I saw this movie in a theater and when Jenny says, "You don't want to marry me, Forrest," a young child in the audience cried out passionately, "Yes he does, Jenny!"
Coming from a person with a disability, what I love about this movie is that Forrest taught the people around him that a person who has a disability is a person first. They may have a disability but they are more than their disability. What is important in a person is the good things they do for others with their good hearts and their positive look on their life.
hmm 1994 I was 20 years old & yes it did have some great movies , Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, The Flintstones, just to name a few
Ha ha I valued their opinion too. When they said a movie was awful I still rented it anyways out of curiosity. And 99.99% of the time they were right. Lol
I'm sure Roger knows the answer to his question, "How did they do that?" referring to the scene at the reflecting pool. Brilliant filmmaking. A grid was set up, and each grid square was filled with extras and shot one at a time, and then composited together into the final product. It's brilliant, and it was so very well done.
Never considered that, either. Having Jenny's son be Forrest's is a bit of a "Hollywood" style ending. If her son had been from some other guy, that would be more "realistic". Forest would still probably take care of him as he's a legacy to Jenny even though he wasn't his own.
As I told my adopted daughter, "I may not be your father, but I'm your daddy." Though I think Jr. was Forrest's biological child, he was definitely his daddy.
+Frank Smith Yes you need an IQ of 85 or above but there are plenty of people who have an IQ of 75 that can fight in the army! I had four IQ tests with scores ranging from 78-92 so does that mean when I failed I couldn`t be in the army but when I got 92 I could?! Pathetic. Mike Tyson has an IQ of 78 but I`m pretty sure he could fight in a war, LOL!
Originally i wasnt the biggest fan of this film but over the years and since losing my father in 2015, ive grown to love it a lot more and do think its a classic 1994 was such a great year for movies
As amazing special effects, script, actors were it was one moment that stuck out that would make ANYONE CRY. When Jenny reveals she gave birth to his son and his immediate reactive question because he feels unsmart, did his son copy him.
This movie was a love letter to the baby boomers. Literally the start of everything geared toward the youth started when elvis Presley first wiggled his hips on tv. Basically if u were born in 1945 u experienced everything in a rapidly changing anerica. The generation b4 the boomers I believe was called the silent generation where kids were seen but not heard. From what I understand men did not talk about their feelings. They kept everything bottled up. Women were happy to just get married & have kids not expressing their feelings either. It's amazing how much things changed & all the manor eve is happened from the end off ww2 to those kids becoming hippy's going through the disco era & the wall street greed mentality. After that was the start of technology the internet being used by the masses & cell phones & social media. Once everyone caught into the internet technology has moved at such an accelerated state. The soundtrack to this film is amazing. My uncle bought me the two discs of the soundtrack & i got so into 60s& 70s music. I first heard lanyards free bird in the scene jenny thinks about ending it all. She just shot up w/ some stranger & seems to have had enough of the partying the drugs & living such a seedy lifestyle bc of the child abuse she suffered as a child when her mom died & she & her sust sisters were at the mercy of their abusive drunken father. Seems jenny did all these things to herself being w/ total dirtbags bc she didnt feel after her father degraded her that she deserved better. Its devastating that a pedophile family member does not care about the irreversible damage they did to that child for life. A very sad scene ia when Jenny returns to the now empty home she was a abused d in & at first looks like she has seen a ghost. In a blind rage starts throwing rocks at the house so angry she is just heard " how could u do this ere things " just so sad.
I saw Forrest Gump a week before it officially came out in Melbourne Australia in a preview screening with a full audience. At the end the entire cinema applauded. I've never ever seen that happen before or since.
I've never been crazy about this movie, but Gene's take was very persuasive in regards to why so many people love it. The U.S. still holding onto a lot of baggage from various social upheavals and wars, and trying to process them, would explain all of the movies we get about them.
I've watched this movie at least 20 times. Nothing is like the first time seeing it, but it still just pulls you in, even when you've essentially memorized the script.
I remember hearing someone say that Forrest is what every single person secretly wishes they could be. Forrest accepts the world around him as it is, and he cares about everyone unconditionally.
i hope that they will put all the episodes out on dvd and blu-ray some day Siskel & Ebert were and always shall be the greatest movie critics off all time
This movie is one of the all time greats. It's my personal favorite, an inspirational piece that makes me laugh, cry and cheer. It's about a man who was born with physical and mental defects, yet because of hard work, a humble attitude and making the most of his opportunities, he succeeds more than most. It's also a story about America during that time of his life.
this movie is overrated yes but its still a very good movie. it really is. even though it does pander to baby boomers no doubt. im 24 but its a very enjoyable movie it doesnt get old. the whole dichotomy with him and jenny was just complex to me. i mean but at the same time it was very simple. its hard to explain. the movie is simple and TOO simple sometimes but other times its also complex
Robert Zemeckis is my favorite director. Who framed Roger Rabbit is my favorite movie and I really like the back to the future trilogy. The Disney a Christmas carol is my third favorite animated adaptation of the Christmas carol. I also have Forest Gump on VHS that I will actually watch when I have the chance.
Simply the most magical movie I've ever seen. I remember seeing it in the theaters when I was 11 and the first time I thought to my self "that was a great film" First time I realized what a Director did, what makes an amazing performance as an actor and realized film could be a work of art in story telling.
Profound is the word. Hadn't seen the film in a long time and watched about a month ago. We are not only still mourning as a nation, but regrettably, we're inflicting new wounds. Gene Sister described Forrest aptly as a "sweet soul." Forrest may not have possessed a great intellect, but he possessed what so many great intellects don't have: wisdom. He kept covenant with his God, his Mama, Jenny, Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. Yes, we need those to lead great movements and nations, but without gentle, selfless, and forgiving citizens like Forrest, we really aren't worth the sacrifice.
So many people cannot handle it that this flick beat Pulp. But if you stop being your hollier-than-though-self or cynical cinephile and open your heart, with Gump, you'll have the greatest feel good ride that any movies can achieve. And when I mean feel-good ride, I don't mean it like a big action movie but an odyssey of emotion through Americana.
+Johnny Skinwalker I really like Forrest Gump and find that it deserves it's praise. But I will say that Pulp Fiction should've won the Oscar. That movie was such an amazing experience.
***** I find both movies were amazing experiences to watch in a different way. Forrest Gump was this big epic and it was enthraling while Pulp was a "holly shit I can't believe that this happened!".feel.
“Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.” The line that seems to fly over a lot of people’s heads, especially people who want to bash Jenny. Forrest Gump understood something about her that many viewers didn’t. They both had to go on their own journey, some of it apart. It wasn’t about Jenny hurting Forrest. She had things she had to deal with to be with him.
It's so rare to see a hugely entertaining, hugely successful, hugely creative movie that is also so revered by film-buffs, critics, snobs, and people of all ages. Robert Zemeckis has done it with Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Castaway, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Contact (less popular, admittedly, but I love it too much not to mention it). It's a shame that he isn't as much of a household name as Spielberg (who's also great at bringing critics and audiences together).
Oh, I agree. The day we had a class throw down argument over Nietzsche was a day I'll always remember. Too many of the left probably resent the showing of the consequences of Jenny's actions. Forrest definitely represents a more "conservative" American archetype.
My favorite movie, too. Has been since it came out.... but Shawshank is definitely fantastic.... the last 15 minutes are one of the most uplifting and stellar in movie history.
in my mind i always call the film "The Redemption of Lt Dan". even though we follow Forrest, i have always thought the story was really about Dan and Jenny as well. Forrest was just existing, just moving right along through life. Dan and Jenny were very lost people that were stumbling through life searching for something, trying to fill some hole they had inside themselves. and Dan is the one that really found meaning and happiness. Jenny cleaned herself up and found some meaning to in raising her son, but it was already too late for her.
I love how they tried to get Tom Hanks to teach the child actor playing young Forrest how to talk like him and Hanks was like, it’ll be easier for me to talk with the kid’s voice.
What happened to Jenny as a child has nothing to do with anything other than evil. My point is the lifestyle she lead, and in her case it is undoubtedly due to her abuse as a child, should have no consequences based on some of my left leaning friends who feel that her getting AIDS is portrayed as symbolic of punishment for her lifestyle.
Ebert nails it, here.. One of the main themes of the movie is choices, and the way different choices affect different people.. Jenny is an example of poor choices, and her life is affected as such..
On the siskel and ebert website, there is a full video of a 1994 special that Siskel and Ebert did called Why Gump, Why Now where there try to explain how Forrest Gump became the big hit it did, and this was before it walked away with the Oscar, check it out.
this movie is for everyone. philosophers, historians, critics, everyday schmoes; even the KIDS love it! I first saw this when i was in fourth grade, and now i am a film critic in training
they talk about that scene in Washington where do you meet in the water is a camera trick always thought that was live like they hired thousands of people and just did it like that I'll have to look into it I guess
the moral of the story is to not think too hard and you'll come out alright because the American system is just so damn-well put together to benefit the common man or woman
Wait, the scenes with Nixon and Kennedy were used with special effects? All this time I thought those were actors not the presidents! Wow this special effects truly were amazing
Have you seen The Shining? Or The Godfather for that matter? I guess Shining isn't really comparable since Kubrick took a lot of liberties to make his very own adaptation of it, but The Godfather is something many people rank better than the book.
