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Rating: - My favorite movie...
Excellent, provocative. I loved it! Got me thinking for sure. I saw both this and the silver screen version. I loved this later version much better. Maybe because I could relate to the situation that was modernized some as I am from this era. The silver screen (old) version is kinda cheesy.

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Rating: - It's okay, but it doesn't top the original
When I saw that 12 Angry Men had been remade with Jack Lemmon, I was very interested in seeing it. Not only do I like Jack Lemmon, but I wanted to see if more of a modern twist had been placed on the story. I finally saw the movie, and I must say that the other reviewers are correct. This version, while somewhat interesting, doesn't hold a candle to the original. Jack Lemmon looks tired and sulks a lot, and he just doesn't have the energy that made Peter Fonda such a great fit for the role in the original. George C. Scott does a nice job in his angry role. The great Ossie Davis has his talents wasted in a minor role. Tony Danza and James Gandolfini perform nicely, but in the end the original beats this one hands-down. Modernizing it didn't do much for the dialogue, the story, or the performances. Skip this and buy the original.

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Rating: - One Angry Reviewer
No amount of money or updating can master the original 12 Angry Men masterpiece. Although I really like George C. Scott's role that Lee J. Cobb originated, I see nothing redeeming in this remake. Jack Lemon's talents are wasted in this film and he is actually a poor choice for the role. I would have preferred someone like Tom Hanks in Fonda's original role.

In addition, the senseless foul language added to the original script does nothing for the film except "update" it a bit with how we speak today, but it still reeked as being unnecessary. William Friedkin is a very skilled director (The Exorcist, The French Connection, et. al.), but this is just not his genre at all and, therefore, his talents are wasted as much as everyone else's in this remake.

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Rating: - This is good, so is the original.
George C. Scott is brilliant, his talent is obvious in this screen version of the play.

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Rating: - Do NOT waste your time!..See the original 1957 version instead!
With all due respect to those of you who gave this a thumbs up, this 1997 version of "12 Angry Men" is at best a "passionless, passionate" remake of the 1957 original with Henry Fonda and Lee Cobb.

Even with veteran actors like George C. Scott, Hume Cronyn, Ossie Davis, and Jack Lemmon, the acting was stiff and lifeless, and the pinnacle and critical moments of truth and revelation were totally lost or glossed over! (I knew as soon as I realized that Tony Danza was going to play the agitated baseball fan, this was NOT going to an Academy performance.) There is absolutely NO COMPARISON - either visually or performance-wise - between this version and the far superior original 1957 version.

The newer version pretty much kept to the original but with a few updates. (Not necessarily a bad thing.) However, the producers felt it "necessary" to "boost the rating" of the newer version to PG-13 by adding swearing and cursing, which added nothing but foul language to a subpar performance. (The original had just one minor curse word.)

Whereas, the newer version relied solely on raw emotion to draw you into the plot (which it failed miserably to do), the older version held you captive wtih rivoting performances and crucial character development and insight as each juror began to come to their own conclusions over the guilt or innocence of the defendant.

An interesting sidenote. In the 1957 version: After the jury is dismissed from the courtroom, there is a 6-minute+ continuous camera shot, as all 12 jurors enter the room and get themselves situated before beginning the deliberation. Without a break, the camera moves from one group of jurors to another and the everyday (sometimes inane) dialogue conversations between the jurors is non-stop the whole time. I have NEVER seen this long of a shot duplicated in a modern movie. (If just one person misses their cue or forgets a line, the whole scene starts over.)

I guess I don't have to reiterate that I didn't care for this version of "12 Angry Men" AT ALL! To me, to give it even a 1-star rating is being extremely generous. Big thumbs down! Forget this version and see the original!