The Crucible

source: The Crucible

I just finished watching this movie and WOW, the way the movie was created start to finish was brilliant, gritty and intense. I'm not a fan of Winona Ryder at all and only marginally of Daniel Day-Lewis (In short because of Gangs Of New York, although really good acting the rest of the film was awful) their performances were awesome. I really loved the themes of the movie and the whole mob mentality of the girls. I was really gunning for a certain female teenager being hanged. The scene where DDL and WR are forced to face the front while DDL wife is asked questions is in my opinion one of the most intense and heart breaking scenes in film history. Bottom Line is: If you get the chance to see this movie DO!!! it will shock and challenge your way of thinking

I first saw this film in the theater in 1997. My impression then was the same as it is now, after numerous viewings: this is just about the best movie that could be made of The Crucible. The script takes the best of Miller's original words and uses the film medium to great advantage to *show* several events that the play is constrained to tell. I am an English teacher, and I use this film every year when my students read the play. The acting is, for the most part, great. Most of the negative reader comments on this page dealing with themes, morals, plausibility, etc. apply equally to the play version; to me they represent fidelity to the original text rather than flaws. The Crucible will never be a "feel-good" work, but this is an excellent adaptation and a moving film.

1996's The Crucible might not be the most visually gorgeous film around -- but if you judge it by its acting -- it is equal to none. The film is a perfect adaptation to Miller's heartbreakingly splendid play. Daniel Day-Lewis is a force to be reckoned with as the tragic hero to this tale. Winona Ryder gives her best performance to date as the twisted maestro responsible for all the chaos that takes place in the film. A must for those who adore good acting.

The performances are great all around (DD-L's phenomenal as always, Winona's full of gusto and Joan Allen's subtle) and the camera work is at times quite impressive, but with a plot so repetitive, the narrative becomes rather redundant and the pacing suffers (especially during the beginning) Miller's play holding a mirror to the hideous face of the blacklisting paranoia of the 50s had weight to it. However, transferring it to the silver screen (especially in the 90s) takes away the hugely important context of the source material. The Crucible boils down to a straightforward adaptation. Still it's a poignant meditation on corruption, group mentality and peer pressure with a powerful ending. So, much like Giles Corey, all I can say is that The Crucible needed "more... weight." Also, the mentality that the "witches" (almost all female characters tbh) of Salem did it all to attract men is... problematic to say the least.

I just recently watched the Crucible by Author Miller, and it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be! It turned out to be a really good movie and 100% better then I expected. It was very dramatic, and kept you wanting to keep watching it to find out what happens next. Every time, I tried to look away during the movie, I just couldn't because I was so interested and excited in seeing what happened it was hard to look away. When we first started watching it in class, no one was interested, but by the end of class, everyone was mad that we had to leave, and couldn't finish the movie, considering we were so interested, and it was at the part, when Abigail met John Proctor outside of the church. Anyways, the movie was funny, sad, and very good!

We studied this movie in school, as did millions of others. I liked it back then as a kid, and still now find it to be an absolute classic piece of cinema, unmissable for anyone who enjoys the fine art of filmmaking and storytelling. It's also a great companion movie to other period pieces about that era. I'm not sure if a remake would top this film, unless a lot of time and care were to go into it, and a suitable director. Could be nice to see some of the original cast return for a remake as village elders perhaps.

Can you imagine a very annoying Winona Ryder ? If not, please watch "The Crucible" ! You see her screaming and shrieking in a way that she is getting more and more on your nerves the more you go on watching the film. While Joan Allen's performance is just great and deserves an award as best supporting actress, Ryder is getting on your nerves and destroys what the movie is trying to create. Don't take the ending too serious, it's very Hollywood-like, but be prepared to watch an acceptable movie with the most terrible and awful Winona Ryder you've ever seen on the movies !

Growing up in the Bible belt, it's quite easy to see how gullible people can be when it comes to religion. I can only imagine how during the time period that this took place, how religion was the end-all, be-all, and scientific discoveries hadn't disproven most of it, that people would easily believe that someone was powerful. For example (spoiler!!), the scene where the wood falls and the lady is tried for being a witch because another lady saw it fall and then blames the first lady as causing it with her "witch" powers. Have these people never heard of gravity or earth tremors that make things fall naturally? Apparently, they haven't. If you do not find religion to be all that is cracked up to be, you'll find this movie quite enjoyable because seeing how Winona Ryder's character and a few other's employ the "witch" factor to their advantage is quite funny.