Teen Romance Movies

Beauty and the Beast - The Complete Series List Price: $89.98 Sale Price: $56.99 You save: $32.99 (37%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

Once upon a time is now and forever: Beauty and the Beast: The Third Season of the Emmy Award-winning, fan favorite show is more captivating than ever in this 3-disc collectible set. This unique fantasy-crime drama series features the adventures and romance between Vincent, a mythic, noble man-beast and Catherine, a savvy assistant DA in New York. These two share a strong, mystical bond that enables Vincent while in his underground lair to sense whenever Catherine is in danger in the World Above. In the powerful final season, Catherine, pregnant with Vincent¹s child, becomes a victim to a murderous drug-lord who steals her baby from her after she gives birth. Drawing strength from the everlasting love and unbreakable bond he and Catherine share, Vincent relentlessly pursues her killer, determined to bring him to justice and to rescue their child.

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Brand: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Original Release Date:
Actors:

• Linda Hamilton
• Ron Perlman
• Roy Dotrice
• Jay Acovone
• Edward Albert

Reviews

Don't Bother

by Victoria from Arlington, VA on 2008-10-01
If you've already purchased the show's three seasons separately, don't bother with the boxed set, as it's a complete waste of money. In addition to the strangely altered image of Vincent on the box, the "bonus" disc is insulting to long-time fans. "Newly Reconstructed Love Letters" is read by God-knows-who ... certainly not Ron Perlman. Ridiculous. If you bought the VHS tapes way back when, you already have the original love letters, which also appear on the bonus disc. Besides the love letters, the only other two features are episodic promos for some first season episodes - and "Vincent's Quest" - an interactive trivia game. No interviews, no deleted scenes, no behind-the-scenes footage ... nothing to warrant spending $70 if you've already purchased all three seasons individually. What a disappointment.

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What It Is Not, and What It Should Be

by Natalie W. Josef from on 2008-10-02
As a huge fan of the show, I am truly disappointed. I gave my DVD sets to another fan in anticipation of the full series set, but it just wasn't worth it. The interactive trivia feature is fun for about ten minutes. The questions were ultimately pretty easy and could have been written by some disinterested intern who just skimmed over episodes. It was kind of bumpy and not very engaging. The original love letters are nothing new, but I too was shocked when some strange man started reading the new love letters. I mean, what were they thinking? No fan of the show wants to hear some random guy reading Vincent's words. I immediately pressed Stop and have no interest in checking out the rest. The experience reached an all-new low when I started reading the love letters and noticed two typos in one letter. I am an editor and look for these things, but I am pretty sure any person with a brain knows that solace is spelled with an "a" and not solice, like they spelled it. And "breath" instead of "breathe"? Come on! Again, who put this together? It's obvious that Ron and Linda (or anybody close to the show) had nothing to do with this box set, which is disappointing. No love was put into this at all - the abominable picture of Vincent on the cover symbolizes all that is wrong with this box set. When I think of the features on other DVD sets, I feel ripped off and let down. Why can't we see deleted scenes, interviews, and other cool bonus features? The fans of this show are really connected to it - the mailing lists, conferences, fan fiction, etc. are still going strong twenty-one years later and this box set is just a slap in the face. If you don't have all the seasons, get this because it's cheaper than buying them separately. But if you already have the seasons, don't bother with this. It will only disappoint you.

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Positive Perspective on Beauty and the Beast The Boxed Set

by Karen L. Haws-Dearing from Sugar City, ID on 2008-12-03
I was completely captivated by the 1980s television series Beauty and the Beast which is a touching love story about a man and a woman from different worlds, set in New York City. Catherine Chandler (Beauty) is an attorney, who has grown up in privileged luxury, and Vincent (The Beast) is a man with terrifying feline facial features who lives in a forgotten world of tunnels and caves far below the city. Together, these 2 lovers deal with ancient moral issues which are still important today, handle personal crises in their relationship arising from the differences between their worlds, and fight crime and face dangerous perils in both worlds. This boxed set of 16 DVDs, containing all 3 seasons--a total of 55 episodes, are digitally remastered, and have restored this fabulous story to modern crystal clarity. The series is a wonderful study in how to develop a lasting relationship. The theme is, "Don't be selfish!" Don't demand that your partner be responsible for your happiness. Do make every effort to make him or her happy, even if you need to make sacrifices to do so. Don't think of your partner as a project which needs constant improvement. I know I am not the only person out there who is sick to death of "one night stands" and "casual sex" being passed off as genuine love and satisfying passion. Those are very poor counterfeits for the real thing, and this fabulous series portrays the real thing in rich romantic majesty. In this boxed set, Seasons 1 and 2 are identical to the already released individual seasons of the series. For those who are not familiar with them, Season 1 contains 6 disks with 22 episodes. Season 2 contains 6 disks with 22 episodes as well, but it also has the addition of wonderful commentaries by Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. The difference is in the Season 3 set of disks. The individual Season 3 has only 3 disks with 11 episodes. In this boxed set there are 4 disks in the 3rd season set. The 4th disk of the 3rd season contains approximately 1 ½ hours of very nice extras for series addicts. There is an interactive section of "Vincent's Journey" through the tunnels to rescue Catherine requiring answers to questions from the series episodes to continue the journey. I have a very simple DVD player and was able to easily participate in that fun memory exercise. There is also a section containing 4 of Vincent's original love letters to Catherine in Vincent's voice and then 8 "Newly Reconstructed" letters from the series episodes. Finally, there are original promotional previews shown on network television in the late 1980s before the 1st airing of 13 episodes. My complaints with this set are few. I and many other fans HATE the Vincent artwork on the outer box! If you have never viewed the series before, please be assured, that is NOT VINCENT! Vincent's majestic feline features are completely lost in that poorly rendered profile image. I was happy to see that on the packaging inside, the original artwork from the 3 individual seasons was used on each cover. I was also disappointed that it was neither Ron Perlman's nor his "Vincent" voice that was used to record the newly reconstructed love letters. The only way they are better is due to the deletion of the script running across the same reused scenes from the series. Instead, the appropriate episode scenes are used for each letter without the distraction of the written script. The man who did the reading does have a sexy bass voice, but it isn't Vincent's voice. Still, this entire series always feeds my soul, so this boxed set is still a bargain and a great gift for those who ache for true romance. Because of my love of Beauty and the Beast, I wrote a 500 plus page sequel novel which was completed and published in May of 2008 entitled Love's Journey to Awakening--Beauty and the Beast--Happily Ever After. It was edited by Dr. Thayle K. Anderson, an English professor emeritus, from Murray State University. He is a trusted friend, and a colleague of my beloved late husband, Dr. Gary L. Haws, who was my "Vincent." My book has a very specific target audience, those who love this series starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton, and hate its premature demise with its tragic ending. My book fixes that. It doesn't change the ending. It begins where the series ends and changes the outcome, so it has an happy ending and perhaps a new beginning for more stories about these beloved characters. If that idea appeals to you, it is essential that you watch all 3 seasons before reading my book. Even if you saw them when they first aired 20-plus years ago, you really need to review and watch them again in order to fully understand and appreciate my book. I never get tired of watching them, and I hope that you will enjoy seeing these characters come back to life with a new story line. The questions from the series that my novel answers are: 1. Is Catherine Chandler (Beauty) really dead? 2. Where did Vincent (the Beast) really come from? 3. Can there be an happy ending to a modern day fairytale that starts out, "Once Upon a Time in the City of New York?" Buy this boxed set containing all three seasons of the series. Then visit my website, where you can download a free copy of my entire novel. My website link can be accessed at kandycain1587 "My World" on eBay, on my profile page here on Amazon under Karen L. Haws, or by using any Internet search engine under title or author. The time-line and characters are very precious to me, and I was very careful with them. I hope that you will enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Karen Dearing (Laurel Cain Haws)

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protonflipper@socal.rr.com

by Randolph E. Hinners from Stevenson Ranch, California USA on 2008-09-28
As an aging, white, heteosexual, incurably romamtic male who has been watching TV since the late 1950s, I think BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was the best show ever - with a caveat of the first two seasons only. For all you "BEASTIES" out there, the logical cover would have been the painting at the end of WHEN THE BLUE BIRD SINGS from season two. (By the way - does anyone know where I can get a print of that painting?)If you folks remember when we could only get Season # 1 on VHS, some of them had Vincent's lost Love Letters to Catherine. I suspect they put those in. Despite being read by Ron Pearlman, they were tripe. The CD was wonderful.

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MUTIPLE DEFECTIVE DISCS IN THIS SET !

by Lyle J. Glidden from Vermont on 2009-03-18
I am going on my third boxed set of Beauty and The Beast The Complete Series ! Each set has multiple discs which are seriously defective ! The picture breaks up into digital pixels and slows the DVD player to a near stop, losing the audio in the process ! When you try to fast forward the disc completely locks the player ! Apparently, there is a huge quality control issue with this series ! If I could get a perfect copy of the series...I'd give the set a 5 star rating ! The series is even more magical on disc without commercials ...I'm so glad it is finally available...Now if I can only get a set of 16 perfect DVDs !!!

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Bonnie and Clyde List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $11.99 You save: $2.99 (20%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

A SOMEWHAT ROMANTIZED ACCOUNT OF THE CAREER OF THE NOTORIOUSLYVIOLENT BANK ROBBING COUPLE AND THEIR GANG.

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Brand: Warner Brothers
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Original Release Date: 1967-08-13
Actors:

• Warren Beatty
• Faye Dunaway
• Michael J. Pollard
• Gene Hackman
• Estelle Parsons

Reviews

Details for new Special Edition, Blu-ray and HD releases, Updated with early reports on video/audio quality

by Sanpete from in Utah on 2008-01-19
Warner Home Video is releasing newly remastered transfers of Bonnie and Clyde, with new special features, in several editions. Amazon is taking orders at the following links: Standard DVD 2-disc Special Edition Standard DVD 2-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray HD The first three were released on March 25th; the HD version is due out on April 15th. Warner Brothers has announced that it won't support HD after May 31, 2008, so there may be a limited window to get the HD version. The new transfers have been made from the "original elements," meaning stuff like original negatives or original prints. (See below for an update on the video and audio quality.) The special features announced, included in all the new releases, are these: -- the full-length History Channel documentary about the real Bonnie and Clyde called "Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" (43:10) -- a new three-part documentary about the making and releasing of the film and its relation to the real Bonnie and Clyde: . . . "Bonnie and Clyde's Gang" (22:35) . . . "The Reality and Myth of Bonnie and Clyde" (24:07) . . . "Releasing Bonnie and Clyde" (18:06) -- two newly discovered deleted scenes (5:23) -- two trailers (4:11) -- Warren Beatty's wardrobe tests (7:39) The HD and Blu-ray editions will also include as a "high-def exclusive" a hardcover book (34 pages according to Amazon, 32 pages according to dvdbeaver) with a detailed production history, star/director filmographies and rare archival behind-the-scenes photos. The book is an integral part of the case. This isn't included in the standard DVD Special Edition. The Ultimate edition will also include some non-DVD extras. Details are given in the earlier reviews of the Ultimate edition (January 17, 2008). No commentary was announced, so I subtract one star. For some the making-of features may partially make up for the lack of commentary. As for the movie itself, it's a landmark, but there are already many helpful reviews here about that .... Update on the video and audio quality of the new releases (March 27th) I haven't got my copy yet, but I've checked out some early professional reviews. All the ones I've seen that compare to the older DVD agree that the video quality of the new releases is much improved. I'll give some details from a sampling of reviews here for anyone interested, but the upshot is that everyone is pleased with both new transfers (HD not being out yet). Standard DVD DVD Beaver, which specializes in DVD image evaluations and comparisons, says the standard DVD 2-disc Special Edition video is "very strong," clean, with minimal noise. They report improved detail, contrast and color from the older DVD. Skin tones are said to be a bit on the red side (which is what most people prefer to accurate color). The image is said to have a glossy look at times, perhaps the same look described at DVD Town as "a little glassy." The sound is the original mono, described by DVD Beaver as "clear and consistent." No one raves about the sound, but everyone finds it good overall, for mono. The review at DVD Town finds the new transfer "excellent for a movie some forty years old." It mentions noticeable grain in some shots, but this may refer to scenes in which there was intentional grain introduced for effect. Also mentioned are occasional softness, skin tones a touch dark, but overall color "quite realistic." Says the definition is superb for standard DVD, contrast strong. DVD Verdict says, "The remastered print looks very good, with strong colors and high contrast, and superb detail ...," with a little grain at times. Blu-ray DVD Beaver says the Blu-ray version is, as would be expected, even better. The darks are darker than on the new standard DVD, the brights brighter, very strong detail, with a touch redder skin tones, very minor noise. The image is said to retain a natural look. The sound is described with very same adjectives as for the standard DVD: clear and consistent. Home Theater Forum's reviewer calls the Blu-ray transfer's color fidelity "outstanding" and overall quality "excellent," including sharpness and detail. Blacks are said to be very black, though less so in the later part of the movie. A review at High-Def Digest praises the Blu-ray image quality very highly, particularly the color, which it describes as vibrant, smooth and natural. (I've posted the links to the reviews cited in the first comment for this review.)

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The Stuff of Legend

by J. Michael Click from Fort Worth, Texas United States on 2000-05-24
This movie ignited critics and the public alike when it was first released in theatres. Much discussion centered around the movie's graphic violence (which was considered shocking by 1967 standards --- two years later "The Wild Bunch" would raise the ante even higher); there was also considerable hullaballoo over the film's glamorization of its lawless true-life anti-heroes (which was in fact an old Hollywood tradition best exemplified by a handful of late 1930's and early 1940's biographical Westerns including "Jesse James", "Belle Starr", "Billy the Kid", etc. in which beautiful actors portrayed the murderous title characters as Technicolored lads and ladies).35 years later the fires of debate have burned out, and what remains notable about "Bonnie and Clyde" is neither its cutting-edge violence nor its historical inaccuracies, but instead the fine craftsmanship that went into its creation. The performances are uniformly outstanding; the cinematography is evocative of a time and place that can still be glimpsed in parts of the Ozarks, Oklahoma, and North Texas; the editing is clean and well-paced; the direction is innovative and assured, even poetic in some sequences (the initial acquaintance of Barrow and Parker, the reunion of Bonnie's family, the final ambush scene). This film is the telling of legend, not the chronicle of biographical scholarship, and it unfolds its story masterfully.The DVD showcases the film beautifully. The edition I purchased offers both the widescreen and reformatted versions; an earlier issue of this title on DVD offered only the widescreen release (which I personally prefer and recommend, but you may not agree). This is a classic worthy of multiple viewings, and a DVD I endorse without reservation.

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Natural born killers

by JLind555 from on 2004-04-16
Trust Hollywood to turn two common criminals into two American folk heroes. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were two small-town young people drifting aimlessly during the Great Depression of the 1930's; she's bored out of her gourd, and he's a felon who had killed fourteen men by the time he met his end at the ripe old age of twenty-four. They meet, fall sort of in love, and embark on a petty crime spree. At first it's all good-humored fun; they steal a couple of cars, hold up a couple of stores, and in a moment of hilarious insanity, Clyde attempts to rob a bank that went bust a week before, much to the amusement of the banker and Bonnie, who's collapsing with laughter over the steering wheel. But then a storekeeper takes offense at Clyde attempting to hold him up, and is pistol-whipped by Clyde in his frantic efforts to escape. Once the battered storekeeper ID's Clyde's photo to the cops, things turn serious. As Clyde's posse expands to include a lowlife neer-do-well named C.W. Moss and Clyde's brother Buck and his sister-in-law Blanche, their crimes get bolder and the violence spirals out of control. A bank robbery in broad daylight (while C.W. manages to get their getaway car stuck in a too-tight parking space) goes off almost without a hitch; but when Clyde shoots a pursuing cop in the face and his head explodes all over their back windshield, the fun stuff is over. They're wanted criminals being chased from Arkansas to Oklahoma and back to Louisiana. As their notoriety spreads, so does their audacity. In one of the funniest scenes in the film, they capture a sheriff who was about to sneak up on them and handcuff him while Clyde snaps pictures of Bonnie holding a gun on him. But their fame comes at a terrible price; they're wanted outcasts, alienated even from their own. When Clyde meets Bonnie's mother and tells her they'd like to live within three miles of her, Mrs. Parker tells her daughter, "You try to live three miles from me, and you won't live long, honey." From the scene where Buck expires in a hail of police bullets to the slow dance on the killing ground in Louisiana, the film takes on a somber tone in stark comparison to the lighthearted opening sequences. Once the cascading violence has turned brutal, the movie becomes darker and more foreboding as well. But as bad as the two protagonists are, we can't help but like them. Maybe that's the difference between Hollywood and real life. One wonders how many people who came across Bonnie and Clyde actually liked this pair? The tension between Bonnie and Clyde helps keep the movie on edge. Arthur Penn's superb direction, assisted by knockout performances from the cast, helps keep the movie on a razor edge balanced between laughter and revulsion. Warren Beatty was never better than in his title role as Clyde Barrow, and Faye Dunaway makes a perfect Bonnie to his Clyde. Michael J. Pollard is winning as the doofus C.W. Moss and Gene Hackman is wonderful as Buck, torn between his loyalty to his brother and his love for his ditzy wife. But Estelle Parsons, as that ditzy wife, almost runs off with the film; her hysterics during the shootout between Clyde's gang and the cops has the viewers in equal hysterics rolling in the aisles. The cinematography is great; we feel all the heat, dust, and emptiness of Depression-era America, and the foot-stompin' banjo music by Flatts and Scruggs helps anchor the movie to its time and place. "Bonnie and Clyde" has become an American classic, one of the best films to come out of the 1960's.

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Announced details for The Ultimate Collector's Edition available for a limited time starting March 25th, 2008

by Sanpete from in Utah on 2008-01-17
Warner Home Video is releasing a newly remastered transfer of Bonnie and Clyde in several editions, including an Ultimate edition with some special extras for collectors. The new transfer has been made from the "original elements," meaning original negatives, original prints, or the like. The Ultimate edition will be on standard DVD. There will also be a standard DVD Special Edition, and Blu-ray and HD editions. All will share the following special features: -- the full-length History Channel documentary about the real Bonnie and Clyde called "Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" -- a new three-part documentary about the making and releasing of the film and its relation to the real Bonnie and Clyde: "Bonnie and Clyde's Gang," "The Reality and Myth of Bonnie and Clyde," and "Releasing Bonnie and Clyde" -- two newly discovered deleted scenes -- two trailers -- Warren Beatty's wardrobe tests In addition, the Ultimate Collector's Edition will include these non-DVD extras: -- a 36-page hard-cover book of behind-the-scenes photos -- a 24-page reproduction of the press book for the original 1967 release -- a mail-in offer for a poster The artwork I've seen for the HD and Blu-ray releases doesn't show all the non-DVD materials included in the artwork for the Ultimate edition, so it appears for now that the Ultimate extras will only be available with standard DVDs. I see no pages at Amazon for an HD or Blu-ray Ultimate edition, and none was announced. However, according to Amazon, the HD and Blu-ray editions will include as a "high-def exclusive" a 34-page hardcover book with a detailed production history, star/director filmographies and rare archival behind-the-scenes photos. That sounds a lot like the 36-page book for the Ultimate edition, possibly leaving as the main differences the press book and poster offer. The Ultimate edition will reportedly only be available for a limited time. Amazon is taking pre-orders here. No commentary was announced, so I wouldn't call this an "ultimate" edition myself, but maybe the making-of features will partially make up for the lack of commentary. The movie is a classic, but there are already plenty of helpful reviews about that here .... (You can find the announcement of this info, with larger photos of the Ultimate and other editions, at dvdactive, dvdtimes and other sites--just do a web search for "bonnie and clyde" plus "ultimate collector's edition." Amazon apparently doesn't allow external links in reviews.)

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Beatty and Dunaway Are Brilliant

by Reviewer from on 2001-02-22
A minute or so into the first scene (which begins with a close-up of a luscious, red-lipsticked, sensuous mouth) a young woman goes to the window of her second story bedroom and looks down on a young man milling about the family car parked in front of the house. "Hey, Boy!" she calls to him, "What c'you doin' with my mama's car?" And with that, the world got it's first glimpse of what was to become one of the most celebrated couples in cinematic gangsterdom, as portrayed by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, in "Bonnie & Clyde," directed by Arthur Penn and produced by Beatty. The red lips, of course, belong to Bonnie Parker (Dunaway), and in the first moments of the film, as she looks at herself in the mirror, then sprawls pensively across her bed, you feel her sense of longing, of wanting "something," of yearning for that intangible element that is seemingly just beyond her grasp. And then she meets Clyde Barrow (Beatty). Just released from prison, Clyde has a twinkle in his eye and a devil-may-care attitude that fits Bonnie's needs like a hand in a glove; and so begins the story of two real life criminals as they embark upon their now legendary, if infamous, spree of bank robberies and murder. How they actually met and came together is of no consequence here; the fact is, it happened, and unbeknownst to Bonnie and Clyde, their exploits and short lives would become--some thirty-odd years later-- the subject of a cinematic masterpiece. Beatty makes few movies, which apparently works to his advantage, because when he does, it's usually a film worth waiting for. And this is arguably one of his best, if not the best, he's every done. As Clyde, Beatty fairly oozes charm, with a down-home, southern, easy-going manner that belies who and what his character really is. But Beatty makes him memorable with an Oscar worthy performance in the role that will most likely be THE one for which he will be remembered, and with good reason, for he has never before or since been more charismatic or accessible than he is here. It is quite simply a remarkable performance by a talented actor at the top of his form. And Faye Dunaway, as well, has never been more beautiful or appealing, ever. Period. Her Bonnie is without question the stuff of which legends are born. But does her portrayal reflect the real Bonnie Parker? Of course not; neither does Beatty's reflect the real Clyde Barrow. But Dunaway's work here is nothing less than extraordinary and-- as with Beatty's Clyde-- this will probably be the role for which she will be remembered, as it showcases not only her exquisite beauty but here abilities as an actress more than any other part she's played, including her role in "Network," for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. As the director, Arthur Penn-- it goes without saying-- played a tremendous part in the success of this film. It may have been Beatty's vision originally, but it was Penn who summarily made it his own and brought it to fruition. His handling of the camera to enhance the drama of the story is acute, from his use of close-ups (as in the opening scene of Dunaway's mouth, and later her eyes), to the more expansive vistas he uses to capture the action that is so well choreographed and staged. His pacing of the film, which maintains the necessary tension and emotional level throughout, is perfect, and the expertise through which he elicits exemplary performances from his actors is evident. Of all the elements that go into the making of a great film, choosing the right director is of unparalleled concern, and in this case it is obvious that Penn was indeed the right man for the job. The memorable supporting cast includes Michael J. Pollard (C.W. Moss), Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow), Denver Pyle (Frank Hamer), Dub Taylor (Ivan Moss) and Estelle Parsons, as Blanche Barrow, the role for which she received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. A landmark film, "Bonnie & Clyde" has received criticism for glamorizing the lives of notorious criminals; but upon reflection, though the stars involved may have "beautified" the subjects of the film, there is certainly nothing in the presentation of the way they lived, and especially the way they died, that could be construed as "glamorous." What this film does, however-- and so successfully-- is evoke a sense of the desperation of a particular time and place in the history of America. Some may deem this perspective of infamy as politically incorrect; but the Great Depression was a fact of life, and gangsters like Bonnie and Clyde-- as with Jesse James before them-- were often hailed as heroes by certain factions who were themselves struggling to stay alive. The importance of a film like this, or perhaps on a grander scale, one like "Schindler's List," is that it maintains an awareness of events that for posterity simply must not be forgotten.

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Roxanne (Widescreen / Fullscreen Versions) List Price: $19.99 Average Rating:

Description

WIDESCREEN & FULLSCREEN Versions. Roxanne (Darryl Hannah) is a beautiful astronomer in search of a comet, and Chris is a hunky but inarticulate fire expert who has been hired to train C.D.'s team of well-meaning firemen. C.D. immediately falls in love with Roxanne but he is sure that she won't notice anything about him except his extremely prominent facial feature and is quick to hide his passionate desires. However, Roxanne has captured the fancy of another, Chris. When C.D. learns of Chris's crush, he uses his gift for poetry to help the inexperienced courtier capture her affections. Wooed by the beauty of the words, Roxanne falls for Chris, not realizing that C.D. was the one really doing the talking. Of course, when put to the test, Chris does not live up to Roxanne's expectations and she quickly learns the identity of her real poetic suitor. Steve Martin is at his agile and uproarious best in this superior version of a classic story that revels in the oddity of life and the power of true love.

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand:
Manufacturer: Columbia TriStar
Original Release Date:
Actors:

• Steve Martin
• Daryl Hannah
• Rick Rossovich
• Shelley Duvall
• Fred Willard

Reviews

"I have breathed you in, and I am suffocating..."

by Y. Collins from Fairfax, VA United States on 2001-06-26
This one is an all-time favorite and a long-time resident of my home video library. Comedy legend Steve Martin, in a way that only Steve Martin can, plays the role of the emotionally and intellectually-wealthy goblin of a man who falls for the equally emotionally and intellectually-wealthy blonde bombshell (Daryl Hannah--hey, why not?) who visits his small town. Unfortunately, this bombshell is lacking in the common sense department, because she immediately falls for the beefcake village idiot, played convincingly by Rick Rossovich. Go figure. But what happens as a result of this scenario is altogether funny, charming, touching and totally entertaining. This movie flows. Martin compounds his genius in the movie by assembling a stellar supporting cast (which includes Shelley Duvall and a young Damon Wayans) that more than holds its own throughout the film. Pay extra special attention to the balcony scene--from its beginning to its end, Martin and Rossovich are allowed to shine their brightest. Martin teams up for this 'Cyrano' retelling with director Fred Schepisi, the visionary behind 'Six Degrees of Separation', the movie that first separated Wil Smith from his legendary "Fresh Prince" persona. 'Roxanne' gets the highest possible recommendation for its perfect balance of humor and romance and the stellar performance of its entire cast. Please, please make it your business to own a copy of this movie.

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The worst possible DVD edition for this romantic comedy classic.

by TANTRUM!!!! from CHILE on 2008-03-15
I think we all agree that this 1987 classic romantic comedy is absolutely wonderful, entertaining, magic, funny and hylarious. The best romantic comedy for some, one of the best comedies of the 80's for others. Great story, incredible performance of steve martin , great production and artistic direction by Fred Schepisi. We can argue with that of course, but one thing beyond discussion, is that this Sony Pictures 2002 DVD edition for this masterpiece is so awful, that it manages to destroy the experience. I had to put up with a VHS edition for 15 years, for what! This? I can say without any doubt, that this is one of the worst DVD editions i own, behind my Asian bootleg martial arts copies. Absolutely awful, this edition manages to restrain the impact of the movie with all the worst features of the fullscreen edition: Extreme close-ups, alternate or moving angles from the same take, chopped off characters from the scenes, people talking to shoulders and corners, people talking from outside the picture, missing scenarios and landscapes, blurry video quality... my god! Not even the 5.1 english soundtrack could emerge, not even the movie could! Extras? The movie trailer...In widescreen! It was torture. By far, the worst 7 dollars i have ever spent, and a disapointment i'm never gonna forget. My recomendation for fans looking for this wonderful movie in DVD: Go outside the store and get the widescreen edition, online or on local stores. I'm desperatly seeking for other better editions, i'm even willing to download it, or even buy a bootleg. Whatever you do: Please, please, don't buy this awful Sony 2002 fullscreen edition. And Sony pictures: Widescreen versions fit the screen too!

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Pan & Scan travesty

by Marlowe from Bayonne, NJ on 2007-12-20
Like other reviewers, I am apalled that this wonderful movie is available only in pan & scan format, chopping off close to half the picture. This is just inexplicable--even when this was released a few years ago, it was quite unusual for high profile anamorphic films like this to be released only in a P&S version. I'd love to add this to my collection--here's hoping a propererly framed version is forthcoming (hopefully also in Blu-Ray or HD DVD).

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Where is the widescreen?

by D. Harlan from Oregon on 2006-09-07
It's September 2006, and they *still* have not released a widescreen version. I got through the first 20 minutes of this pan-and-scan version before I couldn't stand it anymore. There are so many beautiful shots; I just can't watch them butchered like this. Roxanne is a great movie, and it deserves more than this poorly rendered DVD version.

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One of the best Steve Martin films

by C. Middleton from Australia on 2007-04-02
Steve Martin's LA Story and the remarkable Roxanne have to be the two best films from his huge body of work. Having penned the screenplay, Martin cleverly adapts the Cyrano De Bergerac tale to a modern setting, however, manages to maintain the original story line and large personality of Cyrano in the character of C.D. Bales, a fire chief of a beautiful small town in the mountains of British Colombia. C.D. Bales is an educated, romantic and modern swashbuckling man who can street fight and win with style, possess a sharp wit, can swing and climb rooftops with the agility of a cat and write poetry and love letters that will make any woman swoon with delight. Unfortunately, Bales like De Bergerac, has a nose the size of a small tree, resulting in his shyness in the matters of love. C.D. falls head over heels for Roxanne, a visiting astronomer with alluring beauty and a keen mind but feels his appearance, a nose the size of Kansas, will prevent any relationship. A handsome man, Chris, (Rick Rossovich) joins the fire station to help train the volunteer crew of town misfits but cannot talk to women. Bales' woos Roxanne through Chris with love letters and poetry, thus Chris wins her heart. This unusual situation turns complicated, (similar to De Bergerac) when the masquerade starts to come undone to hilarious results. Australian director, Fred Schepisi, brings Martin's adaptation of De Bergerac together in an entertaining modern romantic comedy that even today, despite the dated soundtrack, continues to be funny. Some movies deserve only to be seen once though Roxanne can be pulled from the cabinet and viewed time and again as it remains a classic tale of the 80's & the 18th century.

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The Princess Bride (20th Anniversary Edition) List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $11.49 You save: $3.49 (23%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

From celebrated director Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally) and OscarÂ(r)-winning* screenwriter William Goldman (Chaplin) comes "an enchanting fantasy" (Time) filled with adventure, romance and plenty of "good-hearted fun" (Roger Ebert)! Featuring a spectacular cast thatincludes Robin Wright (Forrest Gump), Cary Elwes (Liar, Liar), Mandy Patinkin (Dick Tracy) and Billy Crystal (City Slickers), this wonderful fairy tale about a Princess named Buttercup and her beloved is "a real dream of a movie" (People)! *1969: OriginalScreenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1976: Adapted Screenplay, All the President's Men

Screenwriter William Goldman's novel The Princess Bride earned its own loyal audience on the strength of its narrative voice and its gently satirical, hyperbolic spin on swashbuckled adventure that seemed almost purely literary. For all its derring-do and vivid over-the-top characters, the book's joy was dictated as much by the deadpan tone of its narrator and a winking acknowledgement of the clichés being sent up. Miraculously, director Rob Reiner and Goldman himself managed to visualize this romantic fable while keeping that external voice largely intact: using a storytelling framework, avuncular Grandpa (Peter Falk) gradually seduces his skeptical grandson (Fred Savage) into the absurd, irresistible melodrama of the title story. And what a story: a lowly stable boy, Westley (Cary Elwes), pledges his love to the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright), only to be abducted and reportedly killed by pirates while Buttercup is betrothed to the evil Prince Humperdinck. Even as Buttercup herself is kidnapped by a giant, a scheming criminal mastermind, and a master Spanish swordsman, a mysterious masked pirate (could it be Westley?) follows in pursuit. As they sail toward the Cliffs of Insanity... The wild and woolly arcs of the story, the sudden twists of fate, and, above all, the cartoon-scaled characters all work because of Goldman's very funny script, Reiner's confident direction, and a terrific cast. Elwes and Wright, both sporting their best English accents, juggle romantic fervor and physical slapstick effortlessly, while supporting roles boast Mandy Patinkin (the swordsman Inigo Montoya), Wallace Shawn (the incredulous schemer Vizzini), and Christopher Guest (evil Count Rugen) with brief but funny cameos from Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, and Peter Cook. --Sam Sutherland Beyond The Princess Bride on DVD Watch Once on DVD Check out an old favorite, Willow on DVD See the new classic Under the Same Moon on DVD Stills from The Princess Bride (Click for larger image)

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand: Sony
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Original Release Date: 1987-09-25
Actors:

• Cary Elwes
• Mandy Patinkin
• Robin Wright
• Chris Sarandon
• Christopher Guest

Reviews

What's the Difference in all these Editions?

by Julie from Arlington, TX United States on 2006-06-20
Here's what is new on the 20th Edition DVD: - "The Princess Bride: The Untold Tales" - "The Art of Fencing" Featurette - "Fairy Tales and Folklore" Featurette - "True Love and High Adventure: The Official The Princess Bride DVD Game The Dread Pirate Roberts/Buttercup Editions include all of the Special Edition features plus: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) Audio Track "Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Legend of the Seven Seas" mockumentary "Love is Like a Storybook Story" featurette "Miraculous Make-up" featurette Quotable "Battle of Wits" trivia game Collective booklet: "Fezzik's Guide to Florin" I prefer the Dread Pirate Robert's/Buttercup Edition, but there are three reasons why you might want to buy the new 20th edition: 1. You don't already own the movie (shame on you). 2. You collect all things Princess Bride. 3. The DVD cover art is fantastic!

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I do not think it means what you think it means

by Mike Stone from on 2002-04-09
I remember when I first saw this movie, around age 13, I had no idea who the Man in Black was through the entirety of the first act. Sure, it's apparent now, given the benefit of hindsight, but because of the actor's anonymity at the time I never made the obvious connection. On top of that, most of the rest of the cast was unknown to me as well (except for the one non-actor, Monsieur Roussimoff, a.k.a. Andre the Giant). The sweeping anonymity of the company allowed the film to do two things: first, the audience isn't distracted by the presence of the Big Star; and second, unknown actors allow for no preconceived notions of their characters. Which in turn allows the filmmakers to subvert character types, and insert some true surprises into the story.Which, to make a long point even longer, is the whole ethos of the filmWilliam Goldman's book "The Princess Bride", on which this film is based, intended to tell only the 'good parts' version of the story of Westley and Buttercup. That is, it would leave in the high drama and action and romance, while curbing the back-stories and superfluous exposition. William Goldman, in his role as adaptor of the book into a screenplay, remains fiercely loyal to this proposition. He's constructed a framing device, wherein a grandfather is reading to his sick grandson, which allows him to make meta-fictional comments on the seemingly typical fairy tale being told. In doing so, however, he subverts the fairy tale's typicalness, making it much more surprising and revelatory. At one point the grandson worriedly asks about the fate of the villain: "Who kills Humperdinck?" The grandfather calmly answers, "No one. He lives." Which is not only a true statement, for that is exactly what happens, but it doesn't even come close to ruining the end of the story. On the contrary, it increases the suspense, and makes what does happen quite astonishing.Rob Reiner, in only his third time out in the director's chair, does a wonderful job of translating Goldman's script to the screen. He utilizes elements, whether by choice or by budgetary restraints, that would at first appear incongruous, but work as a whole to keep the audience off-balance, and thus more receptive to the surprises the movie has in store for them.The acting is, stylistically, all over the place. It ranges from the unabashed over-the-top passion of Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya), to the bumbling buffoonery of Wallace Shawn (Vizzini), to the gentle anti-acting of Andre the Giant (Fezzik), to the unsubtle Snidely Whiplash villainy of Chris Sarandon (Prince Humperdinck), to the Borscht Belt mugging of Billy Crystal (Miracle Max), to the icy malice of Christopher Guest (Count Rugen), and the stark realism of Robin Wright (Buttercup, the title character). No two actors take the same road, but they all somehow arrive at the same location. Cary Elwes, playing the hero, is the only one who falls easily into all these styles, as the situation demands it. He is menacing, suave, cool, funny, athletic, simple, sweet, fierce, etc., etc., etc. Elwes and Patinkin are the standouts for me -- their swordfight atop the Cliffs of Insanity is technically brilliant, literate, and extremely entertaining -- but the entire cast effective. Even the smaller roles (British comedians Mel Smith and Peter Cook each have brief but memorable one-joke cameos) make their mark.The film's musical score, composed by 'Dire Straits' frontman Mark Knoplfer, swings and sways from moment to moment. In one, he uses stark, bouncy lines to underscore a simple scene of Fezzik and Inigo trading rhymes. In the next, he layers synthesized strings to call up the gravity of the Man in Black's chase. My only problem with the music is the song written for the closing credits: it's weepy and melodramatic, without the sense of subversive fun that had prevailed up until that point.The sets and scenery switch back and forth between real and obviously fake. Filmed in and around the English countryside, most of the outdoor locations (the severe valley, the woods) breathe reality and beauty into the story. Others, such as the Fire Swamp, the Pit of Despair, and the plateau above the Cliffs of Insanity, have the phony feel of a Hollywood soundstage. Again, the film keeps the audience on their toes.So now that I am 27 instead of 13, and know back-to-front the filmmographies of all the actors involved, and have seen the film more than a dozen times, and can quote lines from it at the drop of a hat, do I find it any less appealing than on that first viewing? Of course not. Goldman and Reiner's film rewards multiple viewings, with its wit, its playfulness, and most importantly, its subversiveness. Will there ever be a time when I tire of watching it? A time like that is right now, as Vizzini might say, "inconceivable".

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Pass up this version, it's completely lacking in new features.

by Vikinggal from San Diego, CA on 2007-11-12
I am a great lover of the Princess Bride, so when the 20th Anniversary Edition came out, I pre-ordered it and eagerly awaited it's arrival. Well, I got it on Saturday, popped it into the DVD player and fully expected to be dazzled by all of the new extras. There's one new featurette on the movie, which does not feature Cary Elwes. There's an intro to the new PB game that's out. And a featurette about how this compares to other fairy tales. The rest of the features that were so awesome in the special edition, like Cary Elwes' video diary? Nothing else is included. I was very disappointed, and wish I had not wasted my money. The movie is awesome, and if you do not own it, by all means, buy whichever version you please. But my own personal preference is for the Special Edition. It sounds like the Buttercup/Dread Pirate versions are cool too. Just wanted to warn you all so you don't make the same mistake. Thanks!

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Perfect DVD for an American Classic

by from Houston, Texas USA on 2001-09-06
The MOVIE: at first glance, this is your basic fairy-tale-fantasy-love-story between Princess Buttercup and her dashing lover Wesley. Mix in some pirates, giants, swashbuckling Spaniards, evil geniuses, dungeons w/ torture devices and six-fingered men, and you have possibly the best non-animated family classic of the 1980s. It's also the favorite (and usually most-quoted) movie of many of my friends. In sum, words cannot do justice to this movie, so please rent it.The DVD: I absolutely refused to buy the first DVD release of this movie, as it was non-anamorphic (i.e., will not fit on widescreen TVs) and was sorely lacking in extras. This SPECIAL edition is well worth the wait. First of all, you have two high-quality featurettes from 1987, each roughly 10 minutes long. The first one is a look behind the making of the movie and includes on-location interviews of the actors between shots. The second featurettes is more of the same, although it focuses more on providing unique insight into the decisions behind the casting of every major character in the movie. Also included is a 5-minute video diary by Cary Elwes, which is basically Cary with a camcorder filming himself and other members of the production at various points (e.g., practicing with his fencing teacher, the crew eating meals, etc.). Cary and Robin Wright provide voice-over commentary. However, the true gem of this disc is the 30-minute "As You Wish" Documentary, in which all the principals (Cary, Robin, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Fred Savage, William Goldman, Mandy Patinkin, etc.) look back from 2001 at the entire history of The Princess Bride, from the reasons as to why Goldman wrote the original book in 1973, to his decade-long attempt to get it put on film, to the choice of Rob Reiner and its subsequent filming, and to the legacy the movie has left in the 15 years since its release. In covering almost every aspect of The Princess Bride, this documentary is often funny, sometimes sentimental (especially when the actors reminisce on their memories of Andre the Giant), and always fascinating.Lastly, the DVD contains two audio commentaries, one by Rob Reiner and a separate one by William Goldman, with each providing their respective insight into the various parts of the story and its filming. (I will say, however, that Rob Reiner's commentary is much better than the sparse one he gave in the DVD for "When Harry Met Sally"). In sum, this is the consummate DVD for any true fan of the movie. I can't imagine too much more that could have been added to this DVD which would have made it too much better. A truly, can't-miss DVD. If you own the first release, you won't regret trading it in for this one.

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Immensely entertaining post-modern take on the fairytale.

by D. Mok from Los Angeles, CA on 2000-05-04
Combining dead-on perfect casting, superb direction, an impeccable comedic script and sumptuous visuals, The Princess Bride is a marvellous piece of cinematic storytelling that, thanks to its brilliant combination of childlike wonder and adult sarcasm (that in itself being a great feat), is accessible to viewers of all ages.The enchanting Robin Wright is wonderful in the title role, with her expressive face and aura of melancholy. Her accent is so convincing that for years I actually thought she was English. (she's from California.) Cary Elwes' cocky, eccentric turn as Westley, the dashing swordsman with a smart mouth, is a stereotyped persona that remains with him to this day, but it works beautifully in this film. Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn add their impeccable comic timing as alcoholic swordsman Inigo and the viciously arrogant Vizzini, and Andre the Giant is lovable as "rhyme-loving giant Fezzik". And The Princess Bride sports two great movie villains in Chris Sarandon's Prince Humperdinck and Christopher Guest's Count Rugen, both evil to the core but so charismatically played by the actors that they come off as truly worthy opponents to the chivalric Westley and Inigo. William Goldman is of course a demigod in the world of screenwriting, his lines sharp and his narrative tight and engrossing, while Rob Reiner's comic-book execution fits the tone of the story perfectly without sacrifice moments of tension, drama, or depth. High points: Goldman wrote in his screenplay "one of the two greatest swordfights in modern movies" and Reiner delivers with Westley's duel with Inigo; the encounter with Miracle Max and his wife Valerie (Billy Crystal and Carol Kane in delightful cameos); Fezzik's wrestling match with Westley; the nail-biting entrance of the R.O.U.S.; the hilarious meeting on the castle wall; Westley's showdown with Vizzini.This movie belongs in any collection.

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Grease (Widescreen Edition) Sale Price: $14.99 Average Rating:

Description

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative. The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand:
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
Original Release Date: 1978-01-01
Actors:

• John Travolta
• Olivia Newton-John
• Stockard Channing
• Jeff Conaway
• Barry Pearl

Reviews

Fine new Rydell Edition... Remastered Video & Audio... Delightful Extras

by dooby from on 2006-10-07
I won't go into praising the movie. It's already an American Classic and obviously anyone who's contemplating buying this will already love it. I felt guilty about double-dipping but the cute leather jacket was an irresistable gimmick. The following discusses mainly technical aspects of the new disc. I did a one-to-one comparison with the older disc. The picture has been cleaned up and looks noticeably different, though not necessarily better. The tiny dirt specks and film nicks, few as they were on the first disc, have been almost entirely eliminated. There is less grain. The picture also looks brighter, due to application of higher contrast. This has both positive and negative effects. In the darker scenes; like ONJ's "Hopelessly Devoted to You," the greater contrast (deeper black levels and brighter highlights) makes it appear clearer, and I personally prefer it this way. Some viewers may not like it as the lighting now appears harder and more "artificial". In other places, the greater contrast tends to wipe out detail in the brighter parts of the picture; you can see this at the opening beach sequence, where the scene now appears brighter and clearer but the finer detail in the sandstone rocks have been obliterated in the glare. So pluses and minuses, but overall I liked the new transfer. The audio too has been remastered. The bass here is noticeably more prominent than on the previous DVD. It has that very satisfying visceral feel to it but there is also swamping of the underlying instrumentation. However I doubt if many people would notice or bother. What reviewers have referred to as an echoey quality on the first remix is still there. It is actually an over exaggerated reverb added to the vocal track. Most of the tracks in Grease have electronic reverb applied but some are more obvious and artifical than others; especially so in the 1998 remix featured here. The most egregious examples would be at the "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" reprise and Travolta's "Electrifyin'" repeats in "You're The One That I Want." Again I liked the newer, audio remix, mainly for its richer bass extension. Like previous reviewers have said, the 2.0 Stereo featured here is not the original theatrical Stereo mix but a downmix of the later DD 5.1 remix (made in 1998 for its 20th Anniversary re-release). And purists should note that the DD 5.1 remix (1998) is actually messing about with the music itself - there are additional instrumental and vocal overlays not found on the original theatrical soundtrack. (Eg. additional bass drum in second half of "Summer Nights," background vocals in "Hopelessly Devoted to You," and a clap-track in "We Go Together.") Perhaps someday the producers will see fit to release Grease with its original unembellished soundtrack. The real delight here are the Extras. My favourite is the 15-minute long "25th Anniversary DVD Launch Party." Exerpts from the party concert include full length versions of Olivia Newton John singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You," Olivia and John Travolta singing "You're The One That I Want," and the reassembled cast singing "Summer Nights." All fine performances packed with fun-filled nostalgia. The 11 deleted/extended scenes are all in B&W and last for just 10 minutes. Nothing earth-shattering here but good to have all the same. The Sing-Along was something I appreciated. In the previous DVD, there was no direct access to individual songs. A note about the Sing-Along subtitles. These are multicoloured, animated, karaoke-style, lyrics that accompany the songs and can be activated within the film or in a separate Sing-Along session. It apparently caused problems for some viewers. I tried it out on several DVD players, a Sony, a Pioneer and a Denon, one of which was over 5 years old. The lyrics displayed without any problem. It also worked on a computer DVD-ROM drive (Pioneer), so at least these models apparently work. Only the main feature is anamorphic (enhanced for widescreen TV - 2.35:1 OAR). All the extras are in standard 1.33:1 fullscreen.

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Blu-ray: "GREASE" looks absolutely gorgeous in High Definition! Highly recommended!

by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) from California on 2009-05-06
"GREASE" is the most successful movie musical ever created. The 1978 film was based on a musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and eventually caught the attention in the early 70's of producer Allan Carr who purchase the rights to adapt the play into a film. With the popularity of "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER" in 1977 which help boost the career of John Travolta, producer Robert Stigwood joined Allan Carr to create a film based on this play. Tapping director Randal Kleiser who worked with Travolta in the popular 1976 TV film "The Boy and his Bubble", recruiting "GREASE" musical choreographer Patricia Birch and hiring Director of Photography Bill Butler ("Jaws", "Stripes" and "Rocky II & III", etc.), this team would create a film that would become a musical ingrained into American pop culture. Despite no respect in supporting the film by the major film studios, "GREASE" would become the second highest grossing film in 1978 behind "Superman" bringing in $96 million in the box office, the "GREASE" soundtrack would achieve #1 status around the world during its release and the film received many award nominations. VIDEO & AUDIO: "GREASE" is featured in 1080p High Definition and I will tell you I was blown away by the picture quality. I've watched this film dozens of times, owned the VHS and both DVD versions and when I started watching the High Definition Blu-ray transfer, I was speechless. The many colors featured in the film were quite vibrant. This film is over 30-years-old and Paramount really did a great service in the transfer and remaster of this film. Closeups, outdoor scenes, you name it, the film looks spectacular! I compared my 25th Anniversary DVD to this Blu-ray and just the opening sequence alone with the two at the beach, the colors are just absolutely stunning on Blu-ray. I was literally in awe of how beautiful this film looked in High Definition. The DVD video quality just doesn't compare to the Blu-ray disc and I was quite impressed! As for audio, audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and also in French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish mono. Since music is a big part of the film, it was important for me to test this Blu-ray out on my system. Where the 1977 film "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER" was just spectacular for its High Definition audio transfer, I was hoping to have an awesome lossless soundtrack for "GREASE". Somehow, in the beginning of the film, it seemed as if the audio coming from the center channel was a bit lower than my front speakers. So, dialogue seemed as if it was being overpowered by the music. I've run a variety of tests and I did have to increase my center channel dB a little bit to compensate for the music coming louder but this may be due to my audio setup for my receiver. But everything sounded well throughout the film after the adjustment. The dialogue was quite clear but the music really came alive and I did notice certain sounds utilizing my subwoofer during the car and music scenes. But overall, the music does sound great and clear via Dolby TrueHD 5.1. SPECIAL FEATURES: "GREASE" comes with a good number of special features. Included on this Blu-ray disc are: * Commentary: Commentary by Director Randal Kleiser and choreographer Patricia Birch - This commentary is quite interesting as Kleiser talked more about the film side of "GREASE" while Patricia Birch talked about the choreography part of the film. Both give really good insight of bringing the musical to film, talking about the things they had to accomplish and how Kleiser, Birch and DoP Butler really had to work closely with each other and the talent to make this film successful. You learn about the challenge of filming the National Bandstand segment, the finale during 102 degree weather and how Olivia Newton-John had to have her tight clothing sewn on and more. * Introduction by Randal Kleiser - A brief :24 second introduction to the special features. Kleiser does several introductions throughout various features. * Rydell Sing-Along - This segment is for those who want to watch the musical parts from the film and on the bottom of the screen is a karaoke single along. * Featurette: The Time, The Place, The Motion: Remembering Grease - (22:27) This is the main featurette featuring interviews with the Director, producers, the cast sharing their memories of working on the film, working with John Travolta and more. How Allan Carr and Robert Sigwood made this musical a film and put money into it despite no studio wanting to back it, having to work with a good number of talents, John Travolta talking about why he wanted Olivia Newton-John to play the role, how Jeff Conaway actually played Danny in Broadway and was understudy for several other roles with the exception of Kinickie. And many more interesting tidbits on the making of the film. * Additional Scenes: Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes with introduction by Randal Kleiser (intro :13 scenes 11:55 - TRT 12:08) - Randal Kleiser explains how footage was recently found in the Paramount vaults. The additional scenes found are in black and white. * Additional Scenes: 1. T-Birds Harass Eugene - EXT * Additional Scenes: 2. Classroom Announcements - EXT * Additional Scenes: 3. Pink Ladies and Sandy at Lunch - EXT * Additional Scenes: 4. She's too Pure to be Pink - EXT * Additional Scenes: 5. Intro to Summer Nights - DEL * Additional Scenes: 6. Rydell Pep Rally - EXT * Additional Scenes: 7. Kenickie and Danny Outside Frosty's - DEL * Additional Scenes: 8. The Stroll - EXT * Additional Scenes: 9. National Bandstand - ALT * Additional Scenes: 10. At the Dance - ALT/EXT * Additional Scenes: 11. Thunder Road - DEL * Grease on DVD Launch Party - (15:13) The cast and crew reunited for this DVD Launch Party back in 2002. Both Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta performed live on stage singing a few of their classic songs that sung with each other. * Grease Memories from John & Olivia - (3:23) Both talent at the DVD launch party and discussing how it was like working together and their memories of being on the film and their favorite scenes. * The Moves Behind the Music - (8:14) Interviews with Patricia Birch and the talent as they discuss how they learned the dance moves and how it important it was for Patricia to work with Director of Photography Bill Butler in capturing the choreography for film. * Thunder Roadsters - (5:21) Interviews with George Barris (King of the Kistomers) and Michael Astamendi (Car Builder/Fabricator) and others in regards to making the cars for "GREASE". How they focused on customizing because parts for the old Chevy's are hard to come by. * John Travolta and Allan Carr "Grease Day" Interview - (1:47) A quick interview with producer Allan Carr and John Travolta on "Grease Day" and Travolta talking about working with the producers and the talent for the film. * Olivia Newton-John and Robert Stigwood "Grease Day" Interview - (2:07) An interview about how Olivia Newton-John gotten involved and the popularity of the film and working with John Travolta and more. * Photo Galleries: The photo gallery consists of the following still photos broken down into several categories such as: * Rydell High Year Book * Production * Premiere * Grease Day * Theatrical Trailer HD - (2:09) The original theatrical trailer in its original untouched and aged format, grain and scratches included. JUDGMENT CALL: "GREASE" is just one of those timeless classics that never gets old with repetitive viewings. But I have to be truthful and say how much I was in awe to see the brilliant camerawork but to see how the choreography and just literally everything look quite smooth on film. And surprisingly watching this again 30-years-later and as the Director and even producers have said in the featurette, they were able to pull things off today that probably wouldn't happen now. Quite a bit of sexual lingo but overall, the lyrics of the songs to the mannerisms of the characters is what made things look genuine. It's interesting to read some of the critical reviews from people who did not grow up with the film but are more familiar with today's musicals and drawing comparisons to "High School Musical" and making the comment of how HSM utilized real teenagers for high school life and that "GREASE" utilized 20 to 30-something year olds to play teenagers. I don't think any of us who watched it back then ever thought about the age being an issue for the film. What we saw were popular talent at that time in a movie musical and the film became a success. Even today, I have no reservations of the talents playing their roles. They did a fantastic job! For me, John Travolta was the hottest star coming off with "Welcome Back, Kotter" and then doing "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" in 1977 and Olivia Newton-John was just one of the most beautiful female solo singers at the time. Both had unique chemistry and the film was well-cast that I felt everything just went smoothly on the final cut. You really have to give a big applause to Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood for taking the chance of bringing a musical to film but making sure its adapted well for the screen. Sure we see musicals now but during that time, there was no studio support. And because the film was enjoyed by audiences, the film is definitely ingrained into America's pop culture. Also, I was just amazed through the featurettes and learning how the choreography was done. Because there were so many people utilized in the dancing segments, Patricia Birchwood wanted to make things come alive but to alter a talent's own personal dance to make it look right on film. And of course, Bill Butler, to capture what Birchwood wanted on film, the amount of cutting from scene to scene showing opposing points of view on a song like "Summer Nights" to the ending theme, it was indeed "electrifying"! Overall, this Blu-ray release of "GREASE" is just the definitive version to own. To watch this classic film in High Definition and to see the magnificent picture quality really brings out the vibrant colors of the film, the energy and beauty of the beach sunset to showcasing the life of youth of the late 50's. The DolbyTrueHD 5.1 audio makes the music come alive and last, there are many special features included that will help people remember and celebrate such a wonderful movie musical. Again, this is the true definitive version of "GREASE" to own! I was just stunned by how magnificent this film looked and how much clearer and alive the music sounded in High Definition. I highly recommend this release!

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A Musical for The Ages - Finally on DVD

by Jose R. Perez from Yonkers, NY USA on 2002-09-15
As far as film musicals are concerned, nothing comes close to "Grease" in terms of appealing to a mass audience of all ages, races, and generations. Though set in the fifties, "Grease" remains deeply entrenched in the seventies, as it defined that freewheeling decade's carefree attitude and innocence while drawing inspiration from the Elvis era. Still the top-grossing movie musical of all time, "Grease" works as a coming-of-age film we can all relate to - it sings (great songs from the Broadway classic plus chart-topping classics from the Bee Gees and Olivia Newton-John's longtime collaborator, John Farrar), it dances (Rydel High's Gym Dance), zips ("the chicks'll cream for Greased Lightning") and celebrates youth and friendship. Twenty five years after its first theatrical release, the movie still feels and sounds fresh even through its nostalgia, thanks to star-making performances from Travolta, Newton-John and Stockard Channing, to its clever wordplay and its irreverent look at high school - when everything and anything is possible. It's a movie that gets better with repeat viewings, as audiences associate seeing it with a singular moment in time. Cameo appearances from golden greats like Frankie Avalon ("Beauty School Dropout"), Sid Ceasar and Edd Byrnes are comic gems. The now-world-famous cast is hard to beat ... Didi Conn and Stockard Channing are excellent as Frenchy (THE beauty school dud) and Rizzo (the tough girl with a soft spot), while Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks) gets the supporting role of a lifetime. Dody Goodman as her daffy assistant is a hoot, but the film belongs to the music and the performances of its two principles. Olivia Newton-John is a sublime choice for Sandy. Though requiring re-tooling from the original stage show, her character's Aussie born lass is a perfect combination of girl-next-door sweetness and (later on) I-Am-Woman-hear-me-roar guts. Perhaps no transformation has been so effectively cut in a movie as ONJ's good girl gone wild. Besides setting off fashion trends and the lycra industry, Sandy's evolution reminds today's teens that you can be hip AND nice. That's a testament to the singer-actress' presence in this film and her ongoing legend. Travolta is also sublime as Danny, a mix of cocky swagger and silly-boy charm that's never malicious...just young. His Danny plays both sides of the teen-angst fence, whether telling his version of "Summer Nights" to the boys, or sweetly professing his love for "Sandy" at the drive-in (drive-ins are set for a comeback if this DVD finds itself into everyone's home!) After 25 years and countless viewings, Olivia and Travolta make beautiful music together! Guaranteed a winner in any home, "Grease" gets better with repeat viewings and remains accessible, fun and genuine. As a backdrop for baby boomers' high school years and our memories of all thats happened since..."Grease" remains the word! Thrilled to have this out on DVD!!!

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If You Are A Superfan or Someone Buying For 1st Time Get Rydell Edition

by Dorrie Wheeler from on 2006-09-20
The movie Grease has appeared on DVD several times. The most current incarnation of Grease on DVD is the "Grease Rockin' Rydell Edition." This edition of Grease is truly for the superfan or the person who hasn't previously purchased the movie on DVD in the past. Grease is the cult classic that starred Olivia Newton John and John Travolta. Olivia Newton John starred as Sandy. Sandy was a transfer student to Rydell High working to fit in John Travolta stars as Danny. Danny and Sandy had a wonderful summer romance but when Sandy transfers to Rydell their two different worlds collide. The films soundtrack--and dance numbers are classic. So what makes this version of Grease on DVD different than the version's previously released? The DVD comes in a leather jacket type of keepsake case. This is cute and the box fits snugly inside of the jacket. What really makes this version of Grease on DVD stand out are the bonus features. The film recently celebrated it's 25th Anniversary. The DVD includes memorable scenes from the 25th Anniversary DVD party. Another neat bonus feature is the featurette "Grease Memories" from John and Olivia. There are a ton of bonus features including a Rydell sing-a-long, deleted scenes, a featurette named the moves behind the music and many more. I recommend Grease-Rockin' Rydell Edition for the super Greast fan. If you already own the film on DVD and only are interested in the movie it's no need to repurchase the movie. If you are planning to purchase Grease on DVD for the first time I would strongly recommend this edition of the film on DVD.

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Greed Is the Word

by Thomas A. Holmes from Johnson City, TN USA on 2002-09-27
Other reviewers have noted that this DVD edition offers nothing different from the VHS version released only a couple of years ago. Note also that this edition does not come from the original film elements. Aside from the dirtiness of the print, the lack of extra scenes and the like, notice that most of the Coca-Cola ads have been "fuzzed" out. The image boost of the DVD image makes this alteration particularly clear. It's bad enough that Paramount was willing to alter the film in order to appease a corporate partner during an earlier release of the videotape; it's terrible that we are still saddled with the so-so, handmedown digital remastering of a corrupted print. Director Randal Kleiser has revealed in a September 2002 interview with ... that Paramount plans a reissue in 2004, a version with more extras; potential purchasers who have not yet bought this version may want to hold out a little longer. I should have been more patient.

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Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Edition) List Price: $24.98 Sale Price: $17.49 You save: $7.49 (30%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

Period romance. War epic. Family saga. Popular fiction adapted with crowd-pleasing brilliance. Star acting aglow with charisma and passion. Moviemaking craft at its height. These are sublimely joined in the words Gone with the Wind. This dynamic and durable screen entertainment of the Civil War-era South comes home with the renewed splendor of a New 70th-Anniversary Digital Transfer capturing a higher-resolution image from Restored Picture Elements than ever before possible. David O. Selznick’s monumental production of Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book can now enthrall new generations of home viewers with a majestic vibrance that befits one of Hollywood’s greatest achievements.

David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. --Tom Keogh

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Brand: Warner Brothers
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Original Release Date: 1939-01-01
Actors:

• Clark Gable
• Vivien Leigh
• Thomas Mitchell
• Barbara O'Neil
• Evelyn Keyes

Reviews

Near-Perfect Edition of Hollywood Classic...

by Benjamin J Burgraff from Las Vegas on 2004-12-22
It seems like a 'new, improved' edition of "Gone With the Wind" has appeared every couple of years, offering the 'ultimate' in picture and sound reproduction, and extras. It can become expensive keeping up, and frustrating (much like buying a classic Disney DVD, when you know a more complete "Special Edition" will soon render your "First Time on Video" copy obsolete), but the new GWTW Four-Disc Collector's Edition most assuredly deserves a place in your collection. First off, the picture and sound quality is astonishing. Warner's Ultra-Resolution process, which 'locks' the three Technicolor strips into exact alignment, provides a clarity and 'crispness' to the images that even the 1939 original print couldn't achieve. You'll honestly believe your TV is picking up HD, whether you're HD-ready, or not! This carries over to the Dolby Digital-remastered sound, as well. All of the tell-tale hiss and scratchiness of the opening credit title music, still discernable in the last upgrade, is gone, replaced by a richness of tone that will give your home theater a good workout. (Listen to the brass in this sequence, and you'll notice what I'm talking about...) The biggest selling point of this edition is, of course, the two discs of additional features offered, and these are, in general, superb. Beginning with the excellent "Making of a Legend" (narrated by Christopher Plummer), Disc Three offers fascinating overviews about the film, the amazing restoration, footage from the 1939 Premiere (and the bittersweet 1961 Civil War Centennial reunion of Selznick, Leigh, and de Havilland), glimpses of Gable and Leigh with dubbed voices for the foreign-language versions, the international Prologue (tacked on to explain the Civil War to foreign audiences), and a 1940 MGM documentary on the "Old South" (directed by Fred Zinneman) memorable today for it's simplistic view of the time, and stereotypical portrayal of blacks. Disc Four is a mixed bag; the long-awaited reminiscences of Olivia de Havilland are more chatty than informative (with the 90-year-old actress more interested in discussing her wardrobe than on-set tension...although a prank she pulled on Gable is amusing), and the Clark Gable Profile is superficial (A&E's biography of 'The King' is far superior). Things improve, however, with the insightful, sympathetic TCM biography of Vivien Leigh (hosted by Jessica Lange), and a WONDERFUL section devoted to brief bios of many of the GWTW supporting cast, narrated, again, by Christopher Plummer (although I wish the filmmakers would have included bios for Ward Bond, Victor Jory, Fred Crane, and George 'Superman' Reeves). All in all, the GWTW Four-Disc Collector's Edition isn't perfect, but offers so much terrific material that it is CERTAINLY the one to own!

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"And you, miss, are no lady!"

by William Sommerwerck from Renton, WA USA on 2009-11-18
As with the "Wizard of OZ" BD set, the GWTW set is elaborated -- and made "spendier" -- with the addition of material that might not be absolutely necessary for one's enjoyment. The box is covered in red velvet flocking (green would have been more appropriate and amusing -- qv, Carol Burnett). There's a CD "sampler" of Max Steiner's score, running a measly 45 minutes. Given that Max took excessive scoring to the max (Bette Davis had some pointedly unkind things to say about it), a "sampler" could have filled two CDs, and still not have exhausted the music (though the music might exhaust you). * As with "OZ", there's a 52-page hard-backed book that's largely content-free, plus reproductions of some of the watercolor set-design paintings (in their own little envelope), and various memoranda sent to and from David O. Selznick. I was expecting a reproduction of Gerald O'Hara's pocket watch, but it likely would have been of even poorer quality than the kiddie watch in the "OZ" box. The best bonus is a reproduction of the 25-cent (expensive in 1939) souvenir booklet. It includes pieces by the principals, notably one from Clark Gable telling how badly he wanted to play Rhett Butler and much he enjoyed every minute of making the film. (He didn't want to appear in "costume" films (having had bad luck in a film about Irish revolutionaries), was afraid to take on a role the public had such definite ideas about, and got along poorly with the first director, George Cukor.) As I write this, I haven't viewed all the supplemental material on the second disk. (There's a lot.) The third disk duplicates the "When the Lion Roars" feature included in the "OZ" box -- though the package labeling suggests it's unique to GWTW. GWTW was always unsharp and muddy-looking -- until the Ultra Resolution transfer of the original three-strip negatives a few years ago. It was a major improvement, and the DVDs showed the film as it had never been seen. This edition apparently uses a new Ultra Resolution transfer, at twice the resolution (8k versus 4k) of the previous. Some scenes -- such as Ashley escorting Melanie to the balcony of Twin Oaks -- are breathtaking, far superior to what the DVD offered (and /that/ wasn't exactly chopped liver). The best Technicolor films, properly transferred, push HD to its limit. What most surprised me, though, was the awareness of how the film's color balance is adjusted to produce specific effects. Many scenes have an appropriately warm, "burnished" coloration that /does not/ carry over to the scene's subtle colors. For example, at the fund-raising bazaar, there's a bottle of pastel-colored candies (which you'll probably never notice in the SD edition) that retain their correct colors, "unromantized" by the rest of the image's warmth. Similarly, in the scene outside the hospital where Belle Watling makes a donation, her costume is vividly colored (there's no question about her profession!), even though everything else is drab. Several sequences are outstanding, particularly the one where Scarlett returns to Aunt Pittypat's home to tend to Melanie. It's a model of Technicolor photography, one that any cinematographer would be proud of -- as good as anything being done today. In earlier transfers of poorer prints, this sequence is flat and two-dimensional. You can't see how magnificently lit and photographed it is. At its best, the Technicolor resembles large-format, ultra-sharp Polacolor. That's a compliment! If you're fortunate enough to have a large display, you'll gasp at some of the images. One of the most-startling moments occurs when Scarlett goes to the train station to look for Dr Meade, one of the most-famous scenes in movie history. Hundreds, if not thousands of injured men lie on the ground, waiting for medical attention that will likely never come. There weren't enough extras, so dummies were used. And for the first time, you can actually /see/ which of the "extras" are dummies! You can probably tell better than the camera operator! In short... The BD edition is a major improvement over the excellent DVD edition. It gives the impression that the movie makers were able to manipulate Technicolor to get specific aesthetic effects. ** And it shows just how /beautifully photographed/ this film is, something even the original Technicolor prints never fully revealed. The DVD probably captured most of this (I no longer have it for comparison), but you'll never see it in standard definition on a "small" screen. Looking at excerpts in the supplmentary material /not/ taken from the Ultra Resolution transfer is a reminder of just how "messy"-looking the original GWTW was. It no longer is. I've never enjoyed watching it so much. It's becoming apparent that an HD transfer, shown on a big display, is not the best way to watch a movie at home, but the best way to watch a movie, period. The sound is so-so, of limited range and not particularly clean. (Disney does a much better job cleaning up the audio of its classic films.) The reviewer who said it filled the room as well as any modern soundtrack most own Bose 901s. It would sound better in a theater, with big horn speakers that started rolling off above 5kHz. If GWTW was recorded in RCA multi-track, the stems don't appear to have survived. (Those for "OZ" exist and have been used, though not, apparently in the Blu-ray.) Music and dialog are mono throughout, but individual sound effects (particulary explosions) are panned to the side or rear when appropriate. The music sometimes seems too loud for the dialog, and the overall level is by far the lowest of any Blu-ray I've yet auditioned. I had to really crank up the volume, far, far beyond 11. This is an expensive set, but it represents such a significant improvement over the last DVD edition (as good as it was) that it's worth seriously considering. Even if your BD player has a good scaler, the DVD won't look anywhere nearly this good on your HD monitor. Highly recommended. PS: Just because a film is a classic doesn't mean it's suitable for everyone in your family. The G rating is ridiculous. GWTW is at least PG, containing, as it does, women of questionable virtue, a fair amount of violence (including a scene in which Scarlett is attacked, and another in which she shoots a Yankee, practically blowing off his face), and Rhett dragging Scarlett up the stairs to "molest" her. The MPAA ratings board is nothing if not inconsistent. PPS: Though Vivian Leigh and Hattie McDaniel received Oscars, I consider Butterfly McQueen's performance as Prissy the best in the film. Though she hated the role (it's too easy to interpret Prissy as representing slaves in general, rather than one in particular), she showed great courage in taking it, and delivers a finely nuanced performance. * Max Steiner wrote the first great film score for a talky - "King Kong". It epitomizes his style -- "Mickey-Mousing" almost every screen action, and the heavy use of Leitmotivs for characters and events. (Note how Melanie's motive appears every time she does, and how Rhett's is played -- breaking the scene's mood -- when he leaves Scarlett for the last time.) He was also the first sound-film composer to underscore almost the entire length of a film -- this is not a recent development. It's worth noting that GWTW, despite some memorable music, did not win "Best Score" for 1939 -- Herbert Stothart's for "Wizard of OZ" did. I find it considerably more imaginative and appealing. ** The Technicolor print uses dye transfer, in which each color is layed down separately from its own gelatin matrix. This allows a great deal of flexibility in controlling the contrast and color balance -- if you're willing to put out the time and money. According to the supplementary material, the color balance /was/ adjusted on scene-by-scene basis for GWTW, just as it is for modern films - that's what the "color timer" person does. A high-quality print from 1939 was found, and guided the restorers in adjusting color balance.

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A Classic but it's NOT for everyone!

by from on 2002-07-22
I used to think that this Hollywood classic was for everyone. However, after reading nearly 300 reviews of the film, I think that isn't true anymore. This movie is NOT for you IF 1) you think a movie must be as historically accurate as a history book, 2) you think a 1939 movie should reflect the values of the 21st century, 3) your attention span is so short that you must only see movies from 90-120 minutes in length, 4) you can only accept politically correct films, particularly in terms of racial issues, 5) you are so DUMB as to think widescreen movies were made before the 1950s (although to be fair, Selznik originally intended to use a special widescreen process for the so-called "burning of Atlanta" sequence but gave up on the expensive idea), 6) you can only accept computerized special effects as they appear in modern films, or 7) your idea of great acting is to be found in slasher or teen films being made these days.GWTW is NOT a documentary on the Civil War period. It is NOT a history of slavery in America. It is NOT a story of perfect people behaving perfectly at all times. It IS an adaptation of a novel written by a Southern woman who, as a child, sat and listened to the stories the old Confederate veterans told about the old days before, during, and after THE war. It IS a love story, probably about the novelist's grandmother, which reflects the attitudes left over from that long-ago time. To criticize this film for so many unrelated issues is silly. It stands on its merits as a masterful film that tells of bittersweet love and lost fantasy. That it succeeds so well is a tribute to the actors and filmmakers of over sixty years ago.

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Technical Consideration for "Bewildered in Iowa"

by D. Paul Dalton from Dallas, TX USA on 2004-11-30
I do hope you'll return and revise your rating to a '5' once you digest this information: Gone With the Wind was never released in a Widescreen version on DVD because it was never released in a Widescreen version on film. In fact, when it was released (1939), there were NO "Widescreen" movies at all -- becaues no one had yet thought about formatting movies in that way. Through the 1940s and into the 1950s, essentially ALL movies were in the 3:4 format that we now consider to be "regular". My understanding is that those proportions originally were adopted by the film industry to roughly correspond with the proportions of viewable area for the "live" theaters extant when the film industry started. Similarly, when television arrived in the late 40s/early 50s, its screen format was determined by copying the 3:4 screen proportions of films made up to that time. By the mid-1950s, the film industry became concerned about losing its audience to TV, so various WIDESCREEN formats (CinemaScope was one; I think there was another called VistaVision; I can't remember the others offhand) were conceived by the film industry in the 1950s as a way in which the film industry could distinguish its film products from what could efficiently be shown on television screens. This was the film industry's attempt to keep audiences coming to theaters to see their movies, rather than just waiting to see movie productions on home televisions; by coming to the theater, the audience could experience something different that what television could offer. Other "ideas" in this effort against TV included attempts to interest audiences in 3D films, as well as enhancing film audio, both by greatly improving sound range and fidelity and later by adding stereo, at a time when TVs had only a single, inexpensive speaker that didn't sound all that "hot." In fact, the creation/addition of 5.1 audio (Surround Sound) was yet another film industry effort to distinguish itself from what then was available for use in homes. Anyway, if someone now wants to issue a "Widescreen" version of GWTW, the only way to do it (without distorting the content) would be to cut off the top and/or bottom of every frame all the way through -- just think about how THAT would look . . .

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The extra features are now known for this release

by calvinnme from on 2009-08-11
An asterisk below indicates this feature was on the 2004 release of this film. The bottom line is that discs 1-4 are pretty much repeats of the 2004 release and disc five has the new material. There are also two books and a CD new to this release. This is, of course, a very good film. It was playing in theatres from 1939 until 1976 when it made its television premiere. However, Warner Bros. has many other great films languishing in its vaults that I'd like to see get just one release. The contents of this 5 disc package are: Includes the first two discs in the 2-disc S.E. which is the movie itself with commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer. *- Same commentary as before. DISC 3 (About the Movie): "The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind" the 1989 documentary made by Selznick's sons. * "Restoring a Legend" - An in-depth look at the restoration. * Dixie Hails "Gone with the Wind". Footage from 1939 Atlanta and 1961 Civil War Centennial Atlanta premieres. * Historical theatrical short "The Old South" (1940) directed by Fred Zinnerman. * Atlanta Civil War Centennial 1961 premiere newsreel * International prologue * Foreign language version sample scenes * Theatrical Trailers * DISC 4 (About the Cast): Three Documentaries: "Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone With The Wind" * "Clark Gable: A King Remembered" * "Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond" * The Supporting Players - Cameo portraits of an unforgettable ensemble * DISC 5: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment presents 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year - New documentary about Hollywood's watershed year narrated by Kenneth Branagh. This is a very good documentary that has been playing on TCM as of late. Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On -- Exploring the legacy of the most beloved film through illuminating interviews, footage and visits to historical sites, events and museums Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara Wars 1980 WBTV Special never before on home video - This movie stars Tony Curtis as David O. Selznick as he looks for the actress that he wants to play Scarlett. I haven't seen it on TV since its original run back in 1980, but it was pretty good as I remember. Trailers Plus these Premiums: 20-page reproduction of the original and complete 1939 Souvenir Program 40-page Production History Book with photos and production notes Eight Frameable 5x7 Art Prints CD soundtrack sampler featuring eight tracks: Main Title Tara The Barbecue Escape From Atlanta I'll Never Be Hungry Again Paddock Scene Scarlett In The Mist/Rhett Leaves Flashback/Finale NOTE: The 2-disc Blu-Ray release will have all the content above on 2 discs. Exclusive to the Blu-Ray Ultimate Collector's Edition is MGM - When The Lion Roars Documentary, which you can, of course, buy separately here - MGM: When the Lion Roars.

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Forrest Gump (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $9.99 You save: $4.99 (33%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

A sweet natured man with an IQ of 70 personally experiences all of the important events of three decades of American life.

The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor Tom Hanks, this unlikely story of a slow-witted but good-hearted man somehow at the center of the pivotal events of the 20th century is a funny and heartwarming epic. Hanks plays the title character, a shy Southern boy in love with his childhood best friend (Robin Wright) who finds that his ability to run fast takes him places. As an All-Star football player he meets John F. Kennedy; as a soldier in Vietnam he's a war hero; and as a world champion Ping-Pong player he's hailed by Richard Nixon. Becoming a successful shrimp-boat captain, he still yearns for the love of his life, who takes a quite different and much sadder path in life. The visual effects incorporating Hanks into existing newsreel footage is both funny and impressive, but the heart of the film lies in its sweet love story and in the triumphant performance of Hanks as an unassuming soul who savors the most from his life and times. --Robert Lane

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Original Release Date: 1994-01-01
Actors:

• Tom Hanks
• Gary Sinise
• Geoffrey Blake
• Charles Boswell
• Michael Burgess

Reviews

Hanks is Brilliant

by Thomas Magnum from NJ, USA on 2001-10-03
Forrest Gump is a rare movie that succeeded on all levels. It was a box office smash ranking among the top five highest grossing movies of all time. But it was also a critical darling, garnering across the board praise and a truckload of awards. The movie became a cultural phenomenon, spawning cook books, quote books, a top ten soundtrack album and lines like "stupid is as stupid does" and "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" have permeated our dialect. The movie has a nostalgic, feel good vibe thanks to the dimwitted Forrest's trek through 60's and 70's touchstone events. Underneath all those warm feelings lies a darkness. Bad things happen to just about everyone Forrest comes in contact with. His best friend Bubba is killed in Vietnam, his other friend Lt. Dan loses both his legs, his mother dies of cancer and his beloved Jenny dies of AIDS. Even the famous people Forrest comes across meet with disaster, President Kennedy & John Lennon are assassinated, George Wallace is shot and Elvis Presley dies young. There are superb performances all around. Sally Field is feisty as Forrest's mama, Mykelti Williamson is funny as Bubba, Gary Sinese as Lt. Dan is a perfect rough edged foil to Forrest and Robin Wright as Jenny portrays the confusion that young people of the times felt perfectly. While all those performances are of high quality, Forrest Gump is Tom Hanks' tour de force. He is utterly brilliant as Forrest. He is in virtually every scene of the movie and never once does he fail to astound. He becomes Forrest and makes you care what happens to him. Mr. Hanks deservedly won his second consecutive Best Actor Oscar for the role and cemented himself as the best actor of his generation and one of the best of all time.

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Forrest Gump is a magical, moving, and funny film

by Eric from Tennessee on 2000-01-13
1994 featured the two most interesting central characters to ever grace the silver screen. They were Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption) and Forrest Gump, played respectively by Tim Robbins and Tom Hanks. Both films from which the characters originate I consider to be in the top five best movies of all time and it's the actors that makes the characters come to life that makes the films so magnificent. Forrest Gump is a drama and a comedy. It tells the tale of a mildly retarded man who becomes involved accidentally in the biggest events of the sixties, seventies, and eighties. All throughout his life since he was a child, Forrest has been in love with a girl named Jenny (Robin Wright Penn). However, she refuses him only because she loves him too much and doesn't want to hurt him. Underrated by audiences, Forrest Gump is simply an amazing film. I was surprised by how hilarious and moving it was. The film generates many big laughs that involve how Forrest initiated and inspired many events in recent history such as how he was the one who taught Elvis Presley to dance and the time he unknowingly ratted on the Plumbers of Watergate.The performances are what make this film memorable. Tom Hanks gives one of the best leading performances of the decade (and possibly of all time). Coming in almost as good is Gary Sinise as the misanthropic lieutenant whose life is changed after becoming involved with Forrest in the shrimp business. The supporting cast which consists of Wright Penn, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson, and Haley Joel Osment (of Sixth Sense fame) also deliver good performances.Forrest Gump is a great film that has to be seen to be believed. Cynics might find some problems with this film but they would just be missing the entire point. This is essentially a film about how the most innocent and kind person on Earth has a low IQ and how he views the world. His journey is simply breathtaking.

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A movie you don't get to see nowdays.

by Roy Ho from Singapore on 2001-06-05
Forrest Gump is one of the best film of all time. Definitely the best Zemeckis's work so far and he has put so much soul and depth to this 1994 Academy Award winning Best Picture. This movie portrays the life of a slow-witted character who gets embroiled in various ridiculous situations. He was a Vietnam war hero, received a congressional medal of honour, shook hands with many US Presidents and was a successful owner of a shrimp company. We get to see many world events through the eyes of a supposedly "dumb" character. The flow and pace of the movie was perfect as we ride through various historical events like the Vietnam War, assasination of JFK and the Watergate Scandal. Tom Hanks gave an undeniably wonderful performance as Forrest and truly deserves the Oscar that he earned. Gary Sinise gave a superb performance as Lieutenant Dan in the movie. Even though he was only nominated and did not win anything, I felt he really deserves the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The scene where he pulled Forrest down from the bed and cursed him for saving his life, just simply blew me away. Sally Field is also wonderful as Forrest's mother and deserves the Oscar as well. The line "Forrest, you have to do your best what God has given you. Be brave Forrest, be brave in everything you do. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get." really moved me and brought me tears. No movie had bring such emotion in me. Robin Wright did her role well as Forrest's love interest and complements well to Forrest's life. The actors truly brings the characters to life and I must salute Zemeckis for choosing the perfect cast. The technical aspect of the film is just excellent. The visual effects is unlike anything we have seen before. Many movies have not fully utilised the CGI effects to complement it. Nowadays, filmmakers just want to show what special effects they can do rather than what the special effects can do for the film. In Forrest Gump, visual effects are utilised to their best to create unbelievable scenes. Scenes like the flying feather, Lieutenant Dans' missing legs, Vietnam War, meeting of the president is just incredible. This is what visual effects is all about. To create impossible scenes to the big screen. Alan Silvestri's film score is one of the best scores I have ever heard. From the touching piano piece at the beginning feather scene to the uplifting tune of Forrest hugging Jenny at the Washington square scene, Alan's award-winning score truly brings the perfect mood and emotion to the film. Every aspect of this movie is simply excellent from the eye-popping special effects, film editing, wonderful score, sound, to the theme of the movie. This movie makes us realised that we all have a purpose in life and that we all have the ability to do the impossible. Forrest Gump tells us that we all should have strong principles and beliefs to succeed in life. Forrest only believes in 3 person. He believes in God, his momma and Jenny. Nothing can go past them. Just look at what Forrest has achieved. He is the President of a shrimp company, a war hero, a Ping-Pong champion, and a happy father. Forrest Gump simply tells us that we can achieve anything in life as long as we put our best effort and believe in everything that we do. Forrest Gump is no doubt one the best films I have ever seen. It changes my perception of life and makes me realised that we all have a purpose in this world. We probably won't be seeing anything like this forever. A true masterpiece.

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Impossible not to like! Hanks is brilliant.

by Roger J. Buffington from Huntington Beach, CA United States on 2005-05-05
Forrest Gump is a tale of America's culture from the 50s through almost the present day, and it is brilliantly done. Tom Hanks' performance as Forrest Gump is quite simply flawless as an idiot savant who comes into contact with most of the significant events and people of his day. I have always liked Hanks as an actor, and here he puts in an unusual and yes, a brilliant performance. But the real star of the movie is America of the 50s through the early 80s. The portion of the film that dealt with the Vietnam conflict was unforgettable, as we see large numbers of ordinary American boys swept into a conflict that they little understood. Gary Sinise puts in a very creditable performance as Lt. Dan, Forrest's platoon leader in Vietnam for whom the war is a personal tragedy. The film hilariously shows Forrest Gump navigate through many of the key events in history during the periods. He meets Elvis and influences his style. He meets President Kennedy. He has a ringside seat in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He is caught up in the Vietnam War. He meets President Nixon and inadvertantly triggers the Watergate scandal (this part is really a hoot). The film's portrayal of the hippies and radicals of the 60s is particularly funny and in fact rings true. This is a film that almost everyone will like, and which will touch even the most hard-boiled viewer. The DVD is a terrific value, and most viewers will enjoy watching this one many times.

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"There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp,..."

by M. Hart from USA on 2003-12-08
When I first saw the film "Forrest Gump" in a theater in 1994, I knew that director Robert Zemeckis had created a heart-warming masterpiece that would more than likely earn it Oscar recognition, and it certainly did. The endearing film follows the life of an educationally challenged man named Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) from the time of his childhood (played by Michael Conner Humphreys) until early middle age. His mother (Sally Field) made sure that he would be treated just like everyone else so that he could take care of himself once she was gone. In addition to his learning disability, Forrest was required to wear leg braces as a child that made him the target of ridicule from other children, except for one girl named Jenny Curran (Hanna R. Hall). However, Forrest quickly discovered that his legs weren't that bad when he found an innate ability to run. When Forrest decided to join the U.S. Army, he meets his two best friends: a fellow recruit named Pvt. Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue (Mykelti Williamson) and Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise). Bubba loved to talk about shrimp and Lt. Dan was raised to be a soldier. Forrest's relationship with Jenny, as well as his relationships with Bubba and Lt. Dan, led Forrest down several unexpected paths that allowed him to meet several pivotal historical figures.Tom Hanks' superb performance as the loveable Forrest Gump earned him his well-deserved second Oscar for Best Actor. (He had previously won the Oscar for Best Actor for the 1993 film "Philadelphia", and has been nominated three other times.) Robert Zemeckis also earned the Oscar for Best Director, and the film itself won the Oscar for Best Picture as well as three other Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Editing and Best Writing. Gary Sinise earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, in addition to six other Oscar nominations that included Best Cinematography, Best Music and Best Sound. Part of what "Forrest Gump" so endearing was Zemeckis' use of superimposing actors into actual, historical film footage. This footage included the late Pres. John F. Kennedy, the late John Lennon, the late Pres. Richard M. Nixon, and the late former Alabama Gov. George Wallace to name a few. (Robert Zemeckis used this same archival footage technique again in the 1997 film "Contact".) Other memorable characters in the film include school bus driver Dorothy Harris (Siobhan Fallon), Bubba's mother (Marlena Smalls), Abbie Hoffman (Richard D'Alessandro) and Forrest Gump Jr. (Haley Joel Osment).Some of the many memorable scenes in the film include the opening scenes, running with leg braces, running across the football field during practice, scenes at the University of Alabama, boot camp, Vietnam, D.C., NYC, the shrimping boat, running across America, and the scenes with Jenny (both as child and adult). I regard "Forrest Gump" as one of the best films ever made and rate it with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. It's the kind of film that draws the viewer into its story and keeps the viewer engaged throughout its 142 minutes. I highly recommend the DVD version of the film to everyone, and the second DVD is good with its various documentaries and other material. Tom Hanks went on to star in many more memorable film roles, including his roles in "Apollo 13" (1995), "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), "The Green Mile" (1999) and "Cast Away" (2000) to name a few. Unfortunately, many of Gary Sinise's film roles that followed have been far less memorable.

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The Lake House (Widescreen Edition) List Price: $12.98 Sale Price: $6.49 You save: $6.49 (50%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

A lonely doctor (Sandra Bullock) who once occupied an unusual lakeside home begins exchanging love letters with its newest resident, a frustrated architect (Keanu Reeves). When they discover that they're actually living two years apart, they must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock pair up again in what could be described as the anti-Speed: The Lake House, a sweet, relaxed-paced, whimsical romance. When Alex Wyler (Reeves, The Matrix) moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster (Bullock, Miss Congeniality) who's writing from two years in the future. Their correspondence turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. Though the plot of The Lake House sounds potentially static, the movie is skillfully structured and, despite some truly awful dialogue, will exert an emotional pull on anyone willing to embrace the device of the time-travelling mailbox. What the movie really demonstrates, though, is the genuine rapport between Bullock and Reeves; Reeves, though handsome, has a wooden presence--but in his few scenes with Bullock, his stiffness transforms into a palpable yearning. On-screen chemistry is slippery and hard to define, but these two have it. --Bret Fetzer

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand: Warner Brothers
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Original Release Date: 2006-06-16
Actors:

• Keanu Reeves
• Sandra Bullock
• Christopher Plummer
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach
• Willeke van Ammelrooy

Reviews

Can the Future Change the Past?

by Tucker Andersen from Wall Street on 2006-06-18
If you enjoy love stories, then you should delight as much in this modern day fairy tale as my wife and I did. Sandra Bullock (one of my favorite actresses) as Dr. Kate Forster and Keanu Reeves as Alex Wyler complement each other extremely well and manage to develop a tangible chemistry despite the unique nature of their "long distance" (in time) relationship. However, you have to be prepared to suspend your usual conception of the relationship of time and place and accept unconditionally the truly unusual and scientifically fictional aspects of the storyline. This film is about emotions, interpersonal relationships and personal discovery, and needs to be engaged with your heart, not your mind. CAUTION: it was obvious from the comments of other moviegoers who watched the film with us that our enthusiasm was not universally shared. Perhaps understandably given several of Sandra's Bullock's previous films, some people obviously expected to see a typical romantic comedy, which this most definitely is not despite some truly funny sequences. Others seemed to be unable to let go of their attempt to rationally analyze the techniques which the story utilized to further the relationship between Kate and Alex; this trait led to their inability simply to accept the facts as the writer and producer chose to present them in furtherance of the story and thus distracted from the essence of the film, which is the development of the central characters' relationship and the mystery of how the story will conclude. And finally, a few seemed bewildered that anyone would find such a ridiculous story appealing and frustrated that they had wasted almost two hours of their time watching it. As the film begins, Kate and her female dog Jack are ending their tenancy at an architecturally unique LAKE HOUSE and moving into a modern new apartment in downtown Chicago near the hospital where she is on staff. She leaves a note in the mailbox for the next tenant, which Alex finds when he moves into the house. Thus, very early in the film, the four main actors in this drama have already been introduced - Kate, Alex, Jack, and THE LAKE HOUSE itself. However, the key plot twist of what briefly appears a rather conventional and undoubtedly otherwise pedestrian romance (which would simply be a showcase for the stars) is introduced. It is a concept familiar to science fiction fans but seldom used in other genres; specifically time shifting together with some aspects of parallel universes. Since what has happened is incidental to the story and never explained, it is not clear at any particular point in the story what rules will apply to the situations in which the characters find themselves. (N.B. This film should definitely not be included in the genre of science fiction, it involves neither time travel or futurism.) However, when Alex replies to Kate's note and a correspondence ensues, their initial misunderstandings soon turn to disbelief when she claims to be living in 2006 and he is in 2004. What! How could she move out and he then move in? Despite their incredulity, they eventually both become convinced that their lives really have been linked through some sort of time warp. Of course, since this is a love story they then both become increasingly attracted to each other (Remember, you can't expect to understand how the intermediary device of the magic mailbox operates, just enjoy the flag waving which results.) The story is incredibly cleverly constructed, with several threads gradually coming together and increasingly causing their lives to become intertwined. THE LAKE HOUSE, a memorable edifice built on stilts and reached by a walkway over the water is reminiscent of Phillip Johnson's signature Glass House. It not only unites Alex and Kate but plays a crucial role in Alex's family history and his strained relationship with his father, the noted architect Simon Wyler (Christopher Plummer). The enjoyment of the film is in fact heightened by its leisurely pace, the cast (and the supporting roles are uniformly well acted) has time to develop the story and let us get to know Kate and Alex as they get to know each other; thus we also experience their frustration that thyey may have to accept the fact that they will be resigned to living separate lives. The most difficult aspect of the film for me to follow was the fact that the sequence of the scenes as presented to the moviegoer was not always immediately clear. Not only are Alex and Kate simultaneously living in different years, but their individual experiences are not presented in chronological order. There are frequent flashbacks and the jumps forward to their individual present day selves, interspersed with one chance meeting of which only Alex is aware. Remember, concentrate on their story - not on trying to figure out how it is occurring. One incredibly deft touch is the use of a copy of Jane Austen's PERSUASION as both a very important point of contact in their relationship and also with the story as a metaphor for their situation. In conclusion, if you enjoy fantasy, then you should enjoy this unconventional love story. In addition, you also get as a bonus to try to figure out how an appealing dog such as Jack could somehow live with both Kate and Alex and maybe you will even receive a few insights about architecture. Just remember to pay attention to details, because at various times during the film events occur whose complete relevance only becomes clear much later. Interestingly enough, if you do pick up these clues, while they foreshadow some of the later events (in the sequence in which the movie unfolds), they in no way make the eventual outcome predictable and thus do not spoil the story. Fun, interesting, well acted, emotionally satisfying and unpredictable enough to keep your interest - certainly a more attractive set of attributes than most of today's film fare. Tucker Andersen

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When Love is Real, Nothing Else Matters

by Alejandra Vernon from Long Beach, California on 2006-06-18
"The Lake House" is a rare gem, the kind of film that Hollywood hasn't made for decades, and has more in common with the b&w classics and some foreign films (like the Korean "Il Mare" this one was based on) than any contemporary "date film." It is the well written script, and the mature and sensitive performances by its 2 leads that set it apart, as well as the many memorable, magical moments: The tree, the dance, the spray-painted inscription on the wall, to name a few. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are superb as Alex and Kate, who try to conquer time and space with their love. I have no problem with time warps, other dimensions, the presence of angels, and that the world just might be a cosmic soup of whirling particles. Seeing is not believing, because we see through a glass darkly, and anything might be possible, even the premise of this plot, implausible as it might be. Director Alejandro Agresti deftly manages to make the complexities of the story flow, and the supporting cast is excellent, including Christopher Plummer (as Alex's famed architect father), Ebon Moss-Bacharach (Alex's brother), Willele von Ammelrooy (Kate's mother) and Shohreh Aghdashloo (Kate's workplace friend). And then there is Jack, a lovable mutt that is shared between time spaces. I cannot think of a living actor that has had a more diverse filmography than Keanu Reeves, and "The Lake House" is by far his finest performance, in its depth, and naturalness. This is a man who looks so comfortable in his skin, in being who he is, that he adds a dimension of reality to the character of Alex. Sandra Bullock is also excellent as Kate, and both actors exude super star wattage power, and have marvelous screen chemistry with each other. Watch this film with an open mind and a soft heart, and it will delight you. I wept through much of it, enjoyed every minute, and it is a film I will never tire of seeing.

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Reunited and It Feels So Good - 2 years too late for 2 people who found the one

by M. R. Estante from North America on 2006-05-18
A dozen years after "Speed" ... Reeves and Bullock reunite as two destined single professionals who meet through a lake house they both lived at. Turns out both are living in the same place but two years apart and exchange letters through a magical mailbox. An American adaptation of the South Korean film "Ill Mare" from 1999, the Lake House follows the mysterious events that bring a lonely female doctor (Kate) in Chicago with a frustrated architect (Alex)in the country. THEME: NEVER SETTLE! Only marry your true love because time is irrelevant when your twin soul is out there and you know it! The truth is ... you can physically leave your twin soul ... but they will always be a part of you. The story begins when Kate leaves a letter in the mailbox for the new tenant to her former lake house home before departing for Chicago. When she receives a reply from Alex he claims that no one has lived in the Lake House for years. The two begin corresponding only to discover that they are living two years apart, Alex in 2004 and Kate in 2006. The movie progresses and the two eventually decide to meet but its two weeks for Kate and two years for Alex. It's a heartbreaker because if time is not on your side it is not on your side. A series of coincidences bring keep bringing Kate and Alex together. The trick is that Kate wasn't always so open and had many missed moments with Alex. Over time they begin to share more about one another and decide to meet. Alex fails to show up at Ill Mare in Chicago and Kate forbids him to write to her again. That is until she almost marries her nice but not well suited match Morgan... and rushes to save her romance with Alex. The signs were all there... they even shared the same dog two years apart! Near misses, close encounters, and signposts to one another ... in the end it's worth the wait! It's a very Happy Valentine's Day. Unless you know that you could give your whole heart to that person despite another more suitable man or woman nearby ... don't sell out! Stay available for the one who truly makes you happy. One to watch ... and best with the "two of you" for all the couples who are together and happy and need a reminder of what they have.

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Tasty slice of magical realism...

by Joanna from Northfield, Minnesota, USA on 2006-06-17
*Note* Contains some mild spoilers "The Lake House", starring long time friends Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock - working together again for the first time since "Speed" (1994) - is a story of semi-magical connection between a man and a woman which spans the width of two years. You see, Kate (Bullock) and Alex (Reeves) have both lived in the same gorgeous house made entirely of glass. Kate is moving out and leaves a letter in the mailbox wishing the next tenant good luck and enjoyment in the house, as well as a forwarding address for her mail. Through movie magic (and possibly fate), Alex - who just purchased the house - receives this letter and the two begin to correspond. Confused at first, they soon realize they are living two years apart, Alex in 2004 and Kate in 2006. While an odd set of circumstances (and theoretically impossible), they continue to write. Both are failures when it comes to relationships and they find the letters a great chance to talk to someone of the opposite sex and not have to face rejection. Soon they fall in love but are not sure how they could ever meet to make a relationship work because of the time issues. They share a dog (too complicated to explain here) and their hearts. Attempts to meet do not work and they begin to lose hope. Can they find a way to be together? Or will this simply be another failed relationship to add to their lists? Despite what people have been saying, I thoroughly enjoyed "The Lake House." Complex, sci-fi plot aside, it comes down to a story about how two peoples lives change when they allow themselves to connect. It's honest. Its cinematography is gorgeous and the performances are good. Keanu and Sandra have an amazing on-screen chemistry as we have witnessed before (in Speed), but here it is more mature. Sandra delivers a performance closer to her character in "Crash" (2005) and less like that of "Miss Congeniality." Kate is a charming but self-conscious and lonely woman. Keanu gives what I believe is his best performance in a movie yet! His famous slightly "wooden" acting style is perfect for the character of lonely architect Alex, and he can really become someone quite believable and open in the moments when his character is happy. While the two do not share much direct on-screen time, that serves to make the moments they do share it SO desirable. The viewer longs to see Alex and Kate meet face to face and for this relationship to work out for them. Especially delightful, were the voiceovers (of the letter reading and writing) which filled the movie as other things happened. It was a clever way to keep them from always sitting at a desk and brightened the tone of the film overall. Forget thinking about how all the time travel works, that's not the important part. The important point of this movie is the relationship between these two people. The magic of the time transcending mailbox only serves to bring them together, but so do many other things in their lives (as we come to find out). It gives the viewer hope that maybe they are destined for love like this - maybe not with the assistance of a post office receptacle - but fated in some way to meet that one person for them. "The Lake House" is a touching film, free of all the hustle and bustle of modern American cinema and culture in general. There's no emailing, just good old-fashioned letter writing. It's a throwback to the real movies - before we forgot how to make them - before we forgot that a movie is about the people in it and not about sex, drugs and rock and roll. "The Lake House" is a beautiful film and you should really go see it. Don't go in expecting it to all make sense, but go in with an open heart and open eyes and let it win you over. Critics have gone to theatres with their arms crossed and their minds made up already. Take a lesson from Alex and Kate, open your heart and see what happens. Ebert said he enjoyed the film quite a lot despite it's complicating plot and Roeper called it one of his favorite movies of 2006! Ebert and Roeper (two of the most respected movie critics in the biz) can't both be wrong!

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Wicked tear-jerker ending!

by Tahra Kohl from Rio Rancho, NM on 2006-09-15
I loved watching this movie! Couldn't believe that Hollywood could actually make an entertaining PG movie anymore, though... I was thoroughly impressed with the sweet romance and-although the time travel aspect was a bit funny at times-I thought it was a very clever way to portray the book. By the end, the tears were flowing freely and I didn't even bother to wipe them away. It was soo good! I think it hit me wicked hard because I am waiting for my boyfriend to come back from his 2 year mission and the idea of loving someone enough to wait for them is so touching. Especially in this classy movie. :) It sure is a keeper and will be a staple in my DVD collection as soon as I can get my hands on it!!

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P.S. I Love You List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $9.49 You save: $5.49 (37%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Rating:

Description

Buy a new outfit. Be a disco diva. Learn to fish. Take a chance. Travel. Laugh. Love. Sometimes all you need to start really living is a little shove in the right direction – and that’s just what Holly Kennedy gets. From the handsome, big-hearted love of her life. From a series of mysterious letters. And from gal pals who know that a friend in need is a friend in need of some laughs! Based on Cecelia Ahern’s joyful bestseller and boasting a top cast led by two-time Academy Award® winner* Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler (300), P.S. I Love You is your very own message full of fun, love, triumph and romance. Open it now. (P.S. You’ll love it!)

For those who believe true love lasts beyond this physical plane, P.S. I Love You is a jewel in the romantic-movie crown. With elements of Ghost, Heaven Can Wait, and My Life, the film is an unabashed valentine to the notion of lasting (everlasting?) love. Hilary Swank is Holly, a deeply happy lass married to the most impossibly adorable Irishman on the planet, Gerry (Gerard Butler). When an illness takes him from her, Holly spirals into depression. Then, as if from beyond the grave, communications, gifts, and remembrances from Gerry begin to appear--gestures he'd planned knowing his death was coming. The "communications" with her dead husband could threatened to keep Holly in past, yet they begin to pave a path into her future. Swank, not a traditional romantic actress, is quite moving as Holly, whose grief and confusion is palpable. Butler will win new continents of fans, largely female, as the yummiest honey one could wish for. Special kudos to the supporting cast, including Lisa Kudrow as a Holly pal, and James Marsters and Kathy Bates, always breaths of fresh air onscreen. Under the sure hand of director-writer Richard LaGravenese, P.S. I Love You is touching, sad (have tissues on hand), and heartbreakingly lovely. --A.T. Hurley

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand: Warner Brothers
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Original Release Date: 2007-12-21
Actors:

• Hilary Swank
• Gerard Butler
• Harry Connick Jr.
• Lisa Kudrow
• Gina Gershon

Reviews

A Nice Little Surprise Film

by Grady Harp from Los Angeles, CA United States on 2008-05-11
Marketing P.S. I LOVE YOU was a hit/miss situation. The general trailer and the billboards seem to set the audience up for a sappy tearjerker. But happily what happens in this film is not the expected 'widowed person communicating with the dead love out of failure to get on with life' tale, but instead a look into the importance of friendship, family, and adjusting to the incomparable loss. Credit the original novel by Cecelia Ahern as adapted for the screen by Steven Rogers writer/director Richard LaGravenese for making what so easily have been a sappy, maudlin, whining tale into a touching one of human emotions with a sense of reality mixed with a mildly implausible situation, and a series of character studies that emphasize the importance of support in the time of grief. Holly (Hilary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler) Kennedy are a married couple with goals and frustrations and a huge dollop of passionate love, surrounded by friends and family. The tragedy happens just as the movie starts: Gerry has died of a brain tumor leaving the copeless Holly alone with her memories and self-inflicted regrets. But Gerry, knowing he was a terminal patient, devised his own plan to help Holly through that first year of grief: he left letters in various forms and places, advising Holly how to learn about his family and how to get on with life. Holly's mother (Kathy Bates) owns a bar and has supported her little family since Holly's father deserted his family years ago. In the bar is another injured soul named Daniel (Harry Connick Jr.) who fancies Holly but realizes she is far from ready to think about dating. Holly's friends Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon) accompany Holly to Gerry's pre-planned trip to his home in Ireland to meet the in-laws Holly never knew. While in Ireland Holly reminisces on the magic of first meeting Gerry, meets Gerry's parents as well as Gerry's best friend William (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and through it all manages to appreciate the gift of PS I Love You letters and reminders Gerry has left for her. And she ultimately finds closure to her loss. The cast is strong and makes these at times strained characters into lovable people: Hilary Swank has made a successful entrance into the feminine lead role and is balanced to perfection by Butler, Morgan, Connick, Bates, Kudrow and Gershon. They make the implausible plausible and deliver a love story that goes beyond the level of superficial to join the ranks of warm and tender memorable slices of life. It is surprisingly good! Grady Harp, May 08

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PS I will always love you

by R. Kyle from USA on 2008-01-05
The story begins with a fight. Holly (Swank) is running up a seemingly endless flight of stairs with Gerry (Butler) in hot pursuit. He's apologizing, but like a typical male, he's really not quite sure what he did wrong--he just wants to make up and not sleep in the bathtub. Nine years' marriage and they don't have a lot to show--no kids, no careers, and only a five flight walkup. But, it's obvious that Holly and Gerry love each other very much. The next scene is Gerry's wake. It's a bittersweet affair--and I confess to laughing when I heard the ironic "Fairytale of New York" (Gerry's favorite song) played and sung to by his priest. A few weeks' later, the letters begin. While the film only shows Gerry's life and Holly's impressions of his 'ghost', we realize he'd understood his cancer would take him and planned to help Holly get through it past the grave. His letters encourage her to get out, sing Karaoke, even go to Ireland. Those missives literally help her find her dreams and go on with her life. "PS I love you" is what I expected--and more. The cast, scenery, and especially the music all fit well together to elicit tears--and yes, occasional laughter. Gerard Butler is fabulous as always. He's one of the best new actors around and I hope to see him for many years to come. I didn't expect that he could sing--and he does an excellent job on "Galway Girls." In my opinion, Hillary Swank is the best part of the film. She's not your typical Hollywood ingenue. She's sometimes awkward, she doesn't always look perfect, and yet her ability to convey emotions from the highs to the lows very impressive. When she comes home from the funeral alone, picks up her cell phone and just keeps calling her home phone to hear Gerry's voice over and over on the answering machine literally brought me to tears. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the big teddy bear Billy Gallagher was also great. You've seen him before if you watched "Grey's Anatomy" playing Denny Duquette. I'm very glad to see him getting silver screen roles. If you like him, look for him in 2008 in "The Accidental Husband." Only one warning--take some tissues with you. This film will make you cry--and occasionally laugh so hard you'll have tears in your eyes, too.

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A nice romantic film

by Bennet Pomerantz from Seabrook, Maryland on 2008-08-18
PS I Love You is a bitersweet love story. It is one of those films which you watch with a tear in your eyes and a wisp of a smile on your face. Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank0 has lost her husband (300's Gerald Butler). As she is in mourning over his loss, she recieves letters from her dead husband. From these letters, she starts to break out of her shell of widowhood. With the help of her Girlfriends (Gina Gersion and Lisa Kudrow) and her mom (Kathy Bates), Holly starts to live again. It is one of those nice romantic film to share with those you love. It is a throwback to the older 1950's type films where words and images are more important than car chases and curse words. The Cast blends together so well you could believe this story is true. Swank's Holly is so on the money, you feel her pain and joy This is not just another chick flix, it is a well done romantic comedy. It will tug on your heart strings..if it does, check with your doctor to make sure you have a working heart. I only wish there was a director or actor commentary, which there isnt. I would have enjoyed hearing someone insights on how they made this film..but it is not needed with a film this good Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

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She Gets Letters, She Gets Letters

by Chris Pandolfi from Los Angeles, CA on 2007-12-25
As hopelessly contrived and predictable as "P.S. I Love You" is, it's still a charming, touching romantic comedy. The most surprising thing about it is Hilary Swank, whose resume of serious films has made a humorous role seem an unlikely choice. She makes full use of her softer, sillier side, playing a character that's loveable and irritating at the same time. I say this in spite of the fact that serious undertones run through the film, as they always do in romantic comedies; after losing her husband to cancer, Swank's character spends the rest of the film trying to find herself (for lack of a non-clichéd term). The twist is that her husband is posthumously guiding her with a series of handwritten letters, all of which were so strategically located that only a well-executed plan could see it through. A sweet but nonetheless baffling idea: How could a terminally ill man carry off something this elaborate in such a short period of time? Never mind--I was still moved by the light-hearted sentimentality of the story, so I have to give credit where credit is due. The film opens in wintertime New York City with Holly Kennedy (Swank) storming home, absolutely furious. Right behind her is her Irish husband, Jerry (Gerard Butler), who knows he's said something to offend Holly but doesn't know what. It isn't until they enter their apartment that they really let loose: Holly is offended because Jerry commented on her waiting to have children. Now back in their apartment, everything he says gets misconstrued in some way, and a full-blown fight ensues. It isn't long before they make up, however, and by the time they do, Jerry promises his wife that he isn't going anywhere, despite their financial troubles, despite their current job situations. After nine years, he still loves her. He'll always love her, no matter what. Naturally, the very next scene takes place at his memorial service. The audience is thankfully spared the unnecessary melodrama of his failing health and eventual death; no such scenes are included in this film. The filmmakers wisely chose to focus on what happens afterwards with Holly, who--as you might have guessed--is so grief-stricken that she shuts herself off and lets herself go. It isn't until her thirtieth birthday that things begin to change; as her worried family and friends sit by her side, a birthday cake is delivered with a mini cassette recorder taped to the inside of the box. Holly presses the Play button and hears Jerry's voice explaining that he wrote her a series of letters as he was dying. Holly will receive them all over a period of time, and each one will instruct her to do something bold and adventurous. Basically, his words will push her into living her life without focusing so much on his death. The rest of the film is all about Holly fulfilling her husband's last requests, from singing in a karaoke bar to meeting his parents back in his native Ireland (where--you guessed it--another letter waits). Her friends and family offer as much support as they can, all while engaged in their own minor subplots. Her best friend, Denise (Lisa Kudrow), is desperate to find Mr. Right, so desperate that she openly asks potential dates about their relationship status, their financial status, and their sexual orientation. Holly's mother, Patricia (Kathy Bates), loves her daughter but has trouble accepting Jerry's postmortem plan. She was never fully accepting of him to begin with; he and Holly married at young ages, meaning that a lot could have gone wrong. And Patricia definitely understands the pain of losing a husband (albeit under much different circumstances). The most interesting side character is Daniel (Harry Connick, Jr.), who works for Holly's mother at a local bar. He claims to have a syndrome: his social filter is defective, meaning he'll say anything to anyone at anytime. He openly tells Holly that she's hot, that she's a terrible singer, and that he's getting sick of hearing about Jerry all the time. Part of the truth is obvious--he has feelings for Holly. The rest of the truth is not so clear-cut--he, too, has been deeply wounded by a past relationship. From this alone, the two are emotional matches. That doesn't necessarily mean that they would work as a couple, especially with the inclusion of William (Jeffery Dean Morgan), the man Holly meets on her trip to Ireland. So the question is raised: Will Holly and Daniel find romance in the midst of tragedy? Will Holly allow herself to love again, or even to let her life go in a new direction? As fresh and exciting as I'm making this sound, the reality is that "P.S. I Love You" is a fairly routine story of love, loss, and emotional rebirth. That doesn't make it a bad movie by any means; in all honesty, I found it quite satisfying. Most of this has to do with Hilary Swank, who impressed me with her ability to transcend the heavy-handed, solemn movie roles she's known for. But the rest of the cast does a decent job, as well, doing justice to a well-established cinematic formula. I also appreciated the letter-writing plot point, simply because it was cleverly (if strangely) executed. Some may feel that Jerry's letter writing is a method of control, but do you honestly think that a romantic comedy would go that far? It's not control so much as it's a way to nudge Holly in the right direction--I believe that, were it not for his letters, she would mourn the rest of her life. And is it any coincidence that he ends every letter with the film's title?

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A gem of a movie

by W. Kohorst from Silver Spring, MD USA on 2008-01-13
I had actually been dragging my feet because the movie itself was not an exact copy of the book which was wonderful. However, that said, did it matter???? No, to me, in the end, not one bit. I laughed, sighed and cried throughout the entire movie. It blew me away. I cannot wait to own this gem. there was only one man in our theater. The rest were Gerry Butler fans (yes, I can spot them a mile away) and teenage girls, who did their own share of crying and hugging after the movie. This movie hits home on many different levels. It is not just about the death of a beloved spouse, it is about the uncertainty of life and how to go on living when things do not go as you planned, how to forgive yourself if you didn't get around to doing certain things (having children). It shows us that though marriage never goes as you planned it (or fantasized it would), that it is your life and you are in the middle of it. It's about loving yourself and your spouse during those not so perfect times. In the end, the most important thing is how to find yourself and keep the faith after the worst possible thing has happened. Love, anger, fear, loss, and abandoment- it is all there. Everyone was great. Gerry brought so much energy and soul to his role! He is so damn handsome and sexy!! Oh, and to hear him sing again was an extra added bonus! Hilary was terrific and very believable- she did great playing against type. I really wasn't sure before the movie if I would warm to Harry Connick's character, but his off-beat Daniel was very likable and cute. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was great, too. His roles is small but important. He was very charming and has a very cute arse!!!! I cannot say anything negative. I loved this movie and can't wait to see it again!! wendy k

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