The Contender

Starring:Gary Oldman, Joan Allen
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
Depending on your perspective, The Contender can be praised and damned for the same reasons. A political thriller with an insider's view, it's deadly earnest in its defense of truth, justice, and the American way, but writer-director (and former film critic) Rod Lurie resorts to the same manipulation that his film purports to condemn. But with political savvy, a timely idea (a female vice president), and a cast of first-rate actors, this high-office chess game is unabashedly entertaining. You can argue with Lurie's tactics, but you can't fault his patriotic passion.

In a role written especially for her, Joan Allen is outstanding (if a bit too saintly) as the Republican-turned-Democrat senator who is chosen by the president (Jeff Bridges) to fill a vice presidential vacancy. Bridges is a cagey chief executive, seemingly aloof as he gleefully challenges the White House's 24-hour kitchen staff but more than a match for the embittered and unscrupulous congressman (Gary Oldman) who plots to destroy Allen's character with seemingly dark secrets from her past.

Amazon.com essential video

Depending on your perspective, The Contender can be praised and damned for the same reasons. A political thriller with an insider's view, it's deadly earnest in its defense of truth, justice, and the American way, but writer-director (and former film critic) Rod Lurie resorts to the same manipulation that his film purports to condemn. But with political savvy, a timely idea (a female vice president), and a cast of first-rate actors, this high-office chess game is unabashedly entertaining. You can argue with Lurie's tactics, but you can't fault his patriotic passion.

As a gender-switching response to the Lewinsky scandal, The Contender asks potent questions with its impassioned plea for integrity in public service. That makes this a film well worth defending, and the stellar cast (which includes Christian Slater and William Petersen) triumphs over most of the plot's hokey machinations. The ideas are more compelling than their execution, however, and although Lurie's climactic revelation is a vast improvement over the reckless cheat of his previous film Deterrence, it still threatens to tarnish the gloss of an otherwise fascinating film. --Jeff Shannon

Description

When the truth becomes a weapon, power comes at a stunning price. Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges and Christian Slater deliver electrifying performances in this controversial, suspenseful and critically-acclaimed thriller that Ebert & Roeper and the Movies call "exciting and unusually intelligent, two very enthusiastic thumbs up!" Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot.

Customer Reviews:

a movie that could make even ME vote for a republican!.......2007-05-05

this is NOT a must see. i had looked forward to seeing this since i usually enjoy political suspensers (even silly ones), but this is a stupid bit of liberal claptrap (btw, before liberals automatically dis me, im a mcgovern democrat; i just recognize crap when i see it). joan allen stars as a potential vice president caught up in a sex scandal from 20 years before, with a coterie of good actors giving some of the worst performances of their careers: a tribute no doubt to the director. and there is an amazingly stupid subplot involving another politician who -- oh gawd, im not gonna even go into it, but lets just say gil grissom would have figured himself out in about 30 seconds. i swear, i think this movie was made by people who want to take the vote AWAY from women ...

Ridiculous.......2007-01-04

let's put the whole woman obtaining the Vice Presidency aside and focus on the facts presented in this film.

ONE: There is NO WAY realistically in this politically polarized enviroment we find ourselves in would someone who shifted from Republican to Democrat have prayer of being VP.

TWO: This film is suppose to be about sticking to one's principles. Now as sad and pathetic as sounds no politician can afford to stick to their priciples. The only poitician who sticks to theri priciples is an OUT OF POWER politican.

THIRD: Laine Hanson'S father is supposed to be a former Republican Governor who gave up is political ambitions to to get prayer out of the schools. WHAT? If he was a Republican Governor there is absolutely NO WAY he would fight prayer in school. If anything he would be more likely to sacrafice his career to keep prayer in school.

FOUR: Is it just my imagination, or is the President in this film obsessed with food. Now I know from the the Director's commentary on the DVD that the idea is that he is supposed to use food as a tool to make people comfortable, but c ome on, practically EVERY SCENE he is in has something to do with him ordering food.

grotesque.......2006-11-25

Everyone plays their political games to the hilt here but the well acted story takes a turn for the outrageously absurd when President Jeff Bridges has the nerve to claim the moral high ground. Its all very reminiscent of the Clarence Thomas supreme court confirmation hearings in which Thomas basically denied Congress had any right to ask him any questions. If people such as the characters in this film really exist in our government then Banana belongs before any mention of our Republic.

Thank you for not smoking, not that it's any of my business.......2006-11-25

"The Contender" is about as fair and balanced as a debate between Ann Coulter and a cactus. That's not a problem, though, the film presents itself as fiction. Sort of. I get irritated when the reviews on the box proclaim it as one of the most important films I'll ever see, because "The Contender" is little more than a bunch of adults playing "I Know You Are But What am I?" It's an entertaining game to watch, but hardly raises the bar for American cinema or political debate.

The Vice President has died, and Democratic President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges from "Tucker: the Man and His Dream") has to pick a successor. He doesn't get his first choice, Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen from "CSI"), because while fishing Hathaway failed to save a girl from drowning after she'd driven her car off a nearby bridge. The President doesn't want "another Chappaquiddick," so he opts for Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen from "The Upside of Anger").

Representative Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman as Zorg from "The Fifth Element") doesn't like Senator Hanson because she used to be a Republican, and is rumored to have had sex and enjoyed it. It's a sloppy performance -- aside from a brief "remember when you were nice" scene between the Rep and his wife, Oldman gives no compassion or other trace of humanity -- he may as well have pasted a bulls-eye on his forehead and worn an "I'm Evil" t-shirt. He's too talented an actor to turn Runyon into a caricature. He's also one of the film's producers, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Runyon antagonizes and interrogates Hanson about her enjoying sex and other hot-button political issues, like abortion and abortion, and whether or not she's pro-life. Hanson and the President never stoop to Runyon's level -- they stoically resist his muckraking with patriotic, you-would-have-to-be-insane-to-believe-this-guy rhetoric; composer Larry Groupe backs them up with heavy music swells.

Do you remember Christian Slater (from "Heathers")? He's in this movie, too. He's Representative Reginald Webster, the nice, new Republican on the block. He spends most of the film quietly second-guessing Runyon. Neither of them get any music swells.

"The Contender" isn't a bad movie. For the most part I enjoyed it on a base level, like watching a two hour cockfight. The problem I have is that it's too clumsy to be a balancing act, and winds up being as pushy and preachy as the person the protagonist loathes. Check out Aaron Eckhart's tobacco lobbyist in "Thank You for Smoking" for a good example of injecting humanity into a person typically hated. Or, for something similar to "The Contender" check out Jill Clayburgh and Walter Matthau in the 1981 comedy "First Monday in October," a fictionalized account of the appointment of the first female Supreme Court Justice. "First Monday" is an intelligently written battle of the sexes comedy where, unlike "The Contender," the two parties realize one requires the other to exist.

Second Best Man.......2006-05-09

With so many reviewers I would normally stay out of the fray. But since some conservatives who've controlled things the past 30 years have so little good to say of this fine political drama, I will briefly set the record straight. At the start, this film appears to rely on sleaze and smear to make its broad point.However, that is not the point;you were thrown a curve. Not since "The Best Man," has a film had such effect. Realizing, that the character of Jeff Bridges combines the aura of JFK, the wiliness of LBJ with dashes of FDR, I came to admire the film even more. This is a fictional presidency, but an ideal one, grounded in principles, precedents and the rule of laws. Very few presidencies since JFK have been allowed to embrace and uphold those ideals. It is a disgrace that this country cannot take inspiration from works of fiction that bleed for a return to Lincolnian wisdom.If a liberal is one who wishes to return to a presidency of justice, decency and the rule of law over privilege, than so be it. This film is a political thriller wrapped around a presidency of our former ideals.Look beyond the teflon in your presidents or, like Custer, you'll get yours.

Average customer rating:

Contender/The Oil Raider:Double
Starring: Buster Crabbe , Arline Judge , Julie Gibson , Donald Mayo , and Glenn Strange
Director: Sam Newfield , and Spencer Gordon Bennet
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Binding: DVD

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Blue Tiger [Region 2 Import]

Manufacturer: Contender
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Product Features:

Trailer

ASIN: B000M4D484

Product Description

A dark and tense story of courage and danger set in the deadly world of the Japanese Brotherhood of terror - The Yakuza. A courageous mother vows to avenge the death of her young child. Killed in the crossfire of a Yakuza 'Hit'. Her only clue is the lurid blue tiger tattoo on the hitman's chest. Infiltrating the Yakuza's shadowy world. She seduces suspect after suspect to uncover the killer and exact burning revenge.

Charlie Rose with Gary Oldman; George McGovern (February 1, 2001)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Gary Oldman; George McGovern (February 1, 2001)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

A dialogue with actor Gary Oldman on his performances in Hannibal, in which he plays a millionaire at the hands of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and in The Contender, in which he plays a zealous Republican congressman. Also, former senator George McGovern speaks about hunger in America and his book, The Third Freedom.

Charlie Rose with Nachum Barnea; Benjamin Netanyahu; Nasser Al-Kidwa; Rod Lurie & Joan Allen (October 9, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Nachum Barnea; Benjamin Netanyahu; Nasser Al-Kidwa; Rod Lurie & Joan Allen (October 9, 2000)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

First, Nachum Barnea, a leading political columnist for the Jerusalem newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, talks about the violence in the Middle East and what it means for the future. Then, former prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu offers his take on the crisis. Later, Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative at the United Nations, provides a Palestinian perspective. Finally, film critic turned film director Rod Lurie and actress Joan Allen discuss their latest movie, The Contender, which follows a female vice presidential candidate embroiled in a sex scandal.

Average customer rating:

a movie that could make even ME vote for a republican!
Ridiculous
grotesque
Thank you for not smoking, not that it's any of my business
Second Best Man

The Contender [Region 2]
Starring: Gary Oldman , Joan Allen , Jeff Bridges , Christian Slater , and Sam Elliott
Director: Rod Lurie
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005BCF2

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

a movie that could make even ME vote for a republican!.......2007-05-05

Ridiculous.......2007-01-04

grotesque.......2006-11-25

Thank you for not smoking, not that it's any of my business.......2006-11-25

Second Best Man.......2006-05-09

Average customer rating:

FIRST SEASON OF A GREAT NEW BBC SERIES

Life on Mars: Series 1 [Region 2]
Starring: John Simm , Philip Glenister , and Ashley Pharoah
Manufacturer: Contender Enetrtainemnt Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Customer Reviews:

FIRST SEASON OF A GREAT NEW BBC SERIES.......2007-06-17

THIS IS THE STORY OF A MODERN DAY BRITISH POLICE OFFICER WHO AFTER
NEARLY DYING IN A CAR ACCIDENT FINDS HIMSELF BACK IN 1973 ENGLAND, HE TRIES TO COPE WITH 1970S LIFE AT THE SAME TIME WHILE TRYING TO BRING MORE MODERN POLICE PROCEDURES TO HIS COLLEAGUES, GREAT STUFF.

Average customer rating:

An Incredible Production
Release ASAP!
I have been waiting...
BEST REALITY SHOW EVER!!!!
RELEASE THIS TITLE PLEASE

The Contender - TV Series
Director: Michael Simon
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Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

An Incredible Production.......2007-06-26

The Contender is an amazing series on several levels. True, there is the raw appeal of boxing that men (and women) have loved for decades. However, what makes this series spectacular are all the finer and additional points of production. The soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is unbelievably well done and greatly stirs your emotions. I believe the editing and cinematography enhance each fight to be even more dramatic than live boxing. The back story for each fighter causes you to feel for his cause and sympathize or rejoice with his family. All these things combined in one tv show are why I found myself on the edge of my seat for every single episode.

Release ASAP!.......2007-03-30

I've been waiting for this for a long time, now! Season One, especially. I love this series! Sure, the commentary was cheesy, but the competition and the individual stories behind each person/fighter were intriguing. Please release the series on DVD ASAP!

P.S. Peter Manfredo Jr. KO Joe Calzaghe (April 7, 2007)

I have been waiting..........2007-03-05

I have been patiently waiting since the first season ended for this to be realesed on DVD the second season was good but the people werent as good as the first season and i liked how the first season had a competition before a fight. I think i speak for everyone whos ever watched this show that the first season stirred up emotions that no other show has ever done.

BEST REALITY SHOW EVER!!!!.......2006-12-14

Hurry up and release...The first season was the best reality show I've ever seen!...too bad season 2 sucked balls....btw, my sister's a butt-munch.

RELEASE THIS TITLE PLEASE .......2006-11-09

..NBC IS CRAZY IF ANSWER NOT

THE BEST SHOW HAVE EVER BEEN EN MY SHORT LIVE ..COME ON NBC .ITS A GREAT SHOW ..ITS AN OPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME ..RELEASE NOWWWWWWWWWWW

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