Reviews (10)

Non stop laughing film ---- A MUST SEE
This is the best comdey I have ever seen. I just couldn't stop laughing in this extremly funny film. I think that Mr.Bean is a very funny charactar that make you laugh even if you are not that kind that laugh easly. This is a must see film.

Fun for the Family
This is a great video. Bean is clean comedy the whole family can enjoy. We also watch this video over and over and it is still funny. Can't wait to get some other Bean videos! :-)

Digested Beans
This is a compiled digest of the antics of Rowan Atkinson's long suffering and silent character Mr. Bean. It's a great piece of work but one wonders when the entire uncut series will be available on DVD? Hardcore fans may want to wait until the producers finally get around to it. These snippets just leave you wanting more!

Very, very funny!
A good mood-fixer. If you're in a bad mood, this is the tape you'll want to get!

Tied for the best of Mr. Bean
This, and the Christmas tape, signify the pinnacle of the Mr. Bean series. Every sketch on this tape is a winner - the day at Herrods, changing at the beach, and the classic Exam episode. Don't forget the sermon snooze, a sketch so popular that when Rowan Atkinson did a college tour of his one-man show, he included it as the only Mr. Bean sketch in the entire 90 program (the rest was closer - generally speaking - to the verbal wit of his Blackadder persona).

Lots of laughs - echoes from when Mr Bean was fresh and funny. Also, one might note that here we have the first appearence of Mr Bean's nemesis - the three wheeled car. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This smart, funny episode finds the Enterprise visiting the planet Iotia, where the starship Horizon accidentally left behind Earth materials a century before. During that time, as Captain Kirk (William Shatner) discovers, the Iotians have made much of one of those items, a book called Chicago Mobs of the Twenties. The planet's population has divided into rival gangs who dress, speak, and do violence like the spiritual descendants of Al Capone, plunging Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) into a facsimile of Earth's colorful and dangerous past.

The episode is played for comedy: Kirk and Spock keep getting kidnapped by the warring hoods, each of whom wants the Federation team to use their technology to defeat the other side. The big payoff, however, is a summit meeting of bosses, where Kirk employs plenty of gangster-movie jargon to get matters settled. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Except on Tuesday
This gangster episode, and Tribbles, were the two Trek comedies that really worked. While I wouldn't exactly call the humor here subtle, it is intertwined in a fairly traditional action plot. We are able to enjoy Kirk and Spock's thuggishness for its own sake while simultaneously staying focused on the plot, for the simple reason that their behavior is called for by the story, rather than being a gimmick. The idea of a highly impressionable alien race who's cultural evolution could depend so thoroughly on a random event (the leaving behind of the book) is an interesting one as well. This episode is also helped by strong guest acting, most notably from Tayback.

The funniest of the original series
This is without question the funniest episode of the original Star Trek series. There is no funnier deadpan scene anywhere in television than the one where Kirk is "explaining" the fizzbin card game and asks Spock what the odds are against getting a royal fizzbin. His deadpan, yet truthful answer is, "I have never computed them." I laughed out loud the first time I saw that and still smile when I see it, even though I have seen it over fifty times.
The main premise is that a Federation vessel visited a planet before the Prime Directive was imposed and members of the crew interacted with the planet's inhabitants and contaminated them. Therefore, the primary task of the Enterprise is to repair the damage. The earlier Federation vessel left a book that described the Chicago gangs of the prohibition era and the inhabitants have modeled their entire culture after the book. Their clothing, buildings, speech and social structure are all modeled from the gangster movie cliches.
After many trials and errors, including Kirk trying to drive a car, there is a climactic scene where Kirk takes charge and unifies the government under one of the gang bosses. His pacing on a pool table while brandishing a machine gun and speaking one gangland cliché after another is one of the best scenes in the entire original series. His solution, where the Federation is described as an interplanetary gang, is funny and original. I have always wondered what the reaction of Star Fleet command was to his report of how he solved the contamination problem.
Funny, and essentially a spoof of a movie genre, this is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever, original series and beyond.

"A Piece of the Action," the 2nd funniest Star Trek episode
"A Piece of the Action" has the Enterprise visiting Sigma Iotia II, where a hundred years early the USS Horizon visited. Apparently this was before the Prime Directive, because one of the Horizon crew left behind a book: "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties." Now, once you get past the fact that (a) someone was toting a book into Deep Space and (b) it happened to be that particular book, you can really enjoy this one. Bela Oxymy wants the Federation to supply his gangsters with weapons so he can take over the planet, taking down Krako and the other bosses. My favorite part is when Kirk makes up a very complicated card game to play with the gangsters holding him hostage and Spock has to admit having never calculated the odds on the rarest of possible hands. Then there is also the bit where they try to drive an automobile. In the end, Kirk decides if you cannot fight them, join them. "A Piece of the Action" may well be the second funniest Star Trek episode, after "The Trouble With Tribbles," of course.

Excellence
In my opinion, A Piece Of The Action is in the top 3 episode category along with Mirror Mirror and the Corbomite Manuever. The whole episode is very deep and never uneventful. The action never stops. It employs humor in the form of "slang talk" which people like Spock and McCoy dont understand. I cant explain it all here, but I will tell you it is a very good episode.

One of the funniest and best Star Trek episodes
"A Piece of The Action" is one of my five favorite episodes of Star Trek. In "A Piece of The Action," Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy beam down to a planet whose landscape is similar to that of earth. The boss of a bunch of gangsters demands that the trio from the Enterprise make a deal with him which would help him ward off some of his enemies. To put it short, the Enterprise crew has been tricked. There must be a way for Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy to escape the planet alive, but they have a little bit of fun first.

"A Piece of The Action" is a great episode of the original series of Star Trek. It is well written and some parts of it are hilarious, especially the part when Captain Kirk drives a car for the first time. It's also amusing the way that Kirk talks in slang and has to repeat himself for the others to understand him.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both give one of their best performances to make this one of the unforgettable episodes of Star Trek. I recommend "A Piece of The Action" to anybody. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Tom Selleck plays Matthew Quigley, the cowboy hero in this traditional Western, set very untraditionally in Australia. After some macho silliness in the opening minutes, the story settles into a surprisingly evocative tale of Quigley, a sharpshooter who had come to the country to work for a land baron (Alan Rickman) and who is on the mend after a brutal attack. In the company of a woman (Laura San Giacomo) abused by that same baron, Quigley gets his strength and his shooting skills back while healing in the midst of aboriginal people as well as some stunning Australian settings.Director Simon Wincer (Phar Lap) brings a lot of integrity to this rare horse opera from contemporary Hollywood. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (61)

A Typical and Atypical Western
"Quigley down Under" stars Tom Selleck in the title role as an American sharpshooter who answers a help wanted poster for the best rifleman in the world. The job is in Australia and Quigley travels there not knowing exactly what the job is.

When he arrives in Australia, Quigley meets Crazy Cora, played by Laura San Giacomo. Cora is a slightly deranged American who believes Quigley to be her husband Roy. Cora continues to believe Quigley to be Roy even after he insists his name is Matthew Quigley.

When Quigley finally meets his new employer, Elliott Marston (Alan Rickman), he is disgusted to find out that Marston wants him to shoot Aborigines. Cora has become the self-designated defender of the Aborigines and gets abused by Marston for it. Quigley intervenes and winds up roughing Marston up a bit. Marston then has Quigley and Cora beaten and left in the desert to die.

"Quigley down Under" becomes, after this, a set piece movie about good versus evil. This is typical of the Western genre. In this Western though the good guys are a little "gooder" than usual. Both Quigley and Cora are pure hearts who only want what's right for the Aborigines. Cora is more determined to see it happen while Quigley is only interested in it so far as it gets him out of Australia alive.

The most interesting part of the movie is the relationship between Quigley and Cora. In most Westerns the woman is a one-dimensional cutout whose only raison d'etre is to stand by in horror as her man goes out to fight the bad guy. However, Cora is a fully fleshed out individual with both a history before Quigley and an existence independent of him. She still does the "stand by in horror" thing; but, it's with a sense of grace and composure you don't often get from that role.

From that relationship between Quigley and Cora is where I derive my four-star rating. Absent it, this movie would only get two stars from me. The Western is one of the most overdone genres in the cinema. To be able to find a unique spin on it after so many have been done is a well accomplished task.

Another plus for "Quigley down Under" is its cast. The three main players in this movie; Selleck, San Giacomo, and Rickman; are all first-rate actors. That Tom Selleck has not become a film star similar to Tom Cruise or Robert De Niro amazes me. He has an ability to fill a screen like so few actors can. The one actor who comes to mind by way of comparison is Charlton Heston. They both have that ability to project the necessary emotions and feelings of a scene without much effort. Laura San Giacomo is also another actor that I have a hard time figuring out why she hasn't become a star. Her portrayal of Crazy Cora in "Quigley" should have been a springboard to better roles but it hasn't panned out. Rickman is probably the one from this movie to have the best movie career to date. Rickman is one of the best bad guys going and even when he plays an angel ("Dogma") he still has that sideways sneer that makes you wonder what kind of a criminal he would be if he didn't find acting.

"Quigley down Under" is not your typical Western, which is why it might not be for those who enjoy movies like "Unforgiven" or "The Outlaw Josey Wales". However, it is a good movie from a non-Western genre standpoint and one that I'd recommend.

Tom Selleck's best ever
Like many TV actors, "Quigley"'s star Tom Selleck gave much attention, during and after his small-screen career, to attempting to break into movies. If he'd been born in 1926, instead of 1946, he would probably have gained fame, not as Thomas Magnum, but in Western films and/or TV series like this one. Quigley is the role he was born to play, and in Quigley's adventures he has made, to my mind, the best movie of his career.

This slam-bang actioner, though often labelled a "Western," actually takes place, not in the American West, but in the Crown Colony of Western Australia, probably around 1875 (there are still convicts there). Selleck plays Matthew Quigley, a soft-spoken marksman from Wyoming, who answers an advertisement by Australian rancher Marston (Alan Rickman) for "the finest long-distance marksman in the world." After three months on a sailing ship, he steps ashore at the port of Fremantle, where he promptly gets into a brawl with what turn out to be three of Marston's men, come to meet him, and is mistaken by displaced "native-born Texian" Crazy Cora Cobb (Laura San Giacomo) for her husband Roy. At Marston Water he offers a display of his skill with his primary weapon, a customized Sharps .45 buffalo gun, and impresses everyone, including Marston, who describes himself as "a student of your American West" and is a fast draw, pinpoint-accurate, and quietly proud of it. Only now does Quigley find out that he was being hired, not to kill dingoes (Australian wild dogs) as he thought, but to clear Marston's lands of the native Aboriginies. He promptly throws Marston out the French window of his own house, but is eventually overwhelmed by Marston's crew and, with Cora, taken out to the desert to die. Managing to kill the two men who fetched them there, he recovers his rifle and big Stetson, but loses the buckboard and horses. Trying to walk out, he and Cora are found by a clan of Aboriginies, who take them in, and when a group of Marston's men appears to hunt the natives down, Quigley takes up his Sharps in their defense. Eventually he eliminates Marston and all but three of his men in a sort of one-man "long hunt," climaxed by a shootout in which, though wounded and battered and admitting that he "never had much use" for handguns (he doesn't even carry one), he kills three men so fast that his shots sound like one.

Though there's a good deal of violence in this video--in fact, it will probably be too intense for kids under the age of 12 or so--none of it is gratuitous: each instance either serves to further the story in some way or is portrayed as an inevitable result of the choices and character of the person acting or being acted against. Selleck's Quigley is a '90's version of the classic John Wayne hero: soft-spoken, quietly competent, modest and unassuming (he "spent a night" in Dodge City once, and describes it as "a nice place to get some sleep"), chivalrous toward women and even a little unsure of how to react to them. (His early interactions with San Giacomo's Cora, on the Fremantle docks and in their first outback camp, add a whimsical touch to the movie's tone and should draw laughs from all watchers.) He also has an iron code of behavior, and he doesn't hesitate to learn even from the primitive Aborigines: one of the most delightful sequences finds them teaching him to use a spear-thrower and to suck water out of the sand through a bamboo--after which he repays them by conducting a class in the making and proper use of a rawhide lasso. Rickman is the kind of villain you love to hate: smooth, silky, sneering, yet acting from what seem to him to be completely valid reasons. San Giacomo may be "touched in the head," but she's also earthy, practical, and fiercely loyal to Selleck and to the orphaned Aboriginie baby they find; her story of how she came to be in Australia is touchingly delivered.

And, like most of the best movies, "Quigley" can serve as a starting point for some penetrating family discussion. Parallels will quickly be seen between the Aborigines' situation and, not only the experiences of the American Indian, but the "ethnic cleansing" through which the former Yugoslavia suffered, and which kids may have studied in school. Quigley seems not to be revengeful against Marston and his crew of 20-odd tough English and Irish until they act against the Aborigines who have been his and Cora's friends, and even then a case can be made for his killing as many of them as he can hit: afoot and outnumbered, he doesn't want them in the area and angry at him; after the second Aboriginie drive and the accidental killing of a storekeeper's wife, he is simply resolved to keep them from doing any more harm.

Though action is the movie's keynote, it is above all the story of how three people inspire one another to certain inevitable acts--in short, like all the best stories, it turns on character. And its characters will remain in the memory for a long time to come. (A side-benefit is the blood-stirring score by Basil Poledouris, which was one of the first CD's I ever purchased.) The cinematography gives a powerful sense of the size and loneliness of the Australian outback (filming was done in Alice Springs and other Australian locations), as well as of how important it is that Quigley seems far better able to adjust himself to it than Marston's men are willing to do. Director Simon Wincer, though not of American birth, has turned out a movie which, while not strictly a "real" Western, should become a classic of the genre. By my criteria, it's definitely a 10--or perhaps even a 12.

Great comedy
You will be laughing your tail off. Here is why:

Quigley (Tom Selleck), investigates a report on human right violations by the English settlers against the aboriginal population of Austria.

(Obviously, Quigley had improved the inter-racial relationships in his native Wyoming to perfection: black, indians, white, all live in equality, peace and harmony, and now he is on a mission to do the same in Austria)

Quigley quickly discovers the horrible truth, and being a superman, supperherro, suppersshooter, quickly brings justice. All bad guys (english, irish, scotch) are punished, aboriginals are free. No more slavery, genocide, collonialism and exploitation.

A blond Texan woman shares his passion and adopts a little black baby; the baby fell from a 200 feet cliff and survived!

Have fun!

Ernesto Ce Gevara

Western with a twist
This is an American Western to be sure, filmed in the outback! Classic good vs. bad! And lots of fun with the interaction between crazy Cora and Quigley! Fine acting all around and a nice twist at the end! Very enjoyable.

Boring CD, good movie
In glancing at the reviews I see that many of them are for the moive which is much better than the soundtrack. I've liked the title theme since I first heard it and always wanted the CD for that reason. Out of the 11 tracks I was disappointed to find that I really liked only about three selections, maybe one or two more than that. #1 Main Title is good and #11 Matthew Quigley amounts to about three different versions of the tune, it might be even better.
Out of the eleven tunes six have varying degrees of the theme worked into them in some way, thats what makes the CD boring, so little variety. I think I did like #4 Marston's Murderers, actiony but no Quigley bits. #4 Native Montage had no Quigley and certainly nothing Native to it, guess it was all right otherwise.
All I can really recommend this album for are the two Quigley selections, easily the best on the CD. Shiloh Rifle, the company that made the Sharps that Selleck used in the movie still uses the title selection on their website 12 years later, that's how good that tune is. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Remember Spanky doing "Friends, romans, countrymen..."?
Volume 1 in the Little Rascals collection features four of the Our Gang comedies from the Hal Roach-MGM years, at least one of which is a certified classic while the rest are at least well above-average. Leonard Maltin introduces the two-reelers, although I am not exactly sure why. It is not like the Rascals are performing Shakespeare (just a speech from one play).

Actually the central character in "Fly My Kite" (1931) is Grandma (Mrs. Margaret Mann), who reads the gang pulp stories, gives them friendly advice, and even puts on the boxing gloves to spar with them. But her son-in-law Dan (James Mason; no, not that one) wants to send the old lady to the County Home so he can move into her house with his new bride. But then it turns out Grandma has some gold bonds now worth $100,000. Dan wants to steal the bonds but Grandma has tied them to the tail of Chubby's kite. This one features Farina, Chubby, Mary Ann, Stymie, Wheezer, and Pete the Pup, as well as some fun stunt work by Grandma's double.

In "Honky Donkey" (1934) Wally's mom sends him home with chauffeur Don Barclay, but the lad wants to meet with his friends at a vacant lot, where they have made a merry-go-round powered by Algebra the mule. Chased from the lot the Barclay drives the gang (and their mule) to the mansion where Algebra engages in predictably but hysterical destructive behavior. It seems Algebra will only move if you sneeze, at which point he chases the offender, and only tops if he hears a bell ringing (Remember, this is supposed to make sense to KIDS). One of the nice touches by director Gus Meins is how he uses Spanky and Scotty to react to the antics of Barclay and the mule. This one also features Stymie, Tommy and Buckwheat.

"Beginner's Luck" (1935) is the classic two-reeler where Spanky is entered in a local amateur contest where he will recite Mark Antony's funeral oration from "Julius Caesar." Of course, Spanky knows "all actors are sissies," and gets the gang to promise to heckle him big time. But then he meets Daisy Dimple (Marianne Edwards), who wants to win so she can buy a new dress. When she gets stage fright Spanky decides to win so he can give her the money. This sets the stage for one of the great scenes in "Our Gang" history, as Spanky has to put up with the verbal and spitball assault from his friends and the frantic attempts by his mom to get her little darling off the stage.

A fitting companion piece to that classic is "Reunion in Rhythm" (1937), where the gang stages a musical show for the Adams Street Grammar School class reunion. The entertainment consists of Darla singing "Baby Face" to Porky, Spanky leading a chorus line singing "Broadway Rhythm," Alfalfa singing "I'm Through with Love" after failing to impress Georgia, and Buckwheat trying in vain to recite "Little Jack Horner." There is some introductory footage of an actual Our Gang reunion, which is rather awkward; but we do get to see "Stymie" with hair.

This is a solid first volume and if the idea here is to parcel our one classic along with several above-average Little Rascal comedies, that is certainly going to work. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Nothing that British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom made beforeWelcome to Sarajevo (including Butterfly Kiss and Jude) suggested the clarifying rage of this 1997 film, which is based on the experiences of British journalist Michael Nicholson while on assignment in Bosnia. Made emotionally numb by the savagery and insanity of Serbian aggression on Sarajevo and surrounding towns and countryside, reporter Michael Henderson (Stephen Dillane in a remarkable performance) awakens to the plight of one orphanage and particularly to that of a girl whom he promises to rescue. Henderson's efforts lead to a harrowing bus journey to (temporary) protection for some of the kids (others, quite shockingly, are carried off en route by Serb marauders), and then a second, even more dangerous good deed to finish what he started. The film's dimensions go well beyond that story line, however, as Winterbottom re-creates the gallows-humor culture of international correspondents in a blighted region, as well as the nightmare of the Sarajevo siege. Most savage of all, however, is the director's use of news clips in a pointed attack on the West's refusal to deal with the slaughter and outrages in Bosnia at their peak. The supporting cast might look like a bunch of famous names (Kerry Fox, Marisa Tomei) used decorously to attract attention to the film, but in fact everyone is very good, especially Woody Harrelson as an American journalist whose entrance in the story is one of the most memorable in recent history. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Intense look at a city under siege & the citizens' suffering
Having read the book by Michael Nicholson first, I looked forward to seeing how it would translate to film. As with many other efforts, this one comes up short. Stephen Dillane does well as Nicholson. However, Woody Harrelson's character does not really appear in the book except as a compilation of mis-steps by various Western reporters. Marisa Tomei is a wonderful actress; however her character is not a major one in the book. The movie would have been better if she had played the role of the orphanage director, Vera Zoric'. What I did like about this movie is that it was filmed on location. The location footage brings to the forefront man's inhumanity to man. The scenes that show the destruction to Sarajevo are worth the price of purchase alone. Overall this is an above avarage movie but I would recommend the viewer read Nicholson's book first.

Extraordinary reel life
As a journalist familiar with Yugoslavia and the tragedies of its breakway states, I was prepared to dislike this movie about foreign journalists working during the siege of Sarajevo. I thought, here goes Hollywood exploiting an abomination of the 20th Century. What I saw, in fact, humbled me and moved me to many tears. Director Michael Winterbottom takes an unflinching, docudrama approach, integrating real news footage of atrocities with his no frills production. There is no exploitation of suffering here. Winterbottom has an unabashed agenda: to shock, inform, educate and enlighten. It is hardly entertainment. The result, devoid of sentimentality, glamour and a neatly-packaged denoument, is refreshingly un-Hollywood. The characters played by Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei in a small role, Kerry Fox, Stephen Dillane and the fine Croatian actor Goran Visnjic, examine dilemmas journalists habitually face in war zones or not: how to remain objective, whether compassion is appropriate and whether or not to become involved with a story. The journalists, part of a profession where bravado, gallow humour and stamina for drink and adrenalin go with the territory, bring these characteristics to the fore in their perilous bunker, Sarajevo's infamous Holiday Inn. The film is based partly on the true story of Michael Henderson's (played by Dillane) experience in war-torn Bosnia. Henderson, then others, cross the line of objectivity in their promise to help some of the traumatised children of the bombarded city. There are no easy answers in war. I read ... how the film moved a physician to serve in Bosnia and has been used to educate students in modern history. Who needs an Oscar with real life affirmations such as these?

life during a war in bosnia
im born in bosnia and i been in bosnia during a war and all that tragedy and if u really want to know what was like like during a war in bosnia this is a movie to watch this is small part of what was going on in bosnia in the war and its truth and this movie will make you cry. i highly recommend this movie. for me best part of the movie is when reporter risk his life for a girl that he promised to get her out of war.

I served in Bosnia with SFOR
I served in the US Army with SFOR. I think this is an excellent and well done film. It is perhaps the most accurate film that I have seen concerning the war in Bosnia. It not only accurately reflects and shows the genocide that was carried out by Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Mladic and Rodavan Kradzic but it also gives hints but does not quite come out to expose the whole truth. As a soldier who served in Bosnia I will tell you the whole truth that this film seeks to poke at. It shows how the United States acted as accomplices to Slobodan Milosevic's genocide that was carried out against the Bosnian muslim population. It plainly shows American officials lying to the American people. I would also like to add the Former President Clinton has seen this movie himself with actor Woody Harrelson and Mr. Clinton knows full well that he lied to the American people about what was really going on in Bosnia. To be honest with you.... it is a truth that must be told. I am aching to tell it to everybody I can find. I was shocked to see the dead bodies when I was in Bosnia and further shocked to discover the lies the US government told the American people. I think it is very important for every american to watch this film. In order to fully understand the film I highly recommend Peter Maass's book "Love They Neighbor." He reported on the war in Bosnia.

shocking and unforgettable
admittedly i rented this out because of Goran Visnjic being in it..but that wasnt the main reason.As the opening scene unfolded i could see that this wasnt a film for the faint hearted, that on the way to a wedding the mother of the bride is shot dead.With the film progressing and the character of Risto(Visnjic)becoming more important I felt myself being drawn into what was happening, and could not help but be moved by the scenes of the orphanage.To see how these children had been mixed up in a war that led them to losing their parents had me in tears.Whilst not an entertaining film, I thought that it was well worth watching as it gave an insight(no matter how small)into what people had to go through.The acting was great and only enhanced what was a brilliant film..but one that left me shocked and upset. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Shocking, haunting, evocative
I saw this film when it first came out in 1977. It blew my mind then. I recently saw it on television and it still blew my mind once again. Pretty good for a film that is over 20 years old. This is a fantastic film that covers a variety of genres. It's a mystery, it's a thriller, it's science fiction, it's a drama. It should appeal to anyone who like the strange and the wonderful. Richard Chamberlain is fantastic as David Burton a lawyer who finds himself representing a group of young Aborigines accused of a brutal murder. However this is not just any murder, and Chamberlain finds himself drawn into a battle between the old and the modern when he finds out that the man's death is connected to the theft of some ancient stones that depict the end of mankind. To add to his problems Chamberlain is having strange dreams, dreams in which he is surrounded by water and he is drawn to the Aborigines and the secret world of dreamtime and ancient prophesies. For David Burton is part of what is happening, he is part of something that is old as old as time, history is repeating itself and the Last Wave is about to fall... This film is packed galore with symbolism, pretty good special effects and damn good acting. David Gulpilil is great as the young Aborigine torn between the past and the present and Nanjiwarra Amagula is superb as Charlie, a pure blooded Aborigine who just might have answers to secrets spanning thousands of years. This is a thinking-person's film. It is slow moving but suspenseful and the plot is sometimes complicated but never confusing. Well worth adding to your video collection if you want something excitingly different and intellectually stimulating.

Eerie, evocative, and haunting
Our modern, rational culture floats like a small boat on a huge, dark ocean of unguessable depth. Richard Chamberlain, in perhaps his best role ever, is a lawyer specializing in the arid technicalities of corporate taxation who is, by chance [well no, not really, as it turns out] drawn into the Shamanic world of the tribal aborigines who, unknown to most people, still inhabit Sydney, Australia. Little by little, the comfortable everyday world in which Chamberlain's character lived starts to dissolve, or at least become transparent, before the unguessably ancient and very different world around it. Meanwhile nature is acting very strange, paralleling the breakdown in Chamberlain's character. A wonderful movie, full of rich metaphors and images (including the final one) that remain in the mind long after the film is over. Even the soundtrack: some aboriginal instruments, some very nervous-sounding Australian-Irish dance music, and some spare but oh-so-telling chords, can stay with you for days. What are dreams anyway and what do we buy by living in a daylight world where we cannot see them? Weir suggests some provacative and disturbing answers.

disappointing
the story was just ok and the acting was fair but the quality of the vhs tape wasn't very good. actually the sound was terrible!!!!
actually worse than a homemade movie.

Future Shamans learn from Past Shamans
Frankly,my college degree emphasis was on Philosophy focusing on Aesthetics; this movie is a classic. It is amazing that the time period of movie represents a conception of reality that is difficult for any film to convey. As such, modern film uses the software animation for the art of props which used to be done by artists with skilled hands.

The early movies could not easily portray ideas and concepts which were beyond simple props. An example is a car scene prop - a car with a painting of a scene in the background.

Dreams are the most diffifult imaginal form of concept to convey because a dream is pre-reality. Artists since the dawn of art have tried to portray dreams. From that art we arrive at religion, science and hence psychology.

Art is a communication of the abstract. In this film, the Dream Time is communicated as it is: an imaginal world which overlaps the objects we perceive as a real world.

Future Shamans must always be aware that our Ancestors knew what reality was based upon their sense of Pre-Imaginal Conception. Shamans of the Animalistic Religions knew that We Dream Our Reality because We Percieve through our Imaginal Sense of Reality.

Never believe that the props are real. The props are the illusion. The message of this movie comes from the line;

" You are already in trouble. You forgot how to dream..."

We forget that the props of our world are our inventions; in another time, another realm, our beliefs mean nothing. We dreamt the meaning into them.

Dream Awake; Dream Aware. The Dream Time gives us clues if we can remember that we are living our dreams, and for some our night mares. If we know that we are creating our illusions, we might be able to live like our ancestors... with the nature as our home.

Toke up and fall out, your in for a strange trip.
My father turned me on to this film when I was about 4. He used to play it for me when he was cooking dinner, listening to music, studying, any time he needed some time to himself and needed me to stay in one place. (Chariots of fire and The Warriors work well too. lol ) Well, I am 25 now and this film is as creepy, fascinating and hypnotic as it was then.

I mean, the third wave, for christ sake. It's over. Your outa here. Done. Would you be remembered as a quality addition to the human race? Really, "Who are you?"

I can add no more than my peers here, as all except one giant bozo found this film to be as good as I did. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This loping, easygoing road movie throws together familiar ingredients--a pair of mismatched traveling buddies, a series of encounters with unusual strangers (the "prophets" of the title), and a personal quest to quench demons from the past--for a journey that doesn't strike out into new territory but provides an amiable trip for its wandering souls. Rocker John Doe (formerly of the punk band X) is a working stiff whose journey to deliver the ashes of a friend to their final resting place in Eldorado, Nevada, becomes something of a New Age odyssey. Joined by Sam (Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz), a lost youth obsessed with the ubiquitous Motel 9s that dot every truck stop and crossroads, the two wrangle their motorcycles down desert highways like Gen-X Easy Riders, only without the drugs, the rednecks, or the '60s soundtrack (theexcellent score by Pray for Rain also includes songs by Doe, former X-mate Excene Cervenka, and the Pogues). Cameos by weathered 1960s icons Timothy Leary and Arlo Guthrie join David Carradine as a guitar-playing hermit and John Cusack as an insane, food-throwing anarchist. Director Abbe Wool (who wrote Sid and Nancy) is content to watch the world ramble by from the back of a motorcycle and enjoy the company--which makes entertaining viewing if you like the personalities and an interminable trip if you don't. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Tune in, turn on and drop out
This is one of the best motorcycle movies I've seen. Well, the more I think about it, Roadside IS the best motorcycle movie! I'll watch it again and again. I want my family and friends to see it. I want you to see it.

I wish I was riding with these nuts. They're full of fun and surprise. I never had time to analyze the plot before it threw another unforseeable twist at me.

Beer! Gas! - Ride Forever!!!
This is a great road movie with awesome cameos that keep it intelligent and funny. Althought the movie starts out kinda slow and the acting is slightly awkward at times, the movie picks up fast and the messages shed during the road encounters are life-lasting and true to heart. Ad rock is very funny as Sam the drifter- even hysterical at times. One of my own and friends favorites through college, it is a timeless tale of friendship and life lessons. I don't even like motorcycles but this movie makes me want to ride the desert. Easy to compare to as the "Easy Rider" of the 90's. Watch this movie!

FAVORITE
This is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. A friend of mine turned me on to it about 6 or 7 years ago and I have watched it over and over again.... seems as though you catch new things everytime you see it! ...

Not-quite impossible dream
"Roadside Prophets" is a small movie with a not-quite realized vision. On the negative side, the acting is occasionally awkward and the dialogue clunky, but the film is rich in literary allusions and cultural critique. On the surface, it's a typical buddy film. On the other hand, not many buddy films feature two guys on ancient motorcycles searching for Eldorado so they can spread a Fat Bob tank full of ashes as a tribute to someone who was electrocuted while playing a video game in a strip bar. The point of the movie is not to glorify the end product, but the process. That is, living life the best way you know how, with the full realization that the end product is just that -- the end. John Cusack has a memorable cameo in the film, but others -- such as David Carradine's and Timothy Leary's -- actually have substance, where Cusack's is a triumph of style. As in life, the main characters meet people who have things to say, some profound and some profoundly silly. Dismiss those roadside prophets at your peril -- those who seem the most insane may well be the wisest people you'll ever meet.

Lou's Place
Hey did anyone notice that the bar where the guy fries himself at the video game is also "Lou's Place" from "Fight Club?"

I've ridden must of the trip portrayed on this film on my own Road King, but didn't have anyone as cool as John Doe or Adam to hang with. Watching this movie I can always pretend. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

One of Republic's best
This serial finds the Republic cliffhanger machine in top gear with top special effects by the Lydeckers, a pounding musical score by Mort Glickman and the usual knowing direction from ace serial director Witney. It is the better of the two serials with Rod Cameron and while it doesn't have as many slugfests as Secret Service in Darkest Africa (aka Manhunt in the African Jungle) it has much less of the juvenile dialogue of that serial and a much more convincing millieu (Republic's North African settings are not that realistic). Although Nino Pippitone as the Japanese mastermind Haruchi has a very fragile looking frame; he exudes considerable reptilian venom. The Republic Golden Age of Serials had one or two more years to go but after viewing this very entertaining and well-made entry you will wish it never ended.

Great, Greater, Greatest!
Of all my collection of Republic's "Golden-Age" Serials, this is the one I can watch again and again and enjoy it better with each viewing. This serial surely equals the "ultimate" cliff-hanger, "Spy Smasher." For one thing, everything in this stunningly directed, edited, acted, photographed chapter-play is so darn fresh. Only a few stock shots are used. Another great plus is the fantastic cast: Rod Cameron,probably the greatest of all action heroes, and the cool, voluptuous and feisty Constance Worth who isn't afraid to get her hair mussed as she jumps right in with machine guns, revolvers and pluck to help out Cameron. You wonder whatever happened to her? By far the most chilling and inventive cliff-hanger ending comes at the end of Chapter 8 and it features our gal, Constance. I won't tell you what happens but it involves a spear. William Witney proves himself to be a master craftsman, an over-looked genius who was the major force that elevated Republic Studio Serials to great art--and fantastic entertainment that can be seen and enjoyed by modern audiences. Bravo to Rod, Constance and Witney!

As Good As It Gets
The best WWII-themed serial, with directors William Witney and Spencer Gordon Bennett teamed up for the first and last time. Witney was a storyteller and Bennett an action man. Together they mixed up a heady brew. The unique ending of Chapter 8 is often mentioned, but it's the end of Chapter One that stands out, with a strong feel of chaos unleashed upon the earth. From then on Rex Bennett has not one but three bad guys to contend with, and they keep him busy right up to the moment civilization is saved in the rather perfunctory ending. One of the few serials that you wish could have been longer.

My favorite chapter ending in serials....
This is yet another of the greatest serials made. It's interesting to compare this great serial with the earlier Universal serial, JUNIOR G-MEN OF THE AIR. There are several notable similarities between the two, though the Republic serial is obviously far better. The raven with a poisoned beak is one of the greatest touches. The villain has to be one of the top serial bad guys. The lady in peril situations are good variations, and Constance Worth's characterization gives us one of the feistiest heroines in the genre. And then, there's Chapter 8, which has to be one of the greatest cliffhanger endings.

ACTION PLUS!
IF YOU LIKE ACTION THIS IS THE SERIAL FOR YOU GUN FIGHTS, FIST FIGHTS EXPLOSIONS,CAR CHASES,AERIAL ACTION I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIAL FOR ANYONE WHO ENJOYS THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY.THE ACTING WAS VERY GOOD AND THE CLIFF HANGERS KEPT YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SET. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Tall Men was neither the first nor the last Western to stealliberally from Howard Hawks's Red River, but mark this one "all in thefamily": William Hawks, Howard's brother, was the producer. Raoul Walshdirected, and his lusty, back-slapping way with both male-female dust-ups andtesty masculine friendships is on abundant CinemaScope display. Clark Gablestars (his first of three films in a row with Walsh) as an adventurer who, alongwith younger brother Cameron Mitchell, sets out to separate the coolly ambitiousRobert Ryan from a considerable sum of money. Instead he and Ryan wind upon-again/off-again partners-cum-rivals. There's an epic cattle drive (ofcourse), and the chance to get snowbound in a cabin with Jane Russell. TheWestern locations are 'Scope-worthy, and Gable and Russell keep up a runningcontest as to who can growl from deeper in the chest. Advantage Russell.--Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Tall Tale
To my mind, this is a woefully under-rated picture; one of my favorite Westerns of all time. It was produced by Howard Hawks' brother William and so unfavorably compared to the former's "Red River", but "The Tall Men" stands up fine on its own. Clark Gable was in a class by himself as an actor, completely inimitable, and he's great here as the trail boss working for a man he once robbed, who has returned the favor by robbing Gable of Jane Russell. The Mexican vacquero gets his historical due at last in this film, as Gable is using an Hispanic team of wranglers to drive a cattle herd from Texas to Montana. There's a great confrontation with a band of jayhawkers that also has a genuine historical flavor about it. Robert Ryan and Cameron Mitchell give some marvelous support work here, too. And again, sterling direction by Raoul Walsh, Hollywood's most under-appreciated helmsman.

Colorful cattle drive western
Clay Fisher's novel is a solid western adventure that features wide-screen CinemaScope Technicolor, beautiful landscapes, rugged action, a good music score and a great cast headed by Clark Gable. The film is about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana, headed by Ben Allison and brother Clint and bankrolled by shrewd businessman Nathan Stark, a man with big dreams who doesn't measure up to trail boss Ben. The Allison-Stark partnership is an uneasy one, which is complicated by Nella Turner, who has big dreams herself but hitches her star to Stark's wagon to spite Allison, who saved her life by rescuing her from an Indian attack. The story tends to dwell a bit on the relationship between Ben and Nella in the movie's first half and slows the film's pace, but the action picks up when the cattle drive begins in San Antonio. The cowboys and wranglers tangle with ornery Jayhawkers during their northward trek but their main threat comes from the fierce Oglala tribe under Red Cloud who is determined to kill the cattlemen before they can pass through a canyon and reach the safety of the Yellowstone River. The Sioux attack in force and in grand style, mounted on their ponies, with many of the warriors wearing war-bonnets and using colorful shields, uttering their shrill war whoops to unnerve the "ride-a-heaps" who are greatly outnumbered, and rely on the stampeding cattle to keep the red men at bay. The slashing horns and sharp hoofs of the "spotted buffalo" do their work and force the Indians to break off their attack and ride away, beaten back by the vicious Texas longhorn steers and the cunning of Ben Allison.

What Every Boy Wants To Be And Every Old Man Wishes He Was
Clark Gable and Cameron Mitchell star as brothers and cowboys who first try to rob businessman Robert Ryan, but end up partners with him in a huge cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Along the way they pick up Jane Russell, who falls in love with Gable, but wants the rich lifestyle that Ryan can provide.

The story is hardly short on action. There's blizzards, Indian attacks, cattle drives, and plenty of male/female friction. But it doesn't add up to anything particularly exciting or even interesting. It was a surprise to me, given not only the cast, but also the director Raoul Walsh, who certainly knew his way around action and adventure, not to mention how to pace a film. There are a few good moments, especially the final drive with the cattle, but not enough to sustain any interest in the characters or the story. The actors are fine, but the missing energy really hurts the film. It's a large scale Western, but the scale doesn't impress.

The Tall Men
A very tired western. Nothing new or orginal.

WONDERFULLY UNREALISTIC!
A WONDERFOL TALE OF ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE FROM AN AGE WHEN REALISM WASN'T AS IMPORTANT AS TELLING A GOOD STORY. SURE, REAL COWBOYS WEREN'T LIKE THIS AND REAL CATTLE DRIVES DIDN'T HAPPEN THIS WAY AND FRONTIER WOMEN SURE DIDN'T LOOK LIKE JANE RUSSEL, BUT WHO CARES? THIS MOVIE WAS MADE BACK WHEN MOVIES WERE MEANT TO ENTERTAIN, NOT EDUCATE, AND IT CERTAINLY DOES THAT. CLARK GABLE IS THE ONLY MOVIE COWBOY TO ALMOST MEASURE UP TO JOHN WAYNE, AND THIS IS GABLE AT HIS COWBOY BEST. ENJOY IT. ... Read more

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The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses. Projecting total contamination, the scientists isolate the deadly strain in a massive, high-tech underground lab facility, which is rigged for nuclear destruction if the virus is not successfully controlled. The movie spends a great deal of time covering the scientific procedures of the high-pressure investigation, and the rising tensions between scientists who have been forced to work in claustrophobic conditions. It's all very fascinating if you're interested in scientific method and technological advances, although the film is obviously dated in many of its details. It's more effective as a thriller in which tension is derived not only from the deadly threat of the virus, but from the escalating fear and anxiety among the small group of people who've been assigned to save the human race. The basic premise is still captivating; it's easy to see how this became the foundation of Crichton's science-thriller empire. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (76)

Catch it.
Superlative science fiction from director Robert Wise and writer Michael Crichton. It doesn't hurt that Albert Whitlock, whose groundbreaking tech work on *The Birds* set new visual standards, supervised the special effects. Even less painful is the technical support the movie received from no less than Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For those unhappy with the technology's "dated" look, the computers and robotics were cutting edge for 1970, and more importantly, were REAL. (And remember, F/X nuts: the story is NOT set in the future; it's supposed to take place in 1970.) In *The Andromeda Strain*, the hardware's sturdy reality contributes to the suspense generated by the rather scary plot. A satellite sent to collect any possible microscopic life forms does just that, returning to Earth via a tiny isolated burg in the New Mexico desert. But the "life" the satellite has retrieved turns out to be more than anyone, except maybe some nutty, high-placed Cold Warriors, bargained for. The organism wipes out the town, turning the blood of its victims into a granulated dust that trickles out when their skin is cut by space-suited investigators. What follows is a complicated operation involving 3 top scientists and 1 M.D. who try to identify and neutralize the microscopic menace. Their lab, called Wildfire, is located in southern Nevada thousands of feet under an isolated agricultural building in the middle of the desert. (It's very Area 51-ish.) The laboratory set has to be one of the most complicated ever built in Hollywood. It's as if a top military insider drew up the blueprints. And the science is probably impeccable. This is all the result of director Wise wanting to GET IT RIGHT even more than wanting to merely entertain. This goes for his characters and casting, too: Wise casts character-actors as the scientists, eschewing glamor for believability. Someone called Kate Reid, playing the middle-age, overweight, grouchy epileptic, steals the show, such as it is. The grand result of all the incessant attention to detail is that *The Andromeda Strain* will hold up forever as one of the greatest -- or should that be one of the ONLY? -- hard-science fiction movies ever made. It's a real science geek's dream: those who think "sci-fi" is another term for "light sabers" are encouraged to look elsewhere. [The DVD, by the dreaded Image Entertainment, looks OK. The print hasn't been restored, but at least it's in the correct aspect ratio. The product is copyrighted 1997 -- therefore, zero extras. Maybe with future reissues Universal will scare up some commentary or a Making-Of with surviving members of the cast & crew. A Making-Of would be fascinating, in regards to this movie.]

Decent adaptation from the book
Good absorbing story of a government project gone wrong.

Quick overview ... A capsule (code named 'scoop') returns to earth with a leathal new germ aboard which kills by soldifying the blood in the body. After the inital recovery disaster, a prearranged team of scientists are called together at a special underground laboratory to isolate and determine capabilities of the new germ. The ending I'll leave to you ... see the movie.

Fast paced story with a believable script. Well acted out although the lead was a little wooden. Basically, one could see this scenario as actually having happened at one time or another due to germ warfare research.

No music in this. Rather like "Forbidden Planet" the sound effects make up for that. Good blend of fact and fiction. This flim should keep you glued to the TV set.

This is a good movie for those that like science fiction. Too bad it's priced so high. I would hope for a re-release at a modern price. I have the VHS version and will wait until the DVD drops some to buy it.

*Highly Recommended*

~P~

Potent Strain of Realism
When a man-made satellite crash-lands on Earth near a small desert town, the town residents are unaware that it carries a deadly virus from space and therefore take no precautions when handling the device. Within a frighteningly short period of time, all of the town's inhabitants are dead. All, that is, except for a crying baby and the town drunk. After being alerted to the situation, the U.S. government fears that the world's entire population may be in danger of extinction, so a crackerjack team of the nations top medical scientists is dispatched to a secret underground laboratory so that they can study the survivors and discover a cure or treatment for the alien virus before it's too late.

1971's THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN is one of the few science-fiction movies released in the immediate wake of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) that has successfully retained high status in the SF genre, and that's because it is also one of the few SF films from that era that actually takes the genre seriously and challenges the viewer's intellect. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton--one of the first movies based on a work by this now highly sought writer & director--scripter Nelson Gidding and director Robert Wise have crafted a stimulating film that is as much a scientific detective story as it is a sci-fi thriller. Audience members are kept on the edge of their seats as the scientists race against time to prevent the alien microorganism from destroying life on earth, yet viewers are also clued-in enough to stimulate their gray matter and keep them speculating right along with the film's characters. Yes, 30+ years of hindsight might make the special FX and the film's depiction of technology seem a bit dusty and dated, but Gidding's plotting and Wise's creative and innovative directing keep the excitement and the earnestness intact. To some viewers, the ending might seem a bit contrived, but overall THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN represents brilliant SF filmmaking.

The acting is pretty good, too, and Wise was ingenious in casting generally low-profile actors as the scientists, which contributes to making the characters seem true-to-life. One of the most brilliant examples of this is the casting of brash, average-looking Kate Reid as the gritty Dr. Ruth Leavitt. As is common practice in Hollywood, Wise could have chosen a sexy starlet (think Raquel Welch in 1966's FANTASTIC VOYAGE or, more recently, Rene Russo in 1995's OUTBREAK) in hopes of increasing the box-office draw. But Wise knows that in order to sell the plausibility of the plot, the characters must also feel genuine, and the wise (no pun intended) casting of non-glamour actors like Reid in this type of role more accurately reflects the real world and therefore enhances the film's overall sense of realism.

The DVD release of THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN from Universal Studios belongs in the film collections of all serious science-fiction fans. Not only does it offer the film in anamorphic widescreen at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1--which, by the way, allows viewers to awe over some of the brilliant multi-view compositions of certain shots that were aesthetically mutilated in pan-and-scan versions--but it also offers a fascinating and insightful feature commentary by director Wise and a featurette on writer Michael Crichton. Of course, there is the requisite theatrical trailer, too. And all this for a very reasonable retail price.

FRIGHTENING WHAT IF MOVIE
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN was the first of Michael Crichton's novels to be successfully screened. It's a tense, suspenseful look at what happens when an unknown virus returns to earth via one of our satellites and quickly decimates the entire population (except 2--a baby and a drunk) of a small town. The movie's focus is on finding out what the virus is and how it can kill so expeditiously.
Robert Wise who gave us THE HAUNTING and THE SOUND OF MUSIC uses some split screen techniques which work well, and keeps the movie dark and suspenseful. Although it has become somewhat dated in its technologies, Wise elicits good performances from the cast, especially Kate Reid, David Wayne and Paula Kelly. Arthur Hill is a little to stiff for my liking, and James Olson overplays some of his scenes.
Still a worthwhile film, and one that will scare the pants off of you in light of where we've come with germ warfare.

The crashing Bore from outer space
The Andromeda Strain is one of the worst films ever made. It is about a deadly Bacterium from the Andromeda Galaxy, which is spreading on earth. When you catch the disease your blood turns to sand, sounds cheap already, Huh.
Why the movie is so boring is because most of the time Scientists are in a labratory doing research for over two hours! The movie is about as scary as Barney. Do not buy or rent this movie. This movie is dangerous it just might bore you to death!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

After initially rejecting the role as too sentimental, Ginger Rogers found the title character of Kitty Foyle to be an Oscar winner and a career breakthrough. Released in 1940, only a year after her nine-picture partnership with Fred Astaire ended, Kitty Foyle helped establish Rogers as a nonmusical box-office star. The film portrays a white-collar working girl who receives a warm and welcome marriage proposal from Mark (James Craig), a kindly but humble doctor. As soon as she accepts, however, she receives a different proposition, this one from her former love, wealthy socialite Wyn (Dennis Morgan), who plans to flee his life and his wife and asks Kitty to join him and live in unwedded bliss in South America. Kitty then recounts her life in flashback to help her choose which man to love. Rogers gives an appealing performance as the feisty yet vulnerable Kitty, who makes up in moxie what she lacks in social status.Did she really deserve the Best Actress Oscar over Bette Davis in The Letter, Joan Fontaine in Rebecca, Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, and Martha Scott in Our Town? Well, evidently Rogers had real-life moxie too. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Ginger's victory all the way
Any best actress oscar winner of 1940 would have been controversial. I think Ginger deserved it as well as any of the others. She is wonderful in this drama, and she portrays KItty with a certain realness. watch her facial expressions. I believe that Ginger had the most expressive and beautiful eyes in hollywood history. after losing her baby in childbirth, kitty's look on her face whenever she sees a child afterwards is devestating. the whole cast is fine, and you could cut Gin and Dennis Morgan's chemistry with a knife. Ginger had a strange power to bring out so much chemistry from all her leading men. In the early scenes, she is adorable as little kitty. I don't believe that this is a soap opera, because the situations are NOT ridiculous and the characters are very real, but nevertheless it is a heavier type of drama, so don't expect a SWING TIME-like experience, and keep the tissues handy. I highly recommend this film, not only for Ginger's performance, but for the movie as a whole.

Timeless Classic
This is one of my all-time favorite old movies. I believe that Ginger Rogers definitely earned the Academy Award against some stiff competition. I have watched "Kitty Foyle" around ten times, and it gets better each time. Ginger gives a spectacular performance, and the movie itself is well-constructed. It is interesting to see the character's interactions with two very different men, and there's the suspense of wondering which she will choose. Enjoy!

Ginger Rogers in a working girl dilemma
Ginger Rogers really came into her own as the dramatic heroine of RKO's drama "Kitty Foyle" after her legendary collaborations with fred Astaire during the 1930's. Despite being almost solely regarded as Astaire's dancing partner Ginger Rogers had done a large number of films of a non dancing nature and by 1939 with their teamings coming to an end was anxious to develop her very fine comic and dramatic abilities. As seen in the previous years classic "Bachelor Mother", with David Niven she proved to be totally up to the task and this was followed in 1940 by the Sam Wood directed "Kitty Foyle", for which Rogers was awarded the Academy Award as Best Actress.

"Kitty Foyle" tells the quite simple story of a modern White Collar working girl who finds herself in the position of being courted by two entirely different men from different stations in life. Wyn Strafford (Dennis Morgan) offers Kitty the glamour of Philadelphia society in a lifestyle of priveldge, position and very set social values, while struggling intern Mark Eisen (James Craig) has only himself and his dreams to offer her. Growing up in the poor part of town Kitty as a child dreamt of the sort of life that Wyn represents, beautiful clothes, nice cars and appearances at all the society events like Philadephia's Assembly evening. Meeting and falling in love with Wyn Kitty thinks that all those earlier dreams have come true and soon she finds herself being swept off her feet into marriage with one of Philadelphia's best families. Meeting his family however finds Kitty being made only too aware of her humble beginnings and this clash of two different levels of society results in Kitty divorcing Wyn only to discover that she is carrying Wyn's child which she later loses in childbirth. Happily reciprocating Mark's uncomplicated love for her that involves no standards for her to be meeting, Kitty becomes engaged to him. Then as if by magic Wyn returns to her life yet again and momentarily arouses all those old passionate feelings she still has for him that she never really feels for Mark. With an offer to go away with him to South America, Kitty is for a moment prepared to abandon all to live this dream with Wyn again when her conscience reminds her of just what type of position she is placing herself in with the still married Wyn. Kitty begins to realise what a fine person Mark is and that he is a man who really loves her for herself and is waiting to marry her and give her the type of loving existence she really craves. Back to her senses Kitty decides to go ahead and marry Mark and have the loving marriage she has always wanted where she is appreciated for what she is, not who.

Vintage soap opera it is indeed but "Kitty Foyle", shines with real characters and emotions that we can all identify with. Dennis Morgan does wonderful work as the besotted Wyn, the victim of family background and expectations and his screen chemistry with Ginger Rogers is magical and very romantic. James Craig as the humble doctor has the less flashy role of the two men but his simple playing and sincere dialogue really hits the right note in playing a character that has nothing but love to offer his beloved. There was alot of controversy in 1940 about whether Ginger Rogers really deserved the Oscar over the quite formidable competiton that year from Katherine Hepburn in "The Philadelphia Story", and especially Joan Fontaine in "Rebecca". The jury will always be out on that one I guess but Rogers playing of Kitty is wonderful and she has her best scene in her confrontation with Wyn's mother (Gladys Cooper in a small but wonderful performance). For that scene alone where she drives home a few truths about their family and the rules they live by, some award should have been forecoming.

Nominated for a total of five Academy Awards "Kitty Foyle",could never be regarded as one of Hollywood's unforgettable classics. Ginger Rogers helps lift what is basically a soap opera to a higher level with her assured playing of the typical working girl who is both romantic and practical. It's a joy to see her in a dramatic role and it led the way for some other great dramatic performances by Rogers through the 1940's decade. Take a look at the ultimate working girl saga in the Sam Wood directed "Kitty Foyle".

Kitty Foyle: A Soap Well Done
Whenever Ginger Rogers' name is bandied about, it is usually done so in the context of a musical, usually co-starring with Fred Astaire. Her acting ability was most often hidden in a rousing background of song and dance. But with KITTY FOYLE, Ginger showed that she could play it straight too. Kitty is a lower class Irish lass who has the great bad luck to fall for an upper crust Philadelphia scion (Dennis Morgan) whose family has long since planned his future, one that does not include a poor Irishwoman. They marry but the gap between them is too wide. Exit the scion and enter a poor but kindly doctor (James Craig) who loves her enough for her to have to choose between them.

The charm of KITTY FOYLE rests squarely on Miss Rogers' ability to create the aura of a woman who loves two men, although unequally. Morgan and Craig are purposely bland, and very nearly interchangeable, so it is no surprise that Kitty bounces back and forth between them. Along the way, director Sam Wood presents New York as a backgound that is just perfect for young lovers to meet in quaint Italian restaurants. Eduardo Ciannelli is cast against type as an Italian waiter who brings to mind Mister Botchagaloop of Abbott & Costello fame. By the time the closing credits roll, it comes only as a minor surprise as to which lover Kitty chooses. KITTY FOYLE is no great film, but it is a grabbing piece of pre-WWII soap that showcases the talents of an actress who for far too long had been admired more for her hoofing legs than her thespian skills.

Kitty Foyle
Ginger Rogers dazzled me with her simplistic character of Kitty Foyle. In a performance of a woman with no social status, but charms the hearts of two men, one of which may be too high in class for her, so his family feels. It is a movie that has you almost sure of who she loves, but totally surprises you in the end. Enjoy it, and I hope you love it as much as I did! ... Read more

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Nobody made a fuss about The Comancheros when it came out, yet it has proved to be among the most enduringly entertaining of John Wayne's later Westerns. The Duke, just beginning to crease and thicken toward Rooster Cogburn proportions, plays a veteran Texas Ranger named Jake Cutter. When we first see him (in a tongue-in-cheek delayed entrance), he's catching up with a New Orleans dandy (Stuart Whitman) who killed a judge's son in a duel just after that gentlemanly practice was banned. Monsieur Paul Regret--or "Mon-sooor," as Jake insists on calling him--is not a bad fellow, let alone a badman, and it only follows that, after the requisite number of misunderstandings, he and Jake will join forces to subdue rampaging Indians and the evil white men behind their uprising.

The Comancheros was the last credit for Michael Curtiz, who, ravaged by cancer, ceded much of the direction to Wayne (uncredited) and action specialist Cliff Lyons. With support from Wayne stalwarts James Edward Grant (coscreenplay) and William Clothier (camera), the first of many rousing Elmer Bernstein scores for a Wayne picture, and a big, flavorful cast including Lee Marvin (the once and future Liberty Valance), Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (in his last movie), they made a broad, cheerfully bloodthirsty adventure movie for red-meat-eating audiences of all ages. Even the liberal-pinko Time magazine had to second the salute from leading lady Ina Balin at film's end: "Take care of yourself, Big Jake ... we've sort of gotten used to you." --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Lightweight but entertaining John Wayne western.
John Wayne rules in this big, sprawling western adventure film. The screenplay, co-written by western novelist Clair Huffaker, struggles with the historical accuracy of Texas in the 1840s and the rifles seem a little advanced for 1843, but, nit-picking aside, this is an entertaining film. Texas Ranger Jake Cutter (Wayne) and sometime gambler Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) go under cover after a vicious army of outlaw raiders known as "Comancheros," led by the diabolical Graile (Nehemiah Persoff). Hard-hitting, large scale action sequences deftly directed by Michael Curtiz, who directd some of Errol Flynn's better adventure films, will please action-adventure fans. The movie includes a comfortable blend of action, suspense, and humor with occasional serious overtones of duty, friendship, and the love of a good woman. Taken within the context of the film that isn't as corny as it might sound. Great outdoor color photography adds to the appeal. A pulse-pounding musical score by Elmer Bernstein matches the excitement. Lee Marvin makes the most of his costarring role as Tully Crow, one of the West's wildest bad men. Watch for the hilarious vignette featuring Edgar Buchanan as a judge of dubious integrity. Ditto the comic relief segment with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a seemingly bewildered gunrunner. There is nothing intellectual or artistic to say of this movie, but it's good old fashioned fun. Recommended viewing.

Classic, Crowd-Pleasing Duke!
You can see by the title that I am a John Wayne fan, and this rip-roaring Western is one of the reasons why. With equal portions of rousing action, humor, and drama, this film keeps your interest and, like the Duke's performance, never loses its authenticity. It's said that John Wayne took over direction of some of the action sequences, and they're great. There are well-drawn, clear differences between the good buys and bad guys, but the characters are human and developed enough for the actors to sink their teeth into, which all do with gusto. By this time in his career, the Duke only had to show up on screen to be the authentic Western hero, but as usual he goes 'way beyond that, giving a colorful, humorous, absolutely real and terrific performance as the Texas Ranger who helps a man on the wrong side of the law redeem himself and find the woman he loves--as well as stopping a motley, dangerous bunch of white renegades (Comancheros) who are selling weapons to warring Comanche Indians. It's great movie-making and a great couple of hours with the Duke, so check it out!

Drunk Indians
This movie was good for the most part but then again if you dont want to see drunk indians shoot white people then dont worry about seeing it. There were some good parts in this movie but the whole movie was a rather large dissapointment. These Indains would kill people so they could get their Jollies off byy getting alcohol. This movie was very unrealistic(...). I take my reviews very serioulsly. John Wayne was a good actor props to my man Wayne, he's my man.

A Real Entertaining John Wayne Western
THE COMANCHEROS is one of John Wayne's most entertaining Westerns. It has a great cast, story, photography and one of Elmer Bernstein's best scores. The widescreen DVD looks incredible. John Wayne and Stuart Whitman play off each other brilliantly. Lee Marvin as Crow has a small but effective and outrageous character part. There's plenty of action and heroics to go around in this great outdoor adventure. I wish they would make movies like this today.

Excellent Duke western
The Comancheros is another great John Wayne western with a great supporting cast. The story follows Captain Jake Cutter, a Texas ranger, and his efforts to capture a prisoner, and then to infiltrate a group of gunrunners and bandits, the Comancheros. This group has been supplying the Comanches with repeating rifles who then wreak havoc on the area. There is plenty of action here with numerous shootouts, and also plenty of great characters. At parts during this movie, I wondered why the Duke never took more comedic roles since he is very funny in several scenes.

John Wayne plays Captain Jake Cutter, the big, brawling Texas Ranger who attempts to bring in a prisoner who keeps escaping his grasp, "Monsoor" Paul Regret, played by Stuart Whitman very well. Another notable performance is Lee Marvin's Crow, the contact between Cutter and the Comancheros. He doesn't have a very big part, but what is there is very good. The film also stars Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff, Michael Ansara, Patrick Wayne, Bruce Cabot, and Joan O'Brien. Elmer Bernstein also turns in another excellent score that has elements of the Sons of Katie Elder and The Great Escape. The DVD offers a widescreen presentation which looks very good, two trailers(one in Spanish), and also Movie Tone News about an award presented involving the movie. More John Wayne movies should be put out like this, and I give credit to the companies putting out so many new ones recently. A very exciting, enjoyable Duke western that all his fans will love! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This 1946 film celebrates the life, career, and showmanship of the late Florenz Ziegfeld, perhaps the most famous and influential Broadway producer in the early decades of the 20th century. The film, ostensibly directed by Vincente Minnelli, takes an unusual form. We open in Heaven, at the home of the late Ziegfeld (played by William Powell, who also played him in The Great Ziegfeld), who thinks back on his life and wonders what kind of show he would put on with the talent of today (meaning 1946). What follows is an elaborately staged revue, similar to the blend of cheesecake, music, and comedy that made up the Ziegfeld Follies--but with the stars of that moment (plus actual Ziegfeld veteran Fanny Brice). The most welcome presence is Fred Astaire, who appears in three numbers--including the only dance number ever filmed that paired Astaire with Gene Kelly at the height of their powers. The contrast is fascinating. Otherwise, you get a number of musical scenes, the best of which features Lena Horne (singing "Love"), the worst Judy Garland (in "An Interview"). And there's plenty of other stuff: everything from an Esther Williams water ballet to an excerpt of La Traviata to a variety of broadly acted vaudeville skits featuring actors Keenan Wynn, Edward Arnold, Fanny Brice, and Hume Cronyn. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (12)

An All-Star cast including Lucille Ball and William Frawley.
An All-Star cast and some that will be stars. Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, William Frawley, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, Red Skelton. Esther Williams, William Powell,Edward Arnold, Marion Bell, Bunin's Puppets, Cyd Charisse, Hume Cronyn, Robert Lewis, Virginia O'Brien and Keenan Wyann. Trivia Note: Lucille Ball and William Frawley did this film five years before they did the "I Love Lucy" tv series (1951-1956). They do not share a scene together in this film. This is the movie with Lucille Ball in pink sitting on a white horse. She then is given a white tiger whip where she plays a more dominant role with the other girls. There is a wonderful telephone skit titled "Number Please" with Keenan Wynn. Fanny brice with Hume Cronyn and William Frawley (in color) do a skit titled "A Sweepstakes Ticket". A nice in-joke on the title card. Fanny Brice wins (instead of "in") "A Sweepstakes Ticket". God! Watching William Frawley. Little did anyone know the destiny that William Frawley would have. He went on to play "Fred Mertz" in "I Love Lucy" (1951-1956) and The Lucy-Desi Comdy Hour (1957-1960) and other tv shows including the "I Love Lucy" cast Then he went on to "My Three Sons" tv series. He worked one more time with Lucille Ball on "The Lucy Show" where he made a cameo appearance as a farmhand on the episode "Lucy and the Countess Have A Horse" (aired: Oct. 25, 1965). Lena Horne does a musical number "Love". Red Skelton does the skit "When Television Comes". "Limestone Blues" with Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer has a nice chinese number. Judy Garland does A Great lady Has "An Interview". Another entertaining musical and a nice one is called "The Babbitt and The Bromide". is with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. A beautiful number sung by a beautiful actress is Kathryn grayson who sings "Beauty". This is the one with soap suds.

MGM presents the best all-star musical review of the 1940's
This 1946 film uses the career of Florenz Ziegfeld as an excuse for an all-star musical review directed (for the most part) by Vincente Minnelli. As he did in "The Great Ziegfeld," William Powell plays the title character who reminiscences on his glory days at his home and imagines putting on one of his shows with MGM's current talent (although Ziegfeld legend Fanny Brice is included as well). The star of the show ends up being Fred Astaire, who has three numbers including "This Heart of Mine" with Lucille Bremer and the celebrated duel with Gene Kelly, "The Babbit and The Bromide." We also get the great Lena Horne singing "Love," comedy skits by Red Skelton and Judy Garland, an excerpt from "La Traviata" with James Melton and Marion Bell, an Ester Williams water ballet and several vaudeville skits. Lucile Ball and Cyd Charisse are part of the show, along with lots of other familiar faces including Keenan Wynn, Kathryn Grayson, Edward Arnold, Hume Cronyn. William Frawley and Peter Lawford's voice. "Ziegfeld Follies" is clearly the best of the 40's all-star reviews and a clear indication of where Ed Sullivan got his idea.

Excellent dance numbers, but comedy hasn't aged well
It took me two evenings to slog through it, but I've finally finished watching Ziegfeld Follies. Mostly, I find it hasn't aged well. The majority of the comedy acts consist of rapid-fire one-liners accompanied by gurning. The one exception to this was the piece by Fanny Brice, one of the original Ziegfeld Follies performers. Although her comedy was heavy-handed, her timing was spot-on, and her slapstick quite funny, in a ridiculous sort of way. As for the rest of it, I suspect you have to be ninety years old and/or stoned right out of your mind to make you giggle.

Parts of the show were absolutely bizarre. Lucille Ball (before her I Love Lucy days) marches out in a froufrou pink feathery outfit, then makes like a dominatrix--cracking a whip repeatedly at a bevy of scantily-clad cat girls. That was decidedly surreal. So was the scene with the barren, bubbly wasteland inhabited by seductive, lounging women. It felt like a Ren and Stimpy moment.

My favourite parts of the show were Judy Garland's song about the inventor of the safety pin (although the rest of the act was too over-the-top for my tastes), and any time Fred Astaire danced. I'm intrigued at the apparent carelessness and nonchalant grace of his movements. He does a backwards spinning leap onto a step, and it looks like a lazy movement. With Jackie Chan, even the ease with which a wall is easily scaled is marked with a certain frantic energy. With Fred Astaire, I almost expect him to fall asleep--but I mean this in a good way. His ease of movement is so natural, he probably could dance somnambulistically.

I think my favourite performance of his was the one with Gene Kelly. Watching the two of them dance together was quite slashy. Ahh, if only men danced together like that more often on film. The only other time I can recall seeing it done so well was in the opening scenes of Ken Russell's Valentino.

Another heavenly day... it's always a heavenly day
In this truly delightful MGM production, as others have mentioned, there is no overall plot! The story is held together with the 14 individual numbers. Purely for entertainment, this movie has beautiful dances, great songs, big laughs, lavish costumes, sets, and on top of everything, an all-star cast. What better way to showcase most of the greatest stars of that era than put their numbers into one film. I can honestly say that for lovers of the great musical comedies ranging from the 30's to the 50's will absolutely LOVE this movie!

Made in 1946, "Ziegfeld Follies" starts off with William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld going over his memories while in heaven. He decides to make another play. Here is a list of the different musical numbers and short skits:

*BEAUTIFUL GIRLS* - Fred Astaire introduces us to many beautiful girls, including Lucille Ball as a fiery wildcat tamer. Technicolor certainly does a lot of good for her, it's strange not seeing her 'I love Lucy' smile! 5/5 stars

*WONDERFUL MEN* - Virginia O'Brien gives a funny parody song, remember her as Kitty in the Marx Brothers movie 'The Big Store'? 5/5 stars

*A WATER BALLET* - Called America's Mermaid, Esther Williams dons on her swimsuit as she performs a beautiful water ballet. 4/5 stars

*NUMBER PLEASE* - A simply hilarious skit, Keenan Wynn plays a man on the verge of a breakdown as he tries to call 'Plaza 5-5597'. 5/5 stars

*TRAVIATA* - I'm not much of a fan of opera music but James Melton and Marion Bell can certainly sing. I love the costumes! 2/5 stars

*PAY THE TWO DOLLARS* - Victor Moore wants to pay the two dollars, but his lawyer Edward Arnold won't let him! Unfortunately, though meant to be funny, watching this was a bit frustrating for me. 3/5 stars

*THIS HEART OF MINE* - Fred Astaire gets to woo a princess (Lucille Bremer) while having ulteriar motives. Of course, love is unexpected! Nice choreography, it is again proved that Astaire can have a woman fall in love with him just by waltzing together! 5/5 stars

*THE SWEEPSTAKE TICKET* - Funny Fanny Brice is priceless in this skit! Hume Cronyn and William Farley (from the "I Love Lucy" show) also star but Fanny Brice steals the whole number. 5/5 stars

*LOVE* - Latin love song steamily sung by Lena Horne, don't fast forward! 4/5 stars

*WHEN TELEVISION COMES* - Could easily be the best skit in the whole movie, Red Skeleton is one of the greatest comedians out there. SMOOOOOTH! 5/5 stars

*LIMEHOUSE BLUES* - Another Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer dance number. Both might have done heavy make-up to have almond eyes, but their dance style is unmistakable. 4/5 stars

*AN INTERVIEW* - Judy Garland is given a bit of a corny interview. Listen to her liven up towards the end, her voice is just so powerful and purely divine! 5/5 stars

*THE BABBIT AND THE BROMIDE* - Easily the best dance number in the whole movie and the best tap-dancing you'll ever see. I mean, that's what you'll get when you put together the best of the best, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. This number alone will make buying this tape worthwhile. 5/5 stars

*BEAUTY* - In one word, beautiful. Kathryn Grayson stuns me every time I hear her voice. Cyd Charisse also gets to do some ballet, though short. 5/5 stars

Here's some trivia:
*8 numbers were cut from the film before released and the movie was supposed to be 3 hours long.
*The horse ridden by Lucille Ball is the Lone Ranger's Silver.
*One of only two films in which Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire danced together. The other was "That's Entertainment, Part II (1974)".
*William Powell had played Florenz Ziegfeld already in the 1936 movie, "The Great Ziegfeld".

WONDERFUL ENTERTAINMENT.
Wow! What a wonderful potpourri of prime M-G-M talent, 1946 style! There are so many memorable bits in this fantastic extravaganza that it's just GOTTA have something to please most everyone who loves vintage musical entertainment. Filmed in magnificent old Technicolor, here's a treasure trove to behold with performances from some of yesteryears greatest stars: from Lucille Ball & Judy Garland to Fred Astaire & Gene Kelly. This film brought the studio over $5 million in profits and rather than give out plot details, I'll give you samples of just why: Florenz Ziegfeld is portrayed in Heaven by William Powell - The LIMEHOUSE BLUES number with Lucille Bremer and Fred Astaire - THE INTERVIEW by Judy Garland (originally intended for and offered to Greer Garson (!) - A glamourous red-head named Lucille Ball in the MEET THE LADIES number - Red Skelton doing his very funny WHEN TELEVISION COMES - LOVE as done by exquisite torch singer Lena Horne - THE DRINKING SONG from Verdi's opera LA TRAVIATA (performed by James Melton and Marion Bell). These aren't but half of what the viewer can expect upon watching this wonderful video - Enjoy! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, and screenplay, William Wyler's brilliant drama about domestic life after World War II remains one of the all-time classics of American cinema. Inspired by a pictorial article about returning soldiers in Life magazine, the story focuses on three war veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell in unforgettable roles) and their rocky readjustment to civilian life in their Midwestern town of Boone City. Capturing the contradictory moods of America in the mid to late 1940s, this three-hour drama spans a complex range of honest emotions, from joyous celebration and happy reunion to deep-rooted ambivalence and reassessment of personal priorities. A movie milestone when released in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives still packs a punch with powerful, timeless themes. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (78)

A poignant drama that provides insight into post-WW2 America
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a compelling dramatic masterpiece, and certainly one of the best films ever made. It's not as well known today as other pieces from the period, such as "Casablanca" or "Citizen Kane", but it is nevertheless a classic that deserves ranking with those same films.

This film paints a picture of the struggles of World War II servicemen that they faced AFTER the war was over. It was a more personal struggle of men returning home after being away for many years, and after experiencing horrors that their loved ones could never fully understand. They return home as changed people, and come home to changed lives.

The story of such a homecoming experienced by thousands of men after World War II is told from the perspective of three fictional characters: Captain Fred Derry, a bombadier in the Army Air Corps (Dana Andrews), Sergeant Al Stevenson, an Army infantryman (Frederich March), and Seamen Homer Parrish(Harold Russell). They happen to meet on the plane to their hometown, having never met before, and immediately form a bond built upon mutual understanding of the experiences of war and the anxieties of returning home again.

Captain Derry came from a poor background before the war, and married a blond bombshell (Virgnia Mayo) while in the Air Corps. He hopes to return home to a better life, a nice home with his wife, and a better job. This was not to be, as Derry struggles to try and deal with bad job prospects (no one in the civilian world needs a bombadier) and a cheating wife. In a poignant moment in the film, Derry (at his lowest) tells his Father to throw away the citations for his medals, because "they don't mean anything". His Father reads the one for the Distinguished Flying Cross, signed by General Jimmy Doolittle, and a look of pride comes over the old man's face for his son's heroism that makes you want to cry and cheer all at the same time. It also makes the viewer see how criminal it was for such a man to be made to feel worthless.

Sergeant Stevenson comes home to better circumstances, being a banker in the civilian world with a wife, two grown children, and a nice apartment. But he too must confront troubles, as Stevenson must get to know a family that progressed without him, and balance his job with his desire to aid servicemen seeking G.I. Bill loans. He battles with his bank's bosses over the loan issue, and also struggles with alcoholism.

Seamen Parrish's problems are the most obvious. He lost his hands during the war, and now must come home to his family and fiancee with hooks for hands. The actor who potrayed Parrish, Harold Russell, was a real disable veteran, and lends credibility to the role that no one else could have due to real life experience.

This may seem like a depressing film, but it is actually uplifting in its entirety because it does show that hope doesn't die, and that you really can come home again after all. It is also a film of historical importance due to the insights it provides into post-World War II America, and the struggles of veterans in the post-war years. Captain Derry, Sergeant Stevenson, and Seamen Parrish, and their individual struggles to reclaim their lives can provide the student of history an important perspective on the many real life veterans who returned home, and the country of the time they returned home to.

The film has certainly earned accolades over the years. It won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1946. It was named by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 Best Movies ever made, and was also named as one of the most important films of all time by the National Archives for the National Film Registry.

"The Best Years of Our Lives" is not to be missed for both its dramatic poignancy and its insight into an important period of American History. And its a beautiful sight to behold in DVD quality.

One of the best pictures of our lives
The story of three American veterans of WW II and their adjustments to civilian life remains as poignant and moving today, as when it was first released. The three veterans (Fredric March, Harold Russell, and Dana Andrews) all from the same town, but different backgrounds, journey home together on a military transport plain. Fredric March's character, Al Stephenson, is a mature married man with a good profession, a beautiful wife (Myrna Loy), and two grown children (Teresa Wright and Michael Hall); Harold Russell is a disabled Navy veteran (he lost both hands in battle) unsure of where he stands in life and with his high school sweetheart (Cathy O' Donnell); and Dana Andrews is the "glamour boy" bombardier who comes home to find that the civilian world, which includes his wife (Virginia Mayo), cares little about his exploits as a caption in the Air Force. The journey each man takes is both engrossing and entertaining. It's hard to believe this movie is almost 3 hours long; it moves along so quickly. With a dream cast of top talent from 1940s Hollywood, director William Wyler gets superb performances from the stars as well as the most minor bit players. The action begins with a night on the town with March, Loy, and Wright celebrating March's return home. During their celebrating, they run into Russell and Andrews at Russell's uncle's (Hogey Carmichael) tavern. Having celebrated a bit too much, Loy and Wright load March and Andrews into their car to take them home. They drop Andrews off at his wife's apartment building, but he doesn't have a key to get in, and in a drunken stupor collapses outside its entrance. Loy and Wright proceed to load Andrews back in the car and take him in for the night. The relationships between all the main characters reach a level of poignancy without being overly sentimental, which is no easy feat, especially with what must have been tough stuff to watch for an overwhelming majority of the audience when originally released. Russell and O' Donnell's scenes are moving and sensitive, as are Loy and March's. Even though Andrews arrives home physically intact, his lot seems to be the worst of the group. Married to a self-centered-woman who doesn't love him, he longs for a relationship with someone like Peggy Stephenson (Wright). Things get complicated when the feelings are mutual, with Wright beginning to have strong feelings for Andrews. There are many wonderful moments in this film. Roman Bohnen as Andrews's father is terrific as a man who has a tough time expressing his genuine love for his disillusioned son. When he reads the official letter recounting his son's bravery to his wife (Gladys George), it's an incredibly powerful moment. Another wonderful scene is Wright's visit to the store where Andrews works as a salesman at the perfume counter (as well as at the soda fountain). The good-natured flirting between them seems both honest and real in the hands of these two pros. One could go on and on about the wonderful score, the great Gregg Toland cinematography--from the opening shots from the transport plane to the aircraft "graveyard,"--but this is one wonderful whole that is equal to the sum of its parts; everything falls together seamlessly. Top talent at their peak; run don't walk to get a copy of this classic Best Picture winner (1946).

An Amazing Film.
I was fortunate enough to see this movie on TV a few nights ago, and I must say that it is one of the best films I've seen for YEARS. It's hard to believe that I've never heard of this movie. Even though I was born more than 30 years after this movie's release, it melted my heart unlike any film I've seen. I was very surprised by some of the material in the movie. It seemed way ahead of its time, with topics like alcohol addictions, the questionable results of WWII, etc. It's definately a movie that I'll be adding to my DVD collection.

Superb (and Still Relevant)
I'm usually reluctant to watch old movies no matter how good they're supposed to be. I'm thankful that for some reason I decided to at least watch the beginning and see if it held my attention. This movie will break your heart, all of the characters are sympathetic, and although it is almost 60 years old it is extremely relevant right now, since the US is now in the middle of a war and a new generation of veterans is coming home. It is moving, touching, disturbing, thought-provoking, and inspiring, and for someone too young to have known any family members who remembered WWII or post-war America, highly informative. I suspect, from the number of awards this movie won in the 1940s, that it was well-received, but if this movie were released today it would be denounced as anti-American and unpatriotic.

Correction to Jeff Shannon's Review
The Best Years of Our Lives may have perhaps drawn from some things in a Life Magazine article on returning vets, but the plot is really based on MacKinlay Kantor's 1945 novel Glory for Me, which follows a similar trio of returning GIs. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Psychiatric power against women
This film is extremely important about our vision of women in our world, how women can become instruments or tools for the pleasure of some men who have authority. Here it is the situation of a woman who goes to a psychiatrist for help. This man uses the tremendous power he gets over her, due to the transference she experiences and that is part of the treatment and the guarantee that she may be cured, to force her into sex. This woman is utterly destroyed, or could be utterly destroyed if she did not find a couple of lawyers who are going to help her fight back, and she will win, even if the doctor in his appeal will manage to be exonerated from his crime. That is the second harsh lesson of this film : justice is not always fair and the poweful of this world always manage to get the upper hand. But the battle is enough for this woman to regain her own balance, her own sanity, her own hope that life is after all livable, in spite of that cruelty that can assail us so often.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan ... Read more

Amazon.com

This plain-vanilla version of the old Lee Falk comic strip stars Billy Zane as a 1930s incarnation of the Phantom, an African-based, masked hero whose forefathers have all donned the costume at one time or another. Sworn to crush evil, the Phantom leaves his jungle lair to venture to New York, where he takes on a charming but criminal mastermind (Treat Williams). There's no oomph to this film at all. The very capable director Simon Wincer (Phar Lap) seems to be working with a leaden production and an inferior talent pool behind the camera.The talent in front of the camera do their best, but it isn't enough. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (58)

SUPER FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT five stars
He is a hero who is simple a decent person. A hero without super powers or trust funds. A very humane person with a code of decency. A hero who is certainly needed today. It is a film that is needed today. It is a film to watch and enjoy. This movie leaves one with a good feeling. It is not a film to nitpick or compare to others because that would totally miss the reason for escaping into it. A truly wonderful family film, that will live in the memories of those lucky enougn to watch it together. What a great cast! Billy Zane,his penetrating eyes framed by the Phantom' mask, brings the hero to life. Kristy Swanson and Catherine Zeta-Jones are strong,independent women. Veteran actors such as John Capaodice, Al Ruscio, and Samantha Eggar to name a few,lend their considerable expertise to the production. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa appearence dominates the screen, generating much excitement. Patrick McGoohan's presence and voice is a outstanding. He is truly an screen legend.

Unfortunely the critics in their wisdom contributed to the short run at the box office office nevertheless the viewers know quality. The Phantom and all he stands for lives in the hearts of those willing to understand.

Ineptly written and directed
The Phantom has one saving grace: Billy Zane. Without this fine actor, the film would have been absolutely horrendous, possibly unwatchable. The simple fact is that The Phantom could have been good entertainment, but it's so poorly written, directed, and acted, I have to wonder why the film was greenlighted in the first place.

Sure, the prospect of an Indiana Jones-type film is a fun idea, but it's nowhere in the vein of the the films in that series; it never generates any thrills or genuine fun. The action sequences are simply too routine and are occasionally terribly choreographed.

As for the script, it's been a while since I've heard dialogue this hackneyed. It makes the recent Mission to Mars look like something written by David Mamet in comparison. The plot's also fairly ridiculous and is done with a touch of camp, but nowhere near enough to at least make the movie so bad it's almost enjoyable to watch. I can't believe Jeffrey Bowman doesn't show any of the creative touches he put in The Last Crusade.

Performances, the less said the better. The only guy who does a fine job is Billy Zane, and though he never always convinces as a superhero, he's charismatic enough to make the experience bearable. Treat Williams as the villain overacts to an extent I would rather not describe. Catherine Zeta Jones also shamelessly hams it up with a cheesy accent; I bet she's taken this film out of her resume. As for Kristy Swanson, I guess we can tell why she won't nowhere. If anything, the movie proves she's not a very capable actress.

Pulp hero
Billy Zane plays the Phantom perfectly. He's not a dark, grim superhero like Batman or a neurotic superhero like Spider-Man. The Phantom loves being a superhero and being the good guy.

This is one of the best adaptions of a comic book (cartoon strip) ever captured on film. This is the type of movie meant for children of all ages. If you're looking for a movie with deep meaning, thought provoking dialogue and lots of introspection, what the heck are you doing watching The Phantom? Go see a different movie. If you're looking for entertainment in the vein of pulp fiction heroes from the Golden Age this is the movie for you.

Nifty live-action comicbook
This is the type of DVD that works best if you watch it on a rainy Saturday morning. I missed "Phantom" when it was released theatrically many years ago and discovered it on DVD. This is an old-fashioned comicstrip/movie serial sort of film that's perhaps too straightforward for most tastes. There's no irony or winking references here, which sets it apart from most other superhero movies. I liked it, but didn't love it, and I can fully understand if it's not to everyone's taste. I suggest you rent it, watch it on a gloomy weekend and see if it doesn't make you feel like a kid again if only for a few minutes.

Great Comic adventure
The Phantom is quite good and the cast is great too. The Phantom was an enjoyable facinating comic, and any fans of the comic book will find no reason not to watch the feature-length movie. This movie is a great action ride adventure and i'm sure you'll love the story. Same charecters and no flaws, this movie is perfect. 8.5/10. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The birth of Jeannie!
Jeannie comes to live with her master in these two episodes,that debuted Jeannie's series!

In 'The Lady In The Bottle', Anthony finds Jeannie's bottle and releases the glamorous girl for the first time!

'My Hero?' has Jeannie sending Anthony back to her old Arabian village to marry him. Anthony is more than a little taken aback!

The pilot has also made an appearance on video in a ghastly colorised version, which omits Jeannie's subtitles on the island and changes the opening credits to not include the supporting player's names. Pure sacrilage!

Two Great Episodes including the Pilot!
In the pilot episode, "The Lady In The Bottle", Captain Tony Nelson's spaceship crashes on a deserted desert island. He finds a bottle on the beach and a beautiful Genie (Jeannie) comes out of it!

In the second episode, "My Hero",Jeannie "blinks" Captain Nelson back to ancient Persia where he meets another Genie. This one is a huge, nasty, male Genie named Ali and he doesn't care too much for Captain Nelson. Jeannie also comes to the mistaken conclusion that she and Captain Nelson will be getting married! When Captain Nelson tells her that his plans are different, she leaves him at the mercy of Ali!

This is a must see and have for any IDOJ fan!!
In glorious black and white film, captured for the ages by the magic of video tape, is the pilot episode of I Dream of Jeannie. Conceived, written and produced by famed author Sidney Sheldon, the pilot episode sets the stage for what was to become a five season run on NBC. In the pilot, Captain Anthony Nelson finds himself stranded on a deserted island in the South Pacific after his space mission is aborted. While trying to spell out the distress signal SOS with shells and beach debris, he stumbles upon an odd shaped, old bottle and upon opening it forever changes his life when in a burst of smoke suddenly appears our beloved Barbara Eden. The episode follows a comic and rapid pace from this point after Captain Nelson is rescued and returns home to Coco Beach. Little does he realize that the genie he had said goodbye to on the beach cunningly becomes a stowaway in his duffle bag. What is very interesting about this episode is that the viewer walks away knowing that the two main characters (Jeannie and Cpt. Nelson) will build a very interesting relationship. To what degree, the viewer won't know...they'll just need to tune in to other espisodes. Also interesting to note is that IDOJ appears to be the first show that deals with a male and a female co-habitating outside of wedlock. (very progressive for 1965 society). I highly reccommend this video for any fan or anyone who has never seen the show, or anyone who likes a lady running around in a red velvet bolero jacket and sheer harem pants!!! ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Wait for the complete series on DVD
Don't get me wrong, the footage is 5 stars - hilarious, being made up of skits from the BBC sitcom, "Mr. Bean", starring the brilliant Rowan Atkinson, but it is just a compilation. True fans will save their money for the complete series on DVD. Well, we have Blackadder, now where is Mr. Bean and "The Thin Blue Line" on DVD? Bean is completely opposite of Blackadder and Thin Blue Line in that as Bean, Rowan is all but mute and completely relies on physical comedy, where as in Blackadder (as Edmund) and Thin Blue line (as Inspector Fowler) Rowan talks his head off and the main source of comedy is in the dialogue, although physical comedy is not absent by any means. Those who only know Rowan for being Bean may be shocked when they see Blackadder or Blue line for the first time because of the drastic character change, but trust me he's just as funny with words as he is with physical action. "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean" is fine for a rental or for an extremely casual fan, but bigger fans of Rowan and Bean are still waiting for the complete series on DVD. I can highly recommend the Blackadder 5 disc DVD set, which contains all 4 series (24 episodes), a reunion special, and other goodies (read my review of that item for much more detail) but I recommend saving your money for the complete "Mr. Bean" series. The BBC series' "Mr. Bean" and "The Thin Blue Line" are essential comedy and I can't wait until they are represented as well as the brilliantly hilarious "Blackadder" series.

AMERICA NEEDS MORE MR. BEAN MOVIES!!!
My husband and I have always enjoyed Mr. Bean.

Well flash forward. Our grand daughter is now his number one fan. Two years old and she can't wait to visit us. She sits for hours watching this wonderful comedian and all his antics. We can't pry her away from the "telly". "Mr. Bean Grandma - Mr. Bean!"

Mr. Atkinson, if you're out there Alexis H. is deffinantly you're number one fan and oh, by the way, please could you do a few more new episodes? I've seen the Best Bits of Mr. Bean about 1000 times. Please just a few new ones for Alexis!

Bean is delightful and funny all his episodes will make you laugh.

Money well spent. Fun for the whole family.

sooooooooo funny. 16th april 2004.
The reason i loved this is because it shows you different parts off different tapes of mr bean. He makes me laugh he is great.

Great DVD
I'm an obsessed fan of Mr Bean and Although this is bits of Mr Bean - it still includes lots of funny footages. Because it's not enough for me, I am ordering the "complete" collection which they say is still slightly edited.

Very Funny
A lot of people are complaining about the length of the clips but if you look in the title it says the best "bits" which means they are only short clips. I think this video does a good job of selecting some of the Classic Mr.Bean moment. All of Mr. Bean is funny but if you want the most popular and most haliarous moment this is a good video to buy. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A great original story well told.
When Warren Moore dies as a Canadian expatriate in India, he leaves a son Jeffrey who has been raised his entire life in India and who has been taught to follow Indian beliefs including Hinduism.

Jeffrey (nicknamed Ganesh by his father) is forced to return to Canada to live with Charlotte, his father's sister. Jeffrey's beliefs are as foreign and unsuited for Canada as his wardrobe.

Charlotte is not entirely able to take care of herself, let alone a teenager who is different. She has been ignoring legal notices for some time and is in danger of losing the family's ancestral home.

Jeffrey's fellow high school students and even his teachers quickly single him out as different. He is mocked for his different way of speaking but the students and faculty soon learn that Jeffrey has an inner strength that makes him different in positive ways as well.

Some students are more generous of spirit. Tom, the captain of the high school basketball team, and Lucy, a girl at the school, take an interest in him and befriend him.

Jeffrey finally gains acceptance and a bit of local notoriety when he starts to aid his aunt in the struggle to keep the family home. He explains the principles of satyagraha to her and they begin a hunger strike that end up changing the whole town.

This movie is a great story, well told. The movie has an honest, genuine, life affirming quality ably served by the Cat Stephens music sprinkled throughout. Ryan Reynolds and Joe Roncetti are adorable as Jeffrey and Tom and Glenne Headly is very convincing as Charlotte.

More than an afternoon special
This movie has the formula that a lot of afternoon specials use, where the displaced kid knows more then those around him. The title is the redeeming factor. The movie presses upon you the lessons of magic. That it is real and works in ways not planned. At any moment they could have lost their house. Due to process and time people had time to reflect on what they were doing. So magic does not have to be supernatural. Especially ordinary magic. Similar to miracles, it is not some supernatural process that is a miracle; it is that the process happens when you need it.

Ordinary story of out-cast makes good, just better.
Thought the movies storyline strays from the book, the message is still the same. It is a very heartwarming story about a boy (Ryan Reynolds) who grows up in India. When is father passes away, he moves to Canada to live with his aunt (Glenne Headley). He has a tough time fitting in with his peers, but eventually makes friends with a basketball player. He even catches the head cheerleaders attention. But all looks threatened when the county wants to tear down the house that his grandfather built. Only he has the key to save the house, and his history. Moving and very touching. One that the whole family will love, or just you. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Not a true Best of Eddie Murphy video
The first thing one needs to know about this tape is that it is not a Best of Eddie Murphy collection by any means. This video contains the bulk of two SNL episodes hosted by Eddie Murphy: one when he, still a cast member, filled in for an ailing Nick Nolte, and one marking his return as host to the show he had recently left (oddly, they are shown in reverse chronological order). SNL just wasn't a very good show in those years; Eddie Murphy had basically been carrying the show on his own shoulders. Since all of the skits on this tape don't actually include Eddie Murphy, you get some pretty bad segments to go along with the good ones. Murphy even warned the audience in his first monologue that some things on the show would not be very funny, and he wasn't lying.

There are a few memorable skits on this tape, however. Buckwheat lives again to have an odd reunion with Alfalfa, Eddie delivers one of his vintage Stevie Wonder impressions, Mr. Robinson returns to the neighborhood, and Murphy goes undercover as a white man in his memorable documentary White Like Me. Throwaway skits such as Milestones (with Eddie as Desmond Tutu) and Hairem Skarem (with Eddie as an effeminate hair care professional) manage to dreg a few laughs out of the indifferent material. Gumby gets his own Christmas special, but the bad moments outweigh the good in this particular skit. The real highlight here, in my opinion, is Black History Moment. Eddie fudges his lines a couple of times and compensates with some very funny ad libs.

With the good comes the bad. Harry Anderson's eight minutes of comical magic seems to bring the video to a crashing halt. Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich and Famous, with Martin Short playing Jerry Lewis' niece, is bad; The Stairs, with Martin Short as a soldier who has no clue as to how to climb stairs, is even worse; Julia Louis-Dreyfus' A Christmas Message is simply atrocious. Eddie Murphy fans will certainly find some good material on this tape, but it comes with some pretty unfunny baggage. Don't let the title fool you: this is a far cry from a Best of Eddie Murphy video.

Best compilation of Eddie Murphy material
This video is probably the funniest compilation of SNL skits with Eddie Murphy. A college friend of mine had a copy and we spent many a night watching it over and over. Then we'd hit the bars and perform skits in our drunken stupor. I have been looking to purchase this video for the past couple of years, and would like to find it!!!

This video is HILARIOUS
If yuo want an insane laugh, go for this tape anyday. It is blatantly offensive and very 80's, but that is what makes it so much fun- and neat, that he was great then and is great now as well! ... Read more