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846 comments in total

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290 out of 361 people found the following comment useful :-
why such a low rating???, 14 February 2005

Author: adinutzza2001 from Romania

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

What I find completely ridiculous is why this movie, in my opinion one of the best ever, has such a low rating, so I've tried to figure out what some found against it.I noticed that the haters of this movie who make it have a lower rating than it actually deserves mainly argue that it promotes the government's politics of submission: the idea that "if you're an idiot but you do what you're told then you will be rewarded, but, if you experience life then you're going to die a miserable death." I'm not an American myself so i don't have any intention to defend the government or anyone else, but I think that the political events witnessed by the character in the movie make many miss the whole substance of the film. I think these bits of history only add to the magic of the film, making Forrest part of a fantastic world that seems so incredibly real though.

How can somebody say that Forrest is just an idiot, an ordinary person who does everything that he is told to do? It appears to me that in fact,in his innocence, Forrest does what he feels he has to do,no matter the situations and the people around him, lead only by an inner sense of right. So what actually seems to be special about Forrest is that, regardless of his intelligence, he has the capacity to discover simple truth and life values that all the others around him miss: he tries to save Bubba endangering his own life, he gives Bubba's family money and mainly displays simple goodness in everything he does.

So if you haven't yet seen the movie or you were disappointed by it, try watching it without analyzing things that much and just open your heart towards that world. The brilliant humour, the hilarious yet touching acting, the special effects and the uplifting message are totally rewarding.

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236 out of 273 people found the following comment useful :-
A beautiful fable for now and the future, 8 April 2002

Author: Chris Bernard (zonieboy251@yahoo.com) from Mesa,Az.

I believe everyone has a right to their opinion about films or other topics. However from a lot of the comments I have read about this film, I do not think many got the gist of the message from the author and the film maker. This film is a great modern fable, a fable in the dictionary is defined as a brief fictitious story that teaches a moral. There are many morals defined in this film but foremost is integrity and a simple goodness.

I have a half brother who grew up in the Southern U.S. and on one occasion we were discussing this film and he said he felt it portrayed Southerners as dimwitted. I disagreed with him and informed him that the author himself was a native Southerner. The setting is central to this story in that it lets the tale unfold tying in factual events with the fable before us.

The film was wonderfully directed and acted by a great cast on all levels. From the children who were Forrest Gump and Gump Jr. by Haley Joel Osment. Say what you want but I feel Tom Hanks deserved the Oscar award. Gary Sinise is synonymous with Lt.Dan whenever you hear those words. Sally Fields is the loving dutiful mother in her challenging situation. Mykelti Williamson as Bubba gives you a real sense in the story that Gump had a genuine friend, he moves you with his character. Words don't grasp the full performance of Robin Wright Penn as Jenny. Jennys' tenderness and pain are palpable as exhibited by Wright.

I feel that much of Gumps'appeal is his downright sense of doing the right thing regardless of the people and situations around him and we see that in this film. That being the case maybe we all wish we could be just a little more like that, the innate goodness and not the trade-offs we make as we go down lifes' highways.

The movie has it all too,drama,comedy and it challenges societal norms as well. Then there are the almost endless quotes from the movie that have slipped into everyday speech. They are too numerous to say at this point.One of the toppers for me in the movie is when Forrest is in a quandary about life and wondering as Lt.Dan said we all have a destiny and his Moms where we are all just floating around like a feather in the wind. Forrest's character puts into a term that I think is pretty to the point,I think it is a little bit of both. From my experiences in life it does sure seem to be that way. So if you have not seen the movie,see it soon you are in for a real treat. If you did not like it, give it a try again and hopefully you will see it for the great story it is!

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206 out of 258 people found the following comment useful :-
Forrest is here to save the day, 16 September 2004
Author: SteveThomp from Victoria, Australia

Who or what is Forrest Gump? Is he a simpleton? An idealist? A moral paragon? In this movie it's more appropriate to describe him as what he isn't. Forrest lives in a world that derides him as stupid but, as Mrs Gump says, "stupid is as stupid does", and in this movie it's the other characters who seem endowed with stupidity: Jenny stumbles from one bad trip to another, Lieutant Dan loses his legs, then his mind at war, while everybody else seems to engage in acts of relentless and tragic idiocy. All through this Forrest is the constant: he sees the world in simple terms, intent on doing the right thing. In this movie it's not Forrest that's retarded; it's the rest of the world.

Forrest Gump mentions and addresses many of the crucial American wounds of the 20th century: Vietnam, relationships with African-Americans, drugs, capitalism and the mistreatment of women. Naturally Forrest himself takes the morally upright line on all of these: he fights in Vietnam then rejects war as hell, makes best friends with the African-American Bubba, rejects drugs, becomes a national sporting hero, makes a million without even trying, looks for love with Jenny but loses her despite treating her better than any other man ever did. The interactions and contradictions between Forrest and his more worldly, more cynical castmates is the source of much humor, some of it quite dark. Weaving Forrest into various bits of historical footage was quirky and interesting, though played no significant part in the story.

The acting is strong, the narrative is compelling enough and its semi-documentary style direction is consistent and provides clarity and pace. However Forrest Gump is little more than an ideological fairy story, partly to keep viewers believing in the cause. Would that we could have a world where the best-intentioned half-wit could pop up at opportune moments in history, winning hearts, amassing a fortune, becoming famous. Sadly, the world generally belongs to those who have screwed over someone else to get there - and that isn't Forrest, he's too nice a guy.

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157 out of 191 people found the following comment useful :-
The zen of Forrest Gump., 20 June 2005

Author: (sundrymules@hotmail.com) from Cleveland, Ohio

This is a powerful yet charming movie; fun for its special effects and profound in how it keeps you thinking long after it's over. Like others, I've seen this movie more than once. One comment I've never heard is that Forrest's simplicity is almost zen-like. I should read the novel to get the author's intention (I remember some people preferring the book and complaining that no one at the Academy Awards gave him any credit.) But rather than an implication that you should do what you're supposed to do and believe in God and you'll win in the end, I see it as zen-like, i.e., living in the moment and not having expectations or particular cravings (other than his loving Jenny.) So he ends up just stumbling into all the major historical events of the time. Granted, he achieves this only because he doesn't have the brains to think otherwise and actually have expectations, but so many of our problems are because we do have higher intellect and desires, which ironically makes us unhappy because we know what we are missing. We love our cats and dogs for the same simplicity and always being in the moment. There's a line in the movie wondering if everything is predestined or happens randomly or it's a combination of both. It is something to mull over for a long time.

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148 out of 175 people found the following comment useful :-
Purity and innocence retained, 31 May 2004

Author: kenhe (kenhe@bezeqint.net) from Kiryat Arba Israel

I have seen this movie easily a half a dozen times, and I find that the beauty of the film is how Forrest Gump not only shares his innocence and purity with others, including the audience, he also manages to retain that innocence and purity through some very difficult times. As a Viet Nam veteran, and a college graduate of the late Sixties, I could of course personally relate to the various periods that Forrest Gump endures. I would only mention that the skillful and seamless blending of music, action, and period costume was enthralling. And yet it was so perfectly understated that Forrest Gump's travels through thirty five years of the stormiest and most meaningful years of American history only became clearly defined for the viewer. Even more so than the well known chocolates quote as a metaphor for life, I felt that the remark that stupid is what you do is probably more workable for most of us.

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115 out of 140 people found the following comment useful :-
Life's Lessons in one Movie..., 25 May 2005

Author: lacey_joeskip7 from Divide, Colorado

When I first saw this movie I didn't appreciate it like I do now. I think it may have been because I was so young when I first saw it. Just recently I saw the movie again. What an amazing story and moving meaning. That movie teaches you so much about life and the meaning of it. That life isn't as bad as most people make it seem. That an innocent man can impact so many lives with his innocence. The meaning of the movie to me is that everyone needs to have a better outlook on life. That we need to appreciate more of the little things and not let the big things hold us back. That truly although life may throw us trials and tribulations like a box of chocolates but that we have to just bite into it and get through it even if we don't like it. That we all need to hold true to our values and not sink into a place that feels like there's no hope... I just love this movie. And anyone who hasn't seen it or who thinks that don't like it I seriously suggest seeing it or seeing it again. It truly is amazing...

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114 out of 140 people found the following comment useful :-
Tom Hanks delivers an astounding performance as Forrest Gump., 23 April 2005

Author: schmimic (schmimic@hotmail.com) from Canada

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field This was flat out one of the best movies of 1994. It won best picture for a reason, along with a few other Academy Awards. I think one of the tag lines for the movie was, "The world will never be the same once you've seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump." How true. The movie is basically one simple man's journey through life. And what a journey.

The movie opens with Forrest (Hanks) sitting at a bus stop, waiting to go see Jenny (Wright) after being apart from her for years. Who is Jenny, you ask? We'll get to that in a minute. Forrest strikes up a conversation or two with the people that come and wait for the bus with him. Or, more accurately, he keeps talking regardless of whether anybody is listening or not. The movie plays out as a flashback, with Forrest taking us through all the major events of his life and narrating them.

The flashback starts when Forrest is a little boy, about six years old or so, just at about the age where he should be starting school. We get to take a look at Forrest's childhood as he gets leg braces to straighten out his back, as his momma (Field) fights (and does a few other things) to get him into public school, and as he meets for the first time the love of his life. Jenny. He meets her on the way to school, sitting next to her on the bus, and they strike up a friendship immediately.

Eventually we progress to the point where Forrest and Jenny are in high school, and we travel along with Forrest as he makes it onto the football team and gets to go to college. Forrest and Jenny never date, but he's always there to protect her. Anytime he thinks she's in trouble, he rushes to the rescue, ready to beat the ever-loving snot out of anyone who even looks at his Jenny wrong. I think one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when someone is dumb enough to slap Jenny. The film goes slow motion, Forrest's eyes go wide, and he starts charging at this guy like a runaway locomotive, and has the striking force of one too. Watching him beat the crap out of that guy is hilarious.

As Forrest grows up and goes through school, college, the army, a Vietnam tour, becomes a ping pong celebrity, a shrimp boat captain, and eventually one of the richest men out there, he also gets to take a few stops in history as the filmmaker gives us his own spin of how he thinks history would have happened if Forrest Gump were there. He gets to meet the President three times, he's the man who exposes the Watergate scandal, he's at the school doors when Governor George Wallace tries to get some Negroes into a white school, and so on and so forth. It's really funny the way they manipulate historical footage to insert Forrest into the events of the past.

This is truly a great movie. You'd be a fool to miss it.

Bottom Line: 4 out of 4 (own this movie)

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99 out of 125 people found the following comment useful :-
In my opinion, no film has touched me more than this one....., 14 May 2007

Author: Thomas Hardcastle from United Kingdom

Quite simply, the greatest film ever made.

Humour, sadness, action, drama and a Vietnam film all rolled into one.

I'm not a stone cold, heartless villain, but it takes a lot to make me cry when I watch a movie. Bambi's mother, I couldn't care less. Jimmy Stewart in, "Oh, what a wonderful life," - yeah right! The Lion King, when Mufasa bites the big one - on the verge.

But seriously - I bawled my big brown eyes out, on several occasions in this film. A real tear-jerker, and a wonderful character, played to perfection by Tom Hanks. Every bit as worthy for the Oscar as Rooney was to win the Premiership in 2007.

I cannot say it enough: This is THE film of all time. Watch it, and you'll see.

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88 out of 115 people found the following comment useful :-
Contemporary classic: one of my all-time faves, 13 March 2003

Author: george.schmidt (george.schmidt@hbo.com) from fairview, nj

FORREST GUMP (1994) **** Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson. Brilliantly directed and inspiring comic drama about the truly extraordinary life and times of mentally challenged Forrest Gump (Hanks in the best role of his career won his second Best Actor Oscar in back-to-back winning roles), a simple, honest, and decent man whose childlike innocence is his lucky charm through his altering experiences that span the past two decades flawlessly. Mind-boggling Oscar-winning computerized effects by Industrial Light & Magic has Gump meeting the famous and infamous. Hanks is a wonder (dare you not to get a lump in your throat when it finally registers that he has a child {yes, that's Haley Joel Osment}- watch his face!) and gets fine support especially Wright as the love of his life and Sinise as his best friend (Best Supporting Actor nominee) superior adaptation of Winston Groom's novel by Eric Roth (also an Academy Award recepient) that truly captures lightning in a bottle. Oscars also went to director Robert Zemeckis and for Best Picture. *** One of my all-time favorite flicks. I still cry, particularly Forrest telling Jenny why he loves her so much ("You're my girl!") and at the gravesite when the birds fly overhead.

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65 out of 109 people found the following comment useful :-
Forrest Gump, 11 March 2005

Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

From Oscar and Golden Globe winning, and BAFTA nominated director Robert Zemeckis (The Back to the Future Trilogy), this is a remarkable comedy drama based on the novel by Winston Groom. Basically, Forrest Gump (Oscar and Golden Globe winning, and BAFTA nominated Tom Hanks) is the low-intelligence but friendly man on a bus stop bench, and telling his life story to all strangers who sit down. The film is basically chronicles of his life accidentally ending up in big events of America between the 1950's and the 1970's, and finding fame and fortune without wanting or asking for it. These include meeting Elvis Presley, being put on an American football team for his running speed, meeting President John F. Kennedy, joining the army for the Vietnam war, becoming a Ping Pong champion, receiving the congressional medal of honour from President Richard Nixon, becoming a shrimp boat captain with his own company and running across America for two years. Within these adventures in his life, he always thinks of those close to him, the love of his life Jenny Curran (Golden Globe nominated Robin Wright Penn), friend Lt. Dan Taylor (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Gary Sinise), friend Pvt. Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue (Mykelti Williamson) and his mother Mrs. Gump (BAFTA nominated Sally Field), and with his low-intelligence he does not realise the significance of his actions. Also starring Siobhan Fallon as Dorothy Harris, School Bus Driver, Alexander Zemeckis (Robert's son) as School Bus Boy, Elizabeth Hanks (Tom's daughter) as School Bus Girl and The Sixth Sense's Haley Joel Osment as Forrest Gump Jr. This is one of those films you cannot ignore, even if some people think not to watch it, but like Forrest says "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both" (this explains the use of the feather at the beginning and end). Personally, this is a film I would definitely recommend to see, and not just because of Hanks in what has to be one of his best roles. It won the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Picture, and it was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup, Best Music for Alan Silvestri (he should have) and Best Sound, it won the BAFTA for Best Special Effects, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, the David Lean Award for Direction and Best Film, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and it was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. Tom Hanks was number 3 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, and he was number 39 on The World's Greatest Actor, the film was number 40 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes ("Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."), it was number 11 on The 100 Greatest Tearjerkers for Forrest at Jenny's grave, it was number 37 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers, and it was number 71 on 100 Years, 100 Movies. Very, very good!

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