5/5 JUST as good as the first time i saw it...
  by Connie Hughey (lafayette, CO USA)
I love this movie. i saw it in the theatre when it first came out b/c i love robin williams in dramas and he does not disappoint. other than good will hunting, this is his best work. EXCELLENT! i watched it this time with my two oldest daughters and they loved it too - it's a classic.

5/5 Don't be such a pessimist . . .
  by Eric S. Kim (Southern California)
Forget Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's pessimistic attitudes. Live your life to the fullest. That's what Dead Poets Society tries to teach, but it doesn't over-preach the message. It's basically saying "Carpe Diem", which is Latin for "Seize The Day." Mr. Keating (played by the perfectly cast Robin Williams) makes some very good points about life. For example, he tells his students that "whether it's odd or unpopular, you have to trust that your beliefs are unique." Now there's a useful quote right there! The movie itself is a real treat as well. The strong cast (Williams, Hawke, Sean Leonard, Smith, etc.) makes it even all better. The movie does contain some tragedy near the end, so it's not really the most feel-good movie of all. But aside from that, I think we can all see that Dead Poets Society is one of the greatest films of 1989.

"Carpe Diem. Seize the day . . . Make your lives extraordinary."

5/5 Seize The Day . . . And While You're At It, Seize This Movie
  by Hardcore Harley (Arkansas)
I personally think this is one of Robin's William's finest performances. But all the young men this story centers on at Welton Academy submit stellar performances. It is an incredible piece of storytelling and has earned the title "classic movie" in our household. Apart from a few moral glitches, this movie's primary fault is that it doesn't embrace the afterlife--and is pretty much devoid of an eternal perspective--it nevertheless encourages one to "live a extraordinary life. To think for one's self. To "suck the marrow out of life." To do anything but be ordinary. "Carpe Diem . . . Latin for "seize the day." And while you're at it, seize this movie.

5/5 Make your verse count
  by Thomas Laporte
Dead Poets, absolutely. Dead notions, absolutely not! Dead Poets Society addresses critical issues for students, teachers and most importantly, for parents. I was barely out of high school when the film was originally released. My experience as a student was fresh enough to recall the pressure to academically succeed, for myself, my siblings and my peers. Like anyone else I have witnessed the strain scholastic pressure can put on a family.

Throughout the film students experience trouble and triumph with family, authority, love, and anxiety. Their stories are classic and tragic all at once. Robin Williams superbly acts the part of John Keating, an English teacher who inspires his charges at Welton Academy to think independently and to "seize the day." Following in his footsteps a group from his poetry class resurrects the Dead Poets Society, a group that Keating initiated as a student at Welton. Via their newly organized secret society the students discover the wonder of poetry and the power of words. Phrases and prose command respect throughout the work. Keating regularly uses famous quotes from Whitman, Thoreau, and other world class wordsmiths to motivate his students. Mr. Keating's charisma and zest for life through poetry is wildly contagious.

Teachers have an immeasurable role in the lives of their students. This splendid opportunity comes with many privileges and an equal amount of responsibilities. One of those vital duties is recognizing the malleable nature of students. Knowing their maturity level is as important as the role of disaggregating data in guiding instruction.

Parents and authority figures are all but demonized in the movie. Perhaps viewing the film will remind parents of memories of their first experience in standing up for their own beliefs. I found it beneficial to re-watch this movie and relate to it as a student, as I did the first time, and now as a parent and an educator.



5/5 O Captain! My Captain!
  by Luv2Read (Greenlawn, NY United States)
These simple words are the catalyst in Dead Poets Society that changes the lives of a group of boys forever.

This movie takes place in 1959 at an all boys private school that teaches its students in a traditional manner. It is seeped with long standing traditions and therefore isn't perceptive to change. Consequentially when a new contemporary person, Mr. Keating, replaces an English teacher who retired, things are bound to get interesting.

John Keating is an English teacher who has no regard for restrictions against expression and so called "mathematical equations" that define a poem's greatness. He throws this all away in favor of independent thought and nonconformist ways. Mr. Keating has a passion for life that he tries to pass on to his students using radical teaching methods to teach important life lessons such as carpe diem.

Carpe diem, or seize the day, is a major theme in Dead Poets Society, and some may call it the cause of most of the conflicts that arise. It encourages a group of boys to break many school rules to form the forbidden Dead Poet's Society and secretly meet. It also causes Neil Perry, one of Mr. Keating's students, to follow his dream of acting against his parents' will, which inevitably results in a calamity.

I highly recommend Dead Poets Society because its something anyone can relate to and enjoy. It mixes a variety of genres to produces a spellbinding movie that makes you understand the reasons why and why not people "seize the day" and the consequences of their actions.