The Beach (2000)

Well - Where do I start... A classic story written by Alex Garland - Destroyed by Danny Boyle & co. It would take a long time to pick my way through the debris of this particular shambles so I shall narrow it down to what I see as the main critical flaws that sank Leo's latest water borne epic 1. The movie has been aimed squarely at a teen market hence you get style over content - The beautiful people in paradise hanging out with a highly commercial soundtrack and a Top Shop tie in on the fashion side

2. The removal of the deep cynicism evident in Garlands novel - Read the book - you will find it very hard to find a sympathetic character.

3. Richards(Leo) fascination with the whole 'Nam pop culture - this is throw in as an afterthought in the last 25 minutes of the film(apart from a fleeting glimpse of Apocalypse Now in the opening reel)and falls completely flat - what we get is comical( check out Leo as he does his best Cat. Willard impressions - hilarious!

4. The love interest. Okay - this I can understand purely for its commercial reasons - it has a bums on seats factor. But it damages a vital part of the book - Richard never gets it together with Francois let alone Sal hence there is an unspoken tension in the air which adds to Richards isolation and his descent into 'Nam paranoia. Enough! If you want the real experience read the book - if you want a very cheap facsimile go see Leo and the gang...3/10

Fmovies: I'll be brief. I didn't want to watch 'The Beach' because of the bad reviews, but when I accidentally came across it while surfing through the channels, I couldn't stop watching.

If you're young and have a thing for interesting stories, you'll love this one.

10/10

Danny Boyle did an exquisite job on this film. When I first learned that it was indeed a Danny Boyle film I was a bit disappointed that it didn't have any of his "original" cast members... the people that he always works with. When I learned that Robert Carlyle was in this, I was ecstatic. This film has so many wonderful points, I can't list them all. I'm just going to say that "enjoy your dinner Richard" was a classic cinematic moment. A great thing about this film is that it's a wonderful representation of a microcosm of todays society. It shows that no matter how hard you try to escape all the wrongs in life, and all of your daily annoyances, they'll still be there no matter where you escape to. This film doesn't go from beginning to end. It circles. There is no ending because their lives didn't end. Truly a supreme film. It is what one should expect from a man like Danny Boyle. Leonardo DiCaprio gives another amazing performance. It takes a wonderful actor to be able to portray an emotion such as insanity just with his eyes, and he did so wonderfully!

The Beach fmovies. On a rating scale of 0 to 100; I gave The Beach a score of 72.

Many people have stopped themselves from seeing The Beach because of bad reviews from critics and the story of the crew wrecking an entire island to make the movie. One of those things, in my book, is a fact. They did wreck an island, and for pure entertainment, it's not worth it. Still, the bad reviews from the critics I disagree with, I found this quite a little gem, and if you agree with some of my other reviews, I recommend you don't hesitate when you see The Beach sitting on the drama shelf of your video store.

The wonders of modern technology, like computers, video games, cell phones, pagers and the internet, were designed to make our lives more enjoyable and facilitate communications. Yet for many, the complexity of the digital world is overwhelming, leading to a feeling of unreality…of being discconected. The desire to find something real – to connect with something or someone – is what drives Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young American backpacker who arrives in Thailand with adventure on his mind. Travel, he asserts, is the search for experience, the quest for something different. Richard and two friends (Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet) he meets in Thailand risk their lives travelling secret that is dubbed the beach resort for those who don't like beach resorts. At their destination, Richard and friends are welcomed into a community that lives on the beach. However, they soon discover that beneath this surface, this heaven on earth is less than perfect.

Leonardo DiCaprio declared he was not anti-Titanic when he did this film. And he isn't. DiCaprio shows on his face how successful he is when he did the film, and he is a show-off. But, darn it all, DiCaprio is good because we know he has the potential. He went a long length to do this movie, even director's favourite Ewan McGregor was passed over for DiCaprio, and rightfully so. I just can't picture anyone else playing the role. The acting hotline is also boiling with such talents as Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen and the masterful Robert Carlyle. Danny Boyle's direction is solid and he paces the film nicely, and the script is adapted well from Alex Garland's better-than-movie book. The film certainly has flaws, some scenes – particularly the ones with the dope growers – are just plain stupid and the film really loses it's feet towards the end, going completely out of control.

Still, The Beach is a film that is ripe for discussion. It features alluring scenery from the small island of Phuket, it has some striking visuals and an absorbing and intense message about finding your own paradise. It's not the best film of 2000, but The Beach remains a worthy attempt.

When you travel, you are surrounded by people. Amidst all that foreign intrigue, you are truly alone - an opportunity to be truthful to your instincts.

When you are young and you travel, recklessness and the need to experience drive almost all your decision, well other than budgetary constraints.

It is therefore quite truthful at times to relate to the character who is in search of this ultimate freedom, a place where all your worldly obligations are suspended and irrelevant.

The movie is an irony. Not only externally, that though it depicts the end purity of nature when fox's being sued for environmental damage, but also that any man-found paradise is not free, but with a price and in this case, could be the ultimate price.

I truly enjoyed the movie especially at times the sparks of life's insight and moments of traveller's consciousness that when you are there, in that destination, IT becomes reality and no longer are you foreign and problems arise regardless.

Though the romance is distracting, Etienne, Canet's portrayal is quite the eye candy.

Definitely a watch, but may not appeal to all tastes.

This is one of the few times that I have been badly mislead by the reviews on IMDb! I avoided this film in the past because of this, but thought it would be a good "soft" film to watch on video with with a friend and his wife (she doesn't like difficult films).

What a revelation! I understand that people who have read the book may be disappointed, but as an uneducated viewer this is a fantastic film! Novel situation, novel location (beautiful images, even though the beach was re-modeled), novel plot, novel characters (all of whom are wildly different yet possible to sympathise with - except maybe for Bugs)... this film has everything in it that I find so desperately lacking in the average Hollywood pulp I'm forced to watch with friends.

And I *liked* the fact that the film made a few surprising changes in style... I hate knowing the end of a story at least an hour before it finally grinds its inevitable way there (see any "action" film).