Henry VIII

Starring:Ray Winstone, Joss Ackland, Sid Mitchell, Charles Dance, Mark Strong (II), Assumpta Serna, Thomas Lockyer, William Houston, Danny Webb, Guy Flanagan, David Suchet, Scott Handy, Helena Bonham Carter, Benjamin Whitrow, Stephen Noonan, John Higgins, Michael Maloney, Edward Kelsey, Jeremy Child, William Hoyland
Director: Pete Travis
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

They may be mean but this teen comedy is a very nice surprise..........2007-07-02

What I love so much about `Mean Girls' is that it stays hip and young yet is mature enough to reach further than the teen audience it was aiming at. The performances are surprisingly top notch, and the script is so tight that it's almost a wonder to me it didn't receive at least a screenplay nomination. It seriously is that good. The plot is different while still juggling the same popular girl/unpopular girl mentality of many high school movies. What makes `Mean Girls' so amazingly wonderful is the stellar chemistry between teen queens Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams (although McAdams is in her thirties). They are so in tune with their characters and even more so with each other that they feed off one another brilliantly and capture the pure essence of the script.

Lohan plays Cady (pronounced Katy), a young home schooled girl who's spent most of her life in Africa and is now thrown into the very foreign world of high school. She's the immediate outcast due to her social retardation, but she's quickly swept up by fellow social outcasts Janis and Damian. Cady also catches the eye of Regina, queen of the school and leader of The Plastics, teen royalty as their so affectionately coined (emote sarcasm). Janis and Damian devise a plan to infiltrate The Plastics layers using Cady as a pawn, getting her to become one of them in order to expose them for the evil they truly are.

The entire cast is truly up to the challenge, not just scene stealers Lohan and McAdams. Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese are hilarious as Janis and Damian while Tina Fey is affective as Cady's teacher Ms. Norbury. To me though, one of the best supporting characters is Gretchen Wieners, played by Lacey Chabert. She has some of the best one-liners in the film and Lacey works wonders with creating a likable air-head with layers unlike the average stereotypical dumb girl. Tim Meadows works as well as he can with his character but he's not given much to work with so he comes off a little forced at times as if he's trying to make a big statement knowing he won't have many opportunities and it doesn't quite work as well as he'd like it to. Amy Poehler on the other hand uses her few minutes to work her comedic brilliance and makes a lasting impression.

The story unfolds effortlessly, taking us from Cady's first encounter with The Plastics to her eventual acceptance to her betrayal and to her redemption with such grace and elegance that the viewer is never left confused or put off. Another nod to the script is the fact that it makes narration tolerable. Some movies can pull it off but as a whole the idea of narration can get irritable and unnecessary. Here though some of the best lines in the film are just the words running through Cady's head and Lohan's voice over is natural and entertaining. One of the greatest teen comedies since `Clueless' and in my humble opinion it's even better than it's classic predecessor, `Mean Girls' is a triumph and a film that launched the careers of two of our most bankable teen leading ladies!

Funny.......2007-05-20

I thought this was a funny and clever picture. It also has a good message. Rachel McAdams is great as a "plastic".

Dont be mean!.......2007-05-17

Most schools have mean girls! I take that back all schools have mean girls!
If you have ever watched this movie you would know that about all mean girls are the same!
Most mean girls are always PREPY, and have that DON'T MESS WITH ME ATTITUDE!
(And we all know that). In this movie there is a new girl from Africa, and her name is Katy when she goes to her new school for the first time, it was horrible on the first day! She had never been to a real school before, because she had always been home schooled. On her second day of school she made two new friends, their names were Janis and Damien. That day they had skipped class and Katy had seen the popular kids! (a.k.a.) the mean girls and she thought that they were perfect. Janis said that she hated them! One day at lunch Regina George stopped Katy, which Regina was one of the mean girls! She wanted Katy to sit with them. That day at lunch she sat with the popular girls! After she got done with lunch, Janis wanted her to tell her every thing, so she did. Janice wasn't mad! She told Katy to keep hanging out with them and find out all of their secrets and plans...so she did! And she found out a lot! One day Katy was sitting in math class and a guy walked in and sat right in front of her, and she thought that he was hott!!! Come to find out that was Regina's ex-boyfriend! Well after Regina found out she was mad, but she wanted to get her back! So when Katy asked Regina to ask Aaron out for her, she said that she would. That night there was a party at Aarons house, that was when Regina was suppose to ask Aaron out for Katy... but when she went up to do that, she started making-out with Aaron!!! So when Katy saw what Regina was doing she hated Regina! So then she went home and she starts thinking that she has to get back at her! So she starts gossiping about her! She calls Gretchen (one of the mean girls), and when she calls Gretchen she tells her that Regina called her something bad! And after she tells her that Regina called Gretchen and asked her to go out with her that night, but she said no because after what Katy said! After Gretchen hung up she called Karen (the other mean girl), and said that Regina called her a bad name! Then regain called Karen and asked he if she wanted to go out with her that night and she said no, because of what Gretchen said! So then she got mad! And she started eating a lot and started getting fatter! Then Katy gave her a fitness bar they made her gain weight, she told Regina that it makes you lose wait! So Regina put on a lot of wait!
Ok now you pretty much get the picture! But now do what do you think is going to happen?
Are Regina and Katy ever going to become friends? Are they going to keep fighting? Is every body going to hate Regina? Or is every one going to become friends again? This is a wonderful movie! I recommend this movie for any teenage girl!

-Autumn-

Not What I thought.......2007-03-12

Mean Girls came off as a little documentary of a typical day in highschool.There are the goths,preps,artsy type,populars,jocks,band memebers,and smart supposedly 'nerds.'

It didn't live up to it's oh so high expectations that me and all the other girls in my classroom has dreamed of.It was a huge dissapointer!After watching it,I can only say that it was ok but nothing more.It was preety boring at some parts but all went well because of the drama and mostly hiarious parts of he movie.

I take it back that I said it was a huge dissapointer.It is in the middle.It was kind of boring but it was all worth it to see what would happen next.I give it three stars on a scale of one to six.

Did the CGI People Airbrush Lindsay Lohan's Freckles?.......2007-03-12

I don't have a reference point for the high-school politics that are captured in "Mean Girls". I went to an all boys Catholic school where disputes weren't settled through rumor or innuendo but dealt with the old fashioned way, after school manno-a-manno by the railroad tracks. Scripter Tina Fey makes many cogent observations about the cruel nature of high school one-upmanship. My theory is that Fey is trying to paralell the pimple-faced backstabbing with what later morphs into adult office politics. In my office disputes aren't settled in the cubicles but through bathroom gossip allowed to ferment into character assassination. Why I don't give "Mean Girls" the full five-star treatment is my trouble with Lindsay Lohan's character. Appealing as Lohan is here it was hard for me to believe that her home-schooled Cady could that easily transform into a duplicitous Plastic Girl. Rachel McAdams, however, is a real revelation here as the nasty Regina. In a performance of great tact and understatement (for a Queen Bee role) McAdams manages to engender a modicum of sympathy for the devil. Though I wouldn't consider "Mean Girls" a classic it is one of the rare teen films that transcend the genre. That's to say no matter how old you are we see a little of ourselves in the film's youthful characters.

Average customer rating:

After all these years, it's still the best!
One of History's Most Interesting Loose Cannons
absolutely stunning
Masterpiece Theater masterpiece
Six Plays and a Movie

The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Starring: Keith Michell , Annette Crosbie , Dorothy Tutin , Anne Stallybrass , and Elvi Hale
Director: Naomi Capon , and John Glenister
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Elizabeth R
Elizabeth I
Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen
The Wives of Henry VIII
Monarchy With David Starkey

ASIN: B000EBD9VM
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Amazon.com

A British television series originally broadcast on CBS (and rebroadcast on PBS) in America in 1971, The Six Wives of Henry VIII remains a painless way to learn something about royal history and its impact on the political and religious landscape of England. Keith Michell stars as King Henry VIII, who assumes the throne as a boy after the death of his older brother and inherits the latter's Spanish betrothed, Catherine of Aragon (Annette Crosbie), as well. Growing up and increasingly complicated in personality, with an ever-growing appetite for elusive happiness as well as power and food, Henry maneuvers (and is maneuvered by) forces around him to break from Rome and create the Church of England, in part to accommodate his wish for a divorce.

Each story of the king's successive brides takes up an entire episode in the series. Dorothy Tutin plays the doomed Anne Boleyn, Anne Stallybrass is Henry's favorite, Jane Seymour, Elvi Hale is Anne of Cleves, Angela Pleasence is Catherine Howard, and Rosalie Crutchley plays last-in-line Catherine Parr. A very large and fine supporting cast adds intrigue and extra layers of tragedy to the proceedings, especially John Baskcomb as Cardinal Wolsey, Wolfe Morris as Thomas Cromwell, and Ralph Bates as Thomas Culpepper. Each 90-minute episode was crafted by a different writer, but the series holds together very well under Keith Michell's dazzling performance as the despicable if sympathetic Henry, whose emotional arc over many years and losses is something to see. --Tom Keogh

Description

A chronicle of England's turbulent years of the early 16th century recounting the life and times of the vibrant and lusty King Henry VIII in a cycle of six plays. Stars Keith Michell in his Emmy Award-winning performance as Henry VIII and features a 90-minute "bonus drama", The Other Boleyn Girl, based on the popular Philippa Gregory novel.

DVD Features:
Biographies:Cast bios
Photo gallery
Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

After all these years, it's still the best!.......2007-06-28

This is still the best telling of the story of Henry VIII and his 6 wives. I loved it when I watched it on Masterpiece Theater and I'm very glad I bought the DVDs. The quality was wonderful. I liked having the bonus "The Other Boleyn Girl". I read the book and thought this was an interesting production, although I'm sure the about to be released movie will be less amateurish.

One of History's Most Interesting Loose Cannons.......2007-05-19

I never let my graduate degrees in history spoil my enjoyment of historical drama, both on screen and in novels. True, I could pick nits in chronology and other areas but that would spoil the fun. So I watch them, or read them, and just plain enjoy most of them.

This one is a standout. Although it is impossible to show an entire reign in 90-minute segments, each of these six dramas does a great job of showing significant areas in the lives of Henry and his six wives. We see Henry grow from youth (but with an unfortunate wig) to old age -- his intellectual prowess in theology, languages, music; his physicality and athletic feats. In spite of his genuine intellectual gifts, however, he was erratic, temperamental, inconsistent, vain. Given the scope of events during Henry's reign, it is often difficult to realize how short his life was. He became king at 17, married Catherine of Aragon at 18, and died at 56.

I am always amazed at how well the British do these historical dramas, especially their ability to find excellent actors who can be made to look very much like the people they portray, down to details of clothing and jewelry seen in portraits.

Keith Michell is superb as Henry VIII -- but over the top? Well, it's an accurate portayal. Henry himself was over the top in everything he did, whether debating theology, coping with ambitious couriers, eating and drinking, in dress, chasing women, you name it -- a true loose cannon in every sense. The six wives are very good too, with Annette Crosbie a standout as Catherine of Aragon. The casts are full of wonderful character actors. The late Patrick Troughton, who played the scarily cold and ambitious Duke of Norfolk, is a favorite of mine. I first saw him as the scatty Second Doctor and didn't realize how good an actor he was until I saw him in other roles.

The stories themselves are well written, although I thought the one about Anne Boleyn dwelt too long on grisly torture scenes and her imprisonment and execution. It was probably also a little difficult to write about Catherine Howard, since we don't know enough about her to know whether she was motivated by lust or fear of not producing an heir or simply not being well enough educated to hold her own in Henry's court. She was also very young, probably not 21 yet when she was executed. It would have been interesting to show that Anne of Cleves survived Henry, living happily and peacefully in England for the rest of her life, long enough to see his daughter Mary crowned Queen.

The reason I didn't give this DVD set a 5-star rating is that it includes as an extra the soap opera-like episode about Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne, apparently filmed later. Mary was Henry's mistress before Anne, but she didn't last long. This was a bad choice for an inclusion and adds nothing to the series other than bad writing, a lot of nudity and sex, and poorly cast characters. It would have been far better to leave it out and include interviews with the actors or other material about the making of the series.

All things considered, however, I would highly recommend this set to anyone who loves lavish historical drama.

absolutely stunning.......2007-03-29

One of the undeniable marks of a true classic is how well it holds up over time; this presentation of six, ninety-minute plays about the six wives of the illustrious King Henry VIII is as riveting and relevant today as when it first aired in 1970(?). I actually saw this after the series that followed this, Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson (another six part series that is extraordinary), so I did it backwards but it doesn't matter one bit. The historic accuracy (as can best be known anyway) coupled with very well written scripts, perfect casting (each actor captures the look and energy of their character beautifully) and a simple but lovely set all add to the realism. This is something that would be quite educational for high school students who are DREADING their history classes, as I did. Had I seen this at the time, I might well have rolled my eyes still and thought it silly (as all teenagers do incessantly) or I might have thought this Henry fellow to be rather a hoot.

Keith Michell is outstanding. Inspiring. Remarkable. He manages to portray the MAN as well as the icon so that throughout the series I found myself wavering back and forth between wanting to smack the man and honestly feeling for him. It was also interesting to get a feel for the women behind the infamous stories and see clearly how and why Henry kept making the choices he did.

There isn't much that I can expand upon that hasn't already been touched upon rather nicely by the other glowing reviews here. All I can say is that I gambled and bought the collection before I'd even seen it based on the reviews posted and my experience with Elizabeth R, which I will also be adding to my permanent collection. I am absolutely thrilled that I have this to watch again and again, which I know I will.

I should add that this also contains a wonderful bonus, which is a ninety minute film (more recently done) about Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary, "The Other Boleyn Girl." It's incredible. Very different and while I know nothing of its historic accuracy (who knew Anne even had a sister?) I found it enthralling, bold and mesmerizing. I'm really glad they added this to the collection.

And as I said of it's sister series, Elizabeth R, any aspiring classical actors/actresses MUST watch these for an incredible master class experience.

Masterpiece Theater masterpiece.......2007-03-09

I loved the casting for this series. Keith Mitchell is wonderful as Henry VIII--so believable as he changes in appearance and personality as he desperately wants to have a male heir and the lengths he will go to to achieve this. Henry did a lot of cruel, awful things but he also founded the Church of England and was the father of Elizabeth I who was one of Britain's greatest rulers. Loved this series!

Six Plays and a Movie.......2007-02-22

Because the quality of this series widely from play to play (each was written by a separate author; this teleplan was used again in "Elizabeth R" to a rather more unified overall effect), I'll break my review down disc by disc.

Disc one, unfortunately, gets the series off to quite a dismaying start. Annette Crosbie was very well cast, and the opening scenes were absolutely engaging ... unfortunately, a good dozen or more years are entirely skipped over, while an ugly and annoying montage sequence of dreamy 70s filtered fantasy dancing stretches ad nauseum between romance and disillusion. What a shame and a waste - to simply leave out the central years of Henry VIII's marriage with Katherine of Aragon. Nothing at all new was folded into the first play, and that was disappointing. The second play on the disc is Ann Boleyn, and its script is rather more engaging, though - oddly enough - the noticeably awful set design from episode one is really magnified to shocking proportions here. (I know the budget was low, but we had low budgets in high school and did not resort to rendering brick walls by way of dipping sponges in paint and pressing them to soft flats.) Distracting, and just awful! Just as distracting: I am sorry, but Dorothy Tutin was by far too old for the role of Ann Boleyn. This suspended my ability to be lost completely. Fortunately, the third act of Ann Boleyn is gripping enough to (barely) overcome this failure in window-dressing and casting, and I realized the next disc might redeem the series.

Did it ever. Jane Seymour has never interested me as a historical figure, but the third episode was entirely absorbing. Keith Michell comes into total ownership of his role, no longer saddled with a pageboy wig and the task of playing twenty years his own junior. Anne Stallybrass is so convincing and fully realized in the role of Jane, the short-lived "favorite" is rendered fascinating. The somewhat dated sound design, using a synthesized heartbeat to punctuate the action, actually works - very well. Production design is vastly improved at this point, including more outdoor scenes as well. Moving into Ann of Cleves, we get a tour de force not only of fantastic casting and performances, but also of historical fiction at its brilliant best. The relationship as here written is entirely believable, and yet not based on established history. I think this is the best play of all six, simply for exemplifying the finest melding of entertainment with history. There are moments of absolute pathos right next to scenes of intellectually satisfying conjecture. Absolutely wonderful!

Disc three includes Catherines Howard and Parr, both perfectly cast and again beautifully balanced. I was excited to see a certain minor but very real strain of bloodthirst in the Rose Without a Thorn - what a dimension to include, and how very well Angela Pleasance handles it! She was a marvel of everything Catherine Howard is said to have been - both foolish and conniving, naive and (unexpectedly) terribly intelligent. It was a pleasure to see a smart Catherine Howard for a change, and the flaws which were her downfall are portrayed probably more believably than in any other fiction I've read or watched where she appears. Rosalie Crutchley, too, delivers a performance as Catherine Parr which brings her page in history authentically and credibly to life. When one is reading a history of Henry's wives, the tension often flags by the time we reach Parr. The writer of this episode was clearly not so bored - and this play may be one of the most harrowing.

As to the bonus material, there was not an abundance - and the inclusion of "The Other Boleyn Girl" was a miscalculation. It was so bad as to make disc one an enviable memory - and, indeed, I'm considering purchase of the older, non-BBC version of this series, simply because it does not include this particular "bonus". Stylistic choices are all very well, but right now, with the proliferation of Reality TV, I get quite enough disingenuous personal monologues delivered straight to a camera. Badly cast, badly costumed, uninterestingly designed overall, and embarrassingly written above all (the source material is no better), this lion's share of the bonus disk appears like a naked emperor next to the series itself - which, by and large, is pretty well clad by comparison.

Average customer rating:

Dogtown and Z-Boys DVD
This Movie Was Awesome! I Grew Up During This!
Knew these kids - way back when.....
A Polanyian in Dogtown
Great Movie

Dogtown and Z-Boys (Deluxe Edition)
Starring: Tony Alva , Bob Biniak , Paul Constantineau , Skip Engblom , and Tony Friedkin
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Lords of Dogtown (Unrated Extended Cut)
Riding Giants (Special Edition)
DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys
Step into Liquid
The Endless Summer

Accessories:

Enduroshot Energy Shots, Maximum Energy, Orange Velocity, 15 drinks [33 oz (975 ml)]

ASIN: B0007V6IUS
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Amazon.com

In the early 1970s, a group of young surfers from a tough neighborhood south of Santa Monica took up skateboards and offhandedly changed the world. At least it appears so after watching Dogtown and Z-Boys, a documentary about how twelve "Z-Boys" (including one girl) resuscitated a dead sport and created a lifestyle that spread infectiously to become a worldwide counterculture phenomenon, namely high-flying "vert" (i.e. vertical) skateboarding and punk rock abandon. Director Stacy Peralta, one of the original Z-Boys, and Craig Steyck, the photographer whose publicity first made them famous, would have you believe that with empty pools as their springboard, the clan single-handedly carved a niche that grew into what is now referred to as "extreme sports" (snowboarding seems particularly implicated). Degrees of accuracy aside, the hoard of original footage Peralta and Steyck have access to makes for an engaging portrait of "accidental revolutionaries" whose mythology as expressed by themselves (all but one of the original crew give extensive interviews) and those they influenced (including Henry Rollins, Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam, and Sean Penn, who narrates) is far more entertaining than any evenhanded version could ever hope to be. --Fionn Meade

Customer Reviews:

Dogtown and Z-Boys DVD.......2007-07-03

Bought this for my husband - I'm not a huge skateboarding fan but the documentary was interesting and engaging. He LOVES it and recommends it to everyone who watches documentaries.

This Movie Was Awesome! I Grew Up During This!.......2007-04-20

Yup... I remember when skateboarding made its big comeback (for me here in Chicago, around 1976) and it was the rage.

This documentary is nothing short of fascinating not only for the surfing/skating history and classic films (plus the narration by Sean Penn--cool!) but for the shots of Venice Beach and the areas around Dogtown back then! I had NO IDEA that it was that run down, especially along Venice Beach, which is like a tourist mecca now.

The footage of them entering their first competition and blowing everybody away--all the square, geeky kids with their silly tricks getting smoked by a bunch of long-haired surf-rat kids. Priceless.

And if you're a current skater or, say, a big Tony Hawk/X-games fan, this is a MUST SEE historical document. There would be none of that without these guys. Entertaining as hell even if you're not a skater (makes me want to go out and get back on the board).

And of course, the music is great and period-accurate. OUTSTANDING movie.

Moves very quickly too; the editing is fantastic.

Knew these kids - way back when............2007-03-09

Knew most of these kids back then, wasn't too much older than they were - loved seeing the history and getting filled in on some of the details we weren't aware of at the time. I had a clothing store a few doors from the original Jeff Ho store on Main St in Santa Monica for many years.... who knew this would be such a milestone back then? These were just cute "surfer" kids causing a little havoc... so innocent by todays standards. Loved this documentary. Loved being part of that time.... Station 26 rules!

A Polanyian in Dogtown.......2007-01-23

This is a cool movie. "Dogtown and Z-boys" is the documentary version of "The Lords of Dogtown," or I guess it'd be better to say that "The Lords of Dogtown" is the non-documentary version of this movie. It's about the little band of boys (which included a couple of girls) in the 1970s who basically invented the sport of skateboarding as we know it. Calling it a sport is a bit of a misnomer. It's competitive, but it's not ultimately about winning, but like surfing, it's about the beauty of human skill--or the skill of creating beauty or the beauty of skillfully and creatively interacting with the earth. For the Z-boys, a skateboard was a way to surf when there weren't any waves. They had a lot of free time on their hands, and there was a big drought in Southern Cal, so they roamed the neighborhood looking for empty swimming pools to skate in. Concrete waves.

One of my favorite parts of the DVD is a clip of some of these guys going back to skate at a schoolyard where it all started (it's in the special features). One reason I liked this is that they're all about my age, a bunch of forty-something guys, balding and grey. But they still had the moves; their bodies had them memorized.

It's a great example of the concept of indwelling, developed by philosopher Michael Polanyi (maybe I should apologize for bringing up a little-known philosopher in a review of a skater movie, but his work really helps me understand and appreciate what these guys did). After lots and lots of practice, the highly skilled skater focusses on the move he's trying to pull off and almost no direct attention to the details of how he does it. In his consciousness, the skateboard is part of him--he indwells it. Polanyi also showed that freedom and community are critical factors in the process of discovery. This bunch of kids had lots of both. Minimal adult supervision had some bad consequences, too, but these guys shifted the skateboard paradigm. You might say it's a life wasted on trivia, but I think the skill and physical grace they demonstrate is a work of art. There's a bit of the image of God here, a bit of truth.

Great Movie.......2007-01-19

Great movie on skateboarding, the Z-boys and how it all got started. If you were a kid during the early to mid 70's, skateboarder or not, it really takes you back to those days. Fantastic sound track as well.

Average customer rating:

Review of Wives of Henry Viii
David Starkey is Amazing
Good Movie, very informative
Entertainment and Education
Factual Narration & Dramatization Enliven the Wives of Henry VIII.

The Wives of Henry VIII
Starring: David Starkey
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Elizabeth: The Acclaimed Saga of England's Virgin Queen
Monarchy With David Starkey
Lady Jane
Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen
Elizabeth I

ASIN: B00006L91Z
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Customer Reviews:

Review of Wives of Henry Viii.......2007-06-27

Dr.Starkey's narrative is a wonderful combination of historical facts presented on a background of good acting, beautiful period costuming, and accurate physical locations. It was also very intersting to me to see his use of original documents (letters and decrees). I had seen the series on PBS, but always fell asleep at some critical point. Having the DVD at my disposal at home didn't keep me from falling asleep, but I could always go back and review it to see what I had missed.

David Starkey is Amazing.......2007-06-01

David Starkey always does a wonderful job in bringing history to life. This DVD is a must have if you enjoy history along with a DVD of Elizabeth I also by David Starkey.

Good Movie, very informative.......2007-05-12

Two discs, interesting about the wives and not so much the king.

Entertainment and Education.......2007-03-09

This DVD is fantastic. I am a history buff - especially of Tudor and Stuart British history. The DVD is historically accurate and contains a ton of information. But it keeps the attention of viewer and even non-history-lovers enjoyed watching it.

Factual Narration & Dramatization Enliven the Wives of Henry VIII........2007-02-01

"The Wives of Henry VIII" is a historical miniseries produced in 2002 that has aired several times on PBS stations as "The Six Wives of Henry VIII". A companion book to the series by Tudor historian David Starkey has yet another title: "Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII". David Starkey narrates the series, regaling us with the backgrounds and personalities of the 6 women who married King Henry VIII and their experiences as his wife, as they navigated the monumental political power struggles and dangerous court intrigues of Tudor England: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr -"queen, lover, mother, outcast, victim, and survivor" respectively.

Happily, the personalities and ambitions of these women are preserved in their correspondence and other documents, so their characters are not opaque. We can hear their own words and visit the places that their dramas played out. The wives' stories are told in David Starkey's narration as we watch dramatizations of the events. The dramatization serves as more of a punctuation to Starkey's compelling tale than as a source of information, which is unusual. Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn are treated in more depth than the other wives. "The Wives of Henry VIII" succeeds in bringing these women and their time alive in the viewer's mind, reminding us that history is anything but dry. It's the greatest of all dramas, and the wife of King Henry VIII was a perilous role to play indeed.

Average customer rating:

They may be mean but this teen comedy is a very nice surprise...
Funny
Dont be mean!
Not What I thought
Did the CGI People Airbrush Lindsay Lohan's Freckles?

Mean Girls (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Lindsay Lohan , Rachel McAdams , Tina Fey , Tim Meadows , and Amy Poehler
Director: Mark Waters (VIII)
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002IQJ96
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Customer Reviews:

They may be mean but this teen comedy is a very nice surprise..........2007-07-02

Funny.......2007-05-20

I thought this was a funny and clever picture. It also has a good message. Rachel McAdams is great as a "plastic".

Dont be mean!.......2007-05-17

Not What I thought.......2007-03-12

Did the CGI People Airbrush Lindsay Lohan's Freckles?.......2007-03-12

Average customer rating:

Don't look under your bed!
Dead Birds
One of the best horror movies i've seen in a long time !
Superb
A rare period haunting

Dead Birds
Starring: Henry Thomas , Patrick Fugit , Nicki Aycox , Michael Shannon , and Muse Watson
Director: Alex Turner (II)
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Session 9

ASIN: B0007A0F4O
Release Date: 2005-03-15

Description

When a group of criminals on the run after a bank robbery take refuge in an abandoned house, they have no idea what evil they have come upon. Isolated and presumed deserted, the house is anything but safe...As the night wears on and a thunderstorm grows outside, each member of the group begins to have visions of the atrocities that occurred within the house, haunting it forever. Voices in the well, visions of mangled bodies and clawing under the stairs plague their waking hours. As the fear in the group begins to grow and the supernatural forces in the house start to manifest themselves, the group turn on each other and exact the wrath of the soul trapped within the walls.

Customer Reviews:

Don't look under your bed!.......2007-06-06

I am a horror movie junkie and although I know I am about a year late catching this movie but I'm glad I watched it. I haven't jumped in my seat at a horror movie that much in long time. Dead Birds is a creepy good time. This movie has a great story. Set during the Civil War bank robbers hold up in an abandoned plantation. Well, it's abandonded for a reason. It's haunted! It's haunted but not just by ghosts but other worldly demons. Infact that whole part of the story has a very Lovecraftian feel to it which I really liked. This is a movie with genuine suspense and some great effects/gore. It has a great combination of suspense and gore. The cast is very good even though in my humble oppinion the female lead was the weakest. Two huge thumbs up in my book.

Be warned! Don't look under your bed.

Dead Birds.......2007-05-20

Dead Birds should have been entitled, Dead Ducks! It wasn't the actors, it was the plot! Something (skinned dog manufactured out of spent gum?) attacks the 5 people heading for the old farm and they are forced to kill it before they even get close. Hmmmm, not too promising in my book! Nevertheless, the group continues to the old farm and spend lots of time wandering around the interior (neat old house!) There is also the subplot of the original owner who turned his children into little sneaky things with sharp teeth via cutting up his slaves. Of course, we don't really know why he did this or for what purpose. The kids only show up two or three times to scare someone and their moment of glory is so fast you have to stop frame them to get the full effect. In spite of the feelings of unrest and the fact that characters regularly walk out of the house and disappear, the group continues to stay. Personally, I would have kept walking on down the road after the gumby dog showed up; go figure!

One of the best horror movies i've seen in a long time !.......2007-05-14

This has it all!..a great story, decent acting and very nice effects to make you jump out of your seat. I love this film, and i got it cause i didnt know what to get as a movie. I was truly surprised how well done this movie is for being a low budget film. If you are seeking a little bit something different, with great effects and no huge stars to watch their egos only get bigger..than this film is for you and its worth the money for sure. Highly Recommended !

Superb.......2007-02-07

one of the only Western-horror movie.
Its HP Lovecraft style also.
not much gore exept for exploding head at the bank robbing scene, children getting head shot, a old man getting shot too, and some corpse looter looting a caravan of rotten corpse. very nice scene that slowly create the ambiant, then we hear children and demon kind voice. some disrtubing twisted ending that create another incoming ''plot'' that you would ask for more.
dark and evil ambiance make this movie a cult one to me.
If you preffer badly filmed Cannibal Hollcoaust snuff wanna be movie, then thsi movie might not be for you. but if you like different movie, and nice background with eery ambiant and something different, give this one a try. i instantly loved it from the start to the finish

A rare period haunting.......2006-11-28

This movie is more of a psychological thriller with special effects weaved through out the movie. I really liked the movie after it got started. It does have a very slow start and it is a little difficult to get into, but near the middle and end it turns very good. This movie is a movie to make you think about what is going on. It isn't a movie that you can have on in the background when you are doing housework. I do recommend this movie for anyone that wants a complex horror flick!!!

Average customer rating:

Okay, for a modern version....
Fun, modern-day take on P & P
Low-key but nice
Absolutely great
so funny....not!

Pride & Prejudice (2003)
Starring: Kam Heskin , Orlando Seale , Ben Gourley , Lucila Solá , and Henry Maguire
Director: Andrew Black (III)
Manufacturer: Excel Entertainment Group, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0002ZH5PQ
Release Date: 2004-07-27

Customer Reviews:

Okay, for a modern version...........2007-06-08

It is not a Jane Austen movie for sure but will do for a quick fix of a chick flick.

Fun, modern-day take on P & P.......2007-01-18

This is a fun, light little modern twist on Pride & Prejudice. A bit of guilty pleasure, it's a "summer page turner" of movies, but watchable over and over. Give it try if you're a Jane Austen fan to see the story turned around a bit and re-worked.

Low-key but nice.......2006-12-29

When I checked this one out from my local library I wasn't expecting much. It looks like something that was either broadcast on TV or just went straight to video. But I was surprised at its light-hearted take on the Austen novel. This version certainly isn't a classic, but it made for a fun chick-flick-movie-night for me. I appreciated the film makers' choice to not inject alot of unnecessary sex or bad language into the movie. It's a good story as it is. The acting isn't Oscar-worthy, but the script is elevated by its principal actors, Kam Heskin (Elizabeth)and Orlando Seale (Darcy). Orlando's a highly trained actor, and it really shines through in his performance.

There are lots of extras on the DVD. I especially like the pop-up track that pays lots of tribute to Jane Austen's novel, comparing certain details (both obvious and somewhat hidden details) to the original tale.

So even though I give this only 3 stars, I still recommend it and hope others discover this movie, too.

Absolutely great.......2006-12-06

I love this movie. It is one of my favorites. It is charming and fun, and you come out from watching it with a smile. There is nothing offensive in it, which I appreciate. I very much recommend it. Though I would suggest that you don't expect much. That way you will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

so funny....not!.......2006-10-05

I absolutely did not like this movie. If i HAD to choose something i remotely liked it would be the fact that Darcy was adorable. Everything else fell along the lines of a typical "mormon modern" movie. I could completely tell that this was made by a mormon director. The movie reminds me ALOT of "The Singles Ward"....which means stupid humour, stupid romance, and completely stupid everything. Some people like this though, obviously, since Nepoleon Dynamite was popular.

This movie resides on the bottom of the Jane Austen movies i like...Actually, i wouldn't call it a Jane Austen movie, cause i think she would cry from shame if she ever saw this.

Average customer rating:

East Enders goes Tudorian...
An Interesting, But Not Historically Accurate, Perspective
What went wrong here?
Great but lacks luster.
Nope nope nope nope nope

Henry VIII
Starring: Ray Winstone , Joss Ackland , Sid Mitchell , Charles Dance , and Mark Strong (II)
Director: Pete Travis
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0002KPIR8
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Amazon.com

The tragic history of Henry VIII gets a brash, full-blooded treatment in this well-cast, two-part production for British TV. Having made a vicious impression in the acclaimed 2000 gangster film Sexy Beast, Ray Winstone plays Henry as a self-doubting, insecure brute with base instincts and a healthy suspicion toward his not-so-loyal subjects. Director Pete Travis and writer Peter Morgan can be forgiven for neglecting the greater scope of history; by leaving epic battles off-screen and focusing on the intrigues and betrayals surrounding Henry's infamous succession of six ill-fated wives, this authentic-looking melodrama succeeds as a tightly paced study of hidden agendas among the King's immediate staff. In a story that involves religious upheaval, infidelity, courtly corruption, and Henry's anguished obsession to sire a male heir to the throne, Helena Bonham Carter (as Anne Boleyn) is an obvious stand-out in an excellent cast that includes Charles Dance, David Suchet, and Sean Bean, while Winstone's volatile Cockney bearishness drew mild objections from royal-drama purists. The film doesn't flinch from the brutality of the early 1500s when Henry reigned with an iron fist (including several beheadings to drive the point home), so this Henry VIII is not for kids or the faint of heart. Taken on its own terms, however, it's a rich, irresistible example of superior British filmmaking. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

East Enders goes Tudorian..........2007-04-24

For those of you who know about the BBC Series "The East Enders", about blue collar Britons in East London, this will be a clear message.

For those of you, who know nothing about this, let me just say, that although "East Enders" is a long running series on BBC, and very successful at that in its own right, it is the story of a working class community that shows everyday dramas of common "Cockney" people.

Although they do not speak too tight, they still preserve their working class accents.

And so it is here, in this version of "Henry VIII".

This is an insult to intelligence and good taste.

Not just history-wise, but also to all those working class people in the East End of London, who are in fact, far brighter and intelligent as to fall for this weak attempt to bring History to the "simple man".

How can you imagine that a man such as Henry VIII, brought up and educated by the Company of Jesus (a.k.a. Jesuits), both in rhetoric and fine literature, as well as mastering Ancient Greek, Latin and French, could still speak with a working class "Cockney" accent?

This alone should give you a hint on how bad and how ridiculous the entire movie is.

Nor does it help to have Charles Dance (who actually appears and disappears almost immediately) on board, or Helena Bonham-Carter, doing her own bit, as usual, but that has no connection to the true Anne Boleyn (neither physically, nor in personality), or again David Suchet, whose experience as an actor gets totally wasted, by making him too, into a "Cockney" Cardinal Wolsey... (better watch him in Poirot).

This film takes so many liberties with actual historic fact, such as actual historic feats and details, up to even having all the wrong hair styles, wrong costumes and completely wrong social behaviors of the time.

No one bothered to do in-depth biographical researches nor to stick somewhat, to actual court protocol and etiquette of the times.

It seems that all the producers, writer(s) and the director wanted, was to slam an MTV generation styled drama onto film, to entertain their own aficionados.

Unfortunately they actually managed to go public with this embarrassing product of ignorance, arrogant populism and primitive conception of history.

In one word: Revisionist.

Revisionism, as we all know, is the specialty of upstarts who never bothered to actually study about what truly came before them, and just love to rewrite history as they please, in order to make it more comfortable to them to justify their otherwise embarrassing and abysmal ignorance pervading the world they have built for themselves, out of accumulating money, but never having spent a minute studying the texts they claim they know, nor having set eyes on actual books of the period.

Some reviewers have criticized the 1972 produced movie "Henry VIII and his Six Wives" (starring Keith Michell as Henry VIII, reprising his role from the successful BBC series "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"), as being bad, but let me tell you, that the movie was made for U.S. audiences in mind, who either never got to see the BBC series in the first place.

In fact, the movie has a completely new cast, sporting actors such as Charlotte Rampling and Donald Pleasence (whose daughter was part of the BBC series also).

This movie was meant as a sort of a "compendium" to the BBC series, and both form a complete and almost accurate (except for some dramatic licenses here and there), history lesson and are far more biographically accurate than this present product.

Add also Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold's "Anne of the thousand days" and Paul Scofield and Robert Shaw's appearances in "A Man for All Seasons" and you will truly have the complete Henry VIII's tale as it should be told in a movie.

This "Henry VIII" is pretentious and simplistic to say the least and it is not even "modern" as the director tries to defend himself.

Being modern can also mean to still have some taste and intelligence left to produce something of value, without treating history as trash.
But more important than anything else is that no matter whether you try to reach blue collar workers or white collar ones, a movie-maker ought to have some respect for them.

I do not get a great sense of this respect in this movie.
They liked it, so we have to like it.

No, this is not how it works my dear fellas. You are meant to educate and to bring awareness among people, especially when dealing with history.

IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THIS, THEN GET YOUR PAWS OFF OF IT!!!!

Besides, Ray Winstone is the weakest Henry VIII I have ever seen walk the stage or the screen.

I still remember Charles Laughton or Robert Shaw playing him, or even Keith Michell (to me still the definitive Henry), and they all brought majesty into the character.

Ray Winstone, probably due to his background as an actor, and to his stocky appearance, but not stature, is constantly forced to yell and yell, but never really comes through as a Monarch.

He could at best play King John Plantagenet, but never, ever Henry VIII.

He is too weak and looks more like a "docker", than a true King.

Besides as far as Kings go, they would never shout in public. Their rants and their anger attacks always happen behind closed doors, away from the public eye.

I had hoped that this production be as good as its predecessors, or at least as its contemporaries with "Elizabeth I" (Helen Mirren) and "The Virgin Queen" (Anne-Marie Duff), but no such luck.

While I am at it, why did they not cast Robbie Coltrane ("From Hell" and "The World is Not Enough") for the role of Henry VIII?
He is a "Cockney" as well, but at least HE would have had the stature and I bet he would have played the role with more distinction and fervor than Ray Winstone.

The DVD transfer is OK, both in sound, as well as in its image quality, but as said, the movie is not worth a dime or a penny.

If you are seriously interested in History and want also acting skills and good writing going hand in hand, then go with the movies and BBC series I have mentioned above.

Leave this forgettable and empty-headed MTV-styled product to those who love to drink beer and eat popcorn.
They won't mind either way, since their attention span is as long as the length of a commercial break anyway.

I am sorry, but in order to produce a History movie, it takes far more talent than this.
Certain rules will always apply, but some people don't seem to really care nor do they seem to realize that their careers depend on this simple fact.

I cannot recommend this movie to anyone, not even to my dog, who seems to be far more intelligent than some people...

An Interesting, But Not Historically Accurate, Perspective.......2007-03-09

I've read all the other reviews and agree with them - by and large. If you know the history of the Tudor period, this program really ain't it - except in its sweeping overview of history.

What I thought was fascinating was that these people seemed more 'real' to me than in the other programs I've seen. Though it is infinitely better in terms of reporting history, Keith Michell's The Six Wives of Henry VIII seems antiseptic to me, like there's really nothing at stake.

While I agree with the others that Henry wasn't the kind of man who would personally treat his wives cruelly (raping, throwing them to the ground), this is the first rendition of him where I saw him as charismatic, a larger-than-life figure. I don't care that the actor playing him isn't the right height...

... I don't care that the wives don't have the right color hair. For the most part (Anne of Cleves the exception, she certainly wasn't on-screen for very long), the wives seemed more flesh and blood here than elsewhere. For once, I could see what Henry must have seen in Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Even if her death scene was woefully written (Catherine didn't throw a tantrum before being beheaded), this actress playing her was both beautiful and conveyed a sexual knowledge far beyond her years.

The historical accuracy problems have been well documented - and are endless. But for my money, this series gives a good overview of how dangerous life was in the Tudor court, and the types of personalities that thrived within it.

What went wrong here?.......2006-12-01

I do not expect historical accuracy in every movie about Henry VIII like we've seen it in the BBC production with Keith Michell. Even the BBC production bears some inaccuracies and changes in its script but they do not contradict history like this one!

Ah, where to begin? The actor chosen for Henry VIII was dreadfully miscast. The only resemblance was that he had red hair & that's it. The historical Henry VIII towered over everyone surrounding him at his court (He was 6''2, a very unusual height at the time), he didn't speak with a Cockney accent & didn't behave like a drunken brute. Henry VIII, for all that Hollywood attempts to change, was a king of refinement and knowledge. Despite being married to six women throughout his life he was a prude whose behavior towards women & the lords at his court was worthy of a king. I do not expect the genius of Keith Michell from every actor who portrays this role but here we've arrived at a new low! A Henry VIII hitting & raping his wives? Nothing we know of Henry (And his enemies would have been delighted to report such low behavior) suggests that he ever abused any of his wives in such a way. Not even Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard suffered from his hands directly once he had chosen to send them to the block for whatever offense they may have committed but were left by him in cold blood.

Aside from this the wives were portrayed awfully. Has any of the writers here read a history book? Katherine of Aragon was fair & blue eyed (Only the BBC productions got that right) & not slender, dark eyed & dark haired. She never spoke in such a fashion to Anne Boleyn for it would have been beyond her dignity to address the matter to anyone, much less to the lady who caused it. Helena Bonham Carter was too old to play 19 year old Anne, plus she was obviously pregnant.

It goes on and on.... Breaches of etiquette, inaccurate costumes & hairstyles, overly corny executions...

These days it's in to rewrite history in Hollywood. But not in a way that produced enchanting little masterpieces like "Young Bess" or "The private life of Henry VIII"....no, history is reduced to a tabloid soap.

Great but lacks luster. .......2006-08-12

Henry VIII is a symbol of absolute despotism yet absolute grief. Let me be very clear, I am not condoning his actions but I am saying he is understandable. The man was a lover, fighter, mass murderer yet he was human. The obvious bias in favor of Henry VIII is so evident that it is laughable, and the attempts to create pathos for "Good King Harry" create more comedy than drama. Henry rapes and abuses Anne Boleyn yet the movie makers find it in their hearts to zoom in on his face and play sorrowful music to try and create sympathy for the abuser rather than the abused.The movie was saved by Henry VIII's wives, most notably his second, Anne Boleyn played in a masterful way by Helena Bonham Carter. In fact, the only reason I give this film four stars is because of Helena Bonham Carter and Emily Blunt (Katherine Howard). Both of these women gave stellar performances as did all the wives. Ray Winstone gave a good performance but did not opt for a regal accent. I strongly disbelieve that Henry VIII sounded like he came out of Cheapside.

Nope nope nope nope nope.......2006-07-23

This thing is three hours and twenty minutes long. An hour an ten minutes into it, Princess Elizabeth is born. That should give you some idea of the horrible pacing. Plenty of others have complained about the wild inaccuracies, from tiny things (headwear) to major world-changing events (the break with Rome skipped over in a heartbeat), so I'll sum up quickly. The dialogue and situations themselves seem forced and highly unrealistic--for instance, Henry VIII leans over others watching a joust, including Katharine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey, to flirt with Anne Boleyn. Other highlights: Wolsey personally torturing Buckingham in the Tower (wrong in at least 3 different ways), Princess Mary torn shrieking from her mother by brutal guards, Henry bending Anne over a table and raping her. I haven't even made it to disk 2. I think I'm done, though, and my copy is now for sale. If I have to hear "I can do anything I want--I'm the king of England; I'm the king of England--I can have anything I want" one more time, heads will roll.

On the other hand, you do get to see Henry VIII's bum. That rates one star on its own.

Average customer rating:

The Private Life of Henry VIII
Charles Laughton Still Wonderful As Henry VIII
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Creaky
good old movie

The Private Life of Henry VIII
Starring: Charles Laughton , Robert Donat , Franklin Dyall , Miles Mander , and Laurence Hanray
Director: Alexander Korda
Manufacturer: Allied Artists Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000085EF9
Release Date: 2003-01-23

Customer Reviews:

The Private Life of Henry VIII.......2007-05-14

My whole family enjoy this type of movie and we all remember seeing it as children. Charles Laughton makes a wonderful King Henry VIII. The story is very entertaining. Those that believe the film is not a true story just don't understand it. I loved it.

Charles Laughton Still Wonderful As Henry VIII.......2006-04-05

There was no actor quite like Charles Laughton and playing the title role of Henry VIII in this historical film truly made him an international star. Although the film may seem stagy and slow- going by today's standards, it still holds up fairly well. Certainly Laughton's academy award winning performance is still a joy to see. The story tells the story of British King Henry VIII and his six wives; well, actually five wives since the film begins with Ann Bolynn (Merle Oberon) his second, and even then we don't see much of her because she is about to lose her head because of adultery. We learn from the title cards which follow the opening credits that Henry's first wife wasn't at all that interesting and we need not concern ourselves with her, so it skips over her. It becomes clear later that another reason for poor Ann's demise was the fact that she failed to give the King a son, which he desperately wanted as an heir to the throne. Although it takes awhile, the King finally does get a son but we know from history that he will die young and his daughter by Ann will grow up to be Elizabeth I, but all of this is outside of the film's framework. Still, what story we do get is mostly entertaining and those that complain that the film is not historically true seem to be missing the point. It's really more of a comedy than anything else and therefore, doesn't concern itself too much with historical truth. Just witness the wonderful scene, for example, where Henry is attempting to explain to his new German wife (played by Laughton's real wife Elsa Lanchester) where babies come from!

The film is being released on DVD by a company called Allied Artists and although they claim the movie has been remastered, it certainly doesn't look it. The image is soft and there's not much black & white clarity. Fortunately, the print itself seems to be in decent shape overall, although not without a fair amount of scratches and the soundtrack could use some cleaning up too. Another annoying problem is that for a good portion of the film, we get lines of green and pink which keep fading in and out, and although these color lines are faint, it still quite annoying and probably could have been easily corrected had the film been transferred to disc more properly. The only extra is a short collection of stills from the film but these look a lot sharper and clearer than the film itself. The retail price for this disc is almost $20.00, which seems a bit high considering that picture quality for the film could have been a lot better.

The Private Life of Henry VIII.......2005-09-07

Henry VIII's unusual life has been covered in many films, but this lavish early depiction has its own magic, primarily owing to Laughton's dynamic, Oscar-winning portrayal, in a role he was born to play. Laughton is ably supported by a dashing Robert Donat as Henry's cuckolding subject, and the dark and stunning Merle Oberon as the endearingly dim-witted Boleyn.

Creaky.......2005-03-13

Charles Laughton plays the rotund monarch in a role that was highly praised. But it's lumbering and creaky, with heavy-handed theatrics, typical of the early talky era. I found watching this picture very heavy going.

good old movie.......2004-01-20

This is a really old movie but if you are a King Henry Vlll bluff you will like it. Charles Laughton makes a wonderful King Henry Vlll. I love all of the Charles Laughton King Henry movie and this one is great. For all King Henry Vlll fans. Worth buying.

Average customer rating:

Made for TV, insightful, rent it.

The Hunt for the BTK Killer
Starring: Maury Chaykin , Mark A. Owen , Cecil Wright , Robert Forster , and Michael Michele
Director: Stephen T. Kay
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield
Albert Fish
Curse of the Zodiac
The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition)
Hannibal Rising (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000M9BPF8
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Product Description

Dennis Rader (Gregg Henry) was an adoring father, devoted husband, and much-loved model citizen of Wichita, Kansas. But secretly, he was a gruesome monster that terrorized the community for over a decade before disappearing in 1988. After discovering the bodies of his first victims and haunted by the most infamous cold case of all time, Detective Jason Magida (Robert Forster) and the police department got a huge break in 2004 when a new letter and clue arrived at a local Wichita paper, clearly from the BTK Killer himself and a horrifying indication that the nightmare was about to start all over again, unless the killer could finally be caught.

Customer Reviews:

Made for TV, insightful, rent it........2007-03-23

Assuming you have followed the BTK case, you will want to rent this. Buy it? Guess that depends upon your level of obsession. If you know enough about Rader then you will find Gregg Henry's performance at least somewhat inspired if not borderline spooky. His mannerisms are spot on, and he does at least resemble the man. Although Rader is far from human in my eyes, Henry succeeds in bringing out his level of depravity. This work is something made-for-TV, sanctioned by local Wichita Author Beattie (multiple cameos), that was maybe on CourtTV (?) At any rate, it is insightful, yet never really makes you feel immersed or entirely sympathetic towards any of the protagonists. At a skim 88 minutes, it is simply an "addendum" to Beattie's excellent book. Read that, then see this. It is at least somewhat budgeted. Not every detail is accurate (miniscule stuff that only would bother the locals). 3 and 1/2 stars.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Belly of the Beast/Out of Reach

Kolya

American Werewolf in Paris [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Chandu on the Magic Island:Feature

Frank Sinatra - Sinatra in Concert at Royal Festival Hall