The Rock - Criterion Collection

Starring:Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer, David Morse, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn, Vanessa Marcil, John C. McGinley, Gregory Sporleder, Tony Todd, Bokeem Woodbine, Jim Maniaci, Greg Collins (II), Brendan Kelly, Steve Harris, Danny Nucci, Claire Forlani, Celeste Weaver, Todd Louiso
Director: Michael Bay
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on DVD, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon
Description
A highly decorated, retired U.S. Marine general (Ed Harris) seizes a stockpile of chemical weapons and takes over Alcatraz, with 81 tourists as hostages on the San Francisco Bay isle. His demand: Restitution to families of soldiers who died in covert operations. The response: An elite Navy SEAL team, with support from an FBI chemical-warfare expert (Nicolas Cage) and a former Alcatraz escapee (Sean Connery), is assembled to penetrate the terrorists' defenses on the island and neutralize the threat before time runs out. The result: A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller with a first-rate cast, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry bruckheimer.

Average customer rating:

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival

Revelatory performances.

Not complete

Jimi Hendrix plays Wild Thing at Monterey Pop

Everything I wanted

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival - Criterion Collection
Starring: Scott McKenzie , 'Mama' Cass Elliot , John Phillips (II) , Michelle Phillips , and Denny Doherty
Director: D.A. Pennebaker , and Chris Hegedus
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
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General | Pop | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video
DTS | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006JU7P
Release Date: 2002-11-12

Amazon.com essential video

The Monterey International Pop Festival, the three-day event staged in 1967 that has become one of rock music's most famous and in some ways greatest concerts, gets the royal treatment with this three-disc boxed set.

Material on two of the three discs has already been widely available. Monterey Pop, D.A. Pennebaker's 79-minute, 1968 film, effectively sets the scene for the festival, which took place during the fabled "Summer of Love," when the hippie ethos was in its fullest flower, especially on the West Coast. And while not all the featured performances are thrilling, those that are--principally by the Who, Jimi Hendrix, and the amazing Ravi Shankar--are worth the price of admission, especially in the high-definition digital transfer and new 5.1 mix seen and heard here. The same can be said for Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey, which appear in the boxed set on a separate disc and provide a much fuller look at Hendrix's and Otis Redding's incendiary sets (literally, in the former case).

Those two discs are also loaded with bonus features, including audio commentary by Pennebaker, festival producer Lou Adler (on Monterey Pop), and author Peter Guralnick (Shake!); audio-only remarks by some of the performers; photos; trailers; and other material. There's also a substantial booklet, filled with essays and photos. But it's the third disc, "The Outtake Performances," comprising some two hours of music that didn't make the final film edit, that will be of most interest to many viewers. The disc supplies a taste of some of the artists who didn't appear in Monterey Pop at all (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service), and a more complete look at some who did (the Who, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas). A nice addition to an already very impressive DVD collection. --Sam Graham

Description

DISC ONE: "Monterey Pop" New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by D.A. Pennebaker. New 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital and DTS. Audio commentary by Festival producer Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. New video interview with Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. Audio interviews with Festival producer John Phillips, Festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot and David Crosby. Photo essay by photographer Elaine Mayes. Original theatrical trailer. Orginal theatrical radio spots. Monterey Pop scrapbook. Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition.

DISC TWO: "Jimi Plays Monterey" and "Shake! Otis at Monterey" New high-definition digital transfers, supervised by D.A. Pennebaker. New 5.1 mixes by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital and DTS. Audio commentary on Jimi Plays Monterey by music critic and historian Charles Shaar Murray. Two audio commentaries on Shake! by music critic and historian Peter Guralnick: the first on Otis Redding's Monterey performance, song by song; the second on Redding before and after Monterey. Interview with Phil Walden, Otis Redding's manager from 1959 to 1967. Original theatrical trailer for Jimi Plays Monterey. Video excerpt: Pete Townshend on Monterey and Jimi Hendrix. Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

DISC THREE: "Monterey Pop -- The Outtake Performance" Two hours of performances not included in the original film, from the following artists: Buffalo Springfield performing "For What It's Worth, " The Association, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Blues Project, The Byrds, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Country Joe and the Fish, The Electric Flag, Jefferson Airplane, Al Kooper, The Mamas and the Papas, Laura Nyro, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Simon and Garfunkel, Tiny Tim, and The Who.

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival.......2007-06-28

It was 1967, the Summer of Love and "Sergeant Pepper's," a charged moment when rock'n'roll was evolving in daring new directions, fueled by psychedelic drugs, the sexual revolution, and a new generation finding its voice. Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker covers the Monterey Pop Festival like a blanket in this feature-length concert film--the first ever--filming everything and everyone, while showcasing landmark performances by immortals Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who, among others.

Revelatory performances........2007-01-07

The film restoration work looks and sounds magnificent. Eddie Kramer gets extra congratulations on the 5.1 audio mix. That said, the 3rd disc is mainly in stereo only.

Karen's review below is a bit harsh. If you actually listen to the main film's commentary, you will understand why more footage isn't available: Not every second of 3 days of performances were captured. Concert films did not exist as a genre at this time (see the annoyingly choppy 'Festival!' documenting Newport), so this was new territory and the point of the film was to make a document that gave an overall feel for the event and time. Pennebaker and his crew had to decide which songs to film, which seems to have been predetermined by Dylan's buddy Bob Neuwirth who was more familiar with the scene than the filmmaker. They would turn on a red light on stage to signal to start filming the next song. At some times, they didn't have a plan and the camera men would shoot at their discretion, so some performances may have been captured by only 1 camera and therefore considered not presentable. Also, film reels would end during performances and need to be changed (approx every 20 minutes), hence footage missing from two of Jimi's songs.

Regarding the lack of more outtake footage:
1. Your precious Janis and Big Brother's new manager Albert Grossman didn't allow them to be filmed the first day, but finally they were asked to play again the next day because of the crowd reaction and the desire to get something on film. The whole set could exist but I doubt it. Grossman and his need for control is probably to blame, and it's no coincidence that Woodstock's filmmakers were also refused to use her footage in the original release. She only appears now in the directors cut.
2. The Byrds set is extremely historic, and that is one that should have been included in whole if it exists.
3. The Who's set is only missing 'Pictures of Lily' not counting 'My Generation' which is in the proper film. It is on bootleg Who dvd's so why that wasn't included is inexplicable. I would have like to have seen all footage from each artist's set put together on the bonus disc including the songs included in whole or in part in the actual final film, so that it's all in one place. What we get is anything besides what made the final cut.

4. As far as Tiny Tim, yes his impromptu performances are annoying, but they are part of just that, impromptu candid backstage footage supplied as bonus, not part of the 2 hours of bonus footage. So, skip past it like I did and get over it.

5. Regarding the Grateful Dead, a small glimpse is seen at the beginning of the 'Jimi Plays Monterey' film, but the liner notes from the 4CD box set from 1992 tells us, that like Janis, the band and or management refused to allow any audio or visuals to be used. I assume they didn't like their performance, or wanted to control it like the rest of their own vault. The whole festival was for charity, as we also learn from the supplementary interviews, and the artists therefore had to sign waivers releasing the rights to their performances. My guess it the Dead refused to comply.
6.The real shame is that there is no footage of Lou Rawls' electrifying set, which would also show more of the diversity of genre's that were at the festival.
7. Charles Shaar Murray's commentary during the Hendrix film is actually quite insightful and entertaining. Yes, there are some funny comments about substances and clothing. He wrote a definitive biography of Jimi, and his commentary is well founded and gives context to why his perfomance at the festival was revolutionary.

That said, this is a definitive package, and a must own release for a serious rock collector's library.

Not complete.......2006-12-10

I know i give this five stars and it is worth the high price, but complete. Not even close. Since i first heard about montery pop on some vh1 thing years ago ive been interested in monterey pop. The fact that it was the first real festival, besides newport, and in my opinion the best.
I originally bought the vhs tape, and then the hard to find 4 disc box set, and then this 3 disc dvd. I even have a bootleg of the grateful deads performance there. It would just be a lot cooler if it was actually complete. Its just kinda of a tease to see one buffalo sprinfield song when you know they most likely have their whole performance on tape.

Jimi Hendrix plays Wild Thing at Monterey Pop.......2006-10-15

Unforgeteable performance, that I first watched in a movie theater in 1975. The sound in big space is much different,you hear the crakles of fire in the guitar, and the acoustic couplings between guitar and Marshalls are richer in tremeloes and vibrations. May be the remastering for DVD filtered too much, but unless you own a superb stereo equipment, you better watch it as a movie!

Everything I wanted.......2006-08-15

I have been looking for the Hendrix concert footage for awhile. This is worth the full price alone.

Average customer rating:

Great History here
Great footage
Somewhat disapointed
monterey pop 2 years before woodstock

Monterey Pop - Criterion Collection
Starring: Scott McKenzie , 'Mama' Cass Elliot , John Phillips (II) , Michelle Phillips , and Denny Doherty
Director: D.A. Pennebaker
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

All | Criterion Collection | Stores | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Last Waltz

ASIN: B000E5LEWE
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Description

On a beautiful June weekend in 1967, at the height of the Summer of Love, the first and only Monterey International Pop Festival roared forward, capturing a decade's spirit and ushering in a new era of rock and roll. Monterey would launch the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, but they were just a few among a wildly diverse cast that included Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Who, Hugh Masekela, and the extraordinary Ravi Shankar. With his characteristic vérité style, D. A. Pennebaker got it all, immortalizing moments that have become legend: Pete Townshend destroying his guitar, Jimi Hendrix burning his. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this timeless document of a landmark event.

Customer Reviews:

Great History here.......2007-07-01

I enjoyed the film. It was pretty short though and I can't help wondering if there is still film that had not been mastered with the exception of the Jimi Hendrix footage that is out.

Also, I heard commentary from a few of the Mama's and Papa's that their performance was not too good, but actually hearing a few tracks from the video, there appeared there was a microphone issue with Michelle Phillips for "California Dreamin". I cannot hear her at all. I understand that all of this music was recorded onto an 8 track system, so perhaps they re-mixed her and eliminated her voice completely. Unsure at this point.

Performances were all pretty good from all artists, and surprisingly the sound recording was produced well.

Great footage.......2007-01-05

This is a great collection of concert footage. It includes the famous Jimi Hendrix-lighting-his-guitar-on-fire sequence. The photography is surprisingly clear and crisp (unlike some of the footage from Woodstock) and looks like it could have taken place in the present rather than 40 years ago. Would love if it had more footage and longer concert-viewing time.

Somewhat disapointed.......2007-01-04

Don't get me wrong, of course this is an awesome video. But I do have to say that is is not what I had expected. They did not show an entire song for most of the bands that performed. They would cut out a few seconds into a performance. It could have been more complete. I want to know why can't we just get the footage of all of it.

monterey pop 2 years before woodstock.......2006-05-17

i am really looking forward to this on dvd. my rating is based
on the vhs tape i bought many years ago. what a masterpiece !
the camera work was kind of crude on some performances.
surprisingly(being the rock&roll guy i am)my favorite artist
in this was otis redding ! in fact , i think he surprised a lot of people who attended that concert ! knockout songs by the who,hendrix,eric burdon doing a fantastic "paint it black".
plus the movie just plain captures the whole vibe of california
in that summer of love.i'm placing my order for the dvd !

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter - Criterion Collection

Average customer rating:

GREAT RESTORATION! GREAT DOCUMENTARY OF THE GREATEST BAND EVER!
Chilling, Thrilling, and Impossible to Forget
ONE OF THE GREATEST ROCK N' ROLL MOVIES EVER MADE.
Documents one crazy concert
Dramatic Documentary

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter - Criterion Collection
Starring: Marty Balin , Sonny Barger , Melvin Belli , Dick Carter (II) , and Jack Casady
Director: Albert Maysles , David Maysles , and Charlotte Zwerin
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004YZFR
Release Date: 2000-11-14

Amazon.com essential video

To cite Gimme Shelter as the greatest rock documentary ever filmed is to damn it with faint praise. This 1970 release benefits from a horrifying serendipity in the timing of the shoot, which brought filmmakers Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin aboard as the Rolling Stones' tumultuous 1969 American tour neared its end. By following the band to the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco for a fatally mismanaged free concert, the Maysles and Zwerin wound up shooting what's been accurately dubbed rock's equivalent to the Zapruder film. The cameras caught the ominous undercurrents of violence palpable even before the first chords were strummed, and were still rolling when a concertgoer was stabbed to death by the Hell's Angels that served as the festival's pool cue-wielding security force.

By the time Gimme Shelter reached theater screens, Altamont was a fixed symbol for the death of the 1960s' spirit of optimism. The Maysles and Zwerin used that knowledge to shape their film: their chronicle begins in the editing room as they cut footage of the Stones' Madison Square Garden performance of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and from there moves toward Altamont with a kind of dreadful grace. The songs become prophecies and laments for broken faith ("Wild Horses"), misplaced devotion ("Love in Vain"), and social collapse ("Street Fighting Man" and, of course, "Sympathy for the Devil"). Along the way, we glimpse the folly of the machinations behind the festival, the insularity of life on the concert trail, and the superstars' own shell-shocked loss of innocence.

Gimme Shelter looks into an abyss, partly self-created, from which the Rolling Stones would retreat--but unlike its subject, the filmmakers don't blink. --Sam Sutherland

Description

Called "the greatest rock film ever made," this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When 300,000 members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hell's Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, direct cinema pioneers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin immortalized on film the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT RESTORATION! GREAT DOCUMENTARY OF THE GREATEST BAND EVER!.......2007-06-29

This documentary movie is legendary, but now that Criterion has performed a complete restoration of visuals and audio, it is really amazing! I still prefer some live versions of songs on this DVD then any other live versions released! Watching this restored film on my 10 foot screen is like going back in a time machine to this insane concert. The Stones are in great form for the most part and there are some interesting extras. If you are a fan and do not own this.....BUY IT NOW!

Chilling, Thrilling, and Impossible to Forget.......2007-05-29

This is not merely one great rock documentary -- it is one of the finest pieces of documentary filmmaking I have ever seen. The directors and cinematographer have truly captured the wildness, the drugs, the sense of abandon, hope, mystery, fear, violence, and joy -- all of it wrapped in a remarkable rock music event marred by the Hells Angels' tragic violence.

The sense of foreboding as the filmmakers capture the haphazard planning for this free Altamont concert is palpable -- I love the way the Stones' lawyer, Melvin Belli (wearing a very wide tie), attempts to negotiate a last minute concert site. There are so many impossible to forget images -- the Stones' listening to a play back of "Wild Horses" at Muscle Shoals studio; the stoned-out kids moving from amazement to horror as the violence unfolds; the boys listening to Sonny Barger call in to a radio station and justify the violence because the fans were "messing with our bikes."

There is great onstage concert footage too -- the Flying Burrito Brothers kick it off in fine fashion, then Tina Turner turns in a sexy performance, practically deep-throating the microphone, but by the time Jefferson Airplane gets on stage you just know something is about to go very, very wrong.

As the violence unfolds, to the onstage antics of "Sympathy for the Devil," things get very weird. Mick, onstage, calling for cool. Fans crying, mouthing to Mick "why?" silently, Keith and the boys still riffing as the beatings mount -- all captured brilliantly by the filmmakers.

The final piece -- Mick and the boys watching the concert footage in the studio -- is equally priceless and equally revealing.

Bravuro filmmaking!

ONE OF THE GREATEST ROCK N' ROLL MOVIES EVER MADE. .......2007-05-29

I will be writing a review on the legendary historic Rock n' Roll concert movie entitled "GIMME SHELTER" by the band that millions of fans and critics the world over call THE GREATEST ROCK N' ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD. I give you England's second most favorite sons and one of Britain's pride and joy's, T-H-E R-O-L-L-I-N-G S-T-O-N-E-S! "GIMME SHELTER" is a Maysles Films Inc. Production which was originally released in 1970 and directed by David Maysles, Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin. As always, if I hear any new additional information concerning this legendary historic film or the artist, I will edit this review immediately so that you the consumer will get the overall best informative and most accurate review possible.

THE ROLLING STONES will forever go down in Rock n' Roll history and be remembered for composing and recording some of Rock's most sacred classic anthems of all-time. THE STONES have also delivered some of Rock's all-time greatest live performances ever. THE STONES 1969 World Tour is considered by many Rock critics to be one of the all-time greatest tours ever. THE STONES 1969 World Tour was a complete triumph for the band. However, in the end, THE STONES 1969 World Tour would also prove to be one of the most disastrous, tragic and most fatal tours in the history of Rock n' Roll.

Altamont 1969 was the last choice to hold a free concert just outside the Bay area. The first choice was Golden Gate Park, than Sears Point Raceway before finally settling on Altamont Speedway. Seeing the movie, in my opinion, this free concert was doomed from the beginning. When you have lawyers and legal B.S. to deal with, you will have nothing but chaos in the end as the movie will attest.

Mr. Ralph "Sonny" Barger is and always will be the President of the Oakland Chapter of the Hells Angels. He may not remember me but I met him years ago through a mutual friend while living in California in the 1980's. Our mutual friend is a member of either the Sacramento Chapter or the San Jose Chapter of the Hells Angels. Mr. Ralph "Sonny Barger now resides in the Phoenix, Arizona area and is now currently a member of the Cave Creek Chapter of the Hells Angels. Sonny describes the hell that went on at Altamont not only in the film but in his book. His descriptions make you feel like you were actually there and at the same time, make you wish that you were never there. To actually capture someone on film being stabbed to death in front of the stage during THE STONES concert before our very eyes is beyond disbelief.

THE ROLLING STONES, on the other hand, were cocky and arrogant, and for a very good reason. The band was on cloud nine, victorious from the success of the 1969 World Tour. Who wouldn't be cocky and arrogant knowing that their band was the greatest show on earth at that very moment. However, by the time December 1969 rolled around the corner, the band was unorganized and many of THE STONES entourage and personnel were making decisions without THE STONES consent or approval. When you see the film closely, you will notice right off the bat that many decisions were being made without THE STONES knowledge. Again, when you have many people involved such as law enforcement, lawyers and numerous personnel within THE STONES organization, there's bound to be a mess up somewhere along the way. As the saying goes, "IN 1969, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. ONE NIGHT AT ALTAMONT, IT DID!

When THE STONES took the stage at Altamont on that dark and dangerous December night in 1969, little did they know that it would be one of the most horrific nights in the band's lives. I'm sure that THE STONES must have wondered if they would ever get out of there alive. I know that I would have.

When bands such as THE GRATEFUL DEAD, THE JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, SANTANA and THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS took the stage, the atmosphere was extremely violent resulting in fights and beatings taking place everywhere on site. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE'S own Marty Balin was beaten up as he jumped in the audience to break up a fight in front of the stage.

It was clearly obvious that the violent atmosphere was going to get worse as time rolled on. Rather than talk further concerning this legendary film, I would definitely hope that all of you readers out there will purchase this DVD movie and watch it for yourself in case you do not believe it. Believe me when I tell you that everything I am saying to you in this review REALLY happened. This film is by far, one of the greatest Rock n' Roll films ever made. When you watch it, you will see what I mean.

Thanks for reading my review and I truly hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have truly enjoyed writing it for your reading pleasure. I also deeply hope that all of you will read all of my other reviews in the near future when time permits. LONG LIVE THE ROLLING STONES! R.I.P. BRIAN JONES. Long Live Rock n' Roll. Rock out always and take it easy. Forever in Rock, John L.

Documents one crazy concert.......2007-05-16

This all happened years before I was born so it's not surprising it took me so long to check out the documentary. After all this time, I'm glad that I finally did. And I'm glad that someone filmed it all so that I could.

Gimme Shelter is an amazing documentary. It starts out a bit slow, with the Stones watching footage of their concerts and listening to tapes of people calling into radio stations to talk about the event. Seeing their reactions is pretty moving, and just to watch Mick Jagger do anything is pretty interesting in itself.

As the footage of the concert itself unfolds, it starts out looking like one of the best events ever. A free concert with huge stars and all the drugs you can handle... but then things take a turn for the worse. And the amazing thing is that it is all on camera. The Hell's Angels attacking the crowd, and the crowd attacking the Hell's Angels... and Mick Jagger pleading with everyone to just "be cool".

What a stunning documentary. Check it out if you're interested in rock, history, or just plain good documentaries.

Dramatic Documentary.......2007-05-07

The concert is hard to focus on as the spotlight turns to the murder of one of the concert goers, after that it's hard to appreciate the Rolling Stones performance.

Picnic at Hanging Rock - Criterion Collection

Average customer rating:

Mesmorizingly Strange and Mysterious..!
Not Perfect, But Haunting
Pale Herzog imitation.
Wow
Un film magnifique

Picnic at Hanging Rock - Criterion Collection
Starring: Rachel Roberts , Vivean Gray , Helen Morse , Kirsty Child , and Tony Llewellyn-Jones
Director: Peter Weir
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0780021134
Release Date: 1998-11-03

Amazon.com essential video

Situated somewhere between supernatural horror and lush Victorian melodrama, director Peter Weir's lyrical, enigmatic masterpiece is an imaginative tease. The setting is a proper turn-of-the century Australian boarding school for girls, a suffocating institution built on strict moral codes, repressed sexuality, and a subtle but enforced class structure. As the film opens, girls draped in immaculate white dress prepare for a picnic at the nearby volcanic formation, Hanging Rock, and Weir hangs an air of dark foreboding over the proceeding. "You'll have to love someone else, because I won't be here very long," says one virginal girl, Miranda, to her friend. Her words are prophetic: during the picnic, Miranda, along with two other girls and an uptight schoolmistress, vanish into the rocks. While a search party repeatedly returns to the rock to look for either the girls or the reasons for their disappearance, Weir leaves the mystery unsolved. Like Antonioni's L'Avventura, the vanishing is open to numerous interpretations--both rational and illusory--but Weir drops enough allegorical clues that it feels like a parable. He transforms the landscape and weather into menacing and eerie images; outlines of faces can be seen in the rocks, while the oppressive heat beating down on the picnic doubles as an atmospheric metaphor for the girls' unbearable social and sexual confinement. These images and other plot twists toward the end hint that this mysterious vanishing, on some level, was actually a form of spiritual escape--the only out, other than death, from the film's bleak, tightly structured community. Regardless of how you see it, though, this hypnotic puzzle remains the highlight of the '70s Australian New Wave. The DVD version presents the film in letterbox form. --Dave McCoy

Description

Twenty years after it swept Australia into the international film spotlight, Peter Weir's stunning 1975 masterpiece remains as ineffable as the unanswerable mystery at its core. A Valentine's Day picnic at an ancient volcanic outcropping turns to disaster for the residents of Mrs. Appleyard's school when a few young girls inexplicably vanish on Hanging Rock. A lyrical, meditative film charged with suppressed longings, Picnic at Hanging Rock is at long last available in a pristine widescreen director's cut with a newly-minted Dolby® digital 5.1 channel soundtrack.

Customer Reviews:

Mesmorizingly Strange and Mysterious..!.......2007-06-15

I still remember first viewing this one in an "Art" theatre about 27 years ago , and have watched it since then from time to time, always finding something new and slightly unhinging. The story is told elsewhere. Last night, I really noticed such odd things as the insects eating the Valentine's Day cake, cut by Miranda the "Botticelli Angel " (actually Venus), whose disappearance is really the most disturbing to most of the characters, while the other slim blonde with the glasses is practically ignored. Nothing indicates the movements of the teacher who also disappears. Also, the other nature scenes, including a fleeting koala bear and serpent, plus the constantly eerie cloud and rock formations, add due the very strange atmosphere, along with the flute music, and fine use of Beethoven's Adagio from the 5th Piano Concerto. And the final action of the Schoolmarm? Does she feel some guilt about her attitudes and her repressive air..(Check out that really odd hair style!). The scene where the brunette (very good looking, perhaps needless to say) returns to the gym class is right out of Lord of the Flies, as the straight and narrow teacher keeps playing her piano waltz. The photography here is really unique, even beautiful, and dreamlike, as is the entire movie. Perhaps the many dreams and mirages in the story, including a long lost kid-sister, are meant to wrap the whole movie in an even weirder dream, since it is definitely tricky deciding what is real and what is imagination. But this may be the final lesson of the whole, very finely done, and very "Artsy" movie!

Not Perfect, But Haunting.......2007-05-30

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" is the relatively obscure first film by Peter Weir, who has gone on to direct "The Truman Show" and "Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World." I know him best for "The Last Wave" and "Gallipoli." This film is considered his masterpiece by many film circles, but is largely unknown to most of the world. Probably because it was unavailable for years on either video or DVD and just kind of spirited away. It might also be because of the plot, which is going to be a huge let down for many people. The film takes place on St. Valentine's Day in 1900 in Australia at an all girls' school. In the opening shots, Weir establishes the innocence of the girls...In fact; he hammers it into the ground, which only reveals the sexual hysteria that's occurring among them. On this day, they're going to have a picnic at Hanging Rock, a volcanic structure that provides one of the most haunting backdrops I've ever witnessed on film. The head of the school, Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts) is portrayed as a villainous woman who tells one student, Sara, early on in the film that she won't be attending the picnic. There's no reason given why. Anyway, the group of girls arrive at the rock and four of the girls decide to go explore it. One of them returns screaming...Later, a teacher goes to find the girls. She and two of the three girls are never found. If this weren't the most talked about part of the movie you would be furious at me for revealing this information. After all, how can a movie that's built on a disappearance end with no conclusion. How can the disappearance of three schoolgirls and their teacher never be explained? "Picnic at Hanging Rock" reminds me of "L'Avventura" by Michelangelo Antonioni. In that film, a man's wife disappears and is never seen again. In an interview, Peter Weir said that he tried to make the film hypnotic enough to keep viewers in a trance trying to figure out what happened to the girls. True, we're given a lot of options and ideas. Were they raped and murdered by two men that were there? If so, why would those men attempt to find them? Did they fall through a crevice? Did aliens abduct them? When one girl is found, she's found without shoes...How were her feet unscathed by the rock? It's all creepy stuff, but the film itself doesn't fly by. It seems to me that it's got a feature-length idea, but not enough actual story to keep us (the audience) entertained. It's a creepy film that could be a lot better if remade today. Hopefully if that happens they don't change the inconclusive aspect, but merely make the film a lot more hypnotic, provide more clues for the audience to come to their own conclusion, and make a film that's a lot more entertaining than this.

GRADE: B

Pale Herzog imitation........2007-05-22

In the first half hour of "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a bunch of young girls from a disciplinarian, Victorian-style boarding school in Australia go out on a picnic (closely watched and supervised, of course) to an ancient landform called the Hanging Rock. Four of the girls decide to go off and explore the rock. For no apparent reason, they vanish, as if into thin air. One is later found, and three are never seen again, but the disappearance is never explained in the film.

At least, it's not explained with logic. But the director means to make this seemingly irrational disappearance into a symbol of the conflict between the girls' repressed youthful urges and their strict environment. The event occurs on Valentine's Day, and the film opens with the girls giggling and demonstrating their affection for one another. It all looks quite innocent, but there's a dark angst-ridden girl who writes passionate love poetry dedicated to one of the girls who disappears, which clearly telegraphs the film's point. And later on, we find that one of the strictest teachers at the school (to highlight her outward lack of emotion, she's a science teacher) also disappears at the rock, and she is last seen running up the slope while wearing only her underwear.

This setup is contrived, but it could still have been made into a compelling film. This would have required a Werner Herzog, a man who knows how to evoke a sense of savage irrationality in depictions of nature. I even suspect that Herzog's "Aguirre, The Wrath Of God" provided the inspiration for this film. In the opening scene of "Aguirre," a party of Spanish explorers slowly moves through a path in the Andes Mountains, and there is a sense that they are pushing into something vast and ancient, beyond their understanding. Peter Weir wants to do something similar in this film, but unfortunately he can't. His Hanging Rock just has no mystery in it. Actually, it looks like a fine place for a picnic. There's no hint of unknown danger. The sun is shining, the birds are out singing. The rock looks perfectly friendly, there's nothing imposing or aloof about it. Weir films it in very conventional shots. Even when his camera is moving, the rock looks static.

So, when Weir wants to create suspense, he has to resort to cheap tricks. The girls walk forward with glazed eyes and intone such silly lines as, "A surprising number of people is without purpose." They also quote Poe -- we're all "a dream within a dream," you see. Then they take off their shoes and stockings -- take that, Victorian morality! -- and spin around for a long time on the rock. A shrill flute melody plays, indicating that something weird is afoot. But there's still no feeling of danger, so one of the girls has to have a sudden fit of hysteria and run back down the slope screaming. When all else fails, go for volume.

But in some sense, this part isn't even the point, which is why it's over in half an hour. The rest of the film shows how the disappearance affects others, like the headmistress of the school or the dark angst-ridden girl or various townspeople. This is where Weir's real interest is. The disappearance itself is just a token "strange event" that creates some chaos in the orderly Victorian world, so that we might see that world's reaction. And Weir wants to show that the orderly Victorian world is completely incapable of dealing with strange events. The second something comes up that appears to have no logical explanation (and the film painstakingly explains that nobody has any idea why the girls vanished), that's it, society is completely paralyzed and soon collapses.

Sometimes this part of the film becomes sort of interesting to watch. The best scenes in the film are the ones in which Michael, a pampered mama's boy type, suddenly becomes obsessed with finding the missing girls, and charges off to the rock by himself. He only finds a piece of an undergarment, which causes him to act moody and disturbed. Since he seemed so unsure of himself before, his transformation has a certain dramatic effect. His obsession is then transmitted to his pal, a lowly hired hand, who previously didn't care about the disappearance.

But Weir isn't content with these minor changes and accomplishments, he really earnestly believes that Victorian repression leads to irrational catastrophe, and this causes him to overdo it. In the subsequent scenes, it turns out that everybody, literally everybody at the boarding school is angst-ridden, fighting dark desires, and generally losing it. The timid music teacher has fits of hysteria and ties the dark angst-ridden girl to the wall, with blatant crucifixion symbolism. The steel-willed headmistress turns to drink, and commits murder for absolutely no reason. (It really makes no sense why she'd do it when she could just have expelled her victim, which is what she was going to do anyway.) When the one girl is found and returns to the school, her classmates shriek and claw at her while the camera spins around.

Eventually, the film ends, and there's really not that much to say about it. But it's not a mystery, since it isn't tense or suspenseful, and it's not particularly emotionally moving, because by the end the characters' reactions seem completely artificial. And it's hard to call it atmospheric, because deep down, it's driven not by Nature's savagery, but by the same kind of cheap and extremely conventional rebellion as the director's later and more famous "Dead Poets Society."

Wow.......2007-04-16

This is the kind of movie no one would have the guts to make today--maybe not even as an indie movie. It's a horror movie that pretends that it's not a horror movie. Just as the girls have to pretend they are not sexual beings but this repression only ignites their sexuality further, Weir pretends this is a straight Victorian drama but that only heightens the mystery and horror further. Modern filmakers seem to have abandoned the "less is more" approach to their own detriment. People may find it boring--but it's to serve the theme. Weir tells his story the way Victorians lived their lives--with everything swept under the rug.

And there is a point to the second half of the movie. It's a retelling of the first half. Miranda and her girls are done in by the hidden mystery and supernatural cruelty of nature. Sarah is done in by the hidden cruelty of human nature which lies behind that perfect Victorian etiquette. The rock and the headmistress are basically the same character.

Un film magnifique.......2007-04-02

Que de poésie dans ce beau film : l'histoire est orginale, les décors splEndides, la photographie somptueuse.
Un vrai délice

Average customer rating:

5 stars for one line
Lotsa action, but that's about it.
Why The Rock deserves to be Criterion
Stupid but slick
Watched it OVER AND OVER!!!!

The Rock - Criterion Collection
Starring: Sean Connery , Nicolas Cage , Ed Harris , John Spencer , and David Morse
Director: Michael Bay
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Action | Criterion Collection | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000059TPN
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Amazon.com

Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on DVD, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A highly decorated, retired U.S. Marine general (Ed Harris) seizes a stockpile of chemical weapons and takes over Alcatraz, with 81 tourists as hostages on the San Francisco Bay isle. His demand: Restitution to families of soldiers who died in covert operations. The response: An elite Navy SEAL team, with support from an FBI chemical-warfare expert (Nicolas Cage) and a former Alcatraz escapee (Sean Connery), is assembled to penetrate the terrorists' defenses on the island and neutralize the threat before time runs out. The result: A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller with a first-rate cast, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry bruckheimer.

Customer Reviews:

5 stars for one line.......2007-07-02

I don't like Nicholas cage at all. He is one of the most annoying obnoxious people of all time. I cannot stand his voice or anything else. so I am not talking about the follow up line to the coolest line in this movie or in many other movies.

Do you remember when the man Sean Connery said the following line : "Losers complain Winners Go %&$# the prom queen." That was the best line I have heard in a while. That was great. As far as cage's follow up line who cares. Sean Connery is the man.

I know that wasn't much of a reveiw but that was great.

Lotsa action, but that's about it........2007-05-08

Soldiers dropping like flys, an improbable ending, and restrained acting are the unfortunate highlights of this film. To me at least, the storyline was too weak, or at least the location. Just didn't work for me.

Why The Rock deserves to be Criterion.......2007-04-24

It is the age old question. The first time I ever saw this on a friend's DVD shelf, I though that it must be some old 1930s noir movie titled "The Rock", but no, it was Michael Bay's action movie.

And I love me some Criterion collection, though I have to wonder why they put out The Rock and yet have long neglected Orson Welles' films.

In any case, the reason this movie deserves Criterion status is that it's probably one of the best action movies ever made. If you are looking for slam-bang, hammy acting, bullets everywhere, bad puns, buddy-cop drama, pseudo-governmental double-crossing, well, this is about as good as it gets. Whether or not it's you cup of tea is a different issue. But you just have to read Ebert's review to see why this movie is so damn good.

So buy it, put on your best surround, get an HDTV and watch the flashy explosions.

Stupid but slick.......2007-01-15

This is probably Michael Bay's second best film, behind the original 'Bad Boys' (the sequel to which is surely one of the very worst pieces of "cinema" I've ever had the displeasure of seeing). The reason 'The Rock' falls behind his debut is obvious: Bay can't, to my mind, produce any sort of convincing dramatic effect; what little emotion the movie does evoke comes courtesy of the outstanding cast -- primarily Cage, Connery, and (by far the most of the bunch) Ed Harris. 'Bad Boys', on the other hand, was much more suited to Bay's ludicrous, a.d.h.d mentality; it was bogus, but never strove to be anything more -- and it was fun, and funny.

The concept of 'The Rock' is intriguing and unique, but the problem that reveals itself fairly quickly is that Bay uses it as a catalyst to throw in action scenes around every corner. I personally don't have a problem so much with the sequences themselves being ridiculous. The car chase scene, for example, in which Cage just happens to handle a ferarri (or lamborghini -- not really sure) like a professional driver of whatever sort, making his way through a circus-esque obstacle course of insane proportions, is beyond unrealistic. But hey, Bay's sense of speed and excitement, alongside Hans Zimmers' adrenalized score, provide for good, stupid fun. It's that, following this scene, the action just does not stop, and it's usually far less creative and ambitious. It's just quarrel after quarrel, gun fight after gun fight, and though Bay employs neat tricks here and there that make him a unique director, most of it ends up becoming monotonous and stale.

I don't even know if the film deserves three stars, because it's so hokey and implausible, but, it must be said, 'The Rock' was one of my very favorite movies back in high-school. Bay was also one of my favorite directors at that point, in contrast to my general spite towards the man at the current place in time -- times have changed; it doesn't help that every film proceeding 'The Rock' has been fairly atrocious, either. But the fact remains the man has incredible talent at establishing a particular visual mood and is able to conduct a sequence of shots that provide a rousing, flashy response. The final standoff in the film, as well as the climactic scene of Cage injecting the holy needle into his heart as jets prepare to blow-up the island, is, in its own way, exhillirating and awesomely impressive. But you know what? 'Armageddon' has sequences as such laced with brilliance too, but in the end it doesn't matter much when the overall film is such a turd. 'The Rock' isn't a turd, but it's not one of the greater action flicks out there -- not by a long shot. To my 14 year old self it might be, but to my more evolved, rational brain, it ain't I'm afraid.

Watched it OVER AND OVER!!!!.......2006-11-10

This is a great movie. You sense a lot of sarcasm and cockiness throughout the movie which makes it even more enjoyable. Moments like when Sean Connery comes strolling out saying he's always the one left to the enemy. I watched this movie 5 nights in a row and I laughed and tensed up at the same places every time. This is just an overall good movie. It can get a little gory at times, but nonetheless, a great movie to add to your collection.

All That Heaven Allows - Criterion Collection

Average customer rating:

Pardon my highly symbolic deer
WONDERFUL FANTASTIC AND A CLASSIC
Still relevant after all these years.
What can one say
A perfect film

All That Heaven Allows - Criterion Collection
Starring: Jane Wyman , Rock Hudson , Agnes Moorehead , Conrad Nagel , and Virginia Grey
Director: Douglas Sirk
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005BH23
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Amazon.com

Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman were so successful in Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession that they reteamed for this, his first melodrama masterpiece. Young hunk Rock is a strapping son of mother nature, a gardener who woos middle-aged, middle class widow Wyman to the snooty disapproval of her conservative social circle and embarrassment of her self-centered children. Wyman discovers a new life with his open-armed friends and back-to-nature lifestyle, but struggles with life-changing decisions in the face of social pressure and vicious gossip. Living the Henry Thoreau dream, Rock inhabits his personal Walden in a rustic country cabin by a bubbling brook, a dream house lit by a giant picture window overlooking an idyllic countryside where deer pose just ou