Jacob's Ladder (1990)
A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Adrian Lyne
Written By: Bruce Joel Rubin
Starring: Ving Rhames, Tim Robbins, Jason Alexander, Danny Aiello, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Matt Craven, Elizabeth Peña, Scott Cohen, Macaulay Culkin, Eriq La Salle, Patricia Kalember, Brian Tarantina
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Jacob's Ladder belongs to 66 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. Mindfuck (collaborative: moderated by Mockus - 86 stars)
3. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)
4. Certified weird (collaborative: moderated by Dreamer - 47 stars)
5. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)
6. Mental Illness (collaborative: moderated by djross - 15 stars)
7. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
8. Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See (public: jimmyjazz - 12 stars)
9. Mind-rape (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 11 stars)
10. #1 at the US Box Office (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 10 stars)
11. What Follows Inception? (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 9 stars)
12. Twist endings (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 9 stars)
13. Fantastic and surreal (public: juandr - 9 stars)
14. Vietnam War (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 7 stars)
15. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)
16. THE WORLDWIDE CELLULOID MASSACRE: Recommended (collaborative: moderated by edkrak - 6 stars)
17. Women having sex with monsters (collaborative: moderated by edkrak - 5 stars)
18. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 6 |  |
TonythePony | 76 68th |
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Mind bending flick with some brutally effective and disturbing scenes (with a little cheating), somewhat spoiled by its unambiguous finish. When these types of movies fuck with you sometimes you feel satisfied, other times used. Lyne leaves $10 with a discarded condom on top, but also a beautifully written note. Call me conflicted.
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| 6 |  |
Luna6ix | 95 99th |
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this movie is made, written, and acted amazingly -- not to mention that it is extrememly thought provoking.
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| 3 |  |
TripleSH | 93 96th |
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Stream-of-consciousness thriller done right. Not only is this movie well-acted (and carried by the more than capable Tim Robbins), but it also accomplishes being artsy without losing the punch of the plot.
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| 3 | CatScandal | 83 95th |
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It's unfair how much this movie targets my specific fears. That said, it's pretty incredible at every genre it attempts. It maybe could have been a little more subtle and still gotten its point across, but it's so wildly original and well-executed that I don't really mind one of the characters blatantly stating the theme.
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| 3 |  |
Mentaculus | 84 81st |
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"It is easy to go down to hell; Night and Day the Gates of Dark Death stand wide; But to climb back up again, to retrace ones steps to the open air, there lies the problem, the difficult task." -Virgil, The Aeneid, Book VI. Yet, "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." -John Milton. The film's pluses and minuses lie in the contradiction.
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| 3 |  |
Jeb | 100 98th |
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A solid Thriller that's stalking, nightmarish, grueling and splendidly hair-raising. It goes above and beyond above the dimensions and realms of modern filmmaking, raising the meaning psychological to a whole new level. Tim Robbins is the higlight and this is one of his greatest roles no doubt. Everything seen and heard, looks and sounds so real.
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| 3 |  |
NathanDarko | 98 98th |
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Jacob's Ladder is Robin's best performance in his hole career. It is a very dark mystery thriller that creates his "horror" with gruesome and nightmarish moments. This movie is also one of the best anti-war movies in times.
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| 3 |  |
MArkjp | 85 80th |
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What this film accomplishes in sheer atmosphere is absolutely outstanding. Adrian Lyne creates an abundance of scenes of incredible discomfort.The sound design and the dark images go hand in hand in creating a nightmarish psychological thriller. From the woman in the subway in the beginning and forward, you never know quite what will happen, only that it will be unpleasant one way or the other.
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| 2 |  |
terrymac | 78 79th |
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This was engaging and depressing and creepy and affecting and disturbing. I felt pretty exhausted by the end, truth be told. Very well made, and Robbins really delivered. I'll need to see it again, although I'm not inclined to rush to do so.
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| 2 |  |
Kojiless | 91 94th |
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Macaulay Culkin's the true demon here.
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| 2 |  |
AFlickering | 4 58th |
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take away the whole puzzle/twist plot and audience handholding and the lamer horror elements, double down on that undercurrent of trauma and pathos and just gimme a full on descent into subjective existential crisis, and you'd probably have one of my favourite movies. there's a lot to love about this and robbins is great, but it just feels like such a watered down, user-friendly version of its best self that i can't help being disappointed.
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| 2 |  |
purgatos | 75 61st |
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Pretty effectively creepy for the most part. The ending was a bit disappointing though, I don't think they needed to spell it out so much for me.
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| 2 |  |
brandt64 | 75 55th |
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Several scenes were memorable (like the scene in Hell), but overall it wasn't nearly as powerful as some other psychological thrillers, and frankly, the plot was weak. There's also nothing worse than an expository ending, IMHO.
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| 2 |  |
deaddilly | 60 28th |
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Loses its momentum as a chaotic paranoiac thriller all too quickly; which is a shame because there are so many brilliantly chilling moments in the first quarter of the film. Tries to shoe-horn in a conclusion about accepting your fate with hallmark sentimentality. Doesn't stick its landing.
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| 2 |  |
loc42 | 25 12th |
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Okay, here are some of the moral assumptions of the movie: 1)It's better to kill Vietkongs rather than your fellow citizens. 2)Being unable to disclose the truth in your past is like a nightmare which looks like having a hispanic looking woman and a job at the post office. But if you can get over the fact that you killed valuable Americans instead of those gooks, you may continue your upper class life with your white family as a scholar. Now that ruins every visual and narrative success, sorry.
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| 1 | svicciarelli | 90 82nd |
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I have never seen a movie like this. It's terrifying, it's exciting and it's splendidly done.
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| 1 |  |
JohnnyZombie | 75 34th |
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Knowing the end ruined what otherwise would have been a fun trip for me.
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| 1 |  |
Moribunny | 45 33rd |
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Throughout the movie I was constantly praying they wouldn't go for the woefully predictable ending which they in fact did. It's a shame that Jacob's Ladder turns out to be a cheesy, sloganistic statement about acceptance and inner peace, because it has some nifty thrills in it. The scares should have been put to use within a better script. This one is an attempted allegory foiled by its own elaborateness.
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| 1 | Kerrek | 78 63rd |
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Does what it does really well.
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| 1 |  |
djross | 65 70th |
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Frequently unsettling rather than frightening, this movie is a precursor to many others, from LOST HIGHWAY to ENTER THE VOID. Numerous effective scenes and imagery, but the way in which it plays out its ontological preoccupations lacks the mysterious, or poetic, or terrifying power that Lynch will bring to his own variations on these themes. The disquisition on mortality, too, is rather clumsy and unconvincing. For all that, I was surprised Lyne could make a movie this good.
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| 1 |  |
Pickpocket | 9 93rd |
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Ending makes me dock a few points but other than that I was entertained and creeped out throughout the film. Tim Robbins gives possibly his best performance and the scenes with him and Macaulay Culkin were genuinely sweet and touching. The scene where they all get together after the funeral is very eerie and messed up. Maurice Jarre's soundtracks are always a treat and it's no different here. Also, I love seeing Danny Aiello in anything, he's the bomb.
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| 1 |  |
cagedwisdom | 75 65th |
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Wasn't at all what I expected, but it's a very good movie nonetheless. Tim Robbins shines in this.
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| 1 |  |
teknicolor | 81 79th |
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Although the film is explained in the end, I think the fun part is deciding in hindsight which scenes were "real" and which were "imagined". Watching it the first time won't be as fun as watching it a second or third time.
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| 1 |  |
Alex Watkins | 4 70th |
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Its nightmarish vision of 70s New York as a manifestation of PTSD-driven hell on earth is compromised by its perfunctory plot, which trades in the sort of exposition and twists of a lesser thriller. Still, the highs are fantastically high.
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| 1 |  |
martryn | 85 86th |
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A very creepy film, and very well done. If you've not heard of it, I won't give away the ending, but if you don't catch it before hand, when it comes, it's one of those films that makes you sit back and think through the entire film. I suppose it's a movie that is best watched several times, and gets better on repeat viewings because you watch it for different reasons each time.
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| 1 |  |
vesupria | 6 61st |
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Lyne's masterpiece about life & death, surviving or dying, heaven and hell, reality and confused disreality. It's one hell of a ride. The dirty, hellish, nightmarish visions of New York are a real stand out and set the mood perfectly, it's almost reminiscent of Taxi Driver in this respect, but with lots of the odd mind-fuck that exists in the supernatural tendencies of David Lynch. The ending, whilst a lot don't like it is well done, and the most hopeful note of the film.
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| 1 |  |
amerigo | 84 84th |
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It's a movie that could have been a real masterpiece, but it felt like a bunch of producers fucked with it to make it less indie. The film was subsequently reworked--the end result was that Lyne held the viewer's hand walking through a haunted house gently reassuring us that it's not real while duly explaining how all the mechanical monsters worked.
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| 1 | Cheesebadger | 95 96th |
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An amazingly creepy masterpiece.
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| 1 | Dustyd | 85 94th |
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Brilliant psych/horror with a very solid performance by Robbins.
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| 1 |  |
BillyShears | 85 86th |
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The sudden narration at the end guides the retarded audience members out of their own stupid purgatory of trying to make sense of these moving pictures.
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| 1 |  |
Bitch Alert | 80 78th |
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A traumatized Vietnam veteran delves into a freakish nightmare that he doesn't seem to get a grip on. The athmosphere is haunting and mysterious. Not as much horror as I expected, but more fascinating drama. I loved the ending also, even though the concept is quite overused nowadays.
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| 1 |  |
calharding | 86 81st |
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Tim Robbins' magnum opus as far as acting is concerned. An interesting psychological exploration of his character with a thought-provoking ending that doesn't make you feel unfulfilled and patronized like those of a certain Mr. Shyamalan. It also succeeds as a scathing criticism of the US government's treatment of veterans both during and following the Vietnam conflict.
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| 1 |  |
Neonman | 89 90th |
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Perhaps a film of horror, rather than a horror film, and one that's fantastically and thoughtfully assembled, all to great emotional effect. It unveils itself with the right amount of pacing, having all the confusion and suitably subdued terror falling into place as it proceeds. My original criticism was that it seemed odd that a postal clerk Tim Robbins with a bad wig is dating prime Elizabeth Pena -- but then the film reminded me it's of the supernatural genre.
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| 1 |  |
Waldheri | 90 90th |
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Wow! Absolutely terrifying. More films like this should be made. Absurd monsters or excessive gore will never fright me as much as the subtle horrors in this gem.
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| 1 |  |
Bmunise | 93 54th |
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The ending just ruined it, and it didn't have TOO much going for it to begin with.
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| 1 |  |
begoniabol | 87 90th |
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A really well made, unsettling movie with fantastic shots, acting and strange story. I must say I got really confused, but it gets explained in the end. Really need to rewatch this.
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| 1 | moviesinhell | 63 21st |
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Smoke-machine-crazed auteur Lyne's hallucinatory thriller is sort of a bad-acid, 'Nam-based _Carnival of Souls_ update. The script contains vividly realized moments but ultimately crosses the line separating complexity from contrivance. This is relentlessly grim, frequently irritating but rarely dull; some of Lyne's nightmare imagery is as creepy as anything you'll find in a David Lynch, Clive Barker, or Alejandro Jodorowsky movie, and the disco-party scene is almost too intense to take.
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| 1 |  |
Zozan | 45 47th |
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A nice movie experience is yet ruined but another meaningless ending.
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| 1 |  |
FunkyAstro | 70 69th |
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My expectations were a little too high to be satisfied with that ending. Still pretty good.
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| 1 |  |
FrederikA | 75 77th |
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It was an amazingly scary and disturbing movie, the first time I watched it, but when watching it again, I noticed all the flaws in both logic and plot (along with the misplaced "moral focus" on the use of chemical weapons in 'Nam) and that sadly destroys the illusion for 2nd views.
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| 1 |  |
billkerwin | 85 66th |
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Haunting Vietnam fantasy with a surprising ending. Look for an early appearance of Louis Black!
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| 1 |  |
Syntheseizur | 73 35th |
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A unique depiction of trauma that blends drama with a touch of psychological thriller and flashes of supernatural horror and surrealism (but the moments of stylization are rare, and they mostly exacerbate a feeling of inconsistency both in the representation of mental illness and the tone of the film). For the most part, the movie plays with reality in a way that truly emulates the terror and relief of living through a nightmare, and a handful of haunting images help it stick in the mind.
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| 1 |  |
hellboy76 | 71 84th |
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Not even sure what level this movie works on, Thriller, Drama, maybe it doesn't work on either. Something about the film works though, unsettling, creepy and engaging.
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| 1 |  |
Lord Moe | 91 88th |
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"Jacob's Ladder" knows how to build up a feeling of terror with every passing scene. Sure it has jump scares in it (actually effective ones I might add) but the real reason this film is so great is because you never quite feel safe. Many horror films give you moments to catch your breath and feel safe until the climax. Jacob's Ladder has moments where you can breathe, but the tension is kept high due to the fact that you are never sure what is actually real. Tim Robbins is incredible.
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| 1 |  |
Miss Marple | 100 98th |
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If you are scared to watch thriller movies, stay away.. but you risk missing a great film and one of the best performances of Tim Robbins!
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| 1 | damil | 60 43rd |
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I think I wanted to like this more than I actually did. What I did like a lot were the many creepy images in this film. They were quite creative and effective. It had a very tense and unnerving atmosphere a lot of the time. I thought Tim Robbins was really good too. But, I don't know, it didn't really go anywhere. And by the time the (sort of disappointing) ending came along, I didn't much care anymore.
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| 1 | myfavchords | 87 91st |
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This is a really good film. It is one of those films that make you want to watch it again after you see the ending. Tim Robbins is outstanding in this film.
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| 1 |  |
Groovy_Souls | 80 73rd |
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Jacob's Ladder is pretty great, no doubt. Sometimes the direction is a little weird and with some cringe-worthy dialogue, the movie can take you out of itself for a little. But overall, its very tense and grabs you at the right points for the right reasons, with creepy visuals and a chilling story.
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| 1 |  |
skap | 95 83rd |
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Appreciated it on the first viewing, loved on the second one. This is an example of an unexpected ending that reinforces the film instead of ruining it, because the film and the ending form an organic whole. It constantly balances light and darkness, so it never really oppresses the viewer despite of its theme. Graceful, exceptional film. Although quite different, makes me think of my other favorite: Angel Heart.
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| 1 |  |
buffratings | 77 54th |
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Jacob's Ladder is a visually haunting experience that manages to overcome its notable cliches, with a fully committed performance from Tim Robbins to boot.
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| 1 |  |
feublo | 55 12th |
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The last bit of the movie is almost too stale for it to be successful which sucks, because I bought into these hellish scenes and demonic characters expecting a more delirious twist to tie this all together.
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| 1 |  |
rihrey | 46 48th |
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not as good as people say it is. at all.
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| 1 |  |
capogliere | 55 31st |
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Farklı şeyler yapılmaya çalışılmış. Savaş psikolojisini de çok iyi yansıttığını düşünüyorum. Ama uyumamak için zor tuttum kendimi :/
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| Average Percentile 63.2% from 4117 Ratings |  |