

​@@freemangriffin4953 Definitely not

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

They were on the money with Heaven's Gate.

[@freemangriffin4953]

Have you seen the fully restored director's cut? It is amazing, one of the greatest films of all time. The version from 1981 only had glimmers of the real greatness of it.

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

@@freemangriffin4953 The version I saw was the long version. Also, Siskel and Ebert both saw the long version, and basically were thinking what I was thinking.

[@SharkWhosFondOfBond]

​​@@freemangriffin4953 DO NOT SUPPORT ANIMAL CRUELTY

[@kengreenberg]

2024 update: Kathryn Harrold, the object of Brooks’s obsession in “Modern Romance,” is today a licensed marriage and family therapist.

[@marcofalzone6469]

I used to watch Sneak Previews with my pop in the early 80s. Even with Lyons/Medved wasn't bad a good companion to At the Movies with S&E towards the mid 80s.

[@drumtum]

Nighthawks was great!!

[@bigneon_glitter]

The restored Criterion version of _Heaven's Gate_ is among the greatest Westerns ever made. And S&E are correct about the lackluster casting in _Excalibur_ but it's still the definitive King Arthur movie.

[@davidthieroff9452]

Thank you! I thought I was the only one who liked it.

[@SharkWhosFondOfBond]

Definitely not among the greatest westerns, it could be a good movie, but it has the worst animal cruelty in movie history

[@joergzabbee3921]

Guy of Gisborne 🤘👍

[@MilesBellas]

Heaven's Gate precipitated the demise of United Artists started by Chaplin, Pickford etc..... The end of the auteur?!😢

[@gregscott4322]

Too bad neither Ebert nor Siskel ever saw the Director's Cut of Heaven's Gate, released at Cannes 20 years later to a rapturous standing ovation. It shows how the studios butchered a beautiful, powerful masterwork directed by a visionnary genius.

[@drumtum]

Well i have seen it. It sure is better, but It´s still a mediocre movie. No way a masterwork. Less dust and fog for sure.

[@eargasm1072]

and probably the best, most ambitious Western until "Dances With Wolves" & "Unforgiven"

[@zoperxplex]

Both saw the original, unedited version and both came away with a negative opinion of the film.

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

The end sequence they show is absolutely incomprehensible....

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

Yes, they did see that version. It was the original release version. They hated it, too.

[@danorthsidemang3834]

27:13

[@Bacalao2929]

are you Orson Wells Ghost ?

[@oobrocks]

Too bad this channel doesn’t give release dates

[@hoover2501]

Excalibur can be hard to follow if you're not paying attention. It does the greatest Justice to the story of King Arthur. Not an easy task to tell a life story in such a grand way. I do not agree with them on this movie as it is truly one of my favorites. Long live the sword of power

[@peterbeth2027]

It’s the most authentic of Arthurian treatments based on Morte D’Arthur by Mallory

[@freemangriffin4953]

The fully restored director's cut of Heaven's Gate is one of the greatest films ever made. The version we saw in the movie theater in 1981 had that ugly sepia tones and was much shorter and only had glimmers of its actual brilliance. Isabelle Huppert is particularly superb. Excalibur is a wonderful fantasy. In a later episode Roger Ebert compares it to another film and fails to get that Excalibur is a FANTASY and does not need to be realistic.

[@Nathan-gd7xq]

Doesn't matter how many times you post this, it is not one of the greatest films of all time.

[@SharkWhosFondOfBond]

Excalibur I totally agree with, Heaven's Gate I definitely don't

[@andrewk2996]

Their criticisms of Excalibur are absurd. Not every character in a movie has to burst out on the screen with ham acting.

[@stevejohnson1577]

Gene was right about Nighthawks

[@alonealien1474]

Ugh "Modern Romance" is such a bore! I have come to realize that I really dislike "romantic" movies centered around neurotic, selfish, and whiny man-child. Woody Allen was the 'king' of those. I blame him for their proliferation and that's one more reason to dislike that guy!

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Same. I never understood the Woody Allen obsession. He always struck me as a narcissistic creep.

[@darrellludlow]

But Kathryn Harrold was gorgeous in it!

[@EricBarbman]

Surprised by Siskel on Nighthawks, which was a very bad movie, idiotic on so many levels.

[@PunkSlapper123]

Nighthawks was a typical 80s police/drama. It was not Oscar worthy but it was entertaining and had good characters.

[@eargasm1072]

I like me some John Boorman...Deliverance, Emerald Forest, Zardoz and this medieval 80s classic. I also really like Heaven's Gate before and after restoration, one of the last artsy Western epics. Nighthawks was pretty good, watched it a number of times on cable when I was a kid, a solid teaming of Stallone and Billy Dee = 👍👍👍 for me

[@adamgrimsley2900]

You like Zardoz? Wow

[@shombie2737]

@@adamgrimsley2900 I liked Zardoz when I was a kid

[@adamgrimsley2900]

@@shombie2737 wow I am surprised but good

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Never seen Point Blank or Hell in The Pacific ?

[@widowrumstrypze9705]

"Hope and Glory" was a masterpiece!