A clairvoyant police detective must stop the most notorious serial killer in history - Jack the Ripper - before it's too late! Johnny Depp and Heather Graham star in this "engrossing, stylish thriller" (People) that "grips tighter than a chokehold and cut as deep as a knife" (Washington Post) Heavy on atmosphere and light on everything else, From Hell is visually impressive while lacking the depth of the acclaimed graphic novel it's based upon. Making their third feature since 1993's Menace II Society, twins Allen and Albert Hughes approach the Jack the Ripper case with physical precision, re-creating the gritty Whitechapel district of 1888 London in meticulous detail. What they've forgotten is the sheer terror that gripped Whitechapel in the wake of the Ripper's slaying of five prostitutes, investigated here by a Scotland Yard sleuth (Johnny Depp) who uses opium, laudanum, and absinthe to fuel his semiprescient visions of the slayings. Heather Graham attempts a slippery Cockney accent as a would-be victim, while Ian Holm steals the show as a has-been surgeon with devilish delusions of grandeur. Violence is obliquely suggested or briefly graphic, but no matter how you cut it, From Hell is only marginally thrilling as it treads familiar territory. -Jeff Shannon.

In the late 1950s, director Fritz Lang returned to the German cinema, home of his great silent creations Die Nibelungen and Metropolis. His new project was, appropriately, a throwback to the early German days, a two-part cliffhanger originally conceived for the silents. The Indian Tomb is part two, picking up where The Tiger of Eschnapur left off, as a lovesick Maharaja exacts his vengeance. Once you adjust to Lang's measured pacing (and if you accept the variable acting), the movie's bright colors and complicated political machinations take over. Auteurists will recognize Lang's impeccable eye for screen space and his obsessive concern with the price of tempting fate. Even nonauteurists will appreciate the revolt of the underground leper colony and the cobra dance performed by Debra Paget, who wears something less than a bikini. This is melodrama served up without apology by a director more interested in patterns than psychology. -Robert Horton.

When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic-and maybe the best-war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds. A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance. The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. [+]

Point of No Return is one of those Hollywood remakes of a European hit in which one can visualize a committee of studio executives sitting around and saying, "Okay, we know what made the original film unique and different and fun. How can we make that same movie and do exactly the opposite?" For-hire director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever) took La Femme Nikita, Luc Besson's undeniably sexy, original, and kitschy French film about a female assassin, and translated it into a calculating, mechanistic American thriller with no distinctive style. Bridget Fonda gamely plays the willowy street punk who becomes a high-society killer, but once that provocative irony is in place, the movie is pretty much a series of by-the-numbers action set pieces. Until, that is, Dermot Mulroney shows up as a love interest; but even that twist can't save this film. You're much better off with the original, subtitles and all. -Tom Keogh.

This box-office hit from 1969 is an important pioneer of the American independent cinema movement, and a generational touchstone to boot. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play hippie motorcyclists crossing the Southwest and encountering a crazy quilt of good and bad people. Jack Nicholson turns up in a significant role as an attorney who joins their quest for awhile and articulates society's problem with freedom as Fonda's and Hopper's characters embody it. Hopper directed, essentially bringing the no-frills filmmaking methods of legendary, drive-in movie producer Roger Corman (The Little Shop of Horrors) to a serious feature for the mainstream. The film can't help but look a bit dated now (a psychedelic sequence toward the end particularly doesn't hold up well), but it retains its original power, sense of daring, and epochal impact. -Tom Keogh.

Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid are an unlikely couple in this unfortunate attempt at a comedy thriller. They play a pair of married spies who have taken parental leave and are vacationing in New Orleans with their year-old son. But they're called back into action to stop the sale of a shipment of stolen weapons. Ho-hum. Though both the leads have preternaturally cheery dispositions, it can't translate to the soggy script. The action is formulaic and the jokes nonexistent. The film's only bright spot: Stanley Tucci as a bumbling assassin whose wild streak of bad luck enlivens his numerous welcome appearances. -Marshall Fine.

Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney star in this Hollywood realization of life aboard the Mayflower on her most historic journey. In one of his meanest roles since Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Tracy is at his gruffest and bitterest as the disagreeable, tempestuous Captain Jones, master of the famous vessel that carried the Pilgrims to the New World. Tierney in Technicolor is as beautiful as ever, despite being cast as a somber Pilgrim. Leo Genn's portrayal of Pilgrim leader William Bradford is memorable, while Lloyd Bridges, Van Johnson, and John Dehner round out the excellent cast. The depiction of the hardships faced by the passengers and crew on the voyage are fairly accurate, despite any minor liberties taken with historical facts. The film won a 1953 Oscar for special effects, and the storm sequence alone is still worth the price of admission today. -Mark Savary.

Adapted from E. L. Konigsburg's novel, "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", this is the story of two kids who hide out in New York's Metropolitan Museum, creating their own dream world and befriending a reclusive old lady.

The Year is 2033. Earth has been clobbered with a comet, civilization has been destroyed, and it hasn't rained in 11 years. Nearly all the water on the planet is controlled by the evil Water and Power company, which is in turn controlled by the even more evil Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell). Who stands in the way? Some mysterious mutants called the Rippers and, of course, Tank Girl. Lori Petty plays Tank Girl, the wisecracking, defiant heart of the movie, as kind of an inner child gone wild. Unfortunately Petty can't quite carry a movie on her own-her zingers frequently fall flat and she seems to be continually worried that we still like her. Luckily there's Naomi Watts as Jet Girl to save the day: smart, shy, and inherently way more appealing than Tank Girl. Tank Girl is based on the comic of the same name, and it is visually an eye-popper. It's worth watching for the insane set and costume designs alone. -Ali Davis.

This special 50th birthday collectors inclusdes all 17 original vivid full color cartoons. The Man of steel was introduced to the public in June of 1938 by Action Comics. After a successful transition to radio, he made the leap into movies starring in these spectacular science fiction stories These episodes represent the pinnacle of anmation during its Golden Age.