Revenge

Starring:Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe, Miguel Ferrer, Tomas Milian, James Gammon, Jesse Corti, JoaquÃn MartÃnez, John Leguizamo, Joe Santos, Christofer de Oni, Sally Kirkland, Luis de Icaza, Gerardo Zepeda, Daniel Rojo, Edna Bolkan, Pia Karina, MÃ³nica HernÃ¡ndez (IV), JuliÃ¡n Pastor, Claudio Brook
Director: Tony Scott
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Product Description

The Star Wars saga is now complete on DVD with Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH. Torn between loyalty to his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the seductive powers of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker ultimately turns his back on the Jedi, thus completing his journey to the dark side and his transformation into Darth Vader. Experience the breathtaking scope of the final chapter in spectacular clarity and relive all the epic battles including the final climactic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

System Requirements:
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee
Directed By: George Lucas
Running Time: 140 Min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Ending the most popular film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image)

It's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). On another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) leads the Republic's clone troops against a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the first half of Episode III, which feels a lot like Episodes I and II. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGI-created Grievous can't match up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.

But then it all changes.

Star Wars Time Line (click for larger image)

After setting up characters and situations for the first two and a half movies, Episode III finally comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living under a rock the last 10 years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with his mentor, but that doesn't matter. In fact, a great part of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because Episode III is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what happens and who it happens to.

Episode III is easily the best of the new trilogy--OK, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six Star Wars films. It's also the first one to be rated PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. It was probably impossible to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the first two movies), but Episode III makes us once again glad to be "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." --David Horiuchi

DVD features
Say what you will about the new Star Wars films--and plenty has been said already--but the DVDs continue to set the standard for technical excellence. From the opening of the first scene, the Dolby 5.1 EX sound is thrilling, and the picture, transferred directly from the digital source, is fantastic. A commentary track is again provided by a combination of people, including George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, and ILM visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett. Lucas admits that the film is political and that he was influenced by Vietnam, but makes no mention of the Bush administration, as is widely speculated.

The main documentary on the second disc is probably the most granular DVD feature ever. "Within a Minute: The Making of Episode III" takes 67 minutes to deconstruct one minute of the film, an excerpt of the duel on Mustafar. The idea is to cover all the aspects that go into creating that minute, from writing to set construction to accounting. Fortunately, many of the concepts such as costumes apply to the movie as a whole, but having producer Rick McCallum tell us the importance of food seems a bit overkill. Two other featurettes are "It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III," an 11-minute discussion focusing mainly on the lightsaber duels, and "The Chosen One," a 14-minute examination of Darth Vader's evolution over the six films.

The six deleted scenes were no great loss from the film but are all worth watching. Natalie Portman in particular gets some much-needed screen time as one of the co-plotters of an anti-Palpatine movement, and an early action scene ties in to the Clone Wars animated series. There's also a 15-part series of 5 to 7 minute Web documentaries on topics such as the creation of General Grievous and Ewan McGregor, and an Xbox sampler of Battlefront II (if you're lucky, you can play as Obi-Wan Kenobi cutting through an army of droids) among other supplements. --David Horiuchi

The Complete Star Wars Saga

Episodes 4-6 Trilogy (widescreen)
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episde II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2
The Star Wars Store

Stills from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (click for larger images)

Anakin turning to the dark side
When Wookiees attack

Yoda, Jedi master
Mr. and Mrs. Vader

Saber training with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen
The cast

Customer Reviews:

An EPIC end to the Star Wars EPIC.......2007-06-29

I did have a bit of a problem believing Anakin's change to the darkside. I realize that the Emperor was supposed to be very charismatic, but it seems Anakin's own lack of intelligence is what allowed him to turn as much as anything.

That having been said, I felt like the turn was still believable. Just not one I enjoyed.

Other aspects of this movie were simply incredible! The special effects were off the chart. The plot at its base was enjoyable and the characters were just wonderful.

Though it was a satisfying "conclusion" to the epic, this movie left me wanting more Star Wars!

Star wars Fanatic.......2007-06-26

I have the entire collection. Saw the first movie in 1977 in Toronto at the largest theatre on the first day. In the early nineties my friends and I used to have star wars marathon movie days where we would watch episodes 4,5 &6 back to back for 10 hours plus of Star Wars. A Genre that defined an entire generation of movie goers. Long live the empire. Long live Lucasfilm

what a load of garbage.......2007-05-30

Old George must have been high on cleaning fluid when he made this mess, how this is supposed to tie into the original 3 movies begs belief.
For a start the prequel technology is far more sophisticated than the sequels, the look of the films makes it look as though they should actually have been the other way around.
When you look at the lightsabre dules in the prequels, you have all the these guys flying around, yet in the sequels its more like sword fights from El Cid.
Whats with all the sytuff flying around in the background, its distracting from the movie and makes you dizzy as hell, total over-use of
special effects, and as for the acting of Hayden and Natalie Portman, amateurish would be an understatement.
The same can be said for the other 2 prequels, this just goes to show Star War fans like Trekkies will buy into anything.

George Lucas's "Hail Mary Pass" Redeems The Prequels.......2007-05-30

[NOTE: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN MY REVIEW....If you don't want to know some key plot points, well, skip to another review.]

Like many people here, I grew up on Star Wars back "in the day", when it was just a trilogy. Fast-forward to 1999, and the hype-filled release of Lucas' first prequel installment, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. To be blunt, it was a disappointment which was only saved from being a total loss by the distinctive presence of the Star Wars aesthetic, and by the ambition of its storyline. Another sci-fi movie launched that summer, called "The Matrix", and its legions of hipster fanboys laughed and pointed at The Phantom Menace's wooden acting, poor dialogue, off-kilter pacing, and....Jar Jar Binks. Of course, it was the release of 2001's Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring which resulted in a more relevant movie for comparison, as (like Star Wars) the Lord of the Rings movies were made to be timeless, and not to cash in on trendy Hot Topic fashions and hastily assimilated Hong Kong cinema gunplay. 2002 saw the release of Episode II: Attack of the Clones, which was one step forward and one-half step back. While Hayden Christiansen's acting was less painful to watch than that of Jake Lloyd (who, to be fair, was a child actor, and didn't have the chops that only time can bring), it was still pretty wooden, and Natalie Portman's acting wasn't exactly lighting up the screen either. In fact, the dialogue was just as wooden, with a few exceptions. However, the settings were better, the action was more over the top, and the last 40 minutes saw the reappearance of some of that old-school Star Wars spirit.

With Episode 2 ending with the Jedi leading the proto-Stormtrooper clone army into the Clone Wars, yet still failing to ascertain the true plot unfolding around them, expectations were high for Episode III. Lucas obscured things even further by dropping hints that the epic action of the movie would be limited to the very beginning. By the beard of Zeus, could it be true? Would he let us down with his last chance to send off the saga on a high note? Thankfully, the trailers finally began to emerge, and it was clear that there was more to Episode 3 than Lucas let on.

First, I do have to point out "the bad". There is still too much wooden acting, although performances have improved greatly. Sadly, some of the worst acting occurs during the critical juncture immediately prior to the Anakin/Obi-Wan lightsaber duel. Nonetheless, the timing and general feel are less stilted in this movie. Additionally, Lucas also sometimes overindulges his need to show off ILM's abilities, most notably by having Count Dooku perform a ridiculous and unnecessary flip maneuver simply to bypass walking calmly down some stairs. Finally, there are still some loose ends and plot holes left in the prequels, including Jedi Master Syfo-Dias' true role, and how the Jedi could be so incredibly blind to the presence of Order 66 in the military training programs that they would have been in some capacity overseeing.

The good news is that somehow, this movie makes up for it with a more real and engaging presentation than the other prequel movies. In fact, in this case, more IS more, and it's obvious that George Lucas studied the Lord of the Rings movies, which, of course, owe their own debt in turn to Star Wars, which of course owes its own debt to Tolkien's source material. But, I digress. The movie starts off with a bang, to say the least, as Anakin and Obi-Wan race their starfighters over the surface of a proto-Star Destroyer to the sound of pounding war drums, and dive headfirst into what is revealed to be a titanic space battle over Coruscant. The movie continues full-throttle through an extended opening action sequence reminiscent of both the James Bond and Indiana Jones movies. After this sequence, which includes vertiginous elevator sequences, a lightsaber duel, a close quarters brawl in the enemy command ship's bridge, and a tense, out-of-control landing, it seems as if the movie will settle back into the familiar, boring pace of its prequel predecessors.

Not quite, this time. As our heroes return to Coruscant, and the business of assessing the ongoing Clone Wars, the tension begins to build, and is artfully reflected in the visuals and the lighting. With the outward focus shifting to the cyborg General Grevious, and an ongoing Separatist assault on the Wookie homeworld, there are still some obvious action-driven plot threads which serve to break up the Byzantine and internal intrigues which rear their heads up during the first half of the movie. With Anakin beginning to have disturbing dreams about the fate of the now-pregnant Padme (his secret wife), he is put in the unenviable position of being asked to spy on one of his surrogate father figures, the dubious Chancellor Palpatine, by his OTHER father figure, Obi-Wan Kenobi. In turn, Palpatine sows the seeds of doubt in Anakin's mind about the morality and wisdom of the Jedi, by preying on Anakin's secret fears about Padme's life. Throughout the first half, the tension is constantly being built, and is only matched by the viewer's curiosity as to how the bottom will drop out for the Republic and the Jedi.

Finally, things take a turn for the worse when the mastermind Darth Sidious reveals himself, and Anakin is forced into making the ultimate wrong choice, in part due to the Jedi Order's own emotionally stunted state and questionable decision-making. After that point, things free fall, and the majority of the Jedi Order is wiped out during a planet-hopping, wartime montage that is part "Godfather" and part "Saving Private Ryan". Through carefully laid, long-term plans coming to fruition, the Jedi are disgraced, and the Republic's politicians gladly sacrifice Lady Liberty on the altar of "security", as the Republic is folded into a Galactic Empire. All that remains are the inevitable confrontations between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Yoda and the Emperor, while the fate of Padme and her children hang in the balance. The twin lightsaber duels are pretty impressive, and the protracted ending chapters set up the second half of the Star Wars saga fairly well, if not without a few bumps. It's too bad the other two prequels were not as well executed, as the story arc setup from them did deserve better treatment.

The visuals and audio were top-notch in the theaters, and translate pretty well to the DVD format. Obviously, the scale will not be on par with what you get at the cinema, but the transfer is clean and intact, displaying how vivid digitally recorded movies can be if properly done. Compared to Episodes I and II, Episode III feels much less flat, perhaps because real life sets were used more extensively this time around, and also perhaps due to the inevitable technology improvements. As a result, while the CGI is still obviously "not real", it is used more artfully, and conveys an incredibly surreal feeling, akin to work done in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The lighting is more varied, more subtle, and more "solid", for lack of a better word. The colors are vivid, and leap off the screen, while the audio bombards the listener with John Williams' score, combined with Ben Burtt's trademark sound effects (including buzzing lightsabers, elastic laser blasts, and the infamous "Wilhelm scream").

The extras include the usual deleted scenes, mostly relating to the political aspect of the storyline. Why George Lucas couldn't find a way to insert some of that material into the actual movie is beyond me, although it would admittedly slow the pace a bit too much. The commentary is, for me, a disappointment. More time is spent discussing effects than addressing some of the story points not explicitly seen in the movies. With Lucas's commentary, some definitive answers could have been provided, but weren't. Instead, we get some vague generalizations from George, some goofy behind-the-scenes stories, and the like. Some of the other extras are more substantial, such as a series of mini-documentaries, and the gamut of trailers and TV ads, which were some of the most effective Star Wars promos to date. It's too bad there aren't any comments from the actors, as with the right combinations, you can get entertaining results in a commentary (e.g. Dina Meyer/Neil Patrick Harris/Casper Van Dien in "Starship Troopers", Arnold Schwartzenegger/John Milius in "Conan the Barbarian", and anytime you combine John Carpenter and Kurt Russell).

Revenge of the Sith has been the subject of a fair amount of controversy among both reviewers and its movie fanatic fanbase. Websites like CHUD were abuzz with revisionists claiming that the much reviled Episode I was better than Episode III, while on Usenet, apologists for the prequels claimed that "Star Wars always had poor dialogue" (despite the fact that the original trilogy's fairly simple syntax flowed pretty well, especially compared to the "thee and thou" style weighing down the prequels). Some professional reviewers, such as Rolling Stone's Peter "Hey, Monster In Law is a great movie!" Travers viewed Episode III as the last chance to trash a Star Wars movie, while others lauded Episode III's epic scope, and relevance to modern politics. Fanboy wars, of course, were stoked, with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings zealots viewing moviegoing as a "zero sum game"; there can be only one, right? In the end, though, Episode III has to succeed as a cinematic experience, irrespective of one's emotional attachment. Thankfully, for all its flaws, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ends up being more than the sum of its parts. Recommended!

Great movie!.......2007-05-14

I liked this the best of Star Wars episodes I-III. I was, honestly, disappiointed in Episode I, but they got better, and I believe this Episode is consistent with IV-VI.

Average customer rating:

should be retitled "Zeta-Jones's Twelve"
This is lazy `sequel' that tends to do nothing but bring back a bunch of celebrities
Boring...
oh come on george clooney is in it
one of the worst sequels ever

Ocean's Twelve
Starring: Brad Pitt , Catherine Zeta-Jones , George Clooney , Ed Kross , and Julia Roberts
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007P0XBO
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Amazon.com

Like its predecessor Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve is a piffle of a caper, a preposterous plot given juice and vitality by a combination of movie star glamour and the exuberant filmmaking skill of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey). The heist hijinks of the first film come to roost for a team of eleven thieves (including the glossy mugs of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle), who find themselves pursued not only by the guy they robbed (silky Andy Garcia), but also by a top-notch detective (plush Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a jealous master thief (well-oiled Vincent Cassel) who wants to prove that team leader Danny Ocean (dapper George Clooney) isn't the best in the field. As if all that star power weren't enough--and the eternally coltish Julia Roberts also returns as Ocean's wife--one movie star cameo raises the movie's combined wattage to absurd proportions. But all these handsome faces are matched by Soderbergh's visual flash, cunning editing, and excellent use of Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome, among other highly decorative locations. The whole affair should collapse under the weight of its own silliness, but somehow it doesn't--the movie's raffish spirit and offhand wit soar along, providing lightweight but undeniable entertainment. --Bret Fetzer

Description

They're back. And then some. Twelve is the new eleven when Danny Ocean and pals return in a sequel to the cool caper that saw them pull off a $160 million heist. But 160 million doesn't go as far as it used to. Not with everyone spending like sailors on leave. Not with a mysterious someone stalking Danny and crew. It's time to pull off another stunner of a plan?or plans. With locations including Amsterdam, Paris and Rome, the direction of Steven Soderbergh and the original cast plus Catherine Zeta-Jones and others, Twelve is your lucky number.

Customer Reviews:

should be retitled "Zeta-Jones's Twelve".......2007-06-13

The plot was slightly more serious in this film, and it was dominated by Pitt and Zeta-Jones (mostly Zeta-Jones). The main drawbacks for the sequel are that the heist is not the major focus, the "supporting" characters did not get the opportunity to play pivotal roles in the heist, and it lacked the lighthearted atmosphere and stylishness of the first film. While Catherine Zeta-Jones is a very lovely woman, I felt that her plot was dull, interesting and terribly predictable, and I despised her character as the foil. The sub-plot (the heist) and the other characters deserved more screen time because that is what made me love the first movie. Can't really say much more about the movie because it was utterly forgettable and a waste of time.

This is lazy `sequel' that tends to do nothing but bring back a bunch of celebrities.......2007-06-13

"Ocean's Twelve" faces the same difficulties as any sequel. By this I don't mean those movies that are essential components to trilogies that continue the story; I mean those movies that basically take an established cast and throw them in a completely new storyline. The problem is trying to meet the expectations of an audience that loved the first and wants a new movie to love for all the same reasons. So many people were disappointed to learn that "Ocean's Twelve" was not yet another heist movie.

This film had to be a sequel. The plot takes advantage of the relationships the characters developed in the first film, and throws in many subtle jokes the average viewer may miss if they don't listen closely. Some of the phrases like "thief a la mode" used in the film may require a bit of culture to appreciate. While Ocean's teams do work together in the same fashion as the first film, the thievery itself doesn't take the spotlight in the film. "Ocean's Eleven" was the traditional heist film in its plot development with its climax at the point of executing the plan. Ocean's Twelve breaks away from this formula in favor of developing opportunities for some great character interaction.

The film disappoints with many characters taking a back seat in their roles to such an extent that the film could have been named after Pitt's character, with the Benedict aftermath merely serving as a catalyst for the characters finding their way back together. However, it would have been unreasonable for all eleven original characters to share an equal share of the spotlight and still turn out as well. The story is more about Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones than George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The rest of the cast perform very well and the guest-star appearances, including an unforgettable one by Bruce Willis, are hysterical. Half of the time I was unsure if the actors were even acting!! It appeared as if they were not even looking at the script, and instead talking amongst themselves like, "Hey, so how you've been?". "Oh, I `v been good, the kids at home are taking up a lot of my time, ya know". Come on now, really.

In the end, "Ocean's Twelve" is not a mere heist film but an Intelligent Comedy that may need to be watched more than once to appreciate some of the subtleties in the dialog. Just the amount of activity on this film's message board regarding some of the subtleties in the plot is a testament to the thought that went into making this film. Will "Ocean 13" rectify this, well I would have to go see it for myself.

Boring..........2007-06-11

The first movie was great! i loved it! I expected this to be as great as the first or maybe even greater but it failed to deliver. The plot was not great and it was kind of boring... But I was glad to see the actors come back for the sequel.

oh come on george clooney is in it.......2007-06-10

there were some good moments...definitely will watch it again

i never saw it on the big screen and i got myself a cheap copy and sat down and had myself an oceans marathon

the breakdancing/laser scene is pretty interesting and i will always love george

one of the worst sequels ever.......2007-06-09

an absolute waste of talent on this film...its so bad...i remember zeta-jones being fun to look at and also a cool cameo by bruce willis...but the heist was awful and that thief guy looks like a rat....some of the dialogue was funny but other than that this one's a yawner..bigtime

Average customer rating:

THE Shaolin Temple movie
Gordon Liu Pre-Kill Bill 1+2
AKA Master Killer
One of the best kung fu movies I've seen...

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Starring: Gordon Liu , and Lo Lieh
Director: Lau Kar Leung
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000MM0LEG
Release Date: 2007-06-19

Customer Reviews:

THE Shaolin Temple movie.......2007-06-27

Gordon Liu (also known as Lau Kar Fai) stars as a young man who's friends and family have been killed by the new government. He wakes up at the Shaolin Temple, a place he has only heard about a couple of times. When he realizes he is at the best place possible to learn kung fu, he begs and begs to learn so that he can revenge his family. He does finally get taught, but has to start with the basics. Every part of his body must become stronger before he can learn how to fight. After he finishes the first stages of training in record time, he is now highly respected and moves onto learning actual fighting styles. He breezes through this and becomes a great fighter in only 5 years or so. This is not one of those movies that has 1 or 2 training sequences. Gordon is shown in at least 13 of the chambers and half of the movie is spent at Shaolin. So after he has become a master fighter, he is given a high honor and told that he can become second in charge of any of the 35 chambers. A senior monk played by the great Lee Hoi San objects to this and says that he can't have this honor unless Gordon defeats him in a weapons duel. Lee Hoi San does not play a villain, but he does not think that Gordon is a good enough fighter to receive so much praise. His plan works better than he could have ever imagined. He ends up helping Gordon improve as a fighter and as a person. Gordon is told he can leave Shaolin now, and he goes to take revenge on the evil General who killed his family.

One thing that sets this movie apart is that it tries to be a real movie, and it succeeds. Watching Gordon grow up into a man is remarkable to see. The commentators didn't notice, but a lot of the stuff in this movie is very real. When Gordon has to use the pole with the wieght on the end to hit the bell over and over again, that is a real weight on the end of the pole! Gordon talks in the interview (included on this disc) about how the sabres that Lo Lieh uses in the final fight are real, and it just makes the movie that much better. Dont expect your average tale of revenge. I was touched deeply when I first saw this and there are not many kung fu movies that have as much meaning and feeling.

Rating- 5/5

Picture quality is remastered very well. It does get a bit darker and lighter in some scenes, but other than slight print damage once or twice, the picture quality is perfect. The Mandarin, Cantonese and English tracks all sound excellent. In fact, I have never heard the English dub sound this good. The subtitles should have been written better, and the English dub is actually a better translation. They are not horribly written, but could have been a lot better. I am not complaining though since this is the only fault on the DVD.

Special features include a great commentary from The RZA and this Andy Klein guy who does not know very much about the genre. Luckily RZA is there to help him point out actors like Lau Kar Wing, Wilson Tong and Hsiao Hou. I found the commmentary enjoyable. RZA talks about his experiences with this movie, and he is definitely a 36th Chamber expert. And I found it pretty funny that he seems to think Gordon Liu is a monk in real life.

The 17 minute interview with Gordon Liu is very interesting. He talks about many things such as training day and night and how great of an honor it was to work with a megastar like Lo Lieh. Gordon skips over the years like people should know what he is talking about, but just in case you don't, I will fill you in. In 1974 Lau Kar Leung was Chang Cheh's top action director and Gordon Liu was cast as a villain alongside Johnny Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan in movies like '7 Man Army'. When Lau Kar Leung split up with Chang Cheh he started directing his own movies for the Shaw Brothers, starting with 'Spiritual Boxer'. In his next movie 'Challenge of the Masters', Lau Kar Leung cast his younger adopted brother Gordon Liu as the lead. This is what led to Gordon becoming the star of 'The 36th Chamber of Shaolin', the greatest Shaolin Temple movie ever made.

There is a 17 minute documentary on Shaolin that is basically another 17 minutes of awesome info from Gordon Liu.

The 8 minute interview with film critic/scholars Andy Klein and David Shute is a very good description of how great of a movie this is.

The RZA gets a 10 minute interview where he talks about where he first started watching these movies and also gives his thoughts on the Shaw Brothers and explains why the Master Killer in his rap group took that name.

The trailers are the best special feature. The trailer for 'Shaolin Mantis' is very unique. Instead of showing clips from the movie, the actors introduce what kind of kung fu styles are going to be used (be sure to look for Lily Li!). Lau Kar Leung is the director of 'Shaolin Mantis' and doesn't even have a role in the movie, but he gets to show off his ultra awesome kung fu skills quite a bit in the trailer. I think I have watched this trailer about 50 times, and I will eventually master that Shadow style!

Also included are ORIGINAL trailers for 'The 36th Chamber', 'Return to the 36th Chamber', 'Disciples of the 36th Chamber', '8 Diagram Pole Fighter', 'My Young Auntie', 'One Armed Swordsman', 'Infernal Affairs 3' and the original Master Killer US TV commercial.

The last special feature is a gallery of original movie posters and movie stills.

Gordon Liu Pre-Kill Bill 1+2.......2007-06-21

Here he is in his most important role EVER!!!! OK well that's a matter of opinion but it is in this movie that gordon Liu cements his position in the martial arts movie lexicon by totally nailing this role. He would go on to play a mon many times after this but this is the best of those movies, hands down. For years it's only been available in the dubbed version that many of us probalby saw many years ago. but this beautifully restored and fully remastered version should be a part of every martial arts fans movie collection.

AKA Master Killer.......2007-06-21

This is an excellent martial arts classic. It is a must see flick. Typical of martial arts films, there is a training period, and the training this young monk endures is quite interesting and entertaining (don't want to give anything away).

It is one of the few martial arts films I can watch over and over. There are some moderately humorous parts that keep things moving along (not as funny as Jackie Chan, but still some fun).

If you haven't seen this one, you should.

One of the best kung fu movies I've seen..........2007-06-19

What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said before? A classic. Yes. Influential? Absolutely. Entertaining? Most definitely. This movie is as good a place to start as any if you're interested in the Kung Fu cinema. And if you're already into Kung Fu, you've probably heard of this in the least, and I can't imagine why you haven't seen it. As to this release, really the best I've seen. The picture and sound are great, and the language option is nice. Most of the features are nice as well. Though I don't know how useful the Wu-tang clan video was. Still...a worthy DVD to a great movie.

Average customer rating:

The Patriot (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]
Starring: René Auberjonois , Adam Baldwin , Chris Cooper , Jason Isaacs , and Tchéky Karyo
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ASIN: B000PAAJVA
Release Date: 2007-07-03

Amazon.com

Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichés and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop.

On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

In 1776 South Carolina, widower and legendary war hero Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) finds himself thrust into the midst of the American Revolutionary War as he helplessly watches his family torn apart by the savage forces of the British Redcoats. Unable to remain silent, he recruits a band of reluctant volunteers, including his idealistic patriot son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), to take up arms against the British. Fighting to protect his family's freedom and his country's independence, Martin discovers the pain of betrayal, the redemption of revenge and the passion of love.

The Italian Job (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good Cast-Good Movie, BRING ON THE SEQUEL!
The Italian Review
Great Caper Film
A F.I.N.E. Movie
steadily satisfying entertainment

The Italian Job (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Charlize Theron , Donald Sutherland , Jason Statham , and Seth Green
Director: F. Gary Gray
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000B1OFL
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Amazon.com

Though it bears little resemblance to the original 1969 thriller starring Michael Caine, the 2003 remake of The Italian Job stands on its own as a caper comedy that's well above average. The title's a misnomer--this time it's actually a Los Angeles job--but the action's just as exciting as it propels a breezy tale of honor and dishonor among competing thieves. Inheriting Caine's role as ace heist-planner Charlie Croker, Mark Wahlberg plays straight-man to a well-cast team of accomplices, including Mos Def, Jason Statham, and scene-stealer Seth Green in a variation of the role originally played by Noel Coward. As the daughter of Croker's ill-fated mentor (Donald Sutherland), Charlize Theron is recruited to double-cross a double-crosser (Edward Norton in oily villain mode), and once again, speedily versatile Mini Coopers play a pivotal role in director F. Gary Gray's exhilarating car-chase climax. It's perhaps the greatest product placement in movie history, and just as fun the second time around. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Good Cast-Good Movie, BRING ON THE SEQUEL!.......2007-06-15

The Italian Job brings to the screen the story of a group of thieves bent on revenge on one of their own who betrayed them by murdering their leader and running off with the gold.
Mark Wahlberg, Donald Sunderland, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, Seth Green, and the rest of this AMAZING cast, have outdone themselves with their performances, which are commendable to say the least. All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide more than just a few thrills, not to mention a few laughs.
The setting, the plot, the dialogues, the humor, and the music are all wonderful!
In short, The Italian Job is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection!

The Italian Review.......2007-06-03

I live right around the corner from a Mini Coop dealership and I'm an Italian-American, so I thought it fitting that I finally rented this movie. It's a remake of the 1969 original starring Michael Caine. Whereas that film took place in Italy, the remake stays there only for the introduction and then swiftly moves to California.

I love heist films. Like Ocean's Eleven or Heat, it's all about the cast. You can see a pattern in the characters:

THE WHEELMAN: This is the guy who mans the getaway vehicle, be it helicopter, jet, or car. Handsome Rob (Jason Statham, my favorite action hero) plays a decidedly scrappy, suave wheelman. This also happens to be almost the exact character from The Transporter. Hopefully, Statham will move beyond this type of character, but it's a testament to action tropes that he can actually be typecast as "the wheelman."

THE TECH: This guy is almost always a nerd and usually the comic relief. Lyle (Seth Green) nails this role and actually steals the show with his jokes. One ad-libbed sequence of Lyle mocking Handsome Rob is the funniest part of the movie. Of course, the challenge with this sort of character is that he needs to be able to pull off seemingly magical feats of technological wizardry without overshadowing the expertise involved. When Lyle manages to take control of the entire traffic system, you really have to wonder if he couldn't be better off striking out on his own. He's almost too good for the movie.

THE DEMOLITIONIST: The demolitionist's job is to blow things up. Sometimes he's a homicidal maniac, other times he's cool and collected. Left Ear (Mos Def) is a cool customer. And he doesn't like dogs. He gives Lyle competition for the funniest line in the movie:

Left Ear: This dude got dogs. I don't do dogs... I had a real bad experience, man.
Charlie Croker: What happened?
Left Ear: I had. A bad. Experience.

THE OLD MAN: You've seen this guy before. He's probably the former leader of the group. He's seen too much, been around the block too many times, and he knows his days are numbered. He just wants one last, big heist so he can retire forever. He almost always dies in the film. That pretty much sums up John Bridger (Donald Sutherland).

THE HOT CHICK: A recent invention, the hot chick's purpose is to keep men interested. She can have a variety of roles (tech, wheel-err-woman, demolitionist). Sometimes she has her own unique set of skills as safecracker. That's John's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), who competes admirably in the sea of testosterone.

THE LEADER: Handsome, smart, a safecracker himself, this guy is the one who pulls off a sneaky job right under the bad guys' noses. Unfortunately, Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) is more narrator than anything else. He seems to have very little to do, and that's a shame, because Wahlberg's talented enough to do much more.

The villain is Steve (Edward Norton) a thief turned bad. He knows all of our protagonists' tricks, so he knows how to counter them. And since he stole the gold from the original Italian Job, he's the perfect foil. Norton plays him with just the right amount of shifty-eyed sleaze.

The Italian Job has lots of cool car chases, lots of near misses, and a lot of twists and turns (literally and figuratively) that make it a brisk, entertaining movie. You get quickly caught up in the machinations of the characters, which allows the film to get away with a lot of unbelievable nonsense. But who cares? From the funky flashbacks to the quippy asides, it's clear that Italian Job doesn't take itself too seriously.

Although it's more Job than Italian, the Italian Job is still a fun ride.

Great Caper Film.......2007-05-14

This is a good cast and a fun story, and what I really like about it is not everything they do works for them the first time, so it seems more realistic that way. There's suspense and action and great characters. Theron and Wahlberg play off each other well and are both great actors as is most of the cast. I highly recommend this if you are into the "root for the theif" type of movie. It's one of those movies where everyone's a bad guy and you get to root for the anti-hero. Oh and Edward Norton plays a great bad guy. You really love to hate this jerk.

Nothing unique, but loads of fun.

A F.I.N.E. Movie.......2007-03-14

The Italian Job was fun to watch. It was a good double-cross/revenge story that kept me thoroughly entertained all the way through.

Kudos to Director F. Gary Gray for making such a good feature film when his directorial resume mostly consists of rapper videos. Gray's other most recent notable feature films were 2005's flop sequel to the classic Get Shorty (1995) and 2003's A Man Apart (which I have not seen).

Storywise, The Italian Job really worked well. It had a good flow that kept you interested. There were way too many of the typical over the top Hollywood action film sequences that are just plain old unbelievable: cars driving down busy sidewalks at high speed; driving through a busy subway; people surviving sure-death situations; absolutely zero police response to what would realistically summon a cavalry of cops...these kinds of surreal action take a bit away from the movie.

The cast is pretty good, and the acting is very good. The story is familiar enough as it is popular throughout the history of film: A heist is made by a group of thieves/one of the crooks goes rogue/the group seeks revenge.

So if the genre is up your alley, then by all means The Italian Job should work for an evening of entertainment. And if you like it, you're in luck....A sequel has been announced for 2008 called The Brazilian Job with (mostly) the same cast and director (the most important aspects in a recipe for a successful sequel).

Let's hope in the sequel that Gray keeps a better handle on reality. I'm sure that it'll be F.I.N.E.

steadily satisfying entertainment.......2007-03-11

As a veteran action-flick fan, I found this film very satisfying on all fronts: the plot was believable and coherent, the bad guy was compellingly evil and arrogant; the technology was current and appropriate, the settings - specially Venice - were interesting, the female lead (Theron) was sexy and a nice mix of feminine, seductive, vengeful, and hard-nosed; the main and suppoorting characters were clearly-drawn, human, and interesting, the violence/action scenes were well spaced and paced, And the (classic) ending was predictable and still satisfying. I commend the writers, producer, and director for maintaining a steady level of "What's going to happen next?" suspense throughout the flick. Worth investing in, if you're an action fan!

The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Average customer rating:

The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
Starring: Robert DeNiro , Sean Connery , Andy Garcia , and Kevin Costner
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000OONQ9E
Release Date: 2007-07-03

Amazon.com

As noted critic Pauline Kael wrote, the 1987 box-office hit The Untouchables is "like an attempt to visualize the public's collective dream of Chicago gangsters." In other words, this lavish reworking of the vintage TV series is a rousing potboiler from a bygone era, so beautifully designed and photographed--and so craftily directed by Brian De Palma--that the historical reality of Prohibition-era Chicago could only pale in comparison. From a script by David Mamet, the movie pits four underdog heroes (the maverick lawmen known as the Untouchables) against a singular villain in Al Capone, played by Robert De Niro as a dapper caesar holding court (and a baseball bat) against any and all challengers. Kevin Costner is the naive federal agent Eliot Ness, whose lack of experience is tempered by the streetwise alliance of a seasoned Chicago cop (Sean Connery, in an Oscar-winning performance), a rookie marksman (Andy Garcia), and an accountant (Charles Martin Smith) who holds the key to Capone's potential downfall. The movie approaches greatness on the strength of its set pieces, such as the siege near the Canadian border, the venal ambush at Connery's apartment, and the train-station shootout partially modeled after the "Odessa steps" sequences of the Russian classic Battleship Potemkin. It's thrilling stuff, fueled by Ennio Morricone's dynamic score, but it's also manipulative and obvious. If you're inclined to be critical, the movie gives you reason to complain. If you'd rather sit back and enjoy a first-rate production with an all-star cast, The Untouchables may very well strike you as a classic. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

The critics and public agree. Brian De Palma's The Untouchables is a must-see masterpiece - glorious, fierce, larger-than-life depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago... and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. This classic confrontation between good and evil and stars Kevin Costner as federal agent Eliot Ness, Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery as Malone, the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first.

Average customer rating:

Classic Western
Echoes of Josey Wales...but different
An Utter Mess
A Fugitive-like western
Very intersting.

Seraphim Falls
Starring: Liam Neeson , Pierce Brosnan , Michael Wincott , Ed Lauter , and John Robinson (IX)
Director: David Von Ancken
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000NOIVT0
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Amazon.com

A great-looking, well-acted Western in the old-school tradition, Seraphim Falls is definitely worth a look for fans of the genre. There's nothing really new here (which explains why it played only briefly in theaters), and more than a few critics noted its obvious similarities to Clint Eastwood's classic The Outlaw Josey Wales. Still, you have to admire director and cowriter David Von Ancken (a 10-year TV veteran making his feature debut) for delivering an engrossing post-Civil War revenge story (cowritten with Abby Everett Jacques) that isn't hobbled by its overly familiar plotting. Blessed by the exquisite cinematography of John Toll (whose credits include The Thin Red Line, Almost Famous and The Last Samurai) and bolstered by a lush but unobtrusive score by Harry Gregson-Williams, this prestigious production begins very well indeed, with a wintry manhunt in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada, circa 1868. Former Union captain Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is being tracked by a seemingly brutal pursuer named Carver (Liam Neeson) whose four-man posse (including veteran character actors Ed Lauter and Michael Wincott) is soon reduced to two.

As the manhunt continues, Brosnan and Neeson make the most of minimal dialogue, and flashbacks give us hints about the tragic event that set this plot in motion. It's a simple, elemental tale of justice in the wilderness, with occasional quirks like a snake-oil vendor (Anjelica Huston) who appears literally out of nowhere, and a top-hatted Indian (Wes Studi) who gives the film a slight, mystical air of mystery. And while a more daring director might have opted for a more powerful visual style, there's something to be said for Von Ancken's straightforward approach, perfectly matched by Toll's breathtaking landscapes, shot on location in Oregon and New Mexico and ranging from raging rivers to sun-baked desert flats. None of this makes Seraphim Falls a particularly exceptional movie, but with a fine cast that also includes such familiar faces as Angie Harmon, Tom Noonan, Xander Berkeley, and Kevin J. O'Connor, there's ample reward in a film that doesn't pretend to be anything more than a respectable entry in its genre. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, Star Wars: Episode 1 "The Phantom Menace" ) and Pierce Brosnan (Bond movies, The Thomas Crown Affair) star in this epic chase and primal battle set in the breathtaking landscape of the West. The civil war has ended but Colonel Morsman Carver (Neeson) is on one final mission: to kill Gideon (Brosnan) no matter what it takes. Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit takes them both far from the comforts and codes of civilization, into the bloodiest recesses of their own souls. Also starring Academy Award® winner Anjelica Huston and Angie Harmon. It's been five years since the end of the American Civil War. Somewhere deep within the snowy mountains of the American West a lone figure - Gideon (Brosnan) sits in front of a fire, lost in thought. Abruptly, he is pulled out of his reverie by the echo of a Henry rifle and a bullet puffing into the snow inches from his head. Instantly Gideon calculates his one chance of survival. To leave everything he owns and run for the cover. And so begins the thrilling account of Colonel Morsman Carver's (Neeson) terrible revenge - to hunt down and kill Gideon, no matter what it takes. There will be many men dead before these two meet face to face, and only then will Carver fully comprehend the full cost of his undertaking. Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit will take them both far from the comforts and codes of civilization and into the unforgiving wilderness.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Western .......2007-07-04

Solid classic western from begining to end. Especially the surreal ending and the anti-war mesage.
Both men are at the top of their acting games. This is the best western I have watched in ten years.

Echoes of Josey Wales...but different.......2007-06-29

This is an interesting and watchable movie, well acted and photographed.
It has a basic story line that strongly borrows from "The Outlaw Josey Wales", but the screenplay contains enough variations on the hunter vs. hunted theme to mark it as a different film from Eastwood's.

My only real complaint about it is that it begins strongly , in a realistic fashion, continues in this manner through most of its length, but then begins to unwind into something mystical and surreal as the end approaches. Basically, it starts to get weird. It's like the director decided to take a side trip through the Twilight Zone to reach his end credits.

It could be argued that the desert conclusion puts the two adversaries (Brosnan and Neeson) in a situation where the intense heat and lack of water makes them hallucinate and see and hear things wrongly: perceptions askew. Maybe. But the fact remains that from Wes Studi's appearance onward this movie starts going a bit wonky. And is the Angelica Huston character actually there at all? Is "she" real? Or is "she" the Devil? You almost feel the production is taking on a Rod Serling morality play form...wrapped in metaphor...there at the end.

"Seraphim Falls" left this reviewer largely unsatisfied with its ending. but mostly pleased with the 85% of it preceeding that.

Give it a shot. Its an entertaining enough effort.

An Utter Mess.......2007-06-28

It is amazing to me that this movie has managed to recieve an average rating above 1 star (deserves a zero). It's a complete mess from beginning to end. Gideon (Brosnan) and Carver (Neeson) are both unlikeable characters, and the actors play their roles with phony Western overstatement. Brosnan is so unbelievable as his character, it is laughable.

The plot is a grinding, plodding, so-what sort of scenario in which Gideon and Carver are supposed to encounter some intersting folks along their journey and end up in a climactic face-off with each other (yawn). The only things they come across are foolish actors struggling through poorly written parts, including Anjelica Huston who shows up out of nowhere in the desert in a nonsensical cameo.

To compare this movie favorably to "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a crime. Where "..Josey.." has charm, suspense, pathos, and a boat load of great characters, "Seraphim.." has nothing to offer - NOTHING.

A Fugitive-like western.......2007-06-28

I liked this western as it was action packed and suspenseful from the git go. I got a bit of a chuckle that the two post-Civil War characters in this wild, wild American west film were Irish-born Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan . I'd never seen the dapper Pierce look grizzly and bedraggled before and definitely enjoyed him in his efficient, survivalist character. I was aware of the lack of Liam's Irish brogue as if it took much of his attention to speak like a western cowboy. It had beautiful cinematography but the ending was just okay.

Very intersting........2007-06-28

It is not what you would expect from a western/revenges story. Very poetic and more than a little abstract in an existential way. The directing/photography is beautiful.

Average customer rating:

High Noon
Don't forsake me Oh,my darling
Trapped Like A Rat In A Cage...
A Dated Drama
Great Classic

High Noon (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Gary Cooper , Thomas Mitchell , Lloyd Bridges , Katy Jurado , and Grace Kelly
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JMRE
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Product Description

Gary Cooper won the Oscar for the Best Actor in this classic tale of a lawman who stands alone to defend a town of righteous cowards in the greatest showdown in the history of cinema. The film also stars one of Hollywood's most beloved and prolific actors, Lloyd Bridges, and marks the first starring role foria beautiful young actress and internationally adored screen legend--Grace Kelly.

System Requirements:
Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney, Gary Cooper, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell
Directed By: Fred Zinnemann
Running Time: 84 Min., Color
Copyright Artisan Home Entertainment 2003.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc from Republic Home Video's Silver Screen Classics line of special-edition DVDs. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the '50s) and superbly directed by Fred Zinnemann, this 1952 classic stars Gary Cooper as just-married lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and begin a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is due to arrive at high noon to settle an old score. Kane seeks assistance from deputies and townsfolk, but soon realizes he'll have to stand alone in his showdown with Miller and his henchmen. Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate real time (from 10:40 a.m. to high noon in an 84-minute film), and many interpreted Foreman's drama as an allegorical reflection of apathy and passive acceptance of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist campaign. Political underpinnings aside, this remains a milestone of its genre (often referred to as the first "adult" Western), and Cooper is flawless in his Oscar-winning role. The first-rate DVD gives this landmark film all the respect it deserves, beginning with a digitally remastered transfer from the original film negative. Additional features include the exclusive documentary The Making of High Noon, hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin and featuring interviews with the late Lloyd Bridges (who played Cooper's rival ex-deputy), director Fred Zinnemann, and producer Stanley Kramer. Also included is the original theatrical trailer and a special chapter stop highlighting the Oscar-winning song "Do Not Forsake Me." Offered in English and dubbed French and Spanish, with English closed-captioning or Spanish and French subtitles. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

High Noon.......2007-06-26

Fred Zinnemann's stark revenge tale, told in real time, packs enough intensity into eighty minutes to carry two movies. It's suspenseful in the extreme, but also a morality tale, powerful in its simplicity, about the courage to make difficult, principled choices, even when those around you take the easy way out. This offers obvious parallels to the prevailing McCarthyism of the time (writer Carl Foreman was indeed blacklisted), but symbolism aside, this remains a trim, altogether brilliant western, with veteran star Cooper creating the quintessential authentic Western hero.

Don't forsake me Oh,my darling.......2007-06-24

Don't forsake me Oh,my darling

High Noon (DVD)

High Noon (1952) might very well be the best Western movie ever made. It stars Gary Cooper as the town Marshall and Grace Kelly as his new bride.

The movie opens with the Marshall getting married and concomitantly the telegraph operator receiving an alarming telegraph. The telegraph operator writes out the message, the Justice of the Peace reads the wedding ceremony. Will the Marshall get married before the telegraph message can be delivered? The telegraph operator finishes and runs out the door toward town,. "He's moving pretty fast for a Sunday" comments a bystander The telegraph operator runs, the Justice of the Peace reads, will he make it? Yes, they're pronounced Man and Wife. Yeah!

The telegraph operator burst into the room. "Marshal, Marshal, you have a telegram" The Marshal reads that a murderer who he helped arrest just got pardoned. Probably by a` Democrat Governor. Remember Bill Clinton's pardons? The murderer, Frank is expected on the noon train. Close up of the clock, eighty-four minutes from now. Meanwhile three of Frank's friends ride into town and wait for the noon train. Pretty obvious what they're waiting for. Meanwhile the townspeople try to bundle the Marshall and his bride out of town on a buckboard. The Marshall makes it a ways out of town, then stops the buckboard and turns to his bride and says " I just can't do it" I can't run away . His bride, a Quaker, disagrees with him and wants him to run away. When they get back to town. His bride lays out an ultimatum. Choose, either leave town or lose me, The Marshall stays.

For the next sixty minutes or so the Marshal has all his "friends" turn against him, one after the other. Nobody is willing to help. It looks like it `s going to be four against one, with the Marshall being the the one. The suspense slowly builds until there is a mighty climax at the end.

You'll just have to watch the movie to see how it ends. It's worth it.

Highly recommended for fans of the old fashion Western movie.

Gunner June,2007

Trapped Like A Rat In A Cage..........2007-06-24

That's how Kane must have felt: if he runs, Miller will chase him down and kill him; if he stays to fight, the townspeople will not lift a finger to help him. His only choice is to stay and fight, hoping against all odds that he will still be alive when it is over.

As I watched the film, I could sense that Kane must have had serious doubts as noon approached. Too late to run, even if it could have done any good. The townspeople - his so-called "friends" - abandoning him in his hour of need. One minute they are grateful for all that he has done for them and the next minute, they are writing him off for dead and making plans on how to live with Miller and his gang after they kill the marshall. Okay, not ALL the townspeople turned their backs on him. There was a young boy who Kane would not allow to fight, being so young. Another was a drunk, who doubtless truely wished to help, but would have ben no real good to the marshall. There was an eager volunteer who backed-out once he realized that it would only have been the two of them against Miller and his gang. Lastly, there were a few men who did volunteer to assist Kane, only to back-out after being talked out of it by their fellow townspeople. So, in the end, Kane stood all alone on an empty street. He even watched as his wife and former girlfriend rode past him on their way to board the very same train that Miller arrived on!

Even though I knew how it would all end, having read about this film and never having seen it before, I had this strong feeling of tension as noon approached. I could even feel the twisting knot in my stomach as I saw the camera pan back, showing Kane standing alone on the street, with no one else around. Suspending disbelief, I wondered what Kane was thinking as the showdown approached.

In the end, of course, Kane was alive and as he boarded his coach to leave town for the final time, I could also feel the strong sense of disgust at the townspeople for their cowardice and I could easily understand why he dropped his badge in the dust before boarding the wagon. If just four men had positioned themselves with rifles in windows overlooking the street, the fight could have been over in seconds, with only the outlaws getting killed and no one else hurt or endangered. Despite their superiority of numbers and the fact that had superior firepower over the outlaws, if only they had utilized it, they still cowered behind their doors and waited until the end.

John Wayne's feeling towards this movie notwithstanding, this is a true American story: one man, standing alone against evil, despite all odds and having been abandoned by everyone he thought he could trust to help him.

If only we all could be as courageous as Marshall Will Kane when the time comes.

A Dated Drama.......2007-06-12

A classic western, and Grace Kelley is beautiful, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to capture the imagination of my eighth grade class who like their dramas fast paced and violent. Still, the drama is clean and pure and the line between the good guys and the bad guys is blurred in an interesting way. If you're over thirty, I'd recommend it.

Great Classic.......2007-05-22

This is a great classic. I'am glad they are finally coming out with more classics from the past.

Average customer rating:

My all-time favorite western!
The Best Spagetti Western To Date
BEST of the spaghetti Westerns
Formidable, operatic western
Poetic and Truly Original

Once Upon a Time in the West
Starring: Henry Fonda , Claudia Cardinale , Jason Robards , Charles Bronson , and Gabriele Ferzetti
Director: Sergio Leone
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000AUHPG
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com essential video

The so-called spaghetti Western achieved its apotheosis in Sergio Leone's magnificently mythic (and utterly outlandish) Once upon a Time in the West. After a series of international hits starring Clint Eastwood (from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Leone outdid himself with this spectacular, larger-than-life, horse-operatic epic about how the West was won. (And make no mistake: this is the wide, wide West, folks--so the widescreen/letterboxed version is strongly recommended.) The unholy trinity of Italian cinema--Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento--concocted the story about a woman (Claudia Cardinale) hanging onto her land in hopes that the transcontinental railroad would reach her before a steely-eyed, black-hearted killer (Fonda) does. (The film's advertising slogan was: "There were three men in her life. One to take her ... one to love her ... and one to kill her.") Meanwhile, Leone shoots his stars' faces as if they were expansive Western landscapes, and their towering bodies as if they were looming rock formations in John Ford's Monument Valley. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

My all-time favorite western!.......2007-06-20

I never really cared for westerns until I saw this movie. I became hooked on spaghetti westerns, and in my opinion, this is the best of them all! The storyline is certainly different, and the ending is somewhat of a surprise. The main characters really stand out: Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, and Henry Fonda. The music is haunting, and that was what really hooked me.

The Best Spagetti Western To Date.......2007-06-12

Once Upon a Time in the West From start to finish,is by far the best spagetti western ever made to date. It Stars Henry Fonda as a ruthless outlaw. Along with a pose' he murders and destroys his way through every town he and his gang enters.He shows his victims no mercy, not a drop of sympathy is in his bones. He'll make your blood run cold. Henry Fonda is at his acting best! You have never seen him like this! He encounters a mysterious traveler who plays a mysterious melody on a Harmonica. The traveler seems to be looking for him. Why? Here's where the real edge of your seat action really happens. Finally time to reveal what everything means. Right down to the mysterious song played on the harmonica by the traveler througout most of the movie.
Since this film was made other westerns that followed, used Itlalian director Sergi Leone's touch, i.e. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly etc.)

BEST of the spaghetti Westerns.......2007-06-08

Sergio Leone made his indelible mark with the three Clint Eastwood films, but this is his best work, even though Clint is absent. Not to worry. "Once Upon A Time" features a wonderful all-star cast. Avoiding the overdone goodguys vs bad guys cliche, Leone casts perpetual goodguy Henry Fonda as one of the sleaziest amoral villains you'll ever see. And Fonda doesn't disappoint in the role. The so-called goodguys are actually not so good, but they're played brilliantly by Jason Robards and Charles Bronson. Claudia Cardinale is striking as the libertine. Even the opening scene focuses on Jack Elam and Woody Strode - two of the best character actors to appear in any Western.

The plot meanders through a number of twists and subplots, requiring the viewer to follow all of the action between gunfights. Leone challenges the conventional concepts of loyalty, friendship, and alliances. Highly recommended.

Formidable, operatic western.......2007-05-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is director Sergio Leone's formidable and unique vision of the old west as grand opera. In Leone's work, as in opera, subtlety is replaced by exaggeration, i.e., the villians in his creation are all over-the-top, almost cartoonishly evil while the ingenue/heroine is both pretty and boring to the extreme. The movie's musical score, as in opera, is as important or even more important than dialogue in conveying the story. In fact, words are rarely uttered in this western tale.

I'm not always comfortable with Leone's antagonists and protagonists because the audience never really gets to know or understand them. They are presented more as abstractions of good and evil than they are as fully developed, three-dimensional human beings.

And Ennio Morricone's idiosyncratic score, while elaborate and memorable, sometimes seemed too languid or pretty to suit the violent action in a western. But perhaps Morricone was aiming for irony.

Overall, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is an unusual and gorgeous- looking western very much worth a glance or two.

Poetic and Truly Original.......2007-03-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is one of the best films in the Western genre and also the most fun to watch due to its look and style. The movie is directed by Sergio Leone. I'm familiar with Leone's work, but have never seen any of his films. "Once Upon a Time in the West" bares the unmistakable signature of a genius though and I look forward to watching many more Leone films in the future. The film has one of the greatest opening scenes I've ever seen; lasting 13 minutes, the film opens at a train station where three men anxiously await the arrival of the train. They're waiting for someone. After Leone slowly builds the tension (and I don't know about a director that could do it better), the train arrives and a man (Charles Bronson) gets off of it, playing a harmonica. He's supposed to be meeting with a man named Frank, but we learn that Frank is attending to some other business. Soon, the three men there to meet the man are dead; And because of Frank (Henry Fonda, in one of his strongest performances), a family of 4 is dead. Then the young lady set to marry the father of the family, who is actually already married to him, arrives and is shocked to find everyone dead. The police think they know who did it already and are quick to point the finger at Cheyenne (Jason Robards), after all...He left his "signature" there. I don't want to say much more about the plot (and there is much more; The film is 2 hours and 45 minutes)...When you look at all the westerns in the history of cinema (mind you, I haven't seen another Leone film) and say which one you think is "the most well-made," this film has to pop up.
It's not the most entertaining western film (there are long stretches with no dialogue), but it is certainly one of the most suspenseful, colorful (not just in the literal sense), and most compelling of the genre. The performances, especially those of Fonda, Robards, and Bronson are superb. It's also clear while watching the movie how influential it has been on other filmmakers. You can even see more than echoes of this film in "Kill Bill Vo.2." Explaining just how unique a film like this is in writing is difficult, but I recommend that any true fan of cinema see this movie. Any true fan of western movies has probably already seen this movie, but I mean a true LOVER of cinema needs to see this. It's one of the few western movies I can think of off the top of my head that can deservedly be labeled a masterpiece.

GRADE: B+

Average customer rating:

Very Good Movie
realism with mythology
Mountain Man
One of the great classic westerns
Jeremiah Johnson

Jeremiah Johnson
Starring: Robert Redford , Will Geer , Delle Bolton , Josh Albee , and Joaquín Martínez
Director: Sydney Pollack
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6304696531
Release Date: 1997-10-29

Amazon.com

After they first worked together on the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned, director Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford continued their long-lasting collaboration with this 1972 drama set during the mid-1800s, about one man's rugged effort to shed the burden of civilization and learn to survive in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. Will Geer is perfectly cast as the seasoned trapper who teaches Jeremiah Johnson (Redford) how to survive against harsh winters, close encounters with grizzly bears, and hostile Crow Indians. In the course of his adventure, Johnson marries the daughter of a Flathead Indian chief, forms a makeshift family, and ultimately assumes a mythic place in Rocky Mountain folklore. Shot entirely on location in Utah, the film boasts an abundance of breathtaking widescreen scenery, and the story (despite a PG rating) doesn't flinch from the brutality of the wilderness. In addition to the original theatrical trailer, remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and informative production notes, the DVD also includes The Saga of Jeremiah Johnson, a promotional documentary on the making of the film. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Robert Redford has one of his best-ever roles as a 19th century mountain man in a wilderness of harsh elements and hostile Indians. Directed by The Firm's Sydney Pollack. Year: 1972 Director: Sydney Pollack Starring: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch

DVD Features:
Featurette
Production Notes

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Movie.......2007-06-17

A man had a family, Swan,Calab. He crosses a bural gound, His family is gone.
Will Geer, Robert Redford

realism with mythology.......2007-05-20

Great realism about life in the mountains of the west in the middle 1800s ( a time of the brutal transformation of the west from the Indian territory to that of white civilization.)

Mountain Man.......2007-05-13

One of the all time favorite movies. Plenty of action and outdoor adventure. Great scenery. A good picture of a dying breed of men and a time in history.

One of the great classic westerns.......2007-05-12

Forget all the cowboys and indians stuff, redskins biting the dust etc. This tells a story the way it really was. The hardship, the struggle, the beauty and the ugliness of the old, pre-civil-war west. Here is an honest, beautifully photographed reconstruction of a true - if exaggerated - story of a real-life mountain man, John Johnston, who became a legend in his own lifetime. So, for that matter, did old-timers like 'Bear Claw' Chris Lapp, Del Gue, Swan and others. They all lived. They're all here and they're all honestly portrayed.

Jeremiah Johnson.......2007-05-09

I used to have this Video for many years. But someone stole it from me. I decided to get it again to my collection and here it is,Thank God.
I had missed it,but now I can look at it whenever I want to.
Best regards
GSH

DVD:

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