Lost Horizon

Starring:Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell, Margo, Isabel Jewell, H.B. Warner, Sam Jaffe, Richard Robles, John Miltern, David Clyde, David Torrence, Robert Cory, Eli Casey, Victor Wong, Noble Johnson, Barry Winton, Lawrence Grant, Chief John Big Tree
Director: Frank Capra
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon proposes a perfect hidden community within the uncharted Himalayas, a land where peace reigns and the inhabitants live for hundreds of years. So indelible is this mythical land that its name has entered the culture: Shangri-La. Director Frank Capra, riding high during his mid-'30s hot streak, spared no expense in creating Hilton's paradise onscreen, taxing the coffers of Columbia Pictures and the patience of mogul Harry Cohn. The results, however, are magical: shimmering, seductive, and maybe a bit foolish, truly the creation of an idealist (understandably, the spectacular art direction won an Oscar). And Capra's hero is an idealist, too. Ronald Colman, at his most marvelously elocutionary, plays a wise diplomat whose plane crashes in the snows of Tibet. He and the other survivors are guided to Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay. The young Jane Wyatt plays Colman's love interest, but leaving a more lasting impression are H.B. Warner, as the benevolent Chang, and Sam Jaffe, in great old-age makeup, as the wizened High Lama. This version has been restored as closely as possible to Capra's original cut; the film had circulated for many years in a trimmed form. Lost Horizon was remade, notoriously and hilariously, as a big-budget musical in 1973; it was a complete flop. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful .......2007-07-02

A beautiful story I can watch over and over that always leaves me feeling good.

Another Frank Capra Masterpiece..........2007-06-04

If you're bored with the notion of Shrek 329 or Mission Impossible 741 - if you're looking for something more challenging in movies than special effects, then you may be in the market for Frank Capra's "Lost Horizon", made in 1937. The 1930s generated more movie classics than almost any period in motion picture history - either before or since. In that context, make no mistake, Lost Horizon is not just a classic, it is a movie masterpiece.

In one interview, Frank Capra remarked that one of the most difficult things to achieve in film was to make the passing of time and distance plausible for the movie viewer. It was Capra's mastery of making time and distance pass, coupled with his innate sense of understanding of human nature, that made him a genius, and nowhere was this better exemplified than in Lost Horizon. The film completely draws you in. It takes you on an extraordinary journey which begins with a plane flight that spirits you away from a war weary world to the utopian world of Shangri-La. Ultimately, the film is a metaphoric exploration of what happens to different people when they are exposed to utopia - some have the intellect to understand that it is what they have been seeking; some refuse to accept it; some adapt to it and some learn to embrace it.

The cast will be familiar to Frank Capra fans and includes H.B. Warner as Chang(brilliant); Thomas Mitchell (outstanding), and of course the charismatic Ronald Colman (also brilliant). The high-lama, played by Sam Jaffe, is extraordinary. The sets are visually stunning; the movie is haunting, enchanting and intellectually challenging. One of its characters ultimately summarizes the possibility of Shangri-La's existence with the statement "...I believe it because I choose to believe it..." After you have seen Lost Horizon, you may also choose to believe it. Buy the movie, don't rent it - this isn't Shrek or Mission Impossible - this is something you will treasure and will watch over and over again.

One of the best.......2007-04-25

I first got to see this in about 1987 or '88, when I was in high school. I fell in love with the story in general, and also the idea of Shangri-la. I think that's what draws most people to this movie; the idea of an ultimate Utopian society. The special features are also an added bonus. What really struck me about this was the one conversation Conway has with the High Lama. Now I have probably seen this movie one time since high school and didn't remember it very well. But, the High Lama is talking about all the problems in the world, and how mankind is going to destroy itself. The remnants of humanity will then want their knowledge and the people of Shangri-la will be there to greet them and help them. The chilling part of the whole thing is how much it sounds lilke what is happening today. The ultimate message is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago. This is very worth the watch.

Lost Horizon the original.......2007-03-29

Hijacked in an airplane from a local uprising, british passengers find themselves high in the himalayas, in a mysterious land with a great secret. It has been restored. This is a classic, as is the book. I heard that when Mallory was climbing Everest, that some monks came to camp and provided them food (where did I read this? newspaper?) Then Mallory went missing. I read that that was the basis for the idea of the book. Though they recently found Mallory, and they found Guge and Hunza (shambala, shangri la), I know in my heart that this Shangri La is there, somewhere waiting for us to find it.

Great film.......2007-02-09

1937's "Lost Horizon" is my favorite old black and white movie. Can't beat Ronald Colman as Conway in this screen adaptation of James Hilton's epic story. I like the music as well. I especially took to the music during the scene where Chang is leading Conway's party through the mountains in the blizzard, to Shangri-la. The only disappointment is the fact that the movie is in black and white. Not being able to see a story of this scope in color, is a shame. And this movie was made only two years before "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz," both of which were in color, so color film probably existed in 1937. One good thing about the 1973 remake is that you finally get to see Shangri-la, in all its colorful beauty.

Average customer rating:

Shangri-La
Lost Horizon & special features? What more can you ask for?
A FABULOUS ROMANTIC FANTASY...

Lost Horizon [Region 2]
Starring: Ronald Colman , Jane Wyatt , Edward Everett Horton , John Howard , and Thomas Mitchell
Director: Frank Capra
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

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

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Lost Horizon
Random Harvest
Becket
The King and I (50th Anniversary Edition)
My Fair Lady

ASIN: B000056FLU

Customer Reviews:

Shangri-La.......2007-01-27

If you enjoy movies similar to Seven Years in Tibet or any movie featuring faraway fantasy escapes where mankind seeks peace, then this movie might interest you.

Lost Horizon is not the lavish classic it once was. Strangely enough, a movie about people who lived for 200 years was not protected or preserved properly and Robert Gitt's restored version is an extraordinary accomplishment. Robert Gitt worked for over 25 years to find enough footage to restore missing scenes.

The dramatic start and the confusion of the first few scenes draw you into the movie and then a surprisingly leisurely-paced plot keeps your attention to the last second. As a plane takes off by the light of the burning hangers, a few lives have been saved while the fate of those left behind is not really discussed. Once aboard, they realize this plane is flying in the wrong direction. To make matters worse, the plane crashes in the mountains and leaves the passengers stranded in the bitter cold.

Robert Conway (Ronald Colman) is almost unnaturally calm in the face of certain death and throughout the movie he displays the qualities of a hero who is faced with difficult choices. At first he is a captive of Shangri-La's choices and then later he puts his life at risk to follow his destiny.

I did love when Conway said: "Not knowing where you are going is exciting..." Conway wastes no time anguishing over the unpredictability of life and is a great example of how we can stay calm in the adventure of life itself. I saw this movie as a metaphor for everyone who is seeking an escape from the conflicts of our planetary existence. In a way, the message in Lost Horizon reminded me of the messages in the movie Camelot.

The ideas of how we are killing ourselves with "indirect suicide" are still very relevant for today. Walking for 30 minutes and then practicing yoga for 70 minutes is sure to dissolve mountains of stress. If you do that before watching this movie, it can only help to dissolve even more stress. Yoga (a meditation of the body and not a religion) definitely makes you feel and look younger than your age.

The romance in this movie is quite mild and I actually preferred the alternate and more dramatic ending. There are a few flaws in the Shangri-La philosophy of life. How could anyone be happy giving away the woman they loved? While the heart may want peace, the heart may prefer conflict in such cases. It does seem that at times we humans thrive on inner conflicts and external controversy.

We are born for the struggle, but Shangri-La definitely sounds like an interesting vacation escape, just don't make me live there without computers. ;) There are ways to find inner peace and I assume that if everyone did yoga, no one would have any time to start wars because they would be floating in some blissful state that is difficult to explain, but very real.

~The Rebecca Review

Lost Horizon & special features? What more can you ask for?.......2006-05-22

The real life base (Dr. Li Ching-Yun, 1677-1933) adds to the wonder and mystery. Many movies usually pale compared to the book; however this movie fits all the criteria of a great classic. Such as excellent film footage for the time, even though some scenes are missing. When I look at the Shangri-La setting some times my mind wanders and I wonder if this was the idea behind the valley in the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand?

I doubt that they could have picked any better actors for the parts. These actors fit the time and surroundings and were actually believable in the characters they played. A later remake of this movie was o.k. But just did not have the presence of these actors.

Now the DVD features:
Digitally remastered Audio & Anamorphic Video
Production Notes
Restoration Before and After Comparison
Three Deleted Scenes
Photo Documentary with narration by Historian Kendall Miller
Many more

By the way I personally enjoy watching and re-watching this movie.

A FABULOUS ROMANTIC FANTASY..........2006-05-16

This is a superb, academy award winning film, directed by the late, great Frank Capra. Based upon James Hilton's book of the same name, it is as fresh today as it was nearly sixty five years ago, when it was first released in 1937.

The film opens up in Baskul, China, somewhere near the Tibetan border in 1935, where a minor revolution appears to be occuring, and foreigners are being evacuated. A world weary and dashing diplomat, Robert Conway, magnificently played by the ever handsome, melliflously voiced Ronald Colman, is directing the evacuation efforts. He, his brother George, and three others, two men and one woman, manage to board the last plane out of this rife torn area of China. Unbeknownst to them, their pilot has been overcome by another person, who comandeers the plane.

They finally realize something in wrong when they notice that the plane is traveling west instead of east. Moreover, they are unable to do anything about it, as no one on board, other than the pilot, can fly a plane. They seem to be flying in the Himalyan region, as they are surrounded by snow capped peaks, flying at an altitude of about 21,000 feet. Suddenly, their plane lands in the mountains, the pilot dead at the controls. Strangely enough, they are met by a crowd of people, as if they were expected. At their head is a Mr. Chang, a very dignified gentleman, masterfully played by W.B. Warner, who provides them with appropriate clothing for a high altitude climb through a very daunting and precarious mountain pass. Fortuitously for all, Mr. Chang speaks English beautifully.

After a seeming death defying trek through the mountains, in what appear to be blizzard conditions, they arrive at a beautiful and peaceful valley protected from inclement weather. They have now reached the mythical and utopian kingdom of Shangri-La. It is here that Robert Conway meets Saundra, the woman of his dreams, played by a very young and beautiful Jane Wyatt. It is love at first sight.

He also discovers that his plane was comandeered with the express purpose of bringing him to Shangri-La, as it is the wish of their dying leader, Padre Perro, a Belgian priest, played with saintly spirituality by Sam Jaffee, that Conway should be the new leader of this utopian paradise, where people seem to live long, very long, lives. Touched by the saintliness of Padre Perro and in love with the beauty and peace he sees and feels all around him, Conway is very much interested in remaining. It is as if he had finally found that for which he had been searching all his life.

His brother, George, however, has no wish to stay, the only one of those who were on board the plane who feels that way. An attractive young woman whom he met in this idyllic spot, and who has fallen for George, professes to want to leave, as well. Together the two of them persuade Robert to leave. Giving in to them out of a sense of obligation, he leaves with them, but what happens on the way back to the world that they knew, convinces Robert that he must return to Shangri-la and the woman he loves, at any cost. What happens next will not disappoint.

This film is a masterpiece that keeps the viewer enthralled. While some of the events that occur during the film are higly improbable, that does not dampen the enthusiasm that one is sure to develop for this well made movie. It is, without a doubt, a cinematic classic.

Average customer rating:

Shangri-La
Lost Horizon & special features? What more can you ask for?
A FABULOUS ROMANTIC FANTASY...

Lost Horizon [Region 2]
Starring: Ronald Colman , Jane Wyatt , Edward Everett Horton , John Howard , and Thomas Mitchell
Director: Frank Capra
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Lost Horizon
Random Harvest
Becket
The King and I (50th Anniversary Edition)
My Fair Lady

ASIN: B000053W57

Customer Reviews:

Shangri-La.......2007-01-27

Lost Horizon & special features? What more can you ask for?.......2006-05-22

A FABULOUS ROMANTIC FANTASY..........2006-05-16

Average customer rating:

Beautiful
Another Frank Capra Masterpiece...
One of the best
Lost Horizon the original
Great film

Lost Horizon [Region 2]
Starring: Ronald Colman , Jane Wyatt , Edward Everett Horton , John Howard , and Thomas Mitchell
Director: Frank Capra
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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