French & Saunders - Living in a Material World

Starring:Simon Brint, Betty Marsden
Director: Steve Bendelack, Edgar Wright, Gareth Carrivick, Ed Bye, Tristram Shapeero, Kevin Bishop (IV), John Birkin, Bob Spiers
Studio: BBC Warner
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Perhaps the most charming movie of all time, Amélie is certainly one of the top 10. The title character (the bashful and impish Audrey Tautou) is a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Her widowed father yearns to travel but won't, so to inspire the old man she sends his garden gnome on a tour of the world; with whispered gossip, she brings together two cranky regulars at her café; she reverses the doorknobs and reprograms the speed dial of a grocer who's mean to his assistant. Gradually she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all. This is a deeply wonderful movie, an illuminating mix of magic and pragmatism. Fans of the director's previous films (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) will not be disappointed; newcomers will be delighted. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay, this magical comedy earned overwhelming acclaim nationwide! A painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris cafe, Amélie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better! From then on, Amélie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness ... in the most delightfully unexpected way! But will she have the courage to do for herself what she has done for others?

Customer Reviews:

The best Movie!.......2007-06-28

This movie is a MUST watch and buy!! It is in my top 5 list of fav movies, and comes in 2nd place, after True Romance. My boyfriend and I watch it all the time and love seeing new things in it eachtime! It's SO AWESOME!!

Rent it first.......2007-06-10

This movie is good, but I don't see myself watching it again. I should have just rented it.

A great movie.......2007-06-06

I don't even like reading subtitles, but this movie is so awesome I don't mind it. Buy it!

Very French, very charming, very funny!.......2007-05-28

This movie is a definite must-not-miss. It's a very French, very feel-good, very colorful romantic comedy. The colors in this movie are so inviting and the characters are very quirky! Pop this movie in whenever you're feeling down...it'll definitely cheer you up :)

I really really tried to like it.......2007-05-27

What is up with all the fuss? The fan-club reviews here have me all excited before I watched it. It did nothing for me. Didn't inspire me. Didn't make me laugh. Didn't make me think. Didn't entertain me. I did like the green and beautiful scenery and the cute girl. Except for that scene where the little girl kept messing with the tv antenna to get back at the person who made her believe she was responsible to all those car crashes by taking pictures with her camera, the movie did not have any other funny moment. It's not for me. Please wake me up when it's over. Thanks.

The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)

Average customer rating:

THE DREAMERS
perfect quality and cheap, too
Adequate productions, etc.
Great Movie!
House of 'Yes' in the War Zone or The First Tango in Paris

The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)
Starring: Michael Pitt (II) , Eva Green , Louis Garrel , Anna Chancellor , and Robin Renucci
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
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ASIN: B00023P4I8
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Amazon.com

A love letter to movies (and the French new wave of the 1960s in particular), Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers starts with a 1968 riot outside of a Parisian movie palace then burrows into an insular love triangle. Matthew (Michael Pitt, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), an expatriate American student, bonds with a twin brother and sister, Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel), over their mutual love of film--they not only quote lines of dialogue, they act out small bits and challenge each other to name the cinematic source. Matthew suspects the twins of incest, but that doesn't stop him from falling into his own intimacies with Isabelle. As the threesome becomes threatened, Paris succumbs to student riots. The Dreamers aspires to be kinky, but the results are more decorative than decadent; nonetheless, the movie's lively energy recalls the careless and vital exuberance of Godard and Truffaut. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From Academy Award®-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor, 1987), comes an erotic tale of three young film lovers brought together by their passion for movies -- and each other. When Isabelle and Theo (Eva Green, Louis Garrel) invite Matthew (Michael Pitt) to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and anything is possible. Featuring an engaging, seductive cast, The Dreamers is a ?spellbinding, provocative feast!" (Ebert & Roeper)

Customer Reviews:

THE DREAMERS.......2007-07-01

Its tempting to try selling this film as the debut performance by the newest Bond girl Eva Green.

As an alternate, see my review, as well as this Amazon review by Bret Fetzer below mine.

Many would attempt judging this film as kinky with a sprinkling of frontal nudity and a menage a' trois scene thrown in (the NC-17) version. However, this Bernardo Bertolucci film would rather like to remembered as a love letter to the movies and to the average Parisian's intense love for good films. Using a backdrop of the 1968 student riots brought about by the firing of the director at the Cinematheque Francais - a temple for students and afficionados of art films, the story weaves into it the coming-of-age story of a bother-sister par and a young exchange student from America living together duing the heady days, and their evolving relationship.
-------------------------------
"A love letter to movies (and the French new wave of the 1960s in particular), Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers starts with a 1968 riot outside of a Parisian movie palace then burrows into an insular love triangle. Matthew (Michael Pitt, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), an expatriate American student, bonds with a twin brother and sister, Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel), over their mutual love of film--they not only quote lines of dialogue, they act out small bits and challenge each other to name the cinematic source. Matthew suspects the twins of incest, but that doesn't stop him from falling into his own intimacies with Isabelle. As the threesome becomes threatened, Paris succumbs to student riots. The Dreamers aspires to be kinky, but the results are more decorative than decadent; nonetheless, the movie's lively energy recalls the careless and vital exuberance of Godard and Truffaut". --Bret Fetzer
--------------------------------

perfect quality and cheap, too.......2007-05-13

For $5, a great film at an even better price...

Adequate productions, etc........2007-05-07

This was an ok flick...........always good to see up and coming artists and these were fine......Eva Green should definitely do more of these types........very sexy.....sequel might do better.........

Great Movie!.......2007-05-07

If you haven't seen it you should, if you have then you're already here to buy it.

Some of the finest modern film making, subtle, sensual, insightful.

Not a fan of the last 4 minutes though.. other than that better than great till that point.

House of 'Yes' in the War Zone or The First Tango in Paris.......2007-04-26

When Bernardo Bertolucci makes a new film, I want to see it. I know it will be visually beautiful, deep and meaningful. Even when he is not completely successful - his films are difficult to forget. It applies to "The Dreamers" (2003)

In this film, Bertolucci returns to Paris of 1968. His First Tango is as shocking as Last one - it received NC-17 rating for very open scenes of nudity, masturbation, sex, and the hints to incest. But it is not just about sex - it is about film itself. It was the time when Pauline Kael said, "Bertolucci and Brando have altered the face of an art form". It was the time when a crowd in Chicago would line up under umbrellas on the sidewalk, waiting in the rain to get into the next screening of Godard's "Weekend." It was the time when movie makers became the Artists. It was the time when closing down of the famous Cinematheque Francais in Paris by the government started the student culture riots which became the part of youthful rebellion all over the Western World.

Young American, Mathew, a devoted movie buff (Michael Pitt who by the opinion of several reviewers looks like cross between Leo DiCaprio and Macaulay Culkin. I found him looking more like young Roger Ebert would've. ) becomes friends with two French students and fellow movie lovers, twins Isabella (Eva Green, in a star making debut) and Theo (Louis Garrel) and accepts their invitation to stay with them at their apartment while their intellectual parents are away for vacation.

All three are big fans of movies - they not only talk about movies, they live their favorite scenes. "The Dreamers" is Bertolucci's love letter to cinema, and his irony toward people taking it so seriously that the real world is ignored.

When Matthew moves in with the twins, the result closely resembles "Last Tango in Paris". Much of the film's second half occurs in that apartment, as insular as Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider's more than thirty years ago. Flirting becomes passion becomes dark and dangerous games to see how far someone will go. The difference is that the kids of "The Dreamers" are not as complicated and interesting as Paul or Jeanne (especially Paul, one of the greatest performances by genius Brando).

With this wistful ode to sex, cinema, and the heated atmosphere of the '60s, Bertolucci has proved that he is still on the top of his game. I will be happily waiting for his next film.

Average customer rating:

My mom's favorite movie...
Great Purchase
One of the most romantic films of all time
Great film
Somewhere in time...

Somewhere in Time (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Christopher Reeve , Jane Seymour , Christopher Plummer , Teresa Wright , and Bill Erwin
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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Somewhere In Time: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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What Dreams May Come
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ASIN: B00004W46I
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Product Description

Somewhere In Time is the story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in the past, where true love awaits him. Young Richard Collier (Christopher Reeves) is approached by an elderly woman who gives him an antique gold watch and who pleads with him to return in time with her. Years later, Richard Collier is overwhelmed by a photograph of a beautiful young woman (Jane Seymour). Another picture of this woman in her later years reveals to him that she is the same woman who had given him a gold watch. Collier then becomes obsessed with returning to 1912 and the beautiful young woman who awaits him there.

System Requirements:
Starring: Christopher Reeves, and Jane Seymour.
Directed By: Jeannot Szwarc.
Running Time: 104 Min., Color.
This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.
Copyright 2000 Universal Distribution Corp.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there's something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining about Somewhere in Time that you can't begrudge its enduring popularity. The film has become a staple of romantic-movie lovers since its release in 1980, and endless showings on cable TV have turned it into a dubious classic of sorts--a three-hanky weeper that anyone can enjoy as a guilty pleasure or a beloved favorite, with no apologies necessary.

In his first film after the star-making success of Superman, Christopher Reeve stars as a contemporary playwright who visits a posh hotel and sees the portrait of an actress (Jane Seymour) who had performed there in 1912. He becomes obsessed with this beautiful woman and learns all he can about her, and then discovers a method of hypnotically transporting himself backward in time to meet her. "Is it ... you?" she says upon seeing the lovestruck playwright, and it's clearly a mutual attraction. But even the slightest reminder of the playwright's modern time can jar him from his seemingly real existence in the past, so his wonderful love affair is constantly just a step from being stolen away.

Based on Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return, this flaky film may strain one's tolerance for plot holes and corny romance, but it's hard to deny its lasting appeal--and let's face it, guys, it'll make wives and girlfriends swoon if they're in a tearjerker mood. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

My mom's favorite movie..........2007-06-10

This is my mom's favorite movie.

Somewhere in Time (Collector's Edition)

Great Purchase.......2007-06-08

I bought this DVD as a gift for Mother's Day. Amazon delivered the movie quickly and in great condition. My mother loved it - definitely will order from them again!

One of the most romantic films of all time.......2007-05-31

Somewhere in Time is the movie I look to whenever someone asks me how did the whole time travel romance genre get started. The thought of finding ones soulmate living in another age has been explored many times since- but few with such passion and beauty as in Somewhere in Time. Jane Seymour is ethereal as the beautiful actress who falls for a mysterious traveller- a playwright who has come back through time to be with her. Christopher Reeve is at his most endearing- shy and yet confident. SMooth but not completely suave as a man out of time and place courting the woman he loves beyond measure.
This is a must for all die hard romantics! The music is beautiful and will always remind you of this film after you see it.

Great film.......2007-05-29

I loved this film, a good story and the perfect cast....

Just great!!!

Somewhere in time..........2007-05-19

There was no mystery when it came to the quick service and the terrific product! Thanks!

Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Jurassic Park/ The Lost World: Jurassic Park/ Jurassic Park III)

Average customer rating:

Good deal
Beautiful package
Dinosaur lovers unite!
THRILL RIDES GALORE !!!
Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Jurassic Park/ The Lost World: Jurassic Park/ Jurassic Park III)
Starring: Rona Benson , Blake Michael Bryan , Laura Dern , John Diehl , and Bruce French
Director: Joe Johnston
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BCE918
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Amazon.com

Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg's 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he'd ever made prior to Schindler's List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton's novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg's Jaws. That lapse proves unfortunate, but there's no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging T-rex and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. --Tom Keogh

The Lost World - Jurassic Park
In the low tradition of knockoff horror flicks best seen (or not seen) on a drive-in movie screen, Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park is a poorly conceived, ill-organized film that lacks story and logic. Screenwriter David Koepp strings along a number of loose ideas while Jeff Goldblum returns as Ian Malcolm, the quirky chaos theoretician who now reluctantly agrees to go to another island where cloned dinosaurs are roaming freely. Along with his girlfriend (Julianne Moore) and daughter, Malcolm has to deal with hunters, environmentalists, and corporate swine who stupidly bring back a big dino to Southern California, where it runs amok, of course. Spielberg doesn't seem to care that the pieces of this project don't add up to a real movie, so he hams it up with big, scary moments (with none of the artfulness of those in Jurassic Park) and smart-aleck visual gags (a yapping dog in a suburb mysteriously disappears when a hungry T-rex stomps by). A complete bust.--Tom Keogh

Jurassic Park III
Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel, Jurassic Park III is nothing more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising her Jurassic Park role), and eight years of advancing computer-generated-image technology give it a sharp edge over its predecessors. While adopting the jungle spirit of King Kong, the movie refines Michael Crichton's original premise, and its dinosaurs are even more realistic, their behavior more detailed, and their variety--including flying pteranodons and a new villain, the spinosaurus--more dazzling and threatening than ever. These advancements justify the sequel, and its contrived plot is just clever enough to span 90 minutes without wearing out its welcome.

Posing as wealthy tourists, an adventurous couple (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) convince paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his protégé (Allesandro Nivola) to act as tour guides on a flyover trip to Isla Sorna, the ill-fated "Site B" where all hell broke loose in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. In truth, they're on a search-and-rescue mission to find their missing son (Trevor Morgan), and their plane crash is just the first of several enjoyably suspenseful sequences. Director Joe Johnston (October Sky) embraces the formulaic plot as a series of atmospheric set pieces, placing new and familiar dinosaurs in misty rainforests, fiery lakes, and mysterious valleys, turning JP3 into a thrill ride with impressive highlights (including a T. rex versus spinosaurus smack-down), adequate doses of wry humor (from the cowriters of Election), and an upbeat ending that's corny but appropriate, proving that the symptoms of sequelitis needn't be fatal. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Good deal.......2007-06-27

Great fun to watch again these 3 great movies with my daughter. Very good presentation for a good price. Great value.

Beautiful package.......2007-06-27

Jurassic Park is a great movie, no doubt about it. And this package is also great... It's very well made, and opens up revealing beautiful images.
The second movie (The Lost World) is boring and it doesn't get near the first.
Jurassic Park III is another great one... It isn't better than the first, but it's way better than the second.
And the many extras that comes within the discs are good too.

I think that the only fault of this box set is the lack of english subtitles. There's english closed captions only.

Dinosaur lovers unite!.......2007-06-15

When the first Jurassic Park movie came out I fell in love with the brachiosaur "Welcome to Jurassic Park" scene and have been hooked ever since. To have the three movies in a set and the additional footage is just a pleasure. True the plot of the second movie (The Lost World) is not in the same league with that first vision, but the dinosaurs are so great that it is still fun. The third movie, however, is much closer to the first in quality and almost equally entertaining, thanks in part to the acting skills of William H. Macy.

It is the dinosaurs, however, that star in this trilogy. It is amazing to me how the well the special efffects have held up! Definitely worth the cost of the DVDs. Dinosaur lovers unite and ENJOY!

THRILL RIDES GALORE !!!.......2007-06-13

I have been a nut for Dinosaur movies since I was a kid and they were shown on a square screen in black & white in theatres. "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" was the greatest of its time and now here I get to see these three magnificant movies in my living room ! I saw these at the theater and I have to brag that my sourround is better ! The movies are sharp, colorful and the sound is wonderful!!! Dinos tramping all over the place !!! Oh by the way the EXTRAS are superb!! I love seeing these guys loving what they are doing and it shows in the movies! Its amazing how they make this stuff work! What a great job!!! Delightful, and entertaining fantasy fun for the kid in all of us!!! GET THE POPCORN!!!!

Jurassic Park.......2007-05-12

Love this have never been able to see all three together..
Your kids will love it, spell binding

Average customer rating:

Compelling Battles, a Social Conscience, & a Different View of France's Liberation.
Not an Epic - but still a good movie
They were so so days.
worth owning, a war movie that tackles racism and cultural questions
Flawed, but very good overall

Days of Glory (Indigenes)
Starring: Jamel Debbouze , Samy Naceri , Roschdy Zem , Sami Bouajila , and Bernard Blancan
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
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Letters from Iwo Jima (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Breach (Widescreen Edition)
The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
The Good German
The Painted Veil

ASIN: B000NVT0RU
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

(War/Action) Set during WWII, North African soldiers enlist in the French army and battle their way across Europe to liberate the "fatherland" and confront discrimination.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling Battles, a Social Conscience, & a Different View of France's Liberation. .......2007-06-30

Director Rachid Bouchareb made "Days of Glory" to draw attention to the plight of men from France's protectorates and colonies who served in the French military during World War II but who were denied their pensions after 1959, because their countries had won independence from France. The film is very politically charged in France, where its title is simply "Indigenes", meaning "natives". It inspired President Jacques Chirac to finally address the pension inequities. Bouchareb doesn't hide his agenda or his bias: The North African soldiers in the film joined the French army mostly for money, occasionally for opportunity. They fought valiantly and loyally to free France from German occupation. They were stifled by discrimination and quotas during the war and discarded afterward. The specific events and characters in the film are fictional, though some French towns were, indeed, liberated by regiments of mostly North African soldiers.

In 1943, France's African Army recruits soldiers from Algeria, among them a young shepherd named Said (Jamel Debbouze), and from "goumiers" in Morocco, including Yassir (Samy Naceri), who hopes to make enough money for his brother to marry well. In 1944, the 7th Algerian Infantry Regiment, under the command of French "pieds-noir" Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan) and Arab Corporal Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), win France's first victory against the German army in Italy. They arrive in Marseilles to much fanfare, where their marksman Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) begins a relationship with a French woman (Aurelie Bouab). Abdelkader is increasingly frustrated with the lack of promotion and "liberte, egalite, and fraternite" for African soldiers, inspiring a minor civil rights movement. But the war goes on, and the Regiment will be the first French in Alsace, as they attempt to hold the Germans off until the Americans arrive.

"Days of Glory" won't pack the political punch for Americans that it does for French, but this is a terrific war movie. It tells a World War II story that we haven't seen before, and it features two of the most compelling battle scenes I've ever seen: Flushing the Germans out in mountainous Italy elucidates the fear of the soldiers in their first battle and the utter randomness of who lives or dies. The defense of the Alsacian town is in some ways the opposite, as we know the soldiers well by this time and hope they will survive. The four North African leads represent diverse types: Unsophisticated Said's boyish devotion to his Sergeant, mature Messaoud who is not savvy enough to see the hypocrisy around him, mercenary Yassir whose dedication to his comrades grows, and idealistic Abdelkader who hopes their service to France will advance the position of North Africans. Viewers inevitably sympathize with those most like themselves, but those characters involve us emotionally in the events. In French and Arabic with optional subtitles.

The DVD (Weinstein 2007): "The Making of Days of Glory" (24 min) interviews the director, producer, and writer Olivier Lorelle about researching the film, bringing the story of their ancestors to the screen, and shedding light on the role of North African troops. The cast discusses their preparation and characters. Subtitled. "The Colonial Friend" (8 min) is an animated film by director Rachid Bouchareb about the experience of Senegalese infantrymen who fought for France and met a worse fate than the North Africans. The animation style is a unique, eye-catching black-and-white. No dialogue. English and Spanish subtitles are available for the film.

Not an Epic - but still a good movie.......2007-06-25

I would not call this movie an epic, not by a long shot. It is good, yes, the acting in fact is very good - but it is no "Saving Private Ryan".

Much of the fighting is small scale, still good, but not to the beach assault scenes that we have come to expect of great WW2 movie epics. The story to be told, is certainly political, and while it is difficult to get emotionally attached or close to any of the characters in the movie you find yourself angered at the manipulation and lies that are used by the French Officers to coerce and cajole the Algerians to blindly continue the fight for their beloved France.

My only criticism of the movie would be that I found it extremely distracting that one of the main characters, Sai`d (actor Jamal Debbouze) went through the entire war with his right hand stuck in his jacket pocket and I kept wondering why? I later found out that Debbouze, lost the use of his right arm in a childhood accident. But surely, in a war movie such as this you would be able to find ample opportunity to write into the script a reason that would adequately cover such a wound - other than just having the arm super-glued into an army jacket pocket??? I mean to take nothing away from Debbouze's skill as an actor, because I thought he did a great job in the part as Sai`d in this movie, I just think it a shame that rather than allowing me to focus on the character he portrayed so well, my attention was constantly drawn to his damn right hand in that damn pocket!!

They were so so days........2007-06-22

The movie is incoherent. The acting is stiff, not convincing.
There are two touching scenes in the whole DVD. One is where an Algerian soldier stepped on a case of fresh tomatoes and said to his French captain "If tomatoes are not given to everybody, then nobody will get one".
The second is where another Algerian soldier rushed to a room and tried to carry his wounded French captain away from the house while the Germans were entering it. They ended up being killed by the German anti-tank gun. Had the soldier just run away by himself and left his commander behind, he would have had escaped death.
The film is good in term of anti-racism. It is worth renting not buying.
Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, the Longest Day, the Lost Battalion, Gettysburg and Gods and Generals are still the only titles on my list of Best War Movies of All Times.

worth owning, a war movie that tackles racism and cultural questions.......2007-06-21

I like war movies, i glanced at the box in the video store, quickly misinterpreted what it was about and rented it.

From this fortunate mistake came an interesting and worthwhile experience. For i knew nothing about the colonial French army in WW2 and this is an excellently done movie, that not only informs but motivates and interests me in the topic as well.

Usually movies with an deeply felt political or social point, loose the film making quality, sacrificing it for the bigger emotional point that the authors wish to get across. It is rare for a movie to have good historical knowledge-it's often twisted to fix predispositions, good film making technic-character development, coherent plot, and good filming, and a deep political point or as this movie does tackle currently hot button topics. "Z" and "The Battle of Algiers" and "Hell in a Very Small Place" are the only other movies quite like this one that i can remember, combining war with political and social commentary and not loosing sight of the need to present the film technically well.

The big point is explained in the "making of days of glory", the usual dvd additional features, for once worth watching and much better than the usual shovelware. That is for those French citizens today of North African (or Sengalese) descent to relearn the sacrifices their grandfathers and great-grand fathers made in liberating France from the Nazis. As a second point, for those French citizens of European descent to be more aware and thankful for the few remaining ex-colonials soldiers in their midst before they die, and to acknowledge that those people in their lives from Africa have long ago paid in blood for their right to be there and to be genuine Frenchmen.

The movie is about racism, judging a person by the color of their skin or the culture of their parents without making any attempt to hear their stories, to see what they have done, where they have come from or what they believe. The movie in a rather nice but complex way shows several ways that racism twists and distorts human relationships. It is also good to see the arena as something other than the US, for racism is not just an American problem but a human one.

The scene with the tomatoes. Only white French troops are given them, the North Africans and Sengalese are not. But as the movie points out, bullets don't discriminate, they indiscriminately kill anyone wearing a French uniform. The scene with the ballet dancers, culture is deeply embedded in us all and we can only see it oftentimes when it grinds into another one and the differences are made obvious to us. When the main character mounts the box and tells the soldiers that both France and the colonials must change, there is a veiled reference to the post-WW2 colonial wars of independence that make the issues of the movie so complex and difficult to understand. When you see the violence with which the sargent responses to the knowledge that he is a son of a Berber women, you can (as all good movies do) feel both his shame and the surprise of the other man at his comment being so hated when it was offered in deep and understanding sympathy. And that is the great value of learning with movies, the visceral, the emotional impact of images and a story told with them. Now i can, and probably will, look into the issue with more reading, but this is an excellent place to learn something about a neglected and important time in recent history.

Pieces of the movie are very attractively done, the uniforms-baggy North African turbans and robes with sandals, in the French winter (how can anyone live in this cold?, a point echoed in me). The fear, the brotherhood of warriors, the French white women plus the Berber soldier and the way society seems to conspire to destroy their relationship, the way some of them steal from the dead. The movie is full of unique and moving pieces that will make it a movie worth owning and watching again, there is too much going on, too many new connections for the viewer to make to be satisfied with a single pass through it.

I think that this movie is a genuine contribution to the ongoing dialogue between not just the European colonial powers and their African colonies, but between Islam and Christianity, racism and cultural conflicts. I need only remember that Augustine was called names because he was small and dark, for Monica was a Berber, to remember that Christianity is not European, not in origin nor in extent. I can hate and fear Islam as the greatest competitor of my faith, but that does not mean that every Muslim is my personal enemy, nor does it mean that i can't respect and honor them for their good deeds.

it is a worthwhile experience, not only for the excitement and passion but for an analysis of the deeper and more important issues that it tries to teach and push us into. thanks to all involved in making this movie and making it available to me to watch

Flawed, but very good overall.......2007-06-16

As a military history buff, I must first say that I am pleased that a film was made at all about this subject, which is little known by most people,especially Americans. World War II was the swan song of the old "Armee D'Afrique", the French colonial army that was similiar in many ways to the British Indian Army of the Raj. Since the vast bulk of metropolitan Frenchmen were under German occupation, or in German POW camps as a result of the defeat in 1940, the bulk of any French Army had to consist of the North African Regiments, from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, along with Senegalese and other colonial troops.
Anyone who has read the book "France, Soldiers, and Africa" will not be surprised by the events depicted in this movie; the treatment of the "native" troops was often shameful and ungrateful, despite their sacrifices on the battlefield, for a country that most had never seen.
The acting I believe was generally good, but the characters were not as fleshed out as I would like; perhaps as result of the number of major characters portrayed. The first set piece battle scene had large numbers, but was weakly drawn, and not that coherent; the final action scenes were better, in my opinion. Uniforms and equipment seemed to be reasonably authentic, but a mention of the U.S. 37th Division was incorrect; the 36th Division would have been correct, but I nit-pick.
Could the film have been improved upon? Yes, but the fact that was done at all, and reasonably well, made it well worth my time.

Average customer rating:

Classic Chevy
One of the best, if not the best, Chevy Chase role of all time
Finally!!! Fletch is a modern classic this DVD worth the wait!!
5 stars for movie - zero stars for "extra features"
Great movie, marginal extra features

Fletch (The "Jane Doe" Edition)
Starring: Chevy Chase , Joe Don Baker , Dana Wheeler-Nicholson , Richard Libertini , and Tim Matheson
Director: Michael Ritchie
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Fletch Lives
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Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000MXPE7E
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

Gregory McDonald's lightweight mystery novel about an undercover newspaper reporter cracking a police drug ring is transformed by screenwriter Andrew Bergman (Blazing Saddles, and writer/director of The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas) into a fairly sarcastic and occasionally very funny Chevy Chase vehicle. Enjoyment of the film pivots on whether you find Chase's flippant, smart-ass brand of verbal humor funny, or merely egocentric. If you don't like Chase, there's really no one else worth watching (Geena Davis is sadly underused). Chase seems born to play I.M. "Fletch" Fletcher, a disillusioned investigative reporter whose cynicism and detached view on life mirrors the actor's understated approach to comedy. Fletcher offers Chase the opportunity to adopt numerous personas, as his job requires numerous (bad) physical disguises, and much of film's humor centers on the ridiculous idea that any of these phony accents or bad hairpieces could fool anyone. These not-so-clever disguises are put to use when Fletch becomes involved in the film's smart but continually self-mocking two-part mystery. As well as trying to gather drug-smuggling evidence against the LAPD for a long-overdue newspaper story, a rich and apparently terminally ill stranger also offers Fletch a large payoff to kill him. While the film does a fairly good job juggling both of these plots, not to mention tossing in a love interest as well, it's subservient, for better or worse, to Chase's memorable one-liners and disguises. Followed by two forgettable sequels that lack both the original's wit and Chase's attention span. --Dave McCoy

Description

Chevy Chase is at his hilarious best as Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher, a newspaper reporter who changes his identity more often than his underwear. While working on a drug expose, he stumbles onto a scam that gets him up to his byline in murder, police corruption and forbidden romance. For this ace newsman, it'll be the story of the year, if he can only stay alive till the deadline. Featuring all-new bonus features, Fletch: The "Jane Doe" Edition is a must-own comedy-thriller classic. Just don't call him "Irwin"!

Customer Reviews:

Classic Chevy.......2007-07-03

You know what Fletch is -- classic Chevy Chase in a movie written for, well, classic Chevy Chase. While the plot is rather thin, it is a solid, if not perfect, vehicle for Chase's comic genius honed in SNL skits. The direction is a little heavy handed for Chevy Chase; you can readily see the moments when Chase is acting according to script, vice when he's adding his own comic touches. Nevertheless, Fletch is a pure-fun movie that will appeal to almost any age. And if it weren't for the infamous "Fetzer valve," an awful lot of mechanical glitches would still be chocked up to gremlins!

One of the best, if not the best, Chevy Chase role of all time.......2007-06-03

When I was about eight years old, Fletch was released in the movie theaters. And I absolutely loved it. Everything about it was cool, from the dorky tall guy humor, to the car chase in the Alfa, to the Harold Faltermeyer soundtrack. Indeed, it sat at the top of my list (along with Beverly Hills Cop (Special Collector's Edition), another detective-who-impersonates-people-with-hilarious-results flick with a Faltermeyer score) of Movies To Live By, for many years. I used lines such as, "Can I borrow your towel? I just hit a water buffalo" with my classmates, but all I drew were blank stares and comments like, "you're weird." Such was third grade.

Many years later, I made the mistake of selling my VHS copy of Fletch in a bulk auction with about thirty-three other tapes. I was moving, so it made sense, but I regretted losing my only copy -- and there was no DVD available to replace it!

So now the movie has been released on DVD (a second time after a gap of a few years) in the "Jane Doe Edition," so named for Irwin Fletcher's by-line. And now that I am married, and my wife has seen the movie with me, I am aware of the movie's shortcomings. In fact, if you don't like Chevy Chase, you might think this movie is just downright dumb. But I find it so easy to identify with a character who uses his wits to get himself out of trouble that I can easily overlook some less-than-credible plot elements and the use of Geena Davis as a doormat.

Here's how the story goes: Fletch is an investigative reporter pretending to be a junkie, blending in on the LA beach with many who are the real thing. He is trying to find out the source behind the drugs so that he can make headlines in the newspaper he works for. At the same time, he is offered $50,000 and a foolproof escape plan to kill a wealthy man named Alan Stanwyk, who says he is dying of bone cancer.

Much of the story revolves around Fletch pretending to be other people while he gently pries information out of gullible and confused bystanders. In a typical scene, Fletch passes for a government messenger (Mr. Poon) who has to collect information on allegations about the company Stanwyk has married into. He interviews the CEO of Boyd Aviation, who also happens to be Alan Stanwyk's father-in-law, and finds out all kinds of information that helps get to the bottom of the unusual proposition. Whether this seems credible or not is beside the point. The characters Chase comes up with take center stage, as he wriggles his way into any subculture he pleases by using a few props and a quick wit.

The "Jane Doe Edition" does have a few extras, of course, besides the external sleeve that reveals various Fletch identities, depending on perspective. In the Special Features you will find a chuckleworthy mockumentary in which an amateur filmmaker does some interviews with people who worked on the movie. There is also a brief bit in which the make-up artists and producers talk about the many disguises Fletch uses. Besides the obligatory trailer, you will also find a clever montage piecing together some of the funniest moments of the movie, grouped loosely by category: foreign phrases, noises made with the mouth, et cetera. It's fun for long-time fans in particular.

One of my only misgivings about the DVD is the lack of any new Chevy Chase material. There are no interviews with him, no commentaries, nothing more recent than what he did in the original movie. His career is not exactly red-hot these days; would it have been so difficult to get him on board? My guess is that his asking price was a bit too high, but there are legions of twenty- and thirty-something American men who make this movie a part of their own personal philosophy and religion. It is this cult following which should keep the "Jane Doe Edition" sales strong for years to come.

Finally!!! Fletch is a modern classic this DVD worth the wait!!.......2007-05-30

Fletch is a true modern classic. I have been looking for a updated DVD of this great movie for years. This DVD version is well worth the wait. All Fletch fans will love it and new Fletch fans will be created. The special features are just "OK", but just to have this movie in a high quality DVD format is just what doctor "Rosen Rosen" ordered.

5 stars for movie - zero stars for "extra features".......2007-05-26

wow, the studio is this desperate for a cash in? Retail price of $20 for a "new edition" that interviews only a handful of cast members and never Chevy Chase? Claim that there are "deleted scenes" and only show about 5 camera stills of them? If this 'bonus features' producer really does like the movie so much then he should be utterly ashamed at himself for misleading fans this way. Old cast members tell you their favorite Fletch moments - big deal. This is worth buying it all over again? And a seperate chapter for 'best moments' when the previous chapter interviewed people talking about the exact same things? Maybe Chevy was never interviewed because he knew what a desperate cash-in attempt it was for this unworthy "rerelease". Save your money and stick w/ the bare-bones original.

Great movie, marginal extra features.......2007-05-10

Fletch is an excellent movie; humorous, fast-paced, and a perfect vehicle for Chevy Chase in top form. Twenty years later, it remains as a great movie to watch repeatedly, and the humor does not diminish with age.

I have been waiting patiently for the re-release on DVD of Fletch, since it had been off the shelves for quite a while. However excellent the movie itself is, this "Jane Doe" edition offers very little in the way of extra features.

There are interviews with some of the cast, but as mentioned in other reviews, most notably missing is the main man himself, Chevy Chase.

I did learn some interesting tidbits here and there from the other cast and production staff (I always wondered why the final scene on the beach in Rio seemed so stormy and overcast), but on the whole, it left me wanting more.

There is no "deleted scene" footage, only a few photos of deleted scenes that are long lost.

There is no "commentary version" with cast voice-overs as the movie is playing.

If there are 15-20 mins of "extra features", that would be a stretch.

As I say all this however, the movie itself is well worth the price. Fletch is a timeless classic and the DVD quality is excellent. By itself, Fletch stands at 5/5 stars. It is only the special features themselves that are nothing "special".

Average customer rating:

Cinematic ideal
A Magnificent Film on the French Resistance in World War II
A moving, tragic portrayal of the French Resistance.
A grim, austere masterpiece of the French resistance during World War II, by Jean-Pierre Melville
The best movie you've never heard of.

Army of Shadows - Criterion Collection
Starring: Lino Ventura , Paul Meurisse , Jean-Pierre Cassel , Simone Signoret , and Claude Mann
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
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Sansho the Bailiff - Criterion Collection
The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)
Overlord (Criterion Collection)
Vengeance Is Mine - Criterion Collection
If... (Criterion Collection)

ASIN: B000NOK0HG
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Description

JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE'S MASTERPIECE ABOUT THE FRENCH RESISTANCE WENT UNRELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS, BEFORE ITS TRIUMPHANT THEATRICAL DEBUT IN 2006. ATMOSPHERIC AND GRIPPING, ARMY OF SHADOWS IS MELVILLE'S MOST PERSONAL FILM, FEATURING LINO VENTURA, PAUL MEURISSE, JEAN-PIERRE CASSEL, AND THE INCOMPARABLE SIMONE SIGNORET AS INTREPID UNDERGROUND FIGHTERS WHO MUST GRAPPLE WITH THEIR OWN BRAND OF HONOR IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST EVIL.

Customer Reviews:

Cinematic ideal.......2007-06-16

Now why would you want to see L'ARMÉE DES OMBRES (or ARMY OF SHADOWS, or ARMY IN THE SHADOWS)?

Do you appreciate beautiful visuals? Jean-Pierre Melville possessed a truly cinematic eye. His characters are part of a setting but they don't get lost in it (unless he wants them lost, for effect). And here he worked with his cinematographer, Pierre Lhomme, to produce a blue-tinged world too exquisitely lit to be grim and ugly. This is a visual masterpiece of mood.

How about an honest story of the French Resistance? Not too romantic, nor too cynical? Melville was in the Resistance. So was the writer of the novel that this is based on. Here, Resistance fighters are presented as brave, and frightened. As self-sacrificing, yet pragmatic. As diverse, and single-minded. As successful, or frustrated. As doomed. As hopeful.

Do you like depth of character? This is not an action film. Very little violence is shown. This is a story of the lives between the violence where most of the time is spent. Where suspense dogs each Resistance member's footsteps. Where secrecy, even from family, is the way of life.

Do you like something thoughful? The effect of this film's quiet, deliberate pacing is intellectual - not just emotional. I didn't lose myself entirely in the fatalism of the Resistance fighters' circumstances. There was a sane, comforting person befriending me. And his name was Jean-Pierre Melville.

This was the first Melville film that I had seen. It was like the splash of cold water. Why had this filmmaker been overlooked? Here was a Frenchman who constantly wore a cowboy hat, Ray Ban sunglasses, drove an American convertible and soaked in American films - and he got nothing beyond art house exposure in return.

Here was a man who blended his beloved American influences with his own sensibilities, creating an extraordinary style all his own. Melville may be as close to my ideal cinematic auteur as I'll ever find. And, I only now discovered him.

A Magnificent Film on the French Resistance in World War II.......2007-06-12

"Army of Shadows" is a powerful presentation of the heroism of some members of the French Resistance during World War II. Their heroism in the face of Nazi torture is extraordinary. I can do no better than to quote from Amy Taubin's essay in the book that comes with the Criterion DVD's (Taubin is a contributing editor for Film Comment and Sight and Sound and also writes frequently for Art Forum): "The hideous mess in Iraq, the sense that we are enmeshed in a situation in the Middle East where all options are bad, may partly account for the embrace in 2006 of Melville's depiction of the tragedy within even the supposedly 'good' war. In their pessimism about the inevitability of war and its cost in individual lives, Clint Eastwood's admirable and moving World War II films "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Flags of Our Fathers," ... have something in common with "Army of Shadows." All three films show that in the worst of circumstances, human beings can act with courage and honor, but that there is a larger tragedy in the fact that war is a realm in which such heroism comes into being. Perhaps Roger Ebert's review best accounts for the contemporary power of this emissary from 1969:'Rarely has a film shown so truly that place in the heart where hope lies with fatalism.'

A moving, tragic portrayal of the French Resistance........2007-06-03

With its release on DVD, Jean-Pierre Melville's "Army of Shadows" finally is available to the wide audience it always deserved. First released into a France under the sway of radical intellectuals, "Army of Shadows" was denounced as Gaullist propaganda and flopped at the box office. A U.S. release was never even considered until 2006, when a version restored under the direction of cinematographer Pierre Lhomme received a limited release here. Set between late October 1942 and late February 1943, "Army of Shadows" exists in a grim world of drab buildings, barren fields, and rain, all the better to depict the bleak prospects of the French Resistance in their fight against the Nazi invaders. Resistance fighters live in such danger that they dare not reveal their membership in that shadow army, even to close relatives; even the brothers Luc (Paul Meurisse) and Jean-Francois (Jean-Pierre Cassel) never learn of each other's courageous sacrifices for the cause of freedom. The life of the film's hero, Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), demonstrates in microcosm the perils Resistance fighters face; in the space of four months, he escapes from two German prisons (including one escape, literally, from a firing squad); parachutes from a British airplane during aerial bombardment; and is forced to kill two traitors to the Resistance. The action of "Army of Shadows" is episodic, all the better to emphasize the uncertainty and constant terror under which all Resistance fighters lived. While not particularly gory, the film pulls no punches about the brutality of the Nazis. In two separate instances, Resistance fighters are brought to Gestapo headquarters and tied to chairs. One jump cut later, both fighters are slumped in those chairs, their faces beaten into hamburger, their sightless eyes bulging from their sockets. The unrelieved tragedy of "Army of Shadows" pays grim but just tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom, not least in the excellence of the performances. Watch out particularly for the great Simone Signoret as Mathilde, the most tragic of the Resistance fighters. Equal in courage, resourcefulness and daring to any of the other fighters, Mathilde nevertheless is unable to separate her life as a Resistance fighter from her life as a wife and mother, and therefore becomes an inevitable hostage to fate.

A grim, austere masterpiece of the French resistance during World War II, by Jean-Pierre Melville.......2007-06-01

"...but I'm going to die and I'm not afraid. It's impossible not to be afraid of dying. But I'm too stubborn, too much of an animal to believe it. If I don't believe it to the very last moment, the last split second, I'll never die." This is Philippe Gerbier speaking. The time is between October, 1942 and February, 1943. He's the leader of a resistance cell in German-occupied France. He was an engineer. Now he is a hard man of skeptical intelligence. He kills a German guard with a knife to the throat so quickly and so unexpectedly it's nerve rattling. In Jean-Pierre Melville's austere, somber Army of Shadows, we follow what happens to Gerbier (Lino Ventura) and a handful of others, primarily Luc Jardie (Paul Meurisse), a weak-seeming intellectual who turns out to be the head of resistance in France; Jean François Jardie (Jean-Pierre Cassel), Luc Jardie's younger brother; and the remarkable Mathilde (Simone Signoret), resourceful with icy nerves, a woman, Gerbier tells us, who is "strong-willed, methodical and patient. She knows both how to command and how to carry out orders." For four months we watch them operating in a claustrophobic environment of matter-of-fact violence, the realities of betrayal, hiding and planning, a life without humor and only cautious trust, and above all else, the goal of killing Germans. That also means the need to kill informers, no matter how young or how respected. They will all probably die.

The movie is really a series of incidents that happen during these four months and how this group must respond: a prison camp and an escape, a shave from a barber who might be a Petainist, the killing of a young informer in an empty house when three of the resistance, including Gerbier, discover they cannot use a gun, there is no knife and finally they decide to use a towel to strangle the man. All the while, gagged and tied, the informer can hear them discuss the problem. This will be the first time any of the three have ever killed a man, and they do it. There's Mathilde's nerve in smuggling a radio through a German cordon, and her attempt to rescue a Resistance comrade from a prison where he has been tortured. There's the death of one of the four, carried out by three. Briefly, at the very end, we read of what happened to the members of this group...a cyanide pill, a beheading, tortured to death, survived. The ending is logical and incredibly sad.

One of the most effective aspects of this movie is how it concentrates on this small group of people. There are no explosions, gun fights, beatings and torture scenes, no gore, no bravado. In fact, there are comparatively few Germans. What there is is the unremitting pressure of discovery, of making a mistake, of tension, of never being able to relax. All the main characters were based on members of the French resistance. The actors are excellent. Lino Ventura dominates his scenes. Signoret is incredible.

This is tragedy, not melodrama, says Amy Taubin, author of an article which appears in the Criterion booklet. When that last note on the screen is finished, we feel exhausted. We have to remind ourselves that the right side won. Otherwise, I, at least, would feel not just respect for these men and women, but also deeply pessimistic. We've gotten to know them. Not to like them; they are too grim and dedicated for that, but to understand them to a degree. We know that if they had never existed there would have been others in their place. But I came to understand that I probably would never have had the fatalism, the nerves or the courage to undertake what they did.

Army of Shadows was shot in color, but the effect has been so deliberately muted that the movie looks as chilly and overcast as the time period. The Criterion edition has an excellent DVD transfer, a commentary by film historian Ginette Vincendeau, a booklet in the DVD case and a second disc filled with extras.

The best movie you've never heard of........2007-05-31

A year ago, while the whole world saw such films as "Mission: Impossible III", "The Da Vinci Code", "Poseidon" among others, This movie "Army of Shadows" was finally released in the United States last year. I know this because then, I'd never heard of "Army of Shadows" until recently. I viewed this movie on DVD from the Criterion Collection last week and this was a great movie. I was shocked to learn that Jean-Pierre Cassel who was in the movie is Vincent Cassel's father. I didn't know that. Why was this movie remained unreleased for 37 years in the U.S. until last year I'll never know. My guess it was a political thing. This was a great film from France from 1969 which why this was the best movie you've never heard of.

Average customer rating:

"Death of a Salesman" Redux
Glengarry review
Sheer genius
Salesmen acting badly very well....
Classic Sales Movie

Glengarry Glen Ross
Starring: Jack Lemmon , Al Pacino , Ed Harris , Alan Arkin , and Kevin Spacey
Director: James Foley
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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Boiler Room
Wall Street
Tin Men
Barbarians at the Gate
Rogue Trader

ASIN: B00005JKG9
Release Date: 2002-11-19

Amazon.com essential video

Like moths to a flame, great actors gravitate to the singular genius of playwright-screenwriter David Mamet, who updated his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for this all-star screen adaptation. The material is not inherently cinematic, so the movie's greatest asset is Mamet's peerless dialogue and the assembly of a once-in-a-lifetime cast led by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin (the last in a role Mamet created especially for the film). Often regarded as a critique of the Reagan administration's impact on the American economy, the play and film focus on a competitive group of real estate salesmen who've gone from feast to famine in a market gone cold. When an executive "motivator" (Alec Baldwin) demands a sales contest among the agents in the cramped office, the stakes are critically high: any agent who fails to meet his quota of sales "leads" (i.e., potential buyers) will lose his job. This intense ultimatum is a boon for the office superstar (Pacino), but a once-successful salesman (Lemmon) now finds himself clinging nervously to faded glory. Political and personal rivalries erupt under pressure when the other agents (Alan Arkin, Ed Harris) suspect the office manager (Kevin Spacey) of foul play. This cauldron of anxiety, tension, and sheer desperation provides fertile soil for Mamet's scathingly rich dialogue, which is like rocket fuel for some of the greatest actors of our time. Pacino won an Oscar nomination for his volatile performance, but it's Lemmon who's the standout, doing some of the best work of his distinguished career. Director James Foley shapes Mamet's play into a stylish, intensely focused film that will stand for decades as a testament to its brilliant writer and cast. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

"Death of a Salesman" Redux.......2007-06-26

Rare indeed is the chance to see Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin and Al Pacino on stage all at the same time. But here it is. This film of the famous David Mamet play is a painful look at the world of high-pressure sales. You're only as good as your last close, your last deal, your last whatever--such is the harsh message of Mamet's play. Filmed as if the characters are onstage, the action takes place in a day--a rainy depressing evening and the following deceptively sunny morning. Everyone's a victim--the customers, the salesmen, the office manager, even the guy from "downtown." Blinded by need or greed, these men can't escape the endless cycle of boom and bust. The film is true to the play, and although a bit slow moving at times, the performances are stunning. It's amazing to see the defeated Jack Lemmon pick up the phone and immediately morph into a smooth talking executive with a guaranteed money-making investment to sell. You'll remember it every time you listen to a sales pitch!

Glengarry review.......2007-06-22

I am a huge Al Pacino fan, but honestly, this film bored me.
I did not enjoy any aspect of it and would not recommend it
to anyone. I am surprised so many others enjoyed it.
This is the only Al Pacino film I did not enjoy.

Sheer genius.......2007-06-17

If you've ever worked in sales then this movie will be instantly recognizable to you. Sales, especially commission-based sales, with all of it's epic highs and crushing lows, are the stuff of dreams. Anyone who's worked in any type of sales will recognize the characters portrayed in this movie; one day you're on a hot streak, master of your universe, and management can't stop telling you how great you are...then before you know it you're in a cold streak where you can't give product away and you stink so bad of failure that no one wants to be around you. It's no wonder that the highest paid people in the world are people who are really good at sales. It's also no wonder that this script drew such an all-star cast of actors; the dialogue is undeniably real because of the mix of desperation and cockiness. Buy it, live it, sell it...and always be closing.

Salesmen acting badly very well...........2007-06-10

Pretty powerful stuff here. Picks apart flaws in middle management, and
demonstrates the frustration rampant in any similar business situation. And
plenty of bad language which helps to underscore how the pressure sends
one into a tailspin almost instantly, with sometimes irretrievable damage
done in the process. A very good viewing experience, and not a job I'd
want to do.

Classic Sales Movie.......2007-06-08

This is one of few great Sales movies. This movie ranks right up there with Wall Street and more recent Boiler Room. This movie employs an entourage of big name actors. This is a must see for any person in the Sales Industry.

Average customer rating:

One of my favorites!
Great story line but only good execution
Kurt Russell Fan -- and fan of SG-1
Hard To Explain
Fantastic Sci Fi

Stargate (Ultimate Edition)
Starring: Kurt Russell , James Spader , Viveca Lindfors , Alexis Cruz , and Mili Avital
Director: Roland Emmerich
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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Stargate SG-1 Season 2 (Thinpak)
Stargate SG-1 Season 7 (Thinpak)
Stargate SG-1 Season 3 (Thinpak)
Stargate SG-1 Season 4 (Thinpak)
Stargate SG-1 Season 5 (Thinpak)

ASIN: B0000844I8
Release Date: 2003-02-17

Amazon.com

Before they unleashed the idiotic mayhem of Independence Day and Godzilla, the idea-stealing team of director Roland Emmerich and producer-screenwriter Dean Devlin concocted this hokey hit about the discovery of an ancient portal capable of zipping travelers to "the other side of the known universe." James Spader plays the Egyptologist who successfully translates the Stargate's hieroglyphic code, and then joins a hawkish military unit (led by Kurt Russell) on a reconnaissance mission to see what's on the other side. They arrive on a desert world with cultural (and apparently supernatural) ties to Earth's ancient Egypt, where the sun god Ra (played by Jaye Davidson from The Crying Game) rules a population of slaves with armored minions and startlingly advanced technology. After being warmly welcomed into the slave camp, the earthlings encourage and support a rebellion, and while Russell threatens to blow up the Stargate to prevent its use by enemy forces, the movie collapses into a senseless series of action scenes and grandiose explosions. It's all pretty ridiculous, but Stargate found a large and appreciative audience, spawned a cable-TV series, and continues to attract science fiction fans who are more than willing to forgive its considerable faults. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorites!.......2007-06-05

I love this movie and the hit series that developed from it. If you haven't seen it then you must buy it. This edition is better than the first as there are scenes that explain so much more!!

Great story line but only good execution.......2007-05-27

The 1990s saw four big science fiction movies. The two biggest came near the end; Matrix and Phantom Menace. But the two best came out in the mid 90's; Contact and Stargate. And of all four, only Stargate spawned its own popular TV show. The storyline is very innovative; the US military obtains an object that can be used to travel across the universe, a Stargate. They hire a scientist, Daniel Jackson, to make it work. Daniel succeeds, and is transported to a desert world (Arizona actually) along with a band of soldiers led by Kurt Russel's character, to search for extraterrestrial life. They find life, in the form of enslaved humans serving a powerful alien who travels through space in the form of a gigantic pyramid. Being good Americans, Daniel and the soldiers lead the humans in a rebellion, and the alien is killed by an atomic bomb.

This DVD features a slightly longer version of the movie than the original theatrical release. The extra scenes come mainly in the beginning, as we see how the alien first came to Earth. The entire plot is very good and original, with almost nothing copied from any other sci-fi movie. The link between the pyramids, ancient Egypt, and an alien race made in the movie was quite believable and original. The casting itself was great as all the characters fit their roles perfectly.

The only drawbacks to the movie was some of the scenes were executed poorly. The first of these occurs early in the movie when we see Professor Daniel Jackson giving a presentation and everyone walking out on him. I have been to many scientific conferences and scientists never walk out en masse from a peer's presentation if they disagree with the presentation. Instead, they embarass him in public with pointed questions. The second really dumb scene occurs right after Daniel figures out the last symbol needed to operate the Stargate. Immediately, the military sends in a probe, and the next day they send in a team of soldiers with Daniel as their guide. Astronauts go through years of training before even having a chance to sit in the space shuttle, yet this guy gets to go to another planet after one night! This was really fake and hokey. Third, the soldiers sent on this mission are wholly umprepared. They enter the stargate wearing fatigues and carrying AK-47's! You would think they would be better prepared for traveling to another world. How about some survival gear such as bulletproof vests, helmets equipped with oxygen masks, climbing gear, swimming gear, etc... A fourth hokey scene comes when the soldiers encounter the enslaved humans on the other planet. One soldier puts a handheld device by some minerals, and states that this mineral is of the same composition as the Stargate, quartz! This is interesting considering earlier in the movie one character states that the Stargate is made of some unknown mineral. Big contradiction! The list goes on and on.

Overall, a good movie, very entertaining with a great storyline. The only drawback is the numerous editing miscues and flaws.

Kurt Russell Fan -- and fan of SG-1.......2007-05-07

This movie is wonderful. The intrigue, the mystery, the wonder of traveling through the gate, discovering a ancient civilization, finding the way back home (in more ways than one) - all are covered in this movie. It pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the end. I love Kurt Russell and he is great in this movie, even though he's not the only main character. And to see that such a movie brought to TV, has lasted 10+ years is amazing!

It's such a great adventure - a must see for those who have not seen it and for those who have - they'll see it over and over again!!!!

Hard To Explain.......2007-05-06

I like this movie. I've liked it ever since I first saw it in theatrical release and I liked it enough to buy this DVD "Ultimate Edition" a few years ago. Despite this, however, I'm finding it hard to explain exactly why.

There's nothing profound or particularly clever in STARGATE. It's not outstanding in any way. In fact, as the professional reviews above point out, it's pretty hokey. But, if you like this type of hokey scifi adventure, you'll probably like STARGATE, too. As with INDEPENDENCE DAY, the Indiana Jones movies, or the STAR WARS movies, it's just fun to sit back and watch (not to compare it to those flicks, but it's in the same genre). The good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve when the dust clears. The plot's pretty predictable, but there's lots of action and a few tense moments. Going through the star gate for the first time, not knowing what's on the other side, gives you a little tingle if you haven't seen the movie before.

STARGATE is another fun ride for fans of the scifi/adventure movie genre. If you like this kind of movie, don't miss this one.

Fantastic Sci Fi.......2007-05-02

I can't count how many times I've watched this movie. I remember how seamlessly realistic the graphics were when it first came out in theaters. Though the graphics are still good, technology has since outdone them. The movie opens with a mysterious ancient egyptian discovery in the 1920's. Then jets to the present, introducing a controversial, outcast, egyptologist. A brilliant historian, who is completely dismissed by his colleagues because of his interpretation of archaeological evidence. Just as he is about to wind up penniless on the streets, he is approached to interpret an artifact. Knowing nothing about the nature of the item, other than it's origins. He finds himself swept into an amazing journey across galaxies. Where he and a team of soldiers encounter an ancient alien ruler, an oppressed planet of human slaves, and the missing pieces to egyptian history. Stargate is a colorful tapestry of fantasy and science fiction that has been wonderfully woven together.

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