Customer Reviews
Absolutey fabulous film! - By: Uncle Barbar, 03 Dec 2008 
I love this film. It'sin my top ten favourite films ever?
Why? Because it is full of drama. Because the script is among the finest ever written (it started life as a play). Because the acting is Top notch (Henry Fonda is absolutely 100% believable). Because the twists & turns of the emotions of the jurors is superb.
There are so few films made with such intelligent & succinct scripts - I love this film to bits & hold my hat off to all who were involvedin its making. If you haven't seen it yet. Do so. You won't regret it.
Make that thirteen..... - By: Frank Candour, 06 Nov 2008 
I'd love to rate it five star as everyone else has done but it was just "too" contrived, although it was the object of the film. The mix of jurors was excellent & the way the characters interacted was superb but I felt that i) it wouldn't happen as conveniently as thatin reality..ii) Lee J.Cobb capitulated too easily...iii) Fonda actually thought that the boy could've committed the murder...iv) the absence of any other suspect..
...v) if everybody's testament was flawed then not even Fonda's argument/reasoning was perfect? That said, it did enthral & showed how prejudiced our beliefs can be..but, by his analysis of human nature he could've acquitted Jack the Ripper....Allin all a typical(though not at that time) lawyeristic case of proving others faults, and, like the bible say's, "He who without Sin, cast the first stone"?
Overall well worth the money & highly watchable!
Get the R1 copy! - By: N. C. Bateman, 08 Sep 2008 This R2 edition isn't terrible by any means, but the R1 "50th Anniversary Edition" is much better: better picture, better contrast & anamorphic, too. This film famously takes placein one room, & you'll be looking at just twelve faces & four walls for an hour & a half, so treat yourself to the better DVD - you'll be watching it again & again anyway!
The greatest film ever made? - By: An Avid Rock Fan, 02 Jul 2008 It sounds so boring & dull that we should spend 90 mins or so watching a black & white film where 12 men are sitting around a table discussing a court case & not only that but give or take a few seconds the whole film is setin just that one room.
The fact that such a 'boring' film can put you on the edge of your seat EVERY time you watch it is pure testament to the art & skills of debutant director Sidney Lumet, writer Reginald Rose & the cast of twelve talented actors.
To prove the point, the remake from 1997 which also features sterling actors of great calibre such as Jack Lemmon & George C.Scott with an almost identical script could not pull it off as well as the 1957 version. In fact it was nowhere near.
At this price you'd be a fool to miss out on this invaluable addition to your collection.
Just to give you an idea of the tastes of this particular reviewer, they vary from Harold Lloyd to Pulp Fiction & beyond. So get it now.
So is it the greatest movie ever made? Perhaps it is. Enjoy.
A Very Powerful Message - By: J. Roberts, 12 Apr 2008 This thought-provoking film is set almost entirelyin one room, a roomin which a jury have retired, to discuss their verdict on someone who has been accused of murder.
To begin with Henry Fonda's character is the only one who is prepared to argue a verdict of not guilty. The others laugh at him & do not understand how he can have reasonable doubt. Slowly, however, more & more of the men who make up the jury begin to agree that all is not as it originally seemed, & that there is indeed a very real chance that the accused ISN'T a murderer.
One by one, the men slowly change their minds, & several members of the jury are revealed to be severely predjudiced, nursing the usual misconceptions about the American underclass.
This thoughtful & thought-provoking film has a very great deal to say about human nature, & how nothing can be taken at face value. It also encourages the viewer to realise that sometimes people deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt. The acting is excellent, the dialogue is realistic & the overall plot development is enjoyable to watch. This is an all-time classic.
