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Wings, the first movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and the only silent film to win, is still remarkably enjoyable to watch. The story is a fairly conventional one--two flyboys, both in love with the same girl, go off to fight World War I, and male bonding and heartbreak ensue. It's a perfectly serviceable plot, except for the key logical flaw that both young men have inexplicably fallen in love with the boring girl down the street and have somehow failed to notice that Clara Bow is the girl next door. Both male leads really flew their airplanes, and the dogfight footage is still spectacular. The main reason to watch Wings, though, is to see the difference between an actor and a movie star. There are many actors in the film, but only two movie stars. Clara Bow is a treat to watch every minute she's on screen, and young Gary Cooper in a tiny role nearly walks away with the movie, mostly by standing there and looking dreamy. It's well worth sitting through a little cheesy organ music for a movie this much fun. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Weak Plot, Awesome Fighting Scenes!
Although silent goddess Clara Bow headlines the cast, I was surprised how limited her role in this movie was. The plot she is tied to is very weak and I don't think the conclusion helps it too much (Clara's character leaving the war and her love interest changing his affections so effortlessly once he returned home). Her sexy image is really toned down as well. One scene has her luring her drunken boyfriend (a very funny drunken boyfriend) from a Paris night club in a skimpy number. The dress didn't fit the character's girl-next-door image at all.

The real storyline is between pals Jack Powell and David Armstrong (played expertly by Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen). Anyone interested in the First World War will find this film a real treat! The training scenes I found particularly interesting. Then there are the many aerial fighting scenes. They are so well done they look like documentary footage. Scenes shot from the pilot's point of view put the viewer right into the action! Scenes like these make the "two guys in love with the same girl" plot seem so insignificant.

You also get two brief but excellent performances by a very young Gary Cooper and an aged Henry B. Walthall from Birth of A Nation fame. Although only 49 in this film, Walthall does an amazing job portraying a crippled old man grieving the departure of his son.

An Oscar First
"Wings" is one of the best silent films ever made. It deservingly became the first movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture (1927-1928). It stars Clara Bow, Charles Rogers, and more, including a cameo appearance by then-unknown Gary Cooper. This film was ahead of its time with its visual effects, cinematograghy, and plot. Few other films at the time successfully made such elaborate scenes realistic looking. They obviously made great use with the technology that they had then. Few films were able to take a chain of events and spread them out to keep the audience's interest for over two hours. This plot is brilliant! It explores two friends who travel to Germany to fight WWI. Little do they know is that they left the same girl behind in the US. The drama and the war theme combine beautifully, keeping the emotion intact. The lucky charms add an added interesting touch. The acting is wonderful. Clara Bow, the 1920's "It"-girl(and the Marilyn Monroe of the 1920's), beautifully and emotionally plays her role as a woman left behind by her "friend" fighting in the war who struggles to get him to realize that she's in love with him. The men who play the soldier friends add their own harsh was realisms into the film. Such performance the movie its added enjoyment. "Wings" is a great movie for those looking for war sequences. Even those not interested in silent movies will enjoy this. Those who watch it will easily figure out why this movie is a classic.

Great Movie-Shame You Can't Own it
Apparently it is out of print in VHS and unavailiable in DVD. Inexcusable. Paramount needs to get with the program. Wings is extremely important as film history and is also a great movie on its own. One of the last great silents. The aerial acrobatics are worth watching just in themselves. The story isn't the stuff of genius. Basic love triangle stuff. The genius is in how the story is told, the perfect acting and the several fascinating scenes throughout the movie. I really can't recommend renting or buying a used vhs copy of Wings highly enough.

A bit above average, I guess.
Well, here is exactly the type of silent film that most people do not watch nowadays; it's neither a comedy like the Charlie Chaplin movies, nor a horror film like Nosferatu. This, instead, is a typical American action/drama flick, with ample quantities of both.

It certainly suffers at times for being a silent film; dialogues have to be displayed on the screen, and this happens quite often because the story here is sometimes quite complex. Not only do the characters talk a lot, but the story also often requires some explaining, and some of the explanations can be quite long.

The action sequences are not as "big" as in they would be in movies today, but they are a lot more impressive in their own way. I was just amazed at how they could have shot some of those sequences; I got the impression that the person who was shooting was probably in quite a lot of danger, because I knew that they could not have used special effects in 1927; what I was seeing was the real thing. It was quite exhilirating to see those old, unsafe, WW1 planes in the air. I do not think that any director today would be crazy enough to duplicate something like this with real planes, so this is probably the only chance anyone has to see these planes in action, and feel like you're right in the thick of a dogfight.

That having been said, the film does stretch out for a bit too long sometimes. It never really gets boring, but it never really gets particularly interesting for most of the movie either. Most of the time, it's just entertaining enough to keep you watching it.

The reason I gave it a "4" is because the ending, when it comes, is quite good (don't let anybody spoil it for you; watch for yourself), and also because of the action sequences. The film is also quite funny in a few spots, notably in any scene with the patriotic Dutch aviator (I wish we had seen more of him), and in the Paris "drunken man" scene.

Overall, not a bad movie, and one that I know others may like more than me; so go ahead and see it (don't forget, though; it's 131 minutes)!

Luminescent Wings
This exceptional film is indeed long overdue for its DVD release. (Paramount Home Video, get on the ball!)

Like Eric Player, I saw this film many years ago, and it too is one of those rare flicks that remains imprinted on one's memory.

I don't know if any of my fellow reviewers have seen this film as it was meant to be seen -- in a pristine restored print, shown on an actual movie screen with live organ accompaniement.

And Not on VHS tape (yuchh)!!!

I live in the Washington DC area, which also happens to have, outside of Hollywood, two centers of film preservation and restoration: the Library of Congress Motion Picture archives, and the American Film Institute.

Some 15 - 20 years ago, I attended a screening through the AFI, as part of its great classics film festival, and was blown away by this presentation.

The quality of the restored print was so startingly crisp that it looked as if it was shot the day before.

No need to expound further upon the performances, nor the plot, save to say that Wings just about has everything that makes a special film great.

Incidentally, the always handsome Charles Buddy Rogers had a special regard for this film, and often in his later years, accompanied Wings when it was shown at festivals and college film classes.

Rogers lived into his early nineties -- the last surviving star of the film -- and died just around 5 years ago! ... Read more

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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 ... Read more

Reviews (484)

The best movie of the 1990s
Forrest Gump guarantees to be one of the greatest movies you ever see.
Forrest is a simple man who lives by his beliefs, and lives by his mother's advice. He talks of his incredible life while sitting at a bus stop in Alabama, of teaching Elvis new dance moves, of bceoming a war hero in Vietnam, and of meeting several Presidents. At the same time, he recollects about his childhood sweetheart Jenny, who is living a horrible life after being abused as a child.
This is a truly inspirational movie, one of humour and light-hearted fun, while looking back at some of America's biggest moments.
Tom Hanks richly deserved Best Actor, as did the film deserve Best Picture, and Forrest Gump is one of the least-challenged Academy Award decisions in recent memory. This film really can say that it will make you laugh and cry, as well as thoroughly enjoying the best movie of its decade.
Forrest Gump is a must have movie, and is one to watch many times!

A Powerful Story Of Love And Adventure
FORREST GUMP is a movie about a backward young boy who grows up to lead a remarkable life while managing to get involved in some of the most important world events of the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon years. The film is a powerful story of love and adventure-especially love.

Tom Hanks is superb as Forrest Gump. The strong supporting cast includes Robin Wright, Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and a very young Haley Joel Osment.

FORREST GUMP won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (Robert Zemeckis), Actor (Tom Hanks), Adopted Screenplay, Art Direction, Film Editing and Visual Effects. It also received nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Gary Sinise), Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Make-up and Original Score.

Robert Zemeckis will be remembered in addition for his direction of BACK TO THE FUTURE and ROMANCING THE STONE.

The best
Tom Hanks at his best. A very intelligent comedy and one of the best reviews of 20th century America in a very light hearted way. Fully deservant of the shower of Oscars it received. Must have!

THE BEST FILM EVER MADE
The first time I saw this film, I was amazed beyond beleife. Tom Hanks is outstanding as Forest Gump, and every sapporting actor was perfect for the role. This movie has so many memorable lines in it, its almost insane. This movie is almost a modern day Rocky, in which it shows what one man could do with his life, and what we should do with our lives. Easily deserved every reward it got.

the best family film ever
a special guy sits on a bench and tells anyone who will listen about his story book adventure style life.it stars tom hanks.he is abselutely hilarious while simaltaneously being simple and blissfully unaware.the kids can watch it but they should really not look when jennys around.shes a whore and a half.it is easily the best tom hanks movie ever made.this movie is for everybody.if you do not like this movie you need help because something is seriously wrong with you.it is a very emotional movie from watchimg gump struggle to walk as a child up to when his loved ones began dying.if you are the sensitive type,do not forget to take your prozac or youll ball your eyes out.the only chick in it is jenny.she toys with forrests emotions throughout the entire movie and puts out at least 9 or 10 times.there are a lot of people who play thier roles well here.most everbody does well.its one of those movies you have to watch on tape because it never stops being good long enough to stop for a snack or a bathroom break.its that good!if a second one were somehow dreamt up it would be only a shadow of its predecesser.it is long,but an abselute gem in any video library. ... Read more

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This first part of the critically acclaimed 1976 television miniseries focuses on the early lives of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, concluding on their wedding day. The story is mostly told in flashback, as the first lady receives word of the death of President Roosevelt and, while making funeral preparations, reflects on her life with him. Distant relatives in the wealthy and sprawling Roosevelt family of New York, young Franklin and Eleanor met several times during their childhood, and much of the action in this installment of the drama utilizes young actors, including Mackenzie Phillips, who plays Eleanor at the age of 14. Playing the main characters as young adults, Edward Herrmann and Jane Alexander are brilliant in portraying the great American love story, as the privileged yet socially awkward Franklin finds himself completely captivated by the brainy and conscientious Eleanor. The miniseries was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by historian Joseph P. Lash, and interspersed with the human drama are vignettes out of American history, such as cameo appearances by Eleanor's uncle Teddy, whose enormous personality suits his job as president of the United States. Eleanor and Franklin won 11 Emmy Awards, and its intelligent screenplay and fine acting have aged very well, making this a thoroughly enjoyable film. --Robert J. McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent look at the real Eleanor Roosevelt
the actresses portraying Eleanor in this film were well picked to play the part, Eleanor is portrayed as a real woman not just a political figure with no feelings- it kept my attention the whole 3 hours 22 min of the entire movie VOL1 & 2 included ... Read more

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William Hurt is perfectly cast as an arrogant surgeon who treats patients like interchangeable cogs in the machinery of his medical practice. Then he is diagnosed with throat cancer and, as the title of the memoir on which it is based tells us, he gets a taste of his own medicine. The subplot involves the solidarity between doctors, which is shattered when the newly conscious physician discovers that one of his partners (Mandy Patinkin) is trying to cover up a case of malpractice. Hurt is solid, as is Wendy Crewson as the doctor who treats him and Elizabeth Perkins as a fellow cancer patient. Interestingly, Hurt's fellow actors Patinkin, Adam Arkin, and Christine Lahti all wound up playing doctors on TV's Chicago Hope. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Moral, moving, and marvellous movie...
Every doctor - and every patient! - should see this movie; the difference is that, not all doctors will understand *why* they should see it..

I use The Doctor when teaching my medical students how to avoid becoming a certain kind of doctor; the kind who is so detached from humanity that they never feel anything of the pain, fear - and the hope - that their patients feel. They have forgotten how to care, and they don't care to remember it.

This is a film about a medical `Everyman`; Jack (played by William Hurt with great integrity and skill)is redeemed as a human being - and as a doctor - by his own experience of serious illness, and by that of his friend - her death frees him from the blinkers of self-absorption. The scene where the two of them dance in the Nevada desert is breathtaking.

Supporting cast are excellent; especially Mandy Patinkin as Jack's unscrupulous surgical partner. Jack's initially dysfunctional family life is a central part of this movie, and the roles of his wife and son are well played.

The last scenes are amongst the best; especially where Jack is explaining to his interns why they are going to spend the next 24 hours not as doctors, but as hospital patients - wearing hospital gowns, undergoing all the appropriate tests, and (horror of horrors) eating hospital food.

The following and final scene is simply beautiful, as Jack stands on the roof of the hospital and dances by himself, revived and renewed.

Anyone involved in medical or healthcare education should have this video - and use it! Others should watch it to understand better what can happen to medical students along the way to becoming doctors.

beautiful film
William Hurt's performance as a cold and arrogant doctor who finds out he has cancer and gets a lesson of life is wonderful(no surprise) as well as the whole cast including Elizabeth Perkins,Christine Lahti,Mandy Patinkin,Adam Arkin(yes, the doctors of chicago hope).Then you think: "but it's a doctor film" but actually this film is for all audiences not only for doctors. The scene where he gets a letter from a patient(Elizabeth Perkins)and he reads it on the roof of the hospital with pigeons flying is so beautiful and I couldn't hold the tears from tumbling down.

THE MOVIE THAT KILLED M.A.S.H.
The Doctor was another of those excellent, well-made 1990-91 releases pre-empted by laser-guided bombs and missiles of the 1990 Gulf War and forced into the video occult. But that's not stopped it from a second chance via DVD where it may get well-deserved recognition and revenues for each actor and crew's excellent contributions.
The cast drove home messages that health care professionals need take a good look at "because one day you'll be sick to" ... So "physician, heal thyself" and thereby prepare to heal others all the way down to your bedside manners. The Word is eventually sent via Jack McKee and partner whose cavalier professionalism ("Get in, cut it out and couldn't care less!") is callously unsuited to genuine warmth patients need communicated to them. And then there's the insurance companies who, like them, run on "stats" and "the bottom line" to coldly determine who lives and dies on the medical production line.
You don't know what it's like until you hear those 3 words "You've got cancer"; they'll floor you -especially if you're a physician who knows the realities of catastrophic illness. So "a taste of my own medicine" (subtitle to book movie is based on) engages McKee when he's told that. I've walked hospital hallways like McKee on the way to radiation therapy and sat with the terminally ill, knowing I'd likely survive (Or would I?) and that others were terminal, and encountered my own death watch. The disingenuous reassurance McKee gave others is sheer hypocrisy and his facetious talk of golf antagonizes "the herd," whom he'd felt beneath his ivory tower profession and HIS herd of incompetents. But now, his relation with a dying patient, whom he actually befriends, turns him inward and he admits his and the profession's shortcomings - then he falls out of love with himself - all too late to save her but soon enough to save himself and his family from the same callousness engulfing all but a few.
It sends a strong message to those who profit from medicine at the deadliest expense to others whom it's supposed to save! My only complaint is that Amazon.com hasn't mailed me my DVD of it yet. How long will it take?

A dose of your own medicine
After getting over the initial shock of seeing half the cast of Chicago Hope (when it was still a good show...and not the pale imitation of itself that it later became: Alan Arkin, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Lahti), this movie evolves into a fine, quiet, character driven drama. There are no great heroics, apart from June (Elizabeth Perkins), and even those are real, not manipulative, cliched, corny or obvious.

This is a movie that works to develop its characters and plot simultaneously and without artifice or obvious (groanable/cringe inducing) plot devices. None of them are in anwyay what you would call 'extreme' or cliched. They are just very normal people placed is a very stressful situation- the doctor being diagnosed with a growth in his throat and the changes in many lives this growth causes. The changes are both good, bad and 'educational' for most of them. The subplot- hospitals, statistics, malpractice cases, protecting each other- is subdued, never moralized or sermonized on but explored in a way whereby you can make your own judgements, based on some realistics situations (imagine a situation where somebody's life was worth less than $1000). The cast compliment each other and really connect. This movie is quite subtle at times and doesn't use in your face methods to make a point.

This is a movie then that is honest, beautifully made, accessible and at times really funny, and at times really raw and saddening. It isn't an episode of ER. So if you're looking for high medical drama look elsewhere. But if you're looking for real multi-layered human drama then look here. Honesty is the key word and theme in the movie (which if you watch it you'll understand what I mean). Honesty to oneself, others and just to the concept in general. And how too, sometimes we find spiritual and psychological 'healing' in the midst of the greatest physical peril.

The DVD contains no special features, only the movie, scene selection and set-up. Though it was made in 1990, it doesn't look too dated (apart from the cell-phones).

I have to admit watching this movie, I looked at the clock on the DVD player and actually hoped it wouldn't end. How many movies can you say that about?

I think the best moment in the story is when the doctor reads the story June gave him. I think there is a lesson in that that is relevant to all of us. Hopefully you'll get the opportunity to see what I mean by watching this movie.

SO in all, a brilliant, engrossing, poignant and real human drama built around believeable characters doing normal things and suffering typical tragedies that are enormous in our own lives. These are people we can understand and relate to, not the superficial and stereotypical larger-than-life, weirder-than-fiction characters designed to play with our minds and strum on our heartstrings. These people do touch your heart and mind for the right reasons...And maybe, if only for a moment, it causes you to question and reassess how you deal with others and the face you present the world, then maybe it has helped heal you a little bit too...If you need it, as most of us do.

One of my favorite films
"The Doctor" is one of my favorite films. I have seen it maybe 10 times (on VHS) and know much of it by heart. There is nothing artificial about this film. It is a human story about real people, well directed and edited, and with sincere, fleshed-out performances from everyone in the cast.

At the opening we see the successful heart surgeon Dr. Jack McKee, quite full of himself, performing another major operation while "Let's Get Drunk and Screw" plays in the background. We see him as he makes his rounds, failing in his attempts to interact on a human level with his patients, substituting crude attempts at humor for genuine compassion. We see him failing at home as well, as his professional life alienates him from his wife and son. All this begins to change when a seemingly minor throat irritation is diagnosed as laryngeal cancer. Then he learns what it is like to be on the other side of the medical profession, and it changes his life.

William Hurt, a fine but perhaps somewhat limited actor, is perfect as Jack McKee, and he is wonderfully supported by Christine Lahti, who plays his wife, and Elizabeth Perkins, who gives an amazing performance as June, a young woman with a grade 4 brain tumor who has a powerful impact on Hurt's character. June and Jack share a scene in the desert at sundown that gives me a lump in the throat every time.

Also worth mentioning are Wendy Tewson, who plays a rather nasty ENT surgeon who gives Jack a dose of his own medicine (so to speak), and Adam Arkin as Dr. Eli Blumfield, "the Rabbi", who has often been the butt of Jack's humor around the hospital, because he talks to his patients while they are anesthetized.

The Doctor is a film that illustrates the importance of treating people as human beings and not as objects or numbers on a chart. Highly recommended! (I've pre-ordered the DVD too.) ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Good movie, but might want to wait for the DVD?
A movie in two-parts, really, and Welles' entrance marks an end to the first and begins the second. I found the first half (surprisingly brutal for the 50's) better than the second. The names are changed but this is clearly Leopold and Loeb with Clarence Darrow (Welles) on defense.

One thing that annoyed me... the end when Welles invokes the name of God... Darrow would never speak those words!

My copy of this isn't the best quality. Tops of heads sometimes disappear off the top of the screen. They needed to do this letterbox. Surprising this isn't available on DVD. You can get Ernest Goes to Camp on DVD but you can't get Compulsion? What the hell is wrong with this world?

Falls apart at the end, but still pretty compelling
Dean Stockwell stars in this icky thriller, based on the infamous Leopold-Loeb murder case which shook Chicago in the 1920s. Most of the film features Stockwell and cohort Bradford Dillman, as two wealthy, sadistic criminal dilletantes bound together in a twisted dominant-submissive homoerotic pact, which leads them to kidnap and murder a young boy in their neighborhood -- all just for kicks. Dillman is compellingly grotesque as the ringleader who pushes Stockwell in violence and psychosis, and then delights in taunting the police behind their backs. This prelude is tense and gut-gripping, horrifying, in fact, but the film loses impact after they are caught and brought to trial. Orson Wells does a fine turn as the liberal lawyer who is brought in to defend them, and delivers a dazzling anti-death penalty speech, but the emotional drama of the ending is strangely muffled... Somehow, Wells's character is brought in a little too late, and there's no real interaction between him and his loathesome clients. The relevant points are made, but they don't resonate as effectively as the nauseating buildup -- Stockwell and Dillman remain unlikeable, yet their sickness and its philospohical rationalizations aren't dug into as deeply as they could have been. The confrontation of the character's gayness (and their need to disguise it before the jurors) is fascinating, though -- even though the movie was made thirty-five years after the killing took place, the filmmakers make no judgement about the homophobia involved. Anyway, as psychological thrillers go, this one's a doozy.

BOYS WIL[d] BE BOYS ..........
Based on the sensational Leopold & Loeb case, this very sinister version of the twisted tale is fortunately not graphic and leaves 'those things' to the imagination ....... Oh, the doings of those rich, spoiled kids!

The Cast? Who can possibly fault Orson Wells [in the Clarence Darrow role] with Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell as the 'spoiled charges' and the rare DIANE VARSI ["Peyton Place"] as the misplaced 'love interest'? [This was Mr. Stockwell's youthful 'glory period' - followed with "Sons and Lovers", "Rapture", etc. Utter joy to see how this artist is still providing stellar [and sometimes very underrated] performances.]

Killing just for the 'thrill of it'? Who knows, there are numerous theories about this 'liason'. Interesting though to theorize if the boys were 'working-class' instead of 'wealth'.

1991's "Swoon" is another look at this crime [little more graphic and frank about the relationship between the two] - an interesting counterpoint. AND another jagged view? Hitchcock's "Rope" [a fitting twist on this tale].

{NOW, there's also the 'mother's point of view' - "What's the Matter with Helen?" the campy litle gem with Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters .....}

BLUEPRINT
A well done film about the true crime that shocked the US at the time it was committed, the murder committed by Leopold and Loeb. Two brilliant young men thought they were invincible and could get away with murder, but despite their brilliance, they became arrogant and careless. They declared their atheism and this was a factor in the film. Although they hired the famous Clarence Darrow in their defence, even he could not convince a jury to find reasonable doubt. Dean Stockwell is excellent in this early role, and SO young. And Orson Welles stars as the attorney who tries to defend the boys. The film tells the story of the crime and of the societal place of Leopold and Loeb and their families and does not really explore the nature of the relationship between Leopold and Loeb, which in more recent films (indie film Swoon) was explored in depth. The film is semi-fictionalised with different character's names, but the story of Leopold and Loeb is the blueprint.

Somewhat dated; some of the best acting in movie history
The defense attorney Clarence Darrow (played with astonishing skill by the brilliant Orson Welles, who is today considered one of this country's finest actors ever) delivers in the last half of this movie one of the finest soliloquies Hollywood has ever offered us, equal to and probably surpassing England's Laurence Olivier in his critically praised "Hamlet" interpretation. The soliloquy by Welles is in itself worth the price of this video.

The hapless prosecuting attorney is played by E.G. Marshall, who recently died but who left us with a legacy of excellence in every picture in which he appeared (especially perhaps in "Twelve Angry Men"). A wonderfully underplayed but very sensitive performance by a master of his craft in films, stage, and television.

Brad Dillman and Dean Stockwell are right on in their portrayals of the villains who are apparently responsible for the compulsive and senseless murder of a young man. The entire cast creates some of the most realistic portrayals of good and evil that Hollywood has ever given us. Everyone in the cast seems to give it their all.

The movie is clearly, however, a product of the neo-Victorian times in which it was produced, sparing the audience the grim realism movies are currently permitted to film today. It could be more powerful if it were re-filmed today, perhaps, but could the cast of a re-make come close to matching the performances in this film?

It is worth owning this movie for its cast and direction and overall excellence...and it could be argued that the lack of the extreme violence which actually characterized the murder doesn't need to be as graphic on-screen as it probably would be if re-made today. By and large we are intelligent people and can jolly well fill in the details for ourselves.

A real treat! ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Infamous Film A Proud Time Traveler
Considered to be Presley's weakest movie to date, KC looks fairly hip today. Maybe after "The Dukes of Hazzard" and MTV and on and on, this little piece o' fluff does holds your interest after the first 29 songs! Actually, the music is quite good, especially the hit title tune, featuring a swaggerin' El, and "Tender Feeling", a beautiful ballad sung by his movie "twin" to Cynthia Pepper (who skillfully plays the Military Secrerary hastily summoned to lend credence to Lt. Presley's creative attempts to convince distant relatives that their Smokey mountain home would be vastly improved by the addition of a missile site). Yeah, there are too many songs and production values are low. But E.P. afficionados - it's another don't-believe-the-critics!

Certainly not Elvis' Best film
I bought this movie so I can work on my Elvis collection and I watched it for the first time in a very long time and I forgot how cheesy it is. I'm completely aware of the time that the movie was shot but come on. If MGM could make a pink bubble turn into the Good Witch of the North in the 1930's, then they could find a way to put two Elvis's in the same scene in the 1960's. When the dark haired one was in a shot, the other wasn't there or he was turned around so you couldn't see his face. It also wasn't hard to tell that when the two of them were in the same shot, one was a total "look-alike". I gave it 3 stars because the movie wasn't his best but it's Elvis. In my book, no one can sing or move the way he could. I don't think someone could look as beautiful as he did on screen either. I'm a HUGE Elvis fan, but this movie is just cheap compared to a couple of his others.

Awesome
This movie was awesome. Elvis is hot W/ blode hair. Also, it is an excellent example of the split-screen technology of the day.

Am I seeing double?
How much mun fun do you want, got Elvis Presley staring in a movie, you see him in love, and sining too. But how about another Elvis Presley. Believe it or not, Elvis Presley is playing to characters in this movie. I am giving this movie 4 stars because, there was one minor problem I had with this movie. There is a scene in movie when Josh Morgan (Elvis Presley) is willing to help Ma Tatum when Pa Tatum is missing, and he does that after sh treats him. Earlier in this movie, when Soble promises the girls gifts on from the army, and they become to lazy to do they chores, Ma Tatum orders Josh and all the rest of the army of the mountain. If she treated me like that, and she needed help I would not help her and I would her "because of the way you treated me and my army, you can do it yourself" relative or not. I have also remembered that there is one song in this movie that is not sung by Elvis and that is "Pappy won't you please come home".

Elvis doing double duty!
"Kissin Cousins" is another film that is considered, by popular opinion to be a cheeseball. You have to try this film first and see what you think. If you like it and recommend it write a review here. I'd like to add that Elvis movie fans better listen up! If you like any of his films, POST A REVIEW FOR PETE'S SAKE! I see only 5+ reviews for his movies. Disappointing! In fact I see it on all products that's Elvis except the 30 #1 Hits CD which has 205+. MUCH BETTER! Finally we wised up on that one. Getting back to "Kissin' Cousins", Elvis does double duty and plays an air force pilot named Josh Morgan (my name, except for the Morgan part) and his hilbilly blonde look-alike Jodie Tatum. I'm still wondering how this film was done with two Elvis on the screen at once in some scenes. I agree with the person who said that Yvonne Craig should have been in more of Elvis' pictures. She's a hot potato. Again, give this one a try and rely on what your thoughts tell you. Elvis is still the King no matter what type of picture he's in. This one is pretty good, overall. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Maybe it doesn't quite live up to its sterling reputation, and maybe the leading man and director were slightly miscast. But who cares? Roman Holiday is the film that brought Audrey Hepburn to prominence, and the world movie audience went weak at the knees. The endlessly charming Hepburn had her first starring role in this sweet romance, playing a European princess on an official tour through Rome. Frustrated by her lack of connection to the real world, she slips away from her protective handlers and goes on a spree, aided by a tough-guy news reporter (Gregory Peck). Director William Wyler, more at home with such heavy-going, Oscar-winning classics as The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben- Hur, doesn't always keep the champagne bubbles afloat, and the Peck role would have fit Cary Grant like a silk glove. But the film is great fun, the location shooting is irresistible, and Hepburn embodies an image of chic style that would rule for the rest of the fifties. No coincidence: she won an Oscar, and so did veteran costume designer Edith Head. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (104)

Classic Audrey Hepburn... with an Interesting "Backstory"
This is by far one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies. In "Roman Holiday," Audrey plays a reluctant princess who escapes from her repressive royal life to have a one-day adventure in Rome... with Gregory Peck. This is a classic 1950s fairy tale romantic comedy.

It's hard to believe that "Roman Holiday" was Audrey's first major film, because she's fabulous in it! She has a certain grace and charm that is unequaled. The Academy clearly agreed... Audrey won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Princess Ann.

What most people don't know is that the script was an original creation by the famous screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo had already been blacklisted for refusing to answer HUAC's questions regarding his possible Communist affiliations. Trumbo was sentenced to a year in prison, and he spent his last few months of freedom working diligently on the "Roman Holiday" script. He was able to sell the script (for much lower than his usual price) by putting a friend's name on it. The money he earned from "Roman Holiday" took care of his family's needs while he was in jail.

"Roman Holiday" is a fun, family-friendly romantic comedy. I highly recommend it!

Simply wonderful
What a wonderful movie! What a great romantic fantasy!
It is one of my all-time favorites, one of the films I could watch several times, without getting bored.

I don't think that the plot is important here, but the way the actors performed and the place where the story is set.
In Rome, a European princess manages to escape the rigid and boring life and have and unforgettable experience, living for one day as a normal person. She does all the things that she was not allowed to do before, such as cutting her hair, eating ice-cream, strolling down the streets and why not, falling in love with an ordinary man.

This is the role that brought Audrey Hepburn an Oscar and made her a well-known star.
It is the natural and ingenuous performance that makes her such a charming and unforgettable character, a graceful presence on the screen.

Her companion is Gregory Peck who has also a great performance and makes the film even more delightful. He plays the part of a young and charming journalist, looking for news that might increase sales of his newspaper and bring some money in his pocket.

The DVD includes also a section with a kind of "making of": interviews of the people who participated at the shooting, memories, etc. This is even more interesting, as you will have the chance to listen to the people who were involved in this project, and the stories behind the scene. You will also see that time did not alter too many of Audrey Hepburn's features and even at an older age she still looks refined and elegant.

I have one complain about this movie: 118 minutes seemed to be not enough for such a romantic story. I believe that everyone of us would like to dream about what is like to be lost in the "eternal city" for one day and enjoy the simple things of life.

Light, feel-good romance in Rome
Since my family is going to Italy this summer, my father had us watch Roman holiday because of the setting and all of the landmarks shown in the movie. It was my first Audrey Hepburn film, and it definately will not be my last. In this ligh hearted tale, a princess of a European country becomes fed up with her duties and sneaks out to enjoy a day in Rome, where she soon meets, and falls in love with, an american reporter. This movie is incredibly charming and very romantic, with one of the saddest endings that doesn't seem all that sad. I would recommend it to everyone, regardless of age or movie preference.

It's always open season on princesses
ROMAN HOLIDAY should appeal to everyone who loves a good romance, and this one is a great one. The rest us of will be well content with the splendor of Rome and the chance to see the remarkable Audrey Hepburn in her debut movie. In other words, ROMAN HOLIDAY has something for every palate.
The plot? Princess Ann (we're never quite sure which country she's princess of) is enduring a grueling tour of European nations. Weary to death of the royal treatment, one night Ann escapes into the Roman night. Unfortunately for her she had a while earlier been given an injection to help her sleep. The drug takes effect while she's out and about, and reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) discovers her asleep on a street bench. Believing she's inebriated, and being a gentleman, he tries to deliver her safely to her home. That plan fails and, being a gentleman, Bradley arranges for the young stranger (he doesn't learn she's the missing princess until the next scene) to sleep on the sofa in his small, one-room apartment.
Cary Grant was originally offered the part of Joe Bradley and he turned it down. One of the dvd's specials tells us he refused the role because he didn't want to play second fiddle to an ingenue. Maybe so. It's tempting to decide, on the basis of this scene, that Peck was woefully miscast. Ann, nearly asleep on her feet, asks Bradley "Will you help me undress?" A natural enough request coming from royalty, I guess. Bradley fumbles around with her neck scarf, unties it, hands it to her and says "You can handle the rest."
Peck plays the scene for a smile. Grant would have made it one of the highlights of the movie. After savoring the opportunity for the audience's delight he would have removed the tie and given the camera a quick peek, as if to say "Listen here, I know this is a cliched, silly situation. But doesn't this look like fun. Don't we make a handsome couple?" Grant was a supple pagan god who drank more than once from the well of hedonism, and he was always careful to bring the audience along for the good times. Peck was an Old Testament prophet, a little too stern and stiff to give himself over to pleasure.
What Peck brings to the role is authority and a handsome arm for Hepburn to rest on. Grant would have distracted us, and ROMAN HOLIDAY is best when our attention is focused squarely on Audrey Hepburn. She delivers a tour de force performance, and you can understand the excitement she generated even after a half century.
The specials include the documentary "Remembering ROMAN HOLIDAY", which surprised me with all the people who were involved and dropped out of the production of the movie. "Edith Head: The Paramount Years" is a short biography of the famous and talented fashion designer. "Restoring ROMAN HOLIDAY" shows us a number of before and after shots - this is a VERY clean print. There is also a trio of theatrical trailers and a stills photo gallery.

Perhaps the most romantic movie ever made
This was Audrey Hepburn's debut in a starring role. She was 24-years-old and had appeared in two or three other movies but just in bit parts. Here she plays a reigning European princess visiting Rome who would like an escape from her daily regime of official duties, thus the title and theme of the movie, a Roman holiday.

Gregory Peck plays an American newspaper reporter living in the Eternal City. We first see him playing poker with his cronies, and losing. His relative "poverty" and Princess Ann's fabulous wealth and station present a formidable barrier to their ever finding true love and marital happiness. Part of the fun of the script is in seeing how this will play out and how their differences are resolved in the end. I will give you a small hint: very carefully!

The script comes from a story by Dalton Trumbo who is perhaps best known as the author of the anti-war novel, Johnny Got His Gun. Trumbo was one of the "Hollywood Ten" who were blacklisted from working in the industry during the excesses of the McCarthy era. He went to Mexico and continued working on film scripts but under assumed names or had his scripts presented by "fronts." In this case Ian McLellan Hunter fronted for Trumbo and won an Academy Award for the story. Later the Academy awarded Trumbo a posthumous Oscar for his work.

Long time Hollywood studio director William Wyler directed the film entirely on location in Rome. He has a formidable list of credits going well back into the silent film era including such outstanding films as Wuthering Heights (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), etc. His clear directorial style and his attention to detail work well here. The sets in Rome are charming, especially Peck's bachelor apartment. The bit players, especially Peck's landlord are excellent and the events are dreamy in just the way a romantic meeting in Rome ought to be. Wyler is especially effective in presenting Audrey Hepburn in the most flattering light and getting the audience to identify with her.

Gregory Peck's character should be a bit of an adventurous rake who finds that love is more important than money or fame, but it is impossible for Peck to play a morally compromised character, and so even as he appears to be using Princess Ann for his own ends, his behavior is always correct. I was somewhat amused to notice that at all times Peck appears wearing a tie! Eddie Albert plays Peck's friend, a photographer/artist. It is interesting to note how Hollywood's perception of the paparazzi has changed over the years. Here blood-sucking, intrusive greed does not exist. Instead we have noble self-sacrifice!

I have seen most of Miss Hepburn's movies and I can say that she was never more enchanting than she is here. She is gorgeous and cute at the same time, charming and impish, sweet, regal and very winning. In a sense she started at the top with this film, garnering her only Oscar as Best Actress in 1953; but as her fans know she never came down off that pedestal. Even playing poor Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964), there was never any doubt about the quality of her style and character.

This is the most romantic film I have ever seen, perhaps partly because Miss Hepburn is so wonderful, but also because the script in a sense turns the usual woman's romantic fantasy upside down. Instead of the woman finding that the man she is in love with has fabulous wealth and position, it is the other way around!

The ending manages to be realistic yet romantic. There is a hint of something almost spiritual beyond what happens. So convincing are Hepburn and Peck that one can almost believe the story is true; and indeed I am sure that Trumbo lifted the essentials of the plot from some ancient tale.

I have a weakness for movies about unrequited love, or love that goes on forever, or love that is caught at some perfect moment and lives eternally in that moment. Roman Holiday is one of those near perfect movies that plays beautifully upon one of these themes. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Sweet childhood film
Quite simply, this is one of the best childhood films I have ever seen. It has so much continuity, integrity and lyricism in presenting its subject, a little boy, that the film becomes a sweet parable on maturity, idealism, love, affection and god knows what else. This is one of the most thoroughly satisfying movie experiences I have had, and the director, Steven (sex, lies and videotape) Soderbergh, knows the subject inside out (in fact, he adapted the movie for the screen). The hero is the viewer's vicarious link to the events of the 1930's, when this movie takes place, and his performance is one of the most unaffected child performances you are likely to enjoy. Look at the photography, listen to the music, enjoy this movie, because this is one of the few pictures that I've seen that evokes the period of its subject so completely, that immerses the viewer in its young hero's trivial ( or life- threatening) dilemmas with such deftness . This is a movie to be praised for its depth of discernment of that tumultuous time period when "half Missouri would work for fifty cents" END

An excellent film!
This is one on the finest films I have ever seen. And I am sure that many people can relate to the movie. Jesse Bradford does an excellent performance, and it's a shame that this film has not been given greater recognition.

A Surprising Gem
One of the more overlooked Steven Soderbergh movies, but perhaps one of the best, this little film wisely portrays an appealing and poignant coming-of-age story in a late-twenties America. Although the plot brings nothing new, this movie is still very well-crafted, suceeding in every element. The acting is uniformely great, the score is compelling, the directing is captivating and the colour texture of the scenes is memmorable. Soderbergh manages to tell a bitersweet tale, both funny and sad, remaining believable and true-to-life from beginning to end. The last scene in particular is an excellent mix between hapiness and melancholy, providing and adequate ambiguous resolution. Jesse Bradford is excellent as the confused smart kid in trouble, offering an honest and very convincing performance. Frankly, I think this movie is much better than some overrated films ..., the more well-known titles that turned Soderbergh into a big name director.

A solid cinematic experience.

a dvd that totally should be released!!!
I remember seeing this movie on STARZ when I was younger. I loved it so much. The way the characters were portrayed made me want to see it over again and again. After seeing the movie I found out my grandma had the book. It is also really good. I have been searching for this movie on dvd for a long time. I finally decided to search a query again on here and see that it is pending to be released.

The movie is both comical and dramatic. Aaron has to fend for himself while his mother is in an institution, his brother at camp, and his father is selling useless stuff during The Depression.

Aaron strives so hard to do the best he can and well I can't spoil the movie for everyone....SO RELEASE THE MOVIE ON DVD!!!

UNAPPRECIATED MASTERPIECE
A movie you won't forget (worth 6 stars!), about a little boy growing up in St. Louis during the Depression (only the movie is for adults). Experience the overwhelming poverty on a daily basis as Aaron struggles to stay alive. Quite an exciting runaway car scene. A youthful Adrien Brody plays a part, and the original novel is excellent reading. Probably Jesse's finest movie. Wish he would do more like this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a seamless continuation of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power with the creature Gollum as their guide. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) join in the defense of the people of Rohan, who are the first target in the eradication of the race of Men by the renegade wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the dark lord Sauron. Fantastic creatures, astounding visual effects, and a climactic battle at the fortress of Helm's Deep make The Two Towers a worthy successor to The Fellowship of the Ring, grander in scale but retaining the story's emotional intimacy. These two films are perhaps the greatest fantasy films ever made, but they're merely a prelude to the cataclysmic events of The Return of the King. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (1869)

Stupendous!
"They don't make movies like that any more." This is reference to Cecil B. DeMille's spectacular remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. I mention one of the few universally acclaimed film epics of all time because with THE LORD of THE RINGS-THE TWO TOWERS,
Director Peter Jackson has staked unchallengable claim to motion picture immortality. Visually the movie is staggering in technological excellence. It seamlessly combinines sweeping photographic grandeur with superlative integration of CGI and modelwork(Claymation & Superdynamation)that humbles even the work
of IL&M, and would have made Ray HarryHausen proud.

Thematically, the story is truly grand and has raised film making--again--to the level of Mythological. Those familiar with Tolkien's literary epic--with rare exception--have been astounded by this director's monumental artistry in cinematically incarnating one of the greatest "stories" ever written.The cast(humans;creatures; monsters;)is brilliantly essayed.(Sean Astin deserves particular recognition as Frodo's "guardian" friend, SAMWISE). The complex plotting is clearly delineated;and ACTION(quest development;battles; epic romance interludes)ranges from apocalyptic to majestic. THE LORD of THE RINGS-THE TWO TOWERS magnificently continues what was begun in THE FELLOWSHIP of THE RING. Peter Jackson has created a unique work of film making that is both artistically wonderous and breath taking entertainment.It is a stupendous achievement.(10 Stars)

Incredibly, once again, Peter Jackson does the impossible
From gliding through the Misty Mountains and reliving Gandalf's battle with the Balrog to the Battle of Helm's Deep, the climactic scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I think that, even though Frodo Baggin's (Elijah Wood) quest is still unfulfilled, a group of hard-working New Zealanders have once again created an epic adventure confection of a movie, full of fantasy, courage, imagination and flair. J.R.R. Tolkien would not have been disappointed.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, since is a continuing of a story, doesn't stop to introduce us to the quest or the characters from the first part, The Fellowship of the Ring. Beginning right where the first left off, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) must continue their quest to Mount Doom and destroy the evil One Ring. Hunting them done is the rascal Gollum (Andy Serkis) but promises to lead them in to Mordor secretely. In Fangorn Forest, captured hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) escape from the Orcs and are rescued by Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), an ancient ent.

Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) enter the country of Rohan. After the miraculous return of Gandalf (Ian McKellan), the four see King Theoden (Bernard Hill). But the king isn't doing too well. He's doing practically everything his servant Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) is telling him. Wormtongue is in league with Saruman (Christopher Lee) and therefore is kicked out of Rohan. Aragorn, Gandalf and Theoden must discuss Rohan's plans to counter Saruman and Sauron.

Saruman is preparing for war, as we've also seen in The Fellowship of the Ring. He has been crossing orcs with goblins, breeding the dreadful Uruk-Hai to launch against Men of Gondor and Rohan. Gondor has it's own problems holding off Sauron's evil army. It all comes down to Saruman against the country of Rohan: A war of 10,000 Uruk-Hai against hundreds of Rohan people. Can Men claim a victory against Barad-dur and Orthanc, the union of the Two Towers?

The Two Towers, for me at least, had a quicker pace and sharper sense of movement than the more-episodic Fellowship of the Ring. Peter Jackson easily presents a film that will keep your attention for the full three hours. In many ways, The Two Towers is a much livlier film than it's predecessor. It takes a deeper look into it's character's own problems, dreams and future, covering many subjects: The war for Rohan, the war for Gondor, the war for the ents, and possibly the most important, the fate of the One Ring.

If The Fellowship of the Ring was a beautiful-looking movie, The Two Towers easily surpasses it visually. With the use of a program called MASSIVE, Peter Jackson and company takes flawless computer animation and simplistically adds it to real-life to create a stunning world. The Battle of Helm's Deep is one of the most memorable scenes of all time, while it uses a fantastic blend of live-action and computer animation. I say it's already got the Best Visual Effects Oscar in the bag. Not just because of the CGI, but with the camera trickery to make the hobbits small and the great backdrops.

I am appalled by the number of reviewers saying that this isn't faithful to Tolkien's book. Everyone should know that books and film are two different media, and should be treated as such. Many things in Tolkien's story would've gone horribly wrong on screen. As Peter Jackson said, if you were to film LOTR page by page, faithful to everything, what you would get is a mess. Many don't realize that what works in a book will NOT work on film. Be happy that you actually have a LOTR movie. Many filmmakers would not have been up to transferring Tolkien's story to the big screen. Jackson did make a few unnessesary changes, but he's a brave filmmaker to actually take on LOTR and still make something this good. Quit whining.

It might need a bit more humanity, but I'd say the chemistry between characters is much more alive and vivid in The Two Towers than with The Fellowship of the Ring. The relationship shared by Gollum and Frodo, or more importantly, Gollum and Sam, works wonderfully. Aragorn trying to convince King Theoden to go to war and the characterization involving Gimli was exceptionally. The Return of the King will see a lot more of this.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers continues Tolkien's trilogy with very few missteps. It is on every count as good as the first, and in many ways, even better. It could possibly be the most sinister film ever, a banquet of monsters and beasts. It's doing so much better at the box-office than the first, and it easily surpasses it in spectacle. It's still unclear how it will do at the Oscars. Being a sequel, it might not get nominated for Best Picture. However, I'd say it has already sweeped the technical awards. It certainly deserves it.

This is the best of the three!!
Usually, the second movie in a trilogy is the weakest. It doesn't have the freshness of the first movie or the finality of the final movie. The Two Towers, however, is the exception to the rule. For lack of a better phrase, it rocks!!! The extra material included in this extended version DVD really fleshes out the movie. After you watch it you'll wonder why Peter Jackson left it out; it makes the movie complete. The fight scenes at Helm's Deep are great, and you forget that a lot of what you're seeing is computer generated. Several new characters are introduced, but you feel like you've known them all along. The best part of the movie is the addition of a Boromir/Faramir scene. Of course, I could be biased. I love Boromir (Sean Bean). This movie is a cinematic masterpiece. It's great!!!

Excellent
Not just pasting in deleted scenes, this version was assenmbled from scratch with additional material that add to the depth of this movie. THIS is the version to buy for watching at home.

You haven't seen LOTR until you've seen this!
OMG! I love this movie so much, I never put it back in the case...it's always in the dvd player. If you at all liked the original theatrical version, you HAVE to get the extended version. The addded footage completes the story and fills in character developement. And you HAVE to listen to the cast commentary. Dom and Billy are hilarious. And the bonus disks are well worth the money. Forget that...added Viggo footage makes it WELL worth it. Plus, the box is beautiful. ... Read more

Reviews (95)

classic Harryhausen epic; finally on DVD
I remember watching this film in awe and rapture the first time when I was at school, studying Greek mythology. This classic good-defeating-evil story is always a dizzying adventure from start to finish.

CLASH OF THE TITANS tells the story of young Perseus (Harry Hamlin - TV's "L.A. Law"), the illegitimate son of the god Zeus (Laurence Olivier). Perseus discovers his ultimate destiny when he is mysteriously transported to the city of Joppa. There, he learns of the fair Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker), who is doomed to live her life challenging suitors with impossible riddles, given to her by the deformed Calibos.

Perseus solves her riddle, and is about to marry her, when the angered patron goddess of Joppa, Thetis (Maggie Smith), denounces the union and orders that Andromeda be chained to the foot of the sacrificial stone in a month's time, to be fed to the last of the Titans, the Kraken.

Perseus must find a way to defeat the Kraken, and sets off on a perilous quest to discover the answer...

Gorgeous romantic-adventure. Laurence Rosenthal's score perfectly captures the mood of the movie. Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects look quite obvious in this new digital age, but serve their purpose wonderfully.

Also starring Burgess Meredith, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress, Sian Phillips and Flora Robson.

The DVD includes the featurette "A Conversation with Ray Harryhausen", "Map of Myths and Monsters" feature and the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

Greek Epic Myth On DVD: Fantasy Of High Calibre
1981: Ray Harryhousen made the special effects, monsters and clay "creations" for this Greek epic myth about the heroic deeds of Perseus. Harryhousen had previously made the magic possible for such films as "Jason and the argonauts", another film revolving a Greek myth, and the sci-fi classic "Earth vs. the flying saucers." Harry Hamlin, tv actor from the 80's series L.A. Law (and a hot hunk I had a crush on as a girl), makes an impressive performance as the confident, toga-wearing, muscle-bound, swordsman Perseus, who defeats monsters, including the three headed dog from Hell and the sea monster Kraken.

British actress Dame Maggie Smith (from Sister Act films and Hook) and the esteemed British actor Laurence Olivier play the roles of the goddess Thetis and Zeus, who are involved in a bitter feud. Zeus protects Perseus, as he is his son by a mortal woman, but Thetis is upset that Zeus shows no mercy to the deformed Calabos, her son, who was once a handsome prince. Calabos has the princess Andromeda (Claire Bloom) under a dark spell. She will be married to the man who solves the nightly riddles she is given. Perseus solves the riddle and becomes engaged to Andromeda. But when the queen Cassiopeia elevates her daughter's beauty above that of their patron goddess Thetis, Thetis becomes so enraged she puts Andromeda in a tight spot. She will be the sacrificial victim for the hunger of the sea monster, the Kraken. Perseus journeys to the Underworld, defeates the snake-haired Medusa and with his friends, the old wise man, the winged white horse Pegasus and a robotic owl (who chirps and buzzes almost like R2D2 in Star Wars). He frees Andromeda, who as the classical myth dictates, was chaind to a rock by the sea, and the ending is a very happy one.

Thanks to the fine acting by Harry Hamlin, whose heroism comes through as shining as Perseus (not to mention his good looks), Andromeda (Claire Bloom), Maggie Smith as the vindictive goddess and Zeus (Laurence Olivier) as an eloquent, authoritarian king of the gods. The London Symphony Orchestra fills the soundtrack with lofty themes, romantic melody and dramatic highlights. One of these highlights is the moment when Perseus tames Pegasus. This film was a classic in the 80's and is still great to watch, especially with the magic of DVD. A must have for fantasy fans, a great addition to fantasy films. Look for "Jason and the Argonauts" with Harryhausen effects, equally a match to this film, although dating from an earlier time, the 60's.

not for the new school kids
its hard to say what a child born in the last ten years will think of this film. they'll probably laugh. and realistically unless you're a film student studying stop motion techniques im not sure any adult would enjoy it either. its target audience is children of the seventies who originally saw this film in the theaters as a youth. i am within this group and i love this film. for most 80's kids Clash of the Titans was the first film to convince us that greek mythology was as cool as Indiana Jones. granted, the film took some liberties with the history and added some characters that didnt exist but it was all done with good purpose. even in the 80's the film was really aimed at kids and only Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation drew in the adults. the story was weak and the acting was passable but visually it was breathtaking even by today's standards.

EXCELLENT
This is my all time favorie Harryhausen film. The story and acting are good and the effects are amazing even today! I love the characters here and the creatures from the mythology we all love. This is a great addition to anyone who loves a good escape or a great fantasy adventure! The Dvd presented is pretty good as the digital transfer is good, not perfect but good and the film is in widescreen uncut and in its original form. An A in my book!

Simply an excellent viewing experience
"Clash of the Titans" is a movie which I'll never get tired of, no matter how many times I've seen it. It just has it all: a great story, adventure, romance, excitement, mythology, and countless other qualities which make it such an enjoyable film to watch over and over again.

One thing that especially stands out about "Clash of the Titans" is the special effects. I don't care what anyone says, no multi-million dollar CGI special effect can ever be as cool as the stop-motion special effects used in this movie. Some might say that it's dated. Well perhaps it is, but they did such a great job in creating the monsters (especially Medusa) that one can only marvel at them. And the fact that this movie is over 20 years old makes it even more impressive.

The DVD presentation isn't superb but it's definitely more than substantial. Image and sound quality have been improved quite a lot from the old video format. Bonus features are good but one can't help feeling that more could have been included, perhaps some deleted scenes. Still, this excellent movie finally being available on DVD is reason enough to be thrilled. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

the visionary of Lourdes
Based on Franz Werfel's 1942 best-seller, this is an exquisite telling of the life of Bernadette Soubirous, who in 1858 at the age of 14 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in a grotto near the small village of Lourdes, where she lived with her family in abject poverty. Bernadette received much opposition from the atheistic town authorities, as well as initially from the clergy, but kept her faith in "The Lady", and it gave her a wisdom when questioned by the unbelievers that went beyond her natural understanding.

Jennifer Jones is superb as the simple Bernadette, and she tells the story with her eyes; there are many scenes where the camera focuses on her face, and one can tell what is happening by her expressive gaze. Director Henry King screen tested many actresses by placing a stick behind the camera, and telling them to look at it, and imagine the Virgin Mary...King said that Jennifer was the only one who "saw", while the others merely "looked".
The supporting cast is wonderful, with many standout performances; I especially like Charles Bickford as the Dean of Lourdes, Lee J. Cobb as Dr. Dozous, Anne Revere as Bernadette's mother Louise, and as a lifelong adversary, a prideful nun who is jealous of Bernadette's visions, the terrific Gladys Cooper.

The film was a huge box-office success, as well as receiving critical acclaim, and was the most nominated film at the 1943 Oscars, with 12 nominations and 4 wins. It won for Best Actress, Best B&W Cinematography (Arthur Miller), Best Score (Alfred Newman), and Best Interior Decoration. The nominations were for Director, Editing, Picture, Screenplay, Sound, Supporting Actor (Bickford), Supporting Actress (both Cooper and Revere).
At 2 hours and 36 minutes, this is a film that is totally engrossing, and the time spent with it is very rewarding.

Cannonized in 1933, Bernadette's legacy continues to flourish; over 200 million people have visited the shrine, and though I have never been there, one of my few treasures is a "souvenir" cross that contains water from the spring at Lourdes (which continues to produce over 25,000 gallons a week), and proving that those in the film portrayed as wanting to commercialize the water from the site have succeeded beyond their expectations.
"For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible".

Beautifully Poignant True Story Of St. Bernadette Of Lourdes
Called "The Sleeping Saint of Nevers", simple peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous gained the world's attention when on an excursion to collect firewood near her home in 1858 she claimed to see a vision of the Holy Mother in a sheltered Grotto. The world wide controversy and the birth of Lourdes as a sacred sight for pilgrims seeking salvation made her story a wonderful basis for a possible film about this puzzling occurence. While Bernadette received alot of ridicule during her lifetime, being labelled a liar and a madwoman by many, this beautiful movie from Twentieth Century Fox presents her story in a touching, non sentimental and objective manner.It not only treated her experience with reverence but produced a fine balanced and beautifully acted classic that is still one of the best religious films ever produced by Hollywood. Jennifer Jones as Bernadette is remarkable and her total grasp of the character, full of wide eyed innocence but inner strength in her beliefs is an astoundingly mature piece of acting for a girl so young at the time of filming.

Based on the novel by Franz Werfel, Fox adapted it into a beautiful screenplay dealing with Bernadette's vision of "a beautiful lady", near her home and the everlasting consequences of that for both herself and the world. The film starts off by filling us in with some of the background of this quite ordinary french peasant girl, who struggled to learn her catecism at school and was a good but not extraordinary daughter to struggling parents Francois and Louise Soubirous (Roman Bohnen and Anne Revere). The families lives are changed forever after Bernadette arrives home one afternoon strangely different claiming that she saw a vision of the Holy Mother in a nearby grotto. Asked to return by the lady on successive days Bernadette begins to arouse the curiosity of the local villagers and before too many days are passed a huge crowd begins to follow her to the grotto to pray. News spreads throughout France and soon the little town is overrun by pilgrims seeking salvation from the Holy Mother. Of course not everyone is impressed or influenced by this vision as greed begins to raise its ugly head among the villagers who see a way of making money bottling and selling the water that has sprung from the grotto. Skepticism also increases in particular from local doctor Dr. Dozous (Lee J. Cobb) and senior members of the Catholic Church who question Bernadette's sanity and begin to investigate her. Bernadette however is simple in her beliefs and cannot be swayed by the questioning she receives in particular from the Dean of Lourdes (Charles Bickford), and especially the aggressive Imperial Prosecutor Vital Dutour (Vincent Price). So strong is Bernadette's simple set of beliefs that she eventually wins over these two opponents who at least acknowledge that something did happen at the grotto. Bernadette's uncomplicated power over people again occurs once she takes the veil and arouses the emnity of Sister Marie Vauzous (Gladys Cooper) a nun who opposes Bernadette but is transformed into her biggest support just before Bernadette's tragically early death.

It is the power of the writing and especially the lead performances which help make "The Song of Bernadette", such a magical viewing experience. The film ended up winning a richly deserved 4 Academy Awards including those for best musical score and cinematography. Jennifer Jones in her balanced and non showy interpretation of the French peasant girl rightly won the Best Actress Oscar for 1943 but the other characters are really just a memorable in their disbelief and then in their gradual realisation that a true miracle has occured. The unique thing about this film is that it is able to be appreciated by non religious viewers just as much as Catholics as it is more a story of simple faith in your beliefs and in honesty with one's self than about any one particular religious way of thinking. The film abounds with great performances especially Vincent Price and Gladys Cooper who both deliver excellent work as the cynical nun and prosecutor who are transformed by the simple evidence of Bernadette's belief in what she experienced. Directed in a straight forward and non glossy style by veteran Henry King, never once does he let the interpretation of Bernadette become bogged down in saintly platitudes or tugs at the heart. It is a huge credit to Jennifer Jones that always she appears to be this simple girl, who is fairly average and full of insecurities and certainly not a candidate for some extraordinary sainthood.

Films like "The Song of Bernadette", rarely come along these days. I always enjoy screening it over the Easter period and Jennifer Jones really is cemented into peoples minds as the true image of how St Bernadette would have looked as a young girl. I often wonder about the happening in the Grotto of Lourdes and my study of St. Bernadette's life really fills me with a belief that something amazing did occur there. Importantly I feel this film tells us to maintain our belief in what we truly believe in, whatever it is and that like Bernadette a person doesn't have to be someone important to be picked out for something special. Treat yourself to a viewing of this wonderful film soon and marvel at the terrific work of Jennifer Jones in her most famous role as St. Bernadette of Lourdes.

The most sublime and moving of Hollywood's religious films
There are very few "religious" films that actually achieve a sense of spirituality that makes them work for believers and non-believers alike. "The Song of Bernadette" is one of those rare films, and owes a lot of its power to the Oscar winning performance of Jennifer Jones as Bernadette Soubirous, the young French peasant girl who in 1858 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in a grotto near the town of Lourdes. While gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, Bernadette was told by the "beautiful lady" to return to the grotto every day for fifteen days. The common folk of Lourdes come to belief in young Bernadette's visions, while the authorities try to put a stop to the nonsense, and the church keeps its distance for the moment.

As Bernadette, Jones is the calm center at the heart of the storm. The scenes in which Bernadette sees the Lady (an unbilled and pregnant Linda Darnell) are presented by director Henry King with a elegant simplicity. Bernadette has a strong and simple faith, which is how she is able to endure the battering by those around her. It is in her victory over these opponents that make this story work, and Bernadette's opponents are a superb cast of supporting players. Charles Bickford is Peyramale Dean of Lourdes, who has to deal with the idea that this lazy and less than intelligent peasant girl has seen the Virgin Mother, Vincent Price the cold hearted local prosecutor Dutour, Lee J. Cobb as the reasonable and scientific Dr. Dozous, Anne Revere as Bernadett's mother, and Gladys Cooper as Sister Vauzous, the nun whose jealousy of Bernadette has quite an emotional payoff in the film.

A best selling version of Bernadette's story was written by Franz Werfel in 1942 and 20th Century Fox bought the rights to make an ambitious screen version which manages to avoid the faults of sentimentality. They also searched for a newcomer for the title role and looked at Anne Baxter, Teresa Wright, Linda Darnell and Gene Tierney before settling on Jones, who had small parts in two previous films as Phylis Isley and was renamed to have a clean slate as an actress. Winning the Oscar pretty much speaks to the success of their efforts. The film also deservedly won Oscars for Arthur Miller's cinematography and Alfred Newman's score. Ironically, Newman replaced the famous composer Igor Stravinsky on the film, and the second movement of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements evolved from his original unused score.

Wonderful and Fascinating Account of St. Bernadette!
The Song of Bernadette is a wonderful movie about Bernadette Soubirous the young French peasant girl who saw the visions of The Virgin Mary at Lourdes. A fascinating movie. BTW: Bernadette was later made a Saint by the Catholic church. I had this movie on tape and I'm one of these days hoping to buy the DVD now that it has finally been released to the wonderful DVD format! ... Read more

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It's astonishing that one man could have written so many memorable songs, but musical gems keep popping up in De-Lovely, about the life and loves of Cole Porter. Played by Kevin Kline (In & Out, A Fish Called Wanda), an elderly Porter is summoned by a mysterious director (Jonathan Pryce, Brazil) to view his own story, which unfolds as a series of theatrical tableaux. The movie is open (if a bit chaste) about Porter's homosexuality, but argues that the love of his life was still his devoted platonic relationship with Linda Lee (Ashley Judd, Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls). Unfortunately, the narrative suffers from the fate of many biographies; by trying to cram in a person's entire life, it ends up a collection of snapshots without depth or context. The parade of celebrity singers (Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow) were apparently chosen for their jarringly modern vocal mannerisms. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (111)

DE-LIGHTFUL...
This film is an interesting bio-pic of noted songwriter Cole Porter. As with so many bio-pics, an individual's life is crammed into a set time constraint. Naturally, much of the individual's life is reduced to glimpses of highlights, important events, and significant others that give the viewer the flavor of that person's life, rather than a real blow-by-blow description. This film is no different.

In looking at Cole Porter's life, the film weaves in the wonderful music he wrote, and i