War Classics

Starring:War Classics
Studio: Platinum Disc
Product Type: DVD

So Proudly We Hail (Universal Cinema Classics)

Average customer rating:

True Classic
An Important View of War in the Philippines
Lake bombing japs
Tragic chapter of World War II with the angels of mercy.
Army Nurses in WW2

So Proudly We Hail (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Claudette Colbert , Veronica Lake , and Paulette Goddard
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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Purple Heart

ASIN: B000N3T0FU
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Customer Reviews:

True Classic.......2007-07-04

This is a great classic war movie made shortly after the actual events in the movie happened. I remember when I was a little girl watching this on our local TV station's Late Show Movie in the 1950s with my mom and dad (a WWII vet). It was one of their favorites. Am so pleased to be able to watch it again. It is a good story based on the accounts of nurses returning from Bataan at the start of World War II. The dialogue contains the emotions of that period, but that merely helps to take the viewer back in time to experience the mood of our country. I loved this movie as a child and still do as an adult.

An Important View of War in the Philippines.......2007-07-03

This has been a favorite of mine since I saw it on TCM. It is one of the few VHS tapes I bought after starting my DVD collection. I am so glad it is on DVD now.

World War II in the Philippines offers an array of stories to be told and retold and this one is a welcome addition to the list (Bataan, Back to Bataan, They Were Expendable, Air Force, The Great Raid.) Having visited Manila, Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines and having many Filipino friends my interest in these stories is admittedly personal, but this film transcends my preferences as a rare glimps at war through the eyes of women--American nurses.

The retreat to Bataan, the fall of Manila and the horrors of Corregidor are well represented in the story lines and with excellent special effects (in the context of the early 1940's.) Issues of humanity in the face of inhuman conduct are touched on effectively as one nurse learns that hatred of the enemy is not a necessary part of the job they have to do.

I say buy this one and put it on the shelf with the others I mentioned for an important view of the war in the most far-flung part of the world where our flag flew, fell and flew again.

Lake bombing japs.......2007-06-27

Lake as a kamikaze - To save the lives of a bunch of nurses, Veronica sacrifices herself. First she lets her hair down, then shakes her head and finally explodes herself killing all the japs around. Profoundly incorrect by today standards (but who really cares?), nevertheless highly enjoyable. Claudette and Paulette at their best too.

High time for the Claudette Colbert Collection (Midnight! Bluebeard's Eighth Wife! Arise My Love ! Sleep My Love ! The Smiling Lieutenant ! Torch Singer ! No Time for Love! and many others........Universal do something

Tragic chapter of World War II with the angels of mercy........2007-06-16

This is the finest film telling of our Navy nurses' great sacrifices in the South Pacific, specifically Bataan and Corregidor. Paramount gave us a perfect cast for what could have been just another propaganda film. (Though calling a film that was anti-Japanese a "propaganda film" makes no sense whatever.) Claudette Colbert, as always, leads the cast, with wonderful support from Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake. You have never seen Paulette more charming, and the surprise of this film is using George Reeves as Claudette's love interest. Guess what? He's excellent!
How did his career get so sidetracked? You will find this film exciting, suspenseful and heartbreaking. Bring a hankie.

Army Nurses in WW2.......2007-02-18

This is a movie made during WW2 (1943) as a boost to morale to the folks back home. It is the story of a group of Army Nurses in the Philippines and Corregidor who care for the wounded men from Bataan. Lots of interplay between the nurses and the wounded. Shows the stress these brave women were under during this time. Very good performances from Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and Paulette Goddard. George Reeves (Superman) shows off his acting talents. Overall a very good film.

Average customer rating:

SKIMPY...WHY?
An early gangster film and a cinema landmark
the best gangster movie ive ever seen
A "TALKY" THAT CARRIES QUITE A WALLOP -- for 93 MINUTES
production code problems

Scarface (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Paul Muni , Ann Dvorak , Karen Morley , and George Raft
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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So Proudly We Hail (Universal Cinema Classics)

ASIN: B000N3T0H8
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com

Howard Hawks's Scarface was one of the first "talkies" to reclaim the fluidity of the late-silent masterpieces, while also tapping into a feral new energy that came with talking smart and moving smarter on the motion picture screen. Outgunning such contemporaries as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy--in terms of both its ferocious death-dealing and dynamic style--the movie was interfered with by censors and kept out of circulation for decades thanks to its eccentric producer, Howard Hughes. It remains the gold standard among classic gangster pictures. Paul Muni's portrayal of Al Capone surrogate Tony Camonte etched a screen original: a merciless assassin who's not only reflexively criminal but pre-civilized, almost pre-evolutionary, a simian shadow ready to rub out the world if he can't have it for his own. This is still one of the greatest, darkest, most deeply exciting films American cinema has produced. Those demonically ubiquitous X's--starting with that titular scar gouged into Tony's cheek--rival "Rosebud" for resonance. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Generally regarded to be the best of the classic gangster films, Scarface tells the exciting story of organized crime's brutal control over Chicago during the Prohibition era. Oscar winner Paul Muni gives an electrifying performance as Tony Carmonte, an ambitious criminal with a ruthless drive to be the city's top crime boss. Produced and directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, Scarface was a groundbreaking film which established both Paul Muni and George Raft as major Hollywood stars, while influencing all gangland films to follow.

Customer Reviews:

SKIMPY...WHY?.......2007-06-12

With such an historic and classic film, that really deserves a commentary track or maybe two, (one, on the films making and importance by film historians, and two, by gangster historians, to elaborate just how close to the truth this film was at the time). It is the same version that came out a few years ago in that SCARFACE box set (exclusive). At least it is out for the people who did`nt want to pay that high price. I did`nt get that then, and I`m not getting this now, since I`ve had this on VHS for a number of years now. I`ll wait for the special edition, or the collectors edition, or the anniversary edition, or the extended edition, or the directors cut edition. PS. I can probably build a whole library of first edition DVDs (sans frills), that were made obsolete when the special editions became available. Tomorrow the special edition two disc version of The Hustler is coming out, OH BOY, maybe I can decorate my Xmas tree with all the first editions.

An early gangster film and a cinema landmark.......2007-05-26

I see reviews here dating back to the year 2000. This review is for the Universal Cinema Classics release of Scarface that came out in May 2007. First off, the video and audio on this print are excellent. There is no hissing in the audio, and there are very few artifacts in the video. The extras are another matter. First there is an introduction by TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne who provides the same excellent short introduction that he would were Scarface playing in prime time on TCM and he were introducing it there - no more, no less. The only other extra is an alternate ending scene for Scarface. There is no commentary track, which is a shame considering this film, along with "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy" form the founding trio of the gangster film in the sound era of the motion picture.

As for the movie itself, it is based on real events that happened in the criminal career of Al Capone, although Capone's criminal career had already ended with his conviction on charges of tax evasion six months before this film was released in April 1932. You know you're watching a Howard Hughes production when, during the first scene, a bar employee is sweeping up after a party held by one of Chicago's big gangsters and finds a bra among the confetti. The film shares some aspects with its gangster film predecessors - Tony Camonte is motivated by a desire for power just as Edward G. Robinson's Rico was in "Little Caesar", and also like Rico takes over the gang from a boss he perceives as weak. However, Camonte doesn't seem to have the pent-up rage of Public Enemy's Tom Powers. When Tony performs acts of violence it is usually related to gangland business. The actual deaths are strictly business, but the execution of the killings themselves are something Tony takes pride in - a sort of work of art on his part. Like Tom Powers, Tony Camonte is given a family background, but unlike Tom Powers, Camonte's family is a completely dysfunctional one. What is unique in this gangster picture is Tony's trio of love interests. He wants his boss' girl, Poppy, as a status symbol. He also seems to have a love affair going with the machine gun, acting like he has discovered America the first time he shoots one. Finally, Tony is in love with his own sister Cesca. Tony's only true fits of rage occur when he sees her with another man, and it is this loss of emotional control over this one issue that is ultimately his downfall. George Raft, an ex-gangster of sorts himself, is terrific as the smart and level-headed Guino Rinaldo, Tony's right-hand man. Finally there is Vince Barnett as Tony's extremely inadequate secretary in a bit of comic relief turned tragic at the end of the film. This film is truly a classic. I just wish Universal had put in a commentary track, for such a cinema landmark is certainly worthy of one. Highly recommended.

the best gangster movie ive ever seen.......2006-09-27

i just watched and taped this movie from tcm.i really liked it.i thought,like many old movies it would be long and devoid of any action.boy was i wrong!all the events in the movie were based on real life happenings.it is set in a time where one of the biggest crime bosses just went down and 10 more are jumping in to take his place.so theres someone getting shot up in every scene!it was great!of course its done in a 1932 type way so you wont see any graphic violence gow we think of it today,but it was top of the line for its time.my favorite part is when the lead character is getting the building hes in shot to pieces and he looks up for a second at his shooters and sees their machine gun.and he gets really exited like a kid at x-mas and says"they got a machine gun you can carry around!i gotta get me one of those!".i think its the best gangster movie ive ever seen and yes i have seen "the godfather"

A "TALKY" THAT CARRIES QUITE A WALLOP -- for 93 MINUTES.......2006-03-27

----- * IN A NUTSHELL: NO GLAMORIZING OF PUBLIC ENEMIES HERE -*

A dark and dank insight into the depraved and exciting world of bootlegging gangsters at their worst.

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: [WARNING -- CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS BELOW]

Tony Camonte [Paul Muni], is the lead, and a character patterned after Al Capone (also called "Scarface")but not in every way. The obviously amoral Camonte gradually seizes control of the bootlegging racket, from Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins), his boss, through a series of barbaric murders which eventually include Johnny Lovo. Apparently, Camonte's ambition is translated into brutality as his sole constructive force, which is hardly constructive at all. There is no bargaining, communicating or making deals, Camonte simply kills everyone that stands in his way even if it is really not needed. I think I counted 26 murders in the film, but others have stated that they counted 28.

BACK TO THE ACTION:

After bumping off his boss Lovo, with the aid of henceman Guino Rinaldo [George Raft], Camonte took up with Lovo's mistress, Poppy [Karen Morley]. Though he has lusted after Poppy from the start, Tony has shown oddly incestuous interest in his own sister, Cesca [Ann Dvorak] that seemed more emotionally deep than that for his newly found trophy girl. There were hints about the incestuous nature of their relationship throughout the film with their mother, who Tony never implied was anything more than a domestic servant, constantly warning Cesca about Tony's intentions in veiled but unmistakable language.

Believe it or not, there is actually humor woven into "Scarface" throughout, with one of the best examples being the murder of Gaffney, [Boris Karloff] while he was bowling. The camera pans to Gaffney's bowling ball knocking down all the pins which is a strike, and one of the many examples of the "X" being used to indicate a murder being committed throughout the film. This reduced the explicitness of the violence, but was perhaps more effective and thought provoking through the implicitly clear outcome.

In the end, Camonte got what he had coming and took it like a weasel, which was required by the censors, but it also removed the romanticism that frequently was given to the many violent criminals of the day, especially Capone. His sister died with him, actually before him. At which point he became a defeated man, ready to throw in the towel, but not before he provided proof that he was no hero and unworthy of anyone's respect, which the police had told us to expect.

ABOUT THE TONE OF THE FILM AND ITS TIME:

Hughes had all kinds of problems with the censors of the day, and we are told that two versions of the film were released. One without the censors approval and one with. Also, that a moral prologue had to be added at the beginning of the film, and added several times during it, to make clear that this was a bad thing we were seeing, [the ruthless life of a killer] and that it was not okay to emulate. In essence, to make clear that the message of the film was NOT to encourage this kind of lifestyle.

MY TAKE ON THE MESSAGE:

To me, the lead character, Tony Camonte, is a vicious swine whose courage came in the form of a gun in his hand. His lusts' and interests' were both perverted and dispicable, making him an unsympathetic character, and a blight in any civilized society. Good - because that is how he was meant to be seen. That, in no way, diminishes the potency of this film. Instead it punctuates and highlights the right from the wrong, the good from the bad. We may not be sure what the good and right is, after seeing this film, but we can be sure what is bad and wrong, because we have seen it for 93 minutes by the time the film ends.

-----*- PRINCIPAL ACTORS -*

Paul Muni - Tony Camonte
Ann Dvorak - Cesca Camonte
Karen Morley - Poppy
George Raft - Guino Rinaldo
Boris Karloff - Gaffney
Osgood Perkins - Johnny Lovo

-----*- PRODUCTION CREW -*

Howard Hawks - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Howard R. Hughes - Producer
W.R. Burnett - Screenwriter
Ben Hecht - Screenwriter
John Lee Mahin - Screenwriter
Seton Miller - Screenwriter
Fred Palsey - Screenwriter
Armitage Trail - Book Author

ABOUT THE VIDEO:

The video quality was variable, but it was watchable from beginning to end. The sound was even better, with very little of the background hiss that we can expect from a 74 year old film.

BOTTOM LINE:

An excellent film and an excellent companion for the more recent remake of Scarface,1983, Directed by Brian De Palma and starring Al Pacino. When one recalls that Scarface was made in 1932, before film-noir, and actually during prohibition [1920-1933] it reminds us of what a gem this "talky" is.

production code problems.......2006-03-09

By today's standards it is almost a PG film due to the inherently innocent look into the graphic nature of the cinematography. But just the same, by the standards of that time period, it was a horrifically violent movie with around 30 deaths in the film. This was a record breaker in itself. Howard Hawks, under the control of the industry for which he was working had to hold off on releasing the movie more than two years because they were fearful that it was praise for criminals and the crimes they committed. Chicago alone refused to show the film for another year on top of the original two.

Average customer rating:

war classics 50movie pack collection
I'd give it 10 stars if I could.
War Classics 50 Movie Collection Pack
On a 1 to 10 scale, this collection is rated: 6.4
Well Worth It

War Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection
Starring: Ronald Reagan , and James Stewart
Director: Frank Capra
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001HAGWO
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Product Description

The War Classics 50-MoviePack features an incredible mix of stirring war movies and fascinating documentaries that detail the greatest battles and campaigns of World War II.

Customer Reviews:

war classics 50movie pack collection.......2007-06-17

Highly recommened!I spent the whole saturday sitting in front of the battle action.What a great way to spend a day! To many stars to list ,but I'm sure you'll find someone you like in there.Its the who's who of the 1940's .These film are great for a rain filled day,so you can watch as much as you want,or the wife will allow.

I'd give it 10 stars if I could........2007-06-12

The documentaries are awesome. Really. The movies are ok too but the Official stuff is awesome. There are Russian, German, and British films here and it is unbelievable. Really.

War Classics 50 Movie Collection Pack.......2007-05-07

The documentaries are great. The movie selections are far reaching, some real classics and some vague titles that leave a bit to be desired. All in all well worth your investment, and own a nice pack of war and war related movies.

On a 1 to 10 scale, this collection is rated: 6.4.......2007-04-18

The "classics" in the WAR CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK must surely be the many contemporary documentaries included in this set. These chronicles of a war in progress are both American and foreign made-- the most unusual for Western eyes being those from the USSR. The theatrical films included here aren't blockbusters by any means, yet they should still have appeal to fans of the war genre.

The 1 to 10 rating for this box set was determined by accumulated pollng data located at a film resource website. Based on these numbers, the current average score for WAR CLASSICS is: 6.4.

The alphabetized program list that follows includes individual poll scores, country of origin (if other than USA), year of release and principal actors.

(6.7) The Adventures Of Tartu ("Sabotage Agent") (1943) - Robert Donat
(4.1) After Mein Kampf (1961-doc.)
(6.9) Appointment In Tokyo (1945-doc.)
(7.3) Attack In The Pacific (1944-doc.)
(6.9) Attack! The Battle For New Britain (1944-doc.)
(???) The Avenger (Yugo/Italy/France-1962) - Steeve Reeves
(7.9) The Battle Of Britain (1943-doc.) - d. Frank Capra
(7.3) The Battle Of China (1944-doc.) - d. Frank Capra
(7.4) The Battle Of Russia (doc.) 1943 - d. Frank Capra
(7.7) (The Battle Of) San Pietro (1945-doc.)
(6.3) The Big Lift (1950) - Montgomery Clift/Paul Douglas
(6.3) Blood On The Sun (1945) - James Cagney/Silvia Sidney
(5.4) The Bushwhackers (1952) - John Ireland/Wayne Morris
(4.7) Captain Scarlett (1953) - Richard Greene
(6.1) Combat America (1943-doc.) Clark Gable
(6.8) December 7th(, 1941) (1943-doc.) - d. John Ford
(7.5) Desert Victory (1943-doc.)
(4.0) The Devil's Cavaliers (Italy-1959) - Frank Latimore
(7.4) Divide And Conquer (1943-doc.)
(7.0) Eagle In A Cage (USA/UK/Yugo-1972) - John Gielgud/Ralph Richardson
(2.9) Escape From Angola (1976) - Stan Brock
(5.7) Flying Blind (1941) - Richard Arlen
(6.8) Go For Broke! (1951) - Van Johnson
(???) The Great Battle Of The Volga (USSR-1962-doc.)
(6.0) Gung Ho! ("The Story Of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders") (1943) - Randolph Scott/Noah Beery
(4.8) Hell In Normandy (Italy/France-1968) - Guy Madison
(5.9) Kansas Pacific (1953) - Sterling Haydn/Eve Miller
(???) The KGB Connections (1982-TV doc.)
(8.3) The Last Chance (Switz.-1945)
(6.9) (With The) Marines At Tarawa-Return To Guam (1944-doc.)
(4.5) The Mark Of The Hawk (1957) - Eartha Kitt/Sidney Poitier
(7.7) The Memphis Belle: A Story Of The Flying Fortress (1944-doc.) - d. William Wyler
(7.3) The Nazis Strike (1943-doc.) - d. Frank Capra
(6.7) Nuremberg Trials (USSR-1947-doc.)
(???) Payoff In The Pacific (1945-doc.)
(7.3) Prelude To War (1943-doc.) - d. Frank Capra
(3.4) The Proud And The Damned (1972) - Chuck Connors/Cesar Romero
(6.8) Report from The Aleutians (1943-doc.) - d. John Huston
(9.0) The Secret Life Of Adolf Hitler (1958-TV doc.)
(5.3) The Stilwell Road (1945-doc.)
(???) Submarine Warfare (1945-doc.) - n. Gene Kelly
(5.6) This Is The Army (1943) - George Murphy/Joan Leslie
(7.3) Three Came Home (1950) - Claudette Colbert/Patric Knowles
(7.7) Thunderbolt (1947-doc) - d. John Sturges/William Wyler
(7.7) To The Shores Of Iwo Jima (1945-doc.)
(5.7) The Torch (Mex./USA-1950) - Paulette Goddard/Gilbert Roland
(8.2) The True Glory (1945-doc.) - d. Garson Kanin
(7.0) Tunisian Victory (1944-doc.) - d. Frank Capra
(5.2) Warhead (1972) - David Janssen
(3.6) Yellowneck (1955) - Lin McCarthy

Well Worth It.......2007-02-18

The documentaries are infinitely more interesting than the jingoistic, low budget and mostly rather bland soldier flicks. The subject is war in general but the vast majority of the docs and many of the fictional flicks are abt WW2 one way or the other. The docs are fascinating as the show WW2 propaganda as it really was during and just after the war. Kind of a peek behind the curtain at how Americans on the homefront really thought and were made to think during the world's greatest cataclysm.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Universal Cinema Classics)

Average customer rating:

The brutal poetry of war
Apparently Horace never served active duty
The Horrors of War
A powerful reminder
Nice anti-war message but awfully creaky

All Quiet on the Western Front (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Louis Wolheim , Lew Ayres , John Wray , Arnold Lucy , and Ben Alexander
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000KGGJ0Y
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com essential video

If a classic movie can be measured by the number of indelible images it burns into the collective imagination, then All Quiet on the Western Front's status is undisputed. Since its release in 1930 (and Oscar win for best picture), this film's saga of German boys avidly signing up for World War I battle--and then learning the truth of war--has been acclaimed for its intensity, artistry, and grown-up approach. Director Lewis Milestone's technical expertise is already stunning in the great opening sequence, as a professor exhorts his students to volunteer for the glory of the Fatherland while troops march past the windows. Erich Maria Remarque's novel is faithfully followed, but Milestone's superbly composed frames make it physical: the first battle scene, with the camera prowling the trenches as they fill with death and chaos, was surely the Saving Private Ryan of its day. The cast is strong, with little-known Lew Ayres finding stardom in the lead (Ayres became a pacifist and conscientious objector during World War II; although he served in battle as a medic, the stance harmed his career). This DVD has no extras beyond a vintage re-release trailer and Robert Osborne's useful introduction, but the main draw is the excellent picture and sound quality of the print--the movie looks better than it has in years. Those indelible images are now clear enough to cut glass: Ayres' lonely look back at the disappearing troop truck; the blinded soldier who runs into enemy fire at night; the fine pair of boots wasted on a boy with an amputated leg; and the final, devastating seconds, arguably the defining cinematic image of war in the 20th century. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

The brutal poetry of war.......2007-06-10

Ah, the 1930's. The first full decade of sound for pictures. The advent of Technicolor. The full-flowering of Hollywood, bringing escapist entertainment to a world gripped by the Great Depression.

Many great movies were made in the 1930's. "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Gone With the Wind", "Snow White", "The Wizard of Oz" were all great films from the late 1930's, which many people have refered to as the best time for cinema.

But the early 1930's, though often overlooked by modern audiences, contains such wonderful films as "M", "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "All Quiet on the Western Front".

This film won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1930. It's well-deserved. The movie plot follows basically the same plot as the novel; centering around a group of young German soldiers going on the grand adventure of war. Whipped into a patriotic frenzy, they enlist, head to the front, and start dropping like flies.

The movie beautifully encapsulates the horror of war. The acting (particularly from Lew Ayres in the staring role), writing and directing are all top-notch. Put the film in color, and it could almost be a movie from this era, rather than one that's almost 80 years old.

The DVD version of this movie is... well, nothing to write home about. Not too many extras, though the comments from Robert Osborne are welcome. No chapter selection for some odd reason, but otherwise... it's ok.

Modern audiences don't really know too much about World War One. It's a largely forgotten war in our national conciousness. As I write this, we're 89 years out from the start of the war. Further, according to Wikipedia's "Surviving Veterans of World War One", there's only 28 veterans left world-wide. Twenty-eight. That's it. One less than when I looked last week, and almost certainly several more than we'll have by next year. Only three of the veterans left are from the USA.

If for no other reason than expanding your knowledge about this horrible, meaningless, stupid war, I strongly recommend this movie.

As a side note: if Universal still owns the rights to the novel, they need to be pressured to make a new version of this film in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the war. Get the young teeny-bopper/teen-idol actors of our era (the Zac Effrons of the world), and let modern audiences see the beauty of youth twisted by war.

It's a lesson no one should ever forget.

Apparently Horace never served active duty.......2007-05-23

This picture serves to illustrate the madness in Horace's statement
that it is sweet and proper to die for one's country. Lew Ayres' perform-
ance was magnificent--especially the marching scene depicting his love and
respect for Kat, via facial expression and body language alone These few
seconds would have been worth the price of admission in 1930.
Those German boys weren't much different from the good, decent German-
American boys I grew up with.

The Horrors of War.......2007-05-08

All Quiet on the Western Front is an excellent adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel about the horrors of war. It follows several German students from the classroom into the trenches as they die one by one. The story features many random stories depicting one boy, Paul Malvern's (Lew Ayres) experiences similarly to the way the book was organized. There are many powerful scenes, like boys going mad in the trenches, the sickening experience of the boys' first battle, and Paul killing a man up close.

Because this film was made at the beginning of the "golden age of Hollywood," viewers might expect it to be highly sentimental and preachy. Although its anti-war message is blatant, it is surprisingly underplayed and straight-forward.

The first few times I tried to watch this film I was put off almost immediately. The sound quality suffers because the film was made so early in the talkie era. The opening scene where the teacher preaches to the students about the glories of war is a bit long. However, after that scene, I soon found myself glued to the screen. Give the film a proper chance before condemning it.

A powerful reminder.......2007-05-07

Such a cinematagraphically sophisticated portrayal of the Great War's horrors and heroes.

Nice anti-war message but awfully creaky.......2007-03-30

Based on Erich Maria Remarque's famous pacifist novel, All Quiet on the Western Front explores the horror of WWI through the eyes of a young German soldier.

Ideas of glory fuelled by patriotism are quickly drowned in the mud-filled trenches of the battlefield. Young lives are squandered cheaply for a few centimeters of ground.

WWI was fought with traditional tactics - the mass charge, trenches - but combined with more efficient killings machines - machine guns, field artillery - led to horrific loss of life among the soldiers.

The Germans learnt from these mistakes in WWII and employed the tactics of the Blitzkreig "lightening war" where speed of movement was paramount.

Back to the film itself. It's really easy to tell this is a child of the early sound era - there is lots of overacting and it is very visual in its telling. Modern audiences will find it very heavy-going though.

Still it has an ageless anti-war message. An important part of film history but very much an antique now.

Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast

Average customer rating:

Double Trouble
WHO CAN RESIST SUCH A DOUBLE FEATURE?
Our Mr. Big
MEMOREIS MEMORIES WOW
Great old monster movies!

Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast
Starring: Sally Fraser , Roger Pace , Duncan 'Dean' Parkin , Russ Bender , and Rico Alaniz
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000BYA5IC
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Customer Reviews:

Double Trouble.......2007-05-07

These two movies are a good example of 50s SCI-FI at its best. Earth Vs. The spider is good because it adds a bit of 50s Malt Shop Era to the movie. Its seems the spider shots may have been taken from an earlier Sci-FI movie Tarantula.War Of The Colossal Beast is movie #2 in this Twin Cult Classic Set.I remember watching this movie as a kid and still enjoy it. Would recommend this double SCI-FI Collection to all 50s Sci-Fi Addicts.

WHO CAN RESIST SUCH A DOUBLE FEATURE?.......2007-04-27

Two great cheese fests for the price of one! "Earth vs.the Spider" is excellent. "War of the Colossal Beast" is the sequel to "The Amazing Colossal Man". Strange that the two Colossal films weren't put on this double feature DVD? The Amazing Colossal Man" is not available on DVD at this time. As it is " War of the Colossal Beast" is pretty funny...unintentionally of course! After reading some other reviews, I have learned that the rights to the two Colossal movies are owned by different people....too bad :-( ...I hope they release the first one soon.

Our Mr. Big.......2007-03-18

For this baby boomer who grew up in the 50's, Bert I. Gordon was my George Lucas. He brought amazing creatures right into our movie theatres. In retrospect, I'm very grateful to him for many hours of enjoyment in that dark movie house. Yeah, these effects are nowhere what is done now, but I didn't know that at that time. I was just a kid in awe of what was on the screen. I loved "The Spider" (as it was called back then). The remake was a real letdown for those of us who enjoyed seeing the overhead shot of a girl screaming her head off, with her 50's skirt caught in the door of her car as the spider approaches. I love the idea that rock 'n roll awakens the spider, who then goes on a rampage all over town. And, yeah, that poor baby alone on a deserted street was very a disturbing sight. Mr. BIG was all about bringing entertainment to the massses, ready to scare us, thrill us and giving us our money's worth for an afternoon. "War of the Colossal Beast" was another reason that made going to the movies on a weekend just a thrill. Thank you, Mr. Gordon.

MEMOREIS MEMORIES WOW.......2007-02-08

i remember being 11 yrs old and going to see these movies. the spider one i had to get because way back then i hung around the olive recreation center in burbank ca.
the rock-n-roll band in this movie was headed by my friend dick de augustine ,his brother and paul the sax player. they were old in their early 20's.i watched that again 49 yrs later and what memories. now it looks corny but then it was scary. i wish that the amazing colossal man was available also but the sequel is very good.if you remember these movies. buy them because they are not shown very often
the prints are crystal clear but the price "go for it"

Great old monster movies!.......2007-01-09

I'm a sucker for the old classic black and white monster movies and these two are just perfect if you like that kind of movie. There's nothing like a giant spider chasing you, or a giant man with an agenda ticked off at the world! Sure they're corny by today's standards, but that's part of their charm and they are great entertainment. Safe for the family also - no swear words, nudity, etc. What a refreshing change!

Average customer rating:

The General
An Excellent Introduction to Buster Keaton
Not bad.
A great Intro to Keaton
Silent film classic

The General
Starring: Richard Allen , Glen Cavender , Mike Donlin , Jim Farley , and Ronald Gilstrap
Director: Bruckman, Clyde
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Slapstick | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305609969
Release Date: 1999-10-26

Amazon.com essential video

Buster Keaton's career reached its creative apex with this rousing comic adventure. Not merely one of the finest silent films, this remains one of the great film comedies of all time. The Great Stone Face stars as Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray, a man with only two loves: the sweet Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) and his trustworthy engine, the eponymous General. When Fort Sumner is fired upon he's one of the first to enlist, but when the war office rejects him (he's too valuable as a trained engineer) his sweetie rejects him as a coward. Johnny has the opportunity to prove his bravery when Yankee spies steal his engine and inadvertently kidnap Annabelle, and Johnny pursues with all the resources at his disposal: handcar, bicycle, and finally railroad engine. Keaton's love/hate relationship with technology and machinery shines as he becomes one with his beloved locomotive and wrestles with a finicky cannon that threatens to blow his engine off the tracks; with tremendous dexterity, he nails the humor with inimitably deadpan takes. Spunky Marion Mack makes a perfect partner for Keaton, not merely a foil but a gifted comedienne in her own right. Other Keaton films contain more laughs and inspired comic stunts, but none combines romance, adventure, and comedy into a solid story as seamlessly as this silent masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Consistently ranked among the best films ever made, Keaton's "The General" (1926, 75 min., stereo) is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it continues to inspire awe and laughter with every viewing. Rejected by the Confederate Army as unfit and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle Lee (Marian Mack), young Johnnie Gray (Keaton) sets out to single-handedly win the war with his cherished locomotive. Also includes "The Playhouse" (1921, 23 min., mono), a technical tour-de-force in which Keaton plays every member of a stage company, the entire audience and an undisciplined chimp to boot! "Cops" (1922, 18 min., mono) is the quintessential chase film, with Buster tumbling into a series of marvelous mishaps while fleeing hundreds of uniformed policemen. Digitally mastered from archival prints, with original musical scores.

Customer Reviews:

The General.......2007-06-20

Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, Keaton's "The General" finds the stone-faced physical comedian at the very height of his creative powers. Wrestling with a cannon or attempting to mount a moving train, Keaton's comic timing and expressive body language rival Chaplin's, and puts to shame the funnymen of today. Mack is terrific in her own right, playing off Keaton's impassive, foolhardy bravado with sprightly charm. The nuttiest stunts and chase sequences will leave your jaw on the floor, if you can ever stop laughing.

An Excellent Introduction to Buster Keaton.......2007-05-18

Buster Keaton has been given a new lease on popularity, especially after the past decade of Jackie Chan movies (film critics have often compared the two, although I think there is too much difference), and The General is his most well-known movie.

There are better Buster Keaton movies. Saying that, of course, is like saying you like one Marx Brothers movie better than another; if you like one you like them all, and if you don't -- well, this quality is shared by Buster Keaton, which makes The General an excellent starting point, because if you don't like this movie you just don't like Buster Keaton. If you do, you should also consider Sherlock, Jr., Steamboat Bill, Jr., and many others.

Not bad........2007-04-13

The General (Buster Keaton, 1927)

Ah, Johnnie Gray, Southern lad out to save the South from the rampaging Union marauders. The General is, almost universally considered one of the best movies ever made. Since I saw it, I've been reading a lot of reviews to see what it is about the film that everyone's so fond of, and the one thing that comes up every time is its amazing historical accuracy. (Oddly, no review I read until David Malcolm's mentioned that The General is based on actual events. Leave it to the British to expose a fact the Americans never thought to mention about an American movie based on an American war.) To me, this is the equivalent of rating a novel based on the research the author did before writing it; it obviously gives the book (or movie) a much stronger base on which to rest, but if the movie (or book) itself doesn't justify the research, who cares?

I'm still torn on whether it does. Yes, Keaton did all his own stunts. So does Jackie Chan, and I don't see anyone (well, one or two renegades) calling The Legend of Drunken Master (or, more disturbingly, Rush Hour 2) one of the best movies ever made. And, yeah, the gags are an integral part of the film, and that is impressive, and certainly sets The General apart from most of the black-and-white comedy I find so very boring (The Three Stooges, the Little Rascals, the Keystone Kops, etc. etc. ad nauseam). There really is a story here, and it's a pretty good one. There are characters, though they're not terribly well-drawn (I believe it was Malcolm who also referred to The General as a parody of Birth of a Nation, which could explain that, but still). There are some great effects, and they were done the hard way back then-- if you want to show a train plunging off an exploded bridge into a rive,r then you took a train and an exploding bridge...

All of this is good stuff, but there still seemed to be something missing from The General that distinguishes truly great film. I'm not sure what, especially since I just heaped endless amounts of praise on The Man with a Movie Camera a month or so ago, and that lacks plot and characters entirely. I don't think it's the comedy angle, because I do like really well-done comedy; three of the movies in my all-time top twenty are comedies. Perhaps I just haven't seen it enough times for it to grow on me. But for now, I consider it a good film, but not one of the true greats. *** ½

A great Intro to Keaton.......2007-03-01

I do agree that "The General" should have been on the top 100 list. Buster Keaton is the icon of the successful comedy writer/director/actors in the 1920's. It just so happens that "The General" is a history lesson as well, and scholars at the time felt that this movie was about as authentic looking as a Matthew Brady photograph of the Civil War. It contains the most expensive stunt done up to that time-the locomotive plunging into the river (not a model). The movie was a labor of love from Keaton and crew and deserves to find a place in movie history long after other silents of the era have disintegrated. After viewing this movie, go on to "Our Relations" and the other fine(and perhaps funnier) movies that Keaton made, and discover the two-reelers, especially "Cops". But this one is special. It is right out of your history book.

Silent film classic.......2007-01-02

That "The General" was considered a comedy is befuddling to me. Although silent film comic Buster Keaton wrote, produced, directed and starred, it plays as more of an adventure film.

Georgia based locomotive engineer Johnny Gray played by Keaton is rejected from enlisting in the Confederacy at the outbreak of the Civil War. Being too useful as an engineer, his being spurned is mistakenly viewed as cowardice by love of his life Annabell Lee played by Marion Mack.

Some time later his prized engine known as the "General" is stolen by Union spies with Annabelle Lee aboard. Keaton using another locomotive gives chase and winds up behind enemy lines. Concealing himself he overhears plans for a Union attack. He proceeds to rescue his girl and the General and head back south in a harrowing chase closely followed by Union soldiers to warn Confederate troops.

Filmed in the forests of Oregon, Keaton does a great job in recreating conflicts and battlefields of the Civil War. Keaton before the advent of stuntmen performed a slew of dangerous stunts jumping from place to place on a moving locomotive. The spectacular trainwreck caused by Keaton's sabotage of a railway bridge was one of the most expensive scenes ever filmed to that point.

Average customer rating:

Very fine acting...but a flawed movie
For Whom the Bell Tolls
"Any Man's death diminishes me "
Excellent Hemingway historical fiction
for whom the bell tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls
Starring: Gary Cooper , Ingrid Bergman , Akim Tamiroff , Arturo de Córdova , and Vladimir Sokoloff
Director: Sam Wood
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 0783229488
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Customer Reviews:

Very fine acting...but a flawed movie.......2007-07-03

Review of DVD: This is a nicely restored version of the film, with reasonalbly good color (a bit contrasty sometimes), with good sound. DVD extras are adequate, but sparce by modern movie standards.

All the principles did give fine performances. While Katina Paxinou gives a fine, Oscar winning performance, I believe Akim Tamiroff as the undependable and annoying Pablo is the finest in the cast. But Pilar is a much more likable character.

Discussion of the movie: Cooper and Bergman are fine, independent of each other. But the romantic attraction did not seem believable to me, especially how quickly Bergman's character was smitten by Cooper's. Cooper looked, well, middle aged, when younger men were available (a rivalry might have added something here). Fortunately, while young, she doesn't look 19 (oooh!). Remember, her character is falling for Robert Jordan, not Gary Cooper. There was absolutely no suspense in what was going to happen between these two. For me, the romance story simply got in the way of action, and the Pablo/Pilar conflict. What was Pablo going to do? Can he be trusted?

For Whom the Bell Tolls.......2007-06-22

A splendid adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel, this rousing, romantic adventure tells the tale of a love between a Spanish-born guerilla and an outsider who's joined the cause out of political solidarity. Featuring solid performances by Cooper and the ravishing Bergman--who gets off one of cinema's most famous kissing lines ("I always wondered where the noses went")--Wood's film is an absorbing treat. Katina Paxinou even picked up an Oscar for her fiery performance as de facto rebel leader Pilar. This "Bell' tolls for thee.

"Any Man's death diminishes me ".......2007-04-01

"Because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore send to know
for who the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee."

Spain 1937. Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper) came to Spain o fight for "The Republic" (a nice way to say for the commies) and against nationalists. He also had a dislike for Germans and Italians. His assignment was to go behind the nationalist lines and blow up a bridge at a strategic moment. There this stoic hero meets a peasant girl (a much too young for Gary, Ingrid Bergman) with a bad haircut and that barely escaped a train ride. They naturally fall in love which complicates things. Will this jeopardize the mission? Do we care?

Along with this we have the classic mixture of characters that you can not tell if they are the good guys or the bad guys. The two that stand out besides the hero and his girl are Katina Paxinou (sort of a female Antony Quinn) as the doyenne, and Akim Tamiroff as the once good guerilla who may be bad or just self-centered. Who they were and how the acted was quite a predicable formula.

The story is an adoption from the Ernest Hemingway novel. Of course they could not put everything in the story and too a few liberties. We also miss the dialog that people read Hemmingway for.

The initial credits are in some annoying script (Parchment) make it hard to read at a glance.

Excellent Hemingway historical fiction.......2007-01-13

This movie was very well done in all respects. The two main actors, Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, were chosen by Ernest Hemingway, whose novel was the basis of the movie, which followed closely to the book. It received several Academy Award nominations in 1943 and the Oscar was presented for Best Supporting Actress. The acting, direction, screenplay and setting contributed to excellent character development. The intrigue of the story kept your attention throughout the film.

for whom the bell tolls.......2006-11-10

A hollywood classic at it's best. Ingrid Bergman displays innocents, warmth and the sincerity of a woman coming to terms with the cruelity of war. Gary Cooper is the hero, brave true and uncompromising in the face of danger...Their love story is beautiful to the eye and raises the spirit of human courage to new heights...

Average customer rating:

The American "Triumph of Will"
Flawed by weird outlook of Director / Producer, but more timely than 'political-stupidity' of today!
A deeply troubling and maybe brilliant film classic
Genius in the Service of Evil
The first motion picture "event"

The Birth of a Nation
Starring: Spottiswoode Aitken , Mary Alden , George Beranger , Elmer Clifton , and Miriam Cooper
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Civil War | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305130949
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Amazon.com essential video

A pivotal moment in film history. After The Birth of a Nation, nothing was the same: not the way audiences watched movies, not the way filmmakers created them. D.W. Griffith's jumbo-size saga of the Civil War expanded the boundaries of storytelling on the screen, conveying a richer, more complicated (and certainly longer) tale than anyone had seen in a movie before. The delicate relationships, the sad passage of time, the spectacular battle scenes all look as fresh and innovative today as they did in 1915. So do Griffith's brilliant actors, most of them--including favorite leading lady Lillian Gish--drawn from his regular stock company. What has become increasingly problematic about The Birth of a Nation is Griffith's condescending attitude toward black slaves, and the ringing excitement surrounding the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. Griffith, whose political ideas were naive at best, seemed genuinely surprised by the criticism of his masterwork, and for his next project he turned to the humanist preaching of the massive Intolerance. Despite protests, Birth sold more tickets than any other movie, a record that stood for decades, and President Woodrow Wilson famously compared it to "history written in lightning." That judgment has lasted. --Robert Horton

Description

Based on a play called "The Clansmen," D.W. Griffith's three-hour Civil War epic traces the development of the Civil War itself, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan through the lives of two families.

Customer Reviews:

The American "Triumph of Will".......2007-06-14

Viewing this movie is kind of like what it would be to see a sculpture by Michelangelo glorifying rape or verse by Shakespeare aggrandizing murder...

To say today that we cannot recognize the wrongs of the past or their depiction in art or literature is not an elevation of free speech but rather a limitation on our free speech.

We not only have the right but the duty to recognize what was wrong in the past and call it for what it was.

In this film D.W. Griffiths attempted to dramatically portray the justifiable rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Its release and presentation resulted in a sort of segregationist passion play that both spiked Klan membership (which peeked at over a million in the mid 1920s) and reinvigorated violence against African Americans (including a sharp rise in lynchings in the American south).

The film premiered during the administration of Woodrow Wilson who resegregated the American military (which had originally been desegregated under Abraham Lincoln and would not again be desegreated until the administration of Harry S Truman). It accompanied a phenonomenal rolling back of the clock for American egalitarianism and helped set the stage for what would become another fifty years of injustice for African Americans.

To be sure, watch the movie and witness its technical accomplishments. But beware of the evil that occurs when genius is placed in service of madness.

Learn from history to better avoid its errors.

Flawed by weird outlook of Director / Producer, but more timely than 'political-stupidity' of today!.......2007-03-30

The Director / Producer does a good job of this
up-to-the-minute cinematically modern (for it's
day) film, that takes a simpathetic look at the
Southern States. However, his mildly racist and
Pro Masonic proclivities come through as well.

A Pity. The Abe Lincoln in here unfortunatety
look like an 19th century pawn broker, with his
overdone makeup! The KKK part (a racist organi-
zation started by the masonic lodge) is stupid!
They never 'saved' anybody, and the Masonic Lodge
itself (which the KKKluxos Adolphus covered for)
has damned many mens (women's and even Children's
souls - the DeMolays)actually to hell! Still, for
it's time, until the KKKlan KKKlowns come riding
into the pic, is worth the watch. D.W. Griffith
could never get it released today! So get a cheap
VHS copy of it, erase the KKK part from then on
on the film and you have as close to a silent 4
star movie as you ever will. Just git your teeth
on the stereotypical parts of 'buck' dancing
negroes!

A deeply troubling and maybe brilliant film classic.......2007-02-05

D.W. Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) deeply troubles me as a white caucasian. The opening and closing scenes hint at a movie that will make a serious statement against all wars. And the battle scenes in part one, including hospital recovery, are superb. This is a movie that has the power to move and enrage audiences 92 years after it was made, so I consider it an important film classic. I particularly am moved by hero Henry B. Walthall's return home from war to his sweetheart Mae Marsh, the scenes with Abraham Lincoln, and the impeccable re-creation of Ford's Theater on the night Lincoln was shot. Miriam Cooper and Lillian Gish are also unforgettably poignant. So there is a lot to recommend to even black audiences nowadays, mostly in part one.

If only Griffith had stopped at the 85 minute intermission point, he would have had a true masterpiece. What on earth was he thinking in the remaining 100 minutes when he turns the movie into infuriating melodrama and the cinema of propaganda? (The Kino archive print I watched, the definitive one to buy or rent, runs 187 minutes, with color tinting and an orchestra score.) The Civil War is over, and the black characters are in control (and mostly played by white actors in blackface). The blacks are in control of Congress, will not let whites vote, and unwittingly kill the lovely (white) Mae Marsh character.

The logical and needed solution, for Griffith, is to have Walthall form the Ku Klux Klan to avenge his sweetheart's death and let the South not be under the power of the evil and all-powerful blacks. This is when BIRTH OF A NATION becomes the infuriating cinema of propaganda. I found myself getting all worked up and wanting all blacks on screen to meet a violent death. When a whole army of KKK riders faces down a whole street of blacks, you cheer for the KKK to kill all the blacks and restore order. And they eventually do.

BIRTH OF A NATION is a powerful and important film, despite its disturbing racism, because of its vast scope and its brilliant filmmaking. It maintains interest for over three hours, has beautifully drawn and heartbreaking white major characters (again, especially, the three women), stunning battle scenes on a movie determined to make a timely statement to end all wars forever, and parallel cutting between blacks and whites in the admittedly exciting climax. I'm not sure, but I think parallel editing was invented here, along with iris camerawork. (All you see on screen is a circle or some other geometric shape.) And there is again the mammoth length--187 minutes, plus intermission--at a time when Keaton was not yet on screen and Keystone was making 20-25 minute slapstick comedies with Chaplin and Arbuckle. Griffith, with BIRTH, basically invented the modern cinema; and 92 years later we are still arguing over its merits and admittedly finding its pro-KKK climax blood-racingly exciting because of Griffith's melodramatic storytelling. You are not allowed to cheer for the blacks.

The NAACP will not allow BIRTH OF A NATION to be shown theatrically anymore. Too bad. As a white guy I'd love to see it with a predominately black audience. Fortunately, we can still see it on DVD versions ranging from only 90 minutes, to Kino's definitive 187 minute roadshow version with color tinting and an orchestra score. Kino also gives us the 1930 chat with D. W. Griffith and Walter Huston on Griffith's intentions with BIRTH; a 25 minute behind-the-scenes documentary; scenes from the roadshow souvenir program; fascinating legal/censorship records; and several Griffith Civil War shorts he made at Biograph Studios before BIRTH.

Watch BIRTH OF A NATION with a sober head, some intelligence, and in the greatest possible print. 92 years later it is a masterpiece of propaganda that still has the power to enrage, excite, disturb, and move modern audiences as few silent films do.

Genius in the Service of Evil.......2007-01-31

I can't add to the discussions of the repulsive evil represented by this movie or its place in American film history. But I do have two suggestions.

First, buy a longer version of the movie because these contain the complete version. Other versions are shorter because they either contain the much-edited version Griffith re-released in later years or are artificially speeded up to conform to modern frame rates.

Second, read some background on the technical innovations of the film before watching it so that you can appreciate how this movie is THE seminal movie in American film history. You can find some good background material online.

You will be amazed by Griffith's technical genius. But you will also feel you need a moral cleansing after watching his mocking, degrading, violent portrayal of black human beings and glorification of the KKK.

The first motion picture "event".......2007-01-29

"It's like writing history with lightning," President Woodrow Wilson reportedly said after watching D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" at a special White House screening.

Wilson was expressing admiration for both the film and the relatively new technology of the motion picture. Now, "The Birth of a Nation" is as much a part of history as the Civil War it dramatized.

When Orson Welles made "Citizen Kane" in 1941, it is said that he watched many of Griffith's films in the hope of picking up a pointer or two from the man acknowledged as the master of the motion picture medium. With "The Birth of a Nation," Griffith established the narrative approach that is now the norm for motion pictures, with cross-cutting of scenes, as well as close-ups, used to tell the story.

Griffith's masterwork was the first motion picture "event," unequaled until "Gone With the Wind" twenty-four years later. With a running time of 100 minutes in an era when movies were typically half that length, the $2.00 admission charged by theaters was also heftier than audiences of the day were accustomed to.

Historically, the importance of Griffith and "The Birth of a Nation" can not be disputed, but it's doubtful many modern viewers can appreciate Griffith's achievement in anything but its historical context.

It remains the subject of heated controversy for its glowing portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, which some critics suggest should disqualify Griffith from consideration as a motion picture pioneer. That's nonsense, of course, and those who continue to vilify Griffith and his film, however justly, are doing their cause a disservice. If not for the controversy, "The Birth of a Nation" would likely find an audience only in academia where even film students would likely find it heavy going.

In the decades since Griffith's film impressed Woodrow Wilson, we have become impressed to the point of indifference. "The Birth of a Nation" has not aged well. It is unquestionably a milestone in cinema, but it's not one with the potential to entice a modern audience.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Average customer rating:

Silent trains
Perhaps greatest silent film comedy
A great introduction to silent films but be aware of this version's flaws
Buster Keaton's "The General!"
Avoid this General

The General
Starring: Richard Allen , Glen Cavender , Mike Donlin , Jim Farley , and Ronald Gilstrap
Director: Bruckman, Clyde
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Slapstick | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Civil War | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00008G8WX
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Customer Reviews:

Silent trains.......2007-05-07

Buster Keaton, what can you say about this actor except he is fantastic in this silent movie. A great family show with lots of laugh's.

Perhaps greatest silent film comedy.......2006-10-21

I never thought I'd need to write a review of Buster Keaton's masterpiece, The General. Only a couple of Amazon reviewers mark it less than five stars. Every critic in the USA and Europe considers it one of Hollywood's classic comedies, perhaps the best film made by the one comedian whose reputation equals Chaplin's. Folks, don't miss this film. It is a brilliantly conceived and directed comedy filled with suspense and starring the most American and modern of silent comedy stars. At the same time that it generates a combination of belly laughs and thrills, some historians rank it as them most realistic Hollywood representation of the USA Civil War and its battles.

A great introduction to silent films but be aware of this version's flaws.......2006-04-23

After reading the other two reviews of this version of Buster Keaton's classic film, The General, I felt compelled to give a somewhat suitable defense for Alpha Video's DVD. First of all, I want to make it clear that I do not deny many of the claims in the previous reviews. This is an unrestored version of the film and, thus, its quality is very poor (darkness around the edges of the screen, etc., resulting from the wear and tear of the original 35mm print)and the soundtrack is not the film's original score (to played by the organist in silent film theaters) but rather something thrown together by the production company. However, with that said, I believe the cheap price more than makes up for these flaws, making this a great film to buy if you want to get a taste of silent films without making a big financial committment (paying several times more for a restored version). Thus, as long as you are aware of this version's flaws (as I was before I bought it), you won't be dissapointed.

If you are, indeed, looking for an inexpensive introduction to silent films, I recommend buying this straight from Alpha Video's website. I purchased the Silent Classics boxset (featuring The General and three other films) from their site and paid only about four or five dollars per film. As an aspiring film buff unable to afford dishing out twenty to twenty five dollars for newly restored versions of these classics, this boxset was the perfect choice. (And, there is something quaint about watching the unrestored versions).

In regards to the film itself, I don't think many reviewers will deny that The General remains a great comedy despite its age.

Buster Keaton's "The General!".......2004-09-15

This 1926 comedy classic, directed by Buster Keaton, has some very funny moments throughout. However, I was turned off by the film because of the choice of music for this DVD release. Seeing Keaton's character pushing items out of the back of a train to distract the Yankees chasing them set to "The Blue Danube?" "Pomp and Circumstance" at the beginning makes you feel like your going to watch a graduation comedy instead of a comedy set during the Civil War. I'm told that other DVD releases have different music to accompany the film. I highly recommend checking those versions out, instead of this DVD.
Movie Grade/DVD Grade: C-

Avoid this General.......2003-10-13

There are other versions of "The General" available on DVD and any would be preferable to this one. It's picture quality is muddy and the score is simply a washover of everything from "Pomp and Circumstance" to Borodin to Bizet, none of it selected with the slightest appropriateness to what is going on on the screen. True, you can watch it without the sound, but why? Even at this low price, to be avoided.

Average customer rating:

For study, not entertainment.
Disturbing Piece of Cinematic History
Let's get this straight!
The evil genius - The Ethical before the Aeshetic my personal answer to the moral dilemna
Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation
Starring: Spottiswoode Aitken , Mary Alden , George Beranger , Elmer Clifton , and Miriam Cooper
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001EFTRE
Release Date: 2004-03-10

Description

One of the most important and technically advanced films of all time, famed American film pioneer, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is well renowned not only for its brilliant cinematography, innovative editing, and superb acting, but also because of its racist portrayal of African Americans and sympathetic depiction of the Ku Klux Klan. Featured on AFI's list of "Best Films of the 20th Century." Includes collectible poster

Customer Reviews:

For study, not entertainment........2007-04-19

It is true that this film was a great leap foward in the technical development of motion pictures. However, D. W. Griffith was too smart a man to NOT know what the story was about (based on "The Clansman", hello). Critics who like the film either already decided that it was a cinema classic before they saw it or are in some way racist themselves. The film is not subtle in how it poorly portrays blacks, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan is not an unfortunate footnote to the story, it's the Finale! It can't even be said to be a reflection of the time in which it was made because it met with protests when it was released (this at a time when blacks were still second class citizens!). Griffith was a wizard with a camera and the film may be looked at for that, but only that.

Disturbing Piece of Cinematic History.......2007-01-20

Despite the patently racist content of this film, I rate it highly for its innovative film techniques, its effective portrayal of one of the sinister currents in American social/political life, and the fact that it continues to generate heated debate almost a century after it was produced. The content is very disturbing, but it's an important piece of film history to see in order to understand one of the darker sides of America, one that regrettably continues to exist.

Let's get this straight!.......2006-09-29

DW Griffith was amongst the early filmmaking pioneers, the battle scenes set the standard for what would follow in the next several decades.

He was also a southerner full of racist angst with a vehicle to vent his toxic spleen. Not only were many of the present day stereotypes of African Americans either started or reinforced by this film he goes one further and rewrites the outcome of the civil war. Anyone who thinks this is an accurate portrayal of reconstruction and the mission of the KKK is sadly mistaken or prone to the same sort regressive school of thought that denies the holocaust, thinks the native Americans had a chance to fight back, and believes the history of man began 6,000 years ago.

This is actually a great tool for teaching tolerance. When it is presented in the classroom most students can plainly see the contradictions between this film and legitimate history.

Those who do not see the contradiction (versus legitimate history) as obvious need to catch up on some reading and/or have some type of moral reevaluation regarding their thinking.

The evil genius - The Ethical before the Aeshetic my personal answer to the moral dilemna.......2006-05-21

This film is considered a milestone in the history of the Cinema. It employs film narrative techniques which will be tremendously influential on the great period of cinematic development which comes after it. It is at the start of American cinema.
But its ideational base is an evil one, a strong hatred for black Americans informs the work throughout. It thus raises the question of how we properly value the work of 'evil genius'. In this work the glorification of Klansmen , the degrading relation to the Black also raise the question of whether it is possible to watch 'the action' of this work without squirming and feeling uncomfortable. I know I had difficulty even looking at the film for long periods of time. The site of hordes of Hooded Klansman charging angrily forward does not exactly warm my heart.
My own personal answer is that the Ethic must outweight the Aesthetic, and that this work must then be more blamed than praise.

Birth of a Nation.......2006-02-28

Still a great movie after 90 years from when it was produced, a real piece of history.

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