The Conversation (1974)

fantastic movie, why don't they make them like this anymore!

It grows on you, but found it a little slow moving. Might have been tired when watched it but not sure worth another look. Found it a little bit of a letdown to be honest given the high regard in which it is held.

Good but dated in some crucial scenes

As good as The Godfather 1 and 2.

This movie was very hard to follow - I lost interest half way through however my husband continued to watch until the end .... he indicated that it didn't get any better

The Conversation is a masterpiece. It has been said many times, but it cannot be said too many. It is a study in paranoia in a world of constant surveillance. It is a quiet thriller, not the rollercoaster ride of chase and action scenes that define the modern thriller, but rather the study of a character - a disfunctional man just doing his job and not wanting to care what that job is. It has the elements of a thriller. A car chase (of sorts), bluff and double bluff, a twist, murder, a hero with a mistake in his past, a honey-trap blonde. But these things are story, not spectical. And it all leads to a perfect d??nouement; a powerful scene which sticks in the memory long after the most films has blurred into insignificance. Coppola is a the top of his game. His use young Harrison Ford is a character unlike those the modern viewer is used to (unless they recall Coppola's use of him in Apocalypse now). John Cazale is once again, somehow, a scene stealer who does it so subtly you don't even realise he's doing it, and that's often in two-hander scenes with Gene Hackman who as he does at his best truly inhabits the role. As a film with sound at the very center of the story it is, of course, at an important part of the film. Garbled recordings, whispered phrases and the sound of a eight-track tape being rewound reoccur throughout the film played on screen as well as appearing both psychologically and incidentally. The film is a complete package and well worth watching. Oh, and one final note: Don't watch the trailer if you haven't seen the film it's one of those "let's show the ending, because it's pretty good" ones, and it's really better experienced fresh.

Had all the ingredients to be a great film, but ended up being so slow it was painful to watch. Kept hoping for at least good ending, but that too was hopeless.

Not bad, kept my attention.

Good movie, but it had no ending.

Boring movie, typical 70's movie, put me to sleep.

A bit dated with the absence of digital technology but a good movie and worth watching - except a little dissapointing at the end.

Interesting, gives an insight into the surveillance world.

To Coppola?s great dissatisfaction, The Conversation was released not long after the ?Watergate scandal entered the public domain. Despite what many saw as superb timing, ?Coppola believed it to be nothing but a disservice and that the film was not able to stand ?on its own merits. I think over time, however, the regard for The Conversation has ?swelled and rightly so. This is stunning in its simplicity and delivery. This is a disciplined, solid, stripped down almost Kafka-esque neo-noir thriller which ?gives the audience room to explore themes such as privacy, ethics of surveillance, ?intimacy and possibly even corporate identity and its power of our lives. Hackman has never been better. Superb film! Anybody who thinks that nothing is happening in this simply isn't watching it ... bit like Harry Caul himself

Quite slow by today's standards. This film is a true psychological thriller and an interesting case study of Harry Caul. Harry has his life compartmentalised and very ordered but it slowly starts to unravel as he no longer has all the answers.

What a young looking Gene Hackman!!!! I very cleverly mastered film which keeps you guessing right up until the end! Leaves the viewer asking questions throughout.....fairly slow moving but reasonable entertainment.

This movie's slow pace is its charm. It builds this nervous anxiety that will have you checking pot plants for hidden cameras for the next few weeks. A really lovely piano soundtrack adds to the brooding vibe. Pretty clearly where Sofia Coppola got her inspiration.

Incredibly slow, dull, boring, pointless repetitive movie. This was a waste of my time. I kept with it due to the good reviews on here, and the belieft that Something had to happen. Anything. But no, just more wasted time. I dont' know what Gene was thinking to make this, maybe he bored? Dunno, but I sure as hell was. Worst movie I have seen in many years.

This film has many resonances with the recent "Lives of Others". The effect that eavesdroppng has on the "dropper". Hackman is superb in one of his most "unHackman like" roles. What a revelation this must have been to filmgoers of the times. If the now antiquated technology still amazes us, imagine what can be done today. In many ways a quiet film, with little action, but one you continue to think about long after seeing it. The plot twist at the end is a masterstroke of dramatic writing.

worthy to be held alongside francis coppolla's other films of the 70's, the thriller aspect of the story really falls to the wayside of one of the greatest character studies ever brought to film, this accompanied with the incredibly mezmorizing make this one film you should really check out

Simplistic plot padded out with an imaginative technological background. Disappointing for a Callopote directed film

Despite the pedigree of the writer,director and major cast member I had great difficulty in following the conversation

Terribly slow and dated - though curious to see such a young Harrison Ford. The Gene Hackman character is wooden and fatally boring (though displaying pre-feminst tendancies, seems to have a bevy of women fawning over his lack of charisma and sex appeal).

I find Gene Hackman eminently watchable so it is fair to warn you that the enjoyment of this movie will depend on your opinion of his isolated and lonely character. If you do get it, hang in there - its bleak but the ending is worth it!

Good movie thats become outdated. If you like the idea of Hackman doing surveilance work then see "Enemy of the State".

This is one of those murder mystery movies which got lost in the 70's. Gene Hackman is brilliant as the too involved free-lance surveillance expert. A movie you'll think about for days, if not weeks. A very young Harrison Ford is in it, before he hit the big time.

Second time I've seen the movie and just as good as the first time. Gene Hackman always at his best portraying this type of character.

One of the great conspiracy movies of the 70s. It is slow (by today's holywood standards) but rewarding.

Best described as a 'character study', rather than a thriller. This movie also highlights the major shortcoming of DVD technology - the fact that you can't pan forward through the boring bits.

Incredibly slow, absolutely nothing happens, waste of 2 hours

Rather slow, but gets there in the end.

Starts slow but a worthy thriller with a twist.