Snake Eyes | | Cast : | Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise | | Director : | Brian De Palma | | Studio : | Paramount Studio | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | August 07, 1998 | | DVD Released Date : | August 19, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Decent Thriller starring Nicolas Cage, but only 2 stars... | Content
 | Compared to all of the action/thriller/suspense/intense/drama's that were coming out around the time of this movie (1998) it kind of gets lost in the shuffle as it cannot vault itself over other cage hits like "the rock" and "con air". It's okay, but nothing more than that. You see it once then you move on with your life..in other words the movie does not stick with you, you don't recommend it to friends, and it goes into the box full of movies marked "90's filler".
Outside an Atlantic City arena-hotel-casino, a TV news reporter stands in a pre-hurricane storm to report on the heavyweight boxing match about to begin inside. A transition to the stadium interior focuses on Atlantic City homicide Detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage), a father with a wife and son, yet also a dishonest cop who maintains a mistress and cheerfully accepts bribes.
DePalma's Steadicam follows Santoro on a fast-paced tour of the stadium as the laughing, yelling detective travels stairs and hallways, talks to a gal with a between-rounds placard, visits the dressing room of champ Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw), rides down an escalator to squeeze money from a small-time hood, enters the arena of 14,000 fight fans, talks on his phone with his girlfriend and wife, and sits ringside next to his lifelong buddy, Navy Cmdr. Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise). Behind Dunne, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani) is seated alongside billionaire casino owner Gilbert Powell (John Heard).
As the fight gets underway, Dunne abandons his position protecting the defense chief to pursue a suspicious redhead. From his ringside vantage point, Santoro has a close view of the champ, curiously conscious despite taking a kayo punch. At that moment, an assassin fires at Kirkland. Santoro immediately concocts a good cover story for his pal (to explain why Dunne left his post protecting Kirkland). Just after the shooting, Dunne kills a Palestinian extremist, the apparent killer, and Santoro orders the stadium doors locked, hoping he can locate other suspects among the fleeing crowd. One such is Julia Costello (Carla Gugino), an injured woman in a blond wig who spoke with Kirkland seconds before the gunfire. After a video replay reveals the champ took a fall, going down to the floor from a punch that never touched him, Santoro becomes more curious and suspicious, comparing witness accounts, and he attempts to locate Julia, convinced she's the key to truth behind the assassination. As it all comes to a head, Santoro peels through successive layers of corruption, ultimately confronting himself in a self-examination of his own values. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 30, 2004 | | Summary | THE HOUSE WINS | Content
| Anytime you have a crooked cop as your hero/antihero, you're taking risks. The audience is expected to sympathize with this character, yet for most of the movie, you're not too happy with his bad cop persona, so when he does become the "hero," you have to remember the pre-hero person. Nicolas Cage stars as Rick Santoro, the aforementioned cop, who happens to be at a prizefight in the Atlantic City arena when the Secretary of Defense is assassinated. The conspiracy plot is easily identified, and the main culprit's identity is no real surprise.
Brian DePalma, who has helmed such interesting films as BLOW UP, BODY DOUBLE and DRESSED TO KILL, uses his patented camera style to establish some splendid scenes, and his use of different points of view is likewise compelling. However, with such a weak and sometimes incoherent plot, all the visuals do is reinforce how empty the rest of the film is. Gary Sinise is his usual professional self; Carla Gugino is an attractive damsel in distress, and it's nice to see Stan Shaw in a sizeable role. Cage is hopelessly melodramatic at times, but does well in some of his quieter scenes. Not one of DePalma's best, but good for a rental. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 29, 2004 | | Summary | sorry | Content
| i didn't like the movie. it didn't make sense. i like nick cage but he should of pass on this movie. face off was better. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 30, 2004 | | Summary | A very complex film -- much more than it's given credit. | Content
| The editorial review here by the Amazon guy (Keough?) is totally off the mark. He missed out on the entire point of Sinise purposefully plotting the crime where he did and not "coincidentally" with his friend. Forget all the dazzling camera work and just focus on the two main characters. Sinise's motivation is one of the more compelling that I have seen in ANY movie villain, and not easy to dismiss. To the film's credit it never marginalizes him, and winds up making some pretty serious statements about how we view loyalty. Cage's character and his relationship with Sinise really brings this out. Quite simply, a brilliant script. The only thing I would say is a bit hokey is the outfits of the ladies. But really, that just kind of makes it fun. Gorgeous Ryuiki Sakamoto score. This movie is not about DePalma flexing his technical muscles. It's one of the best American films in decades. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 15, 2003 | | Summary | great film, needs a special edition though | Content
| Great film, good cast, but it was the lack of special features that disapointed me. All it has was the original theatrical trailer. |
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