antoniocasaca123 Both "abre los ojos" and "vanilla sky" are very weak and full of "holes". Almost always the original is better than the remake (the exceptions are very few, but there are, for example in the case of Scorsese cape fear that is superior to the original, which was already very good). In this case what can be said is that the American remake is as mediocre as the original Spanish. Nor do I understand the reason for having been overvalued movies. Both with boring intrigue, full of "mistakes" and implausible and both with very weak and unconvincing performances.

IrohaUta Abre los ojos (Open your eyes), 1997, which most people might know better in its American remake Vanilla Sky (with Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz) by Cameron Crowe. I'm glad I haven't seen the remake when I had the chance some years ago - my mother's been a huge fan of Tom though gladly her interest declined with his Scientology and Katie deliriums - cause it would have spoiled this very nice movie.The story ? Handsome and rich guy César (Eduardo Noriega) leads an epicurean life of one-night stands until one of them, Nuria, wants - not just a little crave for chicken at 2 in the morning - no she really wants him for more than one night. Of course, our womanizer doesn't give a damn and while trying to escape from her at his party, he comes to meet the beautiful Sofia (Penélope Cruz) and.. obviously she turns the Don Juan into a lovestruck Prince Charming. It would have ended there and you had the classical New-York - ahem Madrid - based romantic comedy. You can stop here if you don't want to be spoiled.But, here comes Nuria again. She offers him a lift in her car, and tired Don Juan accepts. He doesn't freak out when his driver swallows a bunch of pills and begin to talk about happiness. He does when she drives faster and faster. Caramba, we're out of the road. She dies. He lives. His handsome face looks more like the Elephant man's now. But it's not the worst. The flash forwards sequences of our protagonist show that he is now in an asylum, accused of murder.I'm not saying more. Only that the movie is one of these thrillers that keep you breathless.

JamesHunt007-MI One of the best movies that I have ever seen in my life even though I have watched lots of movies. This movie touches your heart so much that you get yourself involved with each and every character.Acting is superb especially from Penelope Cruz and Eduardo Noriega.The soundtrack and the background score of the movie is so excellent that it can bring tears from your eyes. There are so many scenes that are memorable especially the picture drawing scene between Penelope Cruz and Eduardo Noriega. Penelope Cruz looks so pretty and especially her smile and the way she smiles and the way she laughs is so beautiful. I think no other actress in the world does have that kind of innocent smile. She looks so beautiful in this movie. Guys like me will easily fall for her, no doubt.The twist at the end of the movie is so brilliant with its background score is superb that I have to consider this one of the best endings in the cinematic history.Direction is brilliant, screenplay is top-notch, cinematography is excellent.One surprising thing is that it does not have any heavy set-pieces, lacks action that is only at the lobby of the Life extension building, a car crash and a few gunshots even though its a science fiction movie.Kudos to Alejandro Amenábar for having directing such a beautiful movie movie.

bts1984 Although I didn't get to see 'Vanilla Sky' in 2001, when I got the chance to see it was still a relatively recent movie. Back then I didn't know yet that many of the recent movies I saw were in reality remakes. In other words, I didn't know there were original versions.At the time, I had good expectations about "Vanilla Sky", partially because of its delicious title and partially because it appeared to be good. I was frankly disappointed with it.This one, the original and true version, is superior, easily eclipsing the remake. Even what seemed good in "Vanilla Sky" before seems mediocre next to the original. If you want 'Vanilla Sky' done right, don't look any further - this is it.Admittedly, it's still not an "easy" movie, but it's marginally easier to understand than the flawed American version. But even the original requires extra attention, otherwise it will be even more confusing. It's also more intriguing, more suspenseful, more tragic, more touching, more original, more artistic, deeper and more intense, not to mention it has a very nice soundtrack.Overall, a movie of higher quality. And ahead of its time. In 1997, movies this brave and complex were something from another world or even another planet. Nowadays we easily find movies like this, but in 1997 that was another music.On paper, "Abre los ojos" is the predictable story of a young man (César) who has everything in life: he is rich, good-looking, popular among his friends and lucky with women. That's the easy part. Behind this simple idea lies an extraordinary and exceptionally complex story. Unexpectedly, César meets the charming Sofia and instantly falls in love with her. She corresponds but soon César's life changes completely, when his insanely jealous lover Nuria tricks him into a trap by offering him a ride, covering her true intentions. She intentionally commits suicide by crashing the car. César survives, but his face gets seriously deformed.César is willing to pay anything for a cosmetic surgery, so that he can have his normal face again, return to his life and reconquer Sofia. Much for César's sorrow, nobody can (or doesn't want to) operate his face. After that traumatizing experience, César becomes emotionally unstable, aggressive, confused, deeply depressed and his mental health changes dangerously: he suffers from flashbacks, disturbing visions, is unable to distinguish dreams from reality and even confounds Sofia with Nuria - and by seeing Nuria instead of Sofia, he reacts with violence to that and the innocent Sofia is the one who pays. To tell the truth, the film comes to a point which is almost impossible to tell what's real and what's not - but all this complicated mess only makes it more interesting and remarkable. An amazing yet strong movie with also a surprising ending...But the movie isn't all about tragedy. There is also a romance between César and Sofia, and there is some sexuality. The lovely Penélope Cruz is seen naked. Penélope is beautiful with clothes, but naked she is simply divine. And she's got very lovely boobs.Eduardo Noriega is superb, so much better than Tom Cruise. The actress who plays Nuria, despite her minor role, is clearly superior to Cameron Diaz. Penélope Cruz is in both versions and plays the same role in both but she is better in this one. Maybe it was the pressure and boredom of doing the same thing twice, which affects the performance? Maybe because in the original she speaks her native language? Must be that. Not that I blame her. I love Chete Lera's fantastic acting as Antonio and Gérard Barray's terrific acting as Serge Duvernois (and he speaks Spanish so well that you don't even notice any french accent on him). Fele Martínez is good as César's friend Pelayo.Title in Portugal: 'De Olhos Abertos'.