4/5 A classy and somewhat classic remake.
  by Mr. Censored (Maine)
In Martin Scorsese's remake of the 1962 thriller, "Cape Fear," Robert De Niro is cast as the villain with a vendetta, Max Cady. Max was put away for fourteen years for battery (but is later revealed to be rape) and finds the time to educate himself. He reads lots of books, gets close with God and eventually comes to the conclusion that his lawyer, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) wronged him. It turns out Bowden suppressed evidence that would have at least lightened the sentence, and upon his release, Cady sets out to make sure each and every day of his life is a living nightmare. He covets Bowden's wife (Jessica Lange), corrupts his teenage daughter (Juliette Lewis) and nearly destroys his career and credibility, forcing the family into hiding. It seems there is nothing Cady isn't willing to do to seek vengeance and he is so smart about it that it leaves the slippery lawyer helpless and desperate, much in the same way he left his client all those years before.

While it's not one of Scorsese's best or most critically beloved films, "Cape Fear" is at least a rarity in that it is a remake that is better than the original. Sam Bowden's character in this film, as portrayed by Nolte, is a much more layered and complex one than in the original, thus making it difficult to distinguish who the bad guy is. Heck, if it weren't for a few scenes of graphic violence that show off Cady's mean-streak, you'd likely be left in the dark as to who you're supposed to root for. De Niro's turn as Max Cady is possibly one of his most colorful and most intense since "Taxi Driver," and even went as far as to earn him an Oscar nomination the following year. His performance in this film is a testament to how versatile an actor he can be, and his portrayal of the cold-blooded yet well-read killer will stick in your head for days. Take a scene where he seduces Juliette Lewis' character. Taboo for its time (yes, even for the 90's) it is no doubt one of those scenes that will make your skin crawl and marks the point where you realize these aren't stock characters we're dealing with here.

Scorsese's take on the material is very much old-school and Alfred Hitchcock inspired. The original score from composer Bernard Herrmann is left intact and helps push the mounting terror over the edge, making the film seem like a nightmare you just can't wake from. "Cape Fear" is, at its core, a chilling thriller where its characters spend most of the time desperate and frantic. They make bad choices that lead to an intense final act that has earned its place in Hollywood history. Truly an intense film about ugly characters delivered with a touch of class by its director and filled out with performances that range from great to legendary. If one thing can be said about this movie, it's that it will stay with you for a long time after watching it.


4/5 The martin and bobby show
  by Adam Cravens (Nashville, TN)
with martin having found his new muse in leo i found it particularly interesting to go back and watch his later work with his former avatar. i dont know that its as award worthy as some of there past collaborations but its still high quality and well worth watching

5/5 "The Best Movie Remake!
  by Terry Richard (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada)
Hollywood has never really done remakes all that good over the years, but the 1991 film "Cape Fear" proves that statement false. This movie totally outshines the original, made in 1962. The original "Cape Fear" was excellent too, but the 1991 version has more action and suspense.
Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange are the stars here and what's amazing while watching this film you forget they are stars. These actors are totally into their characters, and you forget that you are watching actors playing these roles. These roles spring to life, which is a testament to the kinds of actors in this motion picture. Mortin Scorse directed "Cape Fear", and it's one of his best works.
The movie is not for the squeamish. Robert DeNiro plays one of the most heartless villins in movie hostory, as he wants to wreak vengence on Sam Bowden and his family. Many years before Sam defended Max Cady in a rape trial and hid evidence that could have gotten him off. Max then spent years in prison, and now that he's a free man all he has on his mind is to get even.
The most disturbing part of the film is when Max picks up a woman at a bar who works with Sam in his law firm. The battery and rape scene is extremely disturbing and graphic, but it had to be filmed to depict the kind of animal Max Cady is.
Juliette Lewis stars as the Bowden's daughter, and it's one of her first movie roles. Her portrayal as a teenager is a dead ringer for people in her generation. Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, who starred in the original "Cape Fear", have supporting roles in the newer version.
The DVD is spectacular with commentary, trailers, and a documentary with the cast and crew on the making of the film.
Robert DeNiro, my favorite actor ever, received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor, but lost that year to another villin, played by Anthony Hopkins for "The Silence of the Lambs".

5/5 Martin Scorcese's Cape Fear is Force Majeure
  by C. Flores (Portland, OR)
I disagree with the editors that the remake, which is arguably superior in every way to the original, is not even worth a look. No disrespect intended to Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum who were both great actors who delivered solid performances in the original, but I prefer the 1991 version. For her role as Danielle Bowden, Lewis was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The remake also features one of the greatest actors of all time, Robert DeNiro, and was directed by one of the greatest directors of all time, Martin Scorsese. That is to say nothing of the brilliant cinematography and soundtrack.

In the role of Sam Bowden, Nolte gives a convincing performance as a mild-mannered attorney who is knocked for a loop when his past comes back to haunt him. I give Nolte props for showing his range here. Instead of the stereotypical tough-guy part that he often finds himself in, Nolte as Sam Bowden is a 4-eyed wimp who doesn't even know how to handle a gun.

Take the scariest convict you've ever seen in a newspaper or on TV, magnify him 10x over, give him a very bad axe to grind and you've got DeNiro's Max Cady. With his deranged and (at least in his sick mind) scripturally-based vendetta tattooed on his flesh, he proclaims that he is here to "save" Sam Bowden and that he is going to "guide him through hell to reach his paradise." DeNiro is like a master chess player, besting Sam at every turn.

The remake Bowdens are flawed and thus more believable--they are real people with real problems, unlike the original Bowdens who were an Any Family from Main Street America. In the remake, Sam Bowden cheats on his wife (and maybe in the courtroom). Leigh Bowden chain smokes, screams at her husband and dreams of a lover she doesn't have. Danielle Bowden hides in her room when her parents fight and gets busted for smoking pot. Max Cady is able to capitalize on the weaknesses of the individual family members, pitting them against each other and making them in turn more vulnerable to him and his schemes.

The stakes are also higher in the remake. In the original, Bowden served as a witness to Cady's crime. Scorsese changes the relationship between Cady and Bowden. The storyline is more complex since remake Bowden is not only Cady's attorney, but the attorney who abandoned him and sold him up the river. A larger issue is examined: The all-too-common problem of court-appointed defense attorneys who fail their clients. And while we examine Sam and Max, we also examine ourselves. Would we have done the same thing if we had been in Sam's place? Is there one member of the audience who feels sorry for Max Cady, even though maybe they should? There is a certain karmic satisfaction that after Sam failed Max, everyone around Sam is now failing Sam. As much as we loathe Max Cady we may not be so quick to side with Sam Bowden, either. Remake-Sam carries a heavy weight and for the severity of his transgression he must stand trial, literally.

Where Hero-Sam (Peck) did in the end what we expected him to do all along, Sinner-Sam (Nolte) redeems himself and is absolved of his guilt when his hands are washed clean in the raging river. God is missing in the original but arrogantly and pervertedly invoked by DeNiro's Cady. In the remake, God is in fact the only able-bodied character other than Max Cady. Force Majeure is an unforeseeable act of God that cancels all promises and obligations. And it is the act that saves Sam Bowden and his family. We find out that the villain's flesh-art and bellicose proclamations were, afterall, only the rantings of a lunatic. God is not on Cady's side.

I would recommend the original to someone who is in the mood to be entertained by a simple story about right and wrong. I would recommend the remake to someone who is in the mood to be entertained by a story about a situation so wrong only God can make it right.



5/5 GOTTA WATCH OUT FOR ALL THOSE CHRISTIAN MURDERERS
  by Steven Travers (CALIFORNIA)
In "Cape Fear", Marty Scorsese introduces a Fourth of July parade scene rife with sluggish Americana. The scene is slowed down, given morbid music, and depicts patriotic icons with bland expressions, going through the motions while an unenthusiastic crowd masks a black-and-white cancer. It also chooses to make Bob DeNiro a really dangerous Christian who quotes Scripture, speaks in tongues and preaches while he commits his acts of violence. Outside of one episode of "The X Files" in which a sect of Hasidic Jews included some ghost-Jew character who kills in the name of same ancient Hebrew tenet, I cannot recall seeing openly Jewish killers on screen.