Rain Man (Special Edition)

Starring:Tom Cruise, Andrew Dougherty, Dolan Dougherty, John-Michael Dougherty, Marshall Dougherty, Patrick Dougherty, Peter Dougherty, Valeria Golino, Beth Grant, Dustin Hoffman, Bonnie Hunt, Lucinda Jenney, Loretta Wendt Jolivette, Donald E. Jones, Barry Levinson, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock, Michael D. Roberts, Kim Robillard, Ralph Seymour
Director: Barry Levinson
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Description

Dustin Hoffman is a 'triumph (People) in an Oscar(r)-winning* role, and Tom Cruiseis 'terrific (ABC Radio) in a film that's fascinating, touching and full of smart surprises (Newsweek)! Charlie Babbitt (Cruise) has just discovered he has an autistic brother named Raymond (Hoffman) and is now taking him on the ride of his life. Or is it the other way around? From his refusal to drive on major highways to a four minutes to Wapner meltdown at an Oklahoma farmhouse, Raymond first pushes hot-headed Charlie to the limits of his patience and then pulls him completely out of his self-centered world! But what began as an unsentimental journey for the Babbitt brothers becomes much more than the distance between two placesit's a connection between two vastly different people and a poignant, profound and powerful film (Joel Siegel, ABC-TV)! *1988: Actor

Amazon.com essential video

Rain Man is the kind of touching drama that Oscars are made for--and, sure enough, the film took Academy honors for best picture, director, screenplay, and actor (Dustin Hoffman) in 1988. Hoffman plays Raymond, an autistic savant whose late father has left him $3 million in a trust. This gets the attention of his materialistic younger brother, a hot-shot LA car dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise) who wasn't even aware of Raymond's existence until he read his estranged father's will. Charlie picks up Raymond and takes him on a cross-country journey that becomes a voyage of discovery for Charlie, and, perhaps, for Raymond, too. Rain Man will either captivate you or irritate you (Raymond's sputtering of repetitious phrases is enough to drive anyone crazy), but it is obviously a labor of love for those involved. Hoffman had been attached to the film for many years, as various directors and writers came and went, but his persistence eventually paid off--kind of like Raymond in Las Vegas. Look for director Barry Levinson in a cameo as a psychiatrist near the end of the film. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

Depicts the world of Autism!.......2007-05-20

Very distinct and never attempted story line. In most part of the movie Dustin Hoffman lived as an autistic character, but some places he overacted. Everything was fine in the movie, but the only concern is, would Tom Cruise show the same affection, to his brother, if he was not good at numbers,instead behaved more like a regular autistic patient?

Tom started liking Dustin, only after he came to know that Dustin had some extraordinary number skills, which helped him in clearing his debts. This clearly sheds the light on Tom's selfishness. Any how almost all the people in the world, try to make fortune out of others, so his demeanor doesn't surprise me.

The story, character selection and the screenplay make it a definitely a worth watching movie!

Mixed Metaphors.......2007-04-14

The first thing that pleased me about this purchase was the new cover, synchronously both the same but not the same as the original. Gone was the huge tree-lined drive of the institution from which Charlie was springing his autistic brother, and in its stead appeared a country road underfoot and a beautiful blue sky towering above them, stretching forever and ever.
The Internet is overloaded with reviews of the movie Rain Man that have missed the main point of the movie, but the Special Edition of the movie will at the very least have put paid to most of them. Just watch the featurette. It lasts only a few minutes but explains all that had hitherto been missing from those tens of thousands of words.
I remember watching the movie on its release and reading in the acknowledgements mention of the role that the autistic society of America played. Yet only concentrating on this and the fact that Hoffman won the Oscar for his role as the autistic Ray (not Cruise who played his brother Charlie) has led many to falsely assume this movie is about Raymond, and thus autism. The producer sets this sidetrack straight in the featurette when he states that the movie is not about Raymond but Charlie, as he is the one who changes.
Films communicate their stories through the metaphors they contain. Once you can understand the metaphors, you can understand the movie. By realizing that autism is the vehicle and Charlie's change is the tenor, we can finally get the story's meaning the right way around.
To confirm this fact, Tom Cruise comments that Charlie learns to live life again through his brother, Raymond, who is autistic, and that Charlie is an "emotional autistic". Most films' appeal is a character with strong emotions who changes. Although Charlie changes, Ray is not emotional and does not change. But it was Hoffman who won the Oscar for Best Actor, not Cruise, and he had even suggested that Ray be autistic for the final shooting script. The subject is Charlie's change which we measure by Ray's lack of one. The main metaphor is autism, more than the car or even the journey. Ray's immutability is the yardstick that allows us to savor all the more Charlie's transformation into a feeling human being.
The final word from the featurette must go to Hoffman as he made the movie such a major part of himself and vice versa. He spells out his own heart by explaining that, when we meet people whose lives are touched by autism, we can't help but to be affected by them. And we hope that if we could just give them enough love they might somehow be released from their condition. The movie wanted the audience to somehow feel the same way.
Charlie has to travel the breadth of America to find out that, though that's impossible, trying to do so can help us heal ourselves. And finally, returning to the box cover, another often missed facet of the movie is also made clear - from the puff of sand when Charlie u-turns at the news of his father's death, through the dead roses, dried up pool, then the rain that weeps into it like tears, the background also transmogrifies as the sky expands in ever deeper shades of blue, love blooming in the gorgeous greening, and the high point, the fountains shooting high into the sky outside the casino hotel after Charlie's new family, Ray and Suzanna are all reunited.

CLASSIC! ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS!.......2007-03-27

I must say I wanted to hate this film after they robber Hoffman of an Oscar for Tootsie. I still think it was harder for Hoffman to pull off playing a woman,but this is another great film and a incredible acting job for Hoffman. Cruise does an excellent job as the self-centered brother too. This should not be missed! DVD 2 disc edition is excellent.

Rain Man.......2007-03-08

I have been looking for this movie for a long time. My daughter and I love it. It was my niece who told me to go online to Amazon, so I am very greatful to her, because I never thought to do it. I gave it to my daughter, and she was really happy.
Thanks
P. Myers

A Good Movie.......2007-02-12

I purchased this movie because my son had just finished reading "The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night", and he made comments about the boys math skills. I suggested he watch Rain Man, it has funny moments and interesting look at how someone's life can change. After watching it again I got much more out of it.

Average customer rating:

Incredible
Finally...it has been reissued!!!!! BUY IT NOW!!!
Documentaries do not get much better than this!
The Man Who Skiied Down Everest
Extraordinary... terrifying

The Man Who Skied Down Everest
Starring: Douglas Rain , and Yuichiro Miura
Director: Bruce Nyznik , and Lawrence Schiller
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Everest (Large Format)
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ASIN: B000777HU2
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Description

This incredible, award-winning film features adventurer, poet and world-champion skier Yuichiro Miura as he and his team face the most challenging climb in the world, Mt. Everest. The ascent is fraught with tragedy, the descent miraculous. During the climb, they face an icefall that claims the lives of six of their team, still considered the worst natural disaster accident in Himalayan history. With a 35mm Panavision film crew in tow, they continue on to the South Col, only 350 meters from the summit, where Miura put his life in the hands of the gods in his descent. Using oxygen and a parachute to slow his speed, Miura skied 7,000 feet over sheer ice and rocks. Unbalanced by the gusting winds, he hit a boulder and fell 1,320 feet, smashing into rocks and ice ridges. A patch of snow was all that saved him, allowing his fall to end just moments away from the Bergshrund Crevasse. This final climax has been called the most exciting six minutes of film ever shot as Miura plummets helplessly down Everest's unforgiving icy slopes toward certain death.

Customer Reviews:

Incredible.......2007-06-10

I have been fascinated with Mount Everest since reading Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". There was an underlying message in that book that made me want to understand more about why someone would risk their life and struggle through overwelming physical challenges just to say they had climbed the mountain. There was also a picture, in words, of a rugged beauty that served, in part, to explain that puzzle. I have purchased and enjoyed a number of cinematic accounts of Everest climbs and the beauty and the questions still remain. "The Man Who Skied Down Everest" is probably the best of those videos because the cinematography is outstanding and the quest is beyond the scope of just wanting to climb Everest; Yuichiro Miura wanted to ski down it. Indeed, it did not appear that Everest was summitted but, rather, plummitted.

The film begins as a sort of "how to" and shows all of the equiptment and provisions that needs to be hauled up to the base camp (I forget how many tons but it was a lot). It takes us through the route that the porters (and climbers) had to journey. That seemed like a challeging enough trek in itself. We get to the base camp area of Everest which appeared as though Miura and his crew had sole reservations to. This was in the early 1970's and was, apparently, before the climbing of Everest became such a popular sport. Knowing about the thin air from Krakauer's book and other sources, I was astonished to see one of the party smoking a cigarette. I recalled the time I did that in the Andes and almost passed out. There is a tragic accident due to a cave in and half a dozen native porters are killed. I pondered the superhuman efforts that must have occurred in order to recover the bodies.

Eventually, we see Miura ski down a major portion of Everest and it is, by itself, worth the price of the DVD. The uncredited part of this video presentation is the camera work that was done to bring this event into our homes. Even on the single-file portering of the provisions up to the base camp, we get incredible camera shots from quite a distance. It may be by plane in some cases but the shots vere very steady and I'm not sure that would have happened in an air-borne vehicle at that thin-air altitude. The shots of the skiing also seemed to come from parrallel angles but the there was a noticeable decrease in clarity so it might have been shot from quite a distance at a lower altitude. Either way, we got the feeling that we were seeing things from a relatively close perspective.

I remembered the title of this movie from the Academy Awards from 1975. It's title is compelling. The film is even more so.

Finally...it has been reissued!!!!! BUY IT NOW!!!.......2006-12-24

This movie has been out of print for decades but you could buy used VHS copies for a great price over the years. Finally they have done the right thing and put it on DVD!! Why these companies wait for years to reissue and transfer these classics to DVD is beyond me!!! For example..the Jimmy Stewart classic "The Spirit of St. Louis" has just now been put on DVD! And the movie "Mind Walk" is still only on VHS..and it took them YEARS to put the sailing movie "Wind" on DVD..and half a century to put the John Wayne classic "The High and the Mighty" on ANYTHING..(it is now on DVD!!).yet these companies are willing to instantly put the trashiest movies on DVD within weeks of the theatrical release. Go figure..

Anyway...I saw this AWARD WINNING movie in its original theatrical release in 1975. That impression lasted me for the rest of my life. It was the best filmed mountain movie EVER up to that time....Great expense was put into filming it and really it is about the journey. I felt the actual skiing part down the slope was almost incidental!!!

The music, sounds on the trek, and most of all the photography is monumental. It stands the test of time (the IMAX movie "Everest" AND that soundtrack would be the other part of that litmus test).

This movie is a MUST BUY. Is there a soundtrack?? There should be.

Let's get back to the photography....I really don't think many have topped this...and the format is for the big screen LCD's...staggering/breath taking photography.....

Nothing about this film is rushed through...it is very gritty at times but the attraction of just panning all those high mountains never escapes the director... This is a magnificent work of art....the name of the movie adds some sort of circus atmosphere to the whole affair and at first glance looks to be a stunt movie...but the "stunt" part is right at the end and for me was not the draw...it was the the cinematography.

The narration could have been more poetic and woven into this movie more carefully...if there was a weakness here..this was it.

Compare the Imax "Everest" narration of Liam Neeson and it makes my point. On this re-release they possibly had a chance to rethink this narration element since that part DOES sound dated and weak compared to the movie's very contemporary feeling re the "extreme photography" (for lack of a better expression) and the beautiful music and sounds of the trail. But it is what it is and you just go with it.

When I saw this on a huge screen in the theater....it was the first time I had seen the Roof of the World in this manner. This is certainly one of those films that MUST be seen on the big screen. It would be nice if this was put in the theater again compared to the junk they are showing these days...but it would demand the rework of the narration.

Buy this movie and if you don't have the IMAX "EVERST" one..buy that as well and the soundtrack..

Another great piece of travel/geographic photography is "Over Canada"...I think that is available here as well as the excellent soundtrack...Again listen to the narration used in "Over Canada" and compare it with "The Man Who Skied Down Everest".....

Documentaries do not get much better than this!.......2006-03-06

This is one of the most amazing documentaries I have ever seen, one that grabs you and does not let go for the entire film. It is about a Japanese skier named Yuichiro Miura, and his attempt to ski down Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

Yuichiro Miura starts out the quest to ski down Mt. Everest in Kathmadu, where he prepares a large expedition with everything which will be necessary on the mountain. The numbers are truly staggering; 800 men will help carry up the 27 tons of gear and equipment necessary for the expedition.

Yuichiro Miura adds Buddha-like narrative (taken from his personal diary) to the film throughout, making clear his love and respect for mountains, and nature in general. This is made infinitely clear when he says higher up on the mountain that he can no longer tell where he stops and the mountain begins, for the mountain dictates when and whether he can eat, sleep or even focus his mind clearly. One can see early on, and throughout the entire film, that Yuichiro Miura is not only one of the most capable athletes ever to have graced the slopes of Mt. Everest, but also one of the most spiritual, reflective and introspective. When six of the Sherpas on his team are killed by a cave-in of ice high up on a glacier, he openly states that he now wonders whether his attempt is worth the toll it is taking......a type of humility you will not often find in a world-class athlete. If nothing else, The Man Who Skied Down Everest gives one an insight into one of the most remarkable men you will ever come across. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, not because of the simple fact that he was able to ski down 8000 icy feet of Everest, but because with every day, he offers new insight and wisdom which makes this a film one can watch repeatedly.

I often wondered throughout the film exactly how this was filmed at all. They did an incredible job of getting cameras up to the most inhospitable of places, and in place at multiple views for every shot. And it should be noted that along the way to Everest, Yuichiro Miura stops and talks with Sir Edmund Hilary, the first man to "conquer" Mt. Everest, at a hospital he had set up in the village of Khumjung.....this is something that all history buffs of Everest will be interested in, as it is really part of history.

As a final note to this but entirely unrelated to the film review, it should be noted that Yuichiro Miura (Age 69 years and 6 months at the time) and his son Gota Miura reached the summit of Mt. Cho Oyu (8,201m) in Nepal in 2003. This expedition made Yuichiro the oldest person to reach the summit of an 8000m peak.

This fact however, will probably not surprise anyone who watched the film.

The Man Who Skiied Down Everest.......2005-10-25

This is one of the most incredible true stories that I have ever seen. Until viewing the documentary I couldn't believe that skiing down Everest even was possible. To be able to see Yuichiro Mirua almost die while accomplishing his dangerous goal is breath taking. Although this film was shot in 1975 the quality of the picture is incredible, it is very clear. The narrator in this film is perfect; his voice aids what is being seen to be transferred into deep feelings and thought. I recommend this film to anyone with an interest in real life adventure.

Extraordinary... terrifying.......2005-05-10

Yuichiro Miura must stand as one of the greatest athletes and (in conventional terms) craziest people in the world. There is no limit in my admiration for the man, and (fortunately for my wife) no way in the world you could get me to emulate him. He is a tremendous skiier and a wonderful poet; his narration (voiced by Douglas Rain, of HAL9000 fame) is highly appropriate for the terrain, the climb itself, and the very brief event of his near-deadly run down the slope of the South Col.

Well worth seeing for both the skiing and Miura's gentle observations about pretty much everything.

Average customer rating:

Depicts the world of Autism!
Mixed Metaphors
CLASSIC! ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS!
Rain Man
A Good Movie

Rain Man
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Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Depicts the world of Autism!.......2007-05-20

Mixed Metaphors.......2007-04-14

CLASSIC! ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS!.......2007-03-27

Rain Man.......2007-03-08

A Good Movie.......2007-02-12

The Music Man / Singing In The Rain (Two-Pack)

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The Music Man / Singing In The Rain (Two-Pack)
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Lassie: The Painted Hills with BONUS CD Rocky Mountain Rain

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Lassie: The Painted Hills with BONUS CD Rocky Mountain Rain
Starring: Bruce Cowling , Ann Doran , Gary Gray , Lassie the Dog , and Chief Yowlachie
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Singin' In The Rain / Music Man (Special Edition) / My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition) - 3 Pack

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Singin' In The Rain Comedy, romance, great musical number, stars at their best and a fond recreation of a bygone moviemaking era: Signin' in the rain has so much that it ranked a lofty 10th on the America Film Institute's 100 Best American Films list. "Gotta dancel!" sings star and codirector Gene Kelly. But the imperative of the film's storyline is gotta talk! Silents are giving way to talkies and a hooferturnedmatineeidol *(Kelly) is caught in that bumpy transition, as well as his buddy (Donald O'Connor), prospective lpadylove (debbie Reynold's) and shresih co star (Jean Hagen in hilarious Oscar nominated performance) Singin' in the Rain is pure singin, dancin', laughin', lovin', moviewatchin' job Special Features for Singin' In The Rain DVD New : Interective Menus, Scene Access, Frech Language: Mono, Spanish: Mono My Fair Lady (TwoDisc Special Edition) Disc 1: HighDefination transfer from the 1994 restoration picture and sound elements Commentary by art Director Gene Allen, Singer Marni Nixon, Restorers Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz Disc 2: Delight ful Documentary more loverly than ever: My fair lady then and now Alternate Audrey Hepburn vocal versions of show me and wouldn't it be loverly? Vintage Featurettes and archival footage of the production kickoff, the hollywood premiere and awards ceremonies Comments from Rex Harrison, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Martin Scorsese Show me galleries of production stills, sketches, documents, posters and more Theatrical Trailers of this and other learner and loewe musicals. The Music Man (Special Edition)DVD New Special Features: AllNew documentary right in river city: The making of meredith willsons "The Music Man" Introduction by Shirley Jones Soundtrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Interective Menus Production Notes 2 Theatrical Trailers Scene Access Subtitles: English and French