The Great Escape

The Great Escape


Starring:Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, Angus Lennie, Nigel Stock, Robert Graf, Jud Taylor, Hans Reiser, Harry Riebauer, William Russell (II), Robert Freitag, Ulrich Beiger
Director: John Sturges
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The Great Escape image of Steve McQueen (as "The Cooler King") astride his motorcycle has entered silver-screen iconography, alongside Brando on his bike from The Wild One. Based on a true story about a group of POWs who mount a daring breakout from a supposedly inescapable Nazi prison camp, this rousing and suspenseful WWII epic features an all-star cast, including James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. The DVD also includes a 24-minute documentary about the making of the film. --Jim Emerson
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Amazing movie!
  • something old, something new
  • O Brother Where Art Thou
  • One of my favorites
  • Worthwhile music, movie falls flat.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Starring: Michael Badalucco , George Clooney , Frank Collison , Charles Durning , and Wayne Duvall
Director: Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00003CXRM
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Amazon.com

Only Joel and Ethan Coen, the fraternal director and producer team behind art-house hits such as The Big Lebowski and Fargo and masters of quirky and ultra-stylish genre subversion, would dare nick the plot line of Homer's Odyssey for a comic picaresque saga about three cons on the run in 1930s Mississippi. Our wandering hero in this case is one Ulysses Everett McGill, a slick-tongued wise guy with a thing about hair pomade (George Clooney, blithely sending up his own dapper image) who talks his chain-gang buddies (Coen-movie regular John Turturro and newcomer Tim Blake Nelson) into lighting out after some buried loot he claims to know of. En route they come up against a prophetic blind man on a railroad truck, a burly, one-eyed baddie (the ever-magnificent John Goodman), a trio of sexy singing ladies, a blues guitarist who's sold his soul to the devil, a brace of crooked politicos on the stump, a manic-depressive bank robber, and--well, you get the idea. Into this, their most relaxed film yet, the Coens have tossed a beguiling ragbag of inconsequential situations, a wealth of looping, left-field dialogue, and a whole stash of gags both verbal and visual. O Brother (the title's lifted from Preston Sturges's classic 1941 comedy Sullivan's Travels) is furthermore graced with glowing, burnished photography from Roger Deakins and a masterly soundtrack from T-Bone Burnett that pays loving homage to American '30s folk styles--blues, gospel, bluegrass, jazz, and more. And just to prove that the brothers haven't lost their knack for bad-taste humor, we get a Ku Klux Klan rally choreographed like a cross between a Nuremberg rally and a Busby Berkeley musical. --Philip Kemp

Description

Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) busts loose. Except he's still shackled to his own chain-mates from the chain gang -- bad-tempered Pete (John Turturro, SUMMER OF SAM), and sweet, dimwitted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson, HAMLET). With nothing to lose and buried loot to regain -- before it's lost forever in a flood -- the three embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious offbeat road picture. Populated with strange characters, including a blind prophet, sexy sirens, and a one-eyed Bible salesman (John Goodman, COYOTE UGLY), it's an odyssey filled with chases, close calls, near misses, and betrayal that will leave you laughing at every outrageous and surprising twist and turn.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Amazing movie!.......2007-07-03

This is a classy release of an all-time-favorite classic. George Clooney played Batman, and here he's doing a hillbilly chicken dance in a fake beard. Great writing, great acting, great music. What's not to love? We wore out our VHS copy!

5 out of 5 stars something old, something new.......2007-06-30


Comedies don't get much better than this.

Clooney, Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson are relentlessly hilarious in this loosely Homeric epic of escape from a chain gang in America's early twentieth-century South. You can love this movie without knowing Homer, of course, though it's based on that bard's Oddysey.

That's the common touch of both Homer and his erstwhile partners-in-crime, producers Ethan and Joel Coen.

Filming this flick must have been more fun than a body should have. From the blind oracle on the railroad pump-car warning about the 'Ob-stackles of life' to the 'Sigh-REENS' that appear to have 'loved (Pete) up ... and then turned him into a horny toad' to the delicious stares and triumphant penultimate scene where the Soggy Bottom Boys regale a political rally with their irresistable hit 'Man of Constant Sorrows', O BROTHER never falters.

It's a film for watching over and over again, preferably introducing somebody who hasn't seen it each time you do.

Ne'er doubt! Buy O BROTHER WHERE ARE THOU and hold onto it for dear life.

4 out of 5 stars O Brother Where Art Thou.......2007-05-17

O Brother Where Art Thou


Title: O Brother Where Art Thou
Director: Joel Coen
Release Date: 2000


Based on the epic by Homer, this movie takes place at the end of the Great Depression area of 1935. Three men named Everet (George Clooney), Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and Pete (John Turino), escape on a chain gang in southern Mississippi. When they escape, they meet a man that is blind from polyps that is similar to Homer. The man tells the three men that they must travel to seek the desire that they want. Everet thinks that the old man was making nonsense, but Delmar and Pete think that the old man was telling the truth in their future. The men do a lot of things in this movie such as getting saved, making a record, helping a thief in a bank robbery, and confronting the KKK. (Klu Klux Klan) This movie is rated PG- 13 so the adults might not want to let their kids want to watch the movie. They also have a great soundtrack that won a Grammy for soundtrack of the year. The movie has funny jokes that make you crack up laughing. George Clooney gives one of his best roles of his career. John Goodman guest stars in the movie as a con man that steals the men's money. The people who like funny country movies, this might be the movie for you. It won't be long until this movie will become apart of your DVD collection.


5 out of 5 stars One of my favorites.......2007-04-10

I've given this movie more repeat views than maybe any other movie ever, for two reasons. Firstly, there is the incredible soundtrack--I was not a bluegrass fan until I fell in love with this movie, and the songs were good enough to win me over. Secondly, the dialogue is hilarious. Every time I watch it, I catch a little bit I may have missed before. Coens at their best. Made me rethink my opinion of George Clooney, as well.

2 out of 5 stars Worthwhile music, movie falls flat........2007-04-07

I think it's odd that the movie announces at the beginning that it's based on Homer's Odyssey, as the storyline barely follows in the theme of The Odyssey at all. The music is awesome and I reccomend the soundtrack, but honestly the movie didn't do it for me. Weak plot, annoying characters, lame ending. I just wasn't impressed at all.
The Great Escape
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • One of the Best Movies Ever Made
  • Classic
  • Heroes abound
  • A vast, multi-star war epic with great score by Elmer Bernstein...
  • A decent WWII POW movie
The Great Escape
Starring: Steve McQueen , James Garner , Richard Attenborough , James Donald , and Charles Bronson
Director: John Sturges
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:
  1. The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition)
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ASIN: 0792838408
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Amazon.com

The Great Escape image of Steve McQueen (as "The Cooler King") astride his motorcycle has entered silver-screen iconography, alongside Brando on his bike from The Wild One. Based on a true story about a group of POWs who mount a daring breakout from a supposedly inescapable Nazi prison camp, this rousing and suspenseful WWII epic features an all-star cast, including James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. The DVD also includes a 24-minute documentary about the making of the film. --Jim Emerson

Description

In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft North, a maximum-security prisoner-of-war camp, designed tohold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military historybrilliantly portrayed here by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburnwho worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted. One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time, The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven), screenwriters James Clavell (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett (Little Caesar), and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story, The Great Escape is epic entertainment that "entertains,captivates, thrills and stirs" (Variety).

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars One of the Best Movies Ever Made.......2007-02-24

The Great Escape is my favorite movie of all time. It is an excellant movie and follows the book it is based on very well. This movie shows the courage, strength and fighting spirit of these men. And it is truely dedicated to the fifty who were murdered.

5 out of 5 stars Classic.......2007-02-06

What else can I say about a classic? McQueen's motorcycle jump is the unforgettable part for me.

5 out of 5 stars Heroes abound.......2007-01-14

The Great Escape portrays the heroism of prisoners never giving into their captors and the pompous honor of Nazi Germany. The group becomes a monkey wrench at all turns determined to send their adversary to the Russian front. My only complaint is that it is shown in letterbox format which saps some of the power of the story. Wasn't this picture worth a full screen format? But this is probably par for the epics of that era. The stars had to carry the load and be bigger in life even though you are peeking through a window. Steve McQueen was a man of epic tales and this one does not fail to deliver. Even doomed to failure he never gives up. Resist with every last breath was the motto of the prisoners. Guile and guts served them well and in the end Germany was defeated even if only in small part by the escapades of the escapees. Grit abounds through the fiber of every man sworn to serve the Allied forces. We owe these men a debt we can never repay, but always respect. It takes courage to put your own well being second behind the cause. Unfortunately we have seldom triumphed in glory since that time. This war made sense while successors seemed steeped in politics. Something a normal person has a hard time understanding. Let's just hope that global war was put to rest with this one. We can look back on the Great Escape with admiration and gratitude. But we can never repay what was sacrificed by these men.

4 out of 5 stars A vast, multi-star war epic with great score by Elmer Bernstein..........2007-01-02

'The Great Escape' had the advantage of a fine source, and a fine script... Each actor realizes his potential in a very detailed manner, giving a feeling lost in the actual cinema...

Sturges is careful with the pace in the first half, allowing the escape plans develop slowly... Humor, excitement and human drama are wonderfully blended, and smartly underscored by Elmer Bernstein's memorable background music...

The film opens with several truckloads of Allied officers, mostly pilots, being transferred to a new German maximum-security prison camp at Sagan...

The Camp 'Kommandant', Von Luger (Hannes Messemer), tells Captain Ramsey (James Donald), 'We have, in effect, put all our rotten eggs in one basket, and we intend to watch this basket carefully.'

But since all the British and American officers in his charge are men who have made several attempts to escape from other prison camps, Von Luger knows his words are meaningless...

The master planner is 'Big X,' Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), who has just endured three months of Gestapo/SS torture, and plans to strike back, getting as many men as possible out of the camp, in order to 'harass, confuse and confound the enemy' behind the lines...

He announces a terrific plan for a mass break-out of 250 men and schemes three simultaneous tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry...

The plan, so precise, proceeds in an orderly fashion, with a great deal of attention placed on caution and ruse to deflect German attentions... The captives involve themselves in much surface activity, which masks the underground work...

Hilts (Steve McQuenn), the 'Cooler King,' leads the Germans on a memorable motorcycle chase through back roads and across the fields right up to the Swiss frontier...

Hendley (James Garner), the 'Scrounger' is a charming thief whose particular gift is the misappropriation of all the required supplies for an escape...

Blythe (Donald Pleasance) has the talents of a 'Forger', and makes visas and passports... He suggests in one scene: ' Tea without milk is so uncivilized.'

Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson) is the experienced Polish-American 'Tunnel-King.'

Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn) is the 'Manufacturer' of bellows-operated ventilation...

Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) is the 'Dispersal' with his ingenious methods of getting rid of the dirt generated by the tunneling activities...

Andy McDonald (Gordon Jackson ) is 'Intelligence,' the officer who develops a fantastic security system to protect the compounds from the German "Ferrets."

Archibald Ives (Angus Lennie) is the 'Mole,' whose fragile mind has been taxed by several years in the camps, repeated failed escape attempts, and time in the cooler...

Dennis Cavendish (Nigel Stock) is the 'Surveyor' who miscalculates the distance to the trees...

Guard Werner (Robert Graf) is the 'Ferret' who affirms to Hendley: 'I could tell you stories about my teeth that would make your hair stand on end.'

'The Great Escape' is a pretty good motion picture where the toll of freedom is precious, and the movie's ending provokes deep and serious meditation... It graphically shows what enterprising men can accomplish under the most unusual circumstances... It has a great cast, and is beautifully made...

3 out of 5 stars A decent WWII POW movie.......2007-01-01

The Great Escape was a decent movie. However, it did not live upto my expectations.

The storyline was fine, action was decent and suitable and characters played their parts well. The movie also detailed the escape plot well and went into considerable depth.

One part of the movie that reduced it's quality was the unnecessary comic relief throughout the movie. Almost from the start, many POW's act like they are on vacation and not a prison camp. I don't think real-life POWs would have acted like that. In the same vein, the German officers appeared fools and clowns, who not only tolerated much insolence but didn't seem to have a clue at all.
The Steve McQueen Collection (The Great Escape / Junior Bonner / The Magnificent Seven / The Thomas Crown Affair)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A nice sampling from McQueen's career
  • Flawless
  • FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
The Steve McQueen Collection (The Great Escape / Junior Bonner / The Magnificent Seven / The Thomas Crown Affair)
Starring: Steve Mcqueen
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0007O38YY
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Amazon.com

A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges's The Great Escape (1963) is both the definitive World War II drama and the nonpareil prison escape movie. Featuring an unequalled ensemble cast in a rivetingly authentic true-life scenario set to Elmer Bernstein's admirable music, this picture is both a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen gives a career-defining performance as the laconic Hilts, the baseball-loving, motorbike-riding "Cooler King." The rest of the all-male Anglo-American cast--Dickie Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, David McCallum, James Coburn, and Gordon Jackson--make the most of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent). Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape attempts, scrounging, forging, and ferreting activities are authentically realized thanks also to technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climax with total conviction, giving us both high action and very poignant human drama. Without trivializing the grim reality, The Great Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight.

Akira Kurosawa's rousing Seven Samurai was a natural for an American remake--after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. Thus The Magnificent Seven (1960) effortlessly turns samurai into cowboys. The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of '60s stardom: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There's nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges (The Great Escape), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn't enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum....

Millionaire businessman Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) is also a high-stakes thief; his latest caper is an elaborate heist at a Boston bank. Why does he do it? For the same reason he flies gliders, bets on golf strokes, and races dune buggies: he needs the thrill to feel alive. Insurance investigator Vicky Anderson (Faye Dunaway) gets her own thrills by busting crooks, and she's got Crown in her cross hairs. Naturally, these two will get it on, because they have a lot in common: they're not people, they're walking clothes racks. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) is a catalog of '60s conventions, from its clipped editing style to its photographic trickery (the inventive Haskell Wexler behind the camera) to its mod design. You can almost sense director Norman Jewison deciding to "tell his story visually," like those newfangled European films; this would explain the long passages of Michel Legrand's lounge jazz ladled over endless montages of the pretty Dunaway and McQueen at play. (The opening-credits song, "Windmills of Your Mind," won an Oscar.) It's like a "What Kind of Man Reads Playboy?" ad come to life, and much more interesting as a cultural snapshot than a piece of storytelling.

Junior Bonner (1972) is director Sam Peckinpah's lovely, elegiac look at the world of the rodeo--and his only film with nary a bullet wound. Steve McQueen, engagingly easygoing but determined, is the title character, a rodeo rider out to win a big bull-riding contest in his hometown. Even as he confronts his dwindling days on the circuit, he also must deal with his feuding parents, marvelously played by Robert Preston and Ida Lupino. Preston is particularly good as the randy old con artist; he and Lupino strike real sparks. Peckinpah's slow-motion camera is put to particularly good use filming the balletic violence of the rodeo, at once more terrifying and awe-inspiring than any gun battle. A lovely country-western valentine to a dying breed.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A nice sampling from McQueen's career.......2005-06-06

The one word that is always used to describe actor Steve McQueen is cool. He was the essence of cool. The movies he made were always considered the epitome of cool. He was a hard working, hard playing rebel who had the kind of dangerous charisma that women found attractive and men wanted to emulate. McQueen died in 1980 but left behind a considerable legacy. MGM has repackaged several of his movies in a box set that provides an interesting cross-section of his work, that ranges from the ensemble piece, The Magnificent Seven to the rich, characterization of Junior Bonner that would mark his later films.

McQueen died from lung cancer at the age of 50 but left and enduring legacy behind. He continues to be a much admired and respected actor. This box set is a fitting reminder of the kind of range McQueen was capable of as an actor.

On The Magnificent Seven DVD there is an audio commentary by James Coburn, Eli Wallach, producer Walter Mirisch and assistant director Robert Relyea. This is a solid commentary packed with rich anecdotes with no one person dominating.

"Guns for Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven," is a retrospective look at the making of this classic. Most of the main cast are interviewed either in new or vintage footage in this excellent documentary.

There are two trailers and a still gallery with behind the scenes photos, portraits and production and poster art. *NOTE* However, be forewarned, this is not the awesome 2-DVD Special Edition that came out awhile ago. Why MGM didn't include this version in the box set is beyond me. Disappointing.

The Great Escape DVD features a decent making of documentary entitled, "Return to the Great Escape." Interestingly, the screenplay was never finished and this upset McQueen so much (because his part had not been defined) that he walked out after six weeks demanding his part be rewritten. It took Coburn and Garner to coax him back.

Also included is a theatrical trailer.

The Thomas Crown Affair disc has an audio commentary by Norman Jewison. He admits that the film places an emphasis on style over content and saw it as an experiment in film style. This is a solid track from the veteran filmmaker.

There is also a trailer.

Finally, on the Junior Bonner DVD is an audio commentary by Peckinpah authors Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle with moderator Nick Redman. They point out the richness of the direction and how it is a very visual film with minimal use of dialogue, especially McQueen's character. Like with their Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia commentary track, these guys provide an excellent analysis of the movie.

5 out of 5 stars Flawless.......2005-05-19

In The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen gives worthy performances but they are more or less ensemble films. In ESCAPE you might argue that McQueen is the actual star and the other characters, vivid as they are, serve only to support him, but in SEVEN he's not even the main star. People like myself with action fever in our blood think the world of these two films, early exposures to adrenaline pumping, and we remember them with the same intake of breath we remember the first time we jumped out of a plane or got into a fistfight.

In JUNIOR BONNER, the action is more subtle, though the rodeo background is colorful and McQueen, a little more weathered, is even better than before. His tangles with Ida Lupino are legendary and she was never better than in this film, a nice valedictory on Sam Peckinpah's part to one of Britain's (and Hollywood's) finest actresses, a woman who could spit out nails when she wanted to and a fitting progenitor for McQueen's icy stare (she plays his mother). It's a softer and more lyrical Peckinpah film, unlike the later THE GETAWAY (also with McQueen, although not in this boxed set).

Finally there's Norman Jewison's remake/remodel of Steve McQueen as a dashing, dapper Cary Grant type in the sophisticated caper thriller THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. To McQueen's credit, he was able to st-r-e-t-ch his screen image to accommodate the rapier verbal wit of the screenplay as well as do his customary "blue haze" screen stare. Faye Dunaway, as the curious heroine, is also very good and hardly mannered at all. When the film appeared, there was a lot of attention paid to their chess scene, which more or less frankly tried to imitate the baroque erotics of TOM JONES' famous "eating scene" with Albert Finney. Everything in the sequence is a complex double entendre, and often the actors are photographed in intense closeup, letting their eyes do all the talking for them. It works today, even though it has itself been imitated dozens of times since. On the entertaining commentary track Jewison acknowledges the prickly personae of his stars, and hints at how difficult they both could be, and he'll make you smile with some of his insider info.

This MGM set is released at a low (if not quite budget) price and has four great films in it. The competing McQueen set may have more discs, but it has more duds too. You pay your money, and you make your choice!

5 out of 5 stars FOR YOUR INFORMATION:.......2005-03-22

Description for Steve McQueen Giftset - 4 Pack DVD
--This exciting compilation features four classic Steve McQueen adventures, described individually below:

THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) - John Sturges's dramatization of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who successfully escaped from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944 remains arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made. A host of excellent up-and-coming actors, including James Garner (MAVERICK and THE ROCKFORD FILES), Richard Attenborough (future director of GANDHI), James Coburn (IN LIKE FLINT), and Charles Bronson (DEATH WISH) mesh beautifully in this meticulous recreation of the legendary escape. The German high command rounded up all of the allies' most talented escape artists and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed to foil any unwanted departures, but many of them laboriously tunnel out anyway. Steve McQueen's thrilling motorcycle chase sequence instantly made him a major movie star.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) - John Sturges's remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic THE SEVEN SAMURAI has become an extremely influential film in its own right. A small farming Mexican village that makes involuntary donations of its harvest to a gang of bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach) decides to hire a group of professional gunmen, headed by gunslinger-for-hire Chris (Yul Brynner), to protect them. Despite the meager pay, Chris and Vin (Steve McQueen) sign on after the Mexicans see them face down some racist thugs. As they ride back to the village, Chris begins to pick up other gunmen, including Bernardo (Charles Bronson), Lee (Robert Vaughan), Britt (James Coburn, looking eerily like his alter ego in the Kurosawa epic), Harry (Brad Dexter), and aspiring gunslinger Chico (Horst Buchholz falling short in the role played to perfection by Toshiro Mifune in the Japanese original). This rousing action film launched the movie careers of McQueen, Coburn, and Bronson. Although McQueen's character had only a few lines of dialogue, Sturges told the young actor that he would "give him the camera," and certainly kept his word. The movie also benefits tremendously from the unforgettably polyrhythmic score by Elmer Bernstein, among the most famous in film history, so popular and effective that it was used to sell Marlboro cigarettes for years afterward (and was memorably "sampled" in a very early Yes album from the 70s).

JUNIOR BONNER (1972) - Steve McQueen plays Junior Bonner, an aging rodeo champ who returns to his hometown to participate in the annual rodeo. He finds his family estranged, does what he can to help, and then moves on...after some serious rodeo riding and a few brawls. Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, and Ben Johnson lend strong support to McQueen's laconic loner.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) - Rich and charming (but thrill-seeking) businessman Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) must be the last person anyone would suspect as a bank-robbing mastermind, but Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway of NETWORK and BONNIE AND CLYDE), the insurance investigator assigned to the case, gradually catches on. A memorably erotic chess match between McQueen and Dunaway, both at their stratospheric career heights when the movie was filmed, serves as a metaphor for their relationship in the film.

DVD Features:

Region 1
4-Disc Box Set
Disc 1: THE GREAT ESCAPE
Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
---Dolby Digital Mono - English
---Dolby Digital Mono - French
Additional Release Material:
---Making-of
---Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
---Production Notes
---Additional Text - 1. Trivia

Disc 2: JUNIOR BONNER
Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
---Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
---Audio Commentary
---Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer

Disc 3: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Keep Case
Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
---Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
---Dolby Digital Mono - Spanish
---Dolby Digital Mono - French
Additional Release Material:
---Audio Commentary - 1. Eli Wallach - Star, James Coburn - Star
---Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical
---Documentary
Text/Photo Galleries:
---Stills/Photos - 1. Gallery
Additional Products:
---Booklet

Disc 4: THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
Full Frame - 1.33
Letterboxed - 1.85
Audio:
---Mono - English
---Subtitles - English - Optional
---Subtitles - French - Optional
Additional Release Material:
---Audio Commentary - 1. Norman Jewison - Director
---Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Additional Products:
---8-Page Booklet featuring Trivia, Production Notes, and Making of the Film

Release Info:
--Color Film
--Year Released: 1960-1972
--RunTime: 502 Min.
--Release Language: English
--Original Language: English

The Great Locomotive Chase
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Childhood memories...
  • Great Film for history buffs
  • Excellent Movie, Questionable Disney
  • Classic filmmaking based on a true story
  • Review of Disney May 2002 release
The Great Locomotive Chase
Starring: Fess Parker , Jeffrey Hunter , Jeff York , John Lupton , and Eddie Firestone
Director: Francis D. Lyon
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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  3. Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor
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ASIN: B0000DZTNF
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com

Disney's Great Locomotive Chase relates a true Civil War story about the Andrews Raiders, a team of 22 Union spies. In 1862 they snatched a train out from under the normally watchful eyes of Confederate troops based near Atlanta in a daredevil attempt to wreck the track and bridges of the Western & Atlantic Railroad. It was a high-stakes operation with a huge payoff. If they succeeded, they would effectively win the war; if they were caught, they were sure to be hanged. This 1956 feature shores up the suspense of the scheme masterfully. We watch, transfixed, as the relentless Confederate train conductor, William Fuller (played by the all-business Jeffrey Hunter) roars through a bevy of Southern stations hot on the heels of his hijacked locomotive. Will James Andrews (Fess Parker), leader of the Raiders, outrun him? History buffs won't need to keep watching for long, but they'll want to anyway--the portrayal of the Raiders' gumption and against-all-odds heroics pushes the basest, most human of audience buttons. It's not that The Great Locomotive Chase is a simple but well-done film about good vs. evil. Instead, it explores both sides' motives and draws gentle conclusions about honor, and it does so at an invigoratingly high clip. In that way, it's a movie worth sharing with kids 8 and older--there's no blood and only a sprinkling of violence here, but as with all war stories, tragedy plays a prominent role. --Tammy La Gorce

Description

After commandeering a Confederate locomotive, heroic Yankee soldiers known as the Andrews Raiders try to bring about an early end to the Civil War by crippling the Southern railroad network. But their efforts are hampered by the unrelenting bravery of a single Rebel patriot.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Childhood memories..........2007-01-01

I just watched this movie for the first time in probably 15 or 20 years. Although I am far too young to have seen this in its initial release in theatres, this was one of the very first movies that I saw when I was a child. I really did not remember much from the movie--except that it had given me thrills as a kid. I was excited to watch this again with my brother and father.

My father is a Noth Carolina native who moved up north, and that makes me a North Dakota native. This is important because we both tend to lean on opposite sides of the "Civil War fence." Well, this movie is great because it shows respect to both sides. The main premise is that some Northern spies steal a train from the South with the intentions of destroying tracks and bridges. One determined Southern railroad conductor takes personal offense at his train being stolen and follows it doggedly--first on foot and slowly upgrading from there.

You can't really describe the movie beyond the premise without ruining it. However, this is based on a true story--and one that potentially would have impacted the war in a BIG way. This is given colorful Disney treatment, and it is very enjoyable. As mentioned already, you are able to watch this from either perspective and enjoy it because both sides are given equal treatment. Also, it is not just the story of a locomotive chase as it also outlines the beginning of the Medal of Honor.

As for the DVD release, I don't mind that there are not extras. The picture is good, and the movie is what I bought it for--not the extras! Thanks for an excellent film on DVD!

5 out of 5 stars Great Film for history buffs.......2005-10-01

When I was 10 years old ( in 1962 ), I had the good fortune to
ride on a train pulled by the "General." This was back during the Civil War Centennial celebration and believe me, nothing
could have brought the past alive more than this trip!
The movie certainly brings to life this amazing event without
today's graphic violence and gore. In the tradition of Disney
productions, high quality and great excitement are pervasive
throughout. Growing up with Disney on screen and television
made watching this movie a trip down "memory lane." I would highly recommend this wonderful film to anyone interested in
the Civil War or to train buffs.

4 out of 5 stars Excellent Movie, Questionable Disney.......2005-04-22

The movie is outstanding. Fess Parker and the rest turn in excellent performances. This exciting story is based on the true to life incident that took place during the Civil War. From what I have heard there were only a couple minor changes in the recreation of the story. Walt Disney made wonderful movies during the Fifties and Sixties that were great for the whole family to enjoy together. I am ecstatic they are now releasing these movies to DVD. My only complaint is that there seems to be an issue with quantity instead of quality. They seem more interested in releasing a great number of movies than worrying about the condition of them. Now I'm am as anxious as the next person to get all their live action movies out but I hope they start taking the time to realize they need to monitor the quality control. I don't need the extras on this first release. Once they have released all the movies they use to run on "The Wonderful World of Disney" then they can go back and do Platinum Editions. I will be satisfied with just the movie since there are so many more they need to release like "Dr. Syn, alias Scarecrow" and "The Swamp Fox" that I can be satisfied with just the basics but I want the movie to have sharp picture and sound quality. Some of the recent live action movies have been great quality (e.g. Three Lives of Thomasina) and some have been poor (e.g. "The Journey of Natty Gann). I hope someone from Disney is paying attention to Amazons reviews because if they don't they may find their DVDs aren't selling so well. Fortunately this DVD picture and sound quality are nicely restored. There are no extra features.

5 out of 5 stars Classic filmmaking based on a true story.......2005-02-28

It's a real treat to see live-action Disney movies in all their glory, (back when movies actually meant something) unlike the special effects-ridden garbage of today. Of the meager number of films dealing with the Andrews Raid, I find this to be the most realistic portrayal by a long shot.

1 out of 5 stars Review of Disney May 2002 release.......2004-06-05

After two previous releases by Anchor Bay, one would assume this release by the movie producer, Disney, would be the ultimate issue of this film. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Besides having zero....none, nyet....bonus features....not even a trailer, this release is riddled with problems. While the menu and FBI warnings are anamorphic, the movie itself is not. If the transfer had been halfway decent, this would be somewhat forgiveable. However, the transfer is grainy, the color pulses, and edge enhancement is frequent throughout. Certain portions of the movie even appear to be in the wrong ratio....as if the screen were squeezed top to bottom.

Another problem I encountered....and basically the last straw....was the random appearance of foreign subtitles as I watched the movie. Whether this is a problem with all DVD players, I do not know [mine is a Toshiba]....but on a quality product, this should never be a problem on any player.

While the movie is somewhat enjoyable [typical 50's Disney-style drama], I'd avoid this DVD [wish I HAD] based purely on the lack of effort Disney put out in assembling it.

Figures....Disney finally releases some of its movies in their entirety [not the destructive pan & scan], and they still put out a lousy DVD.
The Great Escape (2-Disc Collector's Set)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • One of the Best Movies Ever Made
  • Classic
  • Heroes abound
  • A vast, multi-star war epic with great score by Elmer Bernstein...
  • A decent WWII POW movie
The Great Escape (2-Disc Collector's Set)
Starring: Steve McQueen , James Garner , Richard Attenborough , James Donald , and Charles Bronson
Director: John Sturges
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Charles BronsonCharles Bronson | Action Stars | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Steve McQueenSteve McQueen | Action Stars | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
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World War IIWorld War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
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Attenborough, RichardAttenborough, Richard | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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Donald, JamesDonald, James | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0001GF2EM
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Amazon.com essential video

A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges's The Great Escape is both the definitive World War II drama and the nonpareil prison escape movie. Featuring an unequalled ensemble cast in a rivetingly authentic true-life scenario set to Elmer Bernstein's admirable music, this picture is both a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen gives a career-defining performance as the laconic Hilts, the baseball-loving, motorbike-riding "Cooler King." The rest of the all-male Anglo-American cast--Dickie Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, David McCallum, James Coburn, and Gordon Jackson--make the most of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent). Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape attempts, scrounging, forging, and ferreting activities are authentically realized thanks also to technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climax with total conviction, giving us both high action and very poignant human drama. Without trivializing the grim reality, The Great Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight. --Mark Walker

Description

In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft North, a maximum-security prisoner-of-war camp, designed tohold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military historybrilliantly portrayed here by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburnwho worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted. One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time, The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven), screenwriters James Clavell (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett (Little Caesar), and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story, The Great Escape is epic entertainment that "entertains,captivates, thrills and stirs" (Variety).

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars One of the Best Movies Ever Made.......2007-02-24

The Great Escape is my favorite movie of all time. It is an excellant movie and follows the book it is based on very well. This movie shows the courage, strength and fighting spirit of these men. And it is truely dedicated to the fifty who were murdered.

5 out of 5 stars Classic.......2007-02-06

What else can I say about a classic? McQueen's motorcycle jump is the unforgettable part for me.

5 out of 5 stars Heroes abound.......2007-01-14

The Great Escape portrays the heroism of prisoners never giving into their captors and the pompous honor of Nazi Germany. The group becomes a monkey wrench at all turns determined to send their adversary to the Russian front. My only complaint is that it is shown in letterbox format which saps some of the power of the story. Wasn't this picture worth a full screen format? But this is probably par for the epics of that era. The stars had to carry the load and be bigger in life even though you are peeking through a window. Steve McQueen was a man of epic tales and this one does not fail to deliver. Even doomed to failure he never gives up. Resist with every last breath was the motto of the prisoners. Guile and guts served them well and in the end Germany was defeated even if only in small part by the escapades of the escapees. Grit abounds through the fiber of every man sworn to serve the Allied forces. We owe these men a debt we can never repay, but always respect. It takes courage to put your own well being second behind the cause. Unfortunately we have seldom triumphed in glory since that time. This war made sense while successors seemed steeped in politics. Something a normal person has a hard time understanding. Let's just hope that global war was put to rest with this one. We can look back on the Great Escape with admiration and gratitude. But we can never repay what was sacrificed by these men.

4 out of 5 stars A vast, multi-star war epic with great score by Elmer Bernstein..........2007-01-02

'The Great Escape' had the advantage of a fine source, and a fine script... Each actor realizes his potential in a very detailed manner, giving a feeling lost in the actual cinema...

Sturges is careful with the pace in the first half, allowing the escape plans develop slowly... Humor, excitement and human drama are wonderfully blended, and smartly underscored by Elmer Bernstein's memorable background music...

The film opens with several truckloads of Allied officers, mostly pilots, being transferred to a new German maximum-security prison camp at Sagan...

The Camp 'Kommandant', Von Luger (Hannes Messemer), tells Captain Ramsey (James Donald), 'We have, in effect, put all our rotten eggs in one basket, and we intend to watch this basket carefully.'

But since all the British and American officers in his charge are men who have made several attempts to escape from other prison camps, Von Luger knows his words are meaningless...

The master planner is 'Big X,' Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), who has just endured three months of Gestapo/SS torture, and plans to strike back, getting as many men as possible out of the camp, in order to 'harass, confuse and confound the enemy' behind the lines...

He announces a terrific plan for a mass break-out of 250 men and schemes three simultaneous tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry...

The plan, so precise, proceeds in an orderly fashion, with a great deal of attention placed on caution and ruse to deflect German attentions... The captives involve themselves in much surface activity, which masks the underground work...

Hilts (Steve McQuenn), the 'Cooler King,' leads the Germans on a memorable motorcycle chase through back roads and across the fields right up to the Swiss frontier...

Hendley (James Garner), the 'Scrounger' is a charming thief whose particular gift is the misappropriation of all the required supplies for an escape...

Blythe (Donald Pleasance) has the talents of a 'Forger', and makes visas and passports... He suggests in one scene: ' Tea without milk is so uncivilized.'

Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson) is the experienced Polish-American 'Tunnel-King.'

Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn) is the 'Manufacturer' of bellows-operated ventilation...

Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) is the 'Dispersal' with his ingenious methods of getting rid of the dirt generated by the tunneling activities...

Andy McDonald (Gordon Jackson ) is 'Intelligence,' the officer who develops a fantastic security system to protect the compounds from the German "Ferrets."

Archibald Ives (Angus Lennie) is the 'Mole,' whose fragile mind has been taxed by several years in the camps, repeated failed escape attempts, and time in the cooler...

Dennis Cavendish (Nigel Stock) is the 'Surveyor' who miscalculates the distance to the trees...

Guard Werner (Robert Graf) is the 'Ferret' who affirms to Hendley: 'I could tell you stories about my teeth that would make your hair stand on end.'

'The Great Escape' is a pretty good motion picture where the toll of freedom is precious, and the movie's ending provokes deep and serious meditation... It graphically shows what enterprising men can accomplish under the most unusual circumstances... It has a great cast, and is beautifully made...

3 out of 5 stars A decent WWII POW movie.......2007-01-01

The Great Escape was a decent movie. However, it did not live upto my expectations.

The storyline was fine, action was decent and suitable and characters played their parts well. The movie also detailed the escape plot well and went into considerable depth.

One part of the movie that reduced it's quality was the unnecessary comic relief throughout the movie. Almost from the start, many POW's act like they are on vacation and not a prison camp. I don't think real-life POWs would have acted like that. In the same vein, the German officers appeared fools and clowns, who not only tolerated much insolence but didn't seem to have a clue at all.
The Great Train Robbery
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Almost as good as the book!
  • On track
  • Crichton's period heist film is quite exciting...
  • Good book...bad movie
  • Wonderful mixture of comedy, suspense, and drama
The Great Train Robbery
Starring: Sean Connery , Donald Sutherland , Lesley-Anne Down , Alan Webb , and Malcolm Terris
Director: Michael Crichton
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0792839064
Release Date: 1998-07-29

Amazon.com

Best-selling novelist Michael Crichton had already directed Westworld and Coma when he tackled the ambitious production of The Great Train Robbery in 1978. Adapting his own novel (which was inspired by the facts of the first known train robbery), Crichton sets this attractive, highly enjoyable film in London in 1855, where Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) and Agar (Donald Sutherland) plot to steal £25,000 in gold that is being transported by train to pay British troops in the Crimean War. Lesley-Anne Down plays Miriam, Pierce's sophisticated paramour and the third partner in the scheme; while Pierce and Agar make copies of four keys for the train's closely guarded safes, she uses her feminine wiles to distract a variety of officials and businessmen with connections to the gold.

A lively, humorous caper film of the first order, The Great Train Robbery also boasts a vividly authentic recreation of mid-Victorian England, all the more remarkable since the production was filmed primarily in Ireland on a budget of $6 million--a miraculously modest sum (even in 1978) for such a lavish-looking film. Although Crichton's directorial style seems somewhat detached and bloodless, he maintains a vivid respect for place and time, and his three leads are splendid in their charismatic roles. Meticulous attention to details of costuming and production design enhance the breezy fun of the heist, which climaxes with an exciting sequence on the rushing train, with Connery performing his own stunt work. While the later hit Mission: Impossible would take a similar sequence to its high-tech, high-velocity extreme, The Great Train Robbbery remains an entertaining study of crime in a less hectic age, allowing Crichton to emphasize ingenuity over special effects. --Jeff Shannon

Description

All aboard for runaway action and suspense in this riveting masterpiece from writer/director Michael Crichton! Starring Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley Anne-Down, it's a "spine-tingling and suavely performed" adventure (The Hollywood Reporter) based on history's first train robbery. Filmed by Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, this "ingenious" (Variety) and "wonderful" (Gene Shalit) crime caper delivers mile-a-minute thrills and breathtaking excitement. Connery is Edward Pierce, a master thief who conceives a brilliant plan to steal a fortune in gold bars from a railroad payroll car. But to pull off the most daring heist in history, Pierce must join forces with a safecracker (Sutherland) and his own beautiful girlfriend (Down) in a series of intricately plotted thefts that will test all of their nerve, camaraderie and larcenous skill. *1972: Cabaret; 1980: Tess

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Almost as good as the book!.......2007-04-30

I read Michael Crichton's book a few years ago, and I loved it, but I did not see the movie version until recently. Then I read Crichton's book "Travels," which has a chapter on the filming of the movie, which he directed. With my interest now piqued, I got the movie CD and enjoyed it very much, especially after reading Crichton's account of the problems during filming. Filmed in 1978, this is Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland at their finest, playing two Victorian scalawags trying to pull off the biggest heist in British history. To say any more about the outcome would be a spoiler, but the movie is almost two hours of nonstop intrigue and tension as the two crooks try to figure how to steal the unstealable.

With Crichton writing the screenplay and directing, the movie was pretty faithful to the book, although if you want all the little details, read the book also. This was based on an actual event, but I don't know how faithful Crichton's story is to the real event. In any case, the movie does a great job of recreating mid-nineteenth century London and the sights and sounds of the period, even to the old steam locomotive used.

Except for one brief, harmless scene in a London bordello, this is a great family movie.

Highly recommended for two hours of entertainment!

4 out of 5 stars On track.......2007-01-16

With great actors and a great plot this movie is a real charmer.
After reading the book I was pleased to see that the movie actually
follows the book much better than many others I have seen. There is
a bit of uneveness in the movie but it is still a great watch.

3 out of 5 stars Crichton's period heist film is quite exciting..........2006-12-31

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about a quite impossible mission in Victorian underworld... It is about gold bars placed in strongboxes and taken by armed security guards to the railway station...

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about four keys separately kept and guarded by different parties... and a daring gentleman thief who never tells the truth...

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about a bunch of crooks that can steal your heart... and is about a young stunning mistress who suspects that her father breaks his own regulation for each morning of the shipments...

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about the fastest pickpocket you'll ever see...

The film chronicles the grandeur and hypocrisy at all levels of England during the Victorian Era, and proves that the cleverness and prowess of a criminal mastermind is elevated to heroic status...

With excellent photography of Ireland beautiful countryside, and great music score by Jerry Goldsmith, Michael Crichton's period heist film is quite exciting... The movie gave American's audience a pleasure to escape from the outcome of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal...

2 out of 5 stars Good book...bad movie.......2006-03-24

I LOVED the book and made the mistake of buying the movie without watching it first. This movie is boring and did no justice to the book.

4 out of 5 stars Wonderful mixture of comedy, suspense, and drama.......2006-03-17

This movie is taken from a book by Michael Crichton. I love that author, but have never been able to read the book. So, I ordered the movie! It's great! The comment is made that this is the story of the first train robbery ever - like EVER - in history.
Each character is unique. There is subterfuge here too.
The ending is just wonderful! Sure to satisfy everybody.
Saints and Soldiers
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Plays well in SLC; others beware
  • Excellent work of recreating a little-heard of piece of history.
  • Clashing Symbols
  • Deeply Moving
  • Must have.
Saints and Soldiers
Starring: Corbin Allred , Alexander Polinsky , Kirby Heyborne , Larry Bagby , and Peter Asle Holden
Director: Ryan Little
Manufacturer: Excel Entertainment Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Great BattlesGreat Battles | By Theme | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Heroic MissionsHeroic Missions | By Theme | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Allred, CorbinAllred, Corbin | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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  5. A Midnight Clear

ASIN: B00080ETYA
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Plays well in SLC; others beware.......2007-05-15

If you factor in a one million dollar budget (the equivalent of paying $3.82 for a new car), and if you sufficiently lower your expectations accordingly, then this movie is easy enough way to pass the time. The battle scenes are fairly well done, although relying heavily on the Saving Private Ryan/Gladiator style jerky cinematography. I have to admit that seeing the M1 Garand in full throat is always stirring to me, even if the rest of a movie is sort of cheesy.

And that's what this movie is. Other reviewers (the ones who may not be Romney supporters) have noted the cornball dialogue. It's really shameful, and it's difficult to see why even with a million-dollar budget, that the film-makers couldn't have provided a better script. I just about turned the movie off when Deacon was reunited with an old Sunday School chum. Give me a freakin' break!

For a more potent, more ambiguous, and less preachy vision of religion in war, readers are encouraged to check out To End All Wars. Or for that matter, Sergeant York with Gary Cooper!

4 out of 5 stars Excellent work of recreating a little-heard of piece of history........2007-03-07

I have to admit, I had never heard of the events this movie is based on until I watched the movie. However, this made the movie even more interesting to me. After watching the commentary in the special features, I do not think this movie could have been made much better. To begin with, the movie recreates a true story, thus limiting the liberties the producers could take with the story. Then to make this movie on a small budget and still make it look as good as it did, I am impressed.
This movie is not without its faults, however. There were such things as German soldiers walking only yards away the footprints of the American soldiers in the snow without seeing those footprints. Maybe something similar happened in the actual event, but the movie could have been a little more realistic and simply not have had the German soldiers walk so close to the Americans' hideout.
Even so, I found the movie to be rather intriguing. The main character is quickly shown to be a Christian haunted by memories from. A good portion of the movie is a sort of gradual revealing of exactly what it is that haunts him. One thing that I found really meaningful was how the ending played out. As a Christian myself, I found it a little easier to understand the main character (yes, I have forgotten his name!) and I was able to see the ending in a different light than a non-Christian might. The best way to explain this without giving away too many details is by saying that it shows the literal explanation of the Bible verse that says, "No greater love is this, that a man should lay down his life for his friend."

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and for several reasons. First, it was about WW2 history, specifically some WW2 history that I was previously unaware of. Second, there was plenty of action and surprises, regardless of what other reviewers might say. Third, although it is never stated or really even implied, I personally think that this is a Christian movie. In showing true history, the producers also showed the good side of true Christianity.
Once again, i really enjoyed this movie and I highly recommend it. If you do see it, I would suggest you also watch the following commentary. Enjoy.

3 out of 5 stars Clashing Symbols.......2007-02-19

Saints and Soldiers is an excellent example of how one botched element can spell the difference between a home run and a routine out to deep center field. I was stunned to learn that this movie was made for a million dollars, on screen it looks like a full-budget feature film with plenty of production value. The sense of place is compelling; the snowy woods are beautiful and forbidding all at once. We feel tremendous empathy for this band of unfortunate soldiers at war with both the elements and the German soldiers who surround them.

A scroll at the movie's start states that the story is based on actual events. This increasingly commonplace technique does not add value. Indeed, it is true, to one extent or another, of all stories. Further, it is intended to add weight, drama, and validity to what we are about to see. Unless the story is literally accurate, this seems like a cheap device. In war there are a thousand stories like this, where ordinary people achieve extraordinary things as they find themselves in inconceivable situations. It is the responsibility of the story to generate its own drama.

The no-name cast does a very credible job and certainly deserve to get more work based on their performances here. The problem is with the ham-fisted symbolism of the script, and the really shabby dialogue. The symbolism is high school English stuff and revolves around the character of Deacon. Deacon was a missionary in Germany before the war, but is also the group's best marksman! Gosh, how ironic. Deacon's humanism transcends the goodies versus baddies mentality that drives everyone else - when he inevitably dies the director actually has the nerve to pose him on the ground ala Jesus on the cross. Starting with a great story and reducing it to blatant manipulation of this sort is the kind of twaddle we are used to in big budget pictures.

Worse still is the dialogue itself. The smallest amount of care would have eliminated many phrases that did not come into fashion for at least 30 years after the war ended. I fully expected Deacon to say, "Oh ma gawd, I am so totally sure, my rifle jammed, oh whatever, Heather!" This is sloppy at best. Also questionable was the stereotypical British paratrooper who would have been more comfortable on an episode of Fawlty Towers than in this film. Director Ryan Little would do well to remember that the British were fighting the Germans for many years before the Americans showed up.

A good film that missed being great. But then if your outfit only has one rifle, you have to make your shot count.

5 out of 5 stars Deeply Moving.......2007-01-28

It takes a lot to move me and this movie did it. This movie really digs into the emotions of the heroes who served us and who to this day are suffering the physical and emotional scars so we could live such a great life in the greatest country on earth. I really connected with the characters and could not imagine anyone else playing their parts; especially Corbin Allred. His Staff Sgt. looked a lot like my grandfather who was in the China-Burma-India Theater in WW II. I served in the Marines in the mid-1980's and when I see a WW 2 vet nowadays, I always go up and speak to him and I have never met one that has not appreciated it. Please do the same. God bless our WW II heroes and thank you to the makers of this film.

5 out of 5 stars Must have........2006-12-22

Good story. Audio and Video quality is excellent. I consider it one of the best in my collection.
The Great Smokey Roadblock
Average customer rating: Not rated
    The Great Smokey Roadblock
    Starring: Eileen Brennan , John Byner , Henry Fonda , Leigh French , and Dana House
    Director: John Leone
    Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
    Comic ActionComic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
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    Brennan, EileenBrennan, Eileen | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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    ASIN: B00031V24O
    Release Date: 2004-08-17

    Description

    Put the pedal to the metal and hang on tight, cause that high-ballin' bandit is rollin' tonight! Henry Fonda shines in his role as worn-out trucker Elegant John who has his 18-wheeler repossessed only months before his retirement. He's determined to do everything he can to make one last big haul before he says goodbye.
    The Great White Hope
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • "The Winner and still Champion...."
    • loosely based on true events
    • This movie needs to be in print!
    • James Earl Jones at his finest....
    • tight film
    The Great White Hope
    Starring: James Earl Jones , Jane Alexander , Lou Gilbert , Joel Fluellen , and Chester Morris
    Director: Martin Ritt
    Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    GeneralGeneral | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
    GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    Love & RomanceLove & Romance | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video | Crumbling Marriages | Erotic | Infidelity & Betrayal | Love Story | Love Triangle | Marriage | Romance | Romantic Epic | Star-Crossed Lovers | Unrequited Love | Young Love
    BiographyBiography | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    Class DifferencesClass Differences | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    Fighting the SystemFighting the System | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    Race RelationsRace Relations | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    Period PiecePeriod Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    SportsSports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
    GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
    Acosta, RodolfoAcosta, Rodolfo | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
    Alexander, JaneAlexander, Jane | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
    Dalio, MarcelDalio, Marcel | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
    Fluellen, JoelFluellen, Joel | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
    Glenn, RoyGlenn, Roy | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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    Gunn, MosesGunn, Moses | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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    ASIN: B00066FABM
    Release Date: 2005-01-11

    Description

    James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander won Oscar nominations for their riveting performances in this study of a great fighter brought down by lesser men.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars "The Winner and still Champion....".......2006-02-22

    pretty powerful. every aspect of this film moved me: the acting, the visuals, the settings. james earl jones and jane alexander light up the screen in their roles. both were nominated for oscars. but the real star of the film is the screenplay, which hits harder than an ali right cross. jones' jack jefferson was arrogant, but he was a proud black man; he didn't walk around feeling sorry for himself, nor was he trying to be the " standard bearer" for the black race. he just wanted to box and do it well. the last scene in the film when he is asked to throw a fight, yet chooses to fight and lost, is great. jefferson may have lost his belt, but he didn't cave in...the interracial relationship was done well, but as always in movies, it usually ends tragically...

    3 out of 5 stars loosely based on true events.......2005-01-25

    Neither this movie, nor the play it was created from were
    directly based on true events. The work is loosely based on
    events in the life of boxer Jack Johnson. But major portions
    of the story diverge greatly from the story of the real man.
    Thats not a bad thing in that movie tells a compelling story
    by changing the facts, but the side-effect is that it distorts
    the history of the real man.

    The film gives a really distorted picture of the life of a boxer
    in that era. The typical boxer was a drunk surrounded by
    hangers-on, prostitutes and women attracted by money and
    celebrity. It wasn't really any sort of world of romance and
    deep love as shown in the film. It was about greed, violence
    and the "rewards" (the women) of being a champion.

    Where the movie misses the point totally is in not understanding
    that root problem wasn't just racism, but a business and media
    culture who were totally willing to use racism and racial
    conflict as a way to sell tickets and newspapers. Jack Johnson
    (and the search for the great white hope) was a godsend for
    the boxing establishment. By combining racial conflict
    with sports, interest in boxing and newspaper coverage of
    boxing went way up. It was never how he was openly living
    that was the problem (even in 1910), it was the decision of
    the newspapers to focus in on how he was living.

    Also, despite all the outrage and the ill-treatment of Jack
    Johnson, he kept both the title and his freedom until age
    (not racism) caught up with him. The film spreads the old
    lie that the fight in Cuba was thrown. It was not. He lost
    because he was old and his lifestyle (like all boxers of that
    era) had caught up to him.

    The acting in the film is first-rate, but the story doesn't
    hold up. Its a 1960's era political film that makes valid
    points about racism and hypocracy of that time. But these
    days, the issues at hand are atheletes who are either made
    into saints or devils at the whim of a few reporters.
    All to sell papers or get viewers. While the reality of these
    mens lives isn't reported at all.

    5 out of 5 stars This movie needs to be in print!.......2004-09-01

    I can't say enough about this great film, which is obviously woefully underappreciated, since it's currently not available on video at all. James Earl Jones is mesmerizing, the script and direction are impeccable--yet another great movie from Martin Ritt. So many of the scenes are unlike anything I've seen before in the brutal frankness the filmmakers use to portray race relations circa 1910.

    5 out of 5 stars James Earl Jones at his finest...........2002-04-12

    This is a remarkable and forceful film, well written and directed. Jones shows a physical prowess that does not come through in any other film I have seen him in and carries the role with a natural grace. Sharply exposing the prejudice of the time, it is also unfliching in the portrait of a man brought to ruin by the forces around him, with not a little assistance from his own feeling of being untouchable. Highly recommended.

    4 out of 5 stars tight film.......2001-09-11

    this Movie for it's time frame was Ground-Breaking.in 1971 to be doing a Movie with a Black Actor&White Female Lead was Big.well sorry to say it still is in 2001.James Earl Jones was Good as Jack Johnson.but I'd dig a New up-dated take on it.anyway The Soundtrack was a Knock-Out.Miles Davis&His Band went the full 15 Rounds.this Film has a Cool Pace&isn't like many other films for that Reason alone.It's History seldom mentioned.
    World War II Heroes Film Collection (Run Silent, Run Deep / The Great Escape / A Bridge Too Far / The Battle of Britain)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      World War II Heroes Film Collection (Run Silent, Run Deep / The Great Escape / A Bridge Too Far / The Battle of Britain)
      Starring: Michael Caine , Laurence Olivier , Trevor Howard , Christopher Plummer , and Ralph Richardson
      Director: Robert Wise
      Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
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      Gable, ClarkGable, Clark | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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      Hackman, GeneHackman, Gene | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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      Plummer, ChristopherPlummer, Christopher | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
      Redgrave, MichaelRedgrave, Michael | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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      ASIN: B000NIBUVW
      Release Date: 2007-05-22

      Description

      Disc 1: BATTLE OF BRITAIN Disc 2: THE GREAT ESCAPE Disc 3: A BRIDGE TOO FAR Disc 4: RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

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