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Thanks for the memories!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

In case you are wondering, I *did* see the original 1950 "D.O.A." movie years ago, and I remember that I enjoyed it. Much more so than this unnecessary remake. While it's not the worst remake I have seen, it is burdened by flaws that will be noticeable to even those who haven't seen the original version. For one thing, there is the portrayal of the central protagonist. He comes across as a kind of a jerk both before he is poisoned as well as when he knows he is dying and is trying to figure out who the culprit is. Another problem with the movie is that it is pretty easy to figure out who the culprit is as well as that person's motives - all you have to do is look at who is near the top of the cast billing and realize that that certain person seems to have no other purpose in the movie. The direction is stylish and effective at times, but more often than not it is loud and garish, and ends up being very distracting. Even if you dislike black and white movies (unlike myself), this is definitely one time where you'd be more satisfied with the original movie rather than this remake.

Thanks mostly to its unique premise (yes, yes, I know it's a remake, but it's still pretty unique), "D.O.A" has the strong sense of narrative propulsion and urgency that most thrillers wish to achieve, backed up by an innovative music score and effective, occasionally "distorted" cinematography. The film even has some existential depth to it; the scene where Quaid learns the news of his imminent death, runs outside, and experiences the sun, the air, the people as if it's for the first (and possibly last) time is terrific. The one flaw of the movie is the obviousness of its red herrings; it wants to be a whodunit, but the killer is not that hard to spot. Apart from that, a good movie with a good cast. Best line: - "This is kidnapping, you know" - "If I'm lucky they'll give me life!". *** out of 4.

It's the only movie that I can think of when I instantly knew who the killer was. It is in the scene after the plot kicks in, this is a spoiler, but someone dies. Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern is sitting in Dexter's office and drinking.Since Dexter has quite the drinking problem, we are supposed to assume that he could have gotten the "Mickey" from anyplace. We are set up to believe that he got it from Meg Ryan's character, Sydney. Dexter even gets that idea. But from that one scene it is pretty obvious who did it.Now for the why do we care part. Quaid is a gifted performer, who never really got his due. I think, that his career took a downward turn after he played Jerry Lee Lewis, maybe the worst biopic ever made. I liked it at the time, but after having seen 20 or more of the same genre, I can definitely say that it is the most untrue to life bio ever made.Enough of that. Quaid is actually quite good here but the mechanisms of the plot weigh him down from nearly the beginning. As a mystery we are given too many distractions and it takes us a long time to get to the climax.There are a few good spots in between. The scenes with Charlotte Rampling as a Black Widow type and her little overprotective chauffeur. He is quite the character, extremely violent but always polite. May I break your neck with this 2*4, please? Sorry, that line is not in the movie but it could be if they made a spoof of this film.Since I knew what was coming, I would have preferred if they cut at least 10 minutes from the end. There is an extremely poor fight sequence at the end.Still, if you wanna see Dennis Quaid in one of his best parts it's definitely worth a look. He wouldn't get a choice one again for years.

D.O.A has a good premise, borrowed from a 1950 film of the same name and a 1969 film entitled Color Me Dead. But beyond the premise it fails to develop into anything worthwhile. The script mistakes ludicrousness for cleverness; the directors peculiarly seem to think they're making a pop video rather than a film; and Dennis Quaid puts on a weird grin and raises his eyebrows maniacally as if he's auditioning as a Jack Nicholson impersonator. It's good for a laugh but, since that wasn't the original intention, it's hard to rate this as a worthwhile film.English lecturer Dexter Cornell (Quaid) is a bitter, bored shell of a man. Formerly a great author, he never recovered from the critical failure of his fourth and final novel and vowed never to write again. Without the drive of writing to fill his life, he gave up on everything else too, including his marriage and his dedication to the job. When pupil Nick Lang (Rob Knepper) apparently commits suicide after handing in an assignment, Cornell hits the booze to get over the shock. But soon thereafter, he learns that he has drunk a slow-acting poison, and that within 48 hours he will be dead. So close to death, he finally finds a renewed purpose in being alive.... as, aided by student Sydney Fuller (Meg Ryan), he desperately attempts to solve his own "murder".It's such a good idea that one can hardly imagine how it could fail. But it does. It really, really does fail in a big way. All the pointlessly fancy camera angles, all the inappropriate musical scoring, and especially the jaw-droppingly stupid solution to the mystery, conspire to ruin the film. D.O.A stands for "Dead On Arrival", and that's the perfect adjectival phrase for the entire film. Some day, this wonderful idea for a film might be used once again to better effect, but for now you'd be best advised to stick with the 1950 version.