Recent Reviews for Marathon Man
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MCT:August 23, 2008Marathon Man starts out as a political thriller, but turns into a high intensity heist film starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, and William Devane. Hoffman plays grad student Babe Levy who, after being haunted by the suicide of his fathers suicide years before, falls into a former Nazi doctors (Olivier) quest to claim the diamonds that were used as payment for release from a concentration camp years before.
Even though the story isn't as tight as it could have been and Scheider is way underused, Marathon Man is a Hitchcockian thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat as we follow Hoffman's pacifist character through situations he's not prepared to deal with.
One of the ironic things about the film is that it has a pseudo Hitchcock plot and it stars the lead in his first American film (Olivier in Rebecca) and one of the leads in his final film (Devanne in Family Plot). -
MCT:August 15, 2008Not a bad thriller. It started off kind of slow. It had a weird plot. It really had that 1976 look to the film. Dustin Hoffman and Roy Scheider give good performances in this.
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MCT:July 15, 2008One of the great thrillers! Taut direction, great script, and excellent performances make this one of the best films from the 1970's.
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MCT:June 23, 2008
First it was boring.But then it turned a great movie.i dont saw another movie of Laurence Olivier.But he was great in this.And Dustin Hoffman is one of my fav actors.
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MCT:June 15, 2008
Dustin Hoffman is so Great in this movie. He's one of my favorite all time actors and i think this is his best performance.
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MCT:June 13, 2008
Pretty damn good.Legendary dentist scene just keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you wince.
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MCT:May 3, 2008
"Is it safe?"
Dental fear refers to the fear of dentistry and of receiving dental care. A pathological form of this fear (specific phobia) is variously called dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia, dentist phobia, or dental anxiety.
Sir Laurence Olivier - Marathon Man
It is estimated that as many as 75% of US adults experiences some degree of dental fear, from mild to severe. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of U.S. adults are considered to experience dental phobia; that is, they are so fearful of receiving dental treatment that they avoid dental care at all costs. Many dentally fearful people will only seek dental care when they have a dental emergency, such as a toothache or dental abscess. People who are very fearful of dental care often experience a "cycle of avoidance," in which they avoid dental care due to fear until they experience a dental emergency requiring invasive treatment, which can reinforce their fear of dentistry.
Women tend to report more dental fear than men, and younger people tend to report being more dentally fearful than older individuals. People tend to report being more fearful of more invasive procedures, such as oral surgery, than they are of less invasive treatment, such a professional dental cleanings, or prophylaxis. -wikipedia.com -
MCT:March 22, 2008
Janeway: In 1945, Szell let it be known around Auschwitz he could provide escape for anybody who could pay the price. He started out with gold naturally, but very quickly worked his way up to diamonds.
Babe: Why did you say "naturally" when you said he started with gold?
Janeway: Szell knocked it out of the Jews' teeth before he burned them. Szell was a dentist.
Dustin Hoffman stars in film that works very well as a thriller, especially if one doen't analyze everything while its happening and simply lets them self be involved with the film. I say this because by the end of the film, we see characters go through hell, but there are some loose ends to question. Still the film is very effective as a thriller.
Hoffman stars as Babe Levy, a graduate student at Columbia university. He also practices daily for the marathon. Another aspect of his life involves the image of his father's suicide, which he had witnessed early in his life.
Another plot of this story involves Babe's older brother Doc, played by Roy Scheider. Doc is an American spy who has become involved with the affairs of a sinister man named Szell, Laurence Olivier, who is known as the most notorious Nazi war criminal still around during the time of this movie.
Soon Doc's life crosses with Babe's, leading to an impossible situation for Babe, including a classic torture scene, all of which is made worse because we know there is really no way out for Babe. This film is a testament to Hoffman's talent as a method actor, because by the later half of this movie we see all the exhaustion and pain he has gone through.
This whole movie is made with 70s A-list talent, including actors Hoffman, Olivier, Scheider, and Devane. Director John Schlesinger (All the President's Men). Producer Robert Evans. And renowned screenwriter William Goldman.
There talents combined with many others have made a very fine film in terms of having an effective thriller with several memorable moments and a very villainous antagonist.
There are elements that don't work as well as they should, but the various reveals and unfolding of the plot make this film work well enough to make it very enjoyable as a tense thriller.
Christian Szell: Is it safe?... Is it safe?
Babe: You're talking to me?
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: Is what safe?
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: I don't know what you mean. I can't tell you something's safe or not, unless I know specifically what you're talking about.
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: Tell me what the "it" refers to.
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: Yes, it's safe, it's very safe, it's so safe you wouldn't believe it.
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: No. It's not safe, it's... very dangerous, be careful. -
MCT:March 11, 2008MARATHON MAN (1976)
directed by John Schlesinger
starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider«Is it safe ?»
In the 70's when you had William Goldman attached as the writer with Dustin Hoffman as the main character and Robert Evans producing you could tell you had one hell of a good film before it was even shot. Well, turns out this film have all those «qualities» and it didnt deceive.Marathon Man follows two leads, one is Dustin Hoffman as a student, even if he was already near his 40's he manages to pull off that young adult, with some easy tricks, but very effective ones and he sure was in good shape. It also follows Rob Scheider's character, a spy, or some sort, with some uncleared business.
The film begins with an old man coming out of a bank and getting into an arguement with a cab driver. Turns out one is a jew and the other is an old Nazi. They fight, a car chase follows and they die which brings us to Laurence Olivier, the most wanted Nazi war criminal, coming out or retirement to come to America to put his hands on diamonds hidden in a safe box, cause his brother died in that car accident. I know it sound sconfusing.
It takes a while to see what the connection between all those characters is but once its clear the film changes pace and becomes highly effective in what its trying to do.
From the beginning of the film we know Hoffman's character like to run and the film was called <marathon man="Man"/> just for fun and its not useless cause when he finally escapes the «bad guys» all his training becomes useful.
Marathon Man is an effective pseudo-espionnage thriller with good dialogues and great performances. Laurence Olivier is out of this world as the Nazi was criminal. The ending works just fine and the subject matter is quite interesting.
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MCT:March 1, 2008
This is an example of a director making a good script better. Dustin Hoffman is the shit and Olivier is Olivier for God's sake.
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MCT:February 15, 2008
"Is it safe?" I actually had nightmares as a kid about going to the dentist. "...Is it safe?" Frikken creeps me out just to say it. Great thriller, watch it!
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MCT:December 30, 2007
John Schlesinger's 1976 classic about a graduate student in New York City who becomes the center of a mean old ex-Nazi war criminal dentist and the government's objective to throw him over. Dustin Hoffman provides us with an excellent performance as the 'Marathon Man'. He was almost forty when he played the role and with his acting skills he makes us believe he is actually a graduate student. Roy Scheider is perfect as Hoffman's crafty and slick older brother who works for the C.I.A. Scheider really does a lot with his role making him perhaps even the coolest character in the movie. Veteran Shakespearan actor Laurence Olivier gives an incredible performance as the evil ex-Nazi that rightfully earned him a Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. John Schlesinger provides incendiary direction, and the screenplay is consistently engrossing and full of twists. If you are looking for one hell of a suspense flick with a lot of action you should definitely check out 'Marathon Man' at your local videostore. 'Marathon Man' should have earned Oscar nominations for -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Laurence Olivier, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Roy Scheider, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Watch out for the creepy 'dentist' scene. Grade: B+
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MCT:December 7, 2007
The structure of this film is a simple, near-primitive one, but that is where the simple and the primitive end. It doesn't really try to sell you anything. No simple characters, no easily identifiable emotions, little if any regurgitation of any kind. Instead, it's infused with profoundly genuine, yet subtle detail. An antique shop aroma of real human experience. Through and through. And this allows it to reach deeper than any amount of frivolous emotion jerking could ever accomplish.
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MCT:December 5, 2007
Dustin Hoffman running around half naked shooting people? Al-right. I am glad to have finally seen the infamous dental torture scene that so many movies reference.
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MCT:November 26, 2007
Intense thriller with Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider ( where has this great actor gone to ? ), Fritz Weaver and Sir Laurence Olivier as the evil Nazi dentist
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MCT:November 12, 2007Talk about excellent actors; you cannot beat Dustin Hoffman's perfomance and Laurence Olivier's either. Excellently acted, fast moving and riveting. I can watch this over and over and I do!!
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MCT:October 10, 2007
a soldied thriller, with great performances...but the is, you wanna see more Roy Scheider...and you don't! Garrr!
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MCT:September 24, 2007
A superbly paced, relentless beast of an action film. Brutally violent and entirely unpredictable, this is a must-see for fans of thrillers. Dustin Hoffman has a great everyman quality about him, and he makes use of that with his outstanding lead performance. Olivier's supporting role is given a jolt of creepy energy by the actor's manic interpretation.
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Excelently made movie, showing the greed of those who robbed their victims and the lengths they went to keep the spoils.
Recommended to view as a triller as well as a historical lesson too. -
MCT:September 11, 2007
I can live with the plot, that has become rather overused by this point (and I don't care if this one was one of the pioneers on "Nazi war criminals found and put to justice" stuff; it's not effective) but but but... all to see godly Laurence Olivier in a marvellous performance AS the Nazi bastard. And Hoffman was incredible as well.
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MCT:August 18, 2007
Long before hostel, there was Marathon Man. One of the most horrific torture scenes ever filmed. Is it safe?
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MCT:August 11, 2007Wish it was about a Mjolnir Mark IV Cyborg instead. This is just plain boring. Except the automatic in and out movable knife inside the clothes. Wanna make one myself.
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MCT:August 7, 2007
schieder is great
hoffman is such a whiny bitch though; no wonder he teamed up with tom cruise in rainman, fucking cruise acts just like hoffman-- this is proof positive
good implicit filmmaking -
MCT:July 23, 2007l'm sure there's something good about this movie, but to this day l haven't been able to follow the story
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MCT:July 18, 2007
This movie still disturbs me, and I think I gained a whole new appreciation of Laurence Olivier and a hatred of dentists at the same time from it.
