caiman

I rented this last night and I was very dissapointed. It started out pretty promising but it went downhill. Very far downhill. The story seemed interesting enough near the beginning. Three people go to a hidden island in search of paradise. You know that something bad is going to happen if you have seen the trailers, but you really can't figure out what it is going to be until the film reaches its climax, and at that point, this movie became a total let-down.

**slight spoilers** (but who cares, this movie sucks)

There was a specific point when I said "Ok, I just started hating this movie" and that was when Leo was banished into the woods and he began thinking he was in a video game. We actually saw him AS a video game character running through the woods getting bonus points, video game graphics and all. This was VERY out of place, as was the rest of the movie to follow. Some movies are allowed to be obscure and odd, like Fight Club and Three Kings, but The Beach wasn't because it did not hint at it at all earlier on. It just turned weird all of a sudden. The story fell flat on its face and left me very unsatisfied to say the least. You heard it here, do not waste your money on this!

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My very tiny, but ever-growing DVD list.

DJ_Longfellow

Honestly, i REALLY LIKED the movie. I thought it was very different. Of course i'm one who likes f*cked up movies. I thought the part when he got exiled from the group was good. It kinda showed that he was hallucinating. Like, he was trpping on mushrooms or something. As DAffy told him in one of his hallucinations, "Richard, you're f*cked in the head"

I thought it was a good movie...not your typical, Leo falls in love story.

Just my opinion. Of course, everyone has one.

terminator911

I liked the movie too. I agree, it kind of went downhill after a while, but overall this is a pretty decent movie. Or maybe I say that because I bought the dvd and it's really expensive .

audrey

I count Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, and Life Less Ordinary among my favorite movies. But despite my respect for Danny Boyle, I passed on seeing The Beach in the theater. I’m not sure if it was the boring trailer, the Leo hype, or competition from other movies that seemed more promising, but the prospect of seeing The Beach generated virtually no excitement for me.

With low expectations, I loaded a rental copy of the DVD in my player last night. While not in the same league with DB’s best work, The Beach is nonetheless enjoyable, certainly worth a rental. The story is intriguing, combing themes of mystery, hope, and romance with standard fare quest-for-paradise adventure story lines. The acting is credible—though not entirely believable. Leo, in particular, does not always “sell” his lines.

One area where Boyle excels is cinematography. Here he does not disappoint. The time-lapse night sky photography session and the underwater frolic scenes come to mind. And contrary to caiman, I found the video game effect to successfully convey Leo’s mental state in a visually compelling and dramatic way. If you are at all interested in film making the cinematography, alone, is worth the rental fee.

As to the DVD, the near reference quality transfer is fantastic: the colors are rich and vibrant, the image razor sharp. The audio track is clear with some occasional surround effects. And the DVD offers some nice extras: an alternate opening and ending as well as a handful of deleted scenes. Each of these scenes can be heard with either the original audio track or with DB’s commentary. One annoying feature, however, is that all of the deleted scenes display “Property of 20th Century Fox” and “Deleted Scenes” messages superimposed over all of the excised scenes.

Don’t let the negative opinions turn you away. While flawed, The Beach is at least worth a rental.