Death Becomes Her
1992 Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Synopsis
In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.
Helen, a writer, and Madeline, an actress, have hated each other for years. Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once Helen's fiance. After she recovers from a mental breakdown, Helen vows revenge by stealing back Ernest and plotting to kill Madeline. Both rivals have secretly drunk a miracle cure for aging; they accidentally discover, when each tries to eliminate the other, that they have become immortal and that "life" will never be the same again.
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It's slight, yes, but this is bolstered by some terrific performances.
A lot of the effects still hold up astonishingly well, but it's Meryl and Goldie tearing strips off each other (both verbally and literally) that you'll remember.
That, and Isabella Rossellini wandering around in a succession of barely there outfits.
Would you drink the secret to eternal youth?
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A chilling and pleasantly goofy dark comedy that belabors the point a little too much towards the end. Death Becomes Her has some seriously potent special effects that will amuse and disturb (even if you can't stop looking) and forget about Streep and Goldie, give me more of Isabella Rossellini! She looks amazing here. The road to eternity is fraught with thunder and hellfire and shotgun shells and tricky staircases.
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Wonderful dark comedy starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis.
This revenge story about the price of immortality is wickedly funny and features great performances from all the leads.
"I tell you what, kids, it's, uh, odd thing here. Your wrist, uh, far as I can tell, is, uh, fractured in three places. Uh, and you've shattered, uh, two vertebrae, though I can't be certain without an X-ray... The bone protrusion through the skin - that's not a good sign. You're body temperature is below 80, and your, your, your heart's stopped beating."
Brilliant film.
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Genial comedia de misterio, llena de efectos especiales y bitches
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It's hard for me to give any objective thoughts on this film after watching it with its true target audience: slightly intoxicated gay men.
This is a true camp classic with hilarious performances from Streep, Hawn, and Willis; impressive special effects for its time; and an intriguing original story that still feels fresh and fun over 20 years later.
I have no shame in loving this. -
Although when I watched it I realised the comedy bashings were actually few and far between, Death Becomes Her actually still holds up really well both in terms of effects and story. Everything has a beat and a twist as Hawn & Streep battle over Bruce Willis whom spends the entire film looking bewildered. As to how it all ends - I won't comment but I think its a good exploration on exactly how the pursuit of beauty makes for vacuous vile women!
Drinking Game: Each catty comment our leading ladies throw at each other
Bottom Line: Good visual comedy with strong leads.
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Always enjoyes this movie. Overall it's not much but it's fun, a very dark sort of fun as well. It's too bad it never really caught on but it does have a sort of following now, a cult following from it's fans
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I kind liked this film even though I strongly dislike Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep.
Bruce Willis rocks as usual.
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Hilarious.
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The film answers some of the famous philosophical questions about life and beauty in a very humorous and satirical way possible. Great actors + Great Storyline + Great Framing = Amazing! The chemistry between Meryl and Goldie is the best! Bruce Willis also dared to portray a character that is the complete opposite of some of his famous roles.
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It's the tone the really does a number on this film - it clearly desires to be the darkest of the dark, but the cartoon style makes the film veer directly into Genuinely Unpleasant territory.
The only real reason to revisit the film (in HD, for that matter) are really two things: the bitchin' effects that hold up surprisingly well, being a mix of well done practical effects and primitive CG that's held back just enough to not look completely embarrassing, along with Isabella Rossellini looking like every single goth chick you were in love with when you were 15, cranked up to unfathomable numbers.
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This film is kinda Zemeckis' NEIGHBORS.
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Eternally comedic and darkly humorous. Classic.
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Death Becomes Her is a forgotten gem, rightfully forgotten in some aspects and regretfully in others. Though its concept is grand, it doesn't quite balance itself out right in order to be as entertaining as it requires.
Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) and actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) have been "friends" since they were very young. Helen always resented Madeline because she took everything Helen ever wanted, most prominently her boyfriends. Madeline spent her whole life obsessed with her status and beauty, utterly paranoid about both. While Helen begins to plot Madeline's psychological and subsequently physical demise, Madeline finds a potion that allows her to stay young and immortal forever, with the drawback of not being invincible. Meanwhile, Madeline's husband and…
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A really fun comedy that gives us one of Meryl's best performances shockingly. Moves at a wonderful pace and doesn't feel a moment too long.