1994: Forrest Gump

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Forrest Gump, released in 1994, is the heart-warming story of young man, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), chronicling his life and, although not the brightest man you’ll ever meet, how he has somehow managed to unintentionally be apart of many huge historical events, including such encounters with John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, and having partaken in the Vietnam War. Although he has a very low IQ level, to such an extent that it largely affects his life, this movie depicts his life, showing it to be one of the interesting lives ever lived…

The movie starts with Forrest at a young age, and how his mother struggles to sign him up to a school due to his low levels of intelligence. At the same time, we learn of a condition he has with his legs, meaning he has to use metal braces to be able to walk, with this, along with his low intelligence, causing him to be bullied often. However, over some time, with the help of his best friend, and love of his life, Jenny Curran (Robin Wright), his confidence, and legs, soon become powerful enough for him to progress in life, with this movie featuring one of the most well-known scenes in the movie, and in movie history, showing Forrest beginning to run faster than anyone has ever seen, as his braces fall off, with Jenny shouting probably the most well-known phrase in movie history, which is repeated countlessly as the movie progresses, “Run, Forrest, Run!” – I mean, even people who haven’t even seen this movie use this quote on a day-to-day basis. I use it all the time.

The movie develops further, showing how Forrest’s life progresses, and how he becomes famous world-wide through various historical events, whilst at the same time how his life develops, with personal events such as the death of his mother (Sally Field), or ‘momma’, as he refers to her as. Even though he is such a simple man, he experiences more in life than most of us would even think to experience, living the most fulfilled life possible. The movie ends, with him leaving the bus stop, where he had been sitting for the duration of most of the movie, telling the story of his life to random people. He goes to visit his old friend, Jenny, who has some life-changing news for him. Events then continue on a positive note, before his now wife, Jenny, sadly passes away, leaving him to raise his recently discovered son, Forrest Gump Jr.

Forrest Gump, is one of the most empowering and heart-warming movies I have ever seen. Filled with a simple, yet great and twist-filled storyline, drama, emotion, humour, and scenes that will bring many to tears of happiness, as well as sadness, this movie has everything. This movie takes the most seemingly unimportant of people, and depicts how their life can become one of the most important in history, changing others’ lives for the better, whilst living a full and fantastic life. This movie is what every movie should be…inspiring. This is also one of the ‘pick me up’ movies, that make you feel good, so if you haven’t seen this, most definitely watch it when you’re feeling down. Or if you have seen it, just watch it again when you’re feeling down, and by the end of it, you’ll feel happy again.

By Manpreet Singh

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• 1984: The Terminator (moviehart.wordpress.com)

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