The Point

Starring:Ringo Starr, Paul Frees, Lennie Weinrib, Bill Martin (IV), Buddy Foster, Joan Gerber, Mike Lookinland, Alan Thicke, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Barzman, Harry Nillson
Director: Fred Wolf
Studio: RCA
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The wartime memories of surviving World War II bomber squadrons were still crystal clear when this acclaimed drama was released in 1949--one of the first postwar films out of Hollywood to treat the war on emotionally complex terms. Framed by a postwar prologue and epilogue and told as a flashback appreciation of wartime valor and teamwork, the film stars Gregory Peck in one of his finest performances as a callous general who assumes command of a bomber squadron based in England. At first, the new commander has little rapport with the 918th Bomber Group, whose loyalties still belong with their previous commander. As they continue to fly dangerous missions over Germany, however, the group and their new leader develop mutual respect and admiration, until the once-alienated commander feels that his men are part of a family--men whose bravery transcends the rigors of rigid discipline and by-the-book leadership. The film's now-classic climax, in which the general waits patiently for his squad to return to base--painfully aware that they may not return at all--is one of the most subtle yet emotionally intense scenes of any World War II drama. With Peck in the lead and Dean Jagger doing Oscar-winning work in a crucial supporting role, this was one of veteran director Henry King's proudest achievements, and it still packs a strong dramatic punch. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This gritty World War II action drama staring Gregory Peck, Oscar winner Dean Jagger, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill and Millard Mitchell is seen as one of the most realistic portrayals of the heroics and perils of war. Convinced an air force commander (Gary Merrill) is at the breaking point, Brigadier General Savage (Peck) takes over his struggling bomber group. Kind and understanding, he adopts a crushing discipline to revitalize the demoralized troop. At first resentful and rebellious, the flyers gradually change as Savage guides them to amazing feats. But the stress of command soon takes it's toll and the weary general reaches his own breaking point.

Customer Reviews:

Special Edition Review--Much Better than Just the Movie.......2007-07-01

The 2007 special edition of Twelve O'Clock High is just what any fan of the original movie would desire. First, you have the original movie, one of the greatest Hollywood films ever made and certainly the greatest WWII film ever made. Second, you have on the same disc a voice-over narration option giving facts about each scene by commentators. The second disc contains a retrospective on the making of the film, a profile on the man who was the model for Gen. Savage, a profile on the US home front, a profile on bomber crewmen in WWII, movie stills, news articles, and more. As a big fan of this film, the new edition is a treasure and renders my older version entirely obsolete.

Great Drama.......2007-06-19

This is the fictionalized account of the 306th Bomb Group (movie use fictionalized name 918th BG). Movie effectively blends WWII vintage air to air combat footage and with post WWII movie produced footage for some pretty effective drama. In 1949, they only had 12 B17 bombers for this movie on loan from USAF. This special edition has extra disc with historical commentators as well interviews. Pretty interesting stuff. The movie is not widescreen. The SE has an extra disc, the old version does not have this supplemental material. It still a first rate story, but without widescreen, it is short of 5 stars since I will probably on sit and watch disc 2 only once or twice.

Classic B-17 Flight Flick.......2007-05-26

Viewing this movie was a requirement for a class about Leadership, while I was attending US Air Force flight training. It contrasts a couple of types of leadership, and has some of the best actual flying scenes of B-17's in WW2 European bombing mission. A must see for anyone into WW2 history, or just an aviation buff. Superb acting by all, but particularly by Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger.

Twelve O'Clock High.......2007-05-14

In my opinion this movie is an all-time classic. It gives you a gut feel for the radical paradigm-shift that the life or death struggle of all-out war forces people to undego. What was once important in peace time civilian life disappears completely. And the changes in focus, thinking, priorities and agenda that participants in the conflict are forced to make force viewers to realize how much gratitude and honor we owe to our past and present military veterans. Their heroic dedication and the sacrifices they made, and continue to make for the rest of us, are incalculable.

Outstanding study in leadership..........2007-05-13

This film was used in the 1980s at Leadership, Management, Education and Training School (LMET) as their final exam. We watched the movie and it was paused after certain scenes. We would then have to describe the leadership style used, whether it was effective or not, and why. I had seen this movie several times before but I now gained a new respect and understanding for this movie. The use of black and white film allowed the use of actual gun camera footage from the 8th Army Air Force and Luftwaffe archives.

Average customer rating:

It's Just Okay.
Action that requires a little wisdom.
Viking Epic? Hardly.
Pathfinder: A Viking Epic

Pathfinder (Unrated Edition)
Starring: Karl Urban , Russell Means , Moon Bloodgood , Jay Tavare , and Clancy Brown
Director: Marcus Nispel
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

300 (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
Shooter (Widescreen Edition)
Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000R9U3B0
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Description

The heroic story of a young Norse man raised by Native American Indians who wages a personal war against the Vikings that barbarically raided his tribe.

Customer Reviews:

It's Just Okay........2007-07-02

The story is hard to believe. I'm not disputing that Vikings found North America circa 800 CE, I'm not disputing that encounters between the Native Americans and Vikings would have been violent, and I'm not disputing the levels of technological variance between the two peoples.

What I find hard to swallow is the circumstances that lead to the "great white hope" coming to save the day for the native peoples. I doubt that even a Viking child would retain combat skills after being raised amongst native peoples. Especially to the degree demonstrated. Throughout the whole film I found myself saying "Oh, come on!". That's not to say I didn't enjoy it; the action was pretty good.

The movie is a teensy bit formulaic. Underdog makes good by rescuing his adopted people. I mean as action flicks go, it's all right. It's just okay. Three stars.

Action that requires a little wisdom........2007-06-26

I find it interesting that reviews of this film either love it or hate it. My thinking is that people who dismiss PATHFINDER out of hand require a certain amount of their cinematic product spoon-fed to them. The fantasy must be easily palatable and simple to digest. Typical actions fans don't want to actually feel afraid, nor do they want to think. They don't want to use their own imaginations; likely they are impoverished in this regard. PATHFINDER requires a minimum awareness of the horrific potential for cruelty, as well as the ability to cherish and protect, that lies within human beings. Absent here are Schwarzenegger-style one-liners upon dispatching an enemy, abundant cleavage displays and other ubiquitous actions motifs which temper any actual feelings of fear and help remove the viewer from an experience of real connectedness to the characters. In other words, extreme violence is okay, as long as there are enough farcical elements to make it "fun".

PATHFINDER eschews farce. This is not a cartoon. It's straight up action, firmly rooted in the tradition of John McTiernan. It's like the director grew up watching PREDATOR and decided, you know, this would be perfect without the jokes. The film is structurally quite similar to DIE HARD: lone warrior facing impossible odds. You think there's no way he's going to make it, maybe he'll take out one or two of the bad guys and then he's going down. But the film, with mathematical precision, defies your expectations and the result is thrilling. You don't understand how he's possibly going to survive, thus there is real suspense. And the fun thing is, it's really more about the hero's wits than his brawn.

I think the most profound achievement of the film is the cold, hard anthropological nature of the script. The Native Americans are not ecologically savvy hippies with hearts of gold, nor are the Vikings blonde studs with braids and clashing beer steins. All our modern conceits and politically correct reinterpretations of history are abandoned for the terrifying truth: the Indians are Stone Age farmers eking out an existence on the cusp of survival, while the Vikings have steel armor and weapons. The Vikings are bent on claiming new land and they consider the Indians vermin. The result is a blood bath. Instead of the warm and fuzzy "roller coaster ride" offered by your typical action fare, PATHFINDER leaves you sitting there with eyes wide, thinking, This is not a fantasy, this is how it would have been. It's like a stylized documentary of Thomas Hobbes' LEVIATHAN. In other words, horrifying.

Particularly so is the scene where the little Viking boy first arrives in the New World. Again, it's not fantasy, it's not action, it's pure anthropology. Steel against wood and stone. It's more like snuff; you are reminded that this is the director they picked for the CHAINSAW remake. Fans of the lighter action fare were probably horrified by this scene, felt existential twinges they were uncomfortable with, or perhaps they didn't understand what was going on; thus the negative reviews. It's not the cartoonish chest-thumper that is 300; PATHFINDER makes CONAN look like BACHELOR PARTY; NEW WORLD is a sopping wet Merchant-Ivory spoof in comparison. Further, I think complaints about the cinematography come down to a more basic failure by unschooled audiences to understand what's going on in the film. They can't follow the story due to a personal lack, so they blame the filming.

I also find it asinine that reviewers are so critical of the dialogue. Are people deaf? Is everyone so ADHD afflicted that unless it's blah-blah-blah every minute they can't focus? PATHFINDER's dialogue has a simple poetry designed to express the elementary tongues of these early peoples. The characters don't speak often, but when they do, the words are important. And people speak from the heart, without irony. Maybe this straight-forward genuineness is what some viewers find so hard to take. But come on, people. It's like Sergio Leone movies in which characters speak minimally. In this setting, words are almost useless; actions speak louder than. What do people want? Vikings ranting like Mamet? Indians sassing back like Tarantino?

Frankly, it's unbelievable to me that people could miss out so completely on what's cool about this film. It doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator, apparently. Fails to slop the hogs sufficiently. I don't have space here to convey all the things I really dug about PATHFINDER. There are important messages about racism and identity. I think the film has real cult potential as the main character's assertion of self, "Eth Bay Quer Eh Kem!" (I know who I am!), could be the rallying cry for a generation of disaffected teens. The love story is quite moving, as well. The characters actually have chemistry. Human emotion in general is well conveyed. But again, you have to be receptive. When a brave refuses to shake the main characters hand, your mind has to move on its own and consider the deadly consequences for yourself; the film does not pause and explain. There is no accompanying PowerPoint presentation. Apparently that's what people need.

And the problem is, all these negative, unthinking reviews. People will not see this movie. Thus, they will not make another like it. To me, that's a shame.

Viking Epic? Hardly........2007-06-18

This movie was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Literally, its in the top five worst movies of all time. There wasn't a single ounce of story driven content on the screen. There was maybe 5 words spoken in the entire film, and there was no reason behind anything that anyone did. You feel absolutely nothing for any of the characters. O wait, I felt something. I was hoping everyone would just die so the movie would end. But no, it kept going on and on and on, just showing more Viking deaths and killings, but getting nowhere in the process.

"Lets make a movie with no story, and we can throw in random, choppy "fight" sequences to make up for it!" That's probably what the director was thinking when creating this movie. Too bad the fighting scenes are terrible. The editing is terrible. One second the characters are over here attacking a Viking, the very next shot has them in a entirely different scene fighting someone else. Did I mention there is no story behind all this? It's just a montage of random killings. There is also no logic to back it up either. "Let us climb onto a mountain pass, and lets tie ourselves together, so if one falls, we all fall!" You'll no what I mean when you see it (although I highly, HIGHLY recommend you don't waste your money AND time).

So to end this review of a worthless, terrible, despicable and time-wasting movie, I will again say there is no story. Only random, gory deaths that had nothing to do with anything. I again recommend you skip this, unless you really enjoy films with absolutely no story and lots of cheesy, laughable (although they were going for the opposite effect) deaths.

Pathfinder: A Viking Epic .......2007-06-07

Pathfinder is a great viking epic movie about a man's struggle and destiny. the cinematography,visual effects,and the costuming is outstanding. i would love too see this movie get a academy award nomination and also get an academy award. the fighting sequences are ethereal and very haunting. Pathfinder (Unrated Edition)

Average customer rating:

It was good movie
Vaniishing Point dvd
Tarantino was right!
VANISHING POINT/ BARRY NEWMAN
Awesome

Vanishing Point
Starring: Barry Newman , Cleavon Little , Dean Jagger , Victoria Medlin , and Paul Koslo
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Manufacturer: Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Vanishing Point
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ASIN: B00013RC8O
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Amazon.com

Art film and road movie collide for Vanishing Point, an existential car chase across the desert in a post Easy Rider America. Barry Newman stars as Kowalski, a taciturn driver who bets that he can drive a new Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. He loads up on amphetamines and begins his odyssey through the contemporary west while a funky black DJ (Cleavon Little) turns the driver into a folk hero and broadcasts advice on dodging the cops. It's like a counterculture precursor to Smokey and the Bandit, with the road as the last bastion of freedom and the DJ as a combination commentator and mystical guide. The slim plot offers a network of society drop-outs that aid the "last free Man on Earth" (as the DJ describes him) on his obscure but obviously symbolic quest while flashbacks paint Kowalski as a world-weary hero. It doesn't really make much sense, but the amazing car chases and excellent stunt work are stunningly set against the American west, beautifully captured by cinematographer John A. Alonzo. Vanishing Point is most assuredly a product of its time, the heady, anything-goes era of rebellion in the early 1970s. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Thrills, spills and a handful of pills. It all adds up to one of the most spectacular car chases in motion picture history! Barry Newman stars as Kowalski, the last American hero, who set out to prove that he can drive from Denver to San Francisco in just fifteen hours. Along the way, he meets an old prospector (Dean Jagger), a snake worshipper, a nude woman on a motorcycle, and a blind D.J. (Cleavon Little) who "sees" danger ahead in this super-charged, action-packed adventure!

Customer Reviews:

It was good movie.......2007-06-13

I bought it cause they were talking about it in the recent Grind House movie that came out in spring of 2007.

Vaniishing Point dvd.......2007-06-01

At gas being 3.00 a gallon,rather then go store to store looking for this title.I thought Amazon was faster annd a good price for this item.I went where and product was promtly delivered to my door!!Amazon is great for finding title like thes an others for a good and fair price!!

Tarantino was right!.......2007-05-15

This movie was mentioned in Grindhouse, so I bought it to check it out. There's some killer car chases! A little cheesy in parts, but the action satisfies!

VANISHING POINT/ BARRY NEWMAN.......2007-05-13

OF THE TWO VANISHING POINT MOVIES PRODUCED THE ORIGNIAL WITH BARRY NEWMAN STILL HOLDS TOP HONORS WITH ME. THE CAR THE ACTORS AND THE SCENERY. THE HONESTY ABOUT THE PERIOD ie. RACIAL TENSIONS, DRUGS, HIPPIES AND LAW ENFORCEMENT MADE PERFECT SENCE. TO BAD THEY HAD TO DESTROY THAT BEAUTIFUL 70 CHALLENGER, THERE SO RARE NOWADAYS.

Awesome.......2007-05-13

I was only 7 yrs old when I first saw this movie. I never forgot it. It is awesome.

Average customer rating:

For big and little Kid's
The Point
i saw the originsl on tv
Blast from my childhood!
Must have for every film library

The Point
Starring: Ringo Starr , Paul Frees , Lennie Weinrib , Bill Martin (IV) , and Buddy Foster
Director: Fred Wolf
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Point! (Deluxe Packaging)
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ASIN: B0001JXPSO
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Amazon.com

Harry Nilsson wrote the entirely hummable songs (including the hit, "Me and My Arrow") for this charming, 1971 animation feature about a boy with a round head who is banished from the land of pointy-headed people. An allegory about nonconformism presented in a delightful way, this is a treat for everybody. Ringo Starr, the late Nilsson's old pal, narrates. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

For big and little Kid's.......2007-06-27

I was probably 12/13 when I heard the point .I have never seen the cartoon form untill this year.My son Bas is 7 and he actually got the point.Dig.

The Point.......2007-06-26

Great moral story and wonderful music. Harry Nilsson did an excellent job with this show. Have seen it several times on TV many moons back, and love watching it every time!

i saw the originsl on tv.......2007-05-13

loved the original with Dustin Hoffman narating, magical. This version just sucks, Ringos naration is sooo bad it hurts, so sad you have destroyed my memories. Avoid

Blast from my childhood!.......2007-04-12

I never thought I would find this film again! Although I saw the original (first) version as a child, this was enough to bring back some very vivid memories of watching "The Point" on TV at my grandmother's house. I even remembered the words to the song! This film is so 70's, so retro in mood and music. The plot moved slower than I remembered, but it was still very special to see it again after 35 years.

Must have for every film library.......2007-04-09

This is a delightful and pointed Animated piece for Children and Adults. The music is terrific, by Harry Nilsson, a shame we lost him so young. The narration is by Ringo Starr, who was always my favorite. Watch this with or without your kids or parents. Invite the neighbors so they won't complain when you turn the volume up. Me and My Arrow. Enjoy.

Average customer rating:

Twists and turns, and it's a tennis movie
Interesting, but too much time wasted
Slow and Tedious
Wooden, actually
An Amoral Remake of Dreiser's "American Tragedy"

Match Point
Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers , Alexander Armstrong , Paul Kaye (IV) , Matthew Goode , and Brian Cox
Director: Woody Allen
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EQHXNW
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Amazon.com

The passion of mad love and the cold calculations of social climbing collide in Woody Allen's Match Point. Former tennis pro Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Velvet Goldmine) stumbles into good fortune when Chloe Hewett (Emily Mortimer, Lovely & Amazing), the daughter of a wealthy businessman, falls in love with him. But when Chris meets Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation), a much deeper passion is stirred--and his desire isn't deterred when he discovers that Nola is already dating Chloe's brother. But when their affair threatens Chris's increasingly cozy lifestyle, Chris begins to consider a drastic solution. Match Point starts deftly and ends with cunning; though the middle bogs down in banal plot mechanics, Woody Allen fans have justly hailed it as a comeback after Allen's last few cinematic stumbles. Despite weaknesses (Allen still seems to have lost touch with the mundane realities of life; his characters operate in a strange, weightless world of wealth and privilege), the strong performances and clean direction carry the movie through. Also featuring Brian Cox (X-Men 2, Adaptation). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Match Point is "a winning combination of sex, mystery, brilliant writing and first-rate acting that all adds up to one of the most erotic and exhilarating movies in years." (Maxim). Chris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is being torn apart by his desire for two very different women. Marrying Chloe (Emily Mortimer) will bring him a life of wealth and success, but his true passion lies with his brother-in-law's fiancee, the stunningly sensuous but unpredictable Nola (Scarlett Johansson). Pulsing with tension, Match Point rides the dangerous line between ambition and obsession to an ending as surprising as it is chilling.

Customer Reviews:

Twists and turns, and it's a tennis movie.......2007-07-04

This was a very un-Woody Allen movie, many people said. I would have to agree, as it takes place in London rather than his native New York. Yet, it had some very valid points that I didn't consider until the plot got rolling.

Johnathan Rhys-Meyers plays Chris, a tennis pro who is looking to establish himself. After landing a job as a tennis pro at an English country club, he meets Tom, a member, and the two become friends despite their social standig. Eventually his sister, Chloe, falls for him and the two begin seeing each other. Chris, however, developes an infatuation with Nola (Scarlette Johansen), Tom's girlfriend. The two of them are outsiders to Tom and Chloe's family (a borish American actress and a tennis pro), but Chris is accepted as they see him as having potential while Nola is looking to hitch her wagon to wealth and privilage. Chris would prove himself to be such a man as well, but it will reveil itself as the movie progresses. Nola and Chris will have one encounter, but she disappears once Tom and her split. Months later, she reappears after Chris and Chloe are married, and they take up with the affair once again.

Chris changes during this time. While he is first seen as an all around "nice guy" who made a mistake with Nola, he shows another side of himself. He is concerned with social climbing, wanting the wealth and privilage of the Hewitt family. He is bored being married to Chloe, but realizes she is part of his all too important image. He's married to the boss's daughter, he's being groomed to fill the old man's place someday, and he needs a wife and family to add to his all too important image. He tries to juggle both women at the same time, but finds Nola is demanding more and more of his time. Eventually, he devises a plot to eliminate Nola all together once she gives him an ultimatum - run off with me or I'll tell everyone you got me pregnant. He murderes Nola, makes it look like a burglary, and, strangely enough, gets away with it even though he's questioned by the police with a telltale diary.

What does this say about human nature? Funny how our needs and wants change with circumstance. Chris wants the beautiful bombshell, then once he gets her he doesn't want what he's got. Nola resists her urges for Chris when she is with Tom, but once she gives in she seems to have no qualms about their affair and wants more from him. Tom wants a gorgeous, exciting woman like Nola, but disposes of her to marry a more respectable woman in the end. And look at all the people who fell in line with the plot who suffered (the neighbor lady in Nola's apartment building).

A new twist for a Woody Allen movie. Makes you think.

Interesting, but too much time wasted.......2007-07-03

Takes too long to get going, and can be frustrating in the process. However, once it does get going, it pulls you in and you cannot stop watching. A very strange movie about a man who cheats on his wife, but then realises what he has is much better than an affair. His lover becomes a problem and she must be dealt with. Woody Allen attempts a Hitchcock style and it almost works. What I didnt like was the fact that Jonathan Reese Myers is supposed to be a hearthrob, but he is too skinny and weedy in real life.

Slow and Tedious.......2007-06-27

This is the type of movie that gives heterosexuals a bad name. Rhys-Myers, I have decided is only capable of simluating sex. Whether here or in the Tudors it's pretty much the same. And Miss Scarlet (and of course the terminally neurotic Allen) seem to think that whenever in the throes of an orgasm it is always better to have a cigarette in your face and be madly blowing smoke at your partner. No single character deserves empathy. they are all scumbags in every sense of the word and as soon as the movie is over (If we can call it an ending) we don't really care what happens to any of them. Pick somethin' wlse.

Wooden, actually.......2007-06-22

How, as a Londoner, to handle the extreme cognitive challenge that is "Match Point"? Let's try....

A favourite TV ad airing in the UK features a young swain bringing his girl home after a date and kissing her lips, only to retch on the taste of the Marmite she has secretly been eating. The very-postmodern makers of Marmite cleverly play on the average Brit consumer's knowledge that "you either love it or hate it" and are grown-up-enough to positively delight in confronting rejection.

And so with Woody Allen. Much has been written about him as an "acquired taste" and, certainly after 20 years of wrestling with acquiring it, one can see that the self-styled-tortured-yet-somehow-loveable-New-York-intellectual persona has its attractions when presented in a home milieu (e.g. Annie Hall, Manhattan) or as a comic abstraction (e.g. Everything You Always... , Bananas).

However, "Match Point" forces us to remember the reviewer who once said "If ever the proverbial barrel were found to have a false bottom, this would be discovered lurking thereunder".

Where to begin? As a Brit, but lover of all things New Yorker, I really wanted this to be a clever take on English manners; perhaps a postmodern riff on the old Ealing comedies staple about getting away with murder over a nice cup ot tea, or a homage to early (Gainsborough) Hitchcock. Unfortunately what Woody delivers is a - well - wooden assemblage of faux-Brit leads supported by some surprisingly distinguished Brit actors who should have had the professional maturity to recognise a tin-eared script when they first read it, and refuse a part in this nonsense. The only (though considerable) redeeming feature is Scarlet Johanssen, whose performance uniquely rises above the confines of a headachingly-dreadful script, to deliver something approaching a compelling account of character.

One feels short-changed: Years of critical acclaim lead one to expect "Woody Allen as sharp social observer". What he delivers is neither sharp, nor dramatically credible, nor even, come to think of it, particularly observant of any species of real people interacting, whether English, American or any other.

The reviewer who talked up the "exciting twist" is probably thinking of the one shot, heavily trailed and bloated with self-satisfied symbolism, when a piece of evidence of a murder hangs, literally, in a balance between discovery and oblivion. This could only be found "suspenseful" if one had slept through the first three reels (a distinct possibility, of course).

This is one of only a handful of films which has ever forced me to consider walking out of the theatre. We watched it to the end, through gritted teeth, in the expectation - ultimately disappointed - that the plot might deliver some justification for having appropriated our eyeballs for two hours.

I am, of course, prey to prejudice here simply by being a Londoner, reviewing a film made by a New Yorker, but the London of "Match Point" is about as credible as the New York of "GhostBusters". Save your money and treat your eyeballs to a decent piece of entertainment - like, perhaps, "Howl's Moving Castle", which is altogether more satisfying and (alarmingly enough) more credible.

Ms Johanssen's presence is the only reason to buy this film at all: A heroic and quite watchable attempt to give life to a character built entirely of recycled cardboard but whose "back story" circumstances at least offer an intelligent actor some basis for between-the-lines character development. For the sake of her career I hope she is not misled by any further specious offers of big-name collaboration - she is capable of so much better than this and in any case already has triple-A arthouse credentials after "Lost in Translation" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring". And Mr Allen - as a professional introspect, surely you should be more aware of playing to your strengths and knowing your natural limits? - pleeeease stick to what you do best and give us more footnotes on New York life. (There was a rumour that "Match Point" was originally going to be made in the USA; if so this may be a plausible excuse for the movie's complete lack of any local idiom. It doesn't excuse its other failings.)

Oh, and Marmite is (allegedly) made by scraping the dregs of brewer's yeast out of the bottom of fermenting vats. So maybe it's a fair analogy.

An Amoral Remake of Dreiser's "American Tragedy".......2007-06-12

The story has been remade by Hollywood probably a half-dozen times: Ambitious and poor young man torn between the girl who is his ticket to wealth and privilege, and the girl he loves but whom he comes to see as standing between him and material success. Well made but utterly hollow, the characters are wooden cartoons of social types. There are the children of privilege and their parents, all blissfully unaware of any suffering in the world, whose lives revolve around lunch, shooting, the theatre and Greek island-hopping. And there are the outsiders, beautiful but penniless, equally self-centered. But the third act still had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the protagonist will act and what will become of him.

Average customer rating:

An American masterpiece
The sleaziest exploitation movie ever made!!!!!!
Good, but really needed editing room help
WORTH WAITING FOR
Not to Be Confused with a War Movie

The Deer Hunter
Starring: Robert De Niro , John Cazale , John Savage , Christopher Walken , and Meryl Streep
Director: Michael Cimino
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783225997
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Amazon.com essential video

Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Deer Hunter is simultaneously an audacious directorial conceit and one of the greatest films ever made about friendship and the personal impact of war. Like Apocalypse Now, it's hardly a conventional battle film--the soldier's experience was handled with greater authenticity in Platoon--but its depiction of war on an intimate scale packs a devastatingly dramatic punch. Director Michael Cimino may be manipulating our emotions with masterful skill, but he does it in a way that stirs the soul and pinches our collective nerves with graphic, high-intensity scenes of men under life-threatening duress. Although Russian-roulette gambling games were not a common occurrence during the Vietnam war, they're used here as a metaphor for the futility of the war itself. To the viewer, they become unforgettably intense rites of passage for the best friends--Pennsylvania steelworkers played by Robert De Niro, John Savage, and Oscar winner Christopher Walken--who may survive or perish during their tour through a tropical landscape of hell. Back home, their loved ones must cope with the war's domestic impact, and in doing so they allow The Deer Hunter to achieve a rare combination of epic storytelling and intimate, heart-rending drama. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

An American masterpiece.......2007-06-19

I dont think I've ever seen a film that is more tapped into the American spirit of the time than this film. The film spreads out before the viewer, you can almost smell the soot in the industrial town. The world here lives and breathes. Its masterfully crafted and its beautifully subtle. From the innocence and kinship of small town life to the mania and simmering anger being locked into factory work causes. Its all shown masterfully.
Of course the thing the film explains most vividly is the mental and spiritual damage war inflicts on both the individual and the community. Through the main analogy that runs through the film, it shows how people can get trapped in a cycle of anger and hatred. Reliving old situations over and over and over. This film brings this internal struggle that many soldiers go through into stark reality. It helps the casual viewer understand people who have gone through severe trauma, and how they get trapped in their own minds.
The film is just as relevant today as it was in the 70's. This should be required watching for anyone who is pro-war.
One of the great American films, that despite its intense content, never loses its humanity or love of life.

The sleaziest exploitation movie ever made!!!!!!.......2007-06-09

Amazon should have a rating of minus five hundred stars to make it possible to adequately categorize this one. Well, while the USA was struggling with the social and psychological crises as the effects of their youth both being killed and tricked by the military leaders to into doing some meaningless killing in the Vietnam war, and then coming home to a society that did not want to talk about it or was only critizing their actions; somebody comes up with the perverse idea of using this a background for a totally apolitical and rascist movie that exploits generating banal and sentimental emotions with the cinema-goers.

Although faultlessly made and well acted, this is the single-most sleaziest movie I have ever seen. Had it come out in 2078, it would have been a high-class escapist movie for shallow ladies, much in the vein of the typical "doctor-novel", portraying totally uninteresting characters. And the Vietnam generation would then have passed a long time ago.....but in the late 70`s?????

I am not an American, I am from Norway and I was 19 when this crap came out, but if my family had been hurt by this war, I would have punched the director and the whole cast in their faces for exploiting one of the biggest post-World War II tragedies of the western societies, while families had lost some of their sons and had others ruined their lives forever on the mental plane(read: losing them a decade or two later).

To top it all off, the Asians are portrayed as sadistic and crazy Russian-roulette players (to make the audience feel even much more sorrow for the main characters by creating a terrible enemy to unify against), a phenomena that nobody have found any proof for at all. All lies!

I just can`t believe it and never will do so!! These people behind this movie have no respect whatsoever for others. They certainly made a lot of bread on this emotional porn of theirs. Shame on you!!!

Good, but really needed editing room help.......2007-05-06

The first hour of this 3 hour movie, seemingly meant to build the dramatic framework for the rest of the movie by showing good old boys in their hometown doing all the normal things and does this well enough, but could have been a LOT shorter. I mean a lot shorter. (I also find it amusing that somehow their drive from Penn to the Washington Cascades to hunt seems to take only one night, but that is Hollywood)

The 'middle section' seemed a lot weaker than it should/could have been. It shows them in combat for five minutes, literally, but in a way that you are not even sure what is going on, and have absolutely no idea how they get captured. You have them against all possibility reunited (or maybe they were in the same unit to begin with, it doesn't tell, but that would be even worse as they stopped making regional units with whole famalies/towns in them after the civil war.) It screams plot device. Here, they should have cut a lot less.

It is from their capture onwards that this movie gains strength, and eventually culminates in a very powerful ending.

The plot synopsis above mentions that the Russian Roulette is a symbol for the futility of the war as a whole. After thinking about this, I can not see any real evidence for this in the story.

I would see it again (probably fast forwarding through at least half of the first hour), but not buy it. And I do own Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Bourn on the Fourth of July, and think that all of these are better movies. The Deer Hunter has the potential to be almost/just as good and as these other four, the story is strong enough, but the editing severely hampers it, taking it from 5 to 3 stars.

WORTH WAITING FOR.......2007-03-05

This film takes an investment of attention that most modern films do not require. The payoff however is unique and lasting.
In the story we follow a group of friends, some who go off to war in Vietnam, some who stay behind. The characters here are not flashy, but they grow on you as people do in real life. We get closer and closer to who people really are without relying on a hero. Solid performances all around.
The contrast of the mountains and the town and the struggles in Vietnam are startling. In all three places, the mystery of love redefines itself.

Not to Be Confused with a War Movie.......2007-02-27

I love movies, but I've never liked war movies and have generally stayed away from them. Even some of the most acclaimed war movies have been some of my least favorite films. "The Deer Hunter" bills itself as a war movie and points everyone in the direction that it's going to be a war movie. The movie is 3 hours, no one ends up in Vietnam until a little past the hour mark, and they're only there (in the war zone part of Vietnam anyway) for a few minutes. "The Deer Hunter" is not a war movie, but it is a great film with great performances, great direction, great cinematography, and solid, tense script...Several reasons why it probably won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and is on The American Film Institute's Top 100 List (#79). Anyway, it's 1969 in Clairton, Pennsylvania where a group of friends work in the blast furnace of a steel mill before hitting the bars. This day is different for the group...One of them is getting married and three of them are heading out to Vietnam. The group consists of Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), Stanley (John Cazale), Steven (John Savage), and Axel (George Aspegren). The movie's first hour is very well done in the way it lets us get to know the characters, but never seems to rush it. We watch all the guys' drink, while preparing to go to Steven's wedding. We see his Russian mother chase him out of the bar and protest the marriage. We meet Linda (Meryl Streep), Nick's girlfriend who lives with a crazy/alcoholic(?) father and asks Nick if she can move into the house he shares with Michael when they leave. We watch the group of men go deer hunting and then, without warning, the film jumps to a war-ravaged village in Vietnam. Many of the shacks are on fire and Vietnamese women and children are hiding in an underground shelter. A Vietnamese soldier throws a grenade into the shelter, but is killed by Michael with a flame-thrower in one of the most famous shots from the film. Soon, Michael is reunited with Nick and Steven and the group soon find themselves as prisoners-of-war. In the realm of taut, suspenseful scenes in war movies...The scene on the boat is one of the best. There, the Vietnamese soldiers force Steven, Michael, and Nick (separately) to play a game of Russian Roulette. This scene is the most important scene in the film because it parallels with many later scenes. The movie has a strong message and is very entertaining, but I really want to make it clear to people that this is not a war movie. While war does affect many of the people in the film, it only takes up about 25% of the film. De Niro is absolutely incredible (as usual), while Walken won an Oscar for his role and deserved it. Cazale, Streep, Savage, and Aspegren all turn in terrific supporting work. This is a film that belongs in the top 100, because it truly is one of the best films ever made.

GRADE: A

Average customer rating:

over the top
A great film finally on DVD
Very Disappointing!!!!!
It's Worn Surprisingly Well
Very Moving Film

The Turning Point
Starring: Shirley MacLaine , Anne Bancroft , Mikhail Baryshnikov , Leslie Browne , and Tom Skerritt
Director: Herbert Ross
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
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Baryshnikov Dances Sinatra and More/ Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp, American Ballet Theatre
Center Stage (Special Edition)

ASIN: B0006GQMBY
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Amazon.com essential video

Mikhail Baryshnikov made his film debut in this lightweight but entertaining drama about the relationship between a renowned ballerina (Anne Bancroft) and the woman (Shirley MacLaine) who had trained with her but had given up dance to become a wife, mother, and teacher. Between MacLaine's envy over her friend's career and the attention her own ballerina daughter (Leslie Browne) is getting, MacLaine's character goes through a complicated crisis. The two actresses carry the story very well and probably camouflage its thinness; they even make a somewhat condescending climax involving a catfight seem like a good idea. A subplot involving a developing romance between the virginal Browne and Baryshnikov's womanizer makes for pretty window dressing. More memorable are dance sequences featuring each in splendid performance. Baryshnikov's leaps are something to behold. --Tom Keogh

Description

As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee (Shirley MacLaine) left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma (Anne Bancroft) would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter (Leslie Browne in her film debut) is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star (Mikhail Baryshnikov in his film debut), the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden, and the emotional truths they must face at THE TURNING POINT.

Tom Skerritt, Anthony Zerbe and the artists of The American Ballet Theatre co-star in this Oscar®-nominated classic written by Arthur Laurents (THE WAY WE WERE, WEST SIDE STORY) and directed by Herbert Ross (STEEL MAGNOLIAS, FOOTLOOSE) that became one of the most acclaimed dramas of the decade and remains among the most stunning dance films of all time.

Customer Reviews:

over the top.......2007-07-01

The focus was more on the music than on the dancing that would be done to the music.

A great film finally on DVD.......2007-05-13

This is a great film in every way. I am so happy that it has finally been released on DVD. It is a plus to anyone's collection.

Aside from great performances by the major stars who are at their best, the ballet performances by Baryshnikov and the other artists are worth the price.

Even if you aren't into Ballet, this film will give you an appreciation of the art form.

Very Disappointing!!!!!.......2007-02-24

This movie is a complete downer.
Not only does it start, continue, and end in a downward spiral, I was appalled at the foul language, the inappropriate sistuations, and the sexual content in this movie.
I would never recommend this movie to anyone looking for wholesome entertainment.
I'm very disappointed that I wasted my money on this trash.
Even the parts of dance scenes that have been talked up in other reviews, I found disappointing. I was not thrilled by beauty like I was expecting to be. There is only one dance in the entire movie and it's short.
On an overall rating. I give it a negative 2!!!

It's Worn Surprisingly Well.......2007-02-12

As a callow youth, I had no interest in seeing THE TURNING POINT when it came out. Ballet? Please! So after a judicious pause of three decades, I've finally gotten around to seeing it. And I must say that, unlike its contemporaries, this film has aged reasonably well. It simply isn't the dated embarrassment that so many 1970s "classics" have become.

This is partially because of its untraditional story arc and cast of characters. This film has THREE female leads, yet it hails from an era when you were lucky to get even one. And THE TURNING POINT is also a good reminder of what terrific actresses Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine were. (MacLaine should get a lifetime achievement award for bad eye make-up.) And dancer Emilia Rodgers, who plays Shirley's daughter, she is well cast in her role as an inscrutable and precocious young woman.

Caution: Yes, there are extended dance numbers.
Violence Alert: There is a convincing brawl between MacLaine and Bancroft herein. I'm still shaking.

DVD PROBLEM: For some reason, this DVD does not come with any subtitles. This is problematic every time Mikhail Baryshnikov stops dancing and starts speaking!

Very Moving Film.......2007-01-05

The story of friendship, The story of what could have been
The story of choices, That's this story and it is acted beautifully by
Anne Bancroft,& Shirley MacLaine. The bonus is the beautiful ballet dancing. A lovely Film !

Average customer rating:

Special Edition Review--Much Better than Just the Movie
Great Drama
Classic B-17 Flight Flick
Twelve O'Clock High
Outstanding study in leadership...

Twelve O'Clock High
Starring: Gregory Peck , Hugh Marlowe , Gary Merrill , Millard Mitchell , and Dean Jagger
Director: Henry King
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005PJ8V
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Special Edition Review--Much Better than Just the Movie.......2007-07-01

Great Drama.......2007-06-19

Classic B-17 Flight Flick.......2007-05-26

Twelve O'Clock High.......2007-05-14

Outstanding study in leadership..........2007-05-13

The Deer Hunter (Universal Legacy Series)

Average customer rating:

An American masterpiece
The sleaziest exploitation movie ever made!!!!!!
Good, but really needed editing room help
WORTH WAITING FOR
Not to Be Confused with a War Movie

The Deer Hunter (Universal Legacy Series)
Starring: Robert De Niro , John Cazale , John Savage , Christopher Walken , and Meryl Streep
Director: Michael Cimino
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000AABCU2
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Product Description

A Critically acclaimed tour de force and winner of 5 Academy Awards®, The Deer Hunter tracks three friends whose lives and relationships are forever changed by their experiences in Vietnam. One by one, each man's innocence and courage is tested in the lethal cauldron of war. Robert DeNiro's mesmerizing performance as the group's natural leader set a new standard for dramatic intensity in this searing drama of friendship, tragedy and forgiveness.

System Requirements:
Starring: Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken
Directed By: Michael Cimino
Running Time: 184 Min.
Copyright Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2005

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

An American masterpiece.......2007-06-19

The sleaziest exploitation movie ever made!!!!!!.......2007-06-09

Good, but really needed editing room help.......2007-05-06

WORTH WAITING FOR.......2007-03-05

Not to Be Confused with a War Movie.......2007-02-27

Average customer rating:

Douglas on top form
Life vs Foster
loss
Our Greatest Fear.
ive seen this movie 300 times

Falling Down
Starring: Michael Douglas , Robert Duvall , Barbara Hershey , Tuesday Weld , and Rachel Ticotin
Director: Joel Schumacher
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0790742780
Release Date: 1999-10-26

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This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut, and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck