Crime & Punishment - The Complete Miniseries

Starring:Beatrix Lehmann, Olwen Griffiths, Stephen MacDonald, Darryl Kavann, Magda Miller, Derek Smith (II), Janos Kurucz, Gertan Klauber, Christopher Biggins, Timothy West, Bibs Ekkel, David Troughton, David Webb, Anthony Bate, Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Drew, Alan Downer, Barbara Young, SiÃ¢n Phillips, Colin Higgins (II)
Director: Michael Darlow
Studio: WEA
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Like its predecessor Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve is a piffle of a caper, a preposterous plot given juice and vitality by a combination of movie star glamour and the exuberant filmmaking skill of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey). The heist hijinks of the first film come to roost for a team of eleven thieves (including the glossy mugs of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle), who find themselves pursued not only by the guy they robbed (silky Andy Garcia), but also by a top-notch detective (plush Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a jealous master thief (well-oiled Vincent Cassel) who wants to prove that team leader Danny Ocean (dapper George Clooney) isn't the best in the field. As if all that star power weren't enough--and the eternally coltish Julia Roberts also returns as Ocean's wife--one movie star cameo raises the movie's combined wattage to absurd proportions. But all these handsome faces are matched by Soderbergh's visual flash, cunning editing, and excellent use of Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome, among other highly decorative locations. The whole affair should collapse under the weight of its own silliness, but somehow it doesn't--the movie's raffish spirit and offhand wit soar along, providing lightweight but undeniable entertainment. --Bret Fetzer

Description

They're back. And then some. Twelve is the new eleven when Danny Ocean and pals return in a sequel to the cool caper that saw them pull off a $160 million heist. But 160 million doesn't go as far as it used to. Not with everyone spending like sailors on leave. Not with a mysterious someone stalking Danny and crew. It's time to pull off another stunner of a plan?or plans. With locations including Amsterdam, Paris and Rome, the direction of Steven Soderbergh and the original cast plus Catherine Zeta-Jones and others, Twelve is your lucky number.

Customer Reviews:

should be retitled "Zeta-Jones's Twelve".......2007-06-13

The plot was slightly more serious in this film, and it was dominated by Pitt and Zeta-Jones (mostly Zeta-Jones). The main drawbacks for the sequel are that the heist is not the major focus, the "supporting" characters did not get the opportunity to play pivotal roles in the heist, and it lacked the lighthearted atmosphere and stylishness of the first film. While Catherine Zeta-Jones is a very lovely woman, I felt that her plot was dull, interesting and terribly predictable, and I despised her character as the foil. The sub-plot (the heist) and the other characters deserved more screen time because that is what made me love the first movie. Can't really say much more about the movie because it was utterly forgettable and a waste of time.

This is lazy `sequel' that tends to do nothing but bring back a bunch of celebrities.......2007-06-13

"Ocean's Twelve" faces the same difficulties as any sequel. By this I don't mean those movies that are essential components to trilogies that continue the story; I mean those movies that basically take an established cast and throw them in a completely new storyline. The problem is trying to meet the expectations of an audience that loved the first and wants a new movie to love for all the same reasons. So many people were disappointed to learn that "Ocean's Twelve" was not yet another heist movie.

This film had to be a sequel. The plot takes advantage of the relationships the characters developed in the first film, and throws in many subtle jokes the average viewer may miss if they don't listen closely. Some of the phrases like "thief a la mode" used in the film may require a bit of culture to appreciate. While Ocean's teams do work together in the same fashion as the first film, the thievery itself doesn't take the spotlight in the film. "Ocean's Eleven" was the traditional heist film in its plot development with its climax at the point of executing the plan. Ocean's Twelve breaks away from this formula in favor of developing opportunities for some great character interaction.

The film disappoints with many characters taking a back seat in their roles to such an extent that the film could have been named after Pitt's character, with the Benedict aftermath merely serving as a catalyst for the characters finding their way back together. However, it would have been unreasonable for all eleven original characters to share an equal share of the spotlight and still turn out as well. The story is more about Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones than George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The rest of the cast perform very well and the guest-star appearances, including an unforgettable one by Bruce Willis, are hysterical. Half of the time I was unsure if the actors were even acting!! It appeared as if they were not even looking at the script, and instead talking amongst themselves like, "Hey, so how you've been?". "Oh, I `v been good, the kids at home are taking up a lot of my time, ya know". Come on now, really.

In the end, "Ocean's Twelve" is not a mere heist film but an Intelligent Comedy that may need to be watched more than once to appreciate some of the subtleties in the dialog. Just the amount of activity on this film's message board regarding some of the subtleties in the plot is a testament to the thought that went into making this film. Will "Ocean 13" rectify this, well I would have to go see it for myself.

Boring..........2007-06-11

The first movie was great! i loved it! I expected this to be as great as the first or maybe even greater but it failed to deliver. The plot was not great and it was kind of boring... But I was glad to see the actors come back for the sequel.

oh come on george clooney is in it.......2007-06-10

there were some good moments...definitely will watch it again

i never saw it on the big screen and i got myself a cheap copy and sat down and had myself an oceans marathon

the breakdancing/laser scene is pretty interesting and i will always love george

one of the worst sequels ever.......2007-06-09

an absolute waste of talent on this film...its so bad...i remember zeta-jones being fun to look at and also a cool cameo by bruce willis...but the heist was awful and that thief guy looks like a rat....some of the dialogue was funny but other than that this one's a yawner..bigtime

Average customer rating:

the boys are back
Have you ever watched a film where you wanted the bad guys to win?
WOW DANG ONE OF THE BEST MOVE
My son't favorite movie
stealing from a casino....crazy!

Ocean's Eleven (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Don Cheadle , George Clooney , Holly Marie Combs , Matt Damon , and Michael de Lano
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Ocean's Twelve
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ASIN: B000062XHI
Release Date: 2002-05-07

Product Description

Danny Ocean likes his chances. All he asks is that his handpicked squad of 10 grifters and cons play the game like they have nothing to lose. If all goes right, the payoff will be a fat $150 million. Divided by 11. You do the math.

System Requirements:
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, and Elliott Gould.
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh.
Running Time: 116 Min., Color.
This film is presented in "Standard" format.
Copyright 2002 Warner Home Video.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

Ocean's Eleven improves on 1960's Rat Pack original with supernova casting, a slickly updated plot, and Steven Soderbergh's graceful touch behind the camera. Soderbergh reportedly relished the opportunity "to make a movie that has no desire except to give pleasure from beginning to end," and he succeeds on those terms, blessed by the casting of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, the title role originated by Frank Sinatra. Fresh out of jail, Ocean masterminds a plot to steal $163 million from the seemingly impervious vault of Las Vegas's Bellagio casino, not just for the money but to win his ex-wife (Julia Roberts) back from the casino's ruthless owner (Andy Garcia). Soderbergh doesn't scrimp on the caper's comically intricate strategy, but he finds greater joy in assembling a stellar team (including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Carl Reiner) and indulging their strengths as actors. The result is a film that's as smooth as a silk suit and just as stylish. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

the boys are back.......2007-06-08

nice to have all the ocean series good entertainment for a rainy day for myself and guests

Have you ever watched a film where you wanted the bad guys to win?.......2007-06-01

I have trouble calling this a remake, because it doesn't share much in common with the `rat pack' original except the name of the lead character and that it is a casino heist. Actually, this is a better film than its namesake, apart from the fact that the cast of the original was filled with entertainment legends.

Director Soderbergh takes a vacation from serious filmmaking with this film, which on his resume is something of a lark. Everyone seems to be having a good time and it is clear that the actors enjoyed making this film. The overhauled screenplay pops with snappy dialogue, riddled with deadpan humor and a decent, though somewhat far fetched plot. It has a little of the whimsical feel of `The Sting', though the screenplay isn't as strong. A crew of professional thieves plans to knock over three casinos on a fight night by raiding the impregnable vault that serves all three. The plan is elaborate, full of high tech wizardry, daring deceptions and acrobatic stunts. The caper runs into more than the normal amount of foul ups, but our devious team of burglars is always up to the task of working around the glitches.

The cast is very solid. George Clooney is perfectly cast as the brainchild of the scheme. He is dapper, macho and smooth with a sardonic wit that keeps the film's tone serious yet light. Brad Pitt plays the always eating Rusty, who is really the brains behind the operation, coordinating it flawlessly. Except for `The Mexican', this is much lighter material than Pitt usually tackles, yet he gives a suave performance seeming very comfortable with his character. Despite the fact that this is an ensemble cast, Pitt carries a lot of the weight and makes the story as close to believable as could be possible given its improbable nature.

Don Cheadle continues to impress, rendering a terrific demolitions expert. His cockney accent is great and with this part Cheadle shows once again what a terrific character actor he is. In a little twist of irony, Cheadle plays an analogous part in this film to that played by Sammy Davis, Jr. in the original, and he also played Sammy in the TV movie entitled `The Rat Pack'. Poor Andy Garcia has the thankless task of playing the heavy in a tongue-in-cheek film, but he does a marvelous job. Matt Damon plays the rookie, giving the character a charming naiveté and a mischievous bent. Julie Roberts is nothing more than a throw in, with a minor role as Ocean's ex-wife.

If you don't take this film too seriously, you are in for an entertaining evening. It is smartly done without too much melodrama, and provides just enough suspense and realism to keep it from being a farce.

WOW DANG ONE OF THE BEST MOVE.......2007-05-08

NOW I COULD EASYLY SAY THIS WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE GRATEST MOVE EVER MADE IN THE WORLD THAT IS SO FOR SHORE & THAT IS PUTTING IT LIGHTLY

My son't favorite movie.......2007-05-07

My son loves this movie. He found the ratings on Amazon pretty much perfect. The music is really good.

stealing from a casino....crazy!.......2007-04-30

George Clooney plays Danny Ocean. Danny just got out of prison for a mistake he made 5 years ago. Along with that mistake, he lost his wife. Coming out of prison doesn't deter him from crime. He immediately rounds up 10 men to help him steal from a vault that stores money from 3 casinos. This is a big and dangerous mission. There has been 3 attempts to rob the casinos and none of them have been successful.

In the midst of their planning and training, an tidbit of information comes to light. The owner of these casinos is Terry Benedict (Garcia). That's not the important part. The important part is that Terry's current girlfriend is Tess (Roberts). Tess is Danny's ex-wife. So the question is...is Danny doing this for the money or is he doing this for his ex-wife? Of course, the gang is upset as it puts the mission in jeopardy.

Nonetheless, the mission continues with some adjustments. The question is will Ocean and his gang succeed with the mission?

I have to say that *Ocean's Eleven* is one of the best heist film that I've seen in recent years. I may not have agreed with the selection of actors but I do have to say that the chemistry between them was great.

The Big Lebowski (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Looove Jeff Bridges!
It gets BETTER every time I watch it!
COEN-esque perfection! Or a total nightmare.
It tied the room together
Funny Classic

The Big Lebowski (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Starring: Jeff Bridges , John Goodman , Julianne Moore , Steve Buscemi , and David Huddleston
Director: Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A7DVR2
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Product Description

The Coen brothers irreverent cult hit comes to DVD as a Collector's Edition, with all-new bonus material. The hilariously twisted comedy-thriller stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. Join the Dude and his bowling buddies on their journey that blends unforgettable characters, kidnapping, a case of mistaken identity and White Russians. Enter the visually unique and entertaining world from the creative minds of the Coen brothers and remember: the Dude abides.

System Requirements:

Running Time 118 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Looove Jeff Bridges!.......2007-06-27

If you like movies that won't make you think too hard but still have a great plot line, this is the movie for you! I saw this movie back when it came out and I watch it all the time! If you want to laugh this is a great mindless movie! It is chalk full of loveable characters! And you will be intreged by the twists this seemingly silly movie has. By the end you will want to stand up and applaud! It is a GREAT movie! Instant classic! Great investment, and even better to add to your top 10 movie favorites!

It gets BETTER every time I watch it!.......2007-06-09

Seriously, I've seen this movie, oohhhhh, approximately ten times, and I enjoy it more and more each time.

I have no idea how the Coen brothers do it, but they manage to create characters that fit their cast, which, of course, makes for a perfectly cast movie. Every time. Especially in The Big Lebowski. And the dialogue! This isn't the only Coen movie that people vapidly quote, but there are more memorable/quotable lines in this one film than all the rest put together; and that's saying a lot, when you look at their film discography.

So if you haven't seen it, see it.

If you're not going to watch it, no matter what, then so be it. The dude abides.

COEN-esque perfection! Or a total nightmare........2007-05-29

OK. 1 question; do you like anything the Coen brother's have done? If you don't, do yourself a favor and keep on moving because this is a truly Coen film; dark, loathing, sarcastic (and those are the good points).

Seriously, the Coen's, Joel and Ethan, are a strange pair. I, for one, love their movies, some more than others, but all are entertaining at the least.

This one is truly bizarre. Jeff Bridges IS "the dude". He has a name, but that doesn't matter, because he just wants to be "the dude". Unfortunately, he shares a name with a very wealthy man and gets caught up in a kidnapping, extortion, fraud, baby-making (just watch!), catch-the-guy-that-peed-on-my-carpet (yeah, just watch!), adventure.

All "the dude" does is bowl. His team consists of an overzealous, ex-military (but should still be in the military) Polish born Catholic who converted to Judaism (just watch!) played brilliantly by John Goodman, and a guy that suffers from, well, deafness, stupidity or amnesia (acted well by Steve Buscemi). They have a big match against a team led by a guy that calls himself Jesus, who talks about himself in the first person and I quote, "Don't f... with the Jesus", who is Hispanic but wants his name pronounced like the biblical GEE-zus (John Turturro manages to stand out in this role with only 2 or 3 scenes).

Unfortunately, when "the dude" is mistaken for a rich guy (you'd think the empty apartment would be a tip-off) someone pees on his carpet and he wants to be paid for the damages. It's all downhill from there.

Here, I'll sum it up: Saddam Hussein (obviously pre-GW Bush) works at the shoe counter in a bowling alley in a dream sequence, backdropped by The First Edition's classic "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)"; it's like a bad acid-trip gone terribly RIGHT, somewhat disturbing and utterly hilarious.

One very serious caveat, the movie is rated R for many reasons. There are probably more 4 letter words than other words in this film, somehow a porno director gets involved in the plot with ubiquitous porn-stars, and, let's just say that "the dude" got to be "the dude" by smoking some stuff that ain't legal and drinking more than any one man should; white russians, which he prefers to call "caucasians", political correctness after all that, WOW!!!

Anyway, if you like the Coen's, I would say particularly, "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1 of my top 5 all time movies) or "Raising Arizona", this is probably right up your alley; sorry, bad pun.

It tied the room together.......2007-05-21

Although I have never gone out of my way to watch one of their films, I have enjoyed the handful of Coen Brothers films that I have watched during the last twenty years most notably Raising Arizona (1987) and O Brother, Where Art Thou. I have never watched any of their films in depth, but it is readily evident that they definitely bring something new to the table with their whimsical often bizarre and even more often violent films. I have had a mild interest in watching The Big Lebowski since its release way back in 1998, but, mainly because a friend of mine, a huge Coen Brothers fan, was a bit indifferent to the film, it only had a low frequency on my filmic radar. However, because of a new book concerning the fandom surrounding the film, I finally decided to pick it up and see what all of the hoopla was about and after watching the film I am now a believer in the Dude.

The film opens with the narrator, a cowboy played by Sam Elliot, introducing us to Jeffrey Lebowski, Jeff Bridges, who is commonly know as just "the Dude." The Dude is a sloppy, unemployed individual, but his being radiates something special so he is able to attract a number of friends. A complete slacker, the Dude spends most of his time drinking, getting stoned, and bowling. This rather unmotivated life would have probably continued in this way if two dimwitted thugs had not broken into his dilapidated apartment and beaten him up. If this was not bad enough, one of the thugs urinates on his rug that totally tied the room together. It soon becomes apparent that the Jeffrey Lebowski whose wife Bunny owes money all across L.A. is definitely not the Dude, but instead a millionaire who obviously would not live in the premises inhabited by the Dude. [...]. This meeting is far from successful, although the Dude does "acquire" a new rug, so the Dude makes his home after being propositioned by Bunny Lebowski. However, things turn interesting when Bunny turns up missing and the Big Lebowski wants to hire the Dude to act as a go-between with the kidnappers.

It is almost impossible to write a review that does justice for this film. Like the other films of the Coen Brothers, The Big Lebowski shines in terms of dialogue and characters. The witty and humorous conversations held between the Dude and his friend Walter are, in all honesty, some of the funniest that I have ever heard, also Walter is one of the coolest characters ever in my opinion. Also, the character play with each other is outstanding and it gives the viewer a feeling that he or she is watching real, albeit eccentric, individuals living their daily lives. Check this film out if you can. It will almost definitely tickle your funny bone if it does not give you a new view upon watching comedic films.

Funny Classic.......2007-05-13

All around great movie, I am not big on the "special features" but I am a huge White Russian fan.

Average customer rating:

COEN-esque perfection! Or a total nightmare.

The Big Lebowski [HD DVD]
Starring: Jeff Bridges , Steve Buscemi , Sam Elliott , Flea , and Ben Gazzara
Director: Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000O179EK
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Customer Reviews:

COEN-esque perfection! Or a total nightmare........2007-05-29

OK. 1 question; do you like anything the Coen brother's have done? If you don't, do yourself a favor and keep on moving because this is a truly Coen film; dark, loathing, sarcastic (and those are the good points).

Seriously, the Coen's, Joel and Ethan, are a strange pair. I, for one, love their movies, some more than others, but all are entertaining at the least.

This one is truly bizarre. Jeff Bridges IS "the dude". He has a name, but that doesn't matter, because he just wants to be "the dude". Unfortunately, he shares a name with a very wealthy man and gets caught up in a kidnapping, extortion, fraud, baby-making (just watch!), catch-the-guy-that-peed-on-my-carpet (yeah, just watch!), adventure.

All "the dude" does is bowl. His team consists of an overzealous, ex-military (but should still be in the military) Polish born Catholic who converted to Judaism (just watch!) played brilliantly by John Goodman, and a guy that suffers from, well, deafness, stupidity or amnesia (acted well by Steve Buscemi). They have a big match against a team led by a guy that calls himself Jesus, who talks about himself in the first person and I quote, "Don't f... with the Jesus", who is Hispanic but wants his name pronounced like the biblical GEE-zus (John Turturro manages to stand out in this role with only 2 or 3 scenes).

Unfortunately, when "the dude" is mistaken for a rich guy (you'd think the empty apartment would be a tip-off) someone pees on his carpet and he wants to be paid for the damages. It's all downhill from there.

Here, I'll sum it up: Saddam Hussein (obviously pre-GW Bush) works at the shoe counter in a bowling alley in a dream sequence, backdropped by The First Edition's classic "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)"; it's like a bad acid-trip gone terribly RIGHT, somewhat disturbing and utterly hilarious.

One very serious caveat, the movie is rated R for many reasons. There are probably more 4 letter words than other words in this film, somehow an x-rated movie director gets involved in the plot with ubiquitous porn-stars, and, let's just say that "the dude" got to be "the dude" by smoking some stuff that ain't legal and drinking more than any one man should; white russians, which he prefers to call "caucasians", political correctness after all that, WOW!!!

Anyway, if you like the Coen's, I would say particularly, "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1 of my top 5 all time movies) or "Raising Arizona", this is probably right up your alley; sorry, bad pun.

Average customer rating:

Good but not great
Good Film
The Godfather Part 15
Follow the lines
Exploding Heads and Naughty Words; Otherwise, an Utter Bore

The Departed (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , Mark Wahlberg , and Martin Sheen
Director: Martin Scorsese
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000M341QE
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino. Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, The Departed is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that The Departed is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.

Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg star in Martin Scorsese's new crime drama "The Departed." "The Departed" is set in South Boston where the state police force is waging an all-out war to take down the city's top organized crime ring. The key is to end the reign of powerful mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) from the inside. A young rookie, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate Costello's mob. While Billy is working to gain Costello's trust, another young cop, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is among a handful of elite officers whose mission is to bring Costello down. But what his superiors don't know is that Colin is working for Costello, keeping the crime boss one step ahead of the police. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operation he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that they have a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin find themselves in constant danger of being caught-and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

Customer Reviews:

Good but not great.......2007-07-04

There are things I liked about Martin Scorcese's The Departed - it's grittiness, the tough, Irish Boston atmosphere, the dialogue, most of the performances (particularly Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, DiCaprio and MATT DAMON) and the plot which, despite some holes, is engaging. Having said all that, The Departed is good but far from great. Why? It's shallow, none of the characters have any real depth to them, it's flabby and bloated, Jack Nicholson is basically on over-the-top , one-dimensional cruise control, and the closing shot of the film with the rat is completely unnecessary and possibly one of the most clumsiest attempts at symbolism I've ever seen in a film. I also think the camera work was good, but wasn't up to par with Scorcese's previous work, and the quick editing bothered me after a while. I think the most disappointing thing about the Departed is that after you finish it you're entertained but at the same time you're left feeling that the film should and could easily be a lot better than it is. 3 1/2 stars out of five.

Good Film.......2007-07-01

The Departed was good. But it was not the "best film" (that goes to Babel). But the acting was good and it was a fun movie to watch. Very gory and the ending is something shocking, but I liked it overall

The Godfather Part 15.......2007-06-28

I love Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and they both kicked butt in this movie, but haven't I seen this almost exact plot line before? I swear that the same idea's about the same gangster type deals are being recycled out in Hollywood. While this movie was fun to watch, the tired old "Godfather" act really losing it's touch. The original Godfather movies still hold up to today's crap, and even this is enjoyable, but PLEASE make some more unique films!!!

Follow the lines.......2007-06-27

This movie is great if you have about two hours to pay close attention. Compared to Goodfellas among other ganster movies it is a modern version. The cast is full of familiar faces and interesting swirls of how the individual characters connect. At the end your jaw will be in your lap!! You will not believe this ending! It's worth buying just to have in your collection, but even more so just to see the ending!!

Exploding Heads and Naughty Words; Otherwise, an Utter Bore.......2007-06-27

"The Departed" is garbage. I've seen more plot, and less bloodshed, in PETA slaughterhouse videos.

"The Departed"'s appeal is strictly to those who like watching heads explode on camera and think that if a movie uses every naughty word in the book -- in every line -- that makes it deep and profound. Anyone who swallowed "The Departed" needs to have his stomach pumped.

Good grief. Shakespeare, the Greek tragedies, classics like "The Third Man" would be lost on these people. As would a truly fine movie from 2006, "The Lives of Others", beside which "The Departed" looks, at best, amateurish and adolescent.

I want my money back. And I saw this movie for free.

I was so bored I started rearranging the groceries in my bag about ten minutes in. I looked at my watch at least half a dozen times. I thought up drinking games you could play every time Jack Nicholson utters the word *&^%.

Several characters are shot -- or dropped -- to death on camera. A man's eyes are poked out. One character is reduced to a drug dependent, quivering wreck. I didn't care.

I was amazed at how much I didn't care. I thought about why. I examined the desert emptiness of the script, other than for its resplendently brandished naughty words; reflected that the plot was so bankrupt it could be in chapter 11; I noted how absent characterization was, except to mete out how often each character said %$#^, or his posture when exploding a head.

I pondered gossip column narratives involving Alec Baldwin and remembered how cute Mark Wahlberg was in that Calvin Klein ad; I wondered if Leo were still dating the model.

An hour into the marathon that was this Guantanamo torture, I realized that I had been so pounded into boredom and apathy that the only thing that would have aroused me was if the entire oh-so-manly cast were, suddenly, to don black net hose and stilletoes, and sing the rest of their lines in Gilbert and Sullivan musical style.

I hoped against hope that Leslie Nielsen would appear and reveal the entire thing to be a very obscure farce whose humor would gel once Nielsen put it all into "Airplane"-esque perspective.

Was Martin Scorcese trying to prove his own manhood by creating a dystopic Disneyland in which every ride is manned by a cop or a mafioso exploding heads and blurting out swear words?

Scorcese insults manhood worse than Andrea Dworkin.

As for art? I guess Scorcese never heard the phrase, "less is more."

As it happens, I had just seen 1947's "The Third Man" the night before. "The Third Man" is black and white; its budget, compared to "The Departed"'s, was tiny. The cast, excepting Orson Welles, consisted of character actors or unknowns.

In "The Departed," Jack Nicholson, playing a Very Bad Man, toys with a severed human hand. What hits you is not the shock and awe the scene demands, but the pathos that the movie is so desperately needy for its audience to respond, and so without skill at provoking that response, that it resorts to the kind of gorey tricks a Halloween prankster would pull.

In "The Third Man," Orson Welles delivers "the cuckoo clock speech." All he does is talk -- and what he says chilled me and frightened me so thoroughly I'll never forget it.

Now *that's* a classic film.

"The Departed"? Garbage.

Average customer rating:

Amazing movie!
something old, something new
O Brother Where Art Thou
One of my favorites
Worthwhile music, movie falls flat.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Starring: Michael Badalucco , George Clooney , Frank Collison , Charles Durning , and Wayne Duvall
Director: Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXRM
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Amazon.com

Only Joel and Ethan Coen, the fraternal director and producer team behind art-house hits such as The Big Lebowski and Fargo and masters of quirky and ultra-stylish genre subversion, would dare nick the plot line of Homer's Odyssey for a comic picaresque saga about three cons on the run in 1930s Mississippi. Our wandering hero in this case is one Ulysses Everett McGill, a slick-tongued wise guy with a thing about hair pomade (George Clooney, blithely sending up his own dapper image) who talks his chain-gang buddies (Coen-movie regular John Turturro and newcomer Tim Blake Nelson) into lighting out after some buried loot he claims to know of. En route they come up against a prophetic blind man on a railroad truck, a burly, one-eyed baddie (the ever-magnificent John Goodman), a trio of sexy singing ladies, a blues guitarist who's sold his soul to the devil, a brace of crooked politicos on the stump, a manic-depressive bank robber, and--well, you get the idea. Into this, their most relaxed film yet, the Coens have tossed a beguiling ragbag of inconsequential situations, a wealth of looping, left-field dialogue, and a whole stash of gags both verbal and visual. O Brother (the title's lifted from Preston Sturges's classic 1941 comedy Sullivan's Travels) is furthermore graced with glowing, burnished photography from Roger Deakins and a masterly soundtrack from T-Bone Burnett that pays loving homage to American '30s folk styles--blues, gospel, bluegrass, jazz, and more. And just to prove that the brothers haven't lost their knack for bad-taste humor, we get a Ku Klux Klan rally choreographed like a cross between a Nuremberg rally and a Busby Berkeley musical. --Philip Kemp

Description

Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) busts loose. Except he's still shackled to his own chain-mates from the chain gang -- bad-tempered Pete (John Turturro, SUMMER OF SAM), and sweet, dimwitted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson, HAMLET). With nothing to lose and buried loot to regain -- before it's lost forever in a flood -- the three embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious offbeat road picture. Populated with strange characters, including a blind prophet, sexy sirens, and a one-eyed Bible salesman (John Goodman, COYOTE UGLY), it's an odyssey filled with chases, close calls, near misses, and betrayal that will leave you laughing at every outrageous and surprising twist and turn.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing movie!.......2007-07-03

This is a classy release of an all-time-favorite classic. George Clooney played Batman, and here he's doing a hillbilly chicken dance in a fake beard. Great writing, great acting, great music. What's not to love? We wore out our VHS copy!

something old, something new.......2007-06-30

Comedies don't get much better than this.

Clooney, Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson are relentlessly hilarious in this loosely Homeric epic of escape from a chain gang in America's early twentieth-century South. You can love this movie without knowing Homer, of course, though it's based on that bard's Oddysey.

That's the common touch of both Homer and his erstwhile partners-in-crime, producers Ethan and Joel Coen.

Filming this flick must have been more fun than a body should have. From the blind oracle on the railroad pump-car warning about the 'Ob-stackles of life' to the 'Sigh-REENS' that appear to have 'loved (Pete) up ... and then turned him into a horny toad' to the delicious stares and triumphant penultimate scene where the Soggy Bottom Boys regale a political rally with their irresistable hit 'Man of Constant Sorrows', O BROTHER never falters.

It's a film for watching over and over again, preferably introducing somebody who hasn't seen it each time you do.

Ne'er doubt! Buy O BROTHER WHERE ARE THOU and hold onto it for dear life.

O Brother Where Art Thou.......2007-05-17

O Brother Where Art Thou

Title: O Brother Where Art Thou
Director: Joel Coen
Release Date: 2000

Based on the epic by Homer, this movie takes place at the end of the Great Depression area of 1935. Three men named Everet (George Clooney), Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and Pete (John Turino), escape on a chain gang in southern Mississippi. When they escape, they meet a man that is blind from polyps that is similar to Homer. The man tells the three men that they must travel to seek the desire that they want. Everet thinks that the old man was making nonsense, but Delmar and Pete think that the old man was telling the truth in their future. The men do a lot of things in this movie such as getting saved, making a record, helping a thief in a bank robbery, and confronting the KKK. (Klu Klux Klan) This movie is rated PG- 13 so the adults might not want to let their kids want to watch the movie. They also have a great soundtrack that won a Grammy for soundtrack of the year. The movie has funny jokes that make you crack up laughing. George Clooney gives one of his best roles of his career. John Goodman guest stars in the movie as a con man that steals the men's money. The people who like funny country movies, this might be the movie for you. It won't be long until this movie will become apart of your DVD collection.

One of my favorites.......2007-04-10

I've given this movie more repeat views than maybe any other movie ever, for two reasons. Firstly, there is the incredible soundtrack--I was not a bluegrass fan until I fell in love with this movie, and the songs were good enough to win me over. Secondly, the dialogue is hilarious. Every time I watch it, I catch a little bit I may have missed before. Coens at their best. Made me rethink my opinion of George Clooney, as well.

Worthwhile music, movie falls flat........2007-04-07

I think it's odd that the movie announces at the beginning that it's based on Homer's Odyssey, as the storyline barely follows in the theme of The Odyssey at all. The music is awesome and I reccomend the soundtrack, but honestly the movie didn't do it for me. Weak plot, annoying characters, lame ending. I just wasn't impressed at all.

Average customer rating:

Chinatown
Twists & Turns
Great Jack Nicholson as Humphrey Bogart type pi
Very Good
Classic Film Noir.

Chinatown
Starring: Richard Bakalyan , Faye Dunaway , Jerry Fujikawa , Bruce Glover , and John Hillerman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000022TSH
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Amazon.com essential video

Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley

Customer Reviews:

Chinatown.......2007-07-03

Cynical, brooding, and knotted with mystery, Polanski's "Chinatown" is not just one of the best films ever made about the City of Angels, earning a dozen Oscar nominations--it's also one of the most superbly crafted, post-`40s noirs you'll ever see. The cast, of course, can't be beat: Dunaway is at once jittery, seductive and impenetrable, while Jack is at the top of his game as the Chandleresque former cop Jake. Real-life legendary director John Huston also delivers a titanic performance as the arrogant Cross. Watch for Polanski himself as a knife-wielding thug with a grudge against nosy people.

Twists & Turns.......2007-06-07

"Chinatown" is an amazing piece of film that grows richer as it grows older. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, only winning one for Robert Towne's Best Original Screenplay. John Alonzo, who was nominated for Best Cinematography, sets a sheen & sparkle to the vintage look of the film. The soundtrack is also brilliant. It was nominated for Best Picture but lost to "The Godfather Part II."

While "Chinatown" did not do well @ the Oscars, it was the Golden Globe winner for Best Drama and also brought Roman Polanski a Best Director Golden Globe award. Roman Polanski has done many classics including his other Oscar nominations as Best Director for Rosemary's Baby & "Tess" to his 2002 Oscar win for The Pianist. "Chinatown's detractors say that the pacing is slow, but I find that it builds intensity as each piece of the puzzle is revealed and somehow doesn't fit or indicates that there is more to the puzzle.

As Jake "J.J." Gittes, Jack Nicholson has never been better. His demeanor that leads you to think he never takes anything seriously is contained, with just enough wiseacre to make him endearing. Nicholson brought home the Golden Globe as Best Actor but lost the Oscar to surprise winner Art Carney for Harry and Tonto in a field that also had Al Pacino for "Godfather Part II," Dustin Hoffman for "Lenny" & "Albert Finney in "Murder on the Orient Express." As Gittes, we watch Nicholson twist and squirm. The scene where Roman Polanski slits Gittes' nose is brutal and remains emphasized as Nicholson plays following scenes with a big bandage on the middle of his face.

Faye Dunaway received her second Oscar nomination for this film. Her performance is incredibly controlled, but throbbing with the underlying secrets of her past and conditioned by the opulence of her wealth. She lost the Oscar to Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

The film's large cast is peppered with faces we had seen or later saw frequently. Darrell Zwerling whose career spanned the decade was also seen in "High Anxiety," "Grease" & "Capricorn One." As Dunaway's husband Hollis, he remains bespectacled & without dialogue for much of the picture until his character's tragic demise. John Huston's legendary career is reflected in the shadow of his presence on screen as the family patriarch Noah Cross. Perry Lopez plays detective Lou Escobar in his most memorable film. John Hillerman, who would play prominently on TV from 1980-1988 in "Magnum P.I.," plays Yelburton, the assistant water commissioner. Diane Ladd plays Ida Sessions, the fake Mrs. Mulray. Ladd picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" that same year & was later nominated for "Wild at Heart" in 1990 and "Rambling Rose" in 1991. Burt Young who would be Oscar nominated for his character Paulie in "Rocky" in 1976 plays Curly who Gittes helps with marital matters. James Hong who played prominently in 1994's film The Shadow appears stoically as Mrs. Mulray's butler. "Chinatown" picks us up and carries us through to the ending, surprising with twists & turns. It is classic cinema. Bravo!

Great Jack Nicholson as Humphrey Bogart type pi.......2007-05-25

Great actors, script, and direction. Very good film noir technique. Can seen several times. The details are great.

Very Good.......2007-05-13

GO on seeing the movie until u are twisted by the twist given by the director

Classic Film Noir. .......2007-04-15

You're going to spend the majority of this movie wondering why it has the title it does and I'm not going to spoil it for you by mentioning it, but what I will say is that it has one of the great surprise endings in the history of Hollywood. The plot is outstanding and it's hard to tell where its going based on the first hour alone. Nicholson is superlative in the role of J.J. Gittes. His performance is nearly as good as Bogart's was in The Maltese Falcon. Dunaway and Houston are outstanding as well. Chinatown is every bit as entertaining as it is excellent.

Average customer rating:

True drek...
Cool
A way to improve....
Love it or Hate it - I just happen to love it!
Brilliant, Not For Everyone However

Kill Bill, Volume 1
Starring: Uma Thurman , Lucy Liu , Vivica A. Fox , Daryl Hannah , and David Carradine
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JMEW
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Amazon.com

Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is trash for connoisseurs. From his opening gambit (including a "Shaw-Scope" logo and gaudy '70s-vintage "Our Feature Presentation" title card) to his cliffhanger finale (a teasing lead-in to 2004's Vol. 2), Tarantino pays loving tribute to grindhouse cinema, specifically the Hong Kong action flicks and spaghetti Westerns that fill his fervent brain--and this frequently breathtaking movie--with enough cinematic references and cleverly pilfered soundtrack cues to send cinephiles running for their reference books. Everything old is new again in Tarantino's humor-laced vision: he steals from the best while injecting his own oft-copied, never-duplicated style into what is, quite simply, a revenge flick, beginning with the near-murder of the Bride (Uma Thurman), pregnant on her wedding day and left for dead by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (or DiVAS)--including Lucy Liu and the unseen David Carradine (as Bill)--who become targets for the Bride's lethal vengeance. Culminating in an ultraviolent, ultra-stylized tour-de-force showdown, Tarantino's fourth film is either brilliantly (and brutally) innovative or one of the most blatant acts of plagiarism ever conceived. Either way, it's hyperkinetic eye-candy from a passionate film-lover who clearly knows what he's doing. --Jeff Shannon

Description

The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION, JACKIE BROWN), KILL BILL VOLUME 1 stars Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Lucy Liu (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, CHICAGO), and Vivica A. Fox (TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME) in an astonishing, action-packed thriller about brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta! Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, The Bride (Thurman) emerges from a coma and decides it's time for payback ... with a vengeance! Having been gunned down by her former boss (David Carradine) and his deadly squad of international assassins, it's a kill-or-be-killed fight she didn't start but is determined to finish! Loaded with explosive action and outrageous humor, it's a must-see motion picture event that has critics everywhere raving!

Customer Reviews:

True drek..........2007-07-01

Tarantino knows what he's doin', this is truly fodder for the children of suburbia, all the ones who were nurtured on sugar crisps & little league & sesame street & soccer moms & commuter dads, little tubeheads this is your stuff. *Bad language* woowoo, daughters of charlies angels meet asian martial arts movies woowoo.

Bad stuff, like thinking robitussin is a high, imitation of life. hahahaha.

smart move quentin.

Cool.......2007-06-23

While watching the Kill Bill movies, one word continuously and irresistibly comes to mind: cool. Scenes are shot from cool angles, flush with cool colors, at cool speeds, with cool characters that communicate in cool dialogues, all set to the tone of cool music.

Like the Godfathers I&II, Kill Bill immediately jumps right into the plot's heart. Initially mysterious elements are then illuminated as the story repeatedly sidles back through each character's past.

Uma Thurman's character avenges her former assassin squad colleagues one-by-one as payback for their having tried to murder her on the eve of her wedding. Her brutal violence and feverous hatred make her a textbook anti-hero character similar to Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" persona in old Sergio Leone Westerns.

With so many other movies featuring fight scenes, it's not easy to produce ones that hold the viewer's interest; however, Kill Bill's do because they blend the right combination of novelty, violence, creativity, suspense, and general eye-pleasingness.

If you're worried about violence, you shouldn't let that deter you from watching this series. There are some bloody parts, no doubt; however, perhaps because the violence is seemingly deserved, just twisted enough to be more comical than gross, or somehow alluringly cool, it doesn't seem quite as bad as it should.

If you want to see a cool movie, see this one.

A way to improve.... .......2007-06-18

The first, I really enjoyed... and the second didn't disappoint! Cheers!

Love it or Hate it - I just happen to love it!.......2007-06-08

After reading the other reviews, good and bad, I just decided to chime in with my two cents.

To be quite honest, I love this movie. Tarantino must have had an amazing time making it, and that shows up in the final product. It's just fun to watch. It introduces those of us who aren't very familiar with the kung-fu genre to it and makes us want to go watch a bunch of them. Volume 2 does the same with spaghetti westerns. These movies are like a crash course in Grindhouse-type cinema. I noticed one reviewer who negatively critiqued the film commented on the black and white photography during the fight scene-Quentin had to do that to get it past the MPAA; the Japanese version is all color. Anyway, the movie was a blast, and if you can stop being a snooty cinephile for about 2 hours, you should have a blast too.

Brilliant, Not For Everyone However.......2007-05-29

My first viewing of this volume in the Kill Bill saga occurred at two in the morning, as I suffered from severe insomnia. I was desperate, hoping that it would help me drift off. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, this film did anything but. The action, cinematography, and witty script blew me away; I loved it. The next day, however, I was surprised to learn that many people I knew did not feel the same way as I did regarding this flick. Willing to form a better opinion of the movie and shrugging the fact that I loved it off to simply being overtired, I watched it again.

I still loved it. And herein was where I realized that this film is not for everyone. As it is a homage film, a tribute to Spaghetti Westerns and Kung-Fu flicks, one must look from this perspective. I myself enjoy these genres of film and lapped up Tarantino's unique and witty take on them. It is apparent (as it is in most of his work) that he is a great fan as well.

As mentioned numerous times by others, there is gore abound here. Ridiculous violence, blood spurting everywhere, and bodies flying constantly. But somehow Mr. Tarantino, and you may call him sick or twisted for it, made all the slicing and dicing humorous and never too serious, witty lines and funny visuals all the way through. True cinematic genius in my book.

On the surface it looks like a senselessly violent revenge movie, but underneath it is far more. Like most of Tarantino's films, Kill Bill is riddled with culture references and contains a wonderfully varied soundtrack; absolute joy for the pop culture buff. It is a cleverly written, and the wonderful talent of all involved is clearly exhibited.

On to the acting, Uma Thurman is a true standout. Prior to this film I hadn't thought much of her, even believing her to be overrated. This one role of hers changed my opinion completely. Thurman is brilliant as "The Bride"; her piercing eyes and intense persona portray a woman out for revenge amazingly. Lucy Liu is also impressive as a cold Yakuza headlady, and Vivica A. Fox and Daryl Hannah both provide great supporting roles as well.

Overall this film is most definitely not something that everyone will go for- in fact, most will find it odd for the first ten minutes or so, but stick with it. This film is one of the most brilliant in recent years, even though it might not hit you with its depth right away. Highly recommended.

**By the way, make sure to buy Volume 2 along with your purchase of Volume 1- the films were intended to be one but due to time constraints two were made, as you see them now. It will add for a more complete viewing experience, not to mention the cliffhanger at the end of the first.

Average customer rating:

The Godfather
The Godfather
One Of The Best!
IMHO, closer to the reality
The movie that started the modern American mafia genera

The Godfather (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Marlon Brando , Al Pacino , James Caan , Richard S. Castellano , and Robert Duvall
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B0001NBNB6
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Amazon.com essential video

Generally acknowledged as a bona fide classic, this Francis Ford Coppola film is one of those rare experiences that feels perfectly right from beginning to end--almost as if everyone involved had been born to participate in it. Based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel about a Mafia dynasty, Coppola's Godfather extracted and enhanced the most universal themes of immigrant experience in America: the plotting-out of hopes and dreams for one's successors, the raising of children to carry on the good work, etc. In the midst of generational strife during the Vietnam years, the film somehow struck a chord with a nation fascinated by the metamorphosis of a rebellious son (Al Pacino) into the keeper of his father's dream. Marlon Brando played against Puzo's own conception of patriarch Vito Corleone, and time has certainly proven the actor correct. The rest of the cast, particularly James Caan, John Cazale, and Robert Duvall as the rest of Vito's male brood--all coping with how to take the mantle of responsibility from their father--is seamless and wonderful. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

The Godfather.......2007-07-05

Long before "The Sopranos," a young Coppola transformed our understanding of the relationship between organized crime and corporate American profiteering with this operatic ode based on Mario Puzo's acclaimed novel. Moody and violent, with Gordon Willis's Technicolor photography adding a sepia-toned period look, "Godfather" combines a bullets-blazing mobster film with a gripping family saga. And what a cast: Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, and Diane Keaton are all superlative. Brando, of course, achieved yet another level of cinematic fame with his iconic portrayal of the title character. Coppola fought with Paramount to achieve his personal vision, but ultimately triumphed, winning the 1972 Oscar for Best Picture.

The Godfather.......2007-06-21

The greatest movie ever. It can teach you all you need to know about life in 180 minutes. There you go, life in 3 hours

One Of The Best!.......2007-05-15

What can I say, this is a fantastic epic! In my opinion, it is one of the best movies of all time. A+++

IMHO, closer to the reality.......2007-04-15

It's sad to see the mafia or cosa nostra portrayed as a couple hundred thugs in New York hustling up money. The mafia is a worldwide organization and in the overall evaluation performs many good deeds and must benefit others more than it harms (Aquinas - "The greatest good for the greatest number"). The governmental systems in all countries always leave people behind and there must be some underground that picks up these people and helps them survive. Also, it seems to prove useful to have an underground which is at least somewhat prepared to fuel revolutions. Frequently, the mafia within a given country can prove a great asset to its government since they are usually privy to intelligence that escapes the ears of the government's agencies.

Everyone knows this movie, I would point out that I really liked the development of the expansion of the Cosa Nostra and in the sequels the international expansion.

The movie that started the modern American mafia genera.......2007-04-14

The Godfather set the American Mafia movie genera. A good plot line with a tight scrip, superb direction and well acted. There are many murders, after all this is about gangsters but why it's rated "R" is beyond me. It's way less gruesome with less disturbing violence than Casino and many modern MA films are much more violent.

The power plays, honour and business scheming between the Mafia families give the framework of the film with personal trial and tribulations providing more depth for the character development that echo throughout the genera ever since and make The Godfather repeatedly watchable.

I wanted a copy for a present and after spending months looking for a copy in the retail shops without success, I found this widescreen version at a great price on Amazon within seconds and, I ended up keeping it.

The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

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The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
Starring: Robert DeNiro , Sean Connery , Andy Garcia , and Kevin Costner
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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