Siskel & Ebert Classics - 9/20/91 - The Fisher King, Paradise 

First time I sat down to watch The Fisher King I wasn't expecting much. When it was finished I felt moved like no other story told on film had ever done. It haunted me for days.

I will never forget this film, as long as I live. One of the best films I have ever seen ~ brilliant acting and such an original screenplay. A film of the times and beyond ~ The Fisher King

Fisher King------- 5 out of 5 ,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mercedes Ruehl won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "The Fisher King"!

The Fisher King is my favorite Terry Gilliam film and possibly my favorite Robin Williams film. It also features one of the great Jeff Bridges' best performances (which you can pretty much say about any of his performances) and Mercedes Ruehl is fantastic.

Thank you for uploading this episode! This is one of the episodes that I have never seen.

"The Fisher King" is wonderful. They never understood what Gilliam does.

Thank you so much for these S&E reviews!!

Terry Gilliam seems to be, for many, a love him or hate him kind of director. Of the non-Monty Python films of his that I’ve seen, I’ve loved two (Brazil, 12 Monkeys) and felt ambiguous about the third, that being the Fisher King. But all of his movies have stuck themselves in my mind, begging me to return to them and again bear witness to Gilliam’s creativity. I think I’ll be returning to The Fisher King soon, and whether or not I find myself loving or hating the film any more or less than I did the first time I saw it, I think, at the very least, I will come away with powerful fuel for my imagination.

Wow, these guys really didn't get The Fisher King. That's disappointing

The Fisher King is a masterpiece these hacks did not understand.

My personal reviews Paradise (two thumbs down) Living Large (two thumbs down) Fisher King (two thumbs up, way up)

WOOOOOOOOOOW The title sequence of this show brought back so many memories

They were dead wrong about the Fisher King. "Needlessly tacked on," really? The mission to the retrieve the grail is set up early in the movie, and the actual fisher king tale is essential to the story's message. It would make no sense to complete the film without some sort of pay off for it. I found the girlfriend subplot is what felt tacked on.

I'm guessing that when they re-painted the balcony set, the graphics for the opening, coming up next, video pick, the movies they review with the film's title, and re-cap came with it. I'm glad that the later was short and that they went back to the old graphics afterwards.

● I'm surprised... *Neither* of these two GOT The Fisher King, what it was about *AT ALL*. Amazing. :(

They could both be so square sometimes- "EWWW! Too much weird shit!!" I live for the weird shit and LOVE this movie!!

Wow talk about a blast from the past. River Phoenix supporting “My Own Private Overdose”. Really takes me back!

Fisher King was IMO Robin Williams' best film.

These guys are fun to watch but many of their reviews are so wrong! The Fisher King is an excellent film

I think their assessment of Fisher King, and Gilliam’s work would be different now; I don’t know if either did a re-review/correction of this film because I think Ebert did do that for some others later in his career. In 1991, we may have not been so traumatized as a nation by repeated mass killings, and didn’t have as much understanding of PTSD. The “knight on horseback” which they saw as unnecessary is a striking visualization of Perry’s psychological condition and mental breakdown, as his way of dealing with memories almost too horrific to withstand. And just like fables/myths/fairy tales that require the main character to be reborn after undergoing a challenge to correct his errors, or learn a lesson or sacrifice in order to help someone, Bridges’ character must fulfill that quest (in this case for the Grail) for his redemption, and Perry must confront his demons of memories in order to heal.

11:08 seems like Rog forgot that magical realism is a legitimate style

They obviously didn’t get what the Red Knight symbolised and meant to Parry; (hint: it is a visual reminder of his horrific trauma - the only memory of it he hasn't been able to fully suppress). Yes he is ill and often hallucinating, but would it really have been a better movie if Gilliam didn’t show us Parry’s perspective? Of course not, it would have been much much worse. The scene they claim is needlessly ”tacked on” accomplishes two things: One, it allows Jack to inadvertently save someone’s life - as opposed to the tragedy he inadvertently caused at the start of the movie. And two, it shows, through Jack’s terrified eyes, how close the border of insanity can be: Jack has his own hallucination, based in his trauma, but is ultimately well enough to snap out of it. Not liking a movie is one thing, that's a subjective experience. Dismissing it because you didn't understand it is not good enough for a professional movie critic.

I grew up watching S&E and they had a profound impact on how I see movies. That said, they need to lighten up a bit on their review of The Fisher King, especially since that was the same year they gave Two Thumbs Up to that God-awful Cape Fear.

These two didnt get it. Plain and simple. Its a particular style that I think makes The Fisher King incredible, memorable and enlightening. ‘The holy grail is a ted herring’….. yeah thats the point 😆

fisher king is a master piece

This is another one missing from the siskelebert fan site. Andy, do you know how much longer your recordings go on after this? This upcoming time period is one the siskelebert site has a lot of gaps from. Over the next 30 shows after this, they're missing about 15.

brazil is amazing ..

Livin' Large is silly 😜, but enjoyable.

I'm a fan of T. C. Carson from his work on "Living Single", and he's the original voice of Kratos from the God of War games. So I actually wouldn't mind seeing "Livin' Large".

You wouldn’t happen to have the episode where they review White Men Can’t Jump by any chance, would you?

they simply do not understand what the quest for the grail represents. regeneration. of both lead characters lives. The Fisher King is a masterpiece. What a pair of knackers those two are "two thumbs down for The Fisher King"

Well, at least they were right about The Indian Runner.

I've never seen that both be so dead wrong about a movie as they were about the Fisher King!

That interview footage of River Phoenix is so sad. :(

The Fisher King is one of my favorites and during their trashing of it they also trashed Gillium's other films, BRAZIL!! That is another of my all time top 10 films.. These guys don't like art. They want TV style dumbed down movies, i guess..

Criticism on The Fisher King: Siskel - "It's overstuffed." Ebert - "There's too much stuff here". Horrible take from two great critics.

20:25 Two thumbs down for The Fisher King?

I'll miss him...the Sniper didn't I literally laughed till my sides hurt

Just more proof that Siskel & Ebert - for all their accolades in critiquing film - sometimes just missed the point and only saw the surface level of a story.

Siskel & Ebert were internet trolls who managed to get a prestigious tv show. I like them tho.

I really miss the days when white people still had enough spine to tell a black artist "hey, what you produce really sucks."

Holy crap them missing the point of the Fisher King. Wow. The 90s were wild. Main stream knowledge of trauma just wasn’t there. It was a movie before it’s time. In 2023 people would get it.

Wrong about fisher king

I wonder what Mike, Jay, and Rich would say about these films.

I remember I was looking forward to watching this film, but I ended up thinking it was so annoying. Too noisy, too histrionic. I did like the combination of the urban world with the world of Arthurian legend. I would consider watching it again, as I suspect I would enjoy it more now, but I don't know that I would grow to really like it.

These dudes… instead of over analyzing the beauty of The Fisher King, which they clearly didn’t get and used as a device to prop up their pedantic opinions - which are as disjointed and useless as what they said was wrong with the film… They should have just breathed in the beauty of the mountain or sky that this movie is, and not question what makes it beautiful, as we do not question what made a mountain and what makes the sky in moments of reverence, though you can explain these things. Though you can explain art… Isn’t the point to not focus on the brushes and canvas and frame and which wall it was hung upon or which people approve or do otherwise? If not, than I have missed the point and am glad for this because I can enjoy great art without interjecting myself into it. You must have a sharp axe in order to split hairs. Lastly, they seem to dislike Gilliam in general anyway….

Seriously ????

The Fisher King was such a huge disappointment. Didn't help that Robin Williams was in it doing his usual obnoxious schtick.

They 💩 all over the previous films for being trite, predictable & full of cliche. They review the "Fisher King" which is exactly opposite and rip it to shreds. What do you guys want? 🤔

Robin Williams has to be one of the most annoying actors in the history of modern cinema. Yes, I'm aware of his untimely death and the struggles that made him did what he did, but that doesn't change my opinion on the subject.

Jeff Bridges long hair movies always stunk.

Horrible review, on BOTH their parts. I loved them both, but they really did overlook complicated films. Always looking for Speilberg moviemaking in the USA - which is highly formula-driven scripts, sappy love stories, and predictable endings - along with an out for a possible franchise, lol. The entire Fisher King element, the Red Death, is completely misunderstood and overlooked. The film is about being lost in your own world and forgiveness - the huge element of the actual story of the Fisher King. Shallow and huge oversights of this film and the symbolism by the two critics - but, oh well. Those types of films are just not, never were their shtick.