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Ocean's Twelve
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List Price: $12.98
Our Price: $9.49
Your Save: $ 3.49 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, Ed Kross, Julia Roberts
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780790795355
Format: AC-3
ISBN: 0790795353
Label: Warner Home Video
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-04-12
Running Time: 125
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2004-12-10
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Editorial Reviews:
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They're back. And then some. Twelve is the new eleven when Danny Ocean and pals return in a sequel to the cool caper that saw them pull off a $160 million heist. But 160 million doesn't go as far as it used to. Not with everyone spending like sailors on leave. Not with a mysterious someone stalking Danny and crew. It's time to pull off another stunner of a plan?or plans. With locations including Amsterdam, Paris and Rome, the direction of Steven Soderbergh and the original cast plus Catherine Zeta-Jones and others, Twelve is your lucky number.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Talk about sloppy seconds...
Comment: The thing is, I should have known this was going to happen, and in a way I did. I mean, I've been vocal about not getting into `Ocean's Eleven' and I just had this horrible feeling that this movie was going to be just as bad. I never imagined that it would be worse, but `just as bad', yes.
The whole concept behind the original film was taking a bunch of highly recognizable stars and throw them into a fast paced (albeit brainless) caper of a film where they got to be funny (sort of) and interact on a very personal level with one another, hopefully to engage the audience and make a lot of money. The problem was that not one of the actors could live up to their own hype. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts...all actors who are genuinely charming and interesting and engaging, yet together at this magnitude they were lukewarm at best. The problem with `Ocean's Twelve' is that they repeat the same ineffective formula, adding only layers of confusion and stupidity to spice things up.
I can't even really begin to explain to you what they are trying to pull off here, but I'll attempt it. The gang is all back, except this time they are stealing money to save their lives since Terry Benedict (the guy they robbed in the first film) has found them all and tells them if they don't pay back what they stole with interest then they are dead men. They flee to Amsterdam to try their hand and getting back the money but there is a thief called the Nightfox who is one step ahead of them the entire way. Seems that he sit he one who tipped off Benedict as to their whereabouts because he felt threatened by Ocean's success and wanted to prove once and for all that he was the better thief.
Add to the mix Rusty's (that's Pitt) former flame Isabel Lahiri, who has an agenda all her own, and you have a slightly confusing, rather bland and boring answer to the mess they handed us in 2001.
I really wanted this to be so much better than it was. I thought that maybe the spark they were missing in `Ocean's Eleven' would be found after these years went by and they might bring something fresh and exciting to the table, but this atrocity if far worse than the original. Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, Garcia, Zeta-Jones, Caan, Affleck, Cheadle (who fares better than anyone else) and especially Damon are all just boring. There is no natural charm in these actors.
Honestly, aside from one hilarious scene where Tess pretends to be Julia Roberts in order to complete a heist and is accosted by Bruce Willis, the film almost put me to sleep. That one scene saved the film a bit.
I have yet to attempt the third film (it's been sitting on my DVR for months now) but I will soon. I'm not looking forward to it, but I would feel incomplete if I didn't at least give it a try. I want to give this movie an F because I was so furious with its lack of real effort, but I'm going to settle for a D, maybe D-. The film is dreadful in scenes, but Roberts elevates the whole film with three minutes of pure unadulterated charisma, and for that I am grateful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Underrated fluff
Comment: A lack of pretension can cover a multitude of sins- even the lack of a plausible script. Such is the premise that Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven remake of the Rat pack classic 1960s caper film, must have been pitched at studio executives with. Simply put, never has a film about less, with less characterization and more smug mugging for the camera ever worked better. There were a plethora of such films in the 1960s, both American and European, and even Japanese, but none with the star power this film has. Style, on very rare occasions, can trump substance, and this film is that exceptional one that proves that substance usually is king.
Ok, what of the plot? In the first film Danny Ocean (George Clooney)and his crew stole $160 million from the casino of a big time casino owning mobster named Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). This film opens three years later, with all eleven thrives hunted down and given a deadline with which to pay back the money with interest, or die. Of course, there are plot holes galore. The whole set up is untenable, and the fact that such smooth operators would so easily expose themselves is ridiculous. Still, there are some really funny scenes of Bernie Mac in a massage, Rusty (Matt Damon) as a lap dog, and assorted other funny scenes. Only Ocean manages to escape such a threat- but not for long, as he re-teams with the others to make things right....What I find amazing is how many reviewers panned this film. It reminded me of the roasting the 1998 Hollywood version of Godzilla got; as if a film about a big lizard stomping on New York would or should have been Oscar caliber? This is why I started off talking about pretense, and its ability to salvage potentially bad films. In this case, it works, and so does the film. Now, if Ocean's Thirteen were smart it would just focus all on Ms. Jones. Sometimes pretense has its charms!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Your Time Is Valuable - This Film Steals It
Comment: Steven Soderbergh has made some very good films, this isn't one of them. Lots of talent in the cast, with the exception of Brad Pitt of course, who continues to embarrass himself, and us, with his impersonation of an actor. Having so much recognizable talent on screen is very distracting from the story, which is unfortunate, since there is no story worthy of the name. The script, if one may use such a lofty term to describe it, is simply wretched - some scenes contain dialog that is truly cringe-worthy. The producers of this bloated catastrophe have attempted to cover its sheer vacuousness with lavish production value, lots of dressy location photography in swish European hot spots, and Hollywood "in jokes" like Julia Roberts doing a bad impression of Julia Roberts - which when you think about it - is all she ever does. This movie doesn't merely fail, it fails on every conceivable level - it is a thief of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: About emperors and clothes...
Comment: This is probably not the worst film I ever saw (that must have been some pretentious "artistic", "expressionistic" crap) but it is definitely among the stupidest.
The director shows not a grain of respect for the intelligence of a common viewer and just keeps parading actors on the screen talking nonsense, doing improbable and in the end achieving impossible.
If all this would have been infused with some self-deprecating wit and humor *maybe* it could have been viewable (just maybe). But being soaked with actors' love of themselves and disregard for the character they are supposed to embody, it is painful to look at. There is more good acting and dialog when these stars walk the red carpet on Oscar nights and talk to Joan Rivers than in this movie.
Yes my friends, the emperor has no clothes, and the sight is not pleasant...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not great, but not terrible, either
Comment: I know there are a lot of negative reviews out there of Ocean's Twelve. While I think it's the weakest movie of the trilogy, I don't think it's terrible. There are things about it that I don't like, but there are also things about it that I like, and these positive things make the movie watchable and enjoyable, at least for me.
First, the negative aspects of the film. There are three major problems that I see. First, the plot is unnecessarily complex. One of the many positive traits about Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen is that they're both straightforward heist movies, with plots that are easy to follow. The plot of Ocean's Twelve is too smart for its own good. The "twist" in the movie is kind of silly and not very believable. Second, in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen, every member of the gang is given a significant role and screen time, both of which highlight their individual personalities and acting talents. In Ocean's Twelve, the characters of Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) and Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) are given minor roles and are missing from large portions of the film. The movie does suffer from the absence of Reiner and Bernie Mac. Third, the acting by most of the members of the gang is not up to the high standards set in both the first and third films. It seemed like a lot of the guys just stood around a lot and phoned in their performances. Only the acting of Catherine Zeta-Jones had any kind of weight to it.
Now for the positive aspects of the movie. David Holmes composed the music for all three movies, and his soundtrack for this movie is just as good as the other two films. The European locations were beautifully shot. I loved the sequence near the end of the movie of the Night Fox twisting and contorting his way through the lasers in the museum. The movie does have its funny moments, especially the long sequence after the opening when Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) confronts each member of the gang. And, I got the sense that the members of Ocean's gang respected one another, as evidenced by the ending sequence, and enjoyed working together.
So, all in all, I wouldn't call this a great movie, but I wouldn't call it terrible, either. I'd call it just good enough.
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