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82
Dark Knight, The
31
Death Race
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
49
Hancock
34
Happening, The
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71
Horton Hears a Who!
55
House Bunny, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
79
Iron Man
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
52
Longshots, The
24
Love Guru, The
51
Mamma Mia!
43
Meet Dave
32
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
64
Pineapple Express
50
Rocker, The
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
50
Step Brothers
47
Swing Vote
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
50
Step Brothers
50
Rocker, The
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
34
Happening, The
32
Mirrors
31
Death Race
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
24
Love Guru, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
40
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
76
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
61
Baghead
55
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
Bustin' Down the Door
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
xx
Cthulhu
86
Edge of Heaven, The
62
Elegy
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
64
Fall, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
83
Frozen River
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
58
Hamlet 2
25
Hell Ride
44
Henry Poole is Here
xx
I Served the King of England
72
I.O.U.S. A
62
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
43
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
50
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
61
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
90
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
80
Order of Myths, The
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
72
Priceless
61
Red
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
52
Sixty Six
81
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
71
To the Limit
71
Transsiberian
81
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
86
Up the Yangtze
79
Visitor, The
61
Wackness, The
52
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
XXY
75
Young@Heart
90
Momma's Man
89
Man on Wire
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Frozen River
81
Trouble the Water
81
Tell No One
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
76
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Mongol
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Priceless
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Transsiberian
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
67
Jellyfish
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
XXY
64
Fall, The
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Elegy
62
Kabluey
62
Girls Rock!
62
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Baghead
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
58
Hamlet 2
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Beautiful Losers
55
Bra Boys
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
52
Elsa & Fred
52
What We Do Is Secret
52
Sixty Six
51
Savage Grace
50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
44
Henry Poole is Here
43
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
40
America the Beautiful
25
Hell Ride
xx
I Served the King of England
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Across the Universe
Columbia Pictures
 |
|
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some drug content, nudity, sexuality, violence and language
Starring
Evan Rachel Wood,
Jim Sturgess,
Joe Anderson,
Dana Fuchs,
Eddie Izzard,
Martin Luther,
T.V. Carpio,
and
Bono
Across the Universe is a love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of antiwar protest, mind exploration, and rock and roll. The film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool and the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village to the riot-torn streets of Detroit and the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crossed lovers, Jude and Lucy are swept up into the emerging antiwar-counterculture movements. They are also joined by a small group of friends and musicians, with "Dr. Robert" and "Mr. Kite" as their guides. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart, forcing Jude and Lucy--against all odds--to find their own way back to each other. (Columbia Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Musical
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Julie Taymor (story)
Dick Clement (& story)
Ian La Frenais (& story)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Julie Taymor
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 5, 2008
Theatrical: September 14, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
131 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Here is a bold, beautiful, visually enchanting musical where we walk INTO the theater humming the songs.

88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
This much is inarguable: In the more than two flamboyant hours of Across the Universe, Julie Taymor doesn't cheat us for a single second.

83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The film is a strange, nostalgic, suitably outrageous ode to a very real revolution in consciousness.

80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Somewhere around its midpoint, Across the Universe captured my heart, and I realized that falling in love with a movie is like falling in love with another person. Imperfections, however glaring, become endearing quirks once you’ve tumbled.

80
Empire
Ian Nathan
A load of kids singing Beatles tunes? You better believe it.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Hartlaub
While the songs are recycled, Across the Universe stands out just by existing.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Across the Universe can't achieve the transcendence and exhilaration musicals strive for, but it often generates a singular kind of magic you've never experienced before.

75
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It's a funny thing: On the one hand, you fault Taymor for going out of her way to create some of the more disposable sequences. On the other, you can forgive her: Who wouldn't get carried away given the opportunity she has been given here to play with one of the world's greatest song catalogs?

75
Chicago Tribune
Jessica Reaves
If you're a Beatles fan who's not offended by people taking serious liberties with the arrangements of your favorite songs, the unrepentantly exuberant and seriously tuneful Across the Universe is pretty much a sure thing.

70
Variety
Justin Chang
All you need is love -- for the Beatles, for psychedelic visuals, for ideas about being young in the ‘60s -- to fully enjoy Across the Universe.

67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
It's all very clever and thought-through, but all the allusions don't much bolster the bland central romance or the paper-thin treatment of '60s social issues.

67
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Taymor's flower-powery phantasmagoria is ambitious but ultimately tiresome.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A bizarre counterculture jukebox musical.

63
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
To call it trippy would be an understatement. Your head might explode. Just don't accuse Taymor of playing it safe.

63
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
And yes, that is Salma Hayek in the chorus line of sexily sinister nurses, perhaps repaying Taymor for lending her dramatic credibility with "Frida."

63
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Julie Taymor says the idea for her Across the Universe was "to create an original musical using only the songs of the Beatles." That's like saying you're going to create a new element using only gold.

63
New York Post
Kyle Smith
An interesting failure, not a fascinating one.

63
USA Today
Claudia Puig
While style trumps substance, something in the way this '60s tribute moves attracts us.

58
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Disarming, discombobulating and disappointing.

50
Film Threat
Mark Bell
The film does not know what it is, tonally changing within and between structural acts.

50
Village Voice
Ella Taylor
Across the Universe, which filters the cultural revolt through a blizzard of early Beatles songs, ends up both reductive and smugly condescending to a presumptively know-nothing audience.

50
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Elements of Across the Universe are shockingly awful and the film lasts at least 30 minutes past the bearable stage. But if you like the Beatles and the idea of hearing about 20 covers of their work fills you with a perverse joy, this may be the movie for you.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Farber
Julie Taymor's visual gifts are very much in evidence in Across the Universe, an ambitious, only partly successful attempt to reinvigorate the musical genre.

42
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Goofy, pompous, annoyingly boomer-myopic Fab Four musical.

40
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
A yawn and most unforgivably features some appalling arrangements of the Beatles' best-loved songs.

38
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Hobbled by its vaguely insulting comic-book version of the '60s and by a humorlessness that can only come from talented people convinced they're creating work for the ages.

30
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
If a bullet hadn't killed John Lennon, this Beatles-scored musical might have.

25
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
Director Julie Taymor's gargantuan all-Beatles-songs musical is that rarest of animals, the perfect disaster that fulfills expectations by defying them.

20
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Across the Universe will have ardent defenders, but in the long run, it will do nothing to infuse life into the current mini-revival of movie musicals and is as soft-headed as the wishful refrain “All You Need Is Love.” Maybe that works in real life but not in the movies, sister.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 150 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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