Definitely one of my favorite films of all time. The whole sequence when Dirk and his crew go to sell drugs to the kingpin has got to be one of the most uncomfortable moments in movie history. As a viewer you're on the edge of your seat feeling claustrophobic the entire time.

This movie stood the test of time. It's a classic.

Ebert was right on the money with his assessment.

Boogie Night was undoubtedly a great movie, but watching this clip I cant help but be reminded of how much we lost with the passing of Siskel and Ebert: always informing, thought -provoking and , entertaining. Theres no critic today who even comes close.

One of the very best films of the 90s

This movie does have a point. It is a movie about family. A "family of freaks" who sustain and rely on each other through the soaring highs and crushing lows of the porn industry. This meaning is solidified in the absolutely magnificent and emotionally cathartic "God Only Knows" musical sequence, followed by the steadicam long-take through Jack Horner's house.

god i miss this show.

Are you people on drugs? The drug deal scene is one of the best scenes ever! Wahlberg's acting during it is amazing. One of my favourite movies

I thought Boogie Nights was the best picture that year, and it wasn't even nominated.

It seems like Siskel didn't have much of an argument as to what he didn't like the film, and don't really think he got the point. Ebert was right on this one.

I love Boogie Nights so much. Ebert is right here.

I actually saw Boogie Nights in the movie theater. The drug deal scene with Alfred Molina was startlingly intense. The firecrackers were so loud that everyone in the audience flinched when they went off. That scene, for me, was the realization i was watching a downright brilliant movie.

Ebert is right

Siskel really missed that one. That film was a brilliant and compelling observation on peoples need to feel relevant. Using the 70's and an industry that requires no skill is the perfect metaphor for vacuousness and self delusion.

One of the best films ever to not get nominated for Best Picture.

These guys go at it harder than a KZfaq comments section Boogie Nights is one of the most underrated movies of the last 30 years

This movie still holds up even today, an absolute classic.

I miss watching these two debate. They had a huge influence on me and getting into film. Really miss them both.

When Dirk goes into the studio to record "You Got the Touch" is the funniest scene in the movie. So much cringe.

I love how Ebert just shuts him down. lol

The movie's "point" (as pointless as "looking" for a point actually IS in this GREAT film) is that these people live a life that will burn out. The characters (and real life porn industry folk) probably know this deep down. THE ENTIRE 70s decade was a vacuum of drugs, despair & burnt out post hippie culture (a period that Gene Siskel romanticizes with his Travolta 3 piece disco suit that he bought at auction). Hell, Eagles wrote an entire album (Hotel California) about this very subject! But what this film does is take several recognizable characters whom are all running away from their actual lives and give them their 15 minutes of sex disguised as entertainment glory & then slow painful real life fall back to earth (maybe actually a quick painful fall back to earth). PT Anderson does an incredible job of intersecting these stories into a path of precipitous decline. John Lennon said in his last interview the day before he died "hey, wasn't the 70s a drag? Let's make the 80s good". This movie was the evocation of THAT idea.

A pointless movie isn't necessarily a bad one. Siskel is judging the movie as if it were styled after an epic with a resolution that brings both closure and redemption, but most peoples' lives aren't epic. And this is just a movie about peoples' lives. I know a movie made about me would not have a conclusive 'point'.

I think this is one of the best movies of the 90's. The amount of great actors and performances in this is just crazy.

Boogie Nights is a great film. One of PTA's best.

The cast of "Boogie nights" was astonishing, and they deliver one of the best ensemble performances in the past two decades. Curiously, my favorite performance was delivered by veteran adult film actress Nina Hartley, as a self-absorbed sexual libertine whose hapless husband (William H. Macy) was always walking in on her having sex with some other guy. But what's initially premised as a running gag in the film goes tragically awry in a most startling and unexpected way, in a brilliant twist that shows off director Paul T. Anderson at his very best.

the point of the film is that there is no point. best movie of the 90's!

Wow, the makeup could not hide how sick Siskel was here. I thought one of Phillip Seymour Hoffmans greatest performances was in this film.

Boogie Nights is one of my favorite movies of all time, i just watched it yesterday and its still amazing.

One of the best movies I've ever seen. In my personal top ten.

Ebert was dead on right! Siskel couldn't handle the meaninglessness of this outstanding movie!

What Gene is criticizing is exactly why it's so memorable. I think he wanted a conventional rise and fall story arc. It doesn't quite give it to us. This is why PTA is such an original if often confounding filmmaker. The Master is another great example. Going in, you think it's a takedown of Scientology. Well it is--sort of. But rather than a story in which Juaquin Phoenix's character gets brainwashed and loses his identity, the opposite happens. He TRIES to let himself get brainwashed but in the end he just can't and kind of ends up adrift more or less how he was when he started. Dirk Diggler is the same way--he's sort of changed by his experiences, but not really. We expect Boogie Nights to be a morality play but while it hardly endorses life in the porn industry, PTA refuses to take the obvious route. He seems to say this world has been both good and bad for these characters and there's no simple affirmation or denunciation to be had. Given that Dirk wasn't the brightest bulb and his mom was psychotic, was his life really going to be much better if he never became a porn star? Debatable. PTA is the master of ambivalence and ambivalence can be frustrating but it's also perhaps more honest to real life.

A movie that has aged really well. One of my favorites.

The meaning of the movie is about people in search of a family...who & where they find it in! I can't believe these 2 couldn't see that.

This movie shows us the human side of the porn world of 40 years ago, long before it became a giant internet industry. The story of this little production family, headed by Burt Reynolds, is told with great integrity by the director and cast. You become invested in the characters and care about what happens to them. And finally, if you are a younger viewer, it will give you some good examples of what party life in the ‘70s was like.

It's been at LEAST 5 years since I've seen Boogie Nights - I think I've "only" saw it three times, I want to see it again. Great movie.

Sorry, but this is why Roger Ebert is far more recognized as a great movie critic than Gene Siskel. The firecracker scene is one of the all-time great moments in cinema

Boogie Nights is one of my favorite movies ever, the ensemble cast of characters, the screenplay, camera work, soundtrack, it’s got everything a Tarantino movie would have but PTA has his own unique style. I think it’s a major achievement in film making.

I love these guys. These were the two dudes I would look forward to on Sunday early afternoon for movie reviews and just to know about movies. Great guys.

One of my favorite duo, im tired of people only praising ebert

Boogie Nights is probably in my top ten. Paul Thomas Anderson is amazing.

Haha “rap singer turned Calvin Klein model, Mark Wahlberg”

Boogie Nights was indeed a great movie. I also agree with Ebert that the firecracker scene was spectacular... it succeeded so well at conveying the sense of high stress, combined with tunnel vision and feeling numb... really great movie.

This was a tremendous movie. Every time I watched Siskel & Ebert, Siskel was often the more critical one when it came to good movies. What's to complain about this movie? Great cast with great individual stories. Great screenplay, great music in the film. The scene Ebert is talking about with the kid throwing firecrackers, is one of the best, on the edge of your seat, 10 minutes in movie making. Excellent movie.

I remember watching this fantastic film in a half empty theater thinking how fantastic the acting was and how alive the movie was..Everyone was going Titanic crazy and this got overlooked..One of my favorite movies for sure

Ebert always had better taste than Siskel. Watch the Taxi driver review they did in the 1970s. Ebert of course recognized what a great movie it was while Siskel whined about the violence.

Man did Siskel ever miss the boat on this one. BN is my favorite movie of all-time. It’s an absolutely perfect film in my opinion, and it heralded the ascension of the best new director of the last 20 plus years. In a role written specifically with her in mind, it also helped to solidify my favorite actress, Julianne Moore, as one of the most talented actresses ever to grace the silver screen. It gets 5 of 5 stars from me. Ebert ended up naming it as the 3rd best film of 1997.

Team Ebert all the way here. One of the best films ever.

BEST acting ever.Best cast.Best scenery.

This is a film that draws you in subtlety. But once you are in, you are in. You find yourself hooked and you don't even know it. I felt like I was at the partys at Jack's house. I felt almost like the characters in this film were people I knew. They were real. It was really amazing how the film grabbed you and brought you in. If you haven't seen it. I would recommend it because you will trip on its impact on you

ebert was the better of the two

Boogie Nights is a masterpiece. Everything about it feels utterly real.

Several performers who were in the industry during that time (the Golden Era) have said the movie does a great job of showing the very high highs and the ultra lows of the business. One said it was like working in an industry that was bi polar. At times you felt on top of the world and at others you were below rock bottom.

Favorite film of all time, Back to the Future close behind.

Nobody mentioned those unbelieveable one-shots this movie has, starting with the very first scene. Absolutely amazing.

I love when these two guys would disagree. I miss them.

Miss watching this with my dad in the 90s. Great show.

a brilliant film, and one of the great period pieces of the era. the greatest part was the ending and its true to life treatment, where people are victims of their own actions, and in turn are left to pick up the pieces and learn from their mistakes- some sooner than others, just as in real life.

I've got to say this yet again. Both men were ideally suited to TV. Both had great conversational style of presentation. Both genuinely cared about good film making. So, it's a shame that they didn't think more highly of each other at the time they were making the show. I understand that you have to have ego to do this kind of TV criticism and there's always going to be some resentment in a partnership, but why these two guys didn't realise just how good the other was and how more successful they were as a team on the show.....its' regretable and I hope that both re-evaluated eventually.

I'm so glad for the internet and reviews of more than 4 minutes today.

Burt Reynolds' performance is kind of amazing because on paper his character should come off as sleazy and exploitative, but he never does.

I really like this movie, and Burt Reynolds definitely deserved the Oscar nomination he got for his performance.

Someone remix this video and dub Phillip Seymour Hoffman crying over Gene's words

Used to watch every review these guys did. Ebert was the man! Miss him still.

the circus/funeral music at the start and its return at the end, hits hards and really sums up the rapid high and lows of the adult movie world

I've been seeing movies for almost 55 years and this is in my top 5. The soundtrack related to the scenes was perfect. A breakout movie for so many actors to many to name here. I can personally relate to the 70's and drugs. Like Ebert said they were a bunch of losers and when everyone broke up they went downhill fast but in the end they all came together cause all they had was each other and with that they had hope for the future. Finally Burt Reynolds best performance by far.

Thank you for uploading this. It helps to sum up what makes this show so valuable

I love it, they both are giving it a thumbs up and yet STILL manage to argue about it. Roger is like an attack dog!

You gotta love Ebert, you could tell he was eager to say exactly what we were all thinking. R.I.P

I really miss these guys. Too bad this clip cuts off. nevertheless thank you for uploading this! Long live Siskel & Ebert

From the first time I've seen this film, it's been one of my favorites. Everyone is so good in it especially Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, and Don Cheadle.

We really really need badly this type of duo doing this type of real review. Please bring it back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite films of all time

Props to them both, they always gave excellent revealing perspective. The film needed no heroes, romance, or cute bowtie wrap-up making a simple judgment about the characters or 'moral'. It told a realistic story of folks living in a phony world they believed would last forever and it didn't so they outcomes happened, reminds of big Tower style record stores against the internet. I agree with Gene. Rise In Power to both.

Rog nailed it. I'm surprised Gene didn't appreciate this film for what it was.

What blows my mind is Paul Thomas Anderson was 25 years old when he made this.

Boogie Nights is a great film... Never seen a film that has so many interesting characters... The ensemble is incredible! PT Anderson! What can you say!?!

Top three movies of all time.

Siskel was sometimes so totally WRONG it´s embarrasing.

I’ve literally had these exact conversations where I’ve been like “X movie is good but X scene wasn’t that great, you know?” And they’re like “BUT WHAT ABOUT Y!! Y WAS FANTASTIC!!” And I’m like “Yes, yes, definitely, but I was talking about x and-“ “WHAT ABOUT C, IT WAS SO GOOD!!! AND D, THAT TOO!!!” “Yes it was great, but-“ “AND E!” But I agree with Ebert, it’s a great movie. And after all of the misery and sadness the ending really brought it back, and while predictable it was a good way to end it I felt.

I actually agree with Siskel. The characters, attention to detail, dialogue, dramatic tension are all incredibly vivid and well-realized. The ending is just what thew it off for me. "Arbitrary" is what Siskel says and I tend to agree. I hear the theme and overall point being meaninglessness and I appreciate that and understand that's likely what PTA intended - I just think we explored these characters so deeply and got to know them really well, the ending sort of drifts off instead of sewing up much resolution. It makes sense to end the way it does, showing each character graduate out of that time period and move on with life. But it feels more like the end of a documentary than an intimate story, imo.

"The mob destroys them." I definitely agree with Ebert's review, but did I miss something in my numerous viewings of this film? The mob?

Roger is completely right, of course

I love Siskel and Ebert. They are the two critics everyone listened to.

This is one of my all time favorites from the 90s.

Still my all-time favorite movie. I haven't seen it in a few years, but for a while I was legit obsessed with it. Must've watched it twenty-five times, at least. The "point" is they're broken people who band together and form a makeshift family. It's sweet, sad, funny. Hands down still PTA's best movie.

haha woah, Siskel's left eye at 2:03, starts turning into a gaping black void.

I loved how they portrayed the characters in Boogie Nights. They were actually nice and friendly people. In fact, when one was discovered to be a pedophile, they turned their backs on him. Great movie and great characters.

Great film, and the fire cracker scene was outstanding. Thomas jane’s best role, perhaps mark wahlberg’s as well. One of Tarantino’s favorites.

Tell him Roger!!

my god i love this film

The crafting and filming of the story are just perfect ..I think this is a masterpiece if not its near perfect..it succeeds in what it tries to do

I really loved this movie. As mentioned they are like this big family of misfits. The best scene is them at the drug dealers house . It's just crazy with the dealer blaring his favorite music & u feel the nervousness of Wahlberg & john Reilly esp when the dealer has that little guy there blowing off little fire crackers which makes the two guys jump bc they know the bodyguard is about to bust them any minute as he is checking out the fake coke. Such a great scene. Anytime I even think of boogie nights the sister christian or Jesse's girl blaring. Burt deserved the oscar that year. The casting is pretty great. Wahlberg ( in his breakout movie performance) Reilly, Reynolds, alfredo Molina, julianne moore , heather Graham, thomas Jane phillip Seymour hoffman & William Macy. That's an epic ensemble cast. Finally that sequence of seeing all the characters at their worst is pretty haunting & stayed with me after the movie ended.

Director Anderson , the heir to Robert Altman

Siskel blows it again.

I really miss these guys...there is nothing close them today.

Boogie Nights is why I love going to the theater to see a film - to be completely immersed in the cinematic experience. I saw it when it came out. The film that most recently did that for me was Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

I loved Boogie Night's flashy yet reserved style, fantastic cast, and great cinematography. It is one of my favorite PTA films and films in general. That being said, I felt the film could have cut out several scenes and plotlines.

It's interesting that people try to argue that there really is a point to the movie, but most can't seem to agree on what the point actually is. Siskel thought it was pointless. I guess in a way, everyone is probably right; it's possible that a film can be however you interpret it. I personally don't think being a porn star is a pointless existence any more so than being a film star is. Porn has a definite purpose for existing, and it provides a valuable service for those who consume it. I say valuable because of the amount of money people spend on it. Or, at least they used to until the Internet came along. As for Eddie/Dirk, he was born with a gift and chose to use it in the best way he could, and I think that's admirable. It's just too bad he was a certifiable idiot.

Siskel also didn’t like Silence of the Lambs ( he said there was no chemistry between Hopkins and Foster) or Casino, but thought Saturday Night Fever was one of the greatest movies ever made.

I love these guys, because they could disagree in a heated manner, but were always respectful of each other. It's kind of funny to think that the politicians of today could learn a lot from watching these two gentlemen handle their disagreements. Oh, and by the way, great movie!