Reviewing A Sound of Thunder Write a Five Paragraph Film Review of the 2005 film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s famous short story.
Take notes as you watch the film: • How are the characters portrayed? Are they true to the book? • What about the setting? Is it aligned with the details the author includes in the novel? • What about structure and plot? o Does it follow the events of the novel? o Are there any changes? o If so, do they help or hurt communicate the author’s intended meaning?
Opening Paragraph: Catch the Reader's Attention Don't explain why you liked the film or didn't; make the reader like or not like the film by what you describe from the film—and how you describe those moments. Begin your review by retelling an incident or moment from the movie that you believe captures the spirit of the film along with your judgment of its success or failure. Alternative Beginning: Begin your review with another kind of story or interesting “fun fact” about one of the star actors, or about the making of the movie, or about the director. Second Paragraph: “Take Care of Business” Near the beginning of the review, you have to tell the reader all the standard information: title of the movie, the director, the studio, the main actors, and the year it was made (if you watched it on video). This paragraph shows the reader what facts they have to know about the film. Also, in one sentence or two, you should explain very simply that the film is all about a theme or a big idea (not the plot of what happens moment to moment). Instead, you need to state the theme of the film—in other words, the big idea the film represents such as: the problem of power for human beings, the rights of individual versus laws of society, equality under the law should be defined as preventing discrimination not equalizing power, talent or thought among individuals, absolute power corrupts absolutely etc. Third Paragraph: Character and plot summary What happens in the movie? You shouldn't tell everything that happens--and especially not the ending. But you want to summarize the most important moments (basic plot) of the film, in more detail than you do in the paragraph above. One way to do this might be to write a sentence about each main character and a sentence about each important event. Fourth Paragraph: A Key Moment or Idea In this paragraph, go into detail about something important that interested you about what the film represents the theme (big idea): how the soundtrack supported it, or write more about one character who was really great at being representing the theme. Or retell another big moment from the film and explain why it is important to the theme. In this paragraph, you must go into detail with clear examples and explanations. Fifth Paragraph: Evaluate the Movie Do you recommend it or not? Who will like it (kids or adults)? The most important thing here is that you must also explain why you are making your recommendation. You must justify your opinion--and that opinion should grow out of what you write in the rest of the review. Give at least two reasons why you liked or didn't like the movie—how it failed or succeeded to communicate a powerful message about the problems we face with power and discrimination in society.
Opening Paragraph After the third jump to the prehistoric past, this reviewer shouted: “Time out!” The 2005 film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story A Sound of Thunder should seriously be erased from history. The story line is mechanical and at least as flat as the wickedly underbudgeted CGI. The plot and actors shuffle along a well-worn road of clichés until we are 61 minutes into the film. Finally, after a mutant prehistoric monster drags off an Englishman into the night from our struggling group, we feel a sense of relief that this film might do something right such as avoid the Hollywood stereotype of killing off “African-American actors first” in the horror/sci-fi genre. However, not missing a beat, the filmmakers promptly kill off our sole African-American actor during one of the stronger moments in the film.
