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The Terminal

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2:24

The Terminal

PG-13

Released Jun 18, 2004

2h 8m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

61%

Tomatometer

208 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

When Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), an Eastern European tourist, arrives at JFK in New York, war breaks out in his country and he finds himself caught up in international politics. Because of the war, the Department of Homeland Security won't let him enter or exit the United States. He's trapped at JFK -- indefinitely. While living at the airport, Viktor falls for a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones). She may have feelings for him too. But what good is love if Viktor can't leave the terminal?

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Critics Consensus

The Terminal transcends its flaws through the sheer virtue of its crowd-pleasing message and a typically solid star turn from Tom Hanks.

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Namrata Joshi

Outlook

Spielberg turns the sublime into the banal, at times taking it to the verge of ridiculous.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 7, 2019

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Lovely and well worth sharing with your family.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 29, 2010

Full Review

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Hanks' overdone slapstick antics and awful accent ... keep this featherweight farce from taking flight.

May 4, 2005

Full Review

Dan Buffa

Ramble On With Buffa (Substack)

What builds out from there is one man having an extraordinary effect on a group of people who never even knew he existed. Spielberg’s film deftly told a tale about the immediate prejudice towards immigrants.

Dec 29, 2024

Full Review

Alan Jones

Radio Times

While the performances are appealing, Spielberg relies too heavily on the airport-terminal-as-microcosm-of-society angle and the saccharine sentimentality gets piled on as the credibility decreases.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 12, 2024

Full Review

Akos Peterbencze

Vulnerable Man (Medium)

Although it is way too idealistic, The Terminal works because the characters’ idiosyncrasies are still relevant today. The script conveys that universal bond immigrants form between each other, given their social status in a foreign country.

Jul 22, 2023

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Daniel M

Just saw it for the first time and it was a good pleasant film to watch to spend the evening. The story was great with a great cast as well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/26/25

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Black H

An answer in very few possibilities. The direction work is good and making a film on such a subject is a lot of work. I feel that more such movies should be made. Tom Hank has done it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/24/25

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Alexsander F

Great film, the famous ‘doing a lot with a little’, Tom Hanks is brilliant in the role.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/22/25

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mark g

This was really a poor film. Spielberg is often cut slack because of his library of work. But this was a silly and pretentious effort. And no, Hanks was not good in it, he was quite bad. I get it, "feel good," but this was more "felt stupid."

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/17/25

Full Review

Fantasia 2

It's an underrated movie of steven Spielberg . An good emotional , funny , dramatic movie .

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/10/25

Full Review

Jo P

Inane and mawkish I don’t think this movie worked. It lumbered through a series of disconnected scenes without building the storyline and took far too long about it. It didn’t hang together emotionally or logically so the sentimentality was all the worse for being incomprehensible. Some of the acting was good, some was fairly over the top. The score was peppy and annoying. I found the film childish and unsatisfying and wish I hadn’t watched it. Sorry to sound grumpy but anything impressive about the set and camerawork is beside the point because of the vacuum at the heart of the screenplay.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

Full Review

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Steven Spielberg

Director

Tom Hanks

Viktor Navorski

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Amelia Warren

Stanley Tucci

Frank Dixon

Chi McBride

Joe Mulroy

Diego Luna

Enrique Cruz

The Terminal: Official Clip - Drugs Are For Goat!

2:47

The Terminal: Official Clip - Tom Hanks Leaves the Airport

3:40

The Terminal: Official Clip - Gupta's Sacrifice

3:14

The Terminal: Official Clip - Awkward Airport Date

2:50

The Terminal: Official Clip - Tom Hanks Wants a Job

2:13

The Terminal: Official Clip - Tom Hanks Tries to Sleep

2:08

The Terminal: Official Clip - Tom Hanks vs. the Camera

3:45

The Terminal: Official Clip - Zoe Saldana Marries Diego Luna

1:39

The Terminal: Official Clip - Tom Hanks & Catherine Zeta-Jones Kiss

1:52

The Terminal: Official Clip - Diego Luna Loves with Zoe Saldana

3:49

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The Terminal: Trailer 1

2:24

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Synopsis

When Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), an Eastern European tourist, arrives at JFK in New York, war breaks out in his country and he finds himself caught up in international politics. Because of the war, the Department of Homeland Security won't let him enter or exit the United States. He's trapped at JFK -- indefinitely. While living at the airport, Viktor falls for a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones). She may have feelings for him too. But what good is love if Viktor can't leave the terminal?

Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Sacha Gervasi, Jeff Nathanson
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: DreamWorks SKG, Amblin Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Drug Reference|Brief Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $77.0M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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