Amazon.com essential video

John Waters's goofy, 1990 comedy about a Baltimore girl (Amy Locane) who can't decide if she should remain "good" in her 1954 world or hang out with the motorcycle boys is funny in a scene-by-scene way, but doesn't quite gel into the grand piece the director was hoping for. The cast is exceptionally likable, however, including Johnny Depp as an Elvis type and Iggy Pop as a chattering loony. The best material is set in a fringe world of bikers and losers on the outskirts of town, and Waters writes some hilarious sardonic dialogue for the characters. Cry-Baby is the last of Waters's more undisciplined features; he followed it with the glossier but no less perverse Serial Mom. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (107)

Extremely silly, stupid and bad. It's great!
This movie is so bad it hurts. It's incredibly campy and silly, a wonderful parody. I'd say a definate must for Johnny Depp fans (and I can't say I'm one of them) and for anyone who enjoys a good laugh at stupidly silly films. No smart comedy hear, no deep message or meaning, just a hilarious spoof filled with catchy songs and dance moves. A good rainy day film, or for cheering you up, though I think if you were really in a bad mood this movie would just seem stupid and make you want to scream. Still, not bad when you want a laugh. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone looking for witty comedy or a serious or engaging film, just someone ready for a silly and over-the-top movie filled with song and dance and tons of unbelievabley stereotyped fun characters.

4-stars for a quirky and silly movie. Nothing extrodinary, but still fun!

Cry-Baby Walker Rules
I had seen this movie in the movie theatre as a teenager and it Rocked!! That started my enjoyment of Johnny Depp films. I never watched 21 Jump Street until this movie. The cast is so funny. The TV version I seen added parts that I had not seen in the theatre but cut out parts that were extremely funny. Now I have a copy of the TV version plus the video version which was what I seen in at the movies. It would be really great to get on DVD with both versions together (played together or both on one disc). To this day I can sing every song (I had the soundtrack before the videos) and say most of the words with everyone. It is a funny movie that just won't get old watching over and over!! In fact I watched it today. I just can't say enough about how hilarious this movie. It is the "bad boy" falling in love with the "good girl" just like "Grease" and other great movies like that. I think they did a great job at making it look like the 50s in the movie. It has been my favorite movie since I seen it.

Cry Baby........
I wouldn't recommend this film. I think I got bored. It was so long ago, but I believe I was bored.

He's so hott!
I have been watching this movie ever since I was 6, and now I'm 15. It's great and the best part is that Johnny Depp is in it. I think he's incredibly hott no matter what he wears. This movie should definately be on dvd. What I don't get is why does Johnny and (Amy) make out in the movie when she is still dating the other guy, lol. But, it's a very cute movie. I think everybody who hasn't seen it yet, should!

why on EARTH is this not on dvd?!?!
I thought that this film was great and fantastic for cheering you up. The songs were really catchy and cheesy (in a good way) and Johnny Depp looked incredible. A must for ALL fans. It just makes me wonder what is going through the directors head by not putting this on dvd, it is mazing. ... Read more

Album Description

Canadian DVD release for 1974 spaghetti-western inspired by Sergio Leone who produced, starring Henry Fonda & featuring a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. Also known as 'Il Mio Nome E Nessuno'. 2000 release. ... Read more

Reviews (59)

Quick Draws......
This review refers to the WHAM! DVD edition of "My Name Is Nobody"......

Who is faster on the draw than the legendary gunslinger Jack Beauregard(Henry Fonda)?.....NOBODY! (Terence Hill). That's Who! This is the most delightful western, that the whole family can enjoy together(there is some mild violence and language).

Jack Beauregard who has made quite a name for himself with a gun, just wants to slip away quietly on a slow boat to Europe. But it's easier said than done. There are others who would rather see him dead and young gunslinger Nobody is hired to do away with Jack. Nobody is so taken with the his idol though, that not only does he want Beauregard to live, but wants his legend to live on in history as well. The pair become the Odd Couple of the 1890's and you'll have a fabulous time watching their antics.

It is filmed in the wonderful "Spagehitte Western" style. Based on an idea by Sergio Leone("Fistful of Dollars" et al), directed by Tonino Valerii, and with a fabulous whimsical score by Ennio Morricone. It has all the great western landscapes, camera work, and some terrific acting.

I was very confused when I was shopping for this DVD. I knew this edition was an import only but I was confused as to how many versions there were.The tech info here says the studio of release is Pid, yet most of the reviews that mentioned the name of the studio refered to it as WHAM. But I really like this film alot, so I went ahead and ordered it. The image of the case here is the same as the one I recieved, but does not say Pid anywhere on it, and is WHAM!. So I just want to clear that up in case anyone else was wondering the same thing. And by the way, it's a decent DVD transfer as well.

The DVD is very good. The sound is excellent. I wasn't sure what to expect as there was no info here or on the box as far as the sound was concerned. My DVD player decoded it at DD2.0, and the music as well as the dialouge was crisp and clear. Every little detail(like Fonda getting a shave) was distinguishable. The picture was clear and good for the most part. There were times when it seemed a little grainey, and also the colors seemed somewhat dated. But the widescreeen (1:85:1) was great and it was a nice view. As far as extras, you won't find too much, but there is some. You can go to "soundtrack" and listen to the music from your favorite scenes. There are also bios on Henry Fonda, Terence Hill and Ennio Morricone (no filmographies though), and there is a theatrical trailer as well.

If you have seen this and know you like it, I would say this DVD is a good buy. If you have'nt seen it but love these kind of spaghetti or comical westerns, you'll love this one! It's a keeper!
Happy Trails...Laurie

Funniest Western Ever
I have seen many comedy westerns including Cat Ballou, Blazing Saddles, and City Slickers. None have made me laugh harder than "My Name is Nobody". Henry Fonda plays a retiring gunfighter, Jack Beauregard, for the law while Terence Hill plays a comedic young gunfighter, Nobody, for good. His methods are quite different and should keep you in stitches more than once. The scenes at the Circus can't be beat. Although he is proficient with a gun, you never see him kill anybody to make his point. Did I mention the musical score by Ennio Morricone is great? As mentioned in a good review, laurie's boomer views, you can play just the soundtrack. I love Morricone's happy go lucky intro song , My Name is Nobody, and all the western themes that dramatize the scenes with Beauregard. I do hope this will be released on DVD in the US and for a lower price. The import quality lacks a little to be desired so I am hoping for a better transfer of the master in the future. The WHAM! version menu is overly red and the Bio has Henry Ford instead of Fonda as the name, but the bio is correct. The DVD is decent quality with a only a few screen glitches and the sound is good. The occasional graininess can't be helped since the original VHS quality was no better and probably the master print wasn't sharp. I don't regret getting the DVD since this is a great movie and my VHS is wearing out.

Nobody beats nobody ...
You will not go wrong with this jewel. Even if you've never seen an Italian western, you will find this one addictive. The only bad thing about this movie is that there is no sequel. This one is the epitome of a spaghetti western. I've enjoyed it time and time again! I 100% agree with all the reviewers remarks on this one.

Incredible Scope
In another review I mentioned this was the funniest Western, but to avoid losing votes on it I had to write another review to mention that the scope is amazing as well. Fans of movies like "How the West Was Won" and "Once Upon a Time in the West" will enjoy it as well. The realism of the movie sets and performances make you believe you are actually seeing this dramatic change in the West from watering hole and cowboys to ranchers and towns. The West is becoming civilized and Henry Fonda as Beauregard is the old ways and Terence Hill as Nobody is the new. I really wish I had pointed that out in my other review. This movie goes well beyond being just a great comedy. It is like he wrapped "The Magnificent Seven" with "Shrek". Sometimes incredibly dramatic, sometimes downright goofy, but always magnificent.

My Name is Nobody - Terence Hill & Henry Fonda
One of my all time favorite comody Westerns! Lots of laughs and funny wit from Terrance Hill and an awesome performance from Henry Fonda. Even my teenage kids love this one!!! ... Read more

Reviews (62)

Great 70's movie
I used to watch Convoy over and over as a kid. It is unfortunate that it is not being produced on DVD or VHS considering how many movies not nearly as entertaining are being marketed. I think if you didn't see it when it first came out you'd find it silly and dated today, but I feel to those of us who saw it initially growing up, it is a classic. Modeled after a catchy country western song by C.W. McCall and with stars such as Kris Kristofferson, Ali McGraw, Burt Young and Ernest Borgnine, I'm surprised it is so obscure. It has some great 70's car/truck chase and crash scenes and a good soundtrack. Hopefully it will come out of moratorium soon and be available.

Breaker-19
CONVOY is the best trucker movie of all time. I've watched this movie 1000's of times when I was a kid and I enjoy it even more now. This movie has action, comedy and romance. Kris Kristofferson was great in this movie, he really brought out the excitement of being a truck driver. As for Ali MacGraw, she was also great and beautiful co-star. The director, Sam Peckinpah did an excellent job capturing the essence of truck driving. After so many years of searching for this movie I finally have a copy of my own thanks to Amazon.com. I'm impatiently waiting for it to come out on DVD(extended verison)....

Convoy
I bought the VHS version of the movie going off the other reviews listed.I received it yesterday and watched it twice.The quality is excellent.No fuzzy picture or sound.If you want a copy of this old classic movie,get one on video.

CONVOY
i havn't played my copy yet. the dvd i got, came from half.com which is a letterbox version, not digitally remastered and released by PACIFIC FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. i paid less than $5.00 brand new.

The old days
When you seee this movie, you will realinze how life in America was not anoying. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Next to The Wild Bunch, this may be director Sam Peckinpah's best movie--all the more extraordinary because it was shot almost a decade before his big breakthrough. Peckinpah cannily cast two aging stars of cowboy films--Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott--in their only film together, playing a pair of over-the-hill cowboys who take a job guarding a gold shipment on its journey down from a mining camp. A reflective tale about two men past their prime, looking back on the paths their lives have taken and the choices they've made, it features a stirring finale and terrific performances by McCrea and Scott. It also features, in her first movie role, a very young Mariette Hartley. Look quickly and you'll see Warren Oates, James Drury, and L.Q. Jones. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Spectacular Western
Joel McCrae stars as Steve Judd, an ageing lawman reduced to taking odd jobs in the rapidly civilizing west of the late 1890s. Taking a job transporting gold from a violent mining camp in the High Sierras, Judd hires two men to help in the job, one a friend(Randolph Scott) from law days gone by. The two assistants plot to steal the gold as soon as they are hired and the action gets thick from there. Vital to this movie is the display of Judd's moral code. Judd may be a man just barely hanging on, a supurfluous man in the New West, but he's kept his manly virtues- his strength of character, his wisdom, his courage, and his dignity. However humbled by his circumstances, Judd is a man worthy of emulation. He is a true hero. END

One of the very best...of all time
When this film came out in 1962 I went with my Dad to see it at the movie theater. Its images, its words, its story have remained with me ever since....

Sam Peckinpah's RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY is one of the finest western adventures in cinematic history. Everything---the superb acting from old time veterans Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea, the crisp and pointed dialogue, the camera work (and film editing), and the never-overdone elegiac underlay of farewell and warning, not just about the "old west" of the motion pictures (of the 1930-1960 period), but about the reality of the American frontier and the American spirit--adds up to excellence.

If two actors truly symbolized the Old West of public imagination, certainly those actors were Randy Scott and Joel McCrea. How fitting that RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY should be their "so long, pardner" to the genre! In 1962 the classic Western was dying, the genre changing, just as America was changing. The spirit of American innocence and optimism was subtly being transformed--while we longed for the return of Randy Scott, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and moral certainties, Vietnam would soon make us a nation of cynics and skeptics. Thus, RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY is more than just a salute to two great Western actors and their farewell to that enduring American film creation the classic Western; RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY tells us, through two of the most admired cowboy actors of all time, about ouselves, about changing American society, and presents us with a classic morality tale. Steve (McCrea)Judd's remarkable words to Gil (Scott) Westrum, when Westrum gently suggests they might skip out with the gold they are charged with transporting, says it all: "All I want to do is enter my house justifed." It was the classic, optimistic American dream that motivated the pioneers of the old West just as it did the pioneers of Virginia or Massachusetts, the foundation of our society "to enter our house justified," to make a just and fair life for ourselves in a new land. RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY reminds us, this one last time, of our original national purpose, and shows us the pitfalls along the way--not just temptation but the "times" that threaten us.

In the end Westrum (Scott) returns (repents of his deviation from the moral course) to Judd's rescue...and Judd's response is: "I knew you would [return] all the time." Perhaps it is indeed too late, for Judd dies, alone, in one of the most amazing scenes in all cinema. Does his fervent dream of a "house justified" die with him? Does the older America of undbounded optimism and a moral code disappear with his departure and the end of the western frontier---and the end of "old time" Westerns? Peckinpah does not answer, and we are left to ponder. But one thing IS certain...we are never the same after watcbing this marvelous film.

Peckinpah's Masterpiece
After a lengthy apprenticeship in the theater and TV, this was Sam Peckinpah's second feature, and the only one that completely fulfilled his talents as a director. Joel McRea and Randolph Scott (finishing their sterling careers in a blaze of glory here) joust over right and wrong, money and honor in a parable about two men bringing a gold shipment from the mines to a bank. Ironically, they are brought to the brink of destruction not by greed but by the torments of young love, something of which they only have dim memories. Peckinpah, who was an accomplished TV scriptwriter, reportedly augmented N.B. Stone's original story with his own touches. The pacing and changes of mood, the action scenes, the great dialogue are all masterfully handled and speak of a very talented artist still more interested in his material than in himself. Sadly, this didn't last; Peckinpah's next feature, "Major Dundee", was a fiasco, and although he created many great moments in a dozen more films over the next 20 years, he never again pulled it all together over the course of an entire project. By the by, "Ride the High Country" is certainly worthy of DVD treatment.

Great in all respects.
The opening scene of this movie fooled me. I thought the movie was going to be a Western comedy set in the city. I was wrong. The character interaction, dialog, and scenery are first rate. Even the soundtrack is stirring to the point that it moves your soul. The conversations between Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott reminded me of my own personal life. The ending is stirring. One of my favorite Westerns of all time.

Peckinpah directs McRae and Scott in this classic western
MGM thought they were producing just another B-Wesern when director Sam Peckinpah made this 1962 movie, but "Ride in the High Country" turns out to be a classic of the genre. Aging ex-Marshall Steve Judd (Joel McRae) is hired to transport a load of gold from a mining camp to town. He hires his old friend, Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) and a younger one, Heck Longtree (Ron Starr) to help him guard the gold. Westrum tries to convince Judd to steal the gold, but Judd refuses. They attend the wild wedding of Elsa (Mariette Hartley), who ends up running away with them, having fallen for young Heck. While the groom's family comes after Elsa, Westrum and Longtree try to steal the gold. Judd stops them and vows to bring them in for trial. But when the in-laws catch up with Judd, Westrum returns to help out his old friend in one last gun battle.

"Ride the High Country" is about the death of the Old West. This film was supposed to be the last film for both Scott and McRae, although McRae changed his mind afterwards. Peckinpah presents a natural Western, in settings far removed from the Monument Valley splendor we associate with John Ford. Both the dialogue and the performances represent that realism as well. The final scene between Scott and McRae is as touching as any this side of "Shane." Of course, Peckinpah goes on to deal with the end of the Old West in a more different fashion in his classic "The Wild Bunch." But I really think this is the better Western once you get past all the bloody violence of the other one. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

SENSATIONAL--MINUS 20
I've been hearing for years about "Twin Peaks", whether by word of mouth or on the internet. It's popular to mention the numerous pop-culture moments this show created and the fact that so many shows try to imitate, and fail, this landmark show. So after reading recaps of the pilot and first couple episodes, I decided to buy the whole thing.

I took a risk and I'd do it again because this show is one of the greatest achievements of all TV time. The pilot is a perfect intro to the show, establishing the characters and plots, the main one and various subplots, that it's addictive. WHO KILLED LAURA PALMER!? The mix of light and dark, quirky humor, heavy drama, fantastic production values, and so much more! If you haven't seen any of the show, stay clear of the last 15-20 minutes. I heard about the special ending and found out that the original pilot ends at Sarah Palmer's scream after her dream. End it there, watch the rest of the series, then go back and watch the ending.

Other than that, sit back, relax, and ENJOY! And believe me, YOU WILL!

The Best 2 Hours of Film Anywhere!
Twin Peaks is the premier for the greatest TV series ever created. Brought in to investigate the murder of Twin Peaks Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, Agent Dale Cooper "Kyle MacLachlan" becomes wrapped up in a town full of mystery, murder, damn good coffee and killer cherry pie.

Start here.
This is pretty much what any fan of the show or David Lynch needs to start with. It's the original movie/pilot, and is a great piece of work. The story, the characters, and the whole northwest environment really make for an interesting and sometimes creepy watch. Many cool actors showed up in "Twin Peaks", among them Kyle McLachlan, Lara Flynn-Boyle, Sheryl Lee, Jack Nance, and the sexy Sherilyn Fenn. If you enjoy this, seek out the VHS collectors series, episodes 1-7. Or the DVD first season, which is also episodes 1-7, minus this pilot.

sdrawkcab dneb smra ym
So I'm sitting on this chair, in this house, on mars when this movie comes on. TWIN PEAKS. The first thing I saw was this grotesque factory-mill type place. And then there was this close-up shot of some rusty machine, and it moved...it moved with the music. Sparks were shooting out everywhere, and it was all moving to this other-worldly melody. Then waterfalls, ponds, ducks...in less than one minute, Lynch had sucked me in, shattered me, put me back together (the way he saw fit), and then he dropped me off into TWIN PEAKS.
The whole thing was beatiful. Lynch and Frost had created this soft cloud of a world that was filled shards of glass and rusty nails. It was all like a dream -a dream that you don't want to wake up from. Bobby, Donna, Shelly, Big Ed. I was lost.
"I too have been touched by the devilish one. Ahh, but when I saw the face of God..." This sleek-Norman Rockwell-wrong way on a one way street-imitation silk-nightmare is a mountain top work of art that leads you dead on into the midst of the footstool of the heavens.
-be sure to watch it in the full blossom of the evening, and you just might experience the beatific vision...FIRE WALK WITH ME.

One of TV's best pilots!
If only it were on DVD! This tape contains the classic 2 hour pilot for David Lynch's extraordinary and quirky TV cult favorite, "Twin Peaks". This 2 hour intro is NOT part of the six tape "complete" series collection that has the actual 29 episodes. There is a neat, confusing, untelevised 15 minute ending that was used to "wrap up" the whole murder when this same tape was released in Europe as a made-for-TV movie. Still, it is simply Twin Peaks at its best. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Scientists discover that a pair of giant crabs mutated by atomic tests is responsible for the disappearance of researchers on a remote island. The crabs, which assimilate the voices and intellects of their victims, slowly destroy the island as they thin out the rescue party until a do-or-die plan is hatched. This early effort by Roger Corman has been labeled as schlock due to its pulpy title and atrocious monster effects, but the script by Charles B. Griffith, while stretched thin by the usual low-budget constraints, is more intriguing and gently self-deprecating than a movie about monster crustaceans should be (Griffith also wrote the blackly comic scripts for A Bucket of Blood and Corman's original Little Shop of Horrors). The script's handling of the monsters is especially notable; the crabs' malevolent logic flies in the face of 1950s creature standards, which demanded that monsters be drooling and dumb. And Corman's fast-and-furious direction delivers a surprising number of shocks (most notably, the alarming "bus" when Little Shop alumnus Mel Welles's character meets his fate) as it barrels toward the film's slam-bang conclusion. Sharp-eyed character actor fans will spot among the cast Russell Johnson and Ed Nelson, years before their respective TV fame on Gilligan's Island and Peyton Place; longtime Corman bit player Beach Dickerson and screenwriter Griffith portray sailors. Made for $70,000, the film grossed approximately $1 million, making it Corman's most profitable picture of the period. Crab Monsters played theaters in 1957 on a double bill with Corman's equally satisfying Not of This Earth. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Enjoy it with a bag of popcorn and some juju bees
Remember those hokey old "B" thrillers from the 50's? Remember your youth when it seemed like everyone had seen every 'monster' movie and loved to talk about it?

I remember having a friend over for the evening, watching our old B&W tv, and throwing a blanket over the monitor and ourselves -- we were in a drive-in *grin*. Shows like this were what we watched.

This film is a great 'time trip' back to those early days of monster movies when atom bomb testing (did we really detonate those things above ground?) was the cause for every mutation or monster loosed on humanity. As a young boy, it had scared me -- the voices in the night and an island which kept getting smaller gave me dreams. Of course, today's film crowd would hoot at it. But it's not the cinematography, special effects or even the story that makes this flick one worth adding to your library. It's the wistful return to our youth that gives it charm.

If you were born after 1970, you'll probably not have much in common with this film -- bypass it. However, if you grew up watching 'Chiller Theater' and 'Movie of the Week', this film will transport you back in time to the less complex world of our childhood.

Famous Monsters of Filmland fans will love it
I've wanted to get this movie on video for years, and finally got one thanks to Amazon. A glorious low-budget Roger Corman piece that has some surprisingly clever ideas in its script, and a bit of genuinely creepy atmosphere. Sure, the crab monsters themselves are a bit naff, but that's exaactly what you expect when you watch a movie like this. If you can't appreciate the finer points of a B-movie, you should obviously stay well away. But if you remember watching this one on television when you were a kid, like me, you may find yourself drawn to it the same way I was.

The print used for the video is not very good, unfortunately. Too much contrast, and it looks like it's more than one generation down from the master video copy. It makes it difficult to see what's happening at times. I don't know if other editions have better video quality. Although the edition I have is recorded at SP, it almost looks as if it were dubbed from an EP tape.

But you know what? I'm still happy I have the video. Any Saturday morning I can escape back to my childhood by watching a cheap B&W monster flick is a good one to me, and this is a perfect movie to fit the bill.

Good Monster Movie!
This movie was another Grade B gem from the master of these
types of films Roger Corman.A rescue party is sent to an island
to rescue a group of scientists.The rescue party discovers that earthquakes are decimating the island. They make a scarier discovery in the forms of giant crabs who have undergrown a
tremendous growth cycle because of atomic testing.One by one
these monster crabs kill and eat the members of the rescue team.
It is an all out battle for survival.Who will win? The monster
crabs or the rescue team members.This movie stays exciting until
the ending. This is a unique film that you will enjoy.

Crabs take over the island...
Another Roger Corman classic staring monsters from the deep. This time we have a research team investigating an island for effects of radiation. We all know that radiation in a black and white film creates monsters. This time is no exception.

In typical Corman fashion, the plot is established and the terror begins and at first we only see the handywork of the monsters and not the monsters themselves. As quakes wrack the island, causing large sections to disappear, and scientists disappear, we become aware that there are some nast giant crabs on the island. They have been eating the scientists and causing the island to sink. If that wasn't enough, they have absorbed the knowledge, and voices, of those they have eaten.

The film climaxes with the final battle between the survivors and the crabs on all that remains of the island (about 10 yards across).

This is the type of movie that makes B-movies so much fun. Monsters, suspense, bad effects, melodrama and sinking islands. Great film.

Pay no attention to the wheels and legs under the monsters
If you see only one talking crab monster movie in your life then this 1957 bad B-movie from director Roger Corman is the one to check out. The monsters are stupid looking, the dialog is laughable, but just keep in mind the film's tagline--"From the depths of the sea... a tidal wave of terror!"--and enjoy the film. The idea is that some scientist types are off to a Pacific island to study the effects of atomic radiation (they are bad; worse than you can imagine). What they discover are a pair of giant crabs who (wait until you hear this) ate the previous group of scientists, thereby absorbing their knowledge and allowing them to imitate the voices of their human victims so they can get more people to munch on. Just to make things fair the humans have guns and grenades, but they are trapped on the island when their plane explodes and bad weather stops their radios from working. Oh, and did I mention that the island is slowly sinking into the sea?

Of course the scientists are mostly menu items, which leaves it to our hero, Hank (Russell "The Professor" Johnson), who proudly declares "I'm no scientist, I'm a technician and a handy man." Well, those are the people who made this country and most monster movies great. The human voices from the crabs are rather lame, but the clicking sound they make with their pinchers has its moments. This is a nice example of an early Corman quick and dirty production, the second of nine films the director made that year: "Not of This Earth," "Naked Paradise," "Teenage Doll," "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent," "The Undead," "Sorority Girl," "Rock All Night," and "Carnival Rock." But none of those have fake looking talking crabs rolling around on wheels on a sinking island talking with the voices of the human beings they consumed. Look for screenwriter Charles B. Griffith as Tate and keep in mind that actors Beach Dickerson (Ron Fellows) and Ed Nelson (Ensign Quinlan) are doing double-duty as the operators of the crab monsters. "Attack of the Crab Monsters" definitely goes in the so bad it is good category. In fact, this one might become your textbook definition of bad Science Fiction B-Movie. It is a two-star movie but a four-star experience. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Billy the Kid is reimagined by director Sam Peckinpah as a kind of Old West rock star, a young man who wants to do his own thing but constantly runs up against the objections of the establishment--in this case, the cattle barons who run this part of the country. Peckinpah indulged in some quirky casting, including Bob Dylan as an outlaw named Alias and most of Kristofferson's band as Billy's gang. He also draws exceptional performances out of a cast of old veterans, including James Coburn as the reluctant Pat Garrett, R.G. Armstrong, Katy Jurado, and Slim Pickens, who has a terrific death scene to Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Look for this longer version (122 minutes); the shorter version is the one that MGM recut against Peckinpah's wishes, removing all the character development and Peckinpah's elegiac sense of the Old West in favor of action and violence. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Outstanding Western
This is a stunning Western by any count, whether its the exhausted 70's patina (strangely similar to Easy Rider), Coburn's whiskey-soaked degenerate ambiance, or Peckinpah's inspired and artful trademark mayhem (yes, it even has children playing on a hangman's noose). Forget about Dylan's "Peas ... corn .. carrots" scene, which is completely idiotic and funny only in a 1973 "I'm stoned on brownies and watching Dylan read vegetable cans, wow man" sort of way. Dylan could actually have provided his soundtrack and been done with it. Because that soundtrack is crucial to the lasting and laconic mood of the film. The image of a wounded Chill Wills going to his knees for death while Heaven's Door plays in the background is far too poetic for words. That scene will stay with you for a very long time. As Billy, Kristoffersen has somehow mutated into a baby-faced Jim Morrison lookalike. Coburn is a grizzled and cynical character, hard nosed and out for himself. "I aim to be rich, old, and happy, in that order." The mood throughout the film is fated, inevitable, manifest destiny, "just doing my job." Billy/Kristoffersen is the single character who fights the inevitable: "Times might change, not me." Dozens of great lines in this film. A unique ambiance. Interesting twists and characters. Definitely a keeper.

Did I rent the wrong version?
While recently reading Howard Sounes' "Down the Highway - The Life of Bob Dylan," I rented this movie at my local video place. The "baby-faced" Kris Kristofferson is well worth the price of rental. Dylan's performance is one long wry wink at the Western genre. I watched the movie three times and still never heard Bob *SING* "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Sure, there's a haunting instrumental version accompanying Chill Will's death walk to the creek bed, but I thought I remembered Bob singing it in the theatrically released version?

this needs to be on DVD!
This is a wonderful Western. Extremely stylish. Both Colburn and Kristofferson are cooler than cool. You might also want to check out the Last Days of Frank and Jesse James. It lacks Peckinpah's style and is a tv movie, but it's on DVD and Kristofferson is great as Jesse James.

Jack Elam at his best
The portrayal of Alamoosa Bill by Jack Elam is a classic. It's a shame The Kid has to shoot him, but it's the exclamation point of Elam's skill as an actor. The soundtrack is superb. Rita Coolige is in her prime. See it!

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
One of the best Westerns out there! I just love Rita Coolidge. I've got this movie on Letter Box Laser Disk, but I just can't wait till the DVD arrives! How much longer must we wait?? ... Read more

Description

Based on the true story that captured the hearts of America, THE STRAIGHT STORY is one of those rare films offering powerful, uplifting entertainment for audiences of all ages. Directed by acclaimed director David Lynch (WILD AT HEART, MULHOLLAND DRIVE), this gentle, inspiring film celebrates the human spirit. Richard Farnsworth (MISERY, THE NATURAL) stars as Alvin Straight -- a no-nonsense man who has never been one to lean on others. Now at an age when his eyesight denies him the ability to drive and walking is accomplished only with the help of two canes, Alvin lives a quiet life with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek). But when the call comes that Alvin's estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton, THE GREEN MILE) has suffered a debilitating stroke, Alvin embarks on a dangerous and emotional journey to make amends. With little money, but plenty of patience and tenacity, he climbs aboard his 1966 John Deere lawnmower and plots the 260-mile course from his small Iowa town to Lyle's home in Wisconsin. Filmed along the actual route that the real Alvin Straight traveled in 1994, THE STRAIGHT STORY is a heartwarming and poignant drama chronicling Alvin's six-week odyssey and the many lives he touches along the way. ... Read more

Reviews (160)

A straightforward story honestly told.
A wonderful gentle movie that I'm still enjoying after several viewings. Clearly Mr Lynch is not afraid to experiment and deliver something different and this is so unlike his previous output. Judging from some of the reviews this is not a movie for everyone but fortunately the one or two stars are in a minority. Most of the others, like me, appreciated the slow moving (just like five mph Deere mower) unfolding of Alvin's big adventure and the folks he met. Where else other than the Midwest, where honesty comes as standard, could this story take place.

There is so much to enjoy! Angelo Badalamenti creates the perfect bluegrass style theme music, cinematographer Freddie Francis captures the gorgeous colors of the Midwest, the actors and especially Richard Farnsworth sparkle. Great lines, too, Alvin says to a hitchhiker, who has run away from home and shares a meal with him around the campfire, "A warm bed in a house sounds a mite better than eating a hot dog on a stick with an old geezer travelling on a lawn mower".

The 'Straight Story' is a little gem and I bet I'll still be enjoying its warmth and honesty for a long time.

Clearly one of the best acted films of the year
This film is probably one of the warmest and heartbreaking films of the year and it is all because of David Lynch and Richard Farnsworth. Unlike your typical Hollywood movie, David Lynch is able to work in the multitude of charachters in "The Straight Story" in a very natural and unpretentious way. The beauty of the picture is the way in which Alvin Straight (Farnsworth) is able to touch all the people he meets as he travels from Iowa to Wisconsin on his tractor to meet his ailing brother. The ending, which may leave the typical moviegoer scrathching his head and asking "so what happens?", is brilliant in how the expressions on the brothers' faces explain how they feel; and there is no need for a long drawn out speech that screams for the Academy's attention.

This film, in essence is about getting old and how aging has its benefits as well as its tragedies; how anger and resentment of family and friends is really not worth it in the end. Richard Farnsworth does a brilliant job that not many actors could have done. The wisdom he seems to have just by staring at him is astonishing. The second best line in the movie is when a young man asked him, "What is the worst thing about getting old?" and Alvin stares at him and says quietly, "Remembering when you were young." The best line, of course is the last sentence of the movie which makes you feel happy as well as sad inside.

David Lynch did a beautiful job in making the cornfields of the midwest seem amazingly scenic; trust me, I have been through Iowa and it is not as gorgeous as he made it out to be. The soundtrack goes perfect with the movie also. And I did not even mention Sissy Spacek, who plays Alvin's daughter and she does a great job as well as the rest of the cast in playing characters touched by Alvin and his mission.

What makes a movie a classic or a great film is that after you watch it, you sit there and think about it and have discussions with your friends about it. This movie did that to me, and I have been reccommending it to all my friends. But I must warn you, you also have to be in the right mood for it, and it might be best if you either watched it alone or with only a couple of other people. It is a must see for anyone.

a (mostly) orthodox story
wilhelm furtwngler; the conductor of the berlin philharmonic up until 1954, had a very unorthodix beat. indeed, his conducting was in itself unorthodox. he had heard some grumbling amongst the orchestra members that his beat was hard to follow, and that his conducting was too improvisational.
he then appeared before them and said ' so you dont think i can give you an orthodox beat?, okay let's go' and he proceeded for several minutes to do a 'by the book' reading of brahms. he then stopped. ' see i can do it, but it has no life. its not interesting!'.
the same could be said for the films of david lynch and his most ardent critics.
lynch has, all along, been able to tell a story straight, as he did here and elephant man. but even then lynch has to be lynch. he has to filter the story through his own sensabilites and style.
elephant man and straight story both have lynchs style deeply stamped upon them.
elephant man has his visual artistry, straight story his quirkiness.
the beauty of straight story is this is his 'g' rated quirkiness, and that's very appropriate for a man,who despite all of his progressive accomplishments in film, still lives in the suburbs.
with straight story lynch set out to prove that he could indeed tell a story straight and its most certain there was a sly wink in titling this film.
he actually upped the furtwangler philosophy one in that he did an orthodox narrative and STILL made it interesting, but naturally its still lynchian all the way through.
by the way this was farnsworth last film. he was terminally ill and took his own life about a year later.
he was a charactor actor with grace and vulnerability.
he will be missed

Boring... These other reviewers are nuts!
The Straight Story is horribly boring. Nothing of note happens in the entire film. The people that have given this four and five stars must be crazy. You will be very disappointed if you watch this film "The Straight Story". There are some nice views of Iowa in the film, and if that's all you expect you may be satisfied. If you want to see a plot or story line you will be disappointed. All you will to see is character development with nothing ever happening. The retarded daughter(Sissy Spacek) is totally pointless btw. Anyway, don't say I didn't warn you!

What a priviledge
Where do you begin with a film that is as beautiful, poetic, moving, powerful, substantial, grounding, uplifting, and definitively sublime as The Straight Story. From it's emotionally and technically pitch perfect score by Angelo Badalamenti to the brilliant direction of David Lynch, the film takes us on a journey we will never forget.
Despite everything I've offered, the film depends upon one man- Richard Farnsworth. In his last role, his award-winning performance is a master class in listening and being. He IS Alvin Straight instead of acting like Alvin Straight. His beautiful blue eyes are weary with pain and memories. I have never seen the eyes convey so very much. To watch his scene at the bar and not have a resounding physical reaction- well, there may be no help for your soul.

Simply put, allow yourself the priviledge of viewing The Straight Story. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Good for the kids...
I saw this movie as a child and still remembered many scenes...although I didn't remember that most of the movie is dubbed for English...even many of the scenes with Kirk Douglas... The DVD audio wasn't very good...but not hearing any other version (either VHS or broadcast) I don't really have anything to compare it to. Perhaps they're bad on other media types too, or I guess that with DVD's we've just come to expect too much...;)... The kids enjoyed the story very much. Nothing really objectionable.

Kirk Douglas as Ulysses in an impressive failure from Italy
"Ulysses" is an impressive failure, an admirable attempt to bring Homer's epic "The Odyssey" to the big screen that ultimately fails to click. Kirk Douglas plays "Ulysses" (the Latin version of Odysseus, which makes sense since this was an Italian film directed by Mario Camerini and produced by Dino De Laurentis and Carlo Ponti. The story in the film actually begins with the end of the Trojan War and Ulysses' strategem of the Trojan Horse. After sacking the city Ulysses and his men head for home, but the next thing we now our hero is washed up on the shore of an island suffering from amnesia. With the help of a beautiful young princess (Rossana Podesta), he eventually remembers everything that happened to him and his men during the past several years and that he has a wife waiting for him back home. Of course, she is trying to put off all those suitors who insist her husband is dead and that she should remarry. The best idea in this film was having actress Silvana Mangano play both Penelope, Ulysses' wife, and Circe, the sorceress who keeps our hero for several years on his magical isle. However, the English dubbing of the film is painfully reminiscent of a SNL gladiator film sketch and the script, worked on by seven writers including Irwin Shaw and Ben Hecht, is too obviously a cut and paste job. Anthony Quinn is wasted in this 1954 film as Antinous, which will remind you more of those Italian he-man movies than a Hollywood epic. The set designs are quite impressive and the sequence with the Cyclops has some good moments, but overall "Ulysses" just lacks fire.

This is a question not a review
Almost half of world population speak Spanish. Why do not you edit this clasic movie with subtitles (at least) in Spanish?

Fun flick...I wish someone would dig up the original 3-D
Not many people know that ULYSSES was shot in 3-D, but it only released in flat 2-D form as the craze was over by the time the film was completed. I wish someone would try to locate the original 3-D elements so we could see this film as intended!

More of a satire then anything else.
What can I say. This was made by the same film company that made all those low budget Hercules movies. Kirk Douglas is somewhat amusing in the part but the cheesy effects and art direction will make you turn the movie off in five minutes. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The Best Part is the Score
Even if the movie were far sillier than it is (and to be fair, it is extremely entertaining) it would be worth it for the exquisite Miklos Rozsa score, which ranks up there with his best (though, with Rozsa, there is no worst!) and includes some absolutely rapturous and sensuous music. A couple of decades before I ever finally saw the film on television, I had fallen in love with the (hard not to laugh when one says it) "Love Theme from Sodom and Gomorrah" encountered on a record of '60s epic music. Finally, much more recently, I found a CD of the score, and the theme remains as romantically seductive as ever. As for the film itself, it has a very watchable cast and remains a guilty pleasure - probably more so than if it had been more explicit in demonstrating its characters' sinfulness (other than their obvious sadism).

Sex and the cities.
An early 60's Italian Bible epic, with decent acting and a fairly literate script, although it varies considerably from the biblical account. Rather than taking on the subject of homosexuality in Sodom and Gomorrah (probably unthinkable even in 1960's Italy), the film instead depicts the twin cities as centers of "evil in general", with everything from gambling to incest to death cults. There is some implied lesbianism on the part of the Queen of Sodom, but no reference at all to the men of the city wanting to "know" Lot's angelic visitors. Effects are good for the time period, and Stewart Grainger pours some genuine humility and human weakness into his Lot characer. Not bad as Bible epics go.

sodom and gomorrah
This movie dispicted excellent costumes, makeup, background and script along with appropriate accents to make this film one that can be watched over and over again. I highly recommend it.

Don't look back!
This film is way too long and outdrawn in its depiction of the fate of the two cities which are only briefly described in the Book of Genesis. It's another big-budget biblical film made in the sixties which has a lot of similarities to those make in the fifties; but as usual, quantity doesn't always mean quality. There are a lot of action scenes here, but also plenty of corny overacting from its top stars. Also, the eventual destruction of the cities takes too long to happen in order to consume everyone. The special effects used to show the destruction aren't the best.

The Bible--Hollywood Style!
Stewart Granger plays a serious, patriarchal Lot in this epic of the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.Pier Angeli is her usual lovely and winning self as a beautiful slave girl, Anouk Aimee is smoldering, sexy and dangerous as the licentious Queen of the doomed cities, and Stanley Baker is a lecherous Prince, who seduces both of Lot's daughters. This film was made in the heavily censored 1950s style, so the sin named for Sodom is never even implied--instead, the Queen is the sexual predator,lusting after her many attractive slave girls, but a series of smoldering looks between them is all the movie can show. The men, on the other hand, are portrayed as a pack of sex-crazed overgrown teenagers, but their lust is strictly reserved for young and luscious girls. If you can stop laughing long enough, this is a fairly good Bible epic--the acting is much better than the script deserves, and by the end of the film, Pier Angeli's fate as a pillar of salt is touching. For fans of sand-and-sandal epics, but don't look for any historical accuracy here. Don't even look for any Biblical accuracy, either--the subsequent incest between Lot and his daughters that the Bible relates would have been unthinkable in this era of film. END ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Entertaining But Somewhat Uneven
LASSITER is a movie about a jewel thief in London during the years just before World War II. After an arrest he is pressured by British law enforcement and the FBI into attempting to steal a horde of gems from the German Embassy.

The film is a fairly entertaining romp but there are problems with the script and some of the actors seem to be miscast. The movie does have many excellent sets and Tom Selleck gives a strong performance as Lassiter. The supporting cast includes Jane Seymour, Laura Hutton and Bob Hoskins. Hoskins is particularly good in the role of Inspector John Becker.

Another movie that deserves a DVD release
This little known movie stars Tom Selleck as an American jewel cat thief in pre-World War II London. It's a great movie and has an incredible supporting cast including Bob Hoskins as a police officer doggedly on the title characters trail.
With OTT Nazi's as the villains this movie truly is a great ride and a DVD release is long overdue.

Lassiter
naive and childish but elegant and oh-so pleasing
bob hosckins - excellent scoundril ... Read more

Amazon.com

David Lynch's 1990 Wild at Heart is an utterly random and ugly experience with pockets of startling imagery and inspired set pieces. Based on a Barry Gifford novel, the film stars Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern as lovers on the lam whose relationship is tested and who meet some truly dangerous wackos (including an almost-simian Willem Dafoe). Lynch's thoughts seem to be everywhere, and he expects the audience to keep up with a story that seems more a collection of avant-garde whims than a coherent vision with the intuitive brilliance of his Blue Velvet. Cage gives one of his more chaotic performances, but then he was just reading Lynch's signposts. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (68)

if you're truly wild at heart, then you must .....
i first saw this film in theatres back in 1990 and i couldn't get the film outta my head. at that time, i knew very little about david lynch or his unique style. needless to say, i fell heart and soul for this maniac film and knew i would probably want to watch it over and over. nicolas cage gives perhaps his best performance prior to the wonderful leaving las vegas and i still think this film was very overlooked by everyone with the exception of true lynch fans. while this is probably his easiest film to date that the mainstream cinema could DIGEST, wild at heart is still very much avantguard as it is excessive in the language, violence, and sex departments. what makes this film so digestible is the ironic humor which surrounds the plot like a second skin. while still not a film for everyone, there is much to like about this david lynch treat. i particularly love the scene where nicolas cage is visited by the good which played by then unknown sheryl lee who advises him that the wild at heart must follow their dreams. shouldn't we all follow our dreams no matter how crazy or chaotic things may be?

Dear Tom Keogh,
Wild at Heart is, indeed, a film with some startling images. Any David Lynch fan will tell you that you should expect no less from him. In this film, Lynch is showing a subtle form of humor, he is referencing the Wizard of Oz (I'll not dare say "remake," he is rewriting it in his own fashion), and he is creating film as art in his typical fashion. You see, you actually have to pay attention to Lynch's movies in order to fully understand them. You likely have to watch them more than once to get his points. That's all part of the fun. If you bother to pay attention to the details of the movie, then you will understand that his thoughts are not all over the place at all, but are telling you a story, in Lynchian fashion. He doesn't take you by the little hand and lead you through a smarmy Hollywood film about life and love then whisk you off to a nice, rosy conclusion with a sunset and cutesy music. Don't expect the point to Wild at Heart to come easily. If that is what you want, may I suggest "Dumb and Dumber." David Lynch combines film with art and Wild at Heart is no exception. If you want a movie to present a simple story line and to conclude with a pretty red bow, then skip this one. But if you want to watch an outstanding David Lynch movie, then Wild at Heart will not disappoint. This is a fantastic movie.

PLEASE RELEASE IT ON DVD!!
David Lynch's Wild At Heart is a masterpiece, it won Palme D'Or at Cannes Film Festival for Best Picture. It has an outstanding cast, featuring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Isabela Rosselini, Sheryl Lee,
Diane Ladd, Harry Dean Stanton, Willem Dafoe and so many other great actors! Why wasn't yet released on DVD in North America? Everywhere else in the world was. David Lynch is one of the best American directors and "Wild At Heart" is one of his masterpieces.
My favorite line from this film is: CENSORED.

Film of the Future
Lynch uses cinema the way it should be used. It's a naturally surreal medium, something only Lynch has truly understood, ever since Salvador Dali made Un Chien Andalou, all those years ago. Wild at Heart is totally coherent, as many reviewers have realised, even if only partly and subconsciously. All I would like to know is this: is the American South really the raw and mindless hell on earth that it seems to be in almost every film I've seen located there?

David Lynch's violent adaptation of the Wizard of Oz
Wild at Heart is David Lynch's violent adaptation of the Wizard of Oz with mesmerizing cinematography, which offers an exceptionally artistic cinema experience. Many scenes are visually packed as they offer much to ponder since they are often surrealistic or full of symbolism. The symbolism and surreal environment enhance the fantastic adventure into love, passion, and righteousness that Lynch provides for his audience. The tale begins with Sailor (Nicolas Cage) who was sent to jail for manslaughter as he killed a man in self-defense that was sent by his girlfriends neurotic mother. Released on probation Sailor is free and loving as he can reunite with his girlfriend Lula (Laura Dern) despite Lula's mothers opposition to their relationship. Lula's defiance upsets her mother who hires another hitman to slay Sailor. However, Lula and Sailor decide to take off to California and break Sailor's probation by following the yellow line on the road to the promise land. ... Read more

Amazon.com

You could only see his eyes behind the layers of makeup, but those expressive orbs earned John Hurt a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his moving portrayal of John Merrick, the grotesquely deformed Victorian-era man better known as The Elephant Man. Inarticulate and abused, Merrick is the virtual slave of a carnival barker (Freddie Jones) until dedicated London doctor Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins in a powerfully understated performance) rescues him from the life and offers him an existence with dignity. Anne Bancroft costars as the actress whose visit to Merrick makes him a social curiosity, with John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller as dubious hospital staffers won over by Merrick. David Lynch earned his only Oscar nominations as director and cowriter of this somber drama, which he shot in a rich black-and-white palette, a sometimes stark, sometimes dreamy visual style that at times recalls the offbeat expressionism of his first film, Eraserhead. It remains a perfect marriage between traditional Hollywood historical drama and Lynch's unique cinematic eye, a compassionate human tale delivered in a gothic vein. The film earned eight Oscar nominations in all, and though it left the Oscar race empty-handed, its dramatic power and handsome yet haunting imagery remain just as strong today. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (79)

He is not an animal.
The magnificent visuals in *The Elephant Man* are rather less due to director David Lynch than they are to cinematographer and Hammer vet (and former director himself) Freddie Francis. On purely visual terms, this has to be one of the greatest black & white movies ever shot. Victorian Europe becomes Hell, here: gritty, damp sidewalks; plumes of smoke everywhere (light and dark, steam and coal); impenetrable shadows; nauseating grays; daguerreotype snapshots in hallucinogenic fogbanks. It is the work of no less than a genius. The photography all by itself raises this otherwise conventional drama to near art. Also worthy of praise are the set design and -- of course! -- the costuming. Only by the film's credits do you realize that it's John Hurt who's portraying the horribly deformed John Merrick, the famous personage in Victorian London who rose from sideshow degredation to national celebrity. Watching this movie again, I wished that Francois Truffaut had written and directed it. I was constantly reminded of that director's *The Wild Child*, in which he played the equivalent doctor-role that Anthony Hopkins plays here. Nothing wrong with Hopkins' performance, mind you; it's more the heavy-handed moralizing that his character is forced to personify. Lynch, that famous finger-waggling moralist, insists on putting Dr. Treves' ethical quandary into the character's own mouth, thereby making sure we "get" it. (Truffaut understood that the ethical quandary of bringing a wild child -- or an elephant man -- into normal society is already a given, without requiring sage speechifying, oratory, declamation.) Every time I hear about what a "daring" director David Lynch is, how he "thinks outside the box", how "revolutionary" he is, I recall this tear-jerking film. *The Elephant Man* is ultimately as sentimental as any Academy Award-bucking Hollywood product. Of course, that's exactly what the movie is. It's also as sentimental and moralistic as most of Lynch's other movies. It's definitely worth seeing, but let's not get carried away.

A Masterwork
The Elephant Man is a movie so emotionally draining you only watch it something like once in five years, if that. On top of brilliant filmmkaing, you know the story is also true. Anthony Hopkins is top billed as a doctor who discovers John Merrick, a man so horribly disfigured by disease he is nearly unrecognisable as a human, and called The Elephant Man. Hopkins delivers an excellent performance. John Hurt plays Mr. Merrick. He isn't recognisable, as he's under layers of makeup that make him The Elephant Man(ive seen a picture of Merrick, and the movie has Mr. Hurt looking just like him) but I don't know if anyone else could've played the role as well. Very moving. David Lynch(director) tacles his first full length picture with this amazing movie. His last short, Eraserhead, got him the job. There just arent enough stories like that of John Merrick, so I don't know that Lynch can get so close to his calling again, though he does a damn good job anyway(Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Wild At Heart, Strait Story, Lost Highway). Amazing job.

The tyranny of normality.
Although generally interpreted as David Lynch's breakthrough, the main force behind the making of 'The Elephant Man' was Mel Brookes. Brookes fought agressively for David Lynch's final cut, including the opening and closing dream sequences that Paramount wanted to drop.

Lynch, whose fascination with the industrial landscape permeated his cinematic debut 'Eraserhead', must have taken a fancy to directing a movie set in smoke-staked Victorian Britain. Lynch himself likened John Merrick's facial structure to a series of uncontrollable explosions, an industrial-like catastrophe of the body (which sounds like the basis of an architypal David Cronenberg movie).

Although initially cared for by men of varying degrees of affection, it is with women that John Merrick shares his strongest bond. Within the moral confines of Victorian society, he is treated as the passive spectacle that women would have been viewed as at the time. His sensitivity and feminine affectations remain intact despite the brutality society has inflicted upon him. This bond would be almost impossible to imagine if he did not receive some maternal affection as a child. Yet ironically what ultimately dooms Merrick is the tyranny of normality that prevades Victorian society. All of those well-bred, well-meaning people who try to help, raise in him a fantasy of acceptance. A 'normality' he will always be excluded from. This tyranny of normality even leads him to believe that there is a 'proper' and 'accepted' way to sleep. Such is the huge leap from the conformist coventions of a century ago, that I believe if Merrick were alive today, he would wear his difference as a badge of individuality, something that has become a convention in itself.

DVD interviews welcome addition to film classic
I saw the original in 1980, and the DVD in 2004. The DVD really is a nice package. Not only do you have this great film in crystal clear quality, but the interview package at the end is really informative, especially regarding the makeup and how the screenplay was discovered -- the producer's babysitter handed him her boyfriend's script! John Hurt's insights were particularly interesting; there are so many things that could have torpedoed the project but thankfully didn't.

I only wish David Lynch could have been interviewed, as this was his first major project after Eraserhead and he really matured in terms of being able to work in a major production with so many shining talents.

Recommended for those with a heart and soul
The Elephant Man is a film of incredible passion and power. For those who think "power" in the movies involves supernatural abilities or mastery of martial arts or destructive weapons - The Elephant Man is perhaps not for you.

David Lynch's film is shot in black and white which gives a Victorian feel to the era depicted, but also gives a startling chiarascuro visual to many scenes.

Much of the information about the life of Mr. Merrick was obtained from accounts written by Dr. Treves, who became so celebrated that he was chosen to be Royal Physician, so it is perhaps not surprising that Treves comes off well in this film. The central performances are by John Hurt as Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as Treves, and they are both absolutely stunning. I have viewed the film a half-dozen times, and there are moments that I am moved every single time.

The Elephant Man suffers from terrible physical deformities that are only gradually shown to the audience. But we discover that his mental faculties are not hindered at all, and the scene in which this discovery is made is absolutely astonishing.

The late John Gielgud does excellent work as the hospital administrator, Mr. Carr Gomm. In the scene after it is revealed that the Elephant Man has normal intelligence Carr Gomm takes Treves aside.

"Can you IMAGINE what sort of life he has had?" (Merrick has spent his life up to that point as a side-show freak, beaten and jeered at.)
Treves looks absent-mindedly out the window before starting to reply "Yes, I think I ...."
Carr Gomm rebukes him sharply. "No you can't!" He softens his voice. "No one can."

And watching that scene we TRY to imagine the myriad of humiliations and sufferings that the poor man has endured simply for his unfortunate appearance. But we realize that we cannot "walk a mile in his shoes" and we recognize that we truthfully can't imagine what he has been through.

Nonetheless we find John Merrick witty and engaging and pleasant. Later on Merrick has become the Belle of the Ward and there is a steady stream of dignitaries who come by to visit. One of the wise old nurses, played by the wonderful Wendy Hillar, gives Treves a piece of her mind and suggests that Merrick has simply become a sideshow again and is being stared at all over again. This leads to a wonderful scene at home between Treves and his wife, played by Hannah Gordon, in which Treves does some honest soul-searching. Another scene where Treves has invited Merrick to his own home is remarkable for it's emotional amplitude. Treves has become very used to being around The Elephant Man, but Mrs. Treves is not, and despite being "prepared" for his sight, there are multiple instances when she is clearly struggling to "seem normal".

There are several other touching scenes, such as when Anne Bancroft,playing a famous London Actress, visits and her acting ability enables her to overlook his deformities more easily than Mrs. Treves, or when Princess Alex arrives at a key hospital board meeting to personally deliver a plea from Queen Victoria for a permanent place for "one of England's least fortunate sons". It would have been easy to turn overly sentimental or to pander, but Lynch knows when to reign things in perfectly.

This work has much to say about the dignity of man, and I recommend it highly. ... Read more

Description

Sam Peckinpah's light-hearted, rambunctious ode to the dying Wild West, with Jason Robards as a rascally prospector who transforms a desert water-hole into big business. Year: 1970 Director: Sam Peckinpah Starring:Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Break the News...Cable Hogue is coming to town..
I really enjoyed this unusual offering from Sam Peckinpah. It is offbeat in several respects, but most notably in that it lacks the violence and bleakness of his prior film(s), The Wild Bunch. Peckinpah takes a risk here as well though, exploring a genre, the western semi-comedy, that fails more often than it succeeds. For every Blazing Saddles, there's a Cat Ballou and a Paint Your Wagon. Interestingly enough, the humor here is not incredibly sharp or witty as a rule. Some techniques, like the sped up film and winking currency seem pretty silly today. The movie is endearing nonetheless because we sense the Director's sincerity and good intentions. Scenes like the singing of Butterfly Mornings could easily have fallen flat (particularly given that neither the tune nor the voices were exceptional), but I found them charming, since I felt the director and singers were totally behind them and went with the emotions. But sincerity and good intentions are of course by no means enough; other pluses here are the complex themes (the trappings of technology, man as an individual vs. social being, morality, role of serendipity in life), strong acting, and interesting characters.

The setting, in one of the last western outposts of the 21st century, really brings out the inexorability of technology's advance. Hogue is ultimately a tragic figure who fails to adjust to technology and city living, and literally suffers for it in the end of the movie. However, we are left with the suspicion that he was the happier for never having given into city ways, and for having remained an individual. Being on his own certainly helped him, as eulogized, stay a man, both good and bad (nice observation about Cain &Able=Cable, b.t.w.). Robards also plays the character right; neither too tough nor too weak, too good or too bad-just a man true to himself.
We also have an interesting assortment of side characters and misfits (which seems to have influenced several Eastwood films including The Outlaw Josie Wales, the two Orangutan films, and Bronco Billy) who while caricatures to some extent, are also interesting characters. There's the philandering preacher, and the hooker with a heart (not to mention a body!) of gold.

I can't give this film five stars, since it's a bit long and some parts feel kind of clunky and dated today. But it gets four stars without any reservation, thanks to the offbeat feel, warm tone, and several charming performances and scenes.

If you enjoyed this film, you might check out Junior Bonner, Little Big Man, Bronco Billy, and the Outlaw Josey Wales.

Tomorrow is the song I sing....
When I was younger, Sam Peckinpah's more violent films were my favorites, now, as I approach the age of the title character, this film is far and away my favorite. Peckinpah came up with a philosophical, almost biblically themed picture here- yet it is also filled with the most laugh-out-loud humor of any of his films. It had to be an accident, it just works too perfectly to have been done on purpose....

This is the story of Cable Hogue, a prospector in the Arizona territory of 1908. He is left to die without water by his two partners. Not only is he left to die- he is laughed at because of his "yellowness" at not doing the same to them when given a chance. So Cable tries to walk out of the desert knowing that he has no chance. He talks (he never prays) to the God that he has never had much use for. As a result, he finds water; water where it never was and could never possibly be.

This is the start of Cable's desert kingdom. He builds it out of nothing and out of bluff. He builds it with his own hands, out of what the desert provides. When necessary, he defends it with deadly force. Yet Cable gains respect and friends along the way. Sure, he can be mean and ruthless when he has to be, but to those who prove worthy, he can be a generous and loyal friend. He even wins the love of the most beautiful woman in a land where women are scarce (Stella Stevens- she never looked better than she did in this film.)

Then, at the height of his success, the two former partners that left him to die are delivered into his hands....

I used to wonder at the name "Cable", since I had never heard it before. Then I got it, Cable is a combination of Cain and Abel. This is because Cable is a combination of good and bad. On the one hand he is capable of hardness, even to the point of taking a life, but on the other hand he can show justice and mercy in sparing a life. To paraphrase the phoney preacher at the end of the film, Cable wasn't strictly a good man, and he wasn't strictly a bad man, but Lord- he was a MAN!