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• Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG, 1981)

  - by CloudStrife84

  My love for this great classic is truly beyond words! As a kid, it was a moment of magic for me ever... read morey time Indy in his iconic adventure gear appeared on screen. Whether it was narrowly escaping a giant boulder of death, or opening a can of whoop-ass when faced with some Nazi bad guys, you could always count on him to deliver some first-rate fun. And there couldn't have been anyone better to execute it than artisan story-teller Steven Spielberg. Nor any better music composer than the legendary John Williams, whose instantly recognizable themes are classics in their own right. Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman and John Rhys-Davies - there's not a single performance in here that isn't totally fantastic. So prepare yourself for a helluva good time. Because whenever Indy whips up some action, it's impossible not to stick around and watch.

• Jurassic Park (PG-13, 1993)

  - by fb1442511448

  Steven Spielberg's prehistoric amusement is a sheer spectacle of breathtaking CGI and terrifying thr... read moreills. Jurassic Park is fun, concise, frightening and a visual treat. The film still stands the test of time as an advancement in effects and summer blockbusters. 4.5/5

• The Goonies (PG, 1985)

  - by fb733768972

  "The Goonies" captures the emotions of kids to perfection, as each person has their own unique chara... read morecteristic, which is what each actor has brought to the table, I know, but it works so well in this film. The adventure feel of this film is awesome and for nostalgia purposes, this film can be viewed multiple times without ever getting old. With quotable lines and quirky performances from everyone, this is a cheesy children's film I will always remember. The simple idea of a group of kids leaving their town for one last adventure has never been so much fun to watch. It's not perfect, and the script is not great, but the film is very well made and directed. This movie rocks!

• Jaws (PG, 1975)

  - by fb100002384654145

  A film that demonstrates that it is what you don't see that scares you. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyf... read moreuss, and Robert Shaw give excellent performances. The story is compelling and the music is chillingly iconic.

• Jurassic Park (PG-13, 1993)

  - by samoriley

  This is my most favoured Spielberg movie. With such lovely visuals, the dinosaurs seem so life like.... read more Featuring Sam Neill, Richard Attenborough and Samuel L Jackson as part of the cast. This superb monster movie contains such intense scenarios, such as the T-Rex outbreak and the Raptor attacks.For me, Jeff Goldblum stood out with his 'Chaos Theory' and his quote 'Life finds a way'. For those who love Spielberg and the most realistic visuals, this is worth a try. For me, this belongs to a list called 'Visually stunning films you must see before you die'

• The Jungle Book (PG, 2016)

  - by fb535316333

  The Jungle Book is a boring, mechanical, reimagining of a Disney Classic I never found too enticing ... read moreto begin with.
  
  Despite a commendable effort by Sethi the film just lacks the authentic charm and warmth that it chooses to emulate.
  
  As a result the movie meanders from one over extravagant set piece to the next as we watch the awkward characters play out their roles with unbelievable motive around a child that is obviously being dictated to rather than having any semblance of free will.
  
  By the final acts I was practically begging for the movie to end.

• The Jungle Book (PG, 2016)

  - by mrbungle7821

  It seemed like only a matter of time before those in the Mouse House started looking through the bac... read morek catalogue of hits for inspiration. The Jungle Book is a live-action remake of the 1967 Disney animated film, but it's only the first of many such translations to come. A live-action Beauty and the Beast is being filmed currently and plans are underway for a possible live-action Aladdin as well, though I pity the actor with the unenviable task of replacing the beloved Robin Williams. I was wary of director Jon Favreau's (Iron Man) version just because it seemed, on the surface, like a quick attempt to fleece the public of their hard-earned money with a repackaged movie. What I got instead was a brilliantly executed adventure story with a beating heart, amazing special effects, and ultimately an improvement on the original. Imagine that.
  
  Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a boy raised by a pack of wolves. He tries to fit in with his pack but he grows a bit too slow and he can't help himself with "tricks," making tools. During a drought that signals a jungle wide peace between predator and prey, the feared tiger Shere Kahn (Idris Elba) lets the rest of the animals know his demands. The "man cub" is to leave or Kahn will hunt him down. The mother wolf, Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o), refuses to part with her child but Mowgli volunteers to leave to keep his pack safe. Kahn chases him deeper onto the outskirts of the jungle where Mowgli teams up with Baloo (Bill Murray), a lackadaisical bear who makes use of his partner's affinity for tools and building contraptions. Mowgli's new life is interrupted when he learns Kahn has attacked the wolf pack with the desire for Mowgli to return and face his wrath. Mowgli must team up with the friends of the jungle and use all his bravery and skills to defeat the ferocious Shere Kahn who has been lusting for vengeance for years.
  
  Favreau's version of The Jungle Book is a thrilling and thrillingly immersive visual experience that opens up the big screen as an exciting canvas. The visual wizards have made an entire ecosystem look photo realistic to the point that if somebody said offhand that Jungle Book was shot on location in India, I wouldn't think twice. The environments are entirely CGI and they are brilliantly brought to life in a seamless recreation I haven't seen so effective since 2009's Avatar. It's stunning what can be accomplished with modern special effects, and then there's Favreau's smart decision not to radically anthropomorphize his animal cast. These are not some hybrid human-animal combination but rather flesh-and-blood wild creatures that just happen to speak English when they open their mouths (depending upon your territory). The animals don't fall into that pesky uncanny valley where your brain is telling you what you're watching is fake and unsettling to the senses (see: The Polar Express). The animals and behave like the real deal and further cement the exceptional level of realism of the movie. From a purely visual experience, The Jungle Book is a feast for the eyes that helps raise the bar just a little bit higher for the special effects industry and its proper application.
  
  The movie would only succeed so far if it weren't also for its engaging story. Let's be honest about the 1967 Disney animated film: it's not really a good movie. It's fun and has some memorable songs (more on that below), but as a story it's pretty redundant and flimsy. Mowgli bounces around one potential animal group to another trying to find a home only to move on to the next prospective foster situation. I never made the connection before but in a way the movie North is this plot, minus the talking animals and general entertainment value. There are long segments of the original Disney film that coast just on the charisma of the vocal actors and the animation. Certainly the Beatles parody characters haven't aged well. There was plenty that could have been added to this story and screenwriter Justin Marks does just that, making the characters far more emotionally engaging. I felt a swell of sadness as Mowgli is separated from his wolf family, his mother declaring that no matter what he still is her son. Marks also personalizes the stakes between Mowgli and Shere Kahn. Each side has a grudge to settle when it comes to vengeance rather than Kahn rejecting the "man cub" out of general fear. This Mowgli is also a much more interesting protagonist; he's plucky and uses his "man cub" other-ness as an asset when it comes to problem-solving. We have a better hero, a better villain, wonderfully brought to life through the velvety roar of Elba, and a small band of supporting characters that are more emotionally grounded. The wolf pack feels like a genuine family, a community. The relationship between Mowgli and Baloo becomes the backbone of the second half of a briskly paced movie, and the predictable narrative steps feel earned, from Baloo's con job to caring for his lil' buddy. The attention to the characters and their relationships provides a healthy sense of heart.
  
  The vocal cast is expertly matched with their jungle creatures, notably Elba (Beasts of No Nation) and Murray (St Vincent). Murray has an innate way to make his lazy character endearing. Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) gives a much better motion capture performance as a wolf than whatever the hell she was in The Force Awakens. Scarlet Johansson (The Avengers) is a nice addition as Ka the serpent, and as fans of Her can attest, her breathy voice can indeed be quite hypnotizing. Even the small comic relief animals are well done including the brilliant Gary Shandling in his last film role. Motion capture for non-primates seems like an iffy proposition considering that you're either forcing the human actors to physically walk on all fours and pretend to be animals, which can be silly, or just copying the direct movements of animal models, which seems redundant then with the technological advances. I don't know how they did it but it seems like The Jungle Book found a working middle ground that still showcases actor performances.
  
  With a movie that works so well on so many levels, the few faulty areas tend to stand out, and I feel like somewhat of a cad to say that one of the biggest problems is the acting from its child star. I'll give Sethi some leeway here considering he was never interacting with much more than a giant warehouse of blue screens, which I think we've shown doesn't exactly lend itself toward the best live-acting performances (see: Star Wars prequels). When Sethi is in more action-oriented scenes, like running and jumping and generally being physically mobile, his performance improves. However, when he has to shift to portraying emotions beyond fight-or-flight that is where Sethi has trouble. When he's playing "happy-go-lucky" early on with his wolf brethren, he's way too animated in that way that unrestrained child actors can be without a proper anchor to moor their performance. There were moments that made me wince. I see no reason why an actor under ten should be immune to criticism when warranted. We live in an age of amazing child acting performances, notably evidenced by the incredible Jacob Tremblay in Room. We should expect better from our smaller actors. Unfortunately for Sethi, the visual spectacle is so luscious that the one human element sticks out more when he is also delivering a mediocre to poor lead performance.
  
  The other minor detraction for Jungle Book is the inclusion of the two songs that really anyone recalls from the original Disney version, "I Want to Be Like You" and "The Bear Necessities." I'll even charitably give "Bear Necessities" a pass as it involves a moment of levity and bonding between Mowgli and Baloo and they're simply singing to themselves as they relax down the river. It's also the most famous song and if you think about it the "Hakuna Matata" of its day. "I Want to Be Like You" does not deserve the same consideration. It comes at an awkward time and undercuts the build-up of tension and does nothing short of rip you out of the world of the movie. At this point, we've been introduced to the hulking presence of King Louie voiced by Christopher Walken. The giant ape is portrayed like a mafia don and his sit-down with Mowgli has a real menace to it as he wants to provide "protection" for the man club at a price. It's a moody moment and then this big orangutan starts singing and dancing. The illusion and reality of the movie is broken. At no other point does The Jungle Book come close to breaking its reality and it's all for such an extraneous moment. There's nothing conveyed in this song that couldn't have simply been communicated through speech. Instead, the live-action movie makes a tortured homage to the older Disney source material, and it's the one major misstep in its approach.
  
  The Jungle Book is a magical movie that actually improves upon its cinematic source material. It's a visual stunner that is completely transporting and another high-level achievement for the art of modern special effects as well as the proper usage of them in connection with fundamentally good storytelling. Favreau is able to open up a new yet familiar world and allow the viewer a renewed sense of awe. We also get characters that we care about, a strongly grounded sense of emotional stakes, and some thrilling action to go along with the CGI playhouse. I only have a few misgivings with Disney's new Jungle book and one of those is really a function of its homage to the older Jungle Book. I'll take the rare step and advise moviegoers to seriously consider seeing this in 3D (I did not). It's a great visual experience, however, that would only take the movie so far if it wasn't for Justin Marks screenplay adaptation and Favreua's skilled direction. Now The Jungle Book can be a great visual experience, a great story, and, simply put, a great movie.
  
  Nate'a Grade: A-

• The Karate Kid (PG, 1984)

  - by TheGame90

  Hey...It's a classic...just a feel good movie

• The Goonies (PG, 1985)

  - by aquateen2

  At times the film is too noisy and obnoxious for its own good. Even for the audience its aimed at. B... read moreut its one of the few movies that can appeal to most audiences with a good blend of laughs, thrills, action and adventure and an innocence that modern kids film dont have.

• The Goonies (PG, 1985)

  - by phubbs1

  Oh my god the movie of my life when I was about 11 hehe used to build dens in the garden and attempt... read more to build booby traps as well hahaha this film influenced me bigtime. Had a huge crush on Kerri Green too, so cute :)
  
  Total Spielberg with all the set designs, look of the film and 'Indy' type adventure, its basically 'Indy' for kids lets face it. This really is the perfect kids yarn for all ages with a perfect blend of rollicking fun, cheeky dialog, a touch of gentle romance and a roster of characters that most kids can relate too in one way or another.
  
  The film starts with that lovely 80's pure Americana feel based on the Pacific north west coast of the US in Astoria, Oregon. Donner handles the film with apparent ease as the young cast travel outside of their comfort zone and into the depths of the countryside and beyond looking for treasure, its so basic yet it works so well.
  
  Allot of this is no doubt down to the cast which is the highlight of the film apart from the amazing set work. Who can forget any of these guys? they are all classic characters, do I even need to mention any names? I think Feldman as 'Mouth' was always a favourite when I was a kid and I also tried to be inventive like 'Data'.
  
  As said this film was very influential when I was a kid, I wanted to be a Goonie and have adventures with the gang, it played a big part in my young life as did many other classic 80's flicks and I think that explains it all really.