Nice effects though.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

A real masterpiece by Benigni and Troisi. The plot is very simple and there are no special effects. However, what earns this book a place in history books is the outstanding acting performance of these two comedians. You can see from the beginning that most of the sketches are improvisations; their acting is so natural and clean. The reason why it did not gain international recognition is because it cannot possibly transmit the same emotions with with subtitles. Translation becomes nonsense in a movie that is so culturally-bound. I wish I could recommend it to everybody, but I must say that you really need to understand Italian plus some Neapolitan and Florentine dialect in order to appreciate it in its entirety. Besides, you also need to know a little bit about the culture and history of Italy. In Italy, this was, is and will always be an outstanding piece of art.

The comedy is not bad, but I wouldn't call it a good one, whatever you say. Maybe I missed something, while trying to follow the Naples and Toscany accents and reading subtitles in proper Italian (that weren't word for word translations), but it seemed really average to me.The humor is unequal, though, some things are really funny, while most of the movie felt boring. The low budget Italian film feeling also didn't help, reminding me of those horrible "Princess dresses in boy's clothes and saves her magical cardboard kingdom" films, if you know what I mean.The movie was recommended by an Italian friend of mine, and he is not stupid, so maybe being Italian helps a lot with this film.

Two actors at their best (Roberto Benigni before he became big-headed after the world wide fame and the late lamented Massimo Troisi) playing a strange story, where these two young modern men wake up in 1492 after spending a night out because their car broke down.Settled in the italian reinassance, pretty well depicted despite the low budget used, the movie is substantially a collection of sketches based on the struggles that the two men must fight against the different lifestyle, with some secondary stories based on historical personages lived in that time (Savonarola, Columbus, Da Vinci). This is one of the most beloved italian movie of all the times, and everybody saw this movie can remember all of the most famous dialogues (Vitellozzo after the death of his brother, the "remember that you shall die!" speech, the scene at the customs, and many others) by hearth, as they were funny and innovative.Directed with a very slow rhythm, that adds a quite poetic touch to the story, this movie must be considered as a small masterpiece, a comedy unique of its kind. Comparing this with one of the later italian comedy should be done to understand the meaning of the term "good taste".Unluckily, anybody without a very fluent italian can't completely enjoy this movie, because a big part of the funny side of this movie follows from the two heavy accents of the two main actors, mainly the one of Troisi.

One of the best comedies ever done in the film history. Benigni and Troisi a couple that can hardly be repeated. Money doesnt necessarily make great films...and great films do not always need loads of money. This is a great example.