Description

Full of boundless adventure and boisterous fun, Disney's 17th animated masterpiece is the original film classic starring 101 of the world's most lovable, huggable Dalmatians and their hilariously evil captor, Cruella De Vil! A charming London neighborhood is home to Roger and Anita, whose beloved Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, have become the proud parents of 15 puppies. But when Cruella and her bumbling henchmen, Horace and Jasper, unexpectedly appear, the pups soon disappear -- along with every other Dalmatian puppy in town! Now Pongo and Perdita must rally their animal friends and use the power of the "Twilight Bark" to find Cruella's secret hideaway and free the puppies. Featuring the unforgettable toe-tapping song "Cruella De Vil," 101 DALMATIANS is one of the most cherished and sought-after Disney classics of all time -- and among the last films to bear the personal touch of Walt Disney. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

101 Dalmatians
This is my #4 favorite Walt Disney movie.Since a child I always adored this movie although now not my #1 favorite Disney movie it is still very entertaining.Cruela Deville, even though she is a villian is one of my favorite character's in the movie.Your family will really love this movie.

A Classic Disney Adventure Full of Fun
This film is full of the spirit that Disney is all about. It's a fun filled adventure. At times it keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense, while other parts have you rolling with laughter, and there are even spots where you want to cheer as the heroes triumph.
The animation is perfect, and the voice acting is superb. Every character, big or small, is full to the brim of distinct personality. You feel that every character in this movie actually has a life that they go about. The villains are particularly well established, and you love to hate them. It's great fun watching them get what they deserve as the animals foil their evil plans.
While this movie may be a little bit difficult for some little ones to follow, all ages can get something out of this movie. The youngest in the audience can find delight in the music and the adorable animation, while older kids get wrapped up in the plot, and the rest of us can reflect on our fond memories of growing up with this movie, and rediscover what made it so special.

Thank you ,Ben!(Walt Disney's Classic)
This really is Walt Disney's classic.In fact,it reads "Walt Disney's Classic" on the box.The 17th of the 1 hr theatrics.Relesed in 1961.Adapted from The Hundred and One Dalmations (1956) by Doddie Smith.Last year, My freind Benjamin brought this to school and I loved it when it was over.Thank you,Ben for such fun and entertainment!Your freind,Dr. James!

Entirely too scary for kids
Why would we want our children watching a film about a scary woman who wants to skin puppies for their fur??? Is this appropriate childhood imagery? I think not.

If You like Dogs You'll Probably Like This Movie!
One Hundred and one Dalmations is one of Disney's best older classics, it's a good story and the animation is done very well and the animated dalmations are so cute, if you like movies about dogs than I think you will probably like this animated classic. It's a gem! ... Read more

Description

Three cowpokes band together with a feisty widow to recover a cache of stolen gold. John Wayne meets Ann Margret and you'll keep guessing who meets whose match! Year: 1973 Director: Burt Kennedy Starring:John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Late Duke entry
The Train Robbers is a late film of the Duke's, but it is still an entertaining film. Directed by Burt Kennedy, the story follows a widow who hires Wayne to escort her to a cache of hidden gold that belongs to her recently deceased husband. Joining Wayne are a couple of old friends who come along. There are not any identifiable bad guys except for a nameless group of gunman making their own go at the gold. This is not a great John Wayne western, but it is not the worst. Still very entertaining.

Joining Wayne are Ann Margaret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, and even Ricardo Montalban in a small but funny role. Taylor and Johnson are great together with plenty of laughs between them throughout the movie. Even though this may not be the best Duke western ever, it still deserves a DVD release like so many other of his movies that have been released recently. This is a good western that deserves a watch if for nothing else than the twist at the end. Very entertaining!

Wayne light!
One of the later Wayne westerns is pretty thin on action and excitement.It's from the time where they more or less stopped making westerns - until the revival with Kasdan's "Silverado". This one is really clinging to a straw.

Standard late Duke fare....
This was by no means a Duke classic, but standard fare for his later westerns. It was about a group of men helping a widow recover hidden gold she was told about by her late husband. Hot on their trail are 20 bad guys after the loot. A real twist ending and some great explosions and outstanding scenic backdrop. Too bad this is not avail in widescreen. The Duke in his standard tough as nails ex-cavalry role. It's not as bad as it's reputation but I think it could have been better if they gave the bad guys some characterization and persona. But instead they are just shown as 20 faceless riders every now and again. No speaking roles in the whole lot. Better than Rio Lobo but not as good as Chisum, The Shootist or The Cowboys. ... Read more

Reviews (200)

One of the best classic horror films of all time.
My opinion of this movie, The Birds, is that it is a masterpiece of it's own time. This was a great piece of classic horror; Alfred Hitchcock did a fantastic job. The special effects were very believeable, especially for coming from the early sixties. I still haven't figured out how they got all of those birds to attack, or if half of them were fake. Also, Hitchcock did a great job of showing blood and gore when it was qppropriate, like when Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner finds Lonny Chapman as Deke Carter with his eyes pecked out. The movie did, however, lack music so this made it kind of drag along. Music would have paced the movie, and also added suspense and other effects. Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels was a bad actress. She showed no real emotion and always seemed to be worried about her appearance instead of her acting. I really noticed this in the bedroom scene, when she was being attacked, and she didn't even scream. Rod Taylor, who played the role of Mitch Brenner, was a great actor. He seemed real and Believable. He showed emotion in every scene, and his overall performance was pleasant. Jessica Tandy is great in all the films she is in, and this one was no exception. As Lydia Brenner, she did a great job of acting rude and mean to Melanie Daniels through out the whole movie. I was, however, very annoyed with the young actress that played Cathy Brenner. She was a horrible actress with over-elaborate emotional breakouts, and when she cried after she was attacked, it was so annoying, I thought my ears were bleeding. The ending to the film was very bland. There should have been more closure to the whole situation instead of just making you wonder what happened to them. The Birds is nothing like modern day horror films. It takes a more believeable line to horror than most modern day films. Modern horror consists mostly of the supernatural or total carnage. Although I would still put The Birds into a category with any modern day horror flicks, I still believe that it is definitely classic horror.

A nightmare comes to life - thanks to Hitchcock!
Although Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as the greatest director of suspense and "thriller" movies in Hollywood's long history, in his direction of "The Birds" (1963), he outdoes himself. Even more than "Psycho", which started the modern "slice-and-dice" genre of horror movies, "The Birds" is a truly disturbing and surreal experience - a nightmare which comes to life on film. In my opinion "The Birds" is unlike any other Hitchcock film - it actually comes closer to movies such as "The Sixth Sense" or even "The Matrix" in the way it takes the "real world" we are all familiar and comfortable with and turns it into something that will cause you to lose sleep at night. The film's plot is deceptively simple: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a rich and rather spoiled young woman, meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a handsome and rather mysterious man, in a pet store in San Francisco. She is intrigued enough to follow him to his home in Bodega Bay, a charming but isolated small fishing town on the northern California coast. There she meets the local schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who once had a brief affair with Mitch. Annie takes an immediate dislike to Melanie and her interest in Annie's old boyfriend. Eventually Melanie meets Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy), a high-strung and suspicious woman who leans upon her son for emotional support and stability. However, this soap-opera style plotline is simply the background for the REAL story in the movie: as the film progresses the birds in Bodega Bay and the surrounding countryside begin to act strangely - they suddenly attack humans for no apparent reason, and start gathering in large and ominous groups on power lines and rooftops. Eventually the birds become murderous - they kill a local farmer by crashing through his bedroom window and hacking out his eyes. Then they attack the schoolchildren and the townspeople in yet another of Hitchcock's famous film sequences. As the frightened and baffled townsfolk are hemmed into their homes and stores like "birds in a cage", they blame Melanie for bringing this terror into their once-peaceful little town. The film's famous climax occurs at the home of Mitch and his mother, as a massive flock of birds attacks the home at night and tries to get inside to kill our heroes. To make this film even more disturbing and bizzare, Hitchcock decided not to have a musical score, and there is no music whatsoever - only the terrifying screeching of the birds as they attack. What makes this film work is how Hitchcock deftly takes "everyday", normal things - such as sitting on a park bench and smoking a cigarette, and turns it into something bizarre, surreal, and truly frightening. Although some critics have refused to label this film as one of Hitchcock's best, it does rank as one of the scariest thrillers of all time. Beware of "The Birds"! (But you'll love the movie).

Beware THE BIRDS!!!
The Birds is one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films. Perhaps that has a lot to do with the beautiful Tippi Hedren, who shines in everything she does. The gorgeous scenery, adorable costumes, and lavish colors also add to the surreal atmosphere, which quickly gets disrupted by a flock of killer birds. Like many firsts Hitchcock introduced with his films, this is the first "nature run amock" film, just like Psycho was the first "slasher" film. This Psycho follow-up was yet another ground-breaking addition to the horror genre and further revealed the master director's darker obsessions.

Like Hitchcock's fabulous Rebecca and mediocre Jamaica Inn, this is based on a story by the extremely talented Daphne Du Maurier, but Hitchcock was left with the task of fleshing out the short story into a feature film. He did one hell of a job. Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter borrowed only the title and basic conceit of Daphne du Maurier's 1952 short story, "The Birds." Du Maurier's tale, conventional and utterly humorless, is a Cold War parable that uses the unexplained bird attacks as an apocalyptic metaphor for nature thrown out of balance by technology and warfare. It's told from the perspective of Nat Hocken, a disabled war veteran and farmhand living in a cottage with his family in the British Isles.

The film version is set in Bodega Bay and follows bored, spoiled socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) as she romantically pursues dashing lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). Tension soon develops among Melanie, schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, Mitch's former flame (Suzanne Pleshette), and Mitch's domineering mother (Jessica Tandy). The emotional interplay is interrupted (and reflected) by the sudden and unexplained attack of thousands of birds on the area.

Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, THE BIRDS is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works. Volumes have been written about the film, with each writer picking it apart scene by scene in order to prove his or her particular critical theory--mostly of the psychoanalytic variety. Be that as it may, even those who grow impatient with the slow build-up or occasional dramatic lapses cannot deny the terrifying power of many of the film's haunting images: the bird point-of-view shot of Bodega Bay, the birds slowly gathering on the playground monkey bars, the attack on the children's birthday party, Melanie trapped in the attic, and the final ambiguous shot of the defeated humans leaving Bodega Bay while the thousands of triumphant birds gathered on the ground watch them go.

Eerie, scary, and suspenseful, this is a great film and classic Hitchcock, which highlights his genius. There is no sound track to cue the audience in as to when to be scared. And what other filmmaker could take the simple sound of wings fluttering in a house and turn it into the sheer sound of terror?

Hitchcook can make anything scary.
Hitchcook can make anything scary, and this movie is profff, I don't no how fake birds can be scary but they are, in this film anyway.

It all starts with an opener that's more like 2 people trying to play a joke on eatchother, and ends with a tailhanger ending, paked with scares and creeps this is a must see.

Tense thriller is a winner
This eerie Hitchcock thriller doesn't have a shower scene but is has its fair share of suspense, dread and anticipation as to when the birds will attack. Filmed in color and without the accompaniment of music, the movie builds steadily towards tense and dangerous moments when hundreds of blackbirds swoop down on the human populace and scratch, peck and claw them to shreds without rhyme or reason. Even a lone seagull gets in its licks on Melanie Daniels who has followed Mitch Brenner to Bodega Bay to close in on the handsome fellow. The film has several attacks in which adults and school children are ravaged, and the air assaults are frightening to watch. The dangerous birds' unexplained sheer destructive force is displayed in the attack in a bedroom where the unfortunate Ms. Daniels is trapped, and their determination to destroy every human in their path is awful to behold. The movie's special effects are first-rate, and the gloomy, overcast skies of the Northern California coast add to the depressed mood of the film. The characters all seemed detached and distant from each other and although Ms. Daniels tries very hard to connect with Mr. Brenner, the romance angle is never developed. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

They call it Giant because everything in this picture is big, from the generous running time (more than 200 minutes) to the sprawling ranch location (a horizon-to-horizon plain with a lonely, modest mansion dropped in the middle) to the high-powered stars. Stocky Rock Hudson stars as the confident, stubborn young ranch baron Bick Benedict, who woos and wins the hand of Southern belle Elizabeth Taylor, a seemingly demure young beauty who proves to be Hudson's match after she settles into the family homestead. For many the film is chiefly remembered for James Dean's final performance, as poor former ranch hand Jett Rink, who strikes oil and transforms himself into a flamboyant millionaire playboy. Director George Stevens won his second Oscar for this ambitious, grandly realized (if sometimes slow moving) epic of the changing socioeconomic (and physical) landscape of modern Texas, based on Edna Ferber's bestselling novel. The talented supporting cast includes Mercedes McCambridge as Bick's frustrated sister, put out by the new "woman of the house"; Chill Wills as the Benedicts' garrulous rancher neighbor; Carroll Baker and Dennis Hopper as the Benedicts' rebellious children; and Earl Holliman and Sal Mineo as dedicated ranch hands. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (62)

The quintessential Texas epic loaded with stars!
This 202-minute slow-paced drama exemplifies the lives of three generations of cattlemen on a grandiose west Texas cattle ranch at the onset of the oil boom. Being a native Texan with relatives living close to the area near Marfa, Tx where GIANT was filmed, I LOVE this movie for the sheer drama and myth of our state. (and yes, there ARE some exaggerations) But it's also a well-crafted movie with exemplary performances by Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, and a very young Dennis Hopper! Viewers seeking a fast-action adrenaline-pumping film probably will be bored by GIANT, but viewers who enjoy classical performances, historical sagas, (and old movies) will cherish this movie. It's sort of like a western "GWTW"! They don't make 'em like this anymore!

A gigantic screen presence
What about this movie isn't big? Big stars (Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson); big state (Texas); big ranch (2 million acres of prime cattle land), and big length; at 202 minutes, this film runs about 45 minutes too long. The story is the familiar one about grandiosity run amok; the moral, which has been done to death, is that the simple life is the one best worth living. We've seen it all before. So why see this movie? In two words: James Dean. In his last film before his tragic death on the Freeway at the age of 24, Dean showed that he was what his legion of fans always claimed: a true genius. Try to imagine anyone else in the role of Jett Rink , and the character remains a cipher - lifeless, dull, nothing. It took Dean to bring it to life and make it his own. In this movie, James Dean and Jett Rink become indistinguishable from each other. And perhaps only an actor as brilliant as Dean could turn Rink from a character we love in the first half of the film, to a character we hate at the end. His drunken tirade near the movie's end is a tour de force. Dean's magnificent performance doesn't take away from the very creditable acting by Rock Hudson as the millionaire rancher Bick Benedict, Elizabeth Taylor as his wife Leslie, the young Sal Mineo, and especially Mercedes McCambridge as Bick's bitter, sexually frustrated sister with an unrequited passion for Jett Rink; but next to Dean's knockout performance, they pale into mere adequacy. Forget everything else; this is Dean's movie.

This is Texas?
I recently decided to view this film. Let's see - a reference to Neiman-Marcus - some wide open spaces, some cattle and oil wells. O.K. - but this film does not really tell about Texas and Texans. Thankfully, Chill Wills (from Seagoville, TX) was in it. He was the most Texan thing about this film. I wish I had something more positive to say - but I don't.

Giant Is Not A Widescreen Film
The product information here should be carefully read, as it reveals that this edition of Giant has been transferred in a 1:1.66 letterbox transfer. This is a travesty. Giant was filmed and released in the classic 1:1.33 "Academy" aspect ratio, which also happens to be the aspect ratio for NTSC analog television. George Stevens disliked widescreen processes, although he was forced to use them by studios on later films.
The time has come to put a stop to these unnecessary, phoney "restored" versions of classics. It's just a marketing ploy to squeeze more money out of old warhorses. Going back to the good old days of the laserdisc, I never much cared about the extras that were first introduced by Criterion and later imitated by the major studios. I've always responded to a high quality video transfer taken from the best film elements available. Getting the aspect ratio wrong and mutilating the images of Steven's classic film makes everything else irrelevant.
Thank goodness I still have my laserdiscs. Failing that, grab a copy on VHS.

FANTASTIC!
The DVD is superb -- I do not know what all the complaints about sound, etc. are all about! My goodness, this film is almost 50 years old -- and I think it is in wonderful shape!

I purchased this video because I have become a big James Dean film, but the acting of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Carol Baker, and Dennis Hopper were splendid.

To think that Hudson was a mere 29, Taylor 23, and Dean 23 and could play characters who age 30 years with such reality is a true testament to their genius! Of course, the makeup artists must also receive recognition.

The most disturbing portion of the film to me is when Hudson confronts "Sarge" the restaurant owner in a fist fight and when "Sarge" lands into the juke box, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" begins to play. However, this epic film is full of irony and subtle twists and nuances -- to really grasp the entire message this film needs to be viewed more than one time.

The irony of the Mexican children singing The National Anthem during the funeral of Angel (played by a very young Sal Mineo) touched me. Little Angel was a person who died for the United States and yet was the focus of bigotry from his impoverished birth until his death.

Or course, in my opinion, there was and never will be another James Dean -- it is heartbreaking to watch this dramatic genius in the final film performance before his untimely demise. Like Buddy Holly, I will always wonder where Dean's career would have gone.

Carol Baker is fantastic in her first film role and the very young Dennis Hopper's performance is equally memorable.

This film speaks to the injustices of racial bigotry that unfortunately will always exist except in a utopian world.

The additions to this DVD make it a must-buy!

Please don't hesitate to purchase -- this DVD is worth every penny -- and then some!

Oh, the editorial review refers to Elizabeth Taylor as a Southern Belle and this is incorrect. Leslie Benedict is from Maryland and even makes the comment to Hudson and his crownies that she was from the "Center of Politics" when Hudson tries to push her aside so the men can talk "Business and Politics". ... Read more

Reviews (48)

Delightful story with puppies that will steal your heart
It was a stroke of genius for the legendary Disney Studio to decide to remake their classic 1961 animated feature "101 Dalmatians", as a live action feature. Never a great fan of remakes, I feel this story is a natural for a live action version and on first viewing it totally won me over. It has so much to offer viewers of all ages, whether it be its 99 gorgeous Dalmatian puppies that would melt the heart of any dog lover, a top class production with terrific sets, locations and stunts or a wonderfully wicked villianess in the incomparable Cruella De Vil played to perfection by gifted actress Glenn Close.

The film follows closely the original story and tells the tale of London couple Roger and Anita who meet through a Dalmatian dog mixup in a London Park and fall in love, marry and find themselves the happy "parents" of 15 beautiful Dalmatian puppies when their Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita begin a family of their own. Their happiness is short lived however when Anita's boss the dastardly Cruella De Vil spots the puppies and immediately makes plans to have the puppies kidnapped so that she can turn their pelts into the extravagant spotted fur coat she has always dreamed of having. What ensures is a comical tale full of laughs, great stunts and hilarious situations of the "boo the villian, cheer the dogs" variety. The Dalmatian parents, with the aid of many assorted members of the animal kingdom from woodpeckers, squirrels, and assorted sheep pigs, and dogs not only succeed in tracking down the missing puppies in their hideout but also outwit Cruella and her incompetent accomplices at every turn. The animals revenge on Cruella and her accomplices makes for most of the humour as they find themselves being dumped through falling roofs, landing in tubs of gooey molasses and being smelled out by skunks!

No expense was spared on this production and indeed all the live action characters bare an amazing resemblance to their cartoon counterparts. Gleen Close towers over the whole production in her performance as Disney Studios most famous villianess the totally over the top Cruella De Vil. Her makeup, hair styles and clothing is everything you would imagine Cruella to be. It is to the credit of Glenn Close that she succeeds totally in bringing to life such a well known and "loved" cartoon villianess. A supremely talented actress as seen in such diverse roles as those in "Fatal Attraction", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Meeting Venus", and "Paradise Road" among others, she is a total riot as the bizzare fashion designer with an extreme fur fetish. It is she who makes "101 Dalmatians" such memorable viewing and her encounters with the animals in the second half of the film will have you laughing for ages. The sight of Cruella rising out of the tub of molasses where she has been unceremoniously dumped by the animal brigade will bring fits of laughter to the viewer. The film also boasts the great talents of Jeff Daniels and the lovely Joely Richardson as Roger and Anita the loving couple drawn to each other by their fondness for Dalmatians, and the gifted Joan Plowright as Anita's former Nanny who finds herself performing the role again but this time for the 15 puppies in the house. Much of the comedy stems from the great playing by Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams as the wacky Jasper and Horace employed by Cruella who's job it is to steal the puppies for Cruella. They receive the main brunt of the animals "revenge" to great comic effect as does John Shrapnel in the role of the sinister scarred Skinner who is employed to turn the puppies coats into Cruella's new coat. The animal stunts performed in this film will have you gasping as the animals seem top take on human personalities of their own to brilliant effect. The location photography around London and in the snow scenes at Cruella's hideaway also create a very pleasing look to the film.

I never fail to watch "101 Dalmatians" without finding a smile appearing on my face. It is a totally delightful film that is just as much for adults as it is children which is a real credit to the Disney Studios. Glenn Close really makes the film a viewing experience with her over the top playing here but if you are in anyway a dog lover you can't help but be totally captivated by these delightful 101 spotted creatures charming the audience in "101 Dalmatians". Enjoy!

"101 Dalmatians"
Having watched both the live-action and the animated versions of "101 Dalmatians," I find the live-action version to be vastly superior. This updated classic has a fresh, fun storyline. The actors who play the characters seem perfectly suited for their roles. Glenn Close is particularly good as Cruella De Vil. The movie was filmed in England and each scene is beautifully crafted. The director has done a remarkable job of giving the dogs respected status as emotion-feeling, three dimensional characters without resorting to the silly and mundane method of giving them human voices. Being a dog trainer myself, the thing I most enjoy about the movie is the absolutely phenomenal job done by the dog handlers. Not only are the trained behaviors remarkable, but the handlers have elicited responses from the dogs that readily convey understandable "emotions" to the audience. The ONE glaring fault of this movie is the final scene where all of the dogs have been allowed to breed ad infinitum. I find that totally irresponsible and the reason this movie gets 4 stars instead of 5.

CORNY!
One of the WORST films by Disney is this "101 Dalmations", which is a live-action version of the original cartoon movie & is nowhere near as good. All it was is just a retelling of the story obviously, but very little excitement and fun, bad acting and cheesy, cheesy, cheesy special effects. (not to mention the jokes sucked!) It is also TOO short! They could've added in more and it would've been better but it all ended too soon. Disney is really going downhill with these sequels and remakes and I suggest that they STOP now!! How anybody could like this film is beyond me! This is the stupidest, crappiest movie remake ever! Save your money and buy the original cartoon version instead cause it's 100% better than this smelly pile of dog crap! Your kids will also like it more.

A dog's life
Don't expect this type of overacting Disney movie that can be a sweet movie. It was pretty funny. It will be better than the second movie 102 Dalmatians.

Calling all dogs, we must find the puppies!
We purchased the cartoon version at our first opportunity, and this has been a heavily watched movie by our kids, especially when they were pre-kindergarten. This is still my 6 year old daughters favorite movie and the family voted it #8 of 41. Not quite up to the production standards of other Disney movies, this one was popular with all 5 children and is very watchable with repeat viewings. It narrowly beat out Fox and the hound for the 8th spot.

Cruella De Vil sees the 15 puppies of Pongo and Perdita and decides that she needs to make a polka dot Dalmatian coat with their fur. Her henchmen kidnap 86 puppies from around London and with these 15 she has 101. Pongo and Perdita call upon their doggie friend to search for the lost pups in hopes of engineering a rescue.
We had a lot of fun by gathering the family together to rank the 41 Disney movies we have that include some cartoon work. All the kids, ages 6 to 27, participated along with mother and dad. Peter Pan is no Codfish, we rank it #2. Lion King was selected number 1 of the 41 as the family favorite, but narrowly. Peter Pan was 2. Pete's Dragon 3, Beauty & the beast 4, Sleeping Beauty 5, Snow White 6 and Robin hood 7. These 7 movies all received a 5 star rating from us and complete our magnificent 7. ... Read more

Description

Screen adaptation of Arthur Hailey's dramatic novel involving multiple characters and storylines simultaneously unfolding and intertwining inside a luxury hotel. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Hotel - Where women are "ladies" and men are "gentlemen"
I love this movie! It's a wonderful escape back to an era when hospitality was in and everyone not only knew how, but were expected to "dress" (it makes me want to buy white gloves and hats just to do lunch).

Catherine Spaak and Merle Oberon are luminous in Edith Head gowns, although Catherine's posture is noticably askew (her mother should've reminded her to sit up straight). Rod Taylor's performance is marvelous, but somewhat restrained for his typical style. However, no one does a love scene with more tenderness than Rod, so it's small wonder Spaak would dump McCarthy's character for Taylor's regardless of money!

Melvyn Douglas is at his best as the curmudgeon hotelier (stroke and all), Kevin McCarthy is the takeover louse you love to hate and Karl Malden almost steals the entire movie as the hotel thief who just can't make a killing. There are also delightful performances by bit players throughout the movie; McCarthy's "oily" sychophantic male secretary and the hotel staff, especially the errant bell captain who's on the take.

The background music is sometimes annoyingly loud (the editors should have caught that!), but Carmen MacRae's all too brief appearances as the hotel saloon singer make up for any soundtrack problems. Carmen could "turn a lyric" as well as Ella!

With all of the sub-plots, you just can't wait to see what happens next and of course, what's not to love about a mostly happy ending.

My only complaint is the common mistake of mispronouncing New Orleans. If you've spent any time there, you already know it's pronounced New "Or-luhnz" not New "Or-leeeens". LOL

Hotel...Two Hours of Distilled Style
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the score to this movie described as "dreadful"! I turned on this movie shortly after it started, and probably would have turned it off if the wonderful score hadn't grabbed my attention. The music and the Technicolor beauty drew me in, and the complexly woven plot kept me watching intently, rather than just listening to the music! And the end was great; I thought it was triumphant; very uplifting! If you want to watch two hours of distilled style, a portrait of a bygone era when men still wore suits and hats, when style and luxury hadn't lost out to cheap plastic imitations, get this movie!

Hotel - A reminder of movies made in more genteel times.
I seen this movie at least two times and found it very entertaining. Great subplots and characters. I felt the movie had a major undertone to it regarding personal service and hospitality versus non personal, efficiency,corporate driven profits which defines the hospitality business as it today.

The opening sequence was a very original one, and the character of the Duchess Of Lanbourne, may have been a thinly veiled characterization based in part on the Duchess Of Windsor (Wallis Simpson). The costumes worn by Merle Oberon in this film appear similar to the fashions worn by the Duchess Of Windsor herself during the late 1960's.

Check-in at this "Hotel"
"Hotel", with its lavish sets, believable characters, and well-constructed plot, is one of the better movies I've seen this year. Always busy, always hosting important people, this hotel reminds me of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York for its grandness and the Peabody in Memphis for its homeliness. Karl's performance stole the show, while Rod's role and character were the most believable. To add a cherry on top (no pun intended), one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen stars as a used and abused French woman. Her performance was exquisite as well. And the sad ending makes you dread the real-estate business. SEE THIS MOVIE! (By the way, the score really wasn't that bad at all.)

The Almost-Grand Hotel
"Hotel" is one of those maddening near-miss films that seem to define the film career of its star, Rod Taylor. Certainly, it seemed to have a great deal going for it - based on the bestseller by Alex Haley, with a strong supporting cast including Melvyn Douglas, Merle Oberon, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, and Michael Rennie - but proved to be the blockbuster that wasn't.

Hampered by a dreadful score, choppy editing, and awkward plotting relative to its racial subtext, the film feels ponderous and uneven. Performances are uniformly fine, the production handsome, but all ultimately wasted in a lost cause. Even its brave departure from the book's sappy happy ending in favor of a more realistic, bittersweet finale fails to satisfy.

Fans of Rod Taylor ought to be used to this, the fine dramatic performance's ("Young Cassidy", "The Man Who Had Power Over Women"), the muscular action pieces ("Dark of the Sun"), and occasional comic turns ("The Liquidator") - all in films that didn't quite work (or just never found their audience). At least we have "The Birds" and "The Time Machine" to console us. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Don't miss this comedy!
Jennifer and Mr. Templeton meet when he gets her mermaid-suit on the hook while fishing (she's working as a mermaid in the weekends, hired to swim under her father's glass bottom boat for tourists). Later he, a famous scientist, hires her as his biographer and seduces her. After a while she's mistaken for a Russian spy.

Does it sound silly? Yes, it is. And very funny too. Almost all scenes, except for some in the middle of the movie, are very funny. Some examples: The kitchen scene, the scene with the remote-controlled boat and the scenes on the party towards the end of the movie. You should see for yourself! Doris sings "Soft as the Starlight", "Que Sera, Sera" and the title song.

If you like good comedies, this movie is for you. The cast is very good, especially Doris Day, and the screenplay is clever, and silly at the same time. This movie will make you laugh a lot.

Smooth Sailing "Boat"
"The Glass Bottom Boat" sailed into the nation's movie theatres in the summer of 1966 and quickly became one of the summer's top grossing comedy hits. Perennial favorite Doris Day showed a gift for slapstick comedy under the direction of Frank Tashlin who had honed his skill directing Jerry Lewis, Jayne Mansfield and others. Aided by a comedy dream cast including Dom DeLuise, Paul Lynde, Dick Martin, Edward Andrews and others, "Boat" is a fast paced, nutty, often side-splitting laugh fest whose plot is difficult to describe.

Day plays a tour guide at a space plant, who phones her dog Vladimir regularly. She's mistaken for a spy after being "caught" off Catalina Island by Rod Taylor, where she impersonates a mermaid for her father, Arthur Godfrey's glass bottom boat tours. Mix in some banana creme cake, some eye popping clothes designed by Ray Aghayan and his partner Bob Mackie, including a "Cher-like" Mata Hata outfit, some nosy neighbors played by "Bewitched" cast members George Tobias and Alice Pearce, and you've got the recipe for comedy highjinks.

Doris sings a couple of tunes including her signature hit, "Que Sera Sera" in a charming sequence with Godfrey, in his film debut. The mix is perfect throughout and this is one boat worth taking a cruise on.

Is Doris a secret spy or just a woman in love?
Doris Day is a mermaid that is until Rod Taylor (THE TIME MACHINE [1960]) catches her suit on a fishing hook in Catalina. She lost the bottom of her costume. She does it all. She is also a tour guide for the company Rod Taylor works for. She calls her dog at home from time to time. We've got Paul Lynde as a snoopy Security Guard. After the mermaid incident, clumsy Doris and Rod become friends and he invites Doris to his home to see the space-age kitchen. No need for a woman in this kitchen as you will see. Not quite "The Jetsons".
Also in the cast is several other character actors you have seen in Doris day films. Arthur Godfrey, John mcGiver, Edward Andrews, Dom DeLuise, Elizabeth Fraser, Dick Martin and Ellen Corby. Florence Halop and Robert Vaughn in cameos.
There is also Alice Pearce and George Tobias who at that time played the snoopy married neighbors in the Bewitched tv series. Alice Pearce was the first "Gladys Kravitz" from 1964-1972. George Tobias was the realistic "Mr. Kravitz".
Doris day and Arthur Godfrey ham "Que Sara Sara".
Some scenes filmed in Avalon, Catalina Island.
Paul Lynde has a scene in "drag".

All aboard All abaord on the Glass Bottom Boat
This is a movie that I watch all of the time. Jennifer Nelson (Doris Day) is a worker at the NASA center in Florida. The day before she starts work she is swimming in the ocean and Bruce Templeton (Rod Taylor) gets hold of her mermaids tail with his fishing pole and pulls it off! Well when Jennifer finds out who he really is and that he is her boss she gets really nice to him. She is then put in as his private secratery to write a book about his life! Well the head honchos find out that she is doing some funny things and they think she is a Russian Spy because she calls her dog Vladimir but they think that is her Russion CounterPart! Well the movie ends funnily! Great family movie I highly suggest it to ya'll!

Please bring this out on DVD!
I've been waiting for this (along with some Jerry Lewis movies) to be produced on DVD. People are eager to see these older movies! I just love Doris Day! Please bring it out on DVD! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

"These men are mercenaries"
I'm so glad I picked this film up when it was still at a reasonable
price tag. I'm still waiting to see the "uncut" dvd version of this

The story deals with the mission of two mercenaries
(Rod Talyor & Jim Brown) are sent into the wilds of Africa during
Congo war uprising. Thier main task is to rescue any & all persons
still in the perimeter of the Simba tribes but underneath the task
is that of a hidden agenda of bringing back a wealth in diamonds.

Said to be in part policitly and Racially incorrect I simply saw
it as a supremely done "british action film" with enough intense
moments to keep most planted to their seats.This is an extremely
downbeat film even amongest all the explosions & chainsaw fights
from the title credits on in,this film takes you on a journey of
impending doom where everything that can go wrong does. This vhs
version in fact has a few scenes missing maybe due to violence or
some other factor. This is definetly one of Taylor's more intense
roles,I don't think I've ever seen him more furious in his career
There becomes a strained partnership between him and Jim Brown as
the mission becomes one of personal and financial gain. This mgm
series also has the original trailer following the film is always
a big plus in my book.

Excellent, exciting and violent action film
Cinematographer turned director Jack Cardiff's 1968 "Dark of the Sun" is an excellent, exciting and violent action film, well-made and acted. Both Aussie Rod Taylor and former Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown are excellent as hard-bitten, greedy mercenaries with (eventually) too good a heart in the turmoil of 1960s Congo (Zaire). This is by far the best adaptation yet of South African adventure writer Wilbur Smith's novels (I would love to see a good film version of Smith's "The Leopard Hunts in Darkness"). After a superb 3/4 of a film, the end is somewhat of a let down, so Curry kills the ex-Nazi Heinlein in a really brutal way, so what? The Congo suddenly has standards for mercenaries? I don't get it. A better ending would have had him escape to Europe with the girl and the ill-gotten cache of diamonds. With fine photography and an excellent film score and featuring Peter Carstens as the German mercenary Heinlein and Yvette Mimieux as the love interest.

Wait for the DVD
Closely based on the early novel of the same name by Wilbur Smith (River Gods, The Seventh Scroll), this dark, probing story realistically portrays the rebellious period of the Belgan Congo during the 60's. Bruce Curry (Taylor) is the white mercenary leader of a force of black government troops sent inland by train to rescue Europeans cut off in a mining town by anti-government Simbas-and more importantly to retrieve the diamonds stored in the town. As one might expect, Curry's plans quickly go awry. His troops are not dependable, and he has to fight not only Simbas but also his fellow mercenaries and hostile UN peace-keeping forces. As the author intended, there are no heroic characters, and the ending leaves the viewer totally unsatisfied. Taylor is well-cast, but the rest of the acting is very weak. The most brutal scenes have been cut from VHS versions, making the film choppy. One can only hope that this film will make it to DVD.

Dated, but still...
Dated. Politically Incorrect. Downright Racist at times. The movie runs like a poor man's "Heart of Darkness." Forget politics, history, or economics! The Simbas are simply reverting to old tribal ways. (Whereas Ruffo (Jim Brown) is a "good, civilized" african, whose father was approprately ashamed of his filed teeth.) This is the level of political awareness the film presents. Good Grief. Mobutu is supposed to be the good guy!

Stereotypes prevail. The Simbas wear warpaint and brandish spears. Yvette Mimeux plays the white, virgin; who narrowly escapes "violation." The only camoflage is the Hennerlin (sp?), the Nazi played by Peter Carsten, who exists only to prove that whites can be "primitive" too. Yeah, the story was written by a white South African alright and all in all the characters are two-dimensional.

Having said all that. Why four stars? the story has the ring of truth about it. Unlike most action movies, everything that can go wrong *does* from pure, understandable circumstance--and not from the *stupidity* of the major characters, summoned to move the plot along. The ending *is* tragic. (The only part of the mission that "comes off" is that the diamonds apparently get back to their "rightful owners.")

Finally, there's the speech Curry (Taylor) gives to Ruffo over Reid lifeless body. "The gun's Chinese, Ruffo, paid for by russian rubles. The steel probably came from a West German factory, built with French francs. Then it was flown here on an african airline, *probably* subsidized by the Yew-nited States! I don't think he got very far!"

It's shaped my entire view of foreign policy, ever since.

A Good Film
I first saw this movie when it was originally released and enjoyed it very much. It is an excellent action packed movie. The purpose of this review is I was very disappointed because the movie I received has been edited. That's the reason for my rating of 3 stars versus 5. Certain action scenes have been cut, either partly or altogether, and some dialog has been voiced over or deleted. Even the final scene, which is the culmination of the anger of Taylor losing his friend was altered. If you do order this movie attempt to make sure it is the original cut, which is much better than the version I received. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (200)

One of the best classic horror films of all time.
My opinion of this movie, The Birds, is that it is a masterpiece of it's own time. This was a great piece of classic horror; Alfred Hitchcock did a fantastic job. The special effects were very believeable, especially for coming from the early sixties. I still haven't figured out how they got all of those birds to attack, or if half of them were fake. Also, Hitchcock did a great job of showing blood and gore when it was qppropriate, like when Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner finds Lonny Chapman as Deke Carter with his eyes pecked out. The movie did, however, lack music so this made it kind of drag along. Music would have paced the movie, and also added suspense and other effects. Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels was a bad actress. She showed no real emotion and always seemed to be worried about her appearance instead of her acting. I really noticed this in the bedroom scene, when she was being attacked, and she didn't even scream. Rod Taylor, who played the role of Mitch Brenner, was a great actor. He seemed real and Believable. He showed emotion in every scene, and his overall performance was pleasant. Jessica Tandy is great in all the films she is in, and this one was no exception. As Lydia Brenner, she did a great job of acting rude and mean to Melanie Daniels through out the whole movie. I was, however, very annoyed with the young actress that played Cathy Brenner. She was a horrible actress with over-elaborate emotional breakouts, and when she cried after she was attacked, it was so annoying, I thought my ears were bleeding. The ending to the film was very bland. There should have been more closure to the whole situation instead of just making you wonder what happened to them. The Birds is nothing like modern day horror films. It takes a more believeable line to horror than most modern day films. Modern horror consists mostly of the supernatural or total carnage. Although I would still put The Birds into a category with any modern day horror flicks, I still believe that it is definitely classic horror.

A nightmare comes to life - thanks to Hitchcock!
Although Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as the greatest director of suspense and "thriller" movies in Hollywood's long history, in his direction of "The Birds" (1963), he outdoes himself. Even more than "Psycho", which started the modern "slice-and-dice" genre of horror movies, "The Birds" is a truly disturbing and surreal experience - a nightmare which comes to life on film. In my opinion "The Birds" is unlike any other Hitchcock film - it actually comes closer to movies such as "The Sixth Sense" or even "The Matrix" in the way it takes the "real world" we are all familiar and comfortable with and turns it into something that will cause you to lose sleep at night. The film's plot is deceptively simple: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a rich and rather spoiled young woman, meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a handsome and rather mysterious man, in a pet store in San Francisco. She is intrigued enough to follow him to his home in Bodega Bay, a charming but isolated small fishing town on the northern California coast. There she meets the local schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who once had a brief affair with Mitch. Annie takes an immediate dislike to Melanie and her interest in Annie's old boyfriend. Eventually Melanie meets Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy), a high-strung and suspicious woman who leans upon her son for emotional support and stability. However, this soap-opera style plotline is simply the background for the REAL story in the movie: as the film progresses the birds in Bodega Bay and the surrounding countryside begin to act strangely - they suddenly attack humans for no apparent reason, and start gathering in large and ominous groups on power lines and rooftops. Eventually the birds become murderous - they kill a local farmer by crashing through his bedroom window and hacking out his eyes. Then they attack the schoolchildren and the townspeople in yet another of Hitchcock's famous film sequences. As the frightened and baffled townsfolk are hemmed into their homes and stores like "birds in a cage", they blame Melanie for bringing this terror into their once-peaceful little town. The film's famous climax occurs at the home of Mitch and his mother, as a massive flock of birds attacks the home at night and tries to get inside to kill our heroes. To make this film even more disturbing and bizzare, Hitchcock decided not to have a musical score, and there is no music whatsoever - only the terrifying screeching of the birds as they attack. What makes this film work is how Hitchcock deftly takes "everyday", normal things - such as sitting on a park bench and smoking a cigarette, and turns it into something bizarre, surreal, and truly frightening. Although some critics have refused to label this film as one of Hitchcock's best, it does rank as one of the scariest thrillers of all time. Beware of "The Birds"! (But you'll love the movie).

Beware THE BIRDS!!!
The Birds is one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films. Perhaps that has a lot to do with the beautiful Tippi Hedren, who shines in everything she does. The gorgeous scenery, adorable costumes, and lavish colors also add to the surreal atmosphere, which quickly gets disrupted by a flock of killer birds. Like many firsts Hitchcock introduced with his films, this is the first "nature run amock" film, just like Psycho was the first "slasher" film. This Psycho follow-up was yet another ground-breaking addition to the horror genre and further revealed the master director's darker obsessions.

Like Hitchcock's fabulous Rebecca and mediocre Jamaica Inn, this is based on a story by the extremely talented Daphne Du Maurier, but Hitchcock was left with the task of fleshing out the short story into a feature film. He did one hell of a job. Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter borrowed only the title and basic conceit of Daphne du Maurier's 1952 short story, "The Birds." Du Maurier's tale, conventional and utterly humorless, is a Cold War parable that uses the unexplained bird attacks as an apocalyptic metaphor for nature thrown out of balance by technology and warfare. It's told from the perspective of Nat Hocken, a disabled war veteran and farmhand living in a cottage with his family in the British Isles.

The film version is set in Bodega Bay and follows bored, spoiled socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) as she romantically pursues dashing lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). Tension soon develops among Melanie, schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, Mitch's former flame (Suzanne Pleshette), and Mitch's domineering mother (Jessica Tandy). The emotional interplay is interrupted (and reflected) by the sudden and unexplained attack of thousands of birds on the area.

Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, THE BIRDS is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works. Volumes have been written about the film, with each writer picking it apart scene by scene in order to prove his or her particular critical theory--mostly of the psychoanalytic variety. Be that as it may, even those who grow impatient with the slow build-up or occasional dramatic lapses cannot deny the terrifying power of many of the film's haunting images: the bird point-of-view shot of Bodega Bay, the birds slowly gathering on the playground monkey bars, the attack on the children's birthday party, Melanie trapped in the attic, and the final ambiguous shot of the defeated humans leaving Bodega Bay while the thousands of triumphant birds gathered on the ground watch them go.

Eerie, scary, and suspenseful, this is a great film and classic Hitchcock, which highlights his genius. There is no sound track to cue the audience in as to when to be scared. And what other filmmaker could take the simple sound of wings fluttering in a house and turn it into the sheer sound of terror?

Hitchcook can make anything scary.
Hitchcook can make anything scary, and this movie is profff, I don't no how fake birds can be scary but they are, in this film anyway.

It all starts with an opener that's more like 2 people trying to play a joke on eatchother, and ends with a tailhanger ending, paked with scares and creeps this is a must see.

Tense thriller is a winner
This eerie Hitchcock thriller doesn't have a shower scene but is has its fair share of suspense, dread and anticipation as to when the birds will attack. Filmed in color and without the accompaniment of music, the movie builds steadily towards tense and dangerous moments when hundreds of blackbirds swoop down on the human populace and scratch, peck and claw them to shreds without rhyme or reason. Even a lone seagull gets in its licks on Melanie Daniels who has followed Mitch Brenner to Bodega Bay to close in on the handsome fellow. The film has several attacks in which adults and school children are ravaged, and the air assaults are frightening to watch. The dangerous birds' unexplained sheer destructive force is displayed in the attack in a bedroom where the unfortunate Ms. Daniels is trapped, and their determination to destroy every human in their path is awful to behold. The movie's special effects are first-rate, and the gloomy, overcast skies of the Northern California coast add to the depressed mood of the film. The characters all seemed detached and distant from each other and although Ms. Daniels tries very hard to connect with Mr. Brenner, the romance angle is never developed. ... Read more

Reviews (128)

Not even a traditional SCI-FI fan
Star Trek bores me, and Star Wars doesn't do much for me either. So that disqualifies me from being a Sci-Fi geek. That being said, I've reviewed a handful of movies on Amazon, but I've never reviewed my favorite of all time. Year after year, this one stands out: The Time Machine, first viewed during my junior year of high school, is my favorite movie of all time.

The movie is very easy to get interested in. It brings up the What If questions about the world you ask yourself and your dearest friends. The dialogue is clever and enjoyable. And Rod Taylor is the perfect gentleman time traveler.

Some people can't handle the 1960 special effects... Appreciate the nostalgia.
Romance. Action. Intruige. Suspense. Emotion. Watch this thrilling movie about much more than TIME TRAVEL, and you'll find yourself loving it, too.

And when you're finished watching the movie, you'll be taking a few minutes to think about starting your own civilization...and what three books you would take to help you build THE FUTURE!

And then you'll stop thinking and look for something else to watch on TV.

An Ageless Enthralling Classic of Sci Fi
As gorgeous as the new time machine is, its hard to imagine it can ever top the beauty of the original. Watching the film again today the elegance and detail in the design astonish me. The machine is unforgetable but its the intelligently crafted story and character filled casting in this version that can still fill young hearts with wonder at the possibilities of time travel. Its amazing how the initial half of the film seems as contemporary a tale as when it was first invented. It is only in the land of the far distant future that the film turns into a traditional pulp heroic adventure. But the evil underground dwellers, the morlocks with their blue skin, white hair and glowing eyes remain quite scary and create wonderful tension and excitement. This is a really fun adventure film that warrants its classic status because it can still be apreciated today.

Accompanying the film is a sentimental featurette documenting the finding of the original time machine in a thrift shop and its loving restoration. The film is hosted by the original star Rod Taylor who reprises his role with his co-star Alan Young (Wilbur Post on Mr. Ed) at the end of the feature performing a ten minute skit that imagines a scenario where H.George Wells returns in his time machine to convince his friend to time travel with him to prevent his death in a soon to happen WWI plane crash. The affection for this film for everyone connected with it is palpable as they wistfully delight in telling stories of the experience. Oddly enough one of the big reasons I purchased this DVD at this time was the cover art was so beautiful I had to have it. Click on the Amazon.com icon for this film to see a larger version. It must be one of the best movie posters ever made. Good companion pieces to this film are Fantastic Journey and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Don't let it fool you
I gave it 5 stars just for the movie, but this edition deserves 3, cause you see the audio cd shown on the picture won't be inside the package. I returned it, and got myself the standard version, cause I bought this edition most for the cd. The picture is from an initial pressing of this edition and is no longer available, you'll get all the stuff you see, but no cd. I just thought you'd better know it.

The Time Machine still a timeless classic
Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux star in George Pal's "The Time Machine", a great sci fi movie based on the novel by H.G. Wells.

Taylor plays George an inventor in the late 18th century (1899 to be exact) who makes a machine that can go back in time.

At first his colleagues are skeptical, but when they see George's small model machine that goes back in time, they start to believe him.

George's best friend, and supporter is David played by Alan Young.

George takes the machine back, because he is sick of the present time, with war being brought on.

He travels to the early and middle 1900's and to his shock , George finds out that Man's future lies in war (which is pretty accurate even up to today's time).

He sees how WWI and WWII started, and even sees when his house is destroyed by an enemy plane!

George then travels far into the future, the year 802701, to see if mankind has any hope of living in peace.

At first, he sees a great paradise with many people (mostly children) play about in solitude. But when one lady named Weena, starts to drown, he sees that no one seems to care. He rescues her, and after talking to the other youths, he learns that they learned nothing from their ancient ancestors.

The books they have are old and buried.

They have lived the good the life, based on the sacrifices from mankind, and they don't appreciate it (which is another accurate telling of today's times).

He learns that Weena is part of the Eloi society which is under the slavery of the Morlocks, a cannibalistic race.

The Morlocks give everything, food and clothing to the Eloi , in exchange for the slavery and their bodies as food.

The movie was directed by sci fi whiz George Pal who won an impressive 7 oscars and awards for his movies.

He is the Steven Spielberg when it comes to sci fi movies.

What's astonishing about the film is the special effects that were made without computer help (which in most movies make the movie look more fake than real).

The way the special effects people made flowers bloom, candles burn while the Time Machine went in time, is very special to see.

It's a great site, from a special effects view, how these people managed to do these effects, with the limited resources they had.

He directed "War of the Worlds" and "Destination Moon" which won numerous awards. DVD comes with a number of great features:

A behind the scenes documentary with Rod Taylor. A great documentary where he shows how George Pal designed the machine. Taylor even shows us storyboards which haven't been seen in 30 yrs.

Even the DVD main menu with Taylor on the cover and the Murlocks in the background, give the DVD a great sci fi look!!

From 1899 to 802,701 AD The "Timeless" Classic
There are a lot of reviews about this great picture and how it influenced an entire generation. All of it is true! For some reason this film ties into the imagination and fills you with wonder. We can thank Mr. Wells for creating the story, but we really owe it to George Pal, Wah Chang and Gene Warren for translating the book into a miracle of romantic adventure. The real draw of course is "The Time Machine" prop. Never in the history of film has a prop been more imitated and desired. The special effects received an Academy Award and it was well deserved. All of the elements of Victorian London in winter, cozy parlors surrounded with friends gathered for dinner, "tea table" chat over the 4th dimension and the recollection of an experiment in time travel utilizing a flashback technique are what makes this film so enchanting. When Rod Taylor finally begins a slow initial journey we see the sky in motion in day and night sequences that are breathtaking in astronomic splendor. As the flowered garden and fruit trees go through their seasonal cycles in rapid progression you cannot help but be drawn into the wonder of creation and the genius of invention! The screenwriters then play with your imagination as we see our traveler stop at different events in our 20th century past and a "cold war" interpretation of the decade in which it was filmed when he stops in the "future" on August 18th, 1966 to witness a nuclear holocaust. From here we are quickly transported to the focal point of the Wells story to a future society of Eloi and Morlock culture. The care that went into this DVD should not be understated. It is a highly polished film that restores 20/20 vision to the frames so that we can see all of the colorful beauty that was originally there. Once again, we can SEE the atomic satellite zeroing in, the clear sky above the Eloi "cafeteria" and the smoking machinery of the Morlock caverns. When our traveler returns to 1899 and presents the flower to Filby that was given to him by Weena you will agree that "that flower could not have possibly bloomed in the winter time" and in the holding of that flower you will realize that this is a magic moment in film that will be with you forever and as Mrs. Watchit gradually turns off the lights in our view from the snowy evening outside you will think about the three books you would have taken and agree that having seen this film you will never be the same again, because you are in love with a romantic idea, TIME TRAVEL. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A wonderfully Bizarre, Eccentric Movie.....
Some people will fail to see the humor in this wonderfully bizarre, eccentric movie. How sad. Actually, it's a great film - where else can you see such spontaneously hysterical moments like someone dancing on the bar in electrified shoes? Or the funeral procession with the beer can cross.....the dog food factory.....the continual passing of gas....the list just goes on & on. It really made me laugh and laugh. I absolutely appreciated this example of good cinema and it's definately one I'll watch again, probably laughing even harder the next time & the time after that. It's hysterical - I loved it.

WOOP WOOP for WOOP WOOP
This movie is funny! This movie is totally acceptable mate! Jonathon Schaech is wonderful as the con man Teddy who gets caught up in the biggest con of his life when he meets the sex pot Angie. The People of Woop Woop are eccentric, hilarious and wonderful. Rod Tayor (The Birds) is terrific and frightening as Daddy-O. Dee Smart is enchanting as the low self-esteemed Krystal and the use of Rodgers and Hammerstein music in updated hip 90's fashion is terrific! Jonathon Schaech is a actor we should all hope to see more of in the future, he is gorgeous as well as talented. I truly enjoyed this and recommend it along with other Austrailian goodies, such as Strictly Ballroom. P.S.- Watch out for the Big Red Roo!

Black Comedy with a Punch
Welcome to Woop Woop amounts to a farce with a very unique (and appalling) storyline. The town Woop Woop is literally "off the map" and its inhabitants interact in a surreal and disturbing fashion.

Fleeing from danger in New York, the lead character (Johnathon Schaech) makes it to Australia, only to walk into a much bleaker situation - a kind of time-warp - where Daddy-O is the law, the judge, and the executioner. Rule number one: no-one escapes from Woop Woop.

Unfairly criticized as vulgar and offensive, many have missed what this film is all about. Properly understood, however, this makes for highly entertaining (if somewhat foreboding) viewing. Great stuff!

"Cracked out and fablous"
I turned the T.V. on @ 6:30 a.m. & was hooked there and then. This movie actually made me ask myself, "Am I really awake"? I was laughing until my stomach hurt. Was I awake? Yes, & "Woop Woop" came to life!
Buy this movie now! I promise, those of you out there who love to see wackie, non-traditional & "cracked out movies" this is for you!! K?
LKH

Dreadful
As an Australian I found this moving utterly embarrassing and borderline offensive. What we have here is merely an annoying stereotype that Americans seems to enjoy - or are forced to endure, depending. Adding to the embarrassment is the dialogue, where every piece of Aussie slang has been thrown into the mix. The effect: some kind of bizarre pidgin English that would make even the most patriotic of Aussies cringe.

This film is a disgrace. Yes, I know it is supposed to be a comedy, and satirical, and rediculous, but it falls woefully short of at least the first two.

Rates: Should be recalled and burned immediately. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Bette Davis' Personal Favorite - One Of Her VERY BEST!
Bette Davis plays loyal wife to hard-working NYC cabby Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine is very close to realizing his dream to actually own his own taxi cab, complete with special licence, at last being his own boss.

All would be well, if not their young daughter Debbie Reynolds had announced her sudden plans to marry blue-blood Rod Taylor. Davis, unphased by the limited financial means, is determined to "give" their daughter a big wedding. The figures to foot the bill reach astronomical proportions, making everyone but Davis nervous.

The not entirely predictable outcome is one of the most satisfying Hollywood movie endings ever. -- This film was Bette Davis' personal favorite; she called her performance "my proudest effort". As a fan of all 4 stars, I agree that "A Catered Affair" is one of the very best films Bette Davis has ever starred in. "Cinema Candy" all the way through!..

CALLING ALL BETTE DAVIS FANS...
With a brilliant screenplay by Gore Vidal, based upon a play by Paddy Chayefsky, this is an outstanding drama with fine direction from Richard Brooks. Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Barry Fitzgerald, Debbie Reynolds, and Rod Taylor make up the superlative cast.

This slice of life drama focuses upon a lower, middle class Bronx family, headed by Tom Hurley (Ernest Borgnine), a cab driver, and his wife, Aggie (Bette Davis). Their daughter, Jane (Debbie Reynolds), has just announced that she is getting married, but that she and her fiance (Rod Taylor) want no formal wedding reception.

Aggie soon insists upon giving her daughter the wedding she never had, which promises to wipe out their entire paltry savings, as well as Tom's dream of owning his own taxi medallion. Aggie's plans are the catalyst for some much needed family changes.

Barry Fitsgerald is wonderful as Aggie's bachelor brother, who has been living with the Hurleys for many years. Jane's impending nuptials and Aggie's plans make him take stock of his own life. Aggie and Tom are also forced to take stock of their own relationship with each other. This is a character driven, rather than plot driven, film.

The sets are wonderfully dreary, setting the stark tone for the claustrophobic, narrow lives lived by the characters. Bette Davis is terrific as the wife and mother who lives a life unexamined, until her daughter's own life change forces her to look at what she has. Ernest Borgnine is excellent as the taciturn father and husband, who knows his limits, but has his dreams. Aggie's and Tom's lives appear to have been running on parallel tracks until Jane's leaving home forces them to choose between going on as they had, in dreary loveless, isolation or forming a commom bond and one track upon which they will ride together. It is a situation with significant implications.

This is a superb film that all Bette Davis fans will enjoy, as will those who love superior, well acted dramas.

Midle age and Midle class Bette Davis in this movie
It is charming as well as realistic. It describes middle class family effervescence before a wedding! At one point, when her daughter refused to have a big wedding, Bette replied" You are going to have a big wedding and if you don't like it you don't have to come!" The character of her Cabby husband is very touching but as always it is Bette who makes it a great movie! ... Read more

Reviews (26)

More famous for the soundtrack
Zabriskie Point is probably more famous for the soundtrack than it is for the movie. The main attraction of the soundtrack was three Pink Floyd songs, written before the album, Atom Heart Mother. It also contains a nice 7 minute Jerry Garcia acoustic instrumental. The soundtrack album was always a must have for any Pink Floyd/Grateful Dead fan. The odd thing is that this movie is almost devoid of music. The movie starts and ends with a Pink Floyd track, and most of the Garcia track is played during the psychodelic love scene. Other than that, there are only snippets of the songs from the soundtrack album. There are large stretches of the film where there is no music at all. You would think that a movie that was supposed to be a reflection of the times in America would need a background of music, since music was so important to the whole scene. Forget about the music....is it a good movie? Not really. It starts out good, with students discussing politics. But, the debate sounds false, like something an outsider would write. It almost reminds me of how Dragnet would portray hippies; a parents view of how young people were acting. Then the movie goes off on a tangent about the hero stealing a plane. Most of it has nothing to do with the times. There are some beautifully filmed sequences in the movie. However, alot of it is just a travelogue, with long, silent passages, or just the drone of an engine. The whole thing might have worked better if there was background music to pull it all together. The love scene is very good. And the ending is pretty spectacular (but kind of a let down after reading all the raves about it). But this a great example of how the music from Pink Floyd adds so much power to the scene. Note that this scene was featured on the Oscars telecast a couple of years ago. The soundtrack was originally released as a single LP. There is a new version of the soundtrack that contains a second CD. The second CD contains 30 minutes of Jerry Garcia and 25 minutes of Pink Floyd music that was not used in the movie. It is a shame. The music could have gone a long way to making this a better movie. Last interesting thing to note is that a lot of the reviews for this movie are just as arty, pretentious and vacuous as the movie itself.

A Flawed Classic
Poor Antonioni! People that took him and the film apart in 1970 -- and now -- seem to forget Antonioni was never a master of plot or performance, but texture and color. Z\"Zabriskie Point" stands up better today then 1970, since the decades gives the viewer a distance. Yes, the leads are blanks and the dialogue weak, but it's an IMPRESSION of American youth in revolt. Not answers. People who claim it's "boring" are the actual boring people. There are so many fantastic and unique images that any film watcher should be able to appreciate Antonioni's vision. And imagine a big studio today giving 7 million dollars (at the time a chunk of change) to a minimalist film artist. Appreciate this folks, because now studios wouldn't dare finance this film. And that end....Wow! Oh, nice music too.

...
Actually you needn't to say any word about this movie, you see and you experience pure nature, pure freedom, the power of the own intention breaking through all limits. Amazing!

one of the finest movies ever made
A great film that focuses on and exposes many things about what is wrong with amerikkka, especially the oppression of women. The final climatic scene is pure wish fulfillment as Daria through pure force of will does with her minds what all of humanity wishes to do to this rotten system. Great music too. Buy it, watch it, and wait for the day that it will be triumphantly broadcast 24 hours a day in celebration!

The only point is in the title
This has to be one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. The plot seemed random at best, with gaping holes and many contrived scenarios. The anti-police/anti-establishment propaganda was laid on so thick and one-sidedly that nobody could really have ended up taking this movie seriously.

I guess this movie was made simply to exploit the growing number of naive flower-power morons around at the time and other types who would relate to the "heroes" of the story: the plane-stealing idiot and the vacant girl. ...