klheintz Ocean's 11 follows the story of 10 of Danny Ocean's closest friends while they plan the biggest heist Vegas has ever seen. But instead of a summary, I will discuss what I thought the film did right and what I thought it did not do right. I will lean towards what it did not do right as I think the film didn't do the greatest job of making it really feel like a heist filmBut, to start off, I will talk about what it did right. Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean was a great choice for the time and, with the addition of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., this movie has been easily recognizable for the past 50+ years since its release. As this is the first of the "Rat Pack" films, it makes sense that it would be remembered for so long. The film also does a great job of showing Vegas back in the day. I have only ever seen pictures of what the Strip was like back then and I think they did a good job of showcasing the style from that time. From the sets to the costumes, I felt like I was seeing how Vegas used to be without being overwhelmed by the details. The banter between the group was also well done. It gave them backstory and showed that they were all close during their military service, it did feel a little forced sometimes, but overall, I liked the conversations between Sinatra and Martin's characters especially.Now is the time I would like to talk about what I did not like about the film and I apologize if it's a lot but I did not enjoy the film as much as I would have liked to. There is a lot to the story that was unnecessary. Little side stories that added nothing to the film from relationship issues, to poorly explained planning stages, and back to weird character motivation, the movie never quite felt like it knew exactly what it was doing. The Ocean's failing relationship goes nowhere, Harmon's disagreement with the plan is washed away so quickly that it made no sense to even have a scene like that, and the whole execution of the heist being so rushed. Many aspects of the film were poorly executed. Ocean's 11 took way too long building backstory for characters you didn't care for and, what felt like to me, shoehorned in a "bad guy" in the last 20 minutes of the film!The comedy aspect of the film was presented very poorly. Not once did I laugh, or even blow some extra air out of my nose, except during parts that were intended to be serious. I could only shake my head at the strangeness of some of the sequence of the scenes. There were also many jarring shots that felt like the editing in the film was someone pressing the skip button and the flow was broken up when they showed the 5 casinos getting robbed one by one, and then the money being loaded into bags one by one, and then the characters leaving the casinos one by one was just too much of the same. Overall, it was not a film I enjoyed. No likable characters could be forgiven in a movie about criminals but what I can't forgive is the fluctuating motives that don't make sense most of the time, the jarring edits that pull from the movie, and the lengthy repetitive scenes made parts of the film feel like a chore.

Evan Wessman (CinematicInceptions) I don't blame Steven Soderburgh and company one bit for remaking the story of this crime bunch. The idea is great: rob three Vegas casinos by killing the power of the whole city for a few minutes. However, this original didn't deliver much on the idea outside of bringing together what was apparently the most star-studded cast of the decade. The problem with that is that most of the eleven look too similar to differentiate. At least eight of them wear the same suits and have basically the same hair styles. The only people I could tell apart were Danny Ocean, Josh, the guy who dresses like a cowboy, and sometimes Jimmy Foster. But, I guess that's conformist fifties values for you. The remake in 2001 learned from this by making all of the members of their eleven distinctly different and giving them each a memorable introduction. The story is similar to most crime movies with assembling the team and then getting through the heist, but everything moved pretty slowly. The scenes are long and there isn't that much that happens in most of them. Besides that, there are a some tangent story lines that get a little too much attention. The most prominent of these is Jimmy Foster's relationship with his mother and step-father, followed by Danny's strained relationship with his ex-wife Beatrice. All three of these minor characters got more exposition and attention than many of the eleven, which is kind of a problem considering the size of their roles in the overall plot. We don't actually meet most of the gang until the scene when they all gather around the pool table. This is one of the better scenes in the movie. Then there is the entire third act after the heist that deals with the aftermath of one of the team member's deaths and Jimmy Foster's fifth stepfather trying to catch the team for robbing all the casinos. There is a bit of a twist at the end when the remaining ten discover that all of their money has been cremated and they all walk off regretting the cost of their crime.It could have been much better in a technical sense. The acting was nothing special in any sense even if it wasn't overtly bad. The script was poorly paced, as I've stated before, and didn't give the characters much personality, which was too bad because the actors didn't either. It also spent more time showing what happens within the casino during the robbery than it did showing the actual robbery. I probably don't need to state why this is problematic. Any other problems I might have had with it were a result of late-fifties culture and style. I guess I've made it sound like there is nothing good about the execution, which isn't true. There are certainly things that the director and his crew did right, but it's not more than we've come to expect from any movie. It's like what you would get if you made a cake with slightly but noticeably unbalanced ingredients.If you're a fan of any of the 2000's Ocean movies, know that this is not an older version of the reboot in story or style. The same goes for those who liked this and are considering the reboot trilogy. If you like the "Rat Pack", then I guess this is a good pick, because I can't see many other reasons that people might like it. Overall Rating: 6/10.

Python Hyena Ocean's 11 (1960): Dir: Lewis Milestone / Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson: Too many characters introduced too quickly that can likely cause confusion. Setup is inspiring and details a structure regarding eleven men planning and robbing five casinos on New Years Eve. The ending is priceless and director Lewis Milestone does a fine job at keeping viewers interested. However, the cast stumble about with little to do but follow a plan. Frank Sinatra plays Daniel Ocean who heads the scheme while screwing over any chance at true happiness. He is joined by Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and a whole slew of others who felt the need to get rich quick. Not one of these individuals come across as anything other than a famous person trying to make this overrated film more important than it is just by having their name stamped on it. It is a well crafted film in terms of production and direction, but too many characters leave for little development. There is a strong theme dealt with rather amusingly regarding how plans can easily go astray and not exactly turn out as hoped. That is perhaps why the ending is the best aspect of the film. That, and it allows viewers to exit this travesty. Production made out better than the role call of actors where it has become apparent that three is no longer a crowd, eleven is. Score: 6 / 10

zardoz-13 Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford play former World War II, 82nd Airborne Army paratrooper pals in Lewis Milestone's heist classic "Ocean's Eleven" who knock off the top five casinos in Sin City on New Year's Eve. This elegant, amoral, but indulgent robbery saga spends its first hour assembling the principals and doping out the plan much to the chagrin of criminal mastermind Spyros Acebos. Our heroes concoct an elaborate scheme to rob the Sands, the Riviera, the Sahara, the Desert Inn, and the Flamingo during an electrical blackout after a key transmission tower is blown-up out in the desert. Electronics wizard Richard Conte wires everything so our heroes have an easy go of taking millions. They rely on some pretty sophisticated gear in this early 1960s opus. For example, they mark everything with an infrared spray gun so they know precisely where to go during the blackout. In fact, when they wear special glasses, they can literally see the markings either around the doors or footsteps on the floor to guide them to their destination. Sadly, the Rat Pack never had a chance because Hollywood frowned on thieves enjoying their spoils. Our guys pull off the ultimate heist but they lose the loot in the last scene. Nelson Riddle's orchestral theme music is quite captivating. Red Skelton has an interesting cameo where he plays a player who cannot limit his gambling. George Raft plays one of the casino managers. Cesar Romero is splendid as a calculating character named Duke Santas hired by the casinos to ferret out the robbers. The characters are sketched with enough detail to make them interesting.