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Movies / On DVD / Modern Times
Modern Times

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Modern Times (1936)

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Reviews Counted:47

Fresh:47

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.9/10

Consensus: A slapstick skewering of industrialized America, Modern Times is as politically incisive as it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Charlie Chaplin bid farewell to silent comedy with this funny and poignant masterpiece. Here Chaplin stars as a factory worker fed-up with the job and his tyrannical boss (who keeps an eye on all... Charlie Chaplin bid farewell to silent comedy with this funny and poignant masterpiece. Here Chaplin stars as a factory worker fed-up with the job and his tyrannical boss (who keeps an eye on all his employees via a big-brother TV monitor). When he meets and falls in love with an orphaned street waif, the two dream of a nice suburban existence...but the cops are never far behind, chasing the vagabond couple. [More]

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Chester Conklin

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Chester Conklin, Tiny Sandford, Hank Mann, Stanley Blystone, Allan Garcia

Director: Charlie Chaplin

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Producer: Charlie Chaplin
Screenwriter: Charlie Chaplin
Composer: Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Newman

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Mar 14, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Modern Times

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Chaplin's political and philosophical naivety now seems as remarkable as his gift for pantomime.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

The film skewers the mechanization of America.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/21/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

What we have is not just a story about a funny little man, but a morality fable, or cautionary tale, about people on the chuckholed road to the American Dream.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/14/06
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

A terrific satire of the industrial age.

Full Review Source: Des Moines Register | comment Comment
07/09/04
Jeffrey Bruner
Jeffrey Bruner
Des Moines Register

Chaplin's sentimental politics and peerless comic invention dovetailed more perfectly in this film than in any other he made.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/26/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An artist with vision swimming against a tide we know will eventually win.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
04/19/05
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Finds the comedy in the dashing of hopes, though it has both the verve to be funny for funny’s sake when it feels the urge and the fortitude not to tidy up every dark stroke.

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
08/28/04
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

In Modern Times (1936), the still-silent Tramp, with his familiar small Derby hat, large boots, baggy pants, tight jacket and cane makes his last appearance.

Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | comment Comment
01/01/00
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films

One of the many remarkable things about Charlie Chaplin is that his films continue to hold up, to attract and delight audiences.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/01/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The great comedian's finest comedies on the big screen.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
12/26/03
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

A worthy last hurrah for an immortal character, for a great body of work, and for a whole era of cinema.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
05/07/02
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

Remains Chaplin's most sustained burlesque of authority.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/23/03
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's the coldest of [Chaplin's] major features, though no less brilliant for it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/26/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Modern Times is an ungainly masterpiece, but Chaplin's ungainliness is something one can grow fond of.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/26/03
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Good physical comedy will always be funny, and Chaplin was a master.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
10/22/04
Erik Lundegaard
Erik Lundegaard
Seattle Times

Chaplin's satiric dissection of the economy circa 1936 looks downright prescient.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
03/26/04
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Children will adore the slapstick in this movie.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
04/18/02
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

nearly perfect comedy continues to hold up over 60 years after its creation

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

Do you have to be reminded that Chaplin is a master of pantomime? Time has not changed his genius.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/25/06
Frank S. Nugent
Frank S. Nugent
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film's structure flew in the face of accepted wisdom.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/16/04
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Latest News for Modern Times

June 22, 2007: AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...

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