FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

george franston The church and the state will steal your property and use it to enslave your neighbours. Praise them and pay them so that they can do this, otherwise you may feel a little bit bad about yourself because some stupid A$$hole told you to.Die so that the machine may build a civilization (an inherently unsustainable and catastrophically destructive series of blocks requiring the importation of resources) where taxation runs around 40% and nobody owns anything due to eminent domain laws. This is so much better than feudalism! I will only pay if you force all of my neighbours to pay as well, that way it's fair!F the world depicted in this movie but f the world we're living in now even more. I'll take 1000000 dead donkies over the life of a good, honest, hard working upstanding man.

MARIO GAUCI Being an avid follower of the Oscars ever since the 1984 ceremony has sometimes served to alert me about small movies which had nevertheless obtained at least one major accolade; this powerful Irish drama was just such a case and, appropriately enough, it has taken me all of 18 years to finally watch it! Richard Harris deservedly received his second personal Academy Award nomination (and the film's sole Oscar nod) for his riveting portrayal of an old farmer who is not about to let a visiting Irish-American (Tom Berenger) take away the titular plot of land which he has slaved for years over to breathe new life into. The colorful cast of characters is rounded up by John Hurt (as the mischievous village idiot), Brenda Fricker (as Harris' wife – whom he has not spoken to for 18 years, since the accidental death of his son, despite still living under the same roof with her), Sean Bean (as Harris' immature other offspring) and Jenny Conroy (as the sultry village hussy whom Bean eventually takes up with over Harris' objections). The film – which opens with the startling donkey disposal incident and closes with the mass suicide of a herd of cows that has tragic consequences – is often beautiful to look and has a fine Elmer Bernstein score into the bargain but, truthfully, its real trump card remains, as I mentioned above, Harris' tour-de-force central performance.

Neil Doyle A more simplistic view of the Irishmen and their love of the land was voiced by Gerald O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND: "Land is the only thing worth fighting for, worth dying for." And that is precisely what the theme of THE FIELD is, with RICHARD HARRIS giving a towering performance as "Bull" McCabe, who believes with all his heart that the land he covets cannot be taken away from him by anyone else, least of all an American he calls "the Yank" (TOM BERENGER in an underwritten role).Irish traditions and landscapes are beautifully captured by the camera in this picturesque tale, a grim tragedy that plays out like a twisted morality tale with the viewer hating what McCabe does with his strong beliefs, tainted by false values and his own uncompromising ways.As impressive as Harris is, JOHN HURT overplays his dimwitted brother to the point where his role seems like a parody of a clumsy character. SEAN BEAN is wonderfully restrained as the brother who is uneasy with his father's strong prejudices and beliefs and would rather not fight Berenger over a piece of land.The tale becomes a Greek tragedy once Harris allows his passionate love of the land to overcome all reason. The parish priest tells his stoic villagers that such love of the soil can destroy the soil and that's what happens here.There are some brilliant moments including the savagely staged fight scene by the sea on a misty night, but the story (based on a play) never quite achieves a meaningful conclusion with its very downbeat ending.Realism of most of the performances is unquestionable, but the main reason for seeing it has to be Richard Harris' unforgettable performance as an Irishman who lets "the field" destroy his reasoning to the point of madness.

dazwba generated images of the Irish people and Ireland - Forget it! This film has made a bigger impression upon me than any other I have witnessed, i was mesmerised during and contemplative afterward, to the extent that visiting Ireland became a personal obsession (now thankfully realised.The film is dark & depressing and does not have a remotely happy ending, it delivers realism something Hollywood all too often fails to accomplish.The film discusses many, many issues (its a legitimate argument that there are too many) and makes few, if any judgements, thats left to you the viewer, apply your own morals and interpret the issues yourself.I guess i really enjoyed the rawness of the film's subject, whilst in contrast the filming and acting was anything but raw, it is simply superb. Harris, Frecker, Bean & Hurt are excellent, the atmosphere of Ireland is tangible. In short, this a film to experience not merely watch.Watch it if you want provoking, if your looking for simple light entertainment you'll likely be disappointed.