Description

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, is a comedy about a North Carolina widower named Andy Taylor who divides his time between raising his son, Opie (Ron Howard) and being sheriff of the small and virtually crime-free town of Mayberry.With next to no crimes to solve, Andy spends time philosophizing and trying to calm down his cousin, Deputy Barney, played by Don Knotts. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

I don't want to make a big mulage, or anything
this is a wonderful collection!Great quality--- love the "lost snippets" that we never see due to television chopping these up so painfully!My ONLY complaint is about the previews on Disc 1 -- First of all, why would ANYONE who loves TAGS want to see previews to McGyver and Charmed???? puuuuleeeeeeeease!Secondly, if they MUST put previews, WHY can't we at least fast-forward them?I think it was pretty low for the company to make the previews unable to be forwarded through-- low!

The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Second Season
For those that complain, about the 7 minutes of advertising - obviously you all don't have the kind of DVD player I have, because I had no problem hitting the fast forward button a few times to 4th speed and I'm there. I'm watching all the wonderful episodes, while everyone else is complaining. My suggestions get some cheese with your wine!
Besides if you all think you can do a better job, by all means do it and stop complaining!

GREAT TV!!!!
What A Wonderful Set!!! The Added Sponser Spots By The Cast Are Very Funny!!! Lots Of Great Guest Stars, & Terrific Episodes!!! Bill Bixby, Barbara Eden & Alan Hale!!! As For The Paramount Ads....WHO CARES!!!!!!! Ten Minutes Of Ads To Get A Season Full Of Warmth, Heart & Humor Seems Like A Small Price To Pay!!! Keep The Seasons Coming!!!!!!!!!

I'm not "forced" and I love the DVD!!!!
I agree with David.I had little problem advancing passed the commercials, so I was not "forced" to watch any of them.Of course, Paramount could have been nice and left the commercials off, but their main concern is making money, and lots of it.The inconvience of spinning through the commercials (which takes me approximately 10 seconds) is nothing when compared to the rest of the DVD's content!This is easily the best situation comedy of all time and has never stopped being aired in the nearly 45 years since it first ran on CBS.This DVD will be highlighted in my DVD collection, just as season one is.I especially like the added "original sponsor spots",many of which I don't remember ever seeing before.Does anyone know if these "spots" ran during the first season of the show?If so, I hope they tag them on to the season three set along with the season three spots.

Commercialism Destroys The Enjoyment of Mayberry
Paramount Studios (owned by Viacom) has taken their commercialism to an all time low.The Andy Griffith Show has been one of my favorite, most relaxing shows for many years.I purchased the complete 2nd season, anticipating laughs and relaxation.But, hold on.Paramount forces the viewer to sit through at least 10 MINUTES of advertisements on disc one - you cannot fast forward through it - you cannot switch to the top menu.The viewer must endure 10 miserable minutes, watching advertisements for other DVD's (which many of us have no interest in).This was not done on the complete first season.I'm seriously considering the return of this DVD set - I do not like to be exploited / forced to endure 10 unending minutes of commercial trash.I don't even watch regular TV - to avoid commercials.What a shame.What a shame that such a materialistic, moronic company owns the rights to The Andy Griffith Show.This has taught me to avoid ALL Paramount DVD's in the future.Burn me once, shame on you - there will not be a second time.

Comments / complaints can be sent to:



Paramount Studios
5555 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038

323.956.5000

...Tom ... Read more

Reviews (39)

NOT the original version of the show - music edited
If you are one of those idiots who says "oh shut up and stop complaining, it's just the music, waaa waaa", take your DVDs and BURN them. You know nothing about what it means for the music to be an important part of the show and are just a complete moron (I can't express in words the anger that goes through me reading someone go "it's just the music"; it's NOT just the music!!!, it's the SHOW that is screwed up!!!)
Quantum Leap is one of those shows where the music is crucial aspect of show; the music is not just some background noise; it sets the mood. The show is completely ruined and is not worth a cent without the original soundtrack. Awful job on the part of Universal.

excellent series
No matter what this series is excellent. Anyone griping about the music must remember its better to have the series on dvd rather than not available at all. Hopefully season 4 will come out soon as its my favorite!

Hey, Universal, call me when you come to your senses.
Having read that Universal once again mucked up the music, I won't be buying Season 3 of Quantum Leap.There are some shows in which the music doesn't really matter - Laverne & Shirley's first season, for example, mentions on the box that the music is different, but the songs in Laverne & Shirley are merely incidental, background sounds.In QL, the music was a major part of the show, helping to set the time period, helping to set the mood.

I have read some of the reviews from people who claim that the change in music makes no difference (generally such comments are written in a boorish, bumptious, hectoring tone, a fact which I find rather interesting and quite telling).No?Close your eyes and imagine the Lord of the Rings movies with elevator music instead of the soaring splendor of its real score.Ponder "American Graffiti" with the sort of synthesized slop that has replaced the original music in QL. Then try to tell me that music doesn't matter.

The choice is not these travesties or nothing for most QL fans; it's a choice of a poorer-quality taped-from-TV video with the real music, taking up more shelf space than a DVD set; or a better-quality picture with no commercials that has had much of the atmosphere stripped from it. I'll take my tapes, thank you very much.If Universal comes to its senses and releases QL in unmangled form, even if it costs more, I'll buy it. Until then, count me out.

Classics never get old!
I have been waiting for this season for a long time now. The series reached its peak with episodes like "The Leap Home" and "The Boogie Man". Scott and Dean do their best work when the story really gives them the chance and the episodes of the third season really give them the best chances of the entire five-year run! It is pure pleasure to watch them perform. It is a shame that they only got five years! They could have gone on for many more!!!
(BTW, if anyone is confused by the other reviewers complaints about the change in the music, don't worry about it. What you heard on TV is what you get. They didn't change the music for the DVD release - which is exactly what I thought they were complaining about!) So buy this DVD set! You won't regret it!

Forget It
Music replacement abound, once again.A truly great show is being given the shaft by Universal, who only percieves it's formidable fan base as an open wallet.Boycott.Don't listen to the soulless collectors who only want to line their DVD shelves.QL without the original music arrangements is a travesty. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The facts have become legend. Star Trek, the NBC series that premiered on September 8, 1966, has become a touchstone of international popular culture. It struggled through three seasons that included cancellation and last-minute revival, and turned its creator, Gene Roddenberry, into the progenitor of an intergalactic phenomenon. Eventually expanding to encompass five separate TV series, an ongoing slate of feature films, and a fan base larger than the population of many third-world countries, the Star Trek universe began not with a Big Bang but with a cautious experiment in network TV programming. Even before its premiere episode ("The Man Trap") was aired, Star Trek had struggled to attain warp-drive velocity, barely making it into the fall '66 NBC lineup.

The series' original pilot, "The Cage," featured Jeffrey Hunter as U.S.S. Enterprise captain Christopher Pike--a variation of the role that would eventually catapult William Shatner to TV stardom. Filmed in 1964, the pilot was rejected by NBC the following year, but the network made a rare decision to order a second pilot. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was filmed in 1965, and only one character from the previous pilot remained--a pointy-eared alien named Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), whom Roddenberry had retained despite network disapproval. The second pilot was accepted, and production on Star Trek began in earnest with the filming of its first regular episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver."

Never a ratings success despite a growing population of devoted fans, Star Trek was canceled after its second season, prompting a letter-writing campaign that resulted in the series' third-season renewal. It was a mixed blessing, since Roddenberry had departed as producer to protest the network's neglect, and Star Trek's third season contained most of the series' weakest episodes. And yet, the show continued to "to explore strange new worlds…to seek out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no man [a phrase later amended to "no one"] has gone before."

There were milestones along the way. The first interracial kiss on network primetime TV (between Shatner and series co-star Nichelle Nichols) furthered a richly positive and expansive view of a better, nobler future for humankind. The series offered a timelessly appealing balance of humor, imagination, and character depth. And at least one episode (Harlan Ellison's "The City on the Edge of Forever") ranks among the finest science fiction stories in any popular medium. Beloved by long-time fans in spite of its cheesy sets and costumes, and the now-dated trappings of late-1960s American culture, "classic Trek" has aged remarkably well, and its sense of adventure and idealism continues to live long and prosper. --Jeff Shannon

The three 2004 DVD sets collect all 79 episodes of the show, including "The Cage" in both a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Each set is supplemented by over an hour of featurettes incorporating new and old interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and there's also some vintage footage of Gene Roddenberry. Accompanying the 20-minute seasonal recaps ("To Boldly Go...") are a number of interesting featurettes: "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy" examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew; "Sci-Fi Visionaries" discusses the series' great science fiction writers; Nimoy debunks various rumors in "Reflections of Spock"; "Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio" focuses on the interplay among Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, James Doohan (Scotty), slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes.As they've done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit. It's the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue. The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series--Dolby 5.1, English subtitles--but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers. The plastic cases are an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series' European DVD releases, but it's a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude. Still, the sets are a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great season, transfer and extras still lacking
Law and Order's third season is the beginning of the golden years of the show, six or seven seasons in which this became one of the best crime shows ever.Part of it is the plots, but a larger part is the addition of Jerry Orbach to add both character and humor to a narrowly written role.The show itself is 5 stars, but I knock off a star for yet another season in which the transfers and extras leave something to be desired.Still, very much worth buying.

What makes this season golden?Nostalgia for the early 1990s helps, with big hair, Times Square full of strip clubs, crime labs using old IBM 386 computers, colored shirts and narrow ties, and a general feeling that a far more gritty New York made a better backdrop for a crime show than today's sanitized version.

Some of it is the writing and source material.Episodes include the standard ripped-from-the-headlines stories - Tailhook (Conduct Unbecoming), sweatshop workers (Wedded Bliss), doctors assaulting patients (Helpless, Promises to Keep), drug smuggling rings (Consultation), hackers (Virus) - but one reason the first few seasons are more robust is that they had just started to scratch the surface of historical crimes, like a restaging of the Malcolm X murder (Conspiracy) and a medical device company scandal (The Corporate Veil).This means that while the bang-bang plot advancement really comes into its own this season after a couple of years of slower episodes, the writers don't have to resort to cheap plot tricks to keep things interesting.Routine false leads and judges throwing out evidence every episode can wait for the formulaic later years.I also particularly like several of the non-Hollywood endings, like Prince of Darkness ("What happened to the little girl?" "She was picked up at school by her uncle.""She doesn't have an uncle.")

But a larger part is the acting.With the mid-season addition of Orbach - who plays first-year Briscoe a bit more troubled and edgy than in later years - the Law side of the series finally has two actors that don't think that playing an NYPD detective is beneath their talent.Briscoe's trademark wisecrack helps ("They brought the hookers in?I thought they were on the room service menu"), but there's a chemistry between Orbach and Noth that makes the makes plots come to life.In addition, several of the regular guest stars (Tovah Feldshuh and Lorraine Toussant as memorable defense attorneys, Leslie Hendrix's first appearances as the irascible medical examiner) add life to the show in their brief roles.Finally, one fun part of watching the early years are the stars who have gone on to bigger careers: Claire Danes, Edie Falco, Sam Rockwell, Gloria Foster (the oracle from the Matrix), Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman, Alias' Ron Rifkin, ER's Paul McCrane and Julianna Margulies.

As I have for the first two season sets, I take a star off for transfers and extras that aren't up to the quality of the show. I have mixed opinions about cheaply producing double sided DVDs in three slim cases without any written material, but at least it takes less space on my shelf.Transfer quality is in fact better than the first two seasons, but it's clear remastering was cursory as there is still periodic flecking.After no extras in the first two seasons, at least this set includes some.However, they're still disappointing especially after the long delay in putting this out.The 8 deleted scenes don't add much, although we finally see one of Briscoe's brassy middle aged girlfriends (for the only time in the series!)A five minute interview with and six minute tribute to Orbach by fellow stars doesn't even include the master of ceremonies of his celebration, Sam Waterston; they would have been better served just putting a copy of that on the DVD instead of getting Trial By Jury actors on the profound effect his 4 episodes with them had on their careers.What the series really needs is interviews with writers and actors on the various episodes.At least they don't include an ad as they did in the first year.

However, this is very much worth picking up for Law and Order fans.I just wish if Universal is going to price something at a premium that viewers can watch for free on basic cable, they'd at least add premium content.Maybe next season.

Great as Usual
Terrific show as usual. They also improved in my opinion on the dvd case which now has three individual slim cases for each disc. Enough can't be said about this show, but, I'm partial to it being a Criminal Justice major...but the show is good as always..I just hope they speed up the release of the next seasons.

Law & Order: The Early Years, The Best Years!
Law & Order is my favorite series, possibly of all-time because there have always been great characters and a great cast with fantastic writing to drive it forward.The early seasons are the best, and the third year gives us a little more Paul Sorvino until about 1/3 of the way into the season.This is when the beloved Jerry Orbach joined the cast, and gave us 11 years of television memories.This season has my favorite line up with Orbach, Chris Noth, Dann Florek, Michael Moriarty, Richard Brooks, and Steven Hill.TNT has aired several third season episodes lately, and I can't wait to see these all sharp, clear, and cleaned up on DVD instead of the old muggy broadcast versions.The first and second seasons look fantastic on DVD, and horrible on television - get these sets!

Also, this set features never before seen deleted scenes which ought to be a special treat for every fan along with the Jerry Orbach featurettes.I have a lot of favorite episodes in this season, and I will cherish this set just as I have all my other law & Order DVD sets (I've probably watched the first two seasons dozens of times already).

-NJM

The best season of Law & Order
The third season of Law & Order found Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) assigned another new partner in the sardonic Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), who would become the face of the series for eleven more seasons.The interplay between Briscoe and Logan is one of many highlights of the third season of Law & Order, as characters became more developed (such as Dann Florek's Captain Cragen) and the cases and investigations take twisting turns when the viewer least expects it; something that many cop/crime dramas have imitated throughout the years.However, this would be the last season for original cast members Florek and Richard Brooks, as the revolving cast door of Law & Order began to spin more than ever before.All in all, it's nice to finally have these episodes on DVD, and series afficiondos should consider this landmark season a must own.

Its good there putting the older seasons on DVD
Law & Order's early seasons were really the best. In The third season you have Jerry Orbach coming into the show.All these episodes are great becuase i have seen many of them before.The Dvd is finally being released after a long wait after the 2nd season. The 15th season which is still on NBC on wedsnday is going to have a DVD release as i have heard.Also the New Law
& Order TrialBy Jury is going to be out on Dvd. Law & Order and all its other series are absolutly the best ... Read more

Amazon.com

Whether it's a snowy nude sprint down Main Street, the mysterious appearance of a long-lost relative, or the improbable death of yet another of Maggie's boyfriends, life's never dull in the remote hamlet of Cicely, Alaska. Colorful characters and quirky plots propelled Northern Exposure into the hearts of millions of viewers, earning the CBS "dramedy" series seven Emmy awards between its 1990 debut and its demise six seasons later.

In season 1, we meet Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow), an urban New York yuppie who consents to four years of rural servitude after Alaska pays his medical-school tuition. Joel's fish-out-of-water adventures drive the show, but it's the quirky ensemble of characters--Chris, the DJ/philosopher (John Corbett), Holling, the bartender (John Cullum), Maurice, the town patriarch (Barry Corbin), Ed, the filmmaker (Darren E. Burrows), and Maggie, the bush pilot (Janine Turner), among others–-that keeps the series consistently entertaining. The town develops its own offbeat personality as well, a Mayberry-meets-Twin-Peaksblend of Native mysticism, Aurora Borealis-induced dreams, unlikely tales of long-lost family members, and rumors of a Bigfoot-like creature known simply as "Adam."

Northern Exposure provides a utopian escape--a place where life is interesting but never dangerous, everyone's insightful, the mystical becomes real, and nobody's burdened with a mundane 9-to-6 desk job. Cicely is a delightful place to visit, even if it's only for an hour at a time.

A mid-season replacement, season 1 consists of just eight episodes on two DVDs. Each episode includes 5-10 minutes of outtakes and deleted scenes. --Shane Burnett ... Read more

Reviews (167)

Yay! Finally!
With the glut of completely forgettable TV shows and movies flooding onto DVD, it's nice to see a series of great quality, superior writing, memorable characters, and consistent imagination make it finally to DVD! "Northern Exposure" is a true classic! It'll be great to have it available legally in Region 1 NTSC (there have been bootleg Region 2 PAL versions floating around for a couple years already on eBay, but with extremely poor sound/video synchronization).
The first season only has 8 episodes (since it premiered during the summer of 1990. It might have been better to combine the 1st season with the 7 episodes of season 2 (which ran in April/May 1991, for a 15 episode set, but comprehending the mind of marketing 'geniuses' is bound to lead nowehere.) The first 'regular' seasons with 22-24 episodes only began in September 1991.
Let's hope this release signals that after season 1, the next 5 seasons will also soon see the light of day.

Some of the extras promised for this release:

Deleted Scenes
Video Documentary Footage
Mock Movie Footage
"Unexposed" Footage

(and special limited edition "Parka" packaging!)

Where's the Beef?
Norther Exposure is probably one of the best cast, best written, & best Location-scouted TV shows ever aired. My wife & I eagerly awaited for the show's arrival to DVD. When we purchased the show--for an outrageous $50.00--we were shocked at what we received. Yes, the innovative packaging was fun, but it hid the fact that there was nothing inside. As others have noted, the price is horrible when you realize that there were on 8 episodes! What makes it worse is that there is absolutely no information included. No booklet with stills from the show, no list of episodes, nothing at all. On top of that, they do not even give you multiple discs, they give you cheezy 2 sided discs with 2 shows on each side. What were they thinking? Others have noted that seasons 1 & 2 should have been combined. I agree. If you are a fan of the show & want the episodes from season 2, you'll get reamed gain... there are only 7 episodes!

Great TV you can't find these days.
I am giving this DVD 5 stars because that's what the show is worth. You can't find TV like this now days and perhaps never will again. I have watched late night re-runs and fell in love years ago. I cannot wait to revisit Sicily Alaska again.
The 1st season is only 8 episodes so yeah it is a little short. I can guarantee it will only leave you wanting more though. Because the show is so amazing I am not to concerned about price. I am crossing all fingers and toes that they will release the rest of the seasons on DVD or I will be forced to buy the A&E VHS copies.

Northern Exposure--The ultimate TV show!
I remember watching the TV show when it was in it's 2nd or 3rd season and I became completely hooked on it. I'm very glad I got this DVD that contains the entire 1st season of shows and the extra goodies that come with it. I can hardly wait for the 2nd season to be released on DVD.

Close, but not enough.
This was great. My friends were able to see how the story all started and I got to see it all over again. But only 8 episodes, I would agree with other reviewers, they should have gave the first two seasons. Definitely better than a lot of other TV to DVD issues out there right now. ... Read more

Description

This 7-time Emmy Award-winning series is a remarkable blend of quirky humor and heartwarming storytelling. With an ensemble cast including Rob Morrow (Quiz Show), John Corbett (TV's Sex and the City, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and the beautiful Janine Turner (Cliffhanger), Season Two takes us back to the slightly bizarre, yet charming, little logging town in Alaska. Relive the Complete Second Season of the show TV Guide calls "...one of television's truly fine series." ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Baa! Baa! Baa! MORE! MORE! MORE!
One of the proudest claims I can make about my life is being a former Marine, like Maj. Gregory "Gramps" Boyington; albiet an unknown to one of the most famous. ("The Duke" John Wayne wanted to be a Marine & didn't make it!) The only thing that gives me more pride is knowing these heroes respected guys like my sainted Dad, who flew gas & trash over "the Hump" in C-47's (the gray cargo plane in the series) from India into China over the Himalayas in support of their combat against the Japs.
I was at NAS Lakehurst in 1978 when this great show aired on commercial T.V. and, even though most of us knew the show was highly Hollywoodized, we would still take over the barracks rec room everytime it aired, and would yell & cheer like Limey football fans thru every combat scene in each episode.
With all the second rate crapola flooding the market these days, it's GREAT to see DVD's of a show worth the expense hit the shelves, and I really hope the entire series will be issuedsooner or later (PREFERREDLY SOONER!!!!!!)

Next?
AWESOME, I GOT IT, I LIKED IT, NOW WHEN IS THE NEXT "VOLUME" COMING OUT.LET'S STOP BEING SECRETIVE AMAZON

Volume One, Not Season One
When I opened the shipping box, I was surprised to see that I was only getting half of Season One.I need to train myself to make sure that the Title reads "Season One" instead of "Volume One."After the initial shock, I started to enjoy the episodes I remember when the show was called "Baa Baa Black Sheep."I like how they kept the scenes of what was to come before the opening...a 70's TV drama thing.

Disappointment for such a great series
I eagerly awaited for this series to come out on DVD and now that I have it I was disappointed in the way they produced it. FIrst I don't care for the two sided discs but the main disappointment was the fact that they didn't include all of Season one's shows, just 10 shows plus the pilot. Since this show only ran two years and considering how much they charged (which is reasonable for a Season One if it is complete!!!) It seems to me that they should have included the complete season One. I sure hope they put out the rest of Season One and for Season Two put all of the showes out at once!! This is a great show, Robert Conrad is so sexy in that tight flight suit, sort of distracts me from theFU-4s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only Half of the First Season
I was disappointed on opening the box to find only 12 of the 24 first season episodes.Not a great deal but still worth getting. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Saved from the brink of cancellation by its loyal fanbase, Star Trek's third and final season rewarded them with a number of memorable episodes.Tight budgets and slipping creative control, however, made it the series' most uneven season, though it did have some of the coolest episode titles ("For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky," "Is There in Truth No Beauty," "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield").Some of the best moments involved a gunfight at the OK Corral ("Spectre of the Gun"), a knock-down drag-out sword battle with the Klingons aboard the Enterprise ("Day of the Dove"), the ship getting caught in an ever-tightening spacial net ("The Tholian Web"), TV's first interracial kiss ("Plato's Stepchildren," and it should be easy to guess who participated), Sulu taking command ("The Savage Curtain"), and Kirk's switching bodies with an ex-love interest ("Turnabout Intruder").

Also appearing in the set as a coda are two versions of the series pilot, "The Cage," a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white.Starring Jeffery Hunter as Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy as a relatively emotional Spock, and Majel Barrett (the future Nurse Chapel and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) as a frosty Number One, this pilot was rejected, but a second was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," now considered the "official" beginning of the series.But "The Cage" is very recognizably Star Trek with its far-out concepts (telepathic aliens collecting species samples), sexy humanoid women, character development, and of course cheesy costumes and special effects.Footage was later reused in the season 1 two-parter, "The Menagerie."

The best of the 63 minutes of bonus material focuses on three of the actors: Walter Koenig, George Takei, and James Doohan.Koenig discusses how he was cast and shows off his various collections, one consisting of Chekov figurines.Takei speaks movingly about the Japanese American internment and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, Doohan, slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes.The Easter eggs are amusingly called "Red Shirt Files" in tribute to those poor saps who everyone knew were only in the landing party so they could die.--David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Third Complete Season in an 8-DVD Set! Fantastic!
When Paramount Home Video first started to release the original series of "Star Trek" in 1999, I was aghast at the fact that only one DVD with two episodes per DVD were being released one DVD at a time at a very high cost. The cost to own all 40 volumes (DVD's) was staggering. Of course, this doesn't even address the amount of shelf space required for all 40 DVD's.

Now, with this repackaged version, all 24 episodes of the third season are being released together on 8 disks. It will probably also include both versions (color and black-and-white) of the unaired original pilot "The Cage". This is the packaged version of the original "Star Trek" that I fully intend to purchase because even at full list price, the cost of owning the third complete season is less than half the cost of owning its earlier cousins on an equivalent 13 DVD's. Also, the packaging itself has been designed similarly to the packaging used for other "Star Trek" series released in complete seasons, meaning that it will only require a small amount of shelf space. It is also possible that extra documentary and commentary material not released originally will be included in this complete third season box set.

The original series of "Star Trek", that ran for three complete seasons between 1966 and 1969, started a franchise that has included six television series and ten big screen motion pictures. The main original characters of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander/Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley, 1920-1999), Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan), Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Keonig from 1967-1969), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney from 1966-1967) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) have become an inseparable part of Americana. Though series creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) was not able to keep the original series alive for five seasons as originally envisioned (it was cancelled after its third season), he, along with the countless series fans, was able to resurrect it in the form of six motion pictures beginning in 1979 and the first series spin-off, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, which ran for seven years and had spin-offs of its own. There was also a 22-episode animated version based upon the original series that ran from 1972 to 1974.

In spite of receiving five Emmy nominations during its life and several previously successful efforts (including letter-writing campaigns) that had saved the show from cancellation on more than one occasion, the combination of poor Nielsen ratings, a shrinking budget and too-often weak episode writing made the third season of "Star Trek" its last. The most memorable episodes of the third season include "Spock's Brain", "The Enterprise Incident" (using Klingon ships for Romulans), "The Paradise Syndrome", "Is There No Truth in Beauty" (with guest character Dr. Ann Mulhall as played by Diana Muldaur, who had previously guest acted in the second-season episode "Return to Tomorrow" and also played the unpopular character Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", "The Tholian Web", "Plato's Stepchildren" (which had the first inter-racial kiss on televsion), "Wink of an Eye", "The Empath", "Elaan of Troyius", "Whom Gods Destroy", "The Mark of Gideon", "The Lights of Zetar", "Requiem for Methuselah", "The Cloud Minders", "The Savage Curtain" and "All Our Yesterdays". Arguably, the worst episode during the third season was "The Way to Eden", about a group of hippies searching for Eden (the probable inspiration for the worst-ever "Star Trek" film, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" in 1989). Other particularly weak third-season episodes include "And the Children Shall Lead", "Spectre of the Gun" featuring a re-enactment of the old-West shoot-out at the O.K. Corral, "Day of the Dove", "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" about racism, "That Which Survives" and the final episode "Turnabout Intruder" that showcased some of Shatner's worst acting abilities.

Ironically, six weeks after "Turnabout Intruder" aired on 6/3/1969, Neil Armstrong and 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first human beings to land and walk upon an extraterrestrial body, Earth's moon, on 7/20/1969. Shortly thereafter, interest in "Star Trek" grew considerably. Paramount Pictures nearly resurrected the television show in 1977 (called "Star Trek: Phase II") after all but Leonard Nimoy had signed on, but the project was abandoned shortly after George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars" blew audiences away. Fans had to wait another two years when the disappointing film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was released. It is interesting to note that two of people (Jo and John Trimble) who started one of the successful letter-writing campaigns that had once saved "Star Trek" from cancellation in 1968, were the same people that started a letter-writing campaign to convince NASA to name the first space shuttle "Enterprise" in honor of "Star Trek".

Overall, I rate the 8-DVD set of "Star Trek: Original Series Season 3" with an anticipatory 4 out of 5 stars. Clearly, this is how Paramount should have released the original series to begin with. Though the third season suffered from more poor episodes than the previous two, I continue to thank Gene Roddenberry for taking all of us "where no man has gone before".

Only a small handful of good shows.
Thrid Season of Star Trek was it's last and it was marked by both a feud between Gene Roddenbery and a new producer over the show's budget. Somewhat more cheaper production values, decreaaed visual effects work, and poore writing. The few Exceptions were "The Enterprise Incident, The Tholian Web, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, That Which Survies, The Lights of Zetar, and the Savage Curtain

ST's final frontier
Barely getting renewed for a third season,Star Trek had two disadvantages when it returned.First was executive producer Gene Coon's departure from the series, as well Gene Roddenberry's decreased involvement.The other was a new timeslot on Friday at 10:00 PM, a slot known to bury flagging shows by the networks.
Over the years, many blamed the new producer Fred Frieberg for the lacking quality of the show. Freiberg's only sin was coming aboard a sinking ship which was suffering budget cuts as well as weak stories and it's creator's lack of interest due to the networks total disregard of the show.
Even with the few brilliant episodes (Empath, Paradise Syndrome,Enterprise Incident, Tholian Web, Requium Of Methuselah,All Our Yesterdays), season three is notorious with two of the worst ever in the history of Trek (The Way To Eden, and Spock's Brain).
By the end of season three,ST was finally cancelled after 78 aired episodes in 1969.Even fans couldn't save it, as NBC buried the show.But thanks to syndication, ST became even more popular than when it originally aired and build upon a growing franchise (Conventions, Saturday Morning cartoons,toys, etc,).The ten years after the end of the series,Star Trek The Motion Picture premired.And that was just the beginning. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Waltons' nearly 10-year run on network television grew out of the popular, 1971 made-for-TV movie The Homecoming, which was derived from a Depression-era, rustic setting ("Walton's Mountain"), and characters based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s autobiographical novel Spencer's Mountain--itself the source for a very nice 1963 feature film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara.That's a lot of entertainment sprouting from Hamner's prose. But something about his seminal story of family values, rugged independence, and big dreams amidst a hardscrabble existence captured the hearts of American audiences, many of whom personally recalled severe economic adversity in the 1930s.

The Waltons: The Complete First Season collects those initial episodes from the series building on the strengths of the Homecoming pilot, which introduced the extended Walton clan led by a strong-willed mill owner, John (Andrew Duggan), and his equally resolute wife, Olivia (Patricia Neal). The Waltons recast those key roles (as well as a few others) with Ralph Waite and Michael Learned (yup, a female), but Richard Thomas carried over as oldest child John-Boy Walton, an aspiring writer whose cusp-of-manhood view informs the series. Will Geer (Seconds) replaced Edgar Bergen as Grandpa Walton, Ellen Corby remained as Grandma, and John and Olivia's large brood (seven kids in all) were filled out by largely unknown, young actors. The episodes, still delightful and touching, strong on production values and unusually tight and polished for primetime drama, tended to focus on creator Hamner's pet themes of self-sacrifice and heroic effort when the going got tough.

Year 1 highlights include "The Carnival," in which the impoverished Waltons, who can't pay for tickets to see a circus performance, end up sheltering stranded carney folk. "The Typewriter" is a classic about John-Boy "borrowing" a museum's antique typewriter, only to have his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) sell it as junk. "The Sinner" concerns the arrival of a fundamentalist minister on Walton's Mountain, finding comfort in the words of religious iconoclast John Walton after the clergyman makes a fool of himself with moonshine. That's Hamner himself providing touches of narration. During the long run of the multiple-award-winning The Waltons, there were many changes in casting and storylines. But this boxed set reveals a fine series in its pristine state.

Year 2 still finds the original cast complete and the show humming along nicely on nostalgia for an earlier America, specifically the Depression-era 1930s, a time of sacrifice and family unity as The Waltons portrays it. The characters we came to know so well in season 1 continue to live in a spirit of cooperation and generosity, and with hope that a younger generation of Waltons will prosper and dream new dreams for everyone. The 24 episodes included in this boxed set feature a number of very strong stories, including a handful of classics, all immersed in the series' typically old-Hollywood production values. (Several season 2 shows were directed by Waltons star Ralph Waite.) Among the best is the premiere, "The Journey," in which the ever-noble, college-bound John-Boy (Richard Thomas) passes on a school dance and an important date to take an aging neighbor, Maggie Mackenzie (Linda Watkins), on a special, final journey. "The Separation" finds Grandpa (Will Geer) and Grandma (Ellen Corby) Walton feuding--even living apart--after the former crafts a secret plan to raise money to pay the family's electricity bill. (Their reconciliation is one of the series' most enjoyable and tender moments.) The memorable "The Thanksgiving Story" is a nail-biter in which John-Boy, facing a hopeful future as he awaits college and a visit from his girlfriend, endures a head injury in the family mill and must undergo surgery. Finally, "The Honeymoon" sees John (Waite) and Olivia (Michael Learned) finally taking their honeymoon after 19 years of marriage and seven kids. Throughout all the major storylines is a constant buzz of subplots concerning John-Boy's younger siblings--their joys and disappointments, first loves, accomplishments and relationships with one another. The Waltons never slows down, but it is capable of revealing the most delicate of feelings within shared or private moments. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (338)

Nothing Will Never Surpass The Goonies!
Like many before me, I grew up with The Goonies. I ran around my house as a young one, trying to act like Mouth, or doing the Truffle Shuffle to entertain friends (I lacked on the truffle, but I could do the shuffle).

The Goonies holds something that every kid should find magical, even though the only magic in the movie is the magic of friendship. Steven Spielberg wrote the story about a group of friends who are about to lose their houses so a country club can be built where they leave. They come upon a treasure map that supposedly has a legend behind it, and leads to a great treasure. Mikey and his colorful bunch of friends set up to go in search of the treasure not knowing the villianist trio, the Fratellis, are also out for the treasure. Along the way, chaos ensues, friendships go stronger, and they meet a creature who has nothing but love to share and Baby Ruths to eat.

The characters are all likable . . . are all lovable, and the actors who portray them made them all that they were. The Fratellis are even, in some ways, likable throughout the movie, but in the end, they get what they were asking for. The directing, of course, is awesome. None like it actually. And the sets are amazing. Especially the pirate ship set. That was too awesome, and enough to satisfy any adventure lover.

The DVD should satisfy any Goonies fan with the word of all the extras to be on it. And I'm ready to see the infamous deleted octopus scene. I hope it's on there. I believe I read somewhere that some of the cast had gotten together to do a commentary. Now there's wishful hoping that that did happen!

"SLOTH LOVE CHUNK!" And Josh loves this movie.

best movie!
When my sister and I were introduced to THE GOONIES about 10 years ago, by our dad, we fell in love with it. My sister and I have watched this movie literally 100 times, and no matter how many times we've seen it, we still continue to get captured into the excitement, adventure and fun the movie holds. For Christimas this year, we got the movie on DVD and its better then ever. Including the original movie, it has a commentary with the cast of the movie, a music video the cast did with Cyndi Lauper, outtakes, the orginial trailer and a look at the making of the goonies. Whenever our friends come over, we ask them, "Have you ever seen 'the goonies'?" And if they hadn't, we introduce them to our favorite movie.
When Mikey (Sean Astin) and his friends, the goonies, encounter a treasure map, they embark on the adventure of a lifetime. With characters like Mouth,(Corey Feldman), Data (Ke Huy Kuan), Chunk (Jeff Cohen) and Mikey's older brother, Brand (Josh Brolin), and the girl goonies, Andy(Kerri Green) and Stef(Martha Plimpton) the jokes are endless. As they out run the bad guys, dodge the booby traps, and find the treasure of One-eyed-Willy, its a thrill a minute adventure that will capture the hearts of young and old for generations to come.

Pinchers of peril!!! The Ultimate Goonie DVD experience!
Growing up in the 80's - The Goonies was one of the most incredible movies for me. It captures all of the childhood joy and want of adventure and excitement that a normal day just doesn't bring. This movie, while it is clearly an "80's" flick, does not appear dated in any way. It still has that spark that gave it life nearly 20 years ago.

That said, here's what you get with this DVD and here's why you should buy it today:

The movie itself is enough however...

The deleted scenes are a lot of fun. We finally get to see the ever-fabled "Octopus" scene. For years, I would scratch my head when Data said "The Octopus was really scary!" Huh? What Octopus? Well, he's in this DVD. You also realize why the scene was cut out. Let's just say the animatronics weren't all that great.

Those old music videos starring Cyndi Lauper and various classic WWF wrestlers are here too. Remember Rock "n" Wrestling? I found myself saying "oh yeah....I remember that!" Watch for a cameo of Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles in the video!

The DVD commentary is a lot of fun! While almost every new DVD has a commentary in place, it almost always bores one to tears with the director or a star just kind of droning their way through the movie. Often, the major stars don't even do the commentary (great example is Rocky - where the commentary features everyone but Stallone himself!) This commentary has all of the original Goonie stars plus Richard Donner. There's a lot of joking around and the stories they tell are funny and don't go off the subject. Note: Sean Astin disappears about halfway through the flick. Also, beware Corey Feldman who talk over everyone to further perpetuate that he is the biggest glory hog in show business.

Enough already. This is such a great movie and the special features are ones that you'll actually watch more than once! Buy the DVD already!

Goonies Never Say Die!
What can I say? This movie has it all! Action, Suspense, Romance, Sean Astin pre Samwise Gamgee. What more could you want?

Steven Spielberg brings a story about a misfit group of kids who set out to save their home. It all hinges on finding the treasure of One-Eyed Willie, a famous pirate who was rumored to have hid his treasure somewhere around where they live.

Throw in a mafia family who has recently broken out of jail, a treasure map, a Baby Ruth, and a wonderful dance called the Truffle Shuffle and you've got an instant classic!!

Also, look for the line about battling the octopus in the end, then think about the octopus battle. Something doesn't add up does it??

I like some types of Korn...............
but this movie was way too corny for my tastes. This movie managed to use every single cliché that ever existed. This ranges from the group of misfits going on an adventure to save their home from evil corporate rich people to mobsters with guns to a pirate treasure cave filled with booby traps to a fat kid who saves the day to a disfigured grotesque monster suddenly gaining human knowledge and capabilities and rebelling against it's owners to love between two 13 year olds. The reason that I gave this movie two stars is because there are worse films than this one and one scene was funny. Other than that, I do not recommend this film to anyone who likes hardy boys and other meaningless kids detective stories. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Wonderful to have this great series on DVD at last!
I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered due South was on DVD. I got season one as soon as I could (I'm saving up for 2 and 3!). I didnt have any problems with the discs and their packaging. I would like to have seen some bonus features and the pilot included but the DVDs are still great without them.

*NOT* complete! No pilot! Buy, but be warned.
Terrible. Awful. Horrible. LIARS! Everything in the first season EXCEPT *THE* single most important episode!! The Pilot?! What a bunch of @#$%^&*! Besides that, it's okay. The rest of the eps are there, & it *is* due South. Some special features would have been nice, but are hardly requisite.
The episides rate a 5, but lousing up but not including the premiere & especially after billing it as the complete 1st season rates a two. Let's hope they did better with season 2 & will do better with season 3!

Good show. Okay packaging.
I bought the DVD of vol. 1 as a gift for my husband because he was so crazy for the show during its production and reruns. Then I found out what a gem Due South really is.

It's great to follow the evolution of the characters from the beginning, though it would have been ideal to have the pilot included. Even so, the show is thoroughly enjoyable. The sly satire of a Canadian-produced show presenting Americans' view of Canadians is really very funny. And it's a showcase of all those fine actors (and musicians) you didn't realize are Canadian.

For anyone who has never seen Due South, know that it's really a "buddy" show, a mismatch of 2 personalities who are more complete together than apart. One is innocent and naive, the other worldly and jaded. Definitely makes for some funny stuff!

Alliance Atlantis didn't seem to take a lot of care with this release. In spite of the box being labeled the "complete first season," it excludes the pilot. Very odd. Also, some extras, i.e. commentary (from somebody - ANYbody), would have been appreciated. The packaging of the discs is lame, allowing them to come loose and rattle around the box during shipping.

In short, the show is GOOD. The packaging and extras are cheap.

Loved this series, but it's cheaper at Canada's Amazon store
These DVDs are overpriced in the states. I bought mine a lot cheaper at Amazon.ca, the Canadian Amazon store. They're listed for $80 CDN, which makes them about $65 in US dollars, INCLUDING the international shipping. And they got here just as quickly.
Curator, AfroAmericanHeritage dot com

Due South Season 1
Will NOT (would not) purchase without the Pilot episode! What were they thinking? Apparently they weren't. ... Read more

Description

The swashbuckling classic comes to rip-roaring life in this lavishproduction, filled with breathless romance and derring-do! In the eyes of high society, SirPercy Blakeney (Brideshead Revisited's Anthony Andrews) is a typical fop, surroundedby adoring ladies and clueless gentry. However, he is also a master of disguise and bearsan infamous secret identity: the Scarlet Pimpernel, dashing and fearless rescuer of victimsof the French Revolution! Sir Percy also falls head over heels for the beautiful Marguerite(Somewhere in Time's Jane Seymour), who is also wooed by the villainous PaulChauvelin (The Lord of the Rings' Sir Ian McKellan), Robespierre's Chief Agent for theCommittee of National Security. Suave, stylish, and utterly irresistible, this dazzlingadventure is sure to capture your heart! ... Read more

Reviews (161)

Better Each Time
It's the type of movie that I always expect to be entertaining, but not really 'great.' And every time I see it I find myself wrong. This is THE BEST adaptation of the Pimpernel. Other films have gotten some elements right but not others; this one bags them all (except that I still prefer the most recent version's interpretation of Robespierre, he's priceless). Anthony Andrews is the definitive Sir Percy: hilarious at parties, charismatic in battle, irresistable in love, and unrecognizable in every disguise. Jane Seymour is perfectly lovestruck and intense, and Ian McKellan as Chauvelin shows a man being eaten alive by jealousy. All the portrayals are larger-than-life, but suitably so, for the film has no place for realism. Scenes swing from very funny to almost painfully tense to heart-stoppingly romantic. This production hits every note right (although I wish someone would assasinate that hateful blond child). Not to be missed, definately. So why can't I buy it, I've been trying for a year now? Let's hurry up the DVD.

Sink me! But it's demmed brilliant!
Hopefully "The Scarlet Pimpernel" will someday make its way back to the big screen, but in the meantime this television version holds the place as probably the best one to date. First and foremost, the script never has a dull moment, as it's jam-packed full of romance, intrigue, suspense, and adventure. The action continuously bounces back and forth between England and revolutionary France, where the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel is saving innocent lives from the cruel blade of Madame Guillotine. Anthony Andrews, as foppish Sir Percy Blakeney, an English aristocrat with a big secret, never fails to deliver. His droll, dry delivery of Percy's lines contrasts brilliantly with his dashing Pimpernel persona. Jane Seymour is a perfectly lovely Marguerite, entirely believeable as a spirited French actress caught between her loyalties. And Sir Ian McKellen is delightfully menacing as Citizen Paul Chauvelin, an agent of the French Republic and Marguerite's spurned lover. The plot is fast-paced, and every scene is as well done as the one before. It is truly a classic to be treasured. Unfortunately, the DVD is only a basic transfer and has no bonus material, but at least it's finally getting its due!

Great Movie, Horrible DVD
When the first second of the first scene shows you little cubes instead of people's heads, the walls, and the torches, you might think the DVD transfer has some problems. When not even the letters in the credits stay stable, you begin to wonder whether you wouldn't be better off buying an old VHS copy and turning it into a tiny-sized Divx file. ARRRRGH!

Which breaks my heart, because this version of The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of my all-time top ten movies. I'd be rating this with one star if the movie wasn't five-star. Too bad I can't actually see it!

Sink me! I'm renting it, and now I've ordered my own copy!
I've watched this movie five times in one weekend, and yet I still want to see it again. The copy currently in my DVD player is one that I'm renting. But I love this movie so much that I've ordered my own copy to add to our home library. Anthony Andrews is the best Sir Percy Blakeney/Scarlet Pimpernel that I've ever seen. I wish there was some way they could make sequels with the same cast members all looking as they did when this 1982 movie was released.

Sink me! Indeed
I took a chance and purchased this dvd purely based on your reviews. I must say that I am simply enamored by this movie. Yes, it differs to the book but it is certainly forgivable. One simply has to understand that it is based on two of Baroness Orczy books and then it all falls into place.

Now, for the movie. Anthony Andrews as the foppish/valiant Sir Percy was excellent. I thought he delivered an exceptional performance. I could not find any fault in his performance especially since the book Percy is so inane and a complete idiot...well, at least, his alter ego in any case. At times, it is so amusing to watch him, especially when he tries to undo Chauvelin. **smiles** I cannot say enough about his performance. When he is also conflicted by his love for Maguerite and his cold treatment of her, it is also beautifully done. His expressions are so real. His concern for the families of the aristos adds such a beautiful side to his character as well. You can actually see that he cares.

Jane Seymour as Maguerite was wonderful as well. The chemistry between her and Anthony Andrews was superb. They conveyed so much fire simply by a glance.

Ian Mckellan was also good. I must admit that when I realized he would play the villian that did not sit well with me (I love him as Gandalf but he really looks different out of the wizard's costume), however, it worked out well.

In conclusion, I thought this was a splendid movie. The sets, the music, the dances, etc were all engaging. There was never a dull moment. I actually ordered the film for my mum since I figure she would love it as well. Though I have never seen any of the other versions, I cannot imagine another one uprooting the love I feel for this one. It would be demmed near impossible. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"The book was better" has been the complaint of many a reader since theinvention of movies. Frank Darabont's second adaptation of a Stephen King prison drama (The Shawshank Redemption was the first) is a very faithful adaptation of King's serial novel. In the middle of the Depression, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) runs death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Into this dreary world walks a mammoth prisoner, John Coffey (Michael Duncan) who, very slowly, reveals a special gift that will change the men working and dying (in the electric chair, masterfully and grippingly staged) on the mile . As with King's book, Darabonttakes plenty of time to show us Edgecomb's world before delving into JohnCoffey's mystery. With Darabont's superior storytelling abilities, his touch for perfect casting, and a leisurely 188-minute running time, his movie brings to life nearly every character and scene from the novel. Darabont even improves the novel's two endings, creating a more emotionally satisfying experience. The running time may try patience, but those who want a story, as opposed to quick-fix entertainment, will be rewarded by this finely tailored tale. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (552)

Terrible movie, more Stephen King Schlock
This endless movie was a reminder of why I hate Stephen King stories, 3 hours of my life wasted on this drivel.

The Green Mile represents death row in a Louisiana prison of the 1930's, when a huge black man, sentenced to death, reveals remarkable powers of precognition and hands-on healing. However, this story is mired in implausible situations and a lack of believeability.

We have the gratuitious scenes of Tom Hanks peeing for comic or shock value, the frequent graphic executions of death row inmates, the mumbling cajun accent of Michael Jeter, the remarkable coincidence of Sam Rockwell also landing on death row even though no one seems to make the connection that he also worked for the family whose daughter John Coffy is accused of murdering.

Mr Jingles is a mouse used as a plot device to tug at your heart strings, although it becomes tiresome after a short while.

The character of Purcey is useless and adds nothing to the story.

John Coffey spends this entire movie sweating and blubbering his way through his sentence. Even his miraculous healing of a woman with a terminal brain tumor isn't enough for Tom Hanks to somehow intervene and get this miracle worker off death row, but instead, he reluctantly executes him in the climax of the movie.

Should we also believe that John Coffey, via touch alone, bestowed practical immortality upon Tom Hanks and Mr Jingles? Give me a break. By the end of the movie we learn that Mr Jingles is now about 65 years old, which has to be about 25 times a normal mouse life span; Tom Hanks will also live 25 lifetimes? Does no one at the nursing home question his age of 108? Give me another break. Obviously Stephen King is filling some gaping plot holes with quickie and implausible explanations.

All the actors do a very fine job, but.....

This movie is terrible, don't waste your time. Rent Shawshank Redemption instead!

Powerful Movie!
This movie is outstanding, and anyone who gives it less than 5 stars does not do it justice. Tom Hanks, never a disappointment, stars as Paul Edgecomb, a guard who is the main person involved with "The Green Mile," or death row. He brings compassion, integrity, and honesty to the role of a man who is in charge of the inmates sentenced to die. David Morse, an actor who I also happen to love, stars as his friend. The chemistry between these two actors is incredible, and I hope they will star in future movies together as well. Their relationship gives a depth to the entire movie. Barry Pepper, from Saving Private Ryan, is also wonderful, and he will continue to have a great acting career for many years. Duncan shines as John Coffey ("like the drink, only spelled differently"), and really gives the movie a full circle of competent and award-worthy performances. His passion and child-like innocence gives Coffey the true meaning of the word spirit. This is a wonderful movie that can be both sad and touching at the same time. This is the type of movie that once you see it, you will think differently about life and about human beings in general. This movie touches the heart, and does it in a way that few movies have ever done. I hope that everyone who watches this movie will feel as I do, and this is definitely something that everyone should make a point to see!

Touching story, beautiful acting.
The other fantastic prison movie. (The first one being The Shawshank Redemption). This one is a little more magical and very touching. Do not miss it!

Not Good.
'The Green Mile' was long, tedious, absurd, and boring. Only for die-hard Stephen King or Tom Hanks fans.

The redemption subrreptitiously...
From all standpoits, this picture means a complex and deep sociological approach about the human behavior.
A prison represents the background ; the vehicle for developing a fine story filled with many narrative devices and secondary readings.
Lets start with the character of Percy. Obviously Percy represents the nazi spirit ; a characteristic smell in that age.But notice than much more than a political movement the nazism works out here as a living style. Watch the way he acts ; her cut hair and his manners ; he seems to be a hard beat man and behind of this invisible wall ; you feel a man with serious emotional and affective lacks. The proofs are very clear ; he is a man without a bit of humanity a beast would be a term appropiate if not that issue may offend the animal species.The punishment for him it's excellent ; he will live in his memory over and over the horror: the Shakespeare's memory . The sin hurts much more in the memory than in the flesh.
We have in the prison characters who trascend his personal values through the green mile . The silent agreement : "All what it happens in the green mile , it keeps in the green mile" will be a statement that won't be too long after the redemption caused for Coffey. The mouse gag is a very ingenious clue. A prisioner will experiment a twist of fate with this pet.
The main character John Coffey is framed to die in the electric chair ; acussed by a murder . Slowly the curtains will reveal the awful truth and you as viewer will be reflected in the moral jury who observes the execution.
Notice by moments the film reminds us to a great picture of the same age (1935) , casually titled "Fury" of Fritz Lang . In many ways it doesn't sound speculation to state the rendezvous for that shocking film. The extrordinary picture Top Hat in which we watch to Fred Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers is a touch of genius device that let introduce us and links the last will of Coffey ; Heaven ; I'm in heaven. And you can not avoid thinking in Cinema Pardiso ending.
The script was a hit. Frank Dubont made a very well done work with the camera , art direction , photography, cast and enlightment.
When the film concludes you remain in your chair thinking the multiple lines around the story . The sense of revenge , vested as justice ; the ugliness who lives in the soul of that people will watch the last minutes of Coffey beats in your face, your solu and your heart.
The smart ending is filled with sweetness ; it's very clever and it works out as relief for the viewer , who may forget the real intention of the film . You may assume the most comfortable position and consider the film as a beautiful redemption story : good choice for you , but the bitter message goes far beyond ; the racism ; the intolerance and the pain for the narrator who should live thinking about his silent shame , and to make nothing for avoid it.
To know and not to do is still not knowing said once the japanese writer Mishima.
This film and the wisperer's horse were the finest achievements in 1998 ; good signals that reveal the awakening of new proposals and ideas for the american cinema.
A winner movie! ... Read more

Reviews (177)

The Depths Of Depp
Johnny Depp plays George Jung, your every day man turned multi-millionaire drug dealer. The amazing journey starts with just a bit of weed going to people on the beach, soon he and his friends are working their way to Mexico in major exports. After a brief stop in jail Depp changes from marijuana to cocaine. Soon Depp has so much money he can't fit anymore in his house. It is in this time he meets his wife-to-be decently played by Penelope Cruz. A mishap with his wife later and he is in jail again. The part about this film that sets it apart from most drug movies is that it shows the highlights of the illegal exchange business but it also shows the bottoming out. The other thing it has is a connection with the characters. You actually begin to feel for Depp as he is separated from the one thing that he loves in his life, his daughter. Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) and Paul Rubin (Pee Wee Herman) also have roles in this film that has heart and substance(s).

Strong Powder
BLOW is based on the true story of George Jung (Johnny Depp). In the 70s and 80s, Jung was the single largest importer of Columbian cocaine, to the United States. Therefore, he alone, changed America, and helped to create the "drug culture" in this nation. At the film's center is the partnership between Jung and Pablo Escobar, (Cliff Curtis) and how they operated, with and against each other. It really is true what others have said about Depp's performance in the film. He doesn't let this highly complex role intimidate him. He pulls it off brilliantly. He scenes with Penelope Cruz are pure magic. Directed by the late Ted Demme, BLOW offers viewers an inside look into how some people got very rich off of other people's addiction to drugs. Even though some have blasted the film because, in their opinion, it glorifies drug use, I see it more as an anti drug film. Having said that, dont expect an overt anti-drug message in the movie either. My take on it is that the "message" hides as a subtext as an implied theme. If the film does have any connection to any indictment against drugs, that comes from the fact that Demme died last year from apparently using the stuff himself.

The DVD is part of New Line Cinema's Infinifilm series. Like all other discs in the series, it is packed with extras, allowing viewers to have more of an interactive experience, while watching the film. Hearing Demme talk about drugs on the commentary track with Jung, may unsettle some, given what happened to him, but there really isn't much of that on the track. The deleted scenes don't really add much to the film and were properly edited out of the picture. The Ted Demme Production Diary is cool because it takes us through how movies are made (I always enjoy that stuff). Rounding out the standard features are trailers, filmographies, and a Nikka Costa Music Video. The disc also has a few DVD-ROM extras. The Infinifilm extras include interviews with Jung conducted by Demme, a trivia track, among others. Use of the Infinifilm mode gives you access to these features for a unique look at BLOW.

Thanks to powerful performances and solid, well produced extras, BLOW is a Highly Recommended film/DVD **** and a half stars.

Blow is about the life of Mr. George Jung from childhood to
his final drug bust for which he is still serving time. Johnny Depp carries this movie very well, like all movies about gangs or drugs or anything crime related, this movie starts off with everything going well and then everything starting to go downhill again, it is a true story, obviously with quite a bit of Hollywood fabrication but none the less, it inspires sympathy for the characters, I for one am someone who isn't really a very emotional person when it comes to movies, at least I don't think so, but this movie brought a tear or two to my eye, especially the ending, where Depp recited a poem written by Jung and it is the saddest thing, the special features are quite amazing, I would recommend this movie to people over 14 because it does have an R rating which is due to a lot of language, drug content, extremely brief nudity and some violence here and there. Enjoy.

extras no good
I rated this movie 5 stars, until I got a load of the DVD extras. These extras actually serve to drag down the enjoyment of the movie. First, there are the "character outtakes" whatever that term is supposed to mean. These consist of various characters being interviewed about George Jung - the character, not the real person. They say poorly thought out and inarticulate things like, "This guy... he's like... this guy don't care what anybody thinks, you know?" My impression was that the actors just got in front of a camera "in character" and extemporized. The results are pretty ghastly. Also, there is the jailhouse interview that director Ted Demme makes of George Jung, the real person. This is also pretty disedifying, consisting at the end of Demme sitting next to Jung on a bench and saying similarly inarticulate and poorly thought out things, like, "Yeah, its like schoolteachers make minimum wage and there's truckdrivers making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year..." Now, I am an ex-schoolteacher and though I did not make a mint at my job I certainly did not make "minimum wage" and I worked for one of the most underfunded school districts in the country. One has the impression of being a witness to a guy blowing his mouth off on the balcony of somebody's post-college get-together. Not pretty. How Demme ever got people to trust him with millions of dollars remains a mystery: the man is simply not preposessing intellectually. Also, his world is morally vague and equivocal. He tells Jung he takes a non-judgemental stance to his crimes and then says that he himself has skeletons in the closet, its just that his are not so well known. Now, I kind of doubt that Ted Demme is himself a serious criminal who has simply evaded discovery. But that is what he is in effect implying, in bad faith to George Jung - a hardcore criminal. The real implication is that any degree of malfeasance is equivalent to any other. If one man has smuggled enormous quantities of drugs, and another man has left the cap off his toothpaste well, they're pretty much the same: we all do bad things. Interestingly, the stance that Demme takes is NOT that what Jung did was not morally wrong. His stance is that, though it was wrong, so what? I can respect and perhaps agree with someone who says that smuggling drugs, though illegal, is not immoral. I can understand the argument that by and large it is an utter liberal myth that anybody is forced to use drugs by anybody else. Peer pressure? One gravitates to "peers" with similar interests. If you get into drugs and your friends don't, you find new friends: druggie friends. This happened in my circle of friends and I have seen it happen first-hand. I had many druggie and non druggie friends and I never saw anybody use drugs who did not want to. And there is simply no substance so addictive that it turns a straight arrow into a degenerate against the straight arrow's will and inclination. Drugs simply help you along in the direction you are inclined.
All this being said, I can agree with someone who does not morally judge George Jung. Personally I am morally indifferent to his actions. But this is not the same thing as saying that what he did was wrong but so what we all do bad things. If I once ignored a parking ticket, is this the same thing as being a murderer? I suspect that Demme's thus cozying up to Jung actually lowered him in Jung's regard.

Luff ist der drug
Let me be clear, this is a great film. It actually reassures me that all movies are not garbage. But for me the best part of the movie is Franka Potente's performance as Barbara, a comely stew who, so far as I can tell, is not supposed to be German. It is a special pleasure for me to watch Franka Potente, with her thick Cherrrmann accent, ya? trying to speak in a vey zat iss recognizeable as chust typical yanqui American dialect. I also thrilled to her performance in The Bourne Identity, hearing her deliver such lines as, "But he vas chust shining us all on" like the Munchen-frau she is. Yeah, I'll get all liquored up on Spaten Premium, or maybe even brave the forbidding slopes of the Optimator, then I'll hunker down for a triple-bill of Run Lola Run, Bourne Identity, and Blow. Its like my own private Oktoberfest that I chust by myself heff got going on, ya?
unt ich bein auss. ... Read more

Description

Catch him if you can. The Fugitive is on the run! Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones race through the breathless manhunt movie based on the classic TV series. Ford is prison escapee Dr. Richard Kimble, a Chicago surgeon falsely convicted of killing his wife and determined to prove his innocence by leading his pursuers to the one-armed man who actually committed the crime. Jones (1993 Academy Award and Golden Globe winner as Best Supporting Actor) is Sam Gerard, an unrelenting bloodhound of a U.S. Marshal. They are hunted and hunter. And as directed by Andrew Davis (Under Siege), their nonstop chase has one exhilarating speed: all-out. So catch him if you can. And catch an 11-on-a-scale-of-10 train wreck (yes, the train is real), a plunge down a waterfall, a cat-and-mouse jaunt through a Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade and much more. Better hurry. Kimble doesn't stay in one place very long! ... Read more

Reviews (126)

Fugitive is Dr. Richard Kimball: Go get this movie.
If I were stranded on a desert island and all I could have was my abysmally sparse movie collection, I would make sure "The Fugitive" was in it. Thankfully, it is. This is one of the most entertaining and engaging movies ever, far superior to a lot of movies playing these days. For the few of you who don't know the plot, I'll run it past you without spoiling much...

The story revolves around a Chicago surgeon named Dr. Richard Kimball (Harrison Ford) who is convicted of murdering his wife (Sela Ward). He pleads innocent, claiming that a one-armed man committed the heinous crime (the opening sequence, showing the murder in flashback style, is chillingly realistic). Well, no one believes the good doctor's alibi, and he is sentenced to death. However, after his prison bus crashes into a train, he escapes back to Chicago to find the murderer, while keeping away from US Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) and his team of deputies.

Having never seen the old TV series, this movie was nevertheless fantastic. The thrills just keep coming, as well as the tongue-in-cheek humor, courtesy of Tommy Lee Jones and Joe Pantoliano (as Cosmo, Sam's deputy), who really steal the show in a lot of scenes. The screenplay is obviously very sharp. The train-and-bus wreck will take your breath away, as will the waterfall sequence. Aside from these action scenes, it's great that this movie is shot in Chicago, one of the greatest cities in North America. Sorry, personal bias, I loved Chicago when I visited a couple years back. The acting is very well done, and the characters are very three-dimensional. Sometimes it feels like you're watching a modern "Les Miserables". Nice transition from action thriller to action-mystery as the film enters its second half. If you follow the plot, which is fairly easy to keep up with, the ending will shock you. All in all, "The Fugitive" is definitely worth the bang for your hard-earned buck. If you haven't seen this wonderful piece of movie-making, do so ASAP.

Quality-wise, the DVD is pretty good. Director Andrew Davis does a cool little documentary on how the train wreck was filmed.

MOVIE-10/10
DVD EXTRAS-8/10

Ford hits another home run
Ditto what that other reviewer said: this is another great Harrison Ford vehicle. They really DON'T make movies like this any more. It needs not typical DVD additions, not cut scenes, not trailers, or interviews.

Back in the day, Wednesday morning school was dominated by the discussion of the latest episode of "The Fuge" from the night before. This is the only film I can think of which actually did justice to the classic television show from which it sprang.

Tommy Lee Jones is a fantastic U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard. He appears not to be obsessed with the capture of Dr. Kimble (as was his television predecessor, portrayed by Barry Morse). Nonetheless, we get the feeling that he brings the same determination to every case he has. Ford once again is the "everyman" (if a doctor who gets sent to prison for killing his wife and then escapes can be thought of in those terms) who prevails through all manner of adversities. [As an aside, I wonder how well Ford could stretch himself - could he ever be convincing as a real bad guy, like a John Malkovich or Anthony Hopkins?]

This movie has a lot of pluses. It is a great story, updated from one of the sixties' best shows. Sure, there were great stunts. The bus crash/train wreck was stunning (made even more so by seeing Ford almost comically hobbling along, trying to outrun the carnage while wearing leg shackles).

However, it is the competition between the two dogged adversaries Jones and Ford that makes this work. They are one real pair of incredibly strong personalities- (and screen presences) Nothing better than the sequence in the dam early on with Ford protesting his innocence and Jones equally sincere reply "I don't care". Both smart, even though Jones hides his behind a gruff and self-deprecating exterior. The good and decent Doc must be determined (after all, it is his can on the line), but seeing him persevere - hiding his own persona in a hospital, evading the police while tracking down the one armed man is intense, even though we know the outcome.

Great editing; especially when we think the Marshals are getting close to the big bust, and we find out that they are actually making a collar across town.

This one is a winner.

A classic action thriller
What makes "The Fugitive" such a successful and superior film is that it knows what it is: an action/mystery film. It makes no attempt to make itself bigger or more intellectual than it is (as did the American version of "The Vanishing"). Harrison Ford, surprisingly underplaying the role of Dr. Kimball--others might have overworked his grief and angst--turns in a brilliant performance. And the always reliable Tommy Lee Jones does an icy, sparkling job as Kimball's persuer, US Marshal Sam Gerard. So good a performance that he earned a well-deserved Oscar for it.

The other key to the movie's success is Andrew Davis' dazzling direction. He keeps the pace frenetic for a good deal of the film, and the pot is always kept boiling. Close calls and intense chases keep the tension and suspense at fever pitch. "The Fugitive" will endure for a long time as a classic action thriller.

I did not kill my wife
That is well known sentence from this action hit which put an Oscar in hands of Tommy Lee Jones. Somebody killed dr. Richard Kimble's (Ford) wife, but all clues are against him. After all, who can be stupid enough to say that - One arm man did it?! His escape after bus accident will be his second chance to proove his innocents. But, that will be damn hard. Especially because after him is federal marshal who "doesn't care" about anything, except to bring the fugitive back (by any costs). Kimble will discover that he was in strong net made of lies and conspiracy, and that his only way out is to find proofes to clear his name and bring killer in front of justice. Jones supposed to be a good guy, but you'll hate him all the movie (well, it's not his falt, he's just good actor). Harrison is great, older, but still in good shape. Since Indiana Jones, he never has better role than this. You'll be right next to him, trying to solve the puzzle, hoping that he will succeed to find who ruined his life. Excellent story, good locations and ideas. Definetly collection material.

Train Wreck of Action
This is one of the best-crafted action/suspense films I've ever seen. I've viewed this many many times and have been rewarded each time by picking up on different subtle nuances.
Every element of this film works in unison and are what make this a great film and give it the punch that it has. There's the story which is as finely crafted as they get, a cast that couldn't have been any better (and boy do the actors deliver in their performances), tight pacing, great photography, and some unbelievable effects.

This is a modern masterpiece! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Decades before the Hollywood film industry became famous for megabudget disaster and science fiction spectaculars, the studios of Southern California (and particularly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) were renowned for a uniquely American (and nearly extinct) kind of picture known as The Musical. Indeed, when the prestigious British film magazine Sight & Sound conducts its international critics poll in the second year of every decade, this 1952 MGM picture is the American musical that consistently ranks among the 10 best movies ever made. It's not only a great song-and-dance piece starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and a sprightly Debbie Reynolds; it's also an affectionately funny insider spoof about the film industry's uneasy transition from silent pictures to "talkies." Kelly plays debonair star Don Lockwood, whose leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) has a screechy voice hilariously ill-suited to the new technology (and her glamorous screen image). Among the musical highlights: O'Connor's knockout "Make 'Em Laugh"; the big "Broadway Melody" production number; and, best of all, that charming little title ditty in which Kelly makes movie magic on a drenched set with nothing but a few puddles, a lamppost, and an umbrella. --Jim Emerson ... Read more

Reviews (223)

The Citizen Kane of musicals
So many films in my collection are "important", "serious", "disturbing", or "great", and as much as I treasure them (films like Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Ran), there is only so much self-importance a person can take before the pores fairly scream out for something just plain fun; something slight, buoyant, silly, and full of energy. Singin' in the Rain is just that kind of movie. The funny part is, I generally HATE musicals!

In 1951, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen took a collection of songs by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown and - assisted by a pitch-perfect screenplay from the writing team of Adolph Green and Betty Comden - sculpted one of the great classic fusions of popular cinematic art and precision dance craft. It is the Citizen Kane of musicals: a virtual catalog of musical film technique, executed flawlessly.

But that alone would not be enough to separate Singin' in the Rain from the kind of musical I can't stand (which is to say, just about every other musical ever made). No, what makes this one special is that it knows what it is and celebrates it. It never for a moment asks you to forget you're watching a movie and then grinds to a screeching halt for the musical number. Instead, it deconstructs itself before your very eyes (and ears) as a razor-sharp, self-aware satire of the movie industry - as well as a joyous expression of the pure ecstasy of great song and dance. In that sense, it is one of the few so-called musicals that actually achieves a genuine symbiosis of drama, music, and kinetic performance art.

If all this sounds rather gushing and pretentious, so be it. This is great film-making. It is Rolex Oyster Perpetual film-making. This DVD edition sparkles with ultra-saturated colors, digitally remixed Dolby 5.1 sound, and some terrific extras (even if you're not particularly into musicals).

My favorite sequence is the eerily fluid dance work between Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse against a Dali-esque background near the end of the film. Charisse is spellbinding as she trails a gravity-defying veil that must be 30 feet long. It hangs in the air, suspended by wind machines as she uses her extraordinary dance skill (and fantastic legs) to affect a wordless seduction of Kelly's naive, love-struck hero. Great stuff.

Even if you don't think of yourself as the "musical type", give Singin' in the Rain a try. After all that heavy, bitter, existential cinema, it makes one helluva fine dessert.

THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSICAL
Once upon a time there was a place called HOLLYWOOD. It wasn't just a town or even an industry, it was a state of mind. They didn't call the studios Dream Factories for nothing. This film is the epitome of the musical art and craft. This is a real "Movie Movie," made entirely on the MGM lot. The real creme de la creme of MGM contributed to it's creation; produced by Arthur Freed, starring Gene Kelly (with a brilliant turn by the dazzling ,long-legged Cyd Charisse), contract players like Debbie Reynolds and Kathleen Freeman (still going strong, currently appearing on Broadway in "The Full Monty") with costumes by my favorite designer Walter Plunkett (Gone With The Wind, 7 Brides For 7 Brothers, etc). Check out the sumptuous designs for the "Beautiful Girls" number and the outrageous spider dress at the opening night party. The real lowdown is that Jean Hagen and Donald O'Connor practically steal the show from the leads in possibly the best performances of their careers. This film is pure joy. The script by Comden and Green is not only clever but actually goofs on a real period of transition of the American film from silent to talkie.It is also a brilliant job of recycling a trunkload of old songs. This happy film has the courage to do what American musicals and comedies do best: be silly and make you forget you troubles for an hour and a half. Next time you are in bed with the flu or trying to get over a miserable love affair, take a look at Singing In The Rain. It can't help but curl up the corners of your mouth and drive the clouds away.

Wonderful Musical with Terrific Dancing -- a Trifle Dated
"Singin' in the Rain" is the definitive Hollywood musical, and charms and delights our 21st century audiences despite the (very few) characteristics of the genre that don't hold up quite so well.

There are so many high points to this movie -- the amazing cast, the songs, the choreography, and, most surprisingly, the satirical send-up of Hollywood and the "star system."

The plot is well-known. Silent film star couple, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are America's sweethearts. At a Hollywood premiere of their latest romance, breathless fans ignore sidekick Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor, in perhaps the best sidekick performance in film history) and scream in delight as Lockwood and Lamont pander to their adoration. Nobody, however, seems to notice that the gorgeous Lamont never speaks . . .

Her imposed silence Lamont has a voice that recalls a cat with its tail caught in a wringer, although Lamont is such a "dumb blonde" (bless Hagen -- nobody ever played this stereotype better!) that she is blissfully unaware of her screech. No matter, 'cause it's the silent film era, right? Wrong! Progress brings in "The Jazz Singer" and the era of "talkies." No longer will clever staging of press events suffice.

Soon, Don Lockwood is staring career meltdown in the face as the first Lockwood-Lamont "talkie" sends the audience into hysterics. Not only is Lamont's screech audibly offensive, they can't keep the sound synchronized to the film, and the sound editing even when in synch is as amateurish as a high-school film production.

What to do? Fortunately, Lockwood had fallen for young, beautiful Kathy Selden (a teenage Debbie Reynolds), a starlet in the making. Cosmo comes up with the idea of dubbing Selden's voice for Lamont's, and all is fixed . . . or not. Lamont, an imbecile but smart enough to know her value, insists on ruining Selden's career to preserve her own . . . and so on and so forth.

The plot, ingenious as it is, is really secondary. The main delight in this movie is the amazing dancin' and singin' that the performers offer up. While most of it is pretty silly, campy stuff (particularly the Kelly-O'Connor set pieces), they simply dazzle. Kelly is the most robust, athletic dancer of his generation, and O'Connor, well, the man doesn't have a bone in his body. While the movie's most famous scene comes from Kelly splashing in puddles during the title track, the most amazing dance number has to be O'Connor's comic flailings in "Make 'Em Laugh," where he runs up walls, flirts with a mannequin, and generally pulls out all stops.

Debbie Reynolds does a magnificent job keeping up with these two giants, and is generally a pleasure to watch, even though she's clearly outclassed as a hoofer.

While some great old films seem to get better with age (think "Casablanca," "Gone With the Wind," and "Citizen Kane"), "Singin' in the Rain" is an American classic that does not hold up quite so well in some minor respects. For example, when breaking into choreographed step, Kelly, O'Connor, and Reynolds sometimes appear too rigid, with smiles frozen on their faces, which is incongruous to those raised on more modern musicals like "Moulin Rouge," where the dancers take a more naturalistic, emotional approach to their dancing. The dancing in "Singin'" holds up, but the performers were constrained by the expectations of their audiences, which somehow demanded that the performers "look pleasant" while dancing.

Still, "Singin' in the Rain" remains one of the best tonics to a foul mood ever . . . I defy you to watch this movie and not feel a smile creeping over your face.

The Best Musical Comedy Ever Produced!
I fell in love with this film when I was seven years old; I watched it on a B&W television on "The Early Show" in NY (circa 1957 or 1958). I didn't know who any of the stars were - it didn't matter. It was magic to me. From the Hollywood opening (dignity, always dignity), the romp of the elocution lessons (Moses supposes his toes are roses!), and the trial and mostly error of trying to record the sound ("I can't make love to a BUSH!") when the gorgeous leading lady has a voice that rivals nails on a blackboard, all the way to the grown man dancing in the rain and the final rising curtain - pure magic. In glorious black and white - at the time, I didn't even know it HAD colour! I decided then and there, this was my absolute all-time favourite movie. (One of the highlights of my adult life was seeing this wonder on a full, big screen at a revival in the 1970s.) I have seen many films since then; I have reviewed them for friends & family, written reviews for a monthly entertainment publication. I have an extensive collection of my own (VHS & DVD). I know a lot more about films and production values now.

"Singin'in the Rain" remains my all-time favourite film. (No surprise, this.) It's not just another one of "those MGM musicals." It was released in 1952. Dated stuff? Not a bit. Unlike the marvelous "An American in Paris," which was done as a contemporary film to its time, "Singin' in the Rain" is a period film, and it's based in fact.

This film (which started out to be a western for Howard Keel) takes a fond and loving look at the birthpains of the sound film (the "talkies). Set in 1927, with authentic equipment from MGM's own history (Debbie Reynolds drives Andy Hardy's old jalopy, the microphones are real), it details the frantic efforts to get on the sound bandwagon - no one was completely sure of the new technology. What makes the plot classic is the basis in fact. Many silent stars had totally unacceptable voices or speech (too nasal, unintelligible foreign accents, too high, too low, etc.) for sound production. The songs used were true to the period.

Then we have the performers. Jean Hagen was nominated for an Academy Award for her role of Lina Lamont. The character (whose voice you don't hear for the first 10+ minutes of the film, although she's on-screen) is a one-of-a-kind. [Side note: the voice dubbing Lina's line is actually Hagen's normal voice, not that of Debbie Reynold's Kathy Selden.] Reynolds does an admirable job - it couldn't have been easy keeping up with her two male co-stars. It's still a joy to see Donald O'Connor's "Make 'em Laugh," and wonderful to see Gene Kelly teamed with a good male partner for "Fit as a Fiddle" and "Moses". Gene Kelly is, and always shall be, the best and this was done at his peak.

Of course, for anyone who has been living in the back of a cave under a rock (or too young to appreciate it), the title number is a delight. It looks like one continuous take, it is so smooth. This was not the first appearance of the song, but it's the one we all remember. The sheer exuberance of Kelly's performance carries us right along with him.

The extras with this set are valued items for anyone like me who is interested in the backstory of the era and this film in particular. And don't fuss for a widescreen version. This is the way it was. And now it always will be.

Thoroughly entertaining musical
I have to say first of all that I am *not* at all a fan of musicals (or comedies for that matter) - I am a drama fan. I have seen a few musicals here and there over the years and tried to like them - such as 1964's "My Fair Lady" and 1961's "West Side Story." I liked both of them *somewhat,* but not too much - because I have always strongly preferred films that are realistic --> in real life, people don't burst into song when they are in one particular circumstance or another. Yet, I couldn't help enjoying myself with a smile on my face as I watched this film that landed so high (#10) on AFI's list of the top 100 American films of all time. Donald O'Connor, in particular, as Cosmo, was so perfectly cast in his role. The film was at times hilarious and at times wonderfully romantic. I definitely would recommend everyone to try this film out. B+. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Spot on!....A Brilliant Serious/Story Tale.
Spot On! This BRILLIANT serious indicates exactly what gay life is about and the difference amongst us all within the gay community. Well done and congratulations to the writers of Queer as Folk. I am totally hooked to this serious.

EXCELLENT TV SHOW!!
I absolutely love the show!!
It's so cool that the show presents a different world to me!
I enjoy involving the relationship between those charaters! They are adroable and memorable!! Especially the affection between Brian and Justin! It would be precious to you if you decided to buy those series!! I promise!!

Best Series Ever For Our Gay Community!
ITs about time that Queer life is celebrated! I own "Queer As Folk Seasons 1-3" and its the best showtime series I have ever seen! All 3 seasons so far have drama, romance, lust; and each season makes you want more! I became hooked instantly; having watched every season atleast five times!

At first, I was worried, seeing that I never watched the series before buying them. I jumped with both feet and bought all three at once. I Definitely, 100% not disappointed! The drama and the complications in the series between queer friendship, love, devotion, pride and honor is the best I have ever seen in any gay portrayed series!

Queer as folk shows all aspects of Queer life! The love between Justin and Brian, Mikey and Ben, Ted and Emmett, Lindsay and Melanie; and many other characters brings this series to a new level. Showing the honest view of gay life. I feel for every character, and care for each person and their lives, as it unfolds. Words can't express this series other than its a must see and definitely MUST OWN collection!

At times, this series will show sex and nudity, so its not for the faint at heart. But thats what makes this series even more special. The fact that nothings held back; in your face truthfulness of gay relationships! Its awesome!

If you never watched Queer as folk, I recommend to everyone they should! I cant wait to own Season four!

The Entire Collection From a Great TV Show
When "Queer As Folk" debuted on Showtime in 2000, it immediately sparked controversy, raising many eyebrows. Its unique graphic visionaries of sexuality has kept many talking. Not because of the sexual theme itself; it's the sexuality between two members of the same sex. The "in-your-face" effect earns the brave cast and crew tremendous respect for doing what no other has successfully done before. Before its debut, only two sitcoms have explored sexual orientation extensively: "Ellen" and "Will And Grace". The brilliance and the success of "Queer As Folk" has since earned rave reviews by many critics and still is today. Since its debut, the show has won and been nominated for several awards, including three, and counting, consecutive GLAAD Award nominations for Outstanding TV Drama.

The variey of character personalities offers great plot variety. Brian's frequent sexual activity, Michael's homelike presence, Emmitt's flamboyance, and Ted's shyness are only some traits that offer such joy to audiences. Justin, Debbie, Mel, Lindsay, and Ben also offer their own unique presence. The acting offers more great additional entertainment value. New and interesting ideas always keep audiences awaiting for the next episode. The combination of realism, drama, and slight comedy offers issues that some viewers can relate, including the straight/ ally community. Besides GLBT issues and struggles, it explores drug use, HIV/ AIDS, hate crimes, pornography, and many others. The shock value offers a great unforgettable experience. As the seasons progress, the plot and the characters follow.

Season one, the season always to be watched first, explores the coming out process, struggles in high school, struggles in the workplace, same sex couples raising a child, and others. Those who haven't watched the show will witness Justin meeting Brian for the first time, Lindsay giving birth to Gus (Brian is the father), Justin coming out for the first time, and of course Brian being Brian. Such deep chain of events and many others lead to a surprising and shocking season finale that keeps audiences awaiting for the second season premiere episode.

Season two starts with the result of the traumatic event on last season's finale. The characters begin evolving more throughout this season. Some surprising turn of events keep audiences interested in every detail. New viewers will witness Michael and Ted beginning their dream jobs, Michael meeting Ben who is HIV-positive, the birth of "Rage", Justin beginning college, Brian admitting more of his love for Justin, and of course Brian still being Brian. Viewers will be shocked when they learn Debbie's weak spot, despite being a strong GLBT ally. Robert Gant makes a wonderful debut as Ben. The acting from everyong shows great improvement throughout this season. Everyone creates their own tactics to keep audience watching. The chain of events, and many others, lead to a great season finale, leading to season three.

Season three answers questions that were cliffhanged in the second season finale. This season shows a greater variey of expressed issues, some which have not been expressed before, including politics, hustling, drug abuse, and others. This shows a greater emphasis on HIV/ AIDS issues, especially when Ben and Michael help a young hustler and when Ben's ex-boyfriend/friend dies of AIDS. This season shows surprising revolutions of some characters: an unlikely town hero arises to prevent a town from being run by a homophobic mayor candidate, an unlikely person becomes a crystal meth addict, and others. The chain of events and others lead to a shocking season finale that keeps audiences awaiting for season four.

This "Queer As Folk" set is a great collecion item for fans. This is sure to keep audiences entertained for a long time. First time viewers must watch this edition in order. Otherwise, the chain of events will be confusing.

Cast: Gale Howard (Brian), Hal Sparks (Michael), Randy Harrison (Justin), Peter Paige (Emmitt), Scott Lowell (Ted), Robert Gant (Ben), Michelle Clunie (Mel), Thea Gill (Lindsay), and Sharon Gless (Debbie).

Queer As Folk The Complete Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are wonderful
Queer As Folk is one of the most amazing TV Shows ever and is a landmark as the show for the new millennium. This amazing Box Set has Season 1,2, and 3. After three seasons I am still amazed at how honest this show is on dealing with gay life. Not every gay person lives a life like these guys, but that is not what this show is about. Queer As Folk ia about the life of a group of gay guys and a lesbian couple living in Pittsburgh. Queer As Folk makes no apologies and thats what is so great about this series. From the graphic sex scenes to the drama of dealing with the prejudice that still haunts America, this show is so brave and I give Showtime a big thumbs up for having the balls to take on such a big risk as Queer As Folk. This show is as close as it gets to real life. This is not a show just for gay people, but for ALL people. It deals with human emotion and thats something that we can all relate to whether we be straight, gay, bisexual, black, white, brown or in between. I encourage anyone who has a open mind and a open heart to BUY this amazing DVD collection as it will inspire you and if nothing else open your mind to a lifestyle not as uncommon as you may think. Watch more than one episode before you judge this amazing series. With season 1, 2, and 3 you will be entertained with this awesome show for more than a few days!

Queer As Folk The Complete First Season - The first Queer As Folk DVD Box Set has all 22 episodes of the first season of the most controversial and bravest series in the history of television. The total running time of all 6 DVD's is approx: 1,205 minutes which includes Bonus features such as: behind the scenes outtakes, deleted scenes, special edition episodes, a Photo Gallery, DVD rom extras, A 6 minute Season 2 Sneek Peek, and much more. Queer As Folk shows the life of a group of gay guys and a lesbian couple living in Pittsburgh and all the dramas that go on in each of their lives.

Queer As Folk The Complete Second Season - The DVD Box Set is over 900 minutes and has all 20 episodes of the second season of one of the most controversial television shows today. The BOX SET includes over 3 hours of Bonus features such as: behind the scenes outtakes, deleted scenes, special edition episodes, a Photo Gallery, DVD rom extras, and much more. Queer As Folk shows the life of a group of gay guys and a lesbian couple living in Pittsburgh. I feel the first season of QUEER AS FOLK is better, but this second season is very good as well and shows the growth of the characters. I have seen all 20 episodes of Season 2 and it is slower paced than the first season, and I sometimes find myself looking at my watch which rarely ever happened with season 1.

Queer As Folk The Complete Third Season - This New Queer As Folk Season 3 DVD Box Set is over 673 minutes and has all 14 episodes of the third season, which is still one of the most controversial and bravest series on television today. This BOX SET like the seasons before include over 3 hours of Bonus features such as: Behind-the-camera, Hot Summer Days, Wrap Party Reel, Enter Babylon LA, Meet the Folks, Animated Photo Gallery, Season Four Sneak Preview, Weblink, Music Videos, and a few other surprises. I have seen all 14 episodes of Season 3 and it is another great season with some major twists. Season 3 is also a step above season 2 which was a little drawn out when compared to season 1. I do have to say I am a little upset that this season is very short when compared to season 1 and 2, which both had about 7 or 8 more episodes, but either way it is still a good season. Can't wait till the new Season 4 starts on Showtime soon. ... Read more

Description

Serving together in the Persian Gulf War, Captain Bennett Marco and Sgt. Raymond Shaw were part of a platoon of soldiers kidnapped and brainwashed. Ten years later, Shaw gears up for his vice presidential campaign while Marco eventually remembers being kidnapped and discovers Shaw's powerful mother played a big part in that scheme. Determined to reveal the truth behind everything, Marco must first convince Shaw that the brainwashing really happened. ... Read more

Reviews (68)

John Hughes At His Best
Movies like this are what make one want to cry over the media-provoked labeling and fall of "The Brat Pack". The stars of the 1980s teen films were expected to form the next generation of great actors until Hollywood tore them apart and sent them scraping for whatever cable-movie parts they could get their hands on. Though Pretty in Pink was more-or-less the swan song of John Hughes'-masterminded films, to this day it continues to bring in fans to the genre with it's sweet and simple poor girl/rich guy romance and the social issues therein. Though star Molly Ringwald is occaisonally over-emotional in her portrayal of the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, it is not unfitting with her strong but somewhat neurotic character, Andie. Andrew McCarthy, though of greater acting capability than he displays here, still plays his rich but insecure Romeo (Blane) to a T, and is cute enough to make any teenage girl fall in love with him-despite the wierd eye thing. Annie Potts and Harry Dean Stanton are both memorable in their roles of somewhat bizzare parental-type figures, as is a young James Spader as Blane's perfectly condescending best friend. However it is Jon Cryer, as Andie's best and besotted friend Phil "Duckie" Dale who truly steals the show with what is surely one of the top performances of Cryer's varied career. Though on the outside this movie may appear to be pure teen fluff, the story has an endearing quality that will continually find it back in the VCR on any all night movie fest.

A girl from the wrong side of the tracks and her life
This movie set in the mid 80s era of brat-prack movies is a unique shining star. Molly Ringwald is Andie a girl from the wrong sides of the tracks who has romantic intrests from both sides of the spectrum; Duckie (Jon Cryer) who's puppy-dog love for her is both sweet and endearing to watch, and Blane (Andrew McCarthy) the rich guy who has everything going for him. What follows is Andie having to deal with this, the bitchy cheerleader type girls at school, her loving but dishonest father (Harry Dean Stanton) and through all this will she get an invatation to the prom? This is a great film, with both Blane, and Andie having to deal with their friends disagreeeing with their relationship. Steff (James Spader at one of his very best) Blane's best friend, who tries to make Blane try to decide between Andie and himself, when really he just wants his finger in the pie. Annie Potts as Iona, Andie's quirky older best friend is excellent and her weird and orginal costume changes throughout the movie are a highpoint. This is a emotionally raw film a rareity at the time it was made. If you ask me this should have swept the Oscar nominations with Molly Ringwald getting Best Actress, but hey regardless of the miss of Oscars watch this, it is a powerful film and a great piece of film making

Watch 16 Candles or The Breakfast Club, instead
Pretty in Pink is truly one of the worst bratpack movies ever made. Whiny Molly Ringwald has by this time thoroughly worn out her welcome; her perpetual pout, her eye-rolling and her generally sour disposition are extremely grating, all the moreso because she is in virtually every scene! The only interesting thing about Ringwald's "performance" is her ever-changing haircolor (throughout the movie, her hair goes from strawberry blonde to dark auburn to nearly chartreuse back to strawberry blonde, and so on. At least SOMETHING changed; her expression never did!).

Andrew McCarthy is the wimpiest "romantic hero" ever, and, like Molly, his expression never changes. "Must remain bland" was surely his mantra throughout filming.

Jon Cryer plays "Ducky" (did YOU go to high school with anybody who had a nickname like that???) like a spastic goofball. James Spader is wasted in a one-note role as "The Mean Snobby Guy." There's no end to the talent wasted in this film: Annie Potts and Harry Dean Stanton are also squandered in thankless, my-character-only-exists-to-showcase-Molly-Ringwald roles.

As if all that's not annoying enough, Molly's character is the richest "poor girl" ever, with her own lilac-colored Kharman Ghia, an endless supply of funky vintage dresses, petticoats, sweaters, granny boots, and hats (if you think she picked all that swag up at Salvation Army, you're crazy), and her own phone complete with answering machine (no big deal now, but it was in the '80s).

The cherry on top is the fact that the dress Molly cobbles together and "triumphantly" wears to Prom is ugly. Ugly, ugly, UGLY. That's not just my opinion, either: I saw this dog in the theater, and people LAUGHED when she made her entrance.

Bottom line: if you're in the mood for a bratpack movie, watch 16 Candles or Breakfast Club, instead.

One of the better Brat Pack movies.
Molly Ringwald did an good job in this film. The movie wasn't the best brat pack movie, but it is enjoyable. The supporting cast is okay, and the romance you are able to relate to. All, in all good, and heartfelt. See it, if you love teen romance movies.

Pretty good 80's movie
This isn't really my favorite movie that John Hughes made, Sixteen Candles is my favorite, but this one is also pretty good..besides the ending. Molly Ringwald was SO much better with Duckie. Duckie is the best character in this, he's so funny. The part at the end when he's at the dance and he looks at you through the camera, it's priceless!! You got to check this movie out, it's a good one. ... Read more

Reviews (275)

One Super DVD
Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap the tallest building in a single bound. The world's greatest superhero has finally arrived on DVD with "Superman: The Movie" Special Edition. The film focuses on the young survivor of the doomed world of Krypton. After crash-landing on earth, the young alien is adopted by a caring farm couple and grows up with amazing superhuman abilities. Moving to Metropolis, he uses his incredible powers to protect the people and fight injustice. "Superman- the Movie" is probably the best superhero movie to date. The story is quite entertaining but does lose some strength during the second half though it still manages to preserve its entertainment value. The film contains some great performance by Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando as Jor-El. The cast also includes Jackie Cooper, Terence Stamp and Ned Beatty. From daring rescues to superhuman feats of strength, the film contains some impressive action sequence and terrific visual effects.

The DVD honors the Man of Steel like it should. The comic book film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format. The DVD contains a sharp video transfer and a fine 5.1 Dolby Digital sound with great surround effects. This amazing DVD features an audio commentary with director Richard Donner and consultant Tom Mankiewicz, additional footage including an extended sequence inside Lex Luther's underground gauntlet, behind-the-scenes documentaries, theatrical trailers, deleted scenes and DVD-ROM extras. With such a striking DVD presentation, "Superman" earns an "A".

Super features, super options, JUST PLAIN SUPER!
I enjoyed the Superman DVD. 25 years after this movie came out and seeing it so many times on TV with pan and scan, the newly remastered print blows everything out of the water. The music only option works for the title sequence and hearing the extra tracks on Side B adds to the genius that was John Williams soundtrack.

The audio is remastered and put on a surround sound system instead of the setup I have at home would shake your house to the core. The extra scenes were a good touch as well. Behind the scenes added the great touch of mystique that was Superman. Having Marc McClure host the BTS stuff added a bit of credibility.

Until Spider-Man last year and Batman in 1989, this was the film on which Superheroes were judged. The Hulk disappointed and Daredevil and X-2 were moderate hits.

Superman still stands the test of time, no matter what your views.

Spider-Man has kind of surpassed it...
Well now that we have seen the two Spider-Man movies, I tend to belive that they are now the standards by which other comic book films (both Marvel and DC) will have to live up to now. In a way, Superman is now kind of the odd film out. It works better as an origin story in how Clarke Kent becomes Superman and Chris Reeve's effective perfomance in the title role still works, In the comics, Lex Luthor has always been a one dimensional cartoon character, the only time that he was an effective villian was when Gene Hackman played him in this movie. The final scenes of Superman turning the Earth backward to save lois lane, are what they are. It might be a bit far fetched to put in a movie, but that does not stop audiences from enjoying it. and it doesn't stop me from watching it over and over again.

Born on Krypton, raised by the Kents on Earth, Becomes Hero
The Man of Steel flys into the spectactular motion picture, Based The DC Comic and also appearing in Action Comics, Christopher Reeve stars as Clark Kent.Reporter in Metropolis,Illnois for the newspaper the Daily Planet,And trouble emerges Clark Kent flys to the rescue as Superman, a blue suited red caped powerful wonder. He takes on Lex Luthor played Gene Hackman and falls for Lois Lane played Margot Kidder and Marlon Brand as the Krytonian father of Superman Jor EL. This Film is a Great Superhero movie and great film all around, probably the most imaginative thing the Man of Steel has been in. Superman began as the comic, then a radio show, several 1950s B movies, TV show and in 1978 the true Superman ovie. Superman is imaginative in everthing because hes an imaginative character. A pop culture icon on screen and in everthing else. the Special Effects are incredible, This a Super high flying ride. You Want a good superhero movie before Batman and Spider-Man this is it. If it wasn't for this classic we would'nt have superhero movies like Spider-Man 1&2,Batman,Hulk and X-Men 1&2. Thank Hollywood for making a great superhero film that lauched other superhero films. A thrilling Film of one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century, The Man of Steel, SUPERMAN.

Release Superman into our 21st century!
Very bad film.
They released Spiderman into the 21st century, why not Superman?
I've always found him to be the most appealing comic book character. He is sure for an amazing performance.
RELEASE HIM INTO OUR CENTURY! ... Read more