Witness Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 858

Average Rating: 3/4

# of Ratings: 249

Theatrical Release Date: 02/08/1985

Language: English

Genre: Thriller, Romance

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Peter Weir

Actors: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Josef Sommer

Plot: A young, Amish boy is witness to a crime in Philadelphia and in order to protect him before trail and officer is sent to go undercover to protect him. While adjusting to this new life, and feelings for the boy's mother, he has to be on the lookout of the killers who will stop at nothing to keep the boy silent. -- Chris Kavan

Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 04/02/2023

As a thriller, "Witness" follows the step-by-step playbook of all the best classics.

Indyfreak - wrote on 09/12/2018

Beautifully shot and expertly directed by Peter Weir, Harrison Ford delivers one of his greatest performances of his career. Joined by Kelly McGillis as the winsome Amish widow who draws his eye and newcomer Lukas Hass as her son who sees a horrible crime by happenstance. This entails police officer John Book (Ford) to go undercover within the tightknit community to keep them safe before trial. A lesser filmmaker would have dialed up the sex and violence while belittling the Amish culture. Weir respects both them and the audience by refraining from such indulgences and instead crafts something that works as an engaging thriller and a sweet romance.

Ian - wrote on 09/16/2015

Just an plodding, boring movie about a child who witnesses a murder and the cultural differences between the child's family (Amish) and the detective on the case (not Amish). Nothing particularly noteworthy. I actually watched it in a class exploring cultural differences in society. It is a task to watch, not unlike doing homework.

MovieMike
Director

30 Years Old & Still Watchable

MovieMike - wrote on 01/10/2016

The real measure of a film should be how it stands the test of time. Of course you cannot apply this metric to a new or very recent film; but maybe another way to quantify this would be to judge how many times you would re-watch the film. It’s hard to believe ‘Witness’ is 30 years old, but it certainly still manages to evoke the same reactions and feelings as it did in 1985.
Rachel Lapp (played by Kelly McGillis) is a young Amish woman who has just lost her husband. After the funeral, she starts a journey with her son, Samuel (Lucas Haas), to visit a sister. At a train stop in Philadelphia, Samuel inadvertently witnesses the murder of a policeman. Harrison Ford appears as Detective John Book, who is assigned to the case. After Book is wounded by one of his own fellow detectives, …

TheWolf
Movie God

Great film, I would recommend it to anyone.

TheWolf - wrote on 12/24/2007

I've always been a fan of Harrison Ford's work, in Witness he plays John Book. Book is a good, honest Philadelphia cop who is forced to hide out on an Amish farm while pursuing some corrupt cops. In the midst of this culture clash, he finds himself increasingly attracted to young widow Rachel (Kelly McGillis) who's the mother of a juvenile murder witness (Lukas Haas).
This movie is a genuinely affecting combination of several themes - a cop movie, a forbidden romance, and an exploration of a very "plain" culture. It is serious and thoughtfully handled, and cast to perfection. Ford gives one of his very best performances, in fact. I really enjoyed the music score, too. The script isn't infallible, I did have some questions after watching some scenes. However, I still consider it to be …