4/4  Norton's breakthrough performance @ #44.
Primal Fear tells the story of a seemingly harmless altar boy who is accused of murdering Chicago's most beloved archbishop. Big shot lawyer Martin Vail takes the case to prove his client's innocence, and ends up digging up clues that prov... (read full)

3/4  Primal Fear Quick Review
The twist at the end literally made Edward Norton a star.

3.5/4  Primal Fear Quick Review
My first exposure to Norton and he was amazing in this! Very disturbing and creepy. Loved it!

  Primal Fear Quick Review
Another great movie that I had never seen. Edward norton is great in this movie like always and the story has many twists and turns.

3.5/4  Primal Fear Quick Review
Who manipulates the manipulators? Ed Norton breaks out on the scene with great intensity, showing why he's one of my favorite actors. Plenty of twists and a great ending make this a personal favorite of mine.

5/5 Fantastic Presentation,Even Had A Surprise Ending!
  by Rogue1
One of the best movies I've ever seen. It was the first time I ever saw Edward Norton and it was immediately clear that I was watching a major major talent!

4/5 Edward Norton is genius. And that's enough for this film.
  by James Donnelly (Arizona)
To be totally honest, this is a very much by-the-numbers legal thriller. Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand, Steven Bauer, John Mahoney and Andre Braugher all put in fine performances. The film has good moments of suspense and drama, and Gregory Hoblit directs the film with a modicum of passion and intensity. When all is said and done, this is a pretty unremarkable film...

...and then you have Edward Norton.

Edward Norton's ingenious performance is what elevates this film above and beyond a great many other legal thrillers. This being the first of many great performances to come from Norton, he brings a lovability, gullibility, quiet menace and unbridled fury to a role that could have easily been portrayed in a very TV-movie kind of way by a lesser performer. When he's on screen, the quality of the performers around him turns the dial up to eleven. He gives the role of Aaron Stampler a life of its own, and he's really the only actor in the film that you can sense isn't just pantomiming a character stereotype. Gere is the flashy, selfish, self-absorbed defense attorney; Linney is the cold-as-ice, tough-as-nails prosecutor; McDormand is the intelligent, maternal psychologist; Woodard is a tough-but-fair judge; Bauer plays essentially the same role he played in SCARFACE... anyway, you get the idea.

It's essentially a film that, if it had lacked Norton, would be maybe a 2-star movie at best, even with the shock ending. But because Norton is such a naturally gifted performer and the way that he sells the character and the shock ending is what elevates this film to a highly recommended 4-star film.

Also, bear in mind, Cuba Gooding Jr. for JERRY MAGUIRE beat Norton for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1996. What is Cuba Gooding Jr. doing now? After a string of embarassingly awful features, he's done nothing but Direct-to-DVD films and bad television shows. Norton... he's committed some of the most amazing performances to film since then and is still not recognized by the Academy.

Just another example of how frighteningly wrong the Academy can be.

5/5 One of the best movies I've ever seen!
  by S. Lazzar
There is not much I can say about this movie except that it is IMO a genuine classic! Great script and plot, top-notch acting performances, and a surprise ending that is up there with the best of them.

The blu-ray also includes some great NEW interviews and commentary by the key cast and crew members. Edward Norton's contributions to the movie are the highlight here. You realize just how great of an actor he is after watching the bonus feature entitled "The Final Verdict - Making Of Featurette" (HD - 18 minutes). Also, all of the extra bonus feature material is in 1080p/24p, so the quality is equal to that of the movie itself. I would HIGHLY recommend buying this in blu-ray for the extra features alone, in addition to the better picture quality.

3/5 Primal Fear - Hard Evidence Edition - Blu-ray Info
  by LGANS316 (Tokyo Japan)
Version: U.S.A / Paramount / Region Free
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / AACS / High Profile 4.1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Running time: 2:10:27
Movie size: 37,15 GB
Disc size: 46,03 GB
Total bit rate: 37.97 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 29.95 Mbps

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 3182 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3182 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps

Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Number of chapters: 26

#Commentary by Director, Writer, Producer, Executive Producer and Casting Director
#The final verdict - making of featurette (HD - 18 minutes)
#Star witness - casting featurette (focus on Edward Norton) - (HD - 18 minutes)
#Psychology of guilt - documentary on the insanity defense - (HD - 13 minutes)
#Original theatrical trailer (HD)

3/5 Reviews should include notes about Blu-Ray VERSION
  by G. Maher (Concrete Jungle, USA)
So the movie was good...how about the extras? What about the conversion quality? vs DVD etc. I haven't seen it, someone help!!!