Not the worst of the countless recent movies about good kids and hidebound, authoritatian older people. It may, however, be the most shameless in its attempt to pander to an adolescent audience.
4 Comments
01/01/00
Dead Poets Society (1989)
84
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:38
Rotten:7
Average Rating:7.2/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: An unconventional New England prep school teacher inspires his students with poetry and encourages them to embrace life. Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Picture, Best Actor--Robin... [More]
Starring: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Director: Peter Weir
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Dead Poets Society
Top Critic
It's a tearjerker where the tears come not from the heart, but from the aching mind; we cry not because of the sad situations, but because of its ludicrous attempts at being sad.
01/01/00
Dead Poets Society adds little to the genre that hasn't been said before and aims, instead, at familiar stereotypes and overly obvious tugs at the heartstrings.
01/08/06
The moral divisions set up between characters are childishly overdrawn; and, worst of all, the behavior shown by the boys and adults frequently reeks of falsity and contrivance.
07/18/07
Top Critic
The movie undercuts Mr. Williams's exceptionally fine performance, making the character seem more of a dubious fool than is probably intended.
05/20/03
Weir infuses the film with his customary mysticism, but more importantly, draws sensitive performances from his largely inexperienced cast.
01/26/06
The role of Keating is a plum assignment for the talented Williams, who largely steers clear of schtick under Peter Weir's direction. Nicely shot with a good youthful cast.
07/18/07
Gets boring in parts, but worth watching.
06/25/03
No review available.
12/21/04
No review available.
08/08/07
Great movie, and one of the few films where Williams didn't annoy me to no end.
03/18/03
A bundle of growing pain blues, flamboyant declarations of self, and doomsday faculty foul-ups, and it cooks when delivered in big batches of adolescent passion.
08/26/09
All the performances are excellent, particularly the complex shadings of Leonard, but Williams is especially memorable.
01/01/00
The best stories and performances, one of the greatest films of the 1980s and a rare classic that should be treasured.
01/01/00
Robin Williams at his tolerable best.
08/09/07
The film makes us, the audience, take a long hard look at what inspires us, what governs our motivations and determines our actions. It emotes feelings rarely felt in the movies these days.
01/01/00
Solid, smart entertainment.
01/01/00
Top CriticThough sentimental and contrived, this valentine to charismatic, dedicated teachers is extremely well acted (even by Robin Williams) and it does make you feel good about loving literature and poetry when most of your classmates detested these subjects.
03/20/08
Latest News for Dead Poets Society
August 30, 2006:
Anna Faris is a Centerfold!
We've been waiting for funny-gal Anna Faris to get a lead role to suit her comedic skills for quite some time now -- and I'm not talking about the "Scary Movie"... More...
December 20, 2005:
Willis to Climb Schulman's "Summit"
From the writer of "Dead Poet's Society" and "What About Bob?" comes "Morgan's Summit," a drama/thriller that looks like it will star Bruce Willis... More...
December 02, 2005:
Depp, Weir & Roth to Visit "Shantaram"
Variety brings news of a cinematic pairing that should thrill most of the hardcore movie geeks out there. How about Peter Weir directing Johnny Depp? Yup, thought that'd get... More...
May 19, 2005:
Universal Gets Into a "Worst Case" Scenario
Veteran screenwriters Tom Schulman and Rafael Yglesias have sold their first collaborative effort, "Worst Case," to Universal Pictures following a rather heated... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade 
Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!
Top 50 of 2009
Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.
Santa's Naughty List
Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
RSS Feeds