Reviews (556)

Heeeere's Johnny! A modern horror classic on DVD
It's tough to believe that Stanley Kubrick received a Worst Director Razzie nomination for "The Shining." While "The Shining" may not be given the classic status of some of his other films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001", it's actually the least polarizing of this highly-praised and atypical filmmaker's work.

This atmospheric thriller is sure to creep you out with its pacing, eery editing and cinematography (those tracking shots are highly effective), and Jack Nicholson's powerful performance as Jack Torrance. Horror films often tend to divide audiences into genre fans who follow the gore and those who laugh in the face of so-called scares, insisting their own resiliancy to cheap thrills and lamebrain plotting.

Fortunately, "The Shining" doesn't make you take sides, because its chills come from plotting and character study as much as they do from odd sights that will make you jump. It may stray from Stephen King's book and not all of it may make sense, but "The Shining" has so much going for it that you won't mind. It's a gripping and satisfying film experience, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the '80s.

This Warner DVD re-release is definitely the version to get. The fullframe presentation comes at the wishes of Kubrick and the video and audio offer significant improvement over the drab initial release. (Unfortunately, the original Mono audio track has been dropped altogether in favor of an effective 5.1 remix. They could have included both with no problem.)

In the way of extras, there is an engaging half-hour on-set documentary, filmed by Kubrick's daughter Vivian. It provides a candid experience of the film's creation, and interviews with some of the actors. In addition, this DVD re-release includes an audio commentary on the documentary (sort of a "making-of the making-of") by Vivian Kubrick. There's also the spooky trailer, which shows how a movie preview can perfectly pique one's interest in a film, without spoiling (or even saying) much.

Possibly the Best Horror Movie Ever
This was a spectacular piece of work. It had a chilling soundtrack, and had some very good camera work. In the case of the Shining, a movie has finally exceeded the book upon which it was based. Things that would normally make a movie terrible have made the Shining a spellbinding movie. For example, the dialogue throughout the entire movie seems forced and unnatural. Another example is during an argument between Jack Nicholson (who performs incredibly well throughout the entire movie) and Shelley Duvall, after which Jack storms out of the room and glances at the camera as he goes by. If you're a horror fan, or just into movies, this is definetely one to see again and again and again.

A great horror movie..
This film slowley but shorley creepes you out, I don't think any one but Jack Nicholson could have played this role that well, and Krubrick has the best feal in the world, and the score is one of the best ever put in a movie. The movie is really scary.
It all starts off kinda slow thenwe see Dany talking to himself, and then there's a few images that are veary frightning, the holtel gives you a veary creepy isalated fealing, like if something were to happen there'de be no way out. Jack slowly starts going crazyer and crazer, and the hole time creepy images are appearing in the hotel, and the last half hour of the movie is trueley scary, a must see.

267
When i first saw this movie i was scared to death. realy it may have beeen the scariest movie i have ever seen. i also read the book but the movie was even scarier.
i realy recomend you this movie.
maby it had beeen the scariest movie i have ever seen...you are going to love this movie.

Another Kubrick Classic
I loved this movie. It freaked me out I must say. Jack Nicolson is the perfect crazy man in the movie. Another thing this movie possesed was great cinematography as any Kubrick film posses and great acting by all of the actors and actresses. Great movie deffinate buyer. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Tay Garnett was a hard-nosed, job-of-all-work director who moved from studioto studio and genre to genre throughout the golden age of Hollywood.Henever achieved the status, let alone the distinctive signature, of a Howard Hawks or Raoul Walsh; still, with talent, brashness, and cojones to spare,he was responsible for a slew of cheerfully vulgar entertainments, andseveral genuinely fine films.

Bataan may well be the best. Certainly it's one of the strongest Hollywoodsalutes to the war effort while World War II was still raging. In hisgrittiest roleto date, Robert Taylor (sans mustache) plays a U.S. Army sergeant fighting arear-guard action in the Philippine jungle, covering Douglas MacArthur'sretreat.His platoon is the usual wartime study in democratic motley:veterans (Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, Tom Dugan) thrown together with greenrecruits (Robert Walker, Barry Nelson), a Latino (Desi Arnaz), a black(Kenneth Spencer), not to mention a couple of stalwart Filipinos (RoqueEspiritu, J. Alex Havier), and several officer types (George Murphy, LeeBowman) with sense enough to defer to the sergeant's judgment. As in JohnFord's desert classic The Lost Patrol, the group is whittled down throughmisadventure, disease, and skirmishes with the ever-advancing Japanese, tillonly a handful remain for a still-shattering last stand.

Bataan was made at MGM, and the principal setting, a jungle clearing overlooking a strategic bridge, stinks of the soundstage.In other respects,however, Garnett manages to introduce shocking, un-Metro-like realism intothe proceedings.In an early scene of bombardment, a GI, blinded, crawls outof the wreckage of a field hospital only to have a smoking roofbeam crush hisbandaged skull.There's nothing cosmetic about the wounds in this movie;they hurt and they bleed, and people get them during the most gruesomehand-to-hand combat in any '40s war movie. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Interesting Portrayal of Men in War
Released in 1943 this is an attempt to show the American public what we were fighting for and what our men were up against during WWII in the Pacific. They not only fought the Japanese but the elements and each other in a hostile environment. From a technical standpoint cinematographer Sidney Wagner and art designer Cedric Gibbons put together a hellish vision of war in the jungle. The cast is first rate with Robert Taylor as Sergeant Bill Dane incharge of the defenders. George Murphy is very good as the pensive Lt. Steve Bentley. Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Nolan, Robert Walker, Desi Arnaz (in a good performance) and Barry Nelson are among the other defenders left on Bataan. The strangest relationship in this film is between Robert Taylor and Lloyd Nolan. Taylor recognizes Nolan as someone else he once knew. Nolan makes every attempt to undermine Taylor's command. Nolan fights hard but it never seems for any higher aspirations such as duty, honor and country. This was a strange portrayal in a film meant to expound those very qualities.

Bataan: The 'Good' War
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Americans then reacted much the same as they did on September 11, 2001, when Saudi terrorists crashed two jet planes into the WTC. Shock was quickly followed by anger, and then to a call for action. By the start of 1942, Hollywood heard this clarion call, and for the next four years dutifully cranked out one patriotic war movie after another. BATAAN was one of the first and the best. Director Tay Garnett boiled the movie down to an us versus them level. On the us side were a number of well-known American actors led by the then megastar Robert Taylor, and capably backed up by LLoyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, Desi Arnaz, and Robert Walker. The Japanese were shown as nameless, faceless, buck-toothed, slanty-eyed devils who refused to attack unless possessing numerical superiority. Much of the film plays out as an updated version of the earlier THE LOST PATROL. In this latter film, the good guys (Brits) are picked off one at a time by nameless, faceless, towel-headed Arab cowards who refused to attack unless possessing numerical superiority. In both films, the heroes are led by crusty yet heroic leaders who command a motley group of assorted ethnic types. One by one,the Americans die. With each death, the audience could feel both sadness and anger. This movie shows the horrors of jungle warfare in a way that Hollywood had never approached. Director Garnett kept the audience involved by switching from scenes of gripping combat to vignettes of personal drama. Desi Arnaz plays the ethnic jitterbug who dreams only of returning to his beloved Brooklyn. Robert Walker is the archetypal kid whose greatest fear is that he won't be able to send a letter home to his parents. Probably the most interesting of these subplots was the one involving LLoyd Nolan and Robert Taylor. Little by little the audience learns that Taylor as a military policeman years earlier was in charge of escorting a criminal to prison for execution. There was a train wreck, and the handcuffed prisoner wriggles free. (Sound like Dr. Richard Kimble?) Taylor spends years tracking him down only to find that this very fugitive is one of the Americans under his command. Taylor slyly lets Nolan know that he knows who Nolan is, but before Taylor can arrest him, Nolan is stabbed in the back by one of the cowardly Japs who had been playing dead. Nolan's last words to Taylor are, "For just one second,I thought it was you who stuck the shiv in my back." Taylor, alone, fights on, blasting his heavy machine gun directly into the camera, shouting, "Here I am! I'll never leave."
BATAAN accomplished its goal of getting Americans involved on many levels, not the least of which was to stir up hatred against a clearly recognizable enemy. With the Japanese now our friends, a contemporary viewing leaves the audience trying to see past the dated enemy while still recognizing that every era has its war and each war its recognizable enemy. This BATAAN manages to do as well as Spielberg did sixty years later with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

Average War Film
Pretty good. Fairly forgotten 60 years later. Cliched and macho but interesting as indicative of typical wartime propaganda. A platoon of soldiers must make a last stand to allow others to escape. Almost no effort is made to explain what is actually going on in terms of the larger picture and why they are being called upon to make this sacrifice. These men are just "doing their duty". They are,of course, whittled down to the last man. Worth a viewing.

Gritty, Violent, and Remarkable
As wartime propaganda, "Bataan" is brilliant--watching it, you may be filled with a seething hostility toward the Japanese that hasn't been felt since Reagan's 1980s. But what's more remarkable is that this gritty, often racist Robert Taylor vehicle is pretty solid as a movie, too. Filmed on an atmospheric soundstage that doubles for the jungle, its moody production practically oozes menace and rivals the Universal "monster movies" of the 1930s. (Watch it at night with the lights off for the full effect.) Often dubbed a remake of John Ford's "The Lost Patrol," "Bataan" has as much in common with any number of last-stand movies . . . as well as later slashfests like "Friday, the 13th," where each character's inevitable demise is more gruesome than the last. In that respect, "Bataan" is again remarkable, as the violence is graphic and shocking, particularly for the period in which the film was made. The cast of many familiar faces, including Desi Arnez, Barry Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, and Robert Walker, also deliver the emotional goods, keeping us caring about what happens next to these doomed men, a quality more recent films generally lack. If you're expecting the technoglitz excess of "Black Hawk Down," you'll probably be disappointed by "Bataan." But if you want to see a Hollywood depiction of war as a silvery nightmare, this may well be the one movie to watch.

Hollywood document
Filmed at the time, this is the closest you will get to experiencing World War 2. Watch this film and youll see why Americans fight, and why the U.S. must win every war at all costs. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

The Widescreen version on DVD was worth the wait!
This movie is based on the first novel I read in high school. The book was both engaging and suspenseful and the film brings it to life on the screen (right down to verbatim dialog from the book). When I saw this film in the theater the first time I was blown away.

Veteran film makers Ross Hunter and George Seaton gather an excellent cast and crew to do justice to the book (material not used in this film was developed to make Airport '75). It's no wonder the film, though panned by critics of its time, garnered 10 Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture (Helen Hayes received the Best Supporting Actress award)!

This is a must film for those who are fans of its genre. A 30 year anniversary documentary of the film would still have been an appropriate tribute to honor all those involved with its making (many are no longer with us). Remastering it digitally in its original widescreen presentation is quite an improvement!...

This is where it all began
There have been a few disasters and monsters before this movie. However this is the one credited as the beginning of the airplay disaster movies. These have included some sequels and even the "Air Plane" spoofs.
It is fun to look back at the different actors and remember or see them for the first time in a younger body.
The film has several overlapping and intertwining stories; some of the stories seem like soap operas.
A few mentionable scenarios are Mel Bakersfield (Burt Lancaster); airport manager is accused of placing his work before his family. He gets berated in the middle of a crisis by his probably to be ex-wife Cindy Bakersfeld (Dana Winter). Does he also get distracted by his beautiful and efficient assistant? Throw in a pilot playboy, Capt. Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin) that is forced to evaluate fatherhood. For comic relief we have Ada Quonsett a geriatric stowaway. Then for the drama there is someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain if the plane mysteriously does not reach its destination; the man with an attaché case D. O. Guerrero (Van Heflin.)
I am not going to go through the whole story it is for fun if you get to speculate on what is going to happen. How ever I must say one of my favorite characters is Joe Patroni (George Kennedy) operations chief that is tasked with clearing the runway of a stuck 707. See him again as the corrupt lawyer, Uncle Andrew, in Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile."

Airport
The movie Was Well Made.ive seen this more than 20 times.The cast was great.I liked Helen Hayes she was funny.

good but not great
One of those All-Star production during the seventies.
Much better than the following Airport-Films.
A sentimental Oscar for Helen Hayes,she was really a great actress,but her performance was only solide and not outstanding.
Maureen Stapleton gives the best and greatest performance in this
film,her role was small but but most interesting.The Academy Award had should goes to her.Fine Turns by Lancaster and Martin.

Still a Thrill
Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin star in this film about life and work around an airport for the employees and passengers. It is a mix of suspense and drama, of the sort that is still a thrill today, and while airports were safer during this time, the film exposes the caps that were apparent even then.

Dean Martin's performance is especially memorable, as it is very different from his work with Jerry Lewis or parts thereafter (no singing). However, in the form of a brainy teener there is still something of a Jerry Lewis-type-character for the man of "That's Amore" to contend with. A film that will entertain and intrigue! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Not The Thin Man or Charley Chan But Good
If you are a fan of the movies of the 30's and 40's you will recognize Edward Arnold but probably not his name. He was often cast as a man of power in the state, town, company or the family and he was convincingly good at it. Arnold diverts from his usual persona in Eyes In The Night. He deftly assumes the role of a blind private detective. Arnold brings to the screen some extraordinary talent as the male lead, the extent of which you don't see in his appearances as a supporting actor. His guide dog will amaze you, too. With a little tweaking this should have become a series of movies, and could have competed with Charlie Chan, The Thin Man, etc. The story and screenplay is a little hokey by today's standards, of course, but I am glad I bought it.

Feast for Fido Fans
Take the hard-boiled resourcefulness of a wrestling blind sleuth and his canny canine sidekick, stir in a stew of diverse supporting characters, and the result is the recipe for this wartime noir mystery. Donna Reed is delicious as a precociously hard-edged seventeen-year-old, and Mantan Moreland and Allen Jenkins add just the right dash of comic relief.

Good 1942 "B" film
"Eyes in the Night" was director Fred Zinneman's first feature film after having, among other things, directed some MGM short subjects, notably some of their "Crime Does Not Pay" entries. Here he directed a tidy little thriller which is a little slow in getting started but builds tension and suspense as it goes along. The plot deals with a blind detective and his seeing-eye dog who become enmeshed with enemy agents. There is a quiet intelligence to this film which is noticeable in other early Zinneman efforts, particularly "Kid Glove Killer", another good MGM "B" not on home video and "The Seventh Cross". The villains are shrewd and resourceful not given to "for the fatherland" melodramatics of so many other films of this period. A solid first feature from a fine director. ... Read more

Reviews (556)

Heeeere's Johnny! A modern horror classic on DVD
It's tough to believe that Stanley Kubrick received a Worst Director Razzie nomination for "The Shining." While "The Shining" may not be given the classic status of some of his other films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001", it's actually the least polarizing of this highly-praised and atypical filmmaker's work.

This atmospheric thriller is sure to creep you out with its pacing, eery editing and cinematography (those tracking shots are highly effective), and Jack Nicholson's powerful performance as Jack Torrance. Horror films often tend to divide audiences into genre fans who follow the gore and those who laugh in the face of so-called scares, insisting their own resiliancy to cheap thrills and lamebrain plotting.

Fortunately, "The Shining" doesn't make you take sides, because its chills come from plotting and character study as much as they do from odd sights that will make you jump. It may stray from Stephen King's book and not all of it may make sense, but "The Shining" has so much going for it that you won't mind. It's a gripping and satisfying film experience, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the '80s.

This Warner DVD re-release is definitely the version to get. The fullframe presentation comes at the wishes of Kubrick and the video and audio offer significant improvement over the drab initial release. (Unfortunately, the original Mono audio track has been dropped altogether in favor of an effective 5.1 remix. They could have included both with no problem.)

In the way of extras, there is an engaging half-hour on-set documentary, filmed by Kubrick's daughter Vivian. It provides a candid experience of the film's creation, and interviews with some of the actors. In addition, this DVD re-release includes an audio commentary on the documentary (sort of a "making-of the making-of") by Vivian Kubrick. There's also the spooky trailer, which shows how a movie preview can perfectly pique one's interest in a film, without spoiling (or even saying) much.

Possibly the Best Horror Movie Ever
This was a spectacular piece of work. It had a chilling soundtrack, and had some very good camera work. In the case of the Shining, a movie has finally exceeded the book upon which it was based. Things that would normally make a movie terrible have made the Shining a spellbinding movie. For example, the dialogue throughout the entire movie seems forced and unnatural. Another example is during an argument between Jack Nicholson (who performs incredibly well throughout the entire movie) and Shelley Duvall, after which Jack storms out of the room and glances at the camera as he goes by. If you're a horror fan, or just into movies, this is definetely one to see again and again and again.

A great horror movie..
This film slowley but shorley creepes you out, I don't think any one but Jack Nicholson could have played this role that well, and Krubrick has the best feal in the world, and the score is one of the best ever put in a movie. The movie is really scary.
It all starts off kinda slow thenwe see Dany talking to himself, and then there's a few images that are veary frightning, the holtel gives you a veary creepy isalated fealing, like if something were to happen there'de be no way out. Jack slowly starts going crazyer and crazer, and the hole time creepy images are appearing in the hotel, and the last half hour of the movie is trueley scary, a must see.

267
When i first saw this movie i was scared to death. realy it may have beeen the scariest movie i have ever seen. i also read the book but the movie was even scarier.
i realy recomend you this movie.
maby it had beeen the scariest movie i have ever seen...you are going to love this movie.

Another Kubrick Classic
I loved this movie. It freaked me out I must say. Jack Nicolson is the perfect crazy man in the movie. Another thing this movie possesed was great cinematography as any Kubrick film posses and great acting by all of the actors and actresses. Great movie deffinate buyer. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Greatest heroes of the bible are great
Up to now I have seen only the part Samson and Delilah on video. I was positively surprised. I like the episode and I think its good how God was represented in the part. Very beautifully I find is the narrator at the beginning of the series which explains the birth of the life. Only sad is that the parts are not a little bit longer. Therefore, the story comes a little bit too shortly. That`s the reason why I can give only four stars.

But the series is definitely worth to seeing and I will still buy the DVD Collection anyway.

Greatest Heroes Of The Bible
This Movie had great color and surrounding content. The Actors were of better than usual sincerity, but could have done better. As for the accuracy of Scripture, much was lacking. A lot of historical events of more importance were omitted and should have been given more consideration. There have been few movies where the Bible is presented that Scholarly concerns have been at the forefront. For the mosy part , the movie was of some importance and did shed some light on what scripture was trying to say. Since no one is perfect, I guess there is always room for improvement.

Greatest Heroes Of The Bible
This Movie has great color and background content. It is lacking in authenticity of facts as recorded in the Bible. There was a lot left out and not covered as concerning the Life of Samson and others. The Ten Commandments of Cecil B. Demile was much better and had more factual content than a movie of this caliber. It seemed as if the Producer was trying to create a fast event movie that would attract a less informed audience than those who are Bible Scholars.Accuracy is a must with Bible Scholars. R.C. Timms ... Read more

Reviews (50)

The Widescreen version on DVD was worth the wait!
This movie is based on the first novel I read in high school. The book was both engaging and suspenseful and the film brings it to life on the screen (right down to verbatim dialog from the book). When I saw this film in the theater the first time I was blown away.

Veteran film makers Ross Hunter and George Seaton gather an excellent cast and crew to do justice to the book (material not used in this film was developed to make Airport '75). It's no wonder the film, though panned by critics of its time, garnered 10 Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture (Helen Hayes received the Best Supporting Actress award)!

This is a must film for those who are fans of its genre. A 30 year anniversary documentary of the film would still have been an appropriate tribute to honor all those involved with its making (many are no longer with us). Remastering it digitally in its original widescreen presentation is quite an improvement!...

This is where it all began
There have been a few disasters and monsters before this movie. However this is the one credited as the beginning of the airplay disaster movies. These have included some sequels and even the "Air Plane" spoofs.
It is fun to look back at the different actors and remember or see them for the first time in a younger body.
The film has several overlapping and intertwining stories; some of the stories seem like soap operas.
A few mentionable scenarios are Mel Bakersfield (Burt Lancaster); airport manager is accused of placing his work before his family. He gets berated in the middle of a crisis by his probably to be ex-wife Cindy Bakersfeld (Dana Winter). Does he also get distracted by his beautiful and efficient assistant? Throw in a pilot playboy, Capt. Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin) that is forced to evaluate fatherhood. For comic relief we have Ada Quonsett a geriatric stowaway. Then for the drama there is someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain if the plane mysteriously does not reach its destination; the man with an attaché case D. O. Guerrero (Van Heflin.)
I am not going to go through the whole story it is for fun if you get to speculate on what is going to happen. How ever I must say one of my favorite characters is Joe Patroni (George Kennedy) operations chief that is tasked with clearing the runway of a stuck 707. See him again as the corrupt lawyer, Uncle Andrew, in Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile."

Airport
The movie Was Well Made.ive seen this more than 20 times.The cast was great.I liked Helen Hayes she was funny.

good but not great
One of those All-Star production during the seventies.
Much better than the following Airport-Films.
A sentimental Oscar for Helen Hayes,she was really a great actress,but her performance was only solide and not outstanding.
Maureen Stapleton gives the best and greatest performance in this
film,her role was small but but most interesting.The Academy Award had should goes to her.Fine Turns by Lancaster and Martin.

Still a Thrill
Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin star in this film about life and work around an airport for the employees and passengers. It is a mix of suspense and drama, of the sort that is still a thrill today, and while airports were safer during this time, the film exposes the caps that were apparent even then.

Dean Martin's performance is especially memorable, as it is very different from his work with Jerry Lewis or parts thereafter (no singing). However, in the form of a brainy teener there is still something of a Jerry Lewis-type-character for the man of "That's Amore" to contend with. A film that will entertain and intrigue! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Disaster DVD
I Love this DVD The Video is much clearer and better than I expected, as no restoration has taken place. The colors are vibrant and deep. The audio is clear and in full surround.
The movie it's self is of coures the grandfather of all disaster films. And the best I might add.

Now all we need is the other disaster films from ther 70's, and 80's to be placed on DVD!

(Full Screen Version) ... Read more