The Ninth Gate

Starring:Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Barbara Jefford, Jack Taylor (II), JosÃ© LÃ³pez Rodero, Tony Amoni, James Russo, Willy Holt, Allen Garfield, Jacques Dacqmine, Joe Sheridan, Rebecca Pauly, Catherine Benguigui, Maria Ducceschi, Jacques Collard, Dominique Pozzetto, Emanuel Booz, Lino Ribeiro de Sousa
Director: Roman Polanski
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Nothing is what it seems!.......2007-07-03

A deep, yet entertaining movie that will leave you baffled and bewildered at first; however, don't give up on this film. Good solid acting, incredible directing, and a story with so many questions it leaves you wondering what it is you just watched!

I have always liked Polanski films, as well as Johnny Depp's acting, so this movie (for me) was a must see. I'll admit, the first time I viewed it I was left confused and I said to myself that I regretted purchasing it. Giving it another shot recently, I was able to really sit and watch the movie for what it really is, an intellectual masterpiece.

It may leave you with many questions, but again I urge you not to give up on this movie. It has a message that really blurs the lines of good and evil and shows that there may be both good and evil inside us all. How it ends is really up to your interpretation.

Not what I was expecting, but still good (in a different way).......2007-06-29

Opinions when it comes to movies tend to convey a bit more stridency than those involving music or even television, as if a level of aesthete is involved that is so profound that it evokes a part of one's being... of course, that may just apply to the more catty drama dorks out there.

Anyhow, there are many examples too numerous for practical purposes of documenting. To focus on just one good example would be THE NINTH GATE. Many people disliked this film, and some did so with a hint of indignation. It might have been because of raised expectations, either for their adulations of Roman Polanski as a director, or because it was a film featuring the "divinely magnificent" Johnny Depp (who actually is an exceptionally good actor with a decent knack for picking projects; comments in quotations were not meant as an affront to Mr. Depp, but to those who overly idolize him), or because this film deals with elements of the supernatural including the Devil. If in fact you are expecting a terrifying episode of demonic encounters replete with gore and sensationalism, then you might not like this film, which has a more stately pacing and emphasizes ambiance and atmosphere over glitzy special effects. Others were disappointed because the film only partially reflects the book it was based on ("Club Dumas", which I actually also read - pretty impressive, huh?), although to be fair, the book's structure would not have really been ideal for close adaptation.

I admit that I was really intrigued by the premise, especially when the element of interaction by Lucifer was suggested, because done well it can be fascinating, although it is also runs the big risk of embarrassing failure, given the heightened expectations. The trailers were effective enough, and Johnny Depp picks good movies more often than not, so I thought it was worth a look. The movie was not quite what I expected, but still kept my interest, in spite of the aforementioned moderate pacing and a subject matter (rare book appraisals) which I would not have ordinarily found especially fascinating. It was an intellectual rather than visceral effort, and the acting was actually somewhat effective as it turns out. Though some have incorrectly characterized the acting as being lackadaisical and/or stilted or uninspiring (among the many adjectives used), the director and actors wisely chose a more understated approach, which is more realistic and less (melo)dramatic. As a result, Depp was convincing in his role as a mercenary book appraiser not always above unscrupulous methods, and Frank Langella was quite effective in his role as an accomplished but ruthless publisher and collector, whose sophistication almost masks his sinister agenda. Their nuanced performances were far more appropriate and believable, rather than over-the-top affectations which would have just come off as campy and out of place (Sean Penn and Al Pacino and Tom Cruise need not have auditioned).

The story centers on a book titled "The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows", an obscure but legendary tome rumored to have Lucifer as a contributor. Depp's character is Dean Corso, a highly sought though morally relaxed appraiser. He is hired by Boris Balkan (Langella) to find other remaining copies - if they still exist - to determine the book's authenticity. What seemed initially like a thorough and arduous investigation came to include hazardous intrigue, the interventions of mysterious strangers, untimely deaths, and more danger than Corso was prepared for. Along the way, the financial appeal of the lucrative assignment gives way to the need for answers to the danger and intrigue, which in turn gives way to a pursuit of something possibly unworldly and beyond belief. Though some will stubbornly disagree, what makes this film work is the element of ambiguity regarding the book's authenticity and nature, as well as those of at least one other character in the film, and the film's ending itself.

As I am not an easy laugh, I tend to be a challenging audience for comedies. Similarly, I am not an easy scare and do not impress easily when it comes to horror films. Though I am not sure that this would be accurately categorized as a horror film (it could be more accurately described as a supernatural thriller), I will risk the razzing and aspersions and insults to say that one of the more scary/frightening/evocative (as measured by the goosebump meter) sequences I have ever come across in movies is in this film. Polanski is regarded by some as a genius, though not all his films are well received. If you can dispense with any preconceived expectations and approach this with an open mind, there is a decent chance you might find this film's merits as both a creative project and a skillfully crafted effort.

keeps you guessing.......2007-06-27

this is a great movie if you are into dective/thriller type movies. it does move a bit slow in parts. the movie is about a "book detective" so to speak. he is hired to track down a book that was supposdly written by the devil himself.

Worst Ending In The History Of Movies.......2007-06-27

This movie was bad. What was even worse was the ending. I guess they ran out of money and/or ideas when it came time to end the movie. I was left sitting there wondering WHAT WAS THAT?? Johnny Depp should pretend he never acted in this disgrace. The ninth gate? The only gate is the gate to exit the movie theater and forget this disaster of a movie ever happened hahaha.

Ninth Gate.......2007-06-26

Loved the movie for its atmosphere. I read one review in a literary magazine that explained the mysteries to my satisfaction. The main character's name is "Corso" - sounds similar to "cursed one" even though in the movie, he said that it means "one who travels". Johnny Depp looks like the quintessential devil with his goatee and dark hair with gray around the side. The review I read said that the devil had lost his way on earth and needed to get "home". The "guardian angel" provided clues to him and safeguarded him. Remember how surprised she looked when he accidentally bumped into her, causing her nose to bleed. Like she was not used to having any "mortals" injure her like that. Also, he always played up vices, like constantly smoking, drinking, cheating people. One of the drawings showed the "guardian angel" riding the three headed beast (literally - and this is a biblical symbol for the devil)and pointing back to the castle or the ninth gate. When Boris Balkan wanted to meet the devil so badly, he never realized that he really had. An interesting thought, anyway.

Average customer rating:

THE CHILD DEVIANT!

The Ninth Gate
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000NQRR1Q
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Description

Johnny Depp unlocks the gates to hell in Roman Polanski's newest thriller. Depp stars as Dean Corso, an unscrupulous rare-book dealer who is hired to locate the last remaining copies of "The Nine Gate of the Shadow Kingdom," a demonic manuscript that can summon the Devil. Corso becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving murder, theft and satanic ritual, and ultimately finds himself confronting the devil incarnate.

Customer Reviews:

THE CHILD DEVIANT!.......2007-06-13

This cult classic Johnny Depp Film directed by Roman Polanski (Rosemary's baby, Valley Of The Dolls) is a wonderful occult thriller that is shure to entertain any inteligent viewer. The acting is superb, and the story is verry imaginative. This movie is about a serach for Satan...I will tell you know more as I wouldn't want to spoil a wonderful film for you if you haven't ever seen it.

Average customer rating:

Great movies, poor features
Stir of Echoes is great, Ninth Gate sure as heck is not.
Both perfect in environment...
No Dep(p)th
9th Gate

Stir of Echoes / The Ninth Gate
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski , and David Koepp
Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005NX13
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Amazon.com

Stir of Echoes
The only real problem with Stir of Echoes has nothing to do with the movie itself, but with unlucky coincidence. Adapted from a Richard Matheson novel, this film arrived around the same time as The Sixth Sense, and surface similarities made it suffer by cursory comparison and the competing film's phenomenal success. It's a pity, because this one features one of Kevin Bacon's best performances, in a psychological thriller that makes a lot more right moves than wrong ones. Bacon plays a blue-collar guy who laments his ordinary life, only to learn, when his sister-in-law (Ileanna Douglas) hypnotizes him, that he is a "receiver" capable of seeing spirits and split-second glimpses of past and future events. It's a torturous gift to have--especially since his friendly Chicago neighborhood possesses a dark secret--and Bacon plays the role with an appropriate mixture of obsession and internalized torment. Similarity to The Sixth Sense applies only to the basic premise and the character of Bacon's young son. Otherwise, this is more of a hard-edged journey of self-discovery, marital crisis, and recovery, with Bacon's wife (played by the highly underrated Kathryn Erbe) involved in an underdeveloped subplot about a group of people who share Bacon's gift as paranormal "receivers." Furthering his career as a writer-director of intelligent thrillers, David Koepp makes a few missteps in pacing and thematic overkill, but overall Stir of Echoes is a sharp, sensitive thriller that unfolds to reveal a dramatically satisfying solution to its mystery. --Jeff Shannon

The Ninth Gate
The horror of Roman Polanski is not about spectacle and shock but a goose-pimply sense of evil lurking just outside the frame and hidden behind the faces of slightly unsettling characters. For a while it looks like The Ninth Gate, adapted from the novel The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, might recapture the beautiful uneasiness of such masterpieces as Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. A calm, almost sleepy Johnny Depp plays cynical, unscrupulous rare-book hunter Dean Corso, who's hired by demonologist Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to authenticate a rare volume that, legend has it, was cowritten by Lucifer himself. Dean leaves a Gothic looking New York (re-created in Europe by Polanski as a sinister city of shadows) for Portugal and Paris to compare Balkan's volume with the two copies known to be in existence and uncovers a mystery with unholy ramifications. He also finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that involves Balkan, a widow who will stop at nothing to retrieve Balkan's book (Lena Olin, who gleefully bites and claws her way through the part), and a mysterious guardian "angel" (Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner) who shadows his every step. The Ninth Gate is full of rumbling menace and deliciously unsettling imagery, but Polanski's languorous direction and purposefully vague story render a film that's eerie without every becoming thrilling. It's perpetually on the verge of becoming interesting--right up to its obscure final image. --Sean Axmaker

Description

STIR OF ECHOES: Tom Witzky (Kevin Bacon) is a blue-collar worker, a family-man, the most ordinary guy in the world...who is about to be plunged into a shattering encounted with another world. And it doesn't matter that Tom doesn't believe in the supernatural. Because something supernatural has started to believe in Tom.

After he is hypnotized at a neighborhood party, Tom changes. He sees things he can't explain and hears voices he can't ignore. As the horrific visions intensify, Tom realizes they are pieces of a puzzle, echoes of a crime calling out to be solved. But when his otherworldly nightmares begin coming true, Tom wants out. He desperately tries to rid himself of his eerie, unwanted powers - only to be seized by an irresistible compulsion to dig deeper and deeper into the mystery that is consuming his life. When at last he unearths the truth, it will draw him into the long-buried secret of a ghastly crime, a vengeful spirit...and the lethal price of laying that spirit to rest.

THE NINTH GATE: Johnny Depp unlocks the gates to hell in Roman Polanski's newest thriller. Depp stars as Dean Corso, an unscrupulous rare-book dealer who is hired to locate the last remaining copies of "The Nine Gates of the Shadow Kingdom," a demonic manuscript that can summon the Devil. Corso becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving murder, theft and satanic ritual, and ultimately finds himself confronting the devil incarnate.

Customer Reviews:

Great movies, poor features.......2005-03-05

First off the movies are great. You can tell by the other reviews if you're interested in either of the movies themselves. My only problem is with the lack of features on both these DVDs. If you are a person that doesn't watch the bonus features or listen to the commentaries, then this double pack is the thing for you! Its a great deal in that case. I however like to listen to the commentaries and watch the "making of" features. Especially with good directors like Roman Polanski on Ninth Gate. I was pretty mad today when i went to wal mart and saw a new edition of Stir Of Echoes with added features (such as a commentary!!!!!).

Oh, well.

Stir of Echoes is great, Ninth Gate sure as heck is not........2003-08-26

Stir of Echoes is a terrifically engrossing supernatural thriller that perfectly blends mystery, horror, and drama into one deft mix. It also boasts Kevin Bacon's best performance.

The Ninth Gate, on the other hand, is a lazy motion picture that undeniably boasts strong atmosphere and intrigue, but fails to deliver upon its potential. The movie ultimately leads nowhere, a destination so unfulfilling it makes the previous two hours ten minutes a total waste.

Both perfect in environment..........2003-02-20

I think both films really pass on the climate they want and this contributes to their success and makes them much more interesting for the viewer.
In Stir Of Echoes, the mysticism and the unexpected always are on hold and in The Ninth Gate, fear for what will happen next, prevails.
In stir of echoes we have the technique of hypnotism which is very interesting and not usually used in a movie, and in the ninth gate we have the dark, ruthless book collector, who asks the also dark Depp, to find for him, a Satan's book...
Both films keep you anxious 'til the end with a slight difference that makes Stir of Echoes a better movie. The ending plays a big part in these movies and in stir of echoes it is better and very iteresting..Chills you to the bone...

No Dep(p)th.......2002-04-18

This had a lot of potential but ended up being rather disappointing. The main problem is that the story is a very deep and complex work which is brilliantly written (by Arturo Perez-Reverte under the title The Dumas Club) and the film simply does not match it for credibility. Depp's acting is wooden and featureless and although Langalla is convincing, Seigner's role in the film is never properly explained. All in all, a rather directionless effort that could have been far better given the right approach.

The plot involves Depp as an unscrupulous rare book dealer who is employed to track down 2 remaining copies of a Satanic Text that explains how to summon the Devil. His employer is a rich business man with an obsession with the Devil who also owns a copy of the book called "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows". He wants Depp to find out if one or any of them are fakes.

Depp then high tails it off to Europe to interview the reamaining owners and is soon encountering all sorts of sinister accidents. he is followed by "The girl" (Seigner) who appears to be his ally. It soon becomes apparent that there is a hidden agenda as people start dying. Eventually Langella, arrives on the scene to act out the ritual but its flawed and he dies. The girls identity is never revealed and this is a mistake( In the book, she is revealed as one of Satan's rebel angels). The film ends unsatisfactorily with Depp entering the Ninth Gate himself but we are led to believe that it's for love of the girl which is inaccurate. If Polanski had followed the book more accurately, it would have been more effective.

9th Gate.......2001-10-28

Johnny Depp in another superb performance. The Corso character carries the hokey premise, and the location footage in Europe is great. This film is a must see for anyone who wants a piece of Ned Flanders.

Charlie Rose with Roman Polanski (March 9, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Roman Polanski (March 9, 2000)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Charlie Rose with Jan Harlan, Martin Scorsese & Christiane Kubrick (June 15, 2001)

ASIN: B000IMVPJU
Release Date: 2006-09-18

Description

Film director Roman Polanski, known for such classics as Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, on making movies and the possibility of returning to the United States from his current home of Paris, for the hour. His latest film is The Ninth Gate, which stars Johnny Depp and tells the story of a book expert and a mercenary who is entrusted with a book that is supposed to have supernatural qualities.

Average customer rating:

The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005AYET

Average customer rating:

Nothing is what it seems!
Not what I was expecting, but still good (in a different way)
keeps you guessing
Worst Ending In The History Of Movies
Ninth Gate

The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Customer Reviews:

Nothing is what it seems!.......2007-07-03

Not what I was expecting, but still good (in a different way).......2007-06-29

keeps you guessing.......2007-06-27

Worst Ending In The History Of Movies.......2007-06-27

Ninth Gate.......2007-06-26

Average customer rating:

Nothing is what it seems!
Not what I was expecting, but still good (in a different way)
keeps you guessing
Worst Ending In The History Of Movies
Ninth Gate

The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

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Customer Reviews:

Nothing is what it seems!.......2007-07-03

Not what I was expecting, but still good (in a different way).......2007-06-29

keeps you guessing.......2007-06-27

Worst Ending In The History Of Movies.......2007-06-27

Ninth Gate.......2007-06-26

Average customer rating:

The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
Starring: Johnny Depp , Frank Langella , Lena Olin , Emmanuelle Seigner , and Barbara Jefford
Director: Roman Polanski
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004WCS0

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