Alucinaciones del pasado

This is easily one of Adrian Lyne's best films. Tim Robbins is excellent and the visual affects were just awesome. I saw this movie for the first time in the theatre and it blew me away. I've seen it many times after that, purely for the visuals that were done so well. The plot twists and turns as it spirals downward slowly revealing the truth and keeps you guessing all the way to the surprising ending. This is a dark, violent, beautiful movie that I recommend to all people who love horror, and just a smart story that will keep you in suspense until the very end.

Jacob's Ladder is a superbly crafted film that transcends mere entertainment and becomes an experience much greater than the sum of its parts. When you watch movies such as this, you are unleashing very powerful forces that short circuit your natural ability to remain in control. Much akin to narcotic addiction or hypnotism, upon first viewing you will be unable to think, act, or even believe apart from the intense feelings Jacob's Ladder inspires.

Tim Robbins is Jacob Singer, a warm and genuinely likable Vietnam veteran who, in spite of earning an advanced doctoral degree, chooses to find employment working for the U. S. Postal Service. We learn in bits and pieces as the plot unfolds that his service in Vietnam included a very frightening battle, and the events set in motion on that fateful day parallel what could be his descent into madness.

Jacob's life suddenly begins to resemble Hell. He is literally chased by confusion, fear, and death, he sees unbelievably terrifying images, has horrific experiences that whether real or imagined are too frightening to bear alone. His only comfort comes in the form of the woman he lives with, Jezzie (the late Elizabeth Peña), and his chiropractor, Louis (Danny Aiello). Each of these people's relationships with Jacob represent more than just the roles they fulfill in his life-they are absolute forces at battle for his sanity, and possibly even his soul.

His torment begins to include the past as well, the undeniable love he still has for his ex-wife and painful memories of his son Gabe, who died tragically in an accident (played by a young Macauley Culkin). As all these elements of the past, present and future collide in shocking hallucinations, Jacob slowly begins to suspect he could be the victim of a secret Army drug experiment gone terribly wrong.

With a haunted desperation, he embarks on a journey to find out what on earth happened to him-only his visions / flashbacks / flashforwards have become so delusional that reality and fantasy are hopelessly interwoven and nothing is as it seems. All that is decipherable is good and evil, life and death. And at the end of his nightmare, all he has to do is choose.

That's all I will share of the story. I'm not going to do you the disservice of spoiling the experience this movie is. Suffice it to say, there is much more to know, and nothing left to tell.

Meanwhile, there is not enough that can be said of Robbins' performance. Although he has had "more important" film roles, never before or since has Robbins portrayed naked human emotion so effortlessly and without artiface; though this will not be his most remembered role, it is his personal best to date. Also in top form is director Adrian Lyne. Likewise, Jacob's Ladder is by far his personal best, though he may remain better known for his other more commercially successful films, such as Fatal Attraction and 9 &1/2 Weeks.

Jacob's Ladder is not a horror movie as some may deduce; It is human drama, masterfully disguised as a supernatural thriller. The basic elements of Jacob's Ladder have been plundered several times over the past few decades by technicians such as as Shyamalan who aspire (but fail) to be artists, and franchises like The Conjuring that aspire (but fail) to be art. We have been suckered by flashy films with clever plot twists that cheat us on story, characters, and technical excellence, and in so doing we have lost the discovery of real feelings while the lights flicker before us.

Films such as Jacob's Ladder are set apart from the rest of the pack because you don't just watch stuff like this, you feel it too.

New York postal worker Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) has nightmarish hallucinations stemming from his horrific Vietnam War experience. His wife Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña) struggles to help him. He is also haunted by his first marriage to Sarah and his dead son Gabe (Macaulay Culkin). Louis (Danny Aiello) is a chiropractor whose adjustments unleashes a long paranoid demonic nightmare.

This is a great movie of a personal nightmare. It's a very good performance of a paranoid character from Tim Robbins. Some of the images are actually quite disturbing. It may be the first time that I noticed the shaking head effects. The long nightmare does meander a little. It's hard to expect hallucinations to drive a straight line to a destination. The final reveal is problematic and pulls the rug from the rest of the movie.

One "reviewer" here wrote (I presume) in all seriousness "Like a bad dream - impossible to understand!" That being the case, I can only describe his subsequent attempt to compile a review as "gutsy" in the extreme.

I believe JACOB'S LADDER is one of the 10 best films ever made. It is NOT impossible to understand...you merely have to listen and interpret! For those without the ability to effect the latter...just listen! Danny Aiello's character, Louis the chiropracter lays it out for you - word for word. I think it is the best part Aiello ever had, small one though it is in terms of screen time. Integral to a collective grasp of this great and disturbing film however is the need to tie-in the relationship between Jacob the individual, the biblical "Jacob's Ladder" itself and the relevance of "The Ladder" as explained (and seemingly forgotten by most everybody) by the runty chemical weapons boffin at the near conclusion of the film.

To those who view the ending as "rushed," "unsatisfying," "obscure" even "dumb" as I recall, I would merely suggest you watch it again and take into account the likelihood is, that it is in fact YOU that has missed what has been so cleverly set out for you. SIGNS was equally misunderstood by the majority of people that even liked it - there never WERE any aliens!

JACOB'S LADDER is Robbins' greatest film - Lyne's too. The last few minutes are amongst the most emotional and uplifting scenes I have ever seen since the "star child" in 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY. Culkin was the perfect choice!

I saw this movie in a near deserted theater in Times Square the week it came out. At the conclusion of this particular late show I noticed an old man sitting some two rows away to my left, absorbed in his thoughts. Having to walk past him to gain the exit I noticed tears in his eyes. He looked up as I approached. After studying me for a moment all he said to me was "You understood didn't you?" I said, "Yes I understood!" He replied softly..."You're very lucky!"

This is perhaps the most genuinely disturbing film I've ever seen. At the same time it is a deeply touching movie. It is not perfect, especially it at times struggles to get the balance between sheer horror-laced confusion and coherent story elements right to create a followable narrative. On the other hand that's part of its primordial effectiveness, but on the other hand this is a movie that can perhaps be fully appreciated only on a second viewing, knowing what kind of image the pieces are part of.

The visuals of Jacob's Ladder were quite unique when it was released; they have inspired so many things since from games to music videos that modern audiences may not even realize how unprecedentedly terrifying they were at the time. But they still remain truly disconcerting and haunting.

Tim Robbins is both perfectly cast and gives a performance of a lifetime in this. He's likable and relatable, which is crucial as the audience needs to root and really care for him to stay invested in his destiny through the at times incomprehensible events. And the way he portrays the fear and confusion of a man who finds reality unraveling is immensely believable and unpretentious.

I will not say one word about the plot. The less one knows of this movie before watching it, the better. But I warmly recommend this, particularly to anyone who likes horror movies, inexplicable mysteries, disquieting war movies, and/or David Lynch movies.