frankkaren-30172 Even though this movie was from 1996, I had never before viewed it until now (2018). Very well done, interesting subject, but I will say we had to enable the English Subtitles because some of the verbal dialog was mumbled and hard to decipher...

joelsmith190 The Crucible is a drama and a 1997 film adaptation of Arthur Miller's play of the same name. The play (and the movie, by extension) is set during the Salem Witch Trials and is an allegory for the Red Scare. Being a victim of the Red Scare, it's natural that this story was personal to Miller, and it really shows in how polished and well written the play and movie are. And before you misconceive anything, the movie was actually still written by Arther Miller and he basically adapts it very accurately. The only differences tend to be new scenes added in to update the play and improve it.The first thing I have to talk about is the acting. Everyone here does a fantastic job, especially Winona Ryder, who really owns her character. When they are supposed to be deceptive, they feel deceptive. When they are supposed to feel melancholy, they do. When they are supposed to be happy, they are. This cast really runs the gamut of amazing performances, and as I said, I absolutely love Winona Ryder in this.The characters are all incredibly interesting or likable. Daniel Day-Lewis's John Proctor (arguably the main character) isn't some white bread dude. He's made his mistakes, he's failed, but at the end of the day you can still tell he's a good guy and understand his actions, even if you don't always agree with them. Outside of Abigail Williams and maybe John Proctor, I also adored Giles Cory for his personality and stubbornest. The dialogue fits the time period, making it feel authentic. And it's still wittily written and can get a few laughs here and there.As far as the costumes and sets go, they are wonderfully well done. It all fits the time and looks authentic. It still looks great regardless too, and there is no CGI or any bullshit to ruin the look of this film. The atmosphere is incredibly dark and tense, though I wouldn't say on Deathtrap levels of intensity.The plot is incredibly well written and makes sense from beginning to end. The characters never feel like they're changing just because the plot needs them to. Instead, they evolve and develop rather naturally, and it's really believable when you see some guy who was naive at the beginning to understanding exactly what's going on at the end. I also have to give massive props to the romance in the film. It's not often that I ever praise romance in a film, as I inherently tend to dislike the element as it's not often particularly well done, but the Crucible goes the whole nine yards. While couples like the Proctors undeniably have chemistry between one another, they still fight and they still have to deal with other problems with their relationship the whole way through, and the fact that it never feels forced deserves massive kudos.The musical score isn't amazing, but it's definitely fine. It's your standard, sweeping orchestral soundtrack with nothing really new to spice things up. Surely serviceable, but it's also surely worth mentioning.It's not often that I bother to mention cinematography, but this film is beautifully shot.The Crucible is undeniably one of the greatest drama films I've seen-- it's up there with V for Vendetta, it's that good. I truly have no real criticisms to level at the Crucible. It's just an amazing ride and kept me interested the entire two hours. If you see it around sometime and you like some good drama in your films, definitely check it out. The Crucible gets a 10/10.

hcps-jenkinsem I just recently watched the Crucible by Author Miller, and it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be! It turned out to be a really good movie and 100% better then I expected. It was very dramatic, and kept you wanting to keep watching it to find out what happens next. Every time, I tried to look away during the movie, I just couldn't because I was so interested and excited in seeing what happened it was hard to look away. When we first started watching it in class, no one was interested, but by the end of class, everyone was mad that we had to leave, and couldn't finish the movie, considering we were so interested, and it was at the part, when Abigail met John Proctor outside of the church. Anyways, the movie was funny, sad, and very good!

andrewgill8675309 The Crucible is hard to adapt to the big screen. It's a long script, and has to be handled in a very particular way or risks being laughable. This production wasn't laughable, but what it was was middle-of-the-road in many aspects. The acting is pitch perfect in some scenes, mainly those representing Act 3 and 4, where the tension is high. However, at lower tensions various actors come across as somewhat bored (such as Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor, whos relationship with Proctor initially showed like a school play on screen, with very little chemistry) however this was picked up well by the end. Daniel Day Lewis wasn't perfect as the character. He displayed great care towards Abigail and virtually none for Elizabeth in their first scene together, which makes it look like Proctor wants Abigail more, the exact opposite of the play's intention. Various lines were delivered wrong, and various character interpretations felt contrived (Mary Warren does not start crying hysterically instantly when she sees Proctor, read the play Karron Graves.) but overall, by the end the acting feels balanced enough to be... just below good.The use of lighting, sound, and set was far too naturalistic for my taste. They could have really built up the tension with creative imagery, editing, some good score, a bit more style that would give the representation of Salem more substance. It all feels very normal, which takes away from the theme of hysteria that is supposed to have taken over the whole town. I'm not saying they needed a CGI extravaganza or a Zack Snyder "Sucker Punch" style movie (although the latter would be really interesting, actually) but a bit more flair was necessary. In my opinion, anyway.Finally, the addition of scenes: Again, very mixed in results. The scene in the woods? Well done, well shot, creates a good atmosphere and actually adds to Abigail's character early on. The end scene with the Lord's prayer? Really solid, interesting, poignant, and historically accurate to one person actually hung in Salem. The scene where Proctor confronts Abigail in the woods? No. That showed a complete lack of understanding of the text. Elizabeth being arrested in the play was a result of Proctor being selfish and NOT putting what was right over his desire to keep a good name and not to hurt Abigail despite knowing what she did was wrong, and this scene missed the mark so hard it wasn't even funny, it kind of made me cringe and say "No! You were going so well!"Like I said, it's moderate. The acting's okay, but not great (apart from Winona Ryder as Abigail. She, in my opinion, was perfect) the technical aspects are accurate, but very uninteresting, and the addition of scenes sometimes misses the mark. Was it as bad as some adaptations of great plays? No. But that doesn't mean it deserves more praise than it gets. The movie was fine, but the play was brilliant, and that's what stings the most about this movie.