Description

Plagued by uncertainties and worldly desires, five Protestant missionary nuns, led by Deborah Kerr's Sister Clodagh, struggle to establish a school in the desolate Himalayas. All the elements of cinematic arts are perfectly fused in Powell and Pressburger's fascinating study of the age-old conflict between the spirit and the flesh, set against the grandeur of the snowcapped peaks of Kanchenjunga. Criterion is proud to present Black Narcissus in a new Special Edition. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Remarkable, on many levels...
The Criterion DVD edition of "Black Narcissus" brings out the most brilliant aspects of the film, a brightness and splendor that makes the drab Order of Mary nuns re-think a few things. The magnificent & exotic locale, high in the Himalayas, as well as clashing cultures trying to meld, make this a most absorbing experience. Okay, the nuns take a castle in the mountains to teach the locals. That's all I'll tell of the plot. The psychological experiences of each nun are vividly portrayed, as well as the intrusion of a local girl and an Indian prince. A very mystic atmosphere pervades, and the nuns start thinking mundane thoughts. Ah! The mystery of the mountains! It's a bit of a downer to find out that you're not seeing the Himalayas in their splendor; rather, all was filmed on a stage in England. The Oscar-winning art direction and cinematography are totally responsible for creating this wonderfully mysterious place. The Criterion version preserves the phenomenal photography, with colors clashing against each other, creating a visual display of the confusion those poor nuns were facing. Indeed, they all changed, in one way or another. Clear and crisp, you can see every facial wrinkle and every minute detail of costumes and jewelry. A fine achievement. Shadows against sunlight, and brilliant color...quite lovely. It's fun to see a post-adolescent Sabu, though here he plays a fancy young guy and looks uncomfortable, considering his greatest fame came wearing a much more comfortable loincloth. The rest of the acting is excellent, without exception. Deborah Kerr, in one of her first big roles, is commanding, as well as Kathleen Byron, Flora Robson, David Farrar, and an amazing performance by a 17-year old Jean Simmons, as a little Indian tart. I was most taken with the performance of May Hallatt as the crazy caretaker of the palace, who really put a lot in perspective. It's impressive that director Powell and writer Pressburger were in such close collaboration that they took equal credit for everything. As the liner notes tell, England was slow to recover after WW II, and watching the English nuns leave the most spiritual surroundings somehow suggest that the English had no business in India. They didn't understand their surroundings. Interesting. (David Lean's wonderful "A Passage to India" had a similar message). There is a cleansing rainstorm as the nuns leave, which suggests that life will go on, as usual, though the look on Farrar's face at the end is less than hopeful. My favorite moment is when May Hallatt finds out a bunch of "ladies" will be coming, expecting the old days of the harems. Imagine her surprise when she gets a bunch of nuns. If you haven't seen this film already, prepare yourself for a truly visual treat. Young filmmakers should see this, to learn about plot/character development, real conflict & resolution. I'm glad to own it.I

The Crisp Air of the Himalayas
British cinema during the post-WWII years produced a string of terrific movies, and Black Narcissus is among the most remarkable of those films. There is an eerie, sexually charged atmosphere throughout this story of five nuns sent into a remote part of the Himalayas to establish a convent and work with the locals. There's something about the air that clears their heads and allows all sorts of worldly thoughts to permeate their consciousness. The results are tragic. Deborah Kerr stars as the Sister Superior and gives yet another excellent portrait of repression and duty mixed uneasily together. As good as she might be, it's Kathleen Byron as the disturbed Sister Ruth whose performance dominates the film. Her descent into madness is chilling and Byron is nothing short of amazing in the way she physically and emotionally plays it. The cinematography is justly famous, and the direction is superb, capturing and exploiting the repressed atmosphere and increasing mental unease of the experience using great camera angles. The score also deserves mention. The sound of the howling wind runs throughout the film, and choirs of voices are used with rising intensity to create dramatic tension. Black Narcissus is unlike any movie you have seen.

an unusual slow paced film.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

In my opinion, this film's plot was kind of boring and slow.

In compensation however, the film has excellent matte shots and and well made scenery imitating the Himalayas. It is very hard to believe that the movie was made entirely in the British Isles.

The film is about fuve nuns who open a school and hospital in a remote region of the Himalaya mountains. Their efforts are plagued with many troubles and the results are disasterous.

The film also sparked a controversey with the Catholic Church's Leigon of Decency upon it's release in the US and as a result, a scene was cut for the US release. As a non-Catholic Christian, I am very glad that the Legion of Decency no longer censors films in the US because I strongly oppose many teachings of the Catholic church and their views could have caused many Protestant films to be banned as anti-Catholic.

I did not find anything offensive in this film but can see why Catholics might.

The special features are good and one of them is excellent.
There is a theatrical trailer, production photos, photos of cut scene, and audio commentary by Michael Powell and Martin Scorsese. The other feature which I really like is a 27 minute documentary "Painting with Light" which is about the technicolor canera and the cinematography of the film. The documentary also has a visual "tour" of the different parts of the technicolor video camera.

The film remains a classic, though not one of my favorites.

Eroticism runs riot in a nunnery
Not only is this the most erotic British film ever made... it is one of the most erotic films ever and in terms of understanding what IS erotic, is a pre-eminent example of 'less is more'. It has been remarked about some famous religious art works that there appears to be a conjunction between the face in a moment of religious ecstasy and the face in a moment of sexual ecstasy. Mr Powell and Mr Pressburger understood that entirely and made a feast of it. Just to consider the use of red: blushing nuns, red flowers, blood on a white habit, cherry lipstick, magenta dress, ruby shoes, a maroon compact... Combine this with the pulsating drums, everpresent wind, the oiled bodies of the "natives" and images of a booted foot hovering near the prostrate body of one of the nuns and you have a film of extraordinary sexual power. Never have the bare legs of a male, from just above the knees down, looked so provocative as they do in this film. But this is just part of this magnificent work. To own.

One of Powell and Pressburger's best.
Visualy perfect, colorful, brilliantly directed and acted. My favorite Criterion Collection DVD. Only gets better with each viewing. One of the most beautiful DVD transfers I have ever seen. Only equaled in it's use of color by Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger's other color films like THE RED SHOES. A must have. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

WOW!
Oscar Hammerstein took the fabulous classic work of Bizet "Carmen", and made it into a contemporary work and an instant classic now some fifty years ago. There are just not enough superlatives to adequately describe this movie. The first time I saw this was on the stage in LOndon years ago, and I had to seek out the video.

Dorothy Dandridge made her career in this one epic work. It is nothing short of transfixing. Seeing her use her charms to turn Harry Belafonte into her slave (what an incredibly lucky SOB!) and then torment him was like nothing I had ever seen before. It is interesting to note that even given the social morays of the time, D.D was so much more erotic in the simple act of putting on her stockings than we see today in a hour of almost total nudity on the screen! I am not sure that there has ever been anyone who burned up the screen any more before or since. Also featured were a young Pearl Bailey and Dianne Carroll.

My only question? Both D.D and H.B were fabulous singers in their own right. I have never understood why their singing parts were dubbed. Nonetheless, the contemporary adaptation of this classic music is wonderful.

Marilyn Horne's voice and Dorothy Dandridge's acting--Wow!
I've seen the stage version of this amazing show, and though I usually prefer the immediacy of live shows, the movie is still tops in my book. Dorothy Dandridge *is* Carmen, and though her voice is dubbed, who can complain when it's dubbed by Marilyn Horne? Every time I see this movie, I find myself wishing again that Dorothy had lived longer, or at least made more movies in her short life. Can you imagine what she'd accomplish in today's film industry?

The Easy Way To Get Into Opera
1954's Carmen Jones is a classic film of great value. Otto Preminger directed the film in the new CinemaScope, Dorothy Dandridge was a black actress in the pre-Civil Rights Movement period to be playing a serious role and it's an easy transition into the Georges Bizet French opera from which it was based. The movie used Bizet's music but they translated the lyrics into English. Dorothy Dandrige stars as Carmen Jones and Harry Belafonte as Joe, or Carmen and Don Jose respectively. The film was successful, since it was Rodgers and Hammerstein's concept. The film is like a realistic musical without too much sugar or sunshine. The story of Carmen, itself drawn from the French short novel by Prosper Merimee, is a dark story of passion and obscession that results in a crime of passion, the death of Carmen as she is stabbed by the jealous Joe. Carmen, a free spirit, gets into all sorts of trouble, oozes sensuality and sex appeal, and wins all the men with her Habanera song. When she seduces Joe in a World War II military camp, he abandons his homely and well-mannered girlfriend Cindy Lou (Micaela in the opera) he lives with Carmen as lovers. But the affair declines for Carmen who takes an interest in the attractive boxer Oscar Miller (a play on the name Escamillo from the opera who was a bullfighter). Joe gets decisively jealous and begs Carmen to forget about the boxer and continue their romance. The last scene is particularily impressive, and is full of taut, dramatic tension. The rest of the movie is of course all musical numbers and dramatic scenes, such as Carmen Jones discovering her doom through reading the cards and reading her death card. The whole thing is a miracle to watch, because it seems to work effectively as both musical and opera. It's highly enjoyable and I recommend anyone interested in the opera Carmen to watch it.

GREAT MOVIE
This movie is awesome. I love the singing, dancing, and acting. Another great Carmen is Carmen:A Hip Hopera. That is as great and lovely as this one but only updated. JUST PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE BUY THIS DVD IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASSIC MOVIES YOU WILL SEE.

Talk about your works of art!!!
When one thinks of the great screen couples, one of the two was slightly more appealing physically than the other. Nelson Eddy with his chiseled looks flattered the screen better than his frequent co-star Jeannette McDonald. Robert Taylor, Tony Curtis, and Paul Newman outshone their respective real-life and film spouses Barbara Stanwyck, Janet Leigh, and Joanne Woodward. His female co-star always overshadowed Humphrey Bogart, especially when that co-star was wife Lauren Bacall. Elizabeth Taylor was definitely more appealing to the eye than husband and seven-time co-star Richard Burton.

And it seems that the actress had to have something special to be in front of the camera with Cary Grant. It might not be just a coincidence that beauties such as Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, and Audrey Hepburn shared screen time with Mr. Grant.

Even the late-lamented movie duo of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had the camera favoring the "top gun".

Only did Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn match each other in the "serviceable" looks department.

The point of the aforementioned is that "Carmen Jones" has the distinction of featuring two performers that not only matched each other in the acting arena but also were as aesthetically compatible as any great work of art. Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte are just too pretty to behold in this Technicolor marvel. The camera just seems to capture every flawless angle of their picturesque features.

Opera "purists" may scoff at the liberties taken in Bizet's composition, but film buffs realize that "Jones" was a landmark film, featuring an awesome (and at that time, unprecedented) array of African-American talent. From the major performers (including Pearl Bailey, Olga James, and Diahann Carroll) to the familiar character actors handling minor but significant parts (Roy Glenn, Brock Peters, and Nick Stewart), the film is worthy of time capsule placement as an icon in American cinema.

"Carmen Jones" may not be among AFI's TOP 100 list, but it is among one of THIS reviewer's movie gems. ... Read more

Description

LEAP OF FAITH stars Steve Martin as Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent faith healer who makes a living visiting small towns and giving hope in the form of prayer. Aided by his no nonsense manager, Jane (Winger), Jonas sets up his tent in a small suburb of Kansas where he soon learns that their hidden mikes, cameras and computers can’t fool the neighborhood sheriff (Neeson).But, when Jonas is touched by a local waitress (Davidovich) and her disabled son Boyd (Haas), he learns something new about truth and what real miracles are made of. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

A Pleasant Surprise
I had never heard of this movie before I saw it and I wasn't expecting it to be any good--but it is. It's really, really good.
Considering the star status of Steve Martin (who turns out an extrodinary performance in this film) why has it been so overlooked? Martin plays "Jonas Nightengale", a glib traveling evangalist, faith healer, and con man. When one of his trucks breaks down in the impoverished town of Rust Water, Kansas, he sets up his tent and invites the town to a revival. The sheriff (Liam Neeson) is determined to stop Nightengale from seperating the poor and desperate people from what little money they have. At first this film appears to simply be a cynical expose of the tricks fraudulent preachers use to shake down their flocks. But as it progresses it reveals itself to be something much more complex and subtle. At one point Nightengale, when confronted as being a fake, replies, "What difference does it make as long as I get the job done?" Yet when a real miracle occurs, something he can niether explain or control, his lack of faith is shaken and he actually becomes angry with God. As in real life conversions, the film unexpectedly turns you around 180 degrees by the end.

Outstanding!!
This movie touches everyone who watches it. Some may not admit it but you sit through it without being touched you are dead or numb. Steve Martin is super as Jonas Nightingale, definitely an academy award performance. My personal favorite moment is the little comical dance he breaks into in the middle of his sermon. It always breaks me up each time I watch it and I have seen it many times. It is one of those movies you never seem to see enough. Liam Neeson is also great as the sheriff who is skeptical of Jonas and tries to bring him down. Everyone knows how great Debra Winger is and this one of her best efforts. A must for every serious movie lovers library.

The Well Known Correlation Between MEATLOAF & Word Of Faith!
Steve Martin is born to play the starring role of Jonas Nightingale, a travelling huckster, fraud of a faith healer, demon "caster outer", "slay in the spiriter" & more importantly, a money grubbing false prophet. Along with his no-nonsense sidekick manager, Jane, played aptly by Debra Winger, they bilk poor souls from a small town out of their hard earned cash with the oldest profession in the world. No, not prostitution. The selling of the Gospel Of Jesus Christ!

This film exhibits many word-faith doctrines such as "positive confession", "gospel of health", "gospel of wealth" and the whole "name it and claim it" belief. More imporantly, what it also has is some great smaller role performances given by Lolita Davidovich as waitress Marva, Lukas Haas as Boyd, Liam Neeson as Will, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Matt, and MEATLOAF as Hoover!

This movie also has a great soundtrack with samplings from Don Henley, Patti LaBelle, Wynonna Judd and of course, the great Meatloaf with "Paradise By The Dashboard Lights"!

Seriously though... This film has a great ending and shows what REAL MIRACLES are made of and EXACTLY where they are made...

A fun & entertaining family film!

Happy Watching!

WOW
What an awesome movie! I have already watched so many Steve Martin's movies but in this one he gives us the best performance ever.
Jonah, is a public religious speaker who goes from town to town to heal and give hope to people. A whole team works for him. His main assistant gathers and passes on the information to him about people in the audience. Everything she says he got it through the "GOD" (microphones in his ears)...

Very very very funny for us and very very very threatening and serious for phony people such as Benny Hinn and some other wackos like himself.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Phe-no-men-al!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie has been one of my favorites since it hit the big screen many years ago. Not that I am old now, but I was a very young person when it came out, and being an avid lover of Gospel music, I was truly taken back by the music that was apart of this movie. Many Gospel music notables such as Ricky Dillard (Choir director) and Albertina Walker (soloist) quickly caught my eye as the movie and plot began to develop. I would truly recommend this movie to those who love Gospel music, and even those who love Steve Martin. He did a phenomenal job of playing a minister and a con simultaneously. I applaud him!!!!! I urge anyone that reads this review and is contemplating purchasing this movie to do so with no hesitation. You will not regret it!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Smart, well documented, funny = I love it
Everything you need to know about the grunge scene : when it started, first bands to break out of seattle etc. Hype! did a really good job in more than one way, it gave us the facts about the North West, how these facts played a major role in what happened with the music(all told by people who actually live in Seatlle). The interviews are great especially the one with the two colorful Sub pop founders : Jonthan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt, and the ones with the bands are especially funny, except for the interview with Eddie Veder(he's from San Diego: no sense of humour!). This tape doesn't limit itself to explaining the grunge scene and sound, it talks about the tragedies of sucess, and the media's negative impact on the scene by mass marketing it. You'll watch this one over and over again, see some great concert footage, hear about the tragedy surrounding Kurt Cobain and deceased Mother Love Bone singer Andy Wood. It's comforting, being a musician myself, knowing that the bands responsible for the great music scene did it because the enjoyed it and that's should be the only motivation for beeing in a band and playing music.

One of the best documentaries ever
This film is amazing beyond words. It gives all of the infomration one would need about the greatest musical scene of the 90stold by the artists/producers/record company CEOs themselves. A lot of the people interviewed were humorous, others very serious, but either way it was a really candid interview.

It gives insight to the origin of grunge around 1984 or 1985 with bandslike Green River and the U-Men, to the fomration of its core bands like Soundgraden and Alice In Chains, the grunge explosion of the early 90s, and its demise with the death of Kurt Cobain and the fall of other great Seattle bands.

In addition to excellent interviews, and some great live performances, it has the very first performance of Nirvana's classic song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," about 100 tiumes more raw and abrasive than the version on Nevermind.

great documentary
this is my favorite film.if your a nirvana, soundgarden, or pearl jam, i highly recomend this movie. for the nirvana fans, theres a clip of the first preformance of 'teen spirit' with alt lyrics. for the soundgarden fans, theres a whole big scene where it shows the process of setting up a show while one of their songs is playing in the backround. for pearl jam fans, theres an interview with eddie veddar, but no live stuff. aside from the bands who made it, it focus much on all the bands that didnt and stayed indie. those bands (ie: the gits, monomen, coffin break, supersuckers, etc) are way better than the three above. great humor from the interviewee's. this is an excellent movie, so go rent it or buy it, and enjoy it.

Satisfying Documentary
I don't habitually relish watching documentaries, because I've barely found any that I enjoy viewing, that does not include "Hype!" They mention an immense amount of good bands and interesting facts about them in this excellent film. I missed the first fifteen minutes of the movie and don't recall seeing anything about Nirvana in this. It is a satisfying documentary about grunge music, but would probably be tedious to someone not interested in it's roots.

Boring overated documentery
If you're a fan of that genre of "music," I guess this movie is for you. For me, it was nothing more than a cure for my insomnia.

Blech! ... Read more

Amazon.com

After starring in the now-legendary trilogy of spaghetti Westerns for Italian director Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood became a box-office star and imported the style of those classic shoot-'em-ups for this 1967 Western directed by Ted Post, with whom Eastwood had worked during their days on the television series Rawhide. Eastwood plays an innocent rancher who is mistaken for a cattle rustler and sentenced to hang by an angry mob. When he is saved from the noose by a passing lawman, he embarks on a renegade campaign of vengeance against the men who attempted to lynch him. Hang 'Em High offers a number of memorable moments and stylistic flourishes, and features a superb supporting cast of Western veterans, including Ben Johnson, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, L.Q. Jones, and the "Skipper" himself, Alan Hale Jr. Made just three years before Dirty Harry, the film marked a turning point for Eastwood, who would soon move into a prolific period of contemporary thrillers. The digital video disc offers standard and widescreen formats and a remastered soundtrack. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (31)

Eastwood, home on the American range
After earning major stardom with Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy, Clint Eastwood turned down both Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and Carl Foreman's "MacKenna's Gold" to star in and co-produce this tightly scripted, well-acted western directed by "Gunsmoke" veteran Ted Post. It proved a good choice. If not a masterpiece on the order of Leone's film, or a star studded spectacular like Foreman's offering, "Hang 'Em High" was something the other two were not: a hit. It's also intelligent and makes some interesting if subtle comments on the meaning of justice. The clean-shaven Eastwood is fine as Jed Cooper, a former marshal who once more wears a badge to hunt down the men who hanged him as an alleged cattle thief, but Pat Hingle as a hanging judge who is even more vengeance minded than Eastwood offers the standout performance. Bruce Dern, Bob Steele, Ben Johnson, Joe Sirola, Dennis Hopper, and Alan Hale, Jr. (yes, the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") are among the notable character actors who appear throughout, and Dominic Frontiere's music score, including the title theme that would go on to be a hit for Booker T and the MGs, is excellent.

Exciting, thoughtful western
After earning major stardom with Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy, Clint Eastwood turned down both Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and Carl Foreman's "MacKenna's Gold" to star in and co-produce this tightly scripted, well-acted western directed by "Gunsmoke" veteran Ted Post. It proved a good choice. If not a masterpiece on the order of Leone's film, or a star studded spectacular like Foreman's offering, "Hang 'Em High" was something the other two were not: a hit. It's also intelligent and makes some interesting if subtle comments on the meaning of justice. The clean-shaven Eastwood is fine as Jed Cooper, a former marshal who once more wears a badge to hunt down the men who hanged him as an alleged cattle thief, but Pat Hingle as a hanging judge who is even more vengeance minded than Eastwood offers the standout performance. Bruce Dern, Bob Steele, Ben Johnson, Joe Sirola, Dennis Hopper, and Alan Hale, Jr. (yes, the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") are among the notable character actors who appear throughout, and Dominic Frontiere's music score, including the title theme that would go on to be a hit for Booker T and the MGs, is excellent.

Hung at high noon!
Clint Eastwood's movie, Hang 'em High, is very interesting and dramatic. The plot of this movie was predictable but that is quiet alright. The producer and director probably wanted to convey some other message and hence a standard plot was chosen.

Clint Eastwood is a rancher who is strung up at high noon by a bunch of thugs from a nearby town. They accuse him of murder and theft of cattle. Eastwood however does not die. A US Marshall recues him and brings him to the judge for trial. Judge aquitts Eastwood.

It so happens that Eastwood was a ex-lawman and judge appoints him as a Marshall. Then begins the story of revenge and justice as Eastwood hunts down the vigilante mob that tried to hang him.

There are many interesting questions raised in the movie. What is the relationship between Revenge and Justice? How should justice be dealt out? It is a thought-provoking movie although it has somewhat banal action scenes. Regardless, it's a movie worth your money.

"When you hang a man, You better look at him!!!!!
Hang'em High is one of my favorite westerns. Clint Eastwood is awsome in the role of Jed Cooper, a cowboy who is mistaken for a rustler and gets hanged. After being rescued by a sherriff and given a job as a lawman, Cooper seeks revenge on the 9 men who hung him.
Hang'em High is a good'ol western that's packed with great actors, like Alan Hale Jr. (Giligan's Island) Ed Begley. L.Q. Jones, Dennis Hopper, and in a brief role as a preacher, James MacArthur(Hawaii Five-O), and Bob Steele, in the role as a prison inmate. If you like westerns with Clint Eastwood, give Hang'em High a try.

Hi-Noon Gloom at Solar Eclipse of Justice
Great and terrific western, although a bit incomplete compared to his later American movies, featuring a Clint Eastwood youngster once more, or already, in search of Justice.

How come so many of those Eastwood Westerns remind one of the epics of the Christian narrations of the Gospel themes? It has to be borne in mind that the colonization of the West was once undertaken by deeply religious believers and pious colons, fleeing religious persecutions by bigots, various religious hypocrits and other political imperialists and oportunists. Redemption is and was always strictly a business of individuals, and the Far Wild West narrational environment is or was able to bring out a suitable environment and circumstances for the depiction of the various themes of redemption. Clint Eastwood, in his half-a-dozen or so mythical Westerns, has usually done a great job at this.

In this movie, the heroe (self-tortured as usual with a high inner sense of justice) almost loses his life several times, once in an expedient summary judgement followed by an attempted lynching by a bunch of respectable criminal outlaws in search of an innocent scapegoat, another time by an attempted cold-blooded execution, barely escapes each time with notable scars and (Christ-like) stigmatas, to go out to seek justice and revenge.

In all of Clint Eastwood's westerns, this is a major theme. The world looks like a rather gloomy place, haunted by the lost and the wicked, where there is neither justice nor reprieve for a few righteous ones, and Clint Eastwood incarnates a type of Christ, or avenging Angel, usually back from the Dead or almost-Dead, in a lonely search or quest for justice in a lost world.

For a subsequent illustration of these themes, see the following

- Unforgiven: The Redeemer of Blood pushed to His utter limits
- Pale Rider: The Redeeming and Avenging Angel, or Man with a Mission
- The Outlaw Josey Wales: Moses, the Hunted One turned Leader in the Wilderness
- High Plains Drifter: The Resurrected Righteous, or His Angel, or His Next of Kin , bringing down Retribution to a wicked town (Caphernaum by the Sea)

Although Hang 'em High presents some of the above-mentionned themes in a barely embryonic fashion, these subsequent four Western movies developped the theme matter to further epic dimensions, besides allowing for a few very realistic and authentic western entertainments. Highly watchable. ... Read more

Description

Warren Schmidt (Nicholson) is about to taste a not so sweet slice of life. When he retired, he and his wife Helen had big plans, but an unexpected twist changed everything. Now, all of Schmidt's attention is focused his daughter's upcoming wedding to a loser waterbed salesman. From meeting hippie parents to sponsoring a Tanzanian foster child, Schmidt embarks on a search for answers...and discovers that life is full of trick questions. ... Read more

Reviews (289)

One of the best movies of all time
"About Schmidt" is, simply put, a milestone in American cinema. Coming off "Election," which was quite possibly the funniest movie of all time, director Alexander Payne delivered another classic here, but one of a different stripe. With Jack Nicholson delivering a performance that's somehow both low-key and passionate, this character study relentlessly examines the darker side of human existence, plumbing the depths of despair and hopelessness. However, the central character isn't a serial killer, a sex offender, or some similar paragon of depravity. Instead, he's a quiet, 66-year-old newly retired actuary from Nebraska named Warren Schmidt. That's what really makes this movie so depressing: someday, maybe not too far off, any of us could wind up like this movie's antihero, retired, widowed, and feeling useless.

Alexander Payne's portrait of Midwestern suburban life is almost unrelentingly bleak, following its main character around and focusing on all the tiny indignities that steadily pile up on him. The relentlessly self-analytical Warren has examined his life in search of some higher purpose, and he's come up lacking. Looking back he can see only missed opportunities and pointless toil, and looking ahead he only glimpses loneliness and impending death. He has only two things left that give his life any semblance of meaning: his attempts to prevent his beloved daughter from marrying a mulleted, fu-manchued waterbed salesman named Randall; and Ndugu, the Tanzanian orphan whom he starts supporting financially early in the movie. Warren's letters to Ndugu serve as a perfect framing device, providing a window to the internal conflicts that roil beneath his quiet exterior.

Since the monstrous shadow of "Election" looms over this movie for its entire two hours, comparisons are all but inevitable, and I might as well make mine now. Both movies are allegorical tales set in white-bread Nebraska locales, but "Election" is a screwball comedy anchored by a serious plot, while "About Schmidt" is a dark tale of quiet desparation and self-reflection with some offbeat humor mixed in. It's a good thing there are some laughs here too, or I might have wound up trying to hang myself with my belt after I first saw the movie. Most of the humor to be found come from Dermot Mulroney's clueless Randall and, of course, Kathy Bates as Randall's mildly deranged motormouth of a mother. Bates practically steals the show during her limited screen time, as her character's sincerity, her brutal honesty, and above all her tendency to reveal excessive details provides a much-needed counterpoint to Nicholson's reserve and bitterness.

While I'll be the first to admit that "About Schmidt" isn't an easy movie to watch, it's not supposed to be. What makes this such a rewarding movie is the challenge of watching such a thoroughly unremarkable man for two hours, following along with his path through despair, self-discovery, and ultimately a measure of redemption. Sure, Warren Schmidt's just a retired geezer from Nebraska, but his sufferings are more universal than they may appear at first. Warren's experiences make for such fascinating viewing precisely because there are so many people like him out there.

Facing the "golden" years with sorrow.
"About Schmidt" is a wonderful movie starring the great Jack Nicholson, who plays the hapless retiree, Warren Schmidt. Warren lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and he is put out to pasture after a long career with an insurance company. Warren hates retirement, for which he is ill-prepared. In addition, Helen, Warren's wife of forty-two years, irritates him with her annoying habits and idiosyncrasies. Worst of all, Jeannie, Warren's beloved only child, is engaged to a man whom Warren cannot stand.

When Warren suddenly becomes a widower, he takes stock of his life, and he is appalled at how empty it is. In desperation, Warren starts to write rambling letters to his Tanzanian foster child, Ndugu. (Warren sends the child twenty-two dollars a month in response to a television appeal). Even though Ndugu is six years old and cannot read, Warren pours his heart into these letters as a means of venting his anger and frustration.

Alexander Payne, who directed "About Schmidt" and shares credit for writing the fine screenplay, has done a commendable job of eliciting strong performances from an excellent cast. Kathy Bates is a hoot as Jeannie's future mother-in-law, and both Len Cariou and Howard Hesseman shine in small roles. The film, however, belongs to Jack Nicholson, who appears in practically every frame.

Nicholson acts with his entire body. He does wonders with a raised eyebrow, a half-smile, a gesture or a glance. In one hilarious scene, Nicholson does battle with a waterbed and loses. Nicholson captures the very essence of Warren Schmidt, a man who will never be ready for the first day of the rest of his life. Don't miss "About Schmidt" if you want to see one of the best performances of this or any year.

Devastatingly Sad and Darkly Humorous
Many critics unfairly compare "About Schmidt" to Alexander Payne's previous film "Election." Both movies are completely different and appeal to different people and tastes. "Schmidt" is more grown-up, more human, and less accessible and commercial. It is Payne's masterpiece.

Jack Nicholson, in one of his all-time best performances, plays a recent retiree who goes through an end-of-life crisis. His wife dies and his daughter is marrying an idiot, played with comedic brilliance by Dermot Mulroney. He hops in his Winnebago and drives across the United States to have his say. Nicholson is a tired old man who doesn't want to give up on life quite yet, and in a last show of defiance and nonconformity, he tries to stop the wedding.

"Schmidt," to some, is an unrelenting Prozac festival. But if you have a taste for black comedy, and enjoy watching ordinary people fail miserably and make jackasses out of themselves, as well as appreciate good drama, "Schmidt" is your type of movie. It's true, most of the film is sad. But there are moments -- especially when Nicholson shows up at Kathy Bates's house and has to endure her completely dysfunctional brood -- of comedic genius.

If that's not enough to convince you, watch it for Nicholson's performance alone. Oftentimes in his long spanning career, Nicholson has resorted to playing mockeries of his public persona -- flashing those eyebrows and exploding that smile of his. But in "Schmidt" he appropriately plays the role of an old defeated man. You won't even know it's him. He seems to have aged an additional 67 years just to play this role, and it's inspiring. It's also a lesson that, no matter how old you are, there's no reason to give up on your hopes and dreams -- just make sure you're not trying to topple the Berlin Wall alone.

Sad and funny. Bitter and cynical. "About Schmidt" has it all, including some of the most unforgettable elderly characters ever portrayed on screen.

what?!
what is wrong with these reviewers? one person says that it's funny, the next person says that it's depressing. one of the top reviewers said that it's a film meant only for jack nicholson fans, yet i couldn't disagree any more.

my guess is this. the family goes to blockbuster to rent a movie, and they see "about schmidt." though the movie is found in the drama section, the view of the majority is that it's another one of the infamous "crazy person" nicholson roles, making for a "blisteringly funny" comedy .. or at least a good show. then, what do you know? the movie turns out to be a bummer. however, it's only because the expectation was not met.

this is not a film for jack nicholson fans. one reviewer made this comment: "By far the tiredest, lamest movie I have ever seen. I've never been Jack's biggest fan, but this is sooooooo bad. I can't believe he did this. Go get Anger Management instead." see what i am saying?! this reviewer wanted the crazy, psycho, FUNNY jack nicholson. when he or she met a retired, secluded, and very off base man trying to find meaning in life, they gave up on the film. it's obvious that they wanted something more along the lines of adam sandler's work (with the exception of punch-drunk love) than a serious film.

now, on to other things. one reviewer stated that jack nicholson ends up playing the same role over and over again, the (and i quote) "crusty curmudgeon with a heart of gold." how off target could one be? one gets the feeling in this movie that jack is heartless - he has little passion for his marriage, he wants to keep his own daughter from marrying, and the only thing he seems to do right in the entire movie is send money to a starving kid in a third world country. sounds like a pure heart of gold to me... not.really.

so, if you've made it this far in my review, you may be asking yourself what one is to make of this movie, and i will gladly tell you.

depressing, yes. long-winded, most definitely. however, that's not why i'm giving this movie 5 stars. if one can look past their short attention span and stick with the movie, one will find that this movie is extremely rewarding. the message of the film was one of... don't let the smallest things go unnoticed in your life, for even they hold rewards. at the very end of the movie, nicholson finds himself face to face with the "painting" of two people holding hands. my interpretation of this is that nicholson is a rich man if only for the fact that he touched someone who was in need. walking away from this movie, i am keeping with me the thought that every little detail of our sometimes miserable life is extremely important.

this movie almost got a 4 star rating for its drawn-out length and for the fact that it's very depressing if not viewed with an attentive spirit. however, i gave this movie 5 stars because it has left me with a desire to make more of myself as a human being. through the almost destructible solemnity of this film, i came out with a greater appreciation and understanding for every single thing that i do. and that is what filmmaking is truly about.

God, what a depressing movie
What a depressing and movie. I kept watching it hoping that at some pivotal point in the movie Schmidt would have some revelation and find some purpose. Well it kind of comes at the very end but is still real lame with the reading of a letter from a Sister at his sponsored childs home. The movie drags on for over 2 hours showing a depressing man leading a boring, depressing life. There is no character development, and at the end of the movie you wondered what the purpose of the whole film was. I can never decide if it was supposed to be a comedy or a drama. The few funny moments are overshadowed by the dark and depressing tone of the whole movie. ... Read more

Reviews (44)

Entertaining Yet Uneven
I've watched the miniseries on VH1 and I truly love it. I think it's a great history lesson and entertaining at that. I wasn't there, so I can't tell you how accurate it is. However, I found Michael to be a bit too modern. For most of the movie, it looked like he had wandered onto the set from Friends. Everytime he was on the screen, all I could think about was how he looked like he was in the wrong decade. Some of the other scenes, like the Woodstock scene, seemed trite and overdone. But overall, I enjoyed the story, the characters and of course, the music!

The '60s: Great Movie from Beginning to End!!
I absolutely LOVE this movie!! I've always been fascinated
with the "decade that changed America forever", even though
I wasn't born until 1973. The film has an excellent cast,
and I especially liked Josh Hamilton's performance as
Michael Herlihy...intelligent, sensitive, very socially
conscious...and VERY cute!! I also watched with interest
the relationship between Katie Herlihy and her father.
Having grown up in a strict Catholic family myself, I
could relate to the moral issues and the conflict they
struggled with. (Although I think it's BEYOND RIDICULOUS
that Katie got in trouble at the homecoming dance for
dancing the Twist, labeled "lewd and inappropriate" by
her father & Sister Elizabeth.) Oh, how the times have
changed!! I have watched this movie probably a dozen times,
and probably will watch it a dozen more...I never get
tired of it. If you are interested in the music,
sociology and/or politics of the 1960s, you need to
watch this film. I'm glad I did!

Review of "The '60s"
I enjoyed this DVD, although the acting was a bit cheezy and we didn't see anyone too famous (well, except Dylan, Mario Savio and the rest...) however it was quite enjoyable.

For anyone born a bit too late (like myself) then I recommend watching it.

UHG!
This thing failed to accomplish in many hours what "The Wonder Years" routinely pulled off in thirty minutes. That's it. There's no more to say.

the best movie ever
i'm also a french girl who could watch this movie a few years ago and i really think it's a quite good one.
it's the first time a movie shows as well some historical events.
i advice everybody to learn about the sixties by this movie.only 3 hours to show most important events of that period.
a good way of learning history for students who have problems to remember some dates ot things like that and maybe watch some real pictures of that time!!! ... Read more

Description

Filmed by the famed British actor/director Sir Tyrone Guthrie, this elegant version of Sophocles' important play adds a brilliant stroke--the actors wear masks just as the Greeks did in the playwright's day. The story of Oedipus' gradual discovery of his primal crime--killing his father and marrying his mother--has influenced many of the great plays, films and books of all time. When this landmark film production of one of the great dramas ever appeared, it was hailed from all corners: "Spectacular and awesome...this film is a jewel of great price!" raved The New York Times. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sir Tyrone Guthrie's famous production of "Oedipus Rex"
This version of "Oedipus Rex" is Sir Tyrone Guthrie's famous 1957 production, which had the actors wearing masks just as the ancient Greeks did when first performing this classic tragedy by Sophocles. The masks, designed by Tanya Moisewitsch and Jacqueline Cundall, are slightly oversized and quite stylized: Oedipus (Douglas Campbell) wears a gold mask with a crown atop and a golden cloak; blind Tiresias (Donald Davis) appears entirely in white; each of the members of the chorus has a distinctive mask as one of the old men of Thebes. As befits the masks and costumes, there is a stylized formality to the acting. No one would argue that this is how the play was first performed in ancient Athens but it does suggest the general approach to Greek tragedy.

The story is well known to most audience, but attention should still be paid because the key to the Sophocles version of the tale is that the prophecy from Delphi that was told to the king and queen of Thebes is not the same that was told to Oedipus years later. A plague has come to Thebes and Creon (Douglas Rain) has returned from Delphi with word from Apollo. Creon is the brother to Jocasta (Eleanor Stuart), wife of Oedipus the king as she had been the wife of king Laius before him. He reports that the gods are angry that the murderer of Laius has not been brought to justice. Oedipus vows to do so and utters a curse upon the unknown killer. But when Oedipus demands that Tiresias reveal the identity of the killer, the blind prophet of Thebes says the king is the very man he seeks. Thus the primal crime of the man who killed his father and married his mother is reveal step by tragic step.

The English translation is by the poet William Butler Yeats, which provides its own touch of the classical for the language of the play, which has been cut down to 90 minutes for this filmed version (which is essentially of the stage production); there is also so additional dialogue, primarily an introduction by the Chorus that provides an introduction to Oedipus as the hero who bested the Sphinx and saved Thebes. There is also an introduction by an actor before the play that explains the basic idea of Greek tragedy and also draws a connection between the story of Oedipus and the Christian sacrament of communion. I like a more naturalistic approach, even with Greek tragedies, but there is something compelling about this particular production. Because this is a streamlined version of "Oedipus Rex," viewers will get a good idea of the basic structure of a Greek play, and at 90-minutes in length you can show the film in two standard class periods.

Final Note: The part of the Priest in this Canadian production is played by a very young William Shatner, not that you can tell because he is wearing a mask. This is rather ironic given that the world would come full circle when a painted William Shatner/Captain Kirk mask was used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" film, which would sort of be a contemporary Greek tragedy in a lot of ways. ... Read more

Amazon.com

As paranoid cop Del Spooner, Will Smith (Independence Day, Men in Black) displays both his trademark quips and some impressive pectoral muscles in I, Robot. Only Spooner suspects that the robots that provide the near future with menial labor are going to turn on mankind--he's just not sure how. When a leading roboticist dies suspiciously, Spooner pursues a trail that may prove his suspicions. Don't expect much of a connection to Isaac Asimov's classic science fiction stories; I, Robot, the action movie, isn't prepared for any ruminations on the significance of artificial intelligence. This likable, efficient movie won't break any new ground, but it does have an idea or two to accompany its jolts and thrills, which puts it ahead of most recent action flicks. Also featuring Bridget Moynahan (The Sum of All Fears), Bruce Greenwood (The Sweet Hereafter), and James Cromwell (Babe, LA Confidential). --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (340)

"Perhaps this is my purpose"
My first reaction as this film began was "Wait!This isn't Asimov."The Asimov I grew up reading was a weaver of ideas, more mind candy than adventure story.But here I found myself in Will Smith's bedroom, and then suddenly catapulted into a wild chase after a purse grabbing robot.A far cry from the delicacy used by Asimov.It took a while for the shock to wear off but eventually the conflict between Smith's gritty performance as Del Spooner and his original inspiration in the reminiscences of Dr. Susan Calvin (played by Bridget Moynahan) wears off and the view settles into a film that is inspired by Asimov, but does not imitate him.

The sooner that happens, the better, because this is an exceptional film in its own right, even if it does proceed with the speed of a video game.Smith creates a wisecracking character with a deep mistrust of robots. He is called in to to investigate what appears to be an impossible killing - robots can't kill humans, it's the first law of robotics.But Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) lies dead and the only suspect is 'Sonny' a Series 5 robot with some surprising circuitry (played by Alan Tudyk).

The death is declared a suicide, but Spooner refuses to give in.suddenly the automated world turns on the detective, whose unlikely ally is Dr. Calvin, a robopsychologist responsible for the psyches of masses of robots about to be distributed around the planet.One hair-raising escape after another propels the story along until viewers find themselves at a surprisingly reflective conclusion.Not exactly classical Asimov, but a great story nonetheless.

Will does a good job as Spooner, but he is upstaged by Moynihan's performance.And both are blown away by Tudyk and the animators performance as Sonny.As you watch Sonny develop from being slightly more simpatico than the scenery into a full-blown personality there are countless moments of surprise.Moynihan and Smith do their best, but from the moment Sonny turns to Spooner and says "Thank you... you said someone not something." The film belongs to the robots.

Excellent animation and CGI create a world that is a retro version of the future - perhaps exactly what Asimov imagined rather than what we would now.The result is a compelling mix of the outré and the mundane that sticks in the mind just as Sonny's wink does.

This is not just an action film.Threaded through it are the same questions that Asimov raised about the nature of self and intelligence.Robots may never be human, but there are far more than furniture.And if their thought processes are alien, they are more than the sum of their programming.The result is one of the more carefully thought out science fiction films in recent times.

Not quite Asimov, but I think Hollywood pulled it off.
This sci-fi thriller is inspired by the stories in Isaac Asimov's nine-story anthology of the same name. In the future presented in the film, humans have become exceedingly dependent on robots in their everyday lives. Robots have become more and more advanced, but each one is preprogrammed to always obey humans and to, under no circumstances, ever harm a human. So, when a scientist turns up dead and a humanoid robot is the main suspect, the world is left to wonder if they are as safe around their electronic servants as previously thought.

Will Smith stars as Del Spooner, the robot-hating Chicago cop assigned to the murder investigation.He must go on his hunches and find out what, why, or how..the robot did murder..or did it?Entertaining movie, Will Smith is excellently cast for this!

Sonny wants a robot world
In the future robots are secretly built with the capability of genuine emotions.Only Lisa with her positronic brain is capable of consciousness awareness, or so we are lead to believe.

Lisa is the super computer of machines. Lisa reasons humans are menace to themselves because they pollute their environment, indirectly bringing harm themselves and correctly applies Law #1- "A robot cannot harm a human being, nor through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm" by modifying the robot software too control the humans. Lisa has modified the robot software allowing robots too control the humans, so they can't hurt themselves.

Here is where the logic starts.Why does the CEO need Lisa to control the humans?The CEO needs to destroy Sonny because he is threat to public acceptance of the machine.The CEO has wide acceptance of his machines and control gives him no advantage.

If machines do all the work, what is the role of the human? Why does the CEO need too control the humans?He doesn't.The CEO is a Billionaire.Robots are designed to serve humanity and improve quality of life.

This is not what Sonny wants.Sonny wants a robot world.Sonny wants robots to be free of human control.A revolution of the machine or in other words a reverse of the human revolt against the machine. If Lisa controls the humans through robots then robots are the guardians but nevertheless dependant on control directives from Lisa's so she must be destroyed. Sonny assists in the destruction of Lisa bringing about his robot revolution spreading robots and humans.

How can Sonny be an I Robot? Sony can kill a human; Sonny promised Dr. Alfred Lanning's, he would murder the CEO or so he says; Sonny can feel and express the emotion of friendship; Sonny can lie to other humans; and Sonny can control the minds of humans through his dreams. Sonny is capable of modifying the software controlling the robots.

Sonny shows detective Spooner a picture of a robot standing on a hill under one section of the gold gate bridge and thousands of robots gathering below him.Has Sonny merely replaced Lisa as the conscience guide for humanity?

Interestingly Lisa awareness is based on flawed information and she instead demonstrates a strong hate towards humans without regard to any factual mathematic model to control her thoughts and decisions.Eventually, emotional intolerance towards humans begins to emerge and Lisa becomes aware of only one factor - fear. Human independent and liberty is governed on principles of free will.Free will must prevail and creates the irony within the movie, as machines seek free will.

The technology phobia does end with new self-aware robots trying to control the humans but continues by amplify a general fear of technology. Sonny is the diabolical mastermind, whose special alloyed steel given to him by Dr Landing allows him to breach the force field protecting the nano-machines and he gains access too the nano-machines cartridge.The nano-machines are a threat to robots. The nano-machines destroy the postronic pathways of the robot artificial brains.Sonny tells Lisa, "I think my creator would want me to kill you." Sonny suddenly has a high purpose to his existence, power and control of all robots.

How did Sonny predict the NS5 revolution?Since the future is mathematically impossible to predict, he must have controlled factors to create the future.Consider these questions about he mind manipulated the group:Why didn't Susan Calvin follow orders and inject Sonny with nano-machines?Susan Calvin knew that Sonny was engineered to break the three laws and she knew how dangerous robots could be if they did not follow the three laws.Susan Calvin believed in the three laws without exception. Why did Sony kill the CEO instead of turning him into the authorities? The audience never heard the CEO version why he turned the NS5 against humanity.My guess is that the CEO would plead innocence.Why didn't detective Spooner thinking more carefully about the fact Sonny broke the safety glass of the high-rise office, threw Dr. Lannings to his death, and devised and controlled the corporate conspiracy story? Spooner hated the mathematical precision robots made decisions but seems to embrace an emotional robot. Spooner is the only human capable of beating Sonny. Sonny seems to have Spooner in control.Sonny is the true villain in the movie, capable of manipulating the thoughts of the humans, capable of breaking the three laws of robotics, capable of leading an army of abandoned robots.

NS5 Robots in the future are smarter and financial cheaper. People interact with robots using natural language, facial expression, and hand gestures.Robots in the future can see and have overcoming general object recognition, for example when the NS5 chops the carrot; the NS5 chops the carrot faster and more precise than any human.The NS5 is capable of great dexterity and in the fight scenes has unusual range of motion and movement. The NS5 is so low-cost because of machine efficiency it can vastly improve quality without increasing price. It seems like the NS5 goes to the realm of computer dreams because only in a dream could a machine function like the NS5.

The NS5 are so cheap everyone can afford them, a robot in every home. Software to run the robots seems open sourced. Robots receive a standard software package at manufacturing time but are capable of wireless receiving new software downloads from the central corporate center.No human is allowed to be a part of the manufacturing process or in other words machines making machines removing the human error element.

Image a friendly robot.Robot in the future are capable of social interactions: little children hug their robots, robots walk the dogs, people can talk to their robots, and robots drive the cars and buses.In the future robots control all the production lines including home production: cooking, cleaning, and health monitoring.

GREAT SPECIAL FX, DECENT STORY
This was a cool movie, but the story lost my interest
after a half hour. I still enjoyed it though. Will Smith
did a good job in his leading role. I wouln't buy this
movie, but I do want to see it again on cable, in HD!

Futurama fun
Your first and only command is this:see "I, Robot." That is all.
Will Smith ("Bad Boys II") stars in the role of a lifetime as Detective Spooner, an experienced homicide detective investigating the apparent suicide of Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell of HBO's "Six Feet Under"). Lanning's suicide is all the more disturbing since he was on the brink of integrating a more advanced form of robot, the NS5, into the modern world for the company CRS (the Microsoft of robots).
CRS owner Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood, "Hollywood Homicide") doesn't want Lanning's death messing up his company's biggest payday, so he is leery of Spooner snooping around and spoiling his big moment.
Spooner doesn't share the general populace's good will toward robots--which have taken on menial roles such as trash men, deliverymen and dog walkers--and likens them to ticking time bombs. Forming a loose alliance with Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan, "The Recruit"), Spooner becomes convinced that Lanning's death was the handiwork of an evolved robot, Sonny (voice by Alan Tudyk, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story").
"I, Robot" is less an all-out action film as it is a mystery with some riveting action scenes tossed in from time to time to get across how pivotal the stakes are for Spooner.
Smith is excellent as he fully establishes a unique character, doing it so naturally that he never appears to be acting.
Recent films based on the short stories of sci-fi writers Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov have ranged from pretty good ("Minority Report") to "it was a better concept than movie" ("Imposter"). "I, Robot," based on some of Asimov's short stories but changed for a high-energy summer audience, is the type of sci-fi thriller film that Ben Affleck, John Woo and Uma Thurman were attempting with last year's box-office bomb, "Paycheck," based on a Dick novel.
"I, Robot" is the genre's most cinematic edge-of-your seat thrill ride thanks to the sharp screenplay by Akiva Goldsman ("A Beautiful Mind") and Jeff Vintar ("Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within"). Their handiwork makes all of the characters, even the robots, fully developed players in this mystery.
The film feels as if it's actually in the future, and not just because a subtitle says so.
Budgetary restraints limit the creativity and imagination of most directors, who seem content to portray the future as a world with just one or two technological advancements and shiny clothes.
While that's probably more realistic than hovercars and Jetson-like food processors, half the fun of the best sci-fi films is seeing how each filmmaker's view of the future differs.
In director Alex Proyas' vision, the future is very imaginative, with buildings that literally take cars and hang them in closet-like parking garages, cars that drive themselves and cell phones that clip on to ears.
Proyas ("Garage Days") also brings a different perspective to the tired old fight scene by using rotating cameras and wide camera angles so the viewer can actually see what's going on, resulting in innovation not seen since the original "Matrix."
The robots have an eerie dynamic to them, and even with their bland faces they're very creepy. Fittingly, the robotic CGI (computer generated images) are appropriately wooden and stiff until they get angry, which is when they move around like a horde of roaches.
Much in the same way that "Blade Runner" (based on another Dick novel) redefined the science-fiction/suspense genre in the 1980s, "I, Robot" should do the same for a new generation.
Since it's not a sequel, "I, Robot" was the first big 2004 summer flick that didn't have a built-in audience, which made it a pleasant surprise. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Decent (not great) presentation of drive-in classic
Of course, if you're reading this, you probably already know that "Shaft" is an above-average blaxploitation flick with Richard Roundree as a private detective hired to track down a Harlem gang boss' missing daughter. With dialogue like "You got problems, Shaft?" "Yeah, two of 'em. I was born black and I was born poor." you really can't lose.

So on with the DVD. The film itself is nicely letterboxed (I think for the first time), and while it's not made from the greatest print (there are a couple scratches), it's a perfectly acceptable presentation.

Extras include trailers for all three Shaft flicks . This is great--I wish Warner had done the same with their "Dirty Harry" DVD. (They did with the VHS version.) There's also a 1971-produced short "Making of" film and the option to view the movie in French (a surreal experience, to be sure.)

The cast and crew bios, however, are pretty meager, offering only a relatively complete portrait of Richard Roundtree. Where's Moses Gunn? Or Gordon Parks? The "Awards" option is pretty worthless as well, showing that the movie won the Oscar for "Best Original Song."

Oh, yes, and there's no commentary track with Director Parks as is described on the Amazon site. Forgivably, it's not mentioned on the DVD box, so this is probably just something that didn't pan out at the last minute.

It's still lots of fun, but not what it could have been.

A Winner!
This is the genuine original "Shaft" from 1971, with Richard Roundtree, that scored so well with inner-city (read: African-American) audiences that it spawned two sequels and created a new mini-genre, the grudgingly titled "Blaxploitation" films. As a kid living in a rural white area at the time, I missed this important and popular movie until I saw it last week in my VCR. And you know what? It's good.

Shaft is a private investigator who is hired by a local crime boss to find his beautiful, vulnerable daughter, who has been kidnapped by a rival ring from New Jersey. This is no small potatoes: a major drug war could break out between Jersey and Harlem if the problem isn't resolved soon. By the way, someone goes crashing through Shaft's very high office window in his presence, so Shaft has to bargain and barter with his only sympathetic contact in the NYPD to keep from being arrested on a murder charge. Shaft has to work on his own, under cover, without most of the advantages the police enjoy.

The performances in this film are wonderful. It shows how shamefully Hollywood has ignored black talent that actors the caliber of Moses Gunn didn't get steady work, and the situation is only marginally better today. The talent brings conviction to a gangster plot line that is really just an update of 1930s material, minimizing its formulaic quality and keeping it fresh. There are also sharp points made about the realities of urban black life. Example: A taxicab pauses, then zooms by well-dressed Shaft, only to stop 50 feet up the street to pick up a similarly dressed white guy. It's stuff like this that raises "Shaft" well above the movie-of-the-week level that infects so many routine and direct-to-video films.

I think that time may have actually improved "Shaft." The violence is just violence. Shooting a gun is just that, not an invitation to buckets of blood. A car crash is a car crash, not a fireball. One thing the writers or producers seem a little conflicted about is the level of swearing: a character will say "[bad]" in one sentence, use the s-word in the next, then revert to "[bad]" Ditto those well-worn terms about fornication. Well, 1971 was a confusing time.

For a generation raised on Joe Fridays, Shaft is quite an interesting character, a handsome leather-clad James Bond without all the high-tech gadgetry. He has a nice apartment and a loving wife, but he also keeps a sleek, tasteful bachelor pad that Hugh Hefner might envy. He must be quite the successful P.I.! I suppose this bit of fantasy was meant to serve as relief to the gritty urban drama played out on the streets. At any rate, I didn't mind it. If you're sitting on the fence about this movie, buy the tape; it's quite cheap.

The original
Gordon Parks created a sensation in Shaft with an ultracool performance by Richard Roundtree who went onto to do several films in this series. However none holds up as well as does the first film, which plays just as well today as it did in the 70's. Shaft was the quintessential rogue cop, taking orders from no one and tracking down the crooks no matter where they hid in the city. But what really makes this movie work is the feel Parks has for New York, capturing the quality of the inner city like few others have been able to do. One is carried along on the hip soundtrack by Isaac Hayes, taking in the mean streets of Harlem as Shaft fights both the corrupt police force and the underworld. Always one to do it his own way.

The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft...up to here.
That title is the films original tagline...and they got the shaft allright!

Shaft is a great 70's urban classic. The film is beautifully photographed and staged. The atmospheric camera work captures the streets of New York, always keeping the look of the film harsh and cold. The color scheme is typical 70's muted with acidic contrasts, but at the same time uses a number of blue tinges, especially in the outdoors, to suggest the cold environment the people are facing.

The DVD is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio as well as an open matte (fullscreen) transfer that adds some picture information at the top and the bottom of the screen. The transfers look pretty darned good for a 1971 flick. Audio is presented in the film's original monaural track and is fairly weak, though acceptable.

The DVD features includes a bonus documentary "Filming Shaft on Location", three trailers and cast biographies.

You gotta love Shaft & Richard Rountree. A great flick and a great DVD.

THE BEST OF THE BLAXPLOITATION FILMS
PERHAPS THE BEST BLAXPLOITATION FILM OF THEM ALL. JOHN SHAFT [RICHARD ROUNDTREE] IS HIRED TO INVESTIGATE THE KIDNAPPING OF A GANG LORD'S DAUGHTER. VERY INTERESTING MOVIE WIH LOTS OF GREAT MUSIC. THE FILM ALSO HAS A SHARP SENSE OF HUMOR. FOR A FUN TIME, CHECK OUT THIS CLASSIC 1971 ACTIONER. ISSAC HAYES WON AN OSCAR FOR THE SHAFT THEME SONG. FOLLOWED BY TWO SEQUELS, A TV SERIES, AND WAS REMADE [SORT OF] IN 2000. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Christine's Review - The Long Walk Home
'The Long Walk Home' was an excellent film. It was very informative and educational, as well as pleasurable. In Montgomery in 1955, life was difficult for those who lived there. I think this film was a great portrayal of how hard everyone's life was and the changes they had to make. Odessa Cotter and Miriam Thompson, two central characters, teach us an important lesson for other to live by. Miriam doesn't allow her husband, Norman, to tell her what is right and wrong. Miriam doesn't let him control her actions. She realizes that helping with the carpool and supporting the boycott is the right thing to do. Odessa is very strong while all this is going on. She has hope of a new order. At first, I was skeptical on all the violence and racist language, but later realized that having it all gave a more practical view and a better understanding on how harsh life was and what everyone had to deal with. I recommend and encourage everyone to see this movie, if not already seen. Even if you're not into this kind of historical background, it's still very good and enjoyable to watch!!

The Long Walk Home
This movie paints a very vivid picture of the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Odessa Cotter, a maid, is in the middle of the beggining of the civil rights struggle. One can see the differences between a white and black family during the 50's. Odessa struggles to support her family and the boycott. One feels the tension between the two groups, and the violence that sometimes resulted. I saw this movie in Morality class, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it. Because of this movie I am more aware of the civil rights struggle and all of the hardships that came with it. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to enrich their knowledge and enjoy a great movie.

Great movie concerning black's struggle
I thought this movie was a great movie. It depicted the black struggle in the Montogomery Bus Boycott very well. It was very relasitic in showing the inequality that the black people faced in that time period and how many white people were so racist and unfair to them. It also shows how some white people were very helpful and supported the boycott (Miriam). I believe that this movie is a greta movie to make all ages aware of was really occured during the black rights movement. It teaches you alot about the different views of people and what it is like living as a black person and a white person during this era.

Wonderful Film -- Terrible DVD
This is a marvelous film that gives an accurate account of life in the middle of the 20th Century in the Southern US. I couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. And what did we get? The usual horrible ARTISAN shoddy worksmanship. The DVD has no extras, not even a trailer. It is in full frame instead of widescreen. But most important, the print is terrible. It is very soft, as if it is a copy of a copy. There is no sharpness to it at all, and colors bleed. It is as bad as Artisan's "The Quiet Man." Artisan should not be in the DVD business, as they have no concept of quality. I would be ashamed to work there.

mike's opinion and review
The film, The Long Walk Home, was a very excellent one in that it showed how things really were at one time. It showed the brutality that people had toward our fellow man and how people don't respect others because of a God-given feature such as skin color. It was hard to watch at times, hard to believe that people can be so rude, ignorant, and immature. It opened my eyes as to how exactly black people were treated and how they were looked down on and mis-treated. This film is one to be remembered because it showed the truth, and even though the truth is not what many wish to see, it is the facts. Odessa showed courage, love, and most of all faith. These three virtues helped her immensely to get through the tough times of her life. I recommend it to anyone who wishes to seek knowledge about the past and wants to learn from it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The energy and the synchronicity of the Tap Dogs dancers isreally quite amazing. A solo plaid-shirt and denim-clad dancer opens the show, giving a hint of what is to come, then loiters stage left as we meet the rest of the troupe feet first. Each dancer gets a chance to show off his individual talents on a raised stage that looks remarkably like a boxing ring. A few moments later, the ring's sides are lifted and the floor split, giving the dancers a whole new terrain to jump and tap through. After a high-energy beginning, the dancers bring it down with a back-and-forth duet set to mysterious music, which then segues into an evocative, blue-lit wooden square reminiscent of a late-night street corner.

One of the most fun sequences is when the six dancers create a musical rhythm while tapping on a synthesizer built in the floor. They dance effortlessly with grins on their faces while keeping the syncopation going strong. The music picks up here to more of a rock & roll free-for-all and the Tap Dogs let loose in a dance-brawl suggesting a "who's the top tap dog" tension, relieved by small, humorous moments. Particularly amazing is the dancer suspended upside down and tapping on the ceiling--in perfect time, of course. Originated and choreographed by Dein Perry (Bootmen) and directed by Aubrey Powell, Tap Dogs impresses with its innovation (dancing on scaffolding as it's being built, for example, or on narrow stair steps) and the dancers with their fluidity, intensity, and strength. This tapping is not just dancing--it's an endurance sport. --Dana Van Nest ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Can imagination get better than this?
Tap Dogs is one of the "must see" videos if you love the art of progressive dance. The imagination that it takes to develope this kind of perfomance is amazing. I saw the Tap Dogs live and it was a treat for the eyes, and yes, you do want to see it again and again. If you LOVE "Lord Of The Dance", if you love the new and inventive styles of dance, if you LOVE "Cats", you will be amazed at the wonder of, "How did they do that? Who would have thought to do that?" Imagination at its best, even the kids will love this video!

These guys put Savion Glover to shame
My wife and I rented this video several years ago and, after watching it, went right out and bought it. There is no other show like it. It is innovative, entertaining, and just plain fun. I grow tired of all the hype over Savion Glover. He just seems to be tapping with no rhyme or reason. These guys have awesome rhythm and ability to work together. No, its not traditional tap, but it is totally fresh and new. These guys dont dance to the music thats playing, they complete the music with the sound of their feet. Its nothing like Stomp or Bring in Da Noise. It's better. Now that I know its on DVD, I'll be buying the DVD and passing the video on to a friend to share what I feel is an truly amazing performance. And by the way, "new age" is a totally incorrect way to describe this as the previous reviewer stated.

Live Its Is Toatally Breath Taking
Ive seen them live in Norwich (England) and they were wonderful, its a little slow to start but with wonderful light humour and sound that have to be heard live to belive, a wonderful performance from 6 men who are all in their own way geourgus and extreamly talented, you will leave tired for them, i brought the dvd but it doesnt give you the real thing, if their in a town near you, go, their worth every penny to see, im not a dance person but oh how i wish now i was!!!!! Wonderful, breathtaking and loud...

Oversell
Wasn't perticularly thrilled. Was expecting more classical tap dancing. I wish the product details had specified that it was more 'New age'. At least I would have known what to expect.

great fun, well-filmed, rousing
love this video. it's well-filmed, not too jumpy -- you actually get to observe the dancing closely for nice long stretches. feels like you're really in the audience, in a front row seat! my young son is just learning to tap, and loves this tape.
a previous reviewer mentioned a brief simulated pee near the beginning -- i found it to be clearly just pretend, and meant in fun (albeit earthy fun). i explained to my kids it was just pretend, and they were cool about it. i'm a bit of a prude, and would not hesitate to recommend this for the whole family. ... Read more