Reviews (94)

HERE ON EARTH
I CAN'T NOT EXPLAIN THE TRUTH OF THIS MOVIE, IT WAS SO OVERWELMING. THIS MOVIE EXPLAINS HOW INPORTANT LOVE REALLY IS TO SOME PEOPLE. CHRIS KLEIN (KELLEY) PLAYED AN EXCELLENT ROLE. HE PLAYED A RICH KID WITH ALL THE LOOKS, MONEY, AND POPULARITY. SOME PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK THAT RICH PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE BREAKS, BUT HE SHOWS EVERYONE INCLUDING LEELEE SOBIESKI (SAMANTHA), THE GIRL FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF TRACKS, THAT EVERYONE HAS THE SAME PROBLEMS. WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER HIS MOTHER KILLED HERSELF. HE REALLY LOVED HIS MOTHER, JUST AS HE LOVES SAMANTHA. WHEN HE FOUND OUT THAT SHE WAS DYING OF OSTEOSARCOMA HE COULDN'T HANDLE THE THOUGHT OF LOSING ANOTHER LOVED ONE. SO WHEN THEY FINSHED REBUILDING THE RESTRAUNT THAT HE AND JOSH HARTNETT (JASPER) HAD ACCIDENTLY BLOWN-UP DURNING AN AUTOMOBILE RACE HE MOVED BACK TO BOSTON. AFTER BEING HOME FOR AWHILE HE REALIZED THAT HE DID NEED HER AS MUCH AS SHE NEEDED HIM. THE DAY OF THE RE-GRAND OPENING HE CAME BACK TO BE WITH HER UNTIL THE LAST OF HER DAYS ON EARTH HAD ARRIVED.

A Definate "Watch Again, & Again ,& Again" Movie!
This movie keeps me engaged from beginning to end. If you love watching young people being surprisingly mature and wise beyond their years (LeeLee's character), yet recklessly in love at times (Hartnett & Klein's characters), you'll like this movie. It's the story of two teen boys putting back and making right what they have ruined, and a teen girl finding out that her longtime bestfriend/boyfriend (one of the boys} isn't necessarally her "true" love....Can you guess what role the other boy plays?... The Robert Frost poem used as the backdrop of the film lends a special meaning. Music tops it off perfectly. It is truely a "tear yerker" at the end. LOVED THIS MOVIE SO MUCH THAT I EVEN BOUGHT THE SOUNDTRACK...WHICH IS TERRIFIC AS WELL. It brings back all the great scenes of the movie!

Almost worse than Charlie's Angels
I watched this on cable because I was a big Leelee fan. Big mistake. What a horrible film. You don't care one bit for any of the characters in the movie. Chris Klein plays a guy who is a complete jerk in the film, and steals away Josh Hartnett's longtime girlfriend. If the writer knew what they were doing, this film would have followed the proven formula, and made Hartnett an ass, and Leelee as the girlfriend trapped in a bad relationship, from which she's saved by Klein. But Hartnett is a really cool guy, who shows a lot of emotion and love for Leelee.

You then hate leelee, because she cheats on Hartnett with Klein, who is a jerk to everyone in the town that's trying to help him and really stuck up.

It's also really campy, and the characters do everything but run around the kitchen dancing and lip synching, and using hairbrushes and spoons and fake microphones (although they come very close).

What a horrible horrible movie. You don't even care what happens in the end because the director never lets you care about the characters.

Wonderful!!
I am not a young person but I just saw this movie on TV and it was wonderful!!!! Would buy the video in a minute...it's was great.

wildly predictable and uninspiring teen fluff
If beautiful people and horrible writing move you, by all means purchase this movie now and cry like there's no tomorrow. This is an instant classic from the profitable teen cheese factory and delivers like a charm to those who LOVE teen weepies. (For us others, we'll just suffer in silence, or, as I did, laugh really hard.) The requisite ingredients - love triangle, terminal disease, poor boy/rich boy - push the plot along in the most predictable way imaginable. Sam (Lelee Sobieski) and Jasper (Josh Hartnett) are happy in love, a superstar couple in their small town until Kelley (Chris Klein), the wealthy, out-of-town snot, comes crashing into the diner owned by Sam's parents. As a punishment, he must rebuild the diner but with the help of our buddy Jasper, who also had a hand in the crash. Before long, Sam eyes that hunky Kelley because, hey, who wouldn't fall for a mysterious rich kid? While the two boys wage their testosterone war, Sam discovers she has cancer. Uh-oh!

This movie is a big disappointment because it fails to capitalize on a relatively talented cast and a pseudo-inspiring story. Rather than developing characters instead of caricatures, the filmmakers opted for the easy, fast cash route. As a result, the dialogue seems to be spun from a 13 year old's soap opera fantasy, befitting of the target audience I suppose. Nothing innovative or inspiring comes about, leaving the audience with zero originality to warm to; this total lack of emotional investment keeps the movie distant and empty. You could say it offers ever-important life lessons to the female jr. high crowd. They undoubtedly appreciate the fine merits of this film that those in the general population seem to have missed ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Problematic transfer
Pasolini's naturalistic adaptation of "Matthew" may be the best ever made on the life of Jesus. (This gospel is considered the preachiest of the four, and proves a strange choice for cinema.)

Alas, the transfer on this DVD isn't worth a recommendation. Considerable flicker and film artifacts make the picture a real eye-stabber; the soundtrack is frequently muffled, and the musical cues are garbled.

As with most Italian films of the time, sound is "post-synch" (which is to say it's dubbed in). The dubbing is no worse than you'd find in a Fellini film, but no better.

The sole extra is a European TV documentary from the early '70s. It's in pretty deplorable condition, and is featured on all the "Pasolini series" DVDs.

On the whole, a great film, well worth seeing -- but not a good DVD. I'll give it three stars and hope Criterion puts out a better edition soon.

a literal, riveting telling
Filmed in Southern Italy in rocky hillside villages and along the coast, Pasolini's "Gospel" has the feel of a silent film, with its long close-ups of its cast of non-professional actors, which include Susanna Pasolini, the filmmaker's mother, and how the camera loves these rough, beautiful and distinctive faces...it is like a moving tapestry of Renaissance paintings, and a visual artist's dream film.
Enrique Irazoqui's Jesus, with his lofty forehead, thick eyebrows that meet over his nose, and coal black eyes, is stern and compelling, and recites the Gospel with strength and mettle.

Released forty years ago, the quality of this black and white film is gritty, which adds to the harsh depiction of the life and the landscape. Though much less ambitious, it reminds me a little of Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev", and it has the same pacing (especially in the first hour) and gravity. The soundtrack also shows signs of age, and includes Bach, Mozart, Prokofiev, Webern, some American spirituals ("Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" during the Manger scene), Kol Nidrei during the Last Supper scene, and Missa Luba. There is also a biting wind, whooshing and whistling though much of the film.

The tape that I own is dubbed, and this is the only instance where I don't find dubbing intrusive. Since the dialogue is literal and familiar, and many scenes are purely visual, the dubbing frees one to just take in this marvelous interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel, which is sometimes simple and sometimes quite savage (the Massacre of the Innocents is chaotic); a must see for anyone interested in Christianity, and students of film and the graphic arts.

Great Movie with a mocking Waterberer Logo and front picture
It is a great movie.
I think the cover of the DVD should be relevant to the film.
the same movie in Europe has Jesus's picture with a cross !!!!

As you play the film, the first thing you see the Waterberer Logo
scrolling on the screen with giant letters and inside the letters you'll see a naked man running then a woman kissing a woman !!!!!!!!
I think somebody trying to mock this film.

probably the greatest film ever on this subject
pasolini, unlike mr. gibson, was not a christian and never converted.
what we have here is an artist's honest reaction to the gospel of matthew upon encountering it.
an honest reaction without pre-concieved notions that lead to a truly magnificent work of art.
the film should be watched by all who think they've got jesus nailed down.
the low budget actually adds to the frankness of the film.
i mean, would christ really have wanted anyone to spend 30 million dollars on a movie about his torture?
let's face jesus was POOR and kudos must go to this filmmaker for an inspiring masterpiece.

A Great Movie Experience - But Revert Back To Subtitles!
Pasolini's THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW is by far his best ever work and probably the greatest movie on the life of Jesus ever made.

I have this movie on VHS with English subtitles and this will be the one I stick with. Dubbing this movie into English was a big mistake.

However, this is still a wonderful movie in it's simplicity. The cast is superb as are the locations and imagery. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Without becoming didactic, The Missiles of October does an outstanding job of presenting many points of view on the Cuban missile crisis. The film humanizes Kennedy's near impossible task of avoiding war without compromising national security. The earnestness of this 1974 made-for-television dramatization may briefly remind one of social studies class--indeed it is at times difficult to maintain consciousness while the extensive cast of characters is being introduced at the opening. Not to worry, though--soon the power plays begin and The Missiles of October becomes completely gripping. Actual news footage is spliced in with the action, nicely serving as exposition and driving home just how very close the world came to nuclear war. A crew of excellent character actors flesh out the story and reveal the psychological games behind the language of diplomacy. William Devane takes on the difficult task of playing John F. Kennedy. While he doesn't quite capture Kennedy's charisma, he does occupy the role comfortably and effectively conveys the president's deep worry and determination to avoid war. Martin Sheen plays an engaging Robert Kennedy and Michael Lerner, oddly enough, manages to make Pierre Salinger absolutely fascinating. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Finally on DVD!
I've been waiting for The Missiles of October to come out on DVD since I first got my DVD player over a year ago. My VHS copy of Missiles, which is over 15 years old, has degraded greatly in picture and sound quality, so I was hoping that the DVD copy would be an improvement. I was not disappointed. It has an amazingly crisp picture and the sound is excellent.

When the movie Thirteen Days came out I was anxious to compare it to Missiles. Thirteen Days was a good film, but I still prefer The Missiles of October. All the performances are excellent, but William Devane, Martin Sheen and Howard DaSilva top the list. I was barely six years old when the actual event occurred back in 1962 so I don't remember the incident from then. However, I did see the movie when it originally aired in 1974 and was greatly impacted by it then. They did an excellent job in weaving the actual documentary footage together with their dramatization. Watching the thirteen day countdown to possible worldwide nuclear destruction is compelling watching. I highly recommend this movie to anyone with a taste for history, suspense, excellent performances or as an example of how good television can be when given the chance.

Superb historical drama. Worthwhile and powerful.
There is very little to criticize about this dramatization of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film mainly focuses on the deliberations on the American side, i.e. President John F. Kennedy and his Ex-Comm group ("Executive Committee of the National Security Council") as they try to force the Soviets to remove the missiles from Cuba while avoiding a nuclear conflict. The film successfully conveys the fears and difficulties faced by JFK and his team, their thoughts and deliberations. The script is fairly close to the actual facts as they are understood today. This is a wonderfully educational production that any parent would do well to watch with his or her children.

Devane is pretty good as JFK. I thought that Martin Sheen absolutely nailed Bobby Kennedy. The supporting actors were uniformly excellent. Good casting throughout.

One of the excellent things about the production is the occasional interjection of period news bulletins of nuclear tests, the escalating conflict, etc. These added a wonderful sense of authenticity even as they entertained.

A few quibbles, all minor. I thought that the movie somewhat (not excessively) idolized the Kennedys. It was a bit much when one member of Ex Comm commented that "Bobby [Kennedy] I confess your moral arguments [against invading Cuba] never occurred to me..." Come on, of course they did. The record shows that Ex Comm debated these issues extensively. Nor was Bobby Kennedy against invading Cuba--the record is pretty clear that both Kennedys had been pushing for removing Castro by various means before the crisis began. Bobby Kennedy's comment that bombing the missiles out of Cuba would be like a "reverse Pearl Harbor" was disdained as amateurish by most of Ex Comm. The movie barely acknowledges that. [Dean Acheson characterizes that analogy to JFK at one point as "false and pejorative..."]. The movie portrays the US Navy as lusting after conflict in a manner I thought was unseemly--this was my only major criticism of the film. ["Thirteen Days" shares this flaw.] Hollywood often cannot pass up a chance to take a swipe at the military.

This is an incredibly worthwhile production that I make a point of watching every year or so. A must for the thoughtful viewer's DVD collection.

"MISSILES" IS A BARNBURNER
"The Missiles of October" starred William DeVane as JFK and Martin Sheen as RFK. Both of these actors portrayed the Kennedys better than any actors ever have. This is a patriotic film that depicts how close we came to nuclear combat toe to toe with the Russkies, and how the Kennedys saw us through the crisis. This may have been the beginning of Martin Sheen's political awakening.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

BEFORE the true story of the Missilie of October...
With the publication of "The Kennedy Tapes" (May and Zelikow 1997) and, more recently, "Averting the Final Failure" (Sheldon Stern 2004), we now know what exactly was said by whom and when in the White House during these heady 13 days known universally as "The Cuban Missile Crisis". What has never really been conveyed (in print or otherwise) is the true "feeling" of what these leaders went through...I'd submit that that the true value of this video is the portrayal of the immediacy and emotion invoked by all participants during the Crisis. This film may lack some historical accuracy, but it more than makes up for it as an emotional target for this period and remains, to this day, an important and believable reference for this seminal period of the Cold War.

William Devane, Martin Sheen and William DaSalva portray a version of the Crisis that is at once believable and accurate as far as the emotional element is concerned, and convey an amazingly accurate "emotional history". This, coupled with the known version of the Crisis in 1974, gives a view of the Kennedy White House inner-workings that has remained somewhat the "standard" for understanding the strategy of the "Best and Brightest" who made up the Kennedy Cabinet. Character development is based on RFK's version of the Crisis in his post-humous work "Thirteen Days", and we know now that this was somewhat contrived...only to the extent that some things were said or believed that were overly amplified for emphasis. The true feeling of these exalted gentlemen has never been questioned and I think that the prospective viewer will be impressed with the detail and emotional content of this work.

So enjoy this movie and take from it the exacting and crucial motivations of a Government under siege and you'll be impressed (as I've continued to be for these 30 years) that "The Missiles of October" portrays the Kennedy government accurately as it struggled through the tortuous 13 days of the Crisis and leaves as it's legacy the true emotions of those heady days. Highly recommended!!

Great Movie
This movie is a very good and historically accurate portrayal of the Cuban Missle Crisis. If you liked "13 Days" then you will like this one, in some ways I like this one over 13 Days. It shows what is happening in both the Kremlin as well as the White House. Missiles is very well acted by a great cast. I would recomend this to any history buff, or anyone simply looking for an entertaining drama. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Have you kissed your roach today?
Is it possible that people exist who are so myopic, so unable to think outside their own sanitized box, that they fail to see and feel the charm of this movie? Of course, I agree that roaches are most appreciated by humans when seen on the bottom side of a shoe, schmooshed. The movie isn't trying to make you boycott Raid. [But, as the film points out, these hardy little creatures will probably be around a lot longer than our own immune 'defested' species.] A plot in this film would have just been distracting. There is no philosophy being preached here, no deep meaning, no overt or covert agendas. Just fun!

The movie is great on many counts. Hear are just a few examples:
-Computer graphics that are nothing short of brilliant.
-A church organ made of lipstick.
-Songs about the healer holding your feeler (while Joe makes love to Lilly!).
-A roach version of Ester William swimming and singing in Joe's toilet.
-A roach sitting on a tube of Prep-H and saying, "What's up his butt?"
-Expert harmonies throughout the film sung with clever (but not overly clever) words, a la The Chipmunks.
-A phrase like, "That tickles!" having, well, a new slant.
-Cute, if predictable, comments made by the roaches.

The film turns traditional values upside-down in a hilarious way, without being pedantic.

The film isn't as serious as a Sondheim lyric, as popular as a Lloyd-Weber musical, as beautiful as a Les Miserable melody. But it doesn't try to be. And it doesn't need to be. It allows the viewer to, for perhaps a too brief period, forget about his or her confining values and exhausting proprieties, and just be entertained. After an escape like this film, we may indeed return to our severe or drab realities refreshed, much like a good night's sleep can make one more alert the next morning. ... I believe that entertainment like this, in appropriate doses, could be just what the world does need....

Jerry's best movie!!
This is my favorite movie of all time! It's humorous look at New York city is hilarious. The animated cockroaches are fun to watch singing and dancing! (Funky towel!) And, of coarse, Jerry O'Connell, whom is my favorite. MTV did great making it's first movie here. My only complaint was that there was no sountrack made! ???? Watch it!!!! Ralph and Rodney will thank you.

A sequel, please!!!
You don't have to be a teenage boy to love this thing.
My wife and I just watched it on cable and she insists
that I get the DVD. We're both 64 and anything but gross.

A Very funny movie
I will never look at a roach the same way. This movie is FUNNY!!
If you just wat to "VEG" out , watch this movie.

A Five Star Cult Classic Ruined
First let me say, I agree with most reviewers. Joe's Apartment is a movie for the "Far Side" crowd and I loved it. But who was the dirty rotten SOB that decided to release it in "Full Screen" format? There is too much going on in this film to butcher it by omiting the widescreen format. This Will probaby be only one of two or three DVD's that I will ever buy in this format. I'm not a movie snob I just want to see "Everything" I saw in the theater. Especially in a campy gonzo movie like this. They ruined some of the visual jokes simply because we can't see them anymore.


If it was up to me, I would slap every person who makes the call to release good or even bad movies in "fullscreen mode" we are all cheated when this is done. Rant's aside, if this is the only way I'll ever get Joe's Apartment then so be it. But I wish more reviewers would stand up and tell the Movie industry where to stick "Fullscreen" especially when we are continuously pushed to buy HDTV and widescreen TV's. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Rich with ambiguity, this smooth adaptation of Scott Turow's bestselling mystery novel stars Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich, the prosecuting attorney assigned to a case involving the murder of a beautiful, seductive lawyer (Greta Scacchi) with whom he'd been having a secret affair. After the investigation gets off to a slow start, damning evidence points to Rusty as the prime suspect. His career is destroyed when his superior and secondary suspect Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy) sets him up for the fall. Bonnie Bedelia plays Rusty's wife Barbara, who is not above suspicion herself. While Ford's performance rides a fine line between presumed innocence and possible guilt, director Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men) maintains a consistent tone of uncertainty that keeps the viewer guessing. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Excellent criminal law thriller
As a thriller this is top notch; as any kind of a movie it is also top notch. Based on Scott Turow's best-selling novel of the same name (his first), it relies on a well-coordinated directorial effort by Alan J. Pakula (Sophie's Choice 1982, All the President's Men 1976, Klute 1971, etc.), a fine script by Frank Pierson (whose credits include Cool Hand Luke 1967, Dog Day Afternoon 1975, A Star Is Born 1976, etc.), and an experienced, talented and well-directed cast headed by Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Greta Scacchi and Paul Winfield.

Ford plays Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor compromised by his sexual obsession with a fellow prosecutor, Caroline Polhemus (Scacchi) who is found murdered as the film opens. We see her in flashback as a conniving mantrap who uses her wiles to further her career. Sabich is assigned to the case by his boss, Raymond Horgan (Dennehy) who is up for reelection. Sabich would like to recuse himself but Horgan demands that he take the case and get the perp "yesterday" otherwise they will all be out a job because he will lose the election. Bedelia, looking particularly beguiling, plays Sabich's sexually frustrated and deeply hurt wife, Barbara.

When the election is lost the new prosecutors arrest Sabich and charge him with murder. He is defended by the very smooth Raul Julia who plays defense attorney Sandy Stern. Paul Winfield, in a somewhat flamboyant style, plays Judge Larren Lyttle.

Because Scott Turow knows the way the law works in practice as well as in theory, he having been a lawyer before he became a best-selling writer, we are treated to wood paneled intrigues and courtroom theatrics that have the unmistakable feel of authenticity. The dialogue is veracious and the character cross-currents vividly real. Ford gives what I think is one of his best performances as a man tormented by his infidelity and caught in a vise of circumstance largely stemming from that infidelity. Dennehy is a big-mouthed and big-headed politician in the familiar Windy City style. Raul Julia's Sandy Stern is cosmopolitan and brilliant, cynical and slick, a kind of Latin Johnny Cochran. Bedelia, whom I recall best as Shirley Muldowney in Heart Like a Wheel (1983) manages a delicate (and slightly unbelievable) persona with just the right amount of forbearance so that when the surprise ending comes we almost believe it.

I say "almost," but you might want to judge for yourself.

See this for Harrison Ford who plays a foolish and morally compromised man with just the sort of right stuff and disarming vulnerability we've come to expect from one of Hollywood's most popular leading men.

Docket Drama
Based on author Scott Turow's bestselling novel, which I have never read, Presumed Innocent is a good film that makes for an engaging mystery/thriller. Thanks to an all star cast and a surehanded director, the movie has a lot going for it.

Prosecuting attorney Rusty Sabich, (Harrisn Ford) is deeply shaken by the sudden rape and murder of a colleague and former love interest (Greta Sachi). The case takes a dramatic turn, when Rusty is soon charged with crime, by his boss, Raymond Horgon (Brian Dennehy). Lawyer Sandy Stern (Raul Julia), decides to defend Sabich, even though the odds are stacked against his client.

Pakula, who made a name for himself with All The President's Men, creates another potbiler, that if you have never read the book, will keep you guessing till the end. The acting is superb. Bonnie Bedelia took a break from the Die Hard films to play Barbara Sabich, giving one of the best performances of her career. The film gets a boost of comic relief, from the late great Paul Winfield as no nonsense Judge Larren Lyttle.

The DVD doesn't really have any susbtantial extras. The disc only has a few production notes and the theatrical trailer. Viewers can watch the film in either the full-screen or widescreen formats.

Presumed Innocent is a worthwhile film and despite lackluster extras on the disc, it's still comes recommended.

Entertaining flick
I rented this because I just read and reviewed the book which was excellent, and perhaps that's why the three star rating. It's very hard to capture the "between the lines" and subtext going on in the movie, although I will say they got a lot of the lines just right, taken in some cases verbatim and as imagined from the book.
The problem, of course, is that Turow's writing is very indepth and that just can't be captured on film, and since the movie and story are not much of a "fast-paced" action thriller, I believe it fell short a bit.
It's still worth seeing, read the book if you can, but I'd hesitate to recommend this as a library item, only because it's not something you can really watch over and over, it's too slow and once you know the twists, what'd be the point?

Ohboy, ohboy, ohboy!
Scott Turow is just simply an outstanding legal thriller author, and, IMO, this is still his best. It's ambiguous, sneaky, freaky, scary, and realy believable. A lovely and very seductive lawyer is murdered, and it becomes clear she's been having an affair. Then, much to his amazement, damning evidence points to the prosecuting attorney (played awfully well by Harrison Ford) as the prime suspect, esp when his superior (and a possible other suspect) sets him up for the fall.
And then there's Ford's odd possibly mentally ill wife...
Super good all the way through, and it'll keep you guessing as long as you don't read any reviews that give it away.

Presumed Innocent - Presumed Excellence
Among the many reasons to this this suspensful courtroom drama is the performance of Raul Julia.

I shall forever be convinced he should have received as oscar for his performance as attorney Sandy Stern. ... Read more

Reviews (76)

OW OW! I LOVE it!
YOW! The perfect modern Christmas classic! Believe me, I've seen far too many horrible kids' movies in my day, and horrible Christmas flicks, but this is far above them all. Methinks everyone will love this movie, not just the kids...
OK, so what's so great about it? It's funny and different, but still quite sweet and simple. There's some hilarious little gimmicks, but overall it's an honest, just plain sweet story. Tim Allen's great for the role of cynic-turned-Santa I that I would never have expected...really! He IS Santa, man. Eric Lloyd, who plays Santa's son, is an adorable but atypically not-[cruddy] child actor! yow! Judge Reinhold, who you may last have seen in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in a Pirate hat, now plays the eternally-unhip Neil. (The new step-father, general Christmas-skeptic, psychiatrist, and wearer of LOUD sweaters.) Everyone's got to deal with Scott (Tim Allen) becoming Santa Claus, and learning to BELIEVE. ("Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing.")
BUT the best part of all??? One word: BERNARD. Portrayed by the magnificent David Krumholtz, he's the cranky head-elf who manages to DEAL with the new Santa. Come on, everyone loves Bernard. Shows up, shoves a pita sandwich down his gullet, comments on Neil's sweaters, and saves Christmas! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!?
All right, so I havn't done a great job convincing you to see/buy this movie. It sounds cheesy, you say. WELL IT'S NOT! It's actually a preety darn touching story of grumpy old cynical adults coming around to Christmas magic, father and son bonding, a new magical look at the North Pole, and one fabulous head-elf. What more do you want from a Christmas movie? I promise you won't regret seeing this movie. Go rent/buy it for the kids! No kids? Go to the store and make like you're renting/buying it for "the kids." Enjoy!

One of my favorite Christmas movies
It's hard to believe that "The Santa Clause" isn't more of a Christmas classic. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) and his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) go on a mission to save Christmas after the original Santa Claus falls off a roof and passes away. Scott doesn't know it at first, but when he puts on Santa Claus's suit, he becomes the new Santa Claus.

"The Santa Clause" has a lot of parts that are hilarious such as when Scott starts getting fat and tells everybody that he was stung by a huge bee. But it's not only a great comedy movie, it's one of the best family movies. This is one movie that anybody, no matter how old they are, can enjoy. Tim Allen gives one of his best performances, and so does Eric Lloyd. I can't think of anything that's wrong with the movie. It's hilarious, it has a dramatic plot, and it never gets old.

"The Santa Clause" isn't one of those Christmas movies that are just good to watch during the holidays, it's a great movie to watch any day of the year. It's a classic in my book. I recommend anybody to get "The Santa Clause."

Good Yuletide fun!
There are some films that just have to be watched every Christmas and this is one of them. It is a feelgood film for a feelgood time of year.
The story is simple. Scott Calvin (note his initials) is a divorced father who frequently lets his young son down due to his busy working life. That is until he accidentally kills Santa Claus. To his disbelief and dismay, and his sons delight, he has to become the new Santa. The film follows his changing life and attitudes and shows the newly developing relationship between father and son.
There is nothing taxing or complex about this movie, just a heart-warming, funny story that is ideal for all the family. Watch and enjoy.

One of the best Christmas movies of all time!
The Santa Clause is one of the best christmas movies of all time. All of the actors are really good in this movie especially the head elf,Bernard, played by David Krumholtz. I think that he deserves more recognition than he truly gets because he does the role of the elf really good. This movie has lots of catchy lines in it that make you laugh right out of your seat.

The Moose Hole - 'Santa' Delievers Holiday Magic
Here we are once again! It's the usual time of the year when the holiday themed feature films are out in full force, flooding multiplexes across the country for the Thanksgiving holiday and going into December. And it seems work as usual for the Walt Disney Company with their release of The Santa Clause, but what makes this project unique is the concept it uses, one that has never fully been developed on the big screen before. The feature is also unique in that it stars Tim Allen, who is best known for his hit television show, Home Improvement, on ABC. Does that mean an automatic is lying in the waiting to flock to theaters for Allen's flick? Not necessarily. Granted there are people who are die hard fans who will love the actor/actress for whatever work they do but for others, they are pretty critical of television stars who believe they can easily make the jump to the big screen. Can Allen pull it off? Only the holiday box office will tell.

The story centers around a man who goes from being divorced, self-centered business man to possibly the most care-free, charitable man on the planet, Santa Claus. Scott Calvin works for a toy company, has recently divorced from his wife, and is stuck on Christmas Eve with his son, who is just as excited as his father is being together for the holidays. Once he tucks his kid into bed for the night, Scott hears a noise on the roof and goes to investigate. When he tries to confront the man on the roof, he falls off and when Scott encounters him, the mystery man is dressed like Santa Claus. He and his son enter the sleigh and the puts on the Santa suit, all thanks to the urging of his son. When the sleigh returns to the North Pole after a long Christmas Eve, Scott discovers that he is the new Santa, thanks to the Santa Clause, which is a contract stating who ever puts on the suit becomes the new Santa Claus. He notices physical changes like the color of his hair and his weight but soon he notices that he feels more and more like Santa on the inside. The story for The Santa Clause is quite possibly one of the most original holiday films in years, which is surprising considering the concept is such a simple one that it is hard to believe that it has never fully been attempted before. The feature does a wonderful job at mixing comedic elements with emotional values, which is hard to do at times. The Santa Clause defies that and presents how it can be done right.

The film revolves mostly around Tim Allen's character and generally that is all that really matters for the film but at the same time the character can be ruined if he doesn't interact with supporting cast members. Fortunately this doesn't happen here or at least not very often. Allen is marvelous in his role as Scott Calvin aka Santa Claus. He successfully translates the comedic magic he had on his television show and amplified it ten times. There is also a lot of emotion behind scenes that he has with his son, Charlie. David Krumholtz, who plays Bernard the head elf at Santa's workshop, is quite possibly the most enjoyable highlight of the film. He work extremely well with Allen as the two are able to play off each other in several moments within the film, that if they had been performed by anybody else would have been flat. The character of Charlie, Scott's son, is moderately played out by Eric Lloyd. Lloyd begins to get pretty annoying and whiny as the film progresses but then again what can you expect from a cute little kid?

Overall, The Santa Clause, just like the big man himself, spreads holiday magic to every boy and girl, nobody how young or old they are. It is such an original concept, one that hasn't been seen and may never be seen again for many years. Though there is much to praise the film on, there are also slight things to pick at. The messages that the film tries to convey, though meaningful and expressive, came off as being too forced. It would have been better if the filmmakers had slowly sunk the ideas in the heads of movie-goers rather then what they ended up doing. And, as was stated earlier, Eric Lloyd came as being too cute and annoying at times in the film but this is something that doesn't necessarily mean anything major, just a small squabble. Make sure to avoid the tacky holiday films like the remake of Miracle on 34th Street and make it your duty to catch The Santa Clause instead, which is sure to become a new holiday classic for the entire family. ... Read more

Description

Whoopi Goldberg (SISTER ACT I & II, EDDIE) handles business her own way in this outrageous comedy hit! Whoopi plays a fast-track executive who starts her own company after a back-stabbing co-worker (Tim Daly, TV's WINGS) nabs her promotion. But when she's locked out of the stuffy corporate world, she invents a dazzling male business partner to sell her ideas! Her wacky plan soon spins wildly out of control, however, when her bogus "associate" becomes Wall Street's hottest financial whiz -- and Whoopi herself must impersonate him! With Dianne Wiest (THE BIRDCAGE) in a hilarious supporting cast, THE ASSOCIATE is a comedy treat you're sure to love! ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Great Movie
Whoopi Goldberg stars in THE ASSOCIATE, a humorous movie about the stock market and a woman finding her way. She plays Laurel Ayers, a stock broker who is promised a promotion. When her co worker takes her promotion right from under her, she is determined to make it on her own. She quits and starts her own company. To her dismay she finds out that it's not easy making it in the world as a woman, doors are constantly slammed in her face because of her gender, so she sets out to take the world over by storm, by creating a fictional person, Robert Cutty. Yes she creates a man and even dresses up as one. Cutty takes the world by storm, but Laurel has to keep up with her charade. Eventually she realizes that Cutty has been nothing but trouble for her, no one cares about what SHE has been doing, and a man is still getting all the credit for her ideas. So she sets out to kill a fictional man that doesn't exist! She realizes she is no better than she was, because Cutty is getting credit for all her work and ideas. ...Overall a really humorous and well acted film, worth seeing many times.

Very Entertaining!
I truly love this movie! I have been trying to get it on DVD eversince I first watched it in March 1997 on my way to the UK. Whoopi Goldberg's acting is convincing but I liked Dianne Wiest's supporting role. A very entertainingly funny plot will keep you laughing most of the time through the whole movie.

He Look-a-Like-A-Man!
I must have seen this movie about twenty times or more! Each time I viewed it, I discovered something new in the movie!I loved
when Whoopi finally got a break-through and was given an account to prove her worth as a business woman! Women are still looked down in 2002 in many fields!The White Male is still given every thing over the Black woman and the white woman! Opray was the frist African American woman given close to a billion in revenue, we're cousins by the way Opray and I! No, really!!

viewing the movie helped me to make many successful deals without feeling like a helpless female!

Anyway Whoopi plays a guy as well as she does a girl! Five stars for you Whoopi!

Not a Great Comedy but Sometimes genuine humor film.
Wall street analyst (Oscar-Winner:Whoopi Goldberg) cannot survived in the World Business Men. So, she sets up with a Phony Fictitious business male partner and she decide to dress herself as a Man!

This Comedy is a Remake from a French 1982 film. Goldberg is Quite Good in the lead. Great suppoting cast:Including-Two Time Oscar Winner:Dianne Wiest, Eli Wallach, Timothy Daly, Bebe Neuworth, Austin Pendleton and Lainie kazan. Directed by Donald Pertie (Grumpier old men) has made a good comedy but he has made funnier films that this one. Grade:B.

Badly acted; not very entertaining
Any one who has the faintest inkling of how Wall St works will find this movie a joke. I can't believe the other reviews giving four or five stars. I was very disappointed with the whole thing. Whoopi seems very uninvolved in her acting. The movie just drags and drags. Many of the so called comic scenes are very contrived. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Swim Into the Twilight Zone...
It really is amazing how unknown this movie still is. If you are unfamiliar with it, you are in for a real experience. It is based on a classic short story by John Cheever, and it works like an extended, lost episode of the old "Twilight Zone" television series. A middle-aged suburban man (Burt Lancaster) decides to swim across his wealthy Connecticut county, through all the swimming pools of his neighbors back to his own home. As he makes his journey you gradually become aware that he is not all that he seems. Dark secrets keep getting revealed and it soon becomes apparent that we are witnessing a telescoping of the man's entire adult life into a few afternoon hours of an early autumn day. The film becomes a powerful allegory about disillusionment and tragedy, without being the least heavy-handed about it. Like Cheever's other great short story "The Enormous Radio", "The Swimmer" can be interpreted as a religious parable about the self-deception of fallen humanity. The comeuppance Lancaster receives is almost too intense to watch. This is a genuinely shattering movie that will stay with you.

The minority opinion, based on incomplete data
After scanning the editorial and customer reviews here, I prepare to duck from the rotten tomatoes about to be thrown at me.

I've seen this film twice or, rather, tried to watch it twice. At age 20-25, I tried watching it, and found it to be a tedious exhibition of meaningless repetition. I fell asleep before I could get to the allegedly startling ending that gives it all meaning.

A few months back, after hearing about the film-redeeming ending, I tried again. Thirty minutes in, I was dozing off again. This is the only movie that ever did this to me. I decided to give it some chance, and skipped to the ending, to see what all the fuss is about. The ending seemed to be a non-sequitir, and shed no meaning, for me, on the beginning of the movie.

Of course, this means that I've never watched the entire film. But, I am a Burt Lancaster fan, and a very patient movie-viewer. For a film to twice fail to capture my interest, that's bad enough, for me, to write a review such as this. I give it three stars only because I know it is well-made and widely admired, but it will not grab everyone's interest.

Unforgettable after...25 years
I first watched this film..in another language when I was a kid. How best to illustrate the impact it had on me? After 25 years I still remembered the story of it. Of a man swimming home and of the last scene where he coming home to find an empty, isolated house.

Flash back to the present. I found this movie by accident in the library. Wondering if it's the same one stuck in my mind for so long so I checked it out. The impact of watching it this time was still there (just a bit less since I already know the ending).

All in all it's really worth seeing. It left an unforgettably emotional impact on me..as a 10-year-old child. That's how best I could put it to say how good the movie is.

challenging aesthetics
an unforgettable film.
it defies all explanation and remains a hidden classic art film.
comparisons to the twilight zone seem to do it little justice, not that i am knocking the twilight zone at all.
but perry's film is far more complex and multi latered than that.
and lancaster;
the older he got the more risks he took and this is a brauva performance.
we see his world slowly decaying. we know whats coming, yet you will probabaly still walk away mumbling incoherently to yourself for a few hours afterwords.
but,if you're looking for a fast paced film, look elsewhere. this film challenges you and from what ive seen of some of the reivews it was a bit too challenging for some (right-o new jersey?), but if you are prepared to reconsider your views on what film is and isnt, then be prepared to be walloped.

Frank Perry's masterpiece
This film is unique in all the american filmography. You may exhibit several examples about the question of the loneliness , like Sunset boulevard, Midnight cowboy, the naked kiss or even Butterfield 8. These films are worthy. But no film before and even thirty six years (with the exceptions of Paris Texas and American beauty) had approached the question in just so brutally dramatic, showing the naked soul of a mature man in a suden decadence.
Perry had the Midas touch when the story goes through all the swimming pool of Kentucky.
An intimate portrayal,a collage that describes like a few, the roughness, the cruelty the indifference of the human condition around a man who lost his center, his eaning for living, and surviving just by feeding his memories.
His ancient friends, his old love affairs , show us with no mercy the unboreble loneliness of this man who was once and now he's just a post card human, a colection piece , a lost specimen
from an old tale.
Lancaster gives us an unforgettable performing. I{m absolutely sure that the character of Lancaster in Atlantic city, was so easy to Burt, due he applied the emotive memory, apart his notable skills.
The swimmer is a cult movie. It's a acid view about a society who doesn't accept the failure, which runs from a lonely man who doesn't have to say excepts his memories.
Do you remember the sequence when he tries to get into the swimming pool in which he must to clean his feet before to get in? . The metaphor is so absorbing and fascinating that you can not forget easily. And the ending is very close to a horror film.
Please, don't forget this ending and try to tie with the end of 21 grams.
Momma dearest was made several years after. But in my particular opinion. Frank Perry will be remembered by this unvaluable gem of the best artistic expression american cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Great Fun Movie
A fun movie whose portrayals are not to be taken seriously. There are many memorable scenes and lines. Jamie Foxx is at his best and for the most part, all the main characters do a good job.

The scene where Jamie Foxx and Vivica Fox are speaking Chinese in the restaurant is classic.

A great movie but the stereotypes are so over the top it sometimes feels like you're watching a cartoon.

This would be average...
This would be your average "brothas gotta git some" stereotypical comedy of errors (see "Two Can Play That Game") but Jamie Foxx, damn that man. He's one of the funniest comics alive today, and that's no exaggeration. I love the guy's shtick and the "Bunz" character, which is 100% Jamie Foxx, just makes this a fun romp. I've heard some complaints about the DVD release of this (which I don't own) so be forewarned, the DVD could be a load of rubbish. Don't buy the DVD! There, I've done my public service announcement. Now read the rest of my review.

Fortunately, I had the pleasure of watching this on VHS a few years back.

I honestly don't remember laughing so hard in my life. And 99% of the time I was laughing at Bunz. The other characters, Lysterine (Vivica A. Fox), Rashon (Tommy Davidson) and Nikki (Tamala Jones) are just window dressing. Foxx simply steals every scene he's in. With the exception of the angry lady scene and Bernie Mac's HILARIOUS cameo, oh, and of course, the blatantly stereotypical convenience store clerks, they are just there to act as foils for the impossibly funny Bunz. You know, instead of that big butt on the movie sleeve, they should have put Jamie Foxx's face on the cover. Anyway, minor spoilers ahead. These are my favorite scenes.

The Chinese restaurant! Bunz exchange with the waiter, Bunz speaking Chinese (he learned it from watching Kung Fu movies with...ah, I won't even spoil the joke!)

Bunz doing impressions spot on of William Shatner and Martin Luther King while er...you'll see!

Bottom line: Jamie Foxx is a genius. Don't mind the critics who pass this off as sophomoric. Well, of course it is! But like the editorial review says, it's funny. This will most likely become a cult classic now that Foxx's career is starting to really take off.

Extremely funny
This movie is SOOOOOO funny! You absolutely must see this film. Jamie Foxx and Tommy Davidson (alumni from "In Living Color") have a series of hilarious mishaps on the way to scoring with their girlfriends. Don't miss it!

This is it right here!!!
If your looking for a thoroughly entertaining comedy...look no further. Jamie Foxx...the man!!!!!!!! This movie made me laugh so much....it induced a asthma attack.
Funniest part in the movie - Jamie's accident with the glad wrap.......hilarious!!!

Perfect comedic chemistry lead by Jami Foxx
Comedy is context specific and thus culturally bound, however "Booty Call" taps into universal themes about differences between guys and gals in terms of "us" vs. "them." It's a hoot! I don't like any other movies that get lumped into the same category of "Booty Call" with young black men sworn to "Get Some," but the chemistry between the characters, lead by Jamie Foxx, is so perfect. I would have loved to watch them making this film--there must be some hysterical outakes. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it's a little too preachy on the "safe sex" message. Besides that message it's a perfect laugh riot. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The dew of new stardom was still visible on Marilyn Monroe when she ventured up to Canada to shoot this sturdily entertaining CinemaScope Western. Although director Otto Preminger later claimed little interest in the picture, he couldn't help but bring his even-handed visual style to the widescreen process. The location shooting (in Alberta) is eye filling, and that river really does look alarming. Best of all, Marilyn, fresh and vital, had a costar to match her magnetism but not humor her sometimes-scattered approach to acting: Robert Mitchum, as a homesteader with a dark past. He's weighty enough to stand next to MM's bright flame without giving any ground; they should have worked together again. Since Marilyn plays a saloon singer, she gets to sling some tunes in her inimitable style, with as much glamour as the gold rush-era trappings will allow, giving "I'm Going to File My Claim" various meanings. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Lesser Known Monroe Film Worth A Look
Robert Mitchum plays a practical, no-nonsense farmer recently reunited with his young son, Tommy Rettig. They rescue a young couple (Marilyn Monroe and Rory Calhoun) going on a raft down a river by their homestead, and that's where the trouble begins. Calhoun is out to make a gold claim, and he'll do anything, including stealing Mitchum's horse and gun, leaving Mitchum, Rettig, and even Monroe behind to face the Indians without any defence. So they must take to the raft to survive, and that's where the adventure begins. I liked this film a lot. Mitchum is his usual laconinc self, but it works really well with this character. Monroe gets to act in this film, and she does so very well, playing a saloon singer that wants to defend her man, despite what he has done to all of them. Young Rettig is good too, not cloying and irritating like so many child actors can be. The scenery is beautiful, the title song very effective, and although the direction of Otto Preminger isn't very fluid and sometimes the movie lumbers from one scene to another, the performances and relationships among the characters make up for it. Viewers will enjoy the trip down the River of No Return.

Marilyn Monroe and the Canadian Rockies!
.
While this is certainly far from Marilyn Monroe's best performance, it is nonetheless an interesting film to watch.

Amazingly, the somewhat artificial beauty of Marilyn Monroe shown floating on a raft down the "river of no return" with a backdrop of the Canadian Rockies can capture one's imagination and make you forget what a truly awful film this is.

Marilyn steals your attention in every scene, and the sheer beauty of her presence more than makes up for the ridiculousness of the plot.

MM sings a couple of numbers in her dance-hall girl phase of the film, most notably, "I'm Gonna File My Claim", about a gold-digger during the gold rush days.

Any Marilyn fan would have to see this movie just for Marilyn's sake. Anyone else can probably skip it.

MMMmmmarvelous Marilyn!

Sometimes it's peaceful, sometimes wild and free
Marilyn Monroe described this movie as a grade-Z cowboy movie where the acting finished third to the scenery and Cinemascope. Okay, the Canadian Rockies and the rapids were utilized to its best for 1950's film-making, and MM's second film in Cinemascope must have made quite an impression in the theatres for the new aspect ratio.

It's 1875 in the wild Northwest. Matt Calder is reunited with his young son Mark in a saloon town and rather than go the usual route of prospecting, start a new life on a farm bordering the River of No Return. Their life is instantly disrupted by two events. One, gambler Harry Weston, who's one a gold claim under dubious circumstances, is eager to file the claim in Council City to prevent the loser from beating him to it. To that end, he steals Calder's horse and rifle, a capital offense in the codes of the West. Second, a group of Native Americans on the warpath descend on the farm. Both Calders and Kay, Weston's moll who stays behind to look after the injured Calder and his son, flee in time in the raft Weston and Kay arrived in.

From then on, it's a struggle to survive the rapids without any weapons, food, and constantly being drenched by that river whenever it's "wild and free." As Calder tells Kay, "The Indians call this the River of No Return. From here on, you'll find out why." He is so dead set on getting his hands on Weston, he'll risk anything, all the time looking after his two charges.

Conflicts arrive in many forms, the primary two are Kay's torn loyalties between Harry and Matt. She doesn't want Matt to kill Harry once the two meet up, and performs acts that range from desperate to being a seductive vamp, yet she realizes in their travails that he is thoughtful and unselfish, as demonstrated in the scene where he looks after her following her collapse from exhaustion. The other involves the circumstances where Matt had to leave young Mark in the saloon town for five years, and while it's justified, there is a certain amount of stigma in it.

Marilyn gets to sing four songs here, the acoustic guitar tune "One Silver Dollar" and the piano bar tune "I'm Gonna File My Claim", "Down In The Meadow", and one of the best songs she's ever sung, the title ballad. Her costumes aren't bad either, from the garish red dress she wears for the first song, the long green dress for the second tune, and the white blouse and anachronistic Levi's jeans she wears throughout the film. And this is the longest her hair has been in films, albeit it being a blonde wig, of course.

Despite the costumes, it's not a Western in the traditional sense of the word, but River Of No Return pales to others in the genre it's purported to be because it's more drama than action. Granted, this is not one of Marilyn's best films, nor is it that of Robert Mitchum's, Rory Calhoun's, or director Otto Preminger for that matter. Monroe would have to wait until The Seven Year Itch for her next biggest hit. However, both Mitchum and Monroe come off well despite the latter's dismissal of it.

Some of MARILYN'S best acting!! And MITCHUM's superb!
Marilyn doesn't play a dolly-girl in this film. She plays a very human female who has seen hardships and goes through many in the film, and takes it like a toughened woman. I've never seen her quite like this in any of her other films. I love all of her films, but this is a stand-out and unique. I wouldn't rate it as one of her best films, but she IS super in it. It's a Level 2 Marilyn film, not quite up there with How to Marry a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch, but still pretty darn good!
Robert Mitchum is, as always, superb, and there is a good chemistry between the two. A definite must on DVD for any Marilyn fan. If only somewhat interested get the VHS, but Marilyn fans and Western fans will want the Widescreen DVD.

Revenge and Redemption on a Raging River.
The movie: This is an entertaining movie. Although there are some minor flaws and improbabilities in the script, the film is an exciting blend of action and drama, as Marilyn tries to convince a vengeance-driven Mitchum to spare her boyfriend's life. Marilyn has 4 or 5 songs in the movie, and shows some real talent. This does not detract from the realism of the story, either, because her character plays songs for a living. The ending leaves something to be desired, however, because it never answers a question that the film has set up about Mitchum's character. Still, the movie is fun to watch, and the two leads keep things interesting.

The DVD: This is the perfect DVD to use with a home theater. It has surround sound (the best I've encountered), and a whopping 2.55:1 widescreen transfer. (In case you didn't know, that means that the widescreen picture is 2.55 times wider than it is high.) The film has panoramic shots of some genuinely breathtaking locations. Perhaps the DVD's biggest fault is the way that the restoration inexplicably CUTS OUT whenever there is a fade-out or fade-in! You'll be watching a scene, and then suddenly, without warning, the restoration will blink out, leaving you with a washed-out-looking unrestored image. Then the picture will fade out, and you will see a fade-in on a new unrestored scene. About 1 or 2 seconds after this fade-in, the screen will blink, and the picture will look pretty good again. This is awkward, and interrupts the flow of the movie. I can't believe that the manufacturer is unable to fix those brief segments.

Overall, this is a fun piece of 1950s Americana. "River of No Return" is far better than 90 percent of the new movies being made today, and I recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Green Hornet Sting Of Excellence
I loved it when I found this DVD. For many years I had watched the original campy Batman series and eagerly waited for the chance to see the cross-over Green Hornet episode. This DVD is what seems to be three or 4 episodes pasted together. Worthwhile to find, since so little can be found of the Green Hornet of DVD or VHS for that matter. A particular point of interest is the Black Beauty documentary. I think fans of all super hero/crime drama genre will enjoy this program.

"Another Challenge for the DVD Fan"....
First of all to set the record straight to correct a few common mistakes by reviewers here...This DVD is the first of 2 films originally released to theatres back in 1974 to cash in on BRUCE LEE's death in 1973, & the huge popularity of the film, "ENTER, THE DRAGON". FOX took 4+ episodes of their 1967 half-hour television series, THE GREEN HORNET, & chopped & spliced them together into a 90-minute mishmash, making fans think this was an all-new feature starring BRUCE. "THE GREEN HORNET", as titled, was released in some areas as part of a double bill with some AIP-style BlackSploitation vehicle in 1974(I was one who was dropped off on a saturday afternoon at a now long gone theatre at Beach 20th/Cornaga in Far Rockaway, NY, & sat through it almost twice while my mother was shopping for nearly 4 hours. I have no idea what the other film was except I remember an in-bed naked love scene, tons of cursing & shoot-ups, & being the only lone 10-year-old/kid in the theatre. Most likely it was something along the lines of BLACK CAESAR or SHAFT). About a year later, I saw all "5" PLANET OF THE APES films in this same theatre for a buck! What an amazing time to be a kid! I guess this first "Hornet" film did the job cashwise as the second film was released soon-after, titled: "FURY OF THE DRAGON", which sounds like an all-desperate last attempt title to "cover up" that this film is just more poorly-edited GREEN HORNET episodes, & not some newly discovered major unreleased feature of BRUCE LEE in all his glory like the newspaper ads made it seem.(FURY OF THE DRAGON is about to be released on DVD any day now here in the US,& has been on DVD for some time now in JAPAN & is also available in the UK). It would be great for the original "GH" series to be released on DVD(as well as the 1966 BATMAN TV series), yet it seems that TV shows that only lasted One Season(like the G.H.) & were not syndicated well, were considered flops & losers money-making-wise by the studios. If the show was never officially released on video & never syndicated on Cable or Network TV, these two DVD's of the 1974 films may be the only way we are going to see the 1967 GREEN HORNET for a long, long time. Hopefully not. FOX did such a great job of the 1966 BATMAN Feature film on DVD, that a BATMAN/GREEN HORNET DVD BOX would be amazing, & I am sure would sell very very well. This DVD, though, is very good. For a gooey gumbo of a cash-in, this film is presented here in excellant quality on the DVD, & includes a Widescreen matte(as theatrically released), which cuts the top & bottom off a bit, yet is interesting to see in this format. Being that I have about 10 grey market episodes of the Original series, to see it like this is a-plus, for the quality is far way-superior than any copies of the show available on the grey market. Actually, this is the closest & best way to see the 1967 GREEN HORNET for now. So I recommend this & the FURY DVD when released, to see a so-so representation, yet EXCELLANT audio/visual quality. Again, as someone else corrected here,...it is Producer WILLIAM DOZIER's voice who announces the opening narration..."ANOTHER CHALLENGE FOR THE GREEN HORNET"...Not Gary Owens. Also, it was Car Customizer DEAN JEFFREYS, not GEORGE BARRIS, who created & built the "BLACK BEAUTY" Car for the show. As someone else mentioned, it would be great to find episodes of other late 60's shows that BRUCE LEE appeared in, like LONGSTREET. Now that's a rare treat.

Very enjoyable DVD, bad format
This DVD (despite it's reference on the cover as a theatrical release in 1974) is actually 4 episodes from the series sandwiched together (including the two parter that actually were the last 2 episodes of the series). I would rather see all the episodes in proper order. By the way, 1 clip from another 2 parter also appears in this disc. This is the dumbest mistake as there is no reference to the particular character. One who hasn't seen the series in 1966 on ABC or the reruns on FX in 1994 would think the Green Hornet just diverted to knock another bad guy down, just for the sake of it, while en route to the real crime. Buy the DVD and it's pending sequel to preserve the series, yes, but know what you're getting first. By the way to the person who quoted the opening above, that opening was done by William Dozier NOT Gary Owens (doesn't anybody watch Batman anymore?)

Great tv series, terrible video/dvd release
I have to echo the comment sof the last reviewer of this movie. First off, the editting of the bits and pieces of the episodes is terrible. The film jumps from one bit to the next with no apparent order. Secondly, the producer promote this product as being made from remastered prints. That's a laugh! The film looks like it was made to resemble an old Hong Kong martial arts film. The lighting was low and dark and the overall color had a yellosish quality. As for the audio, the editors tripped on this one to! There are scenes with Kato fighting where his yells and kicking sounds are conspicuously missing from the final edit. The Green Hornet is a great TV series! Once and for all, if the distributors of classic tv shows want to please the fans, release this and other great shows in the original broadcast format. Anything less is any insult to the fans!

The biggest scam to Bruce Lee fans since "Game Of Death"
The fact that this is episodes of the TV series edited into a "movie" is insulting, but not the worst part. The fact that the cover blurbs make it sound like Bruce Lee made a series of "Green Hornet" movies, and never mentions the TV series, is also insulting, but again, not the worst part. The worst part is that they added black bars to the top and bottom of the screen in a lame attempt to make us think that it's in widescreen format. Did they think we wouldn't notice every time somebody's head disappeared off the top of the picture? Additionally, the editing looks like it was done with an axe. The only thing worse than a scam is a poorly-executed scam. Avoid this. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

BONANZA Restored To Its Original Quality!
Bonanza is at last available as its meant to be...Digitally Mastered, original music, the burning map, and the beautiful watercolor drawings of the opening and closing credits.

The various repeat airings on television since the series ended were edited by up to 10 minutes to allow for more commercial time. This DVD presents the episodes in their original form. And the picture quality is no doubt better than the quality of the then-new color TVs when the series originally aired.

May this Volume 1 sell enough that Republic/Artisan continue to remaster the original prints from the series. There are many classic episodes that have never seen release on video, and were sadly edited in tv repeats...

Springtime, The Hayburner, Hoss and the Leprechauns, The Wooing of Abigail Jones, etc.

The original masters of the Bonanza series need to be restored and preserved on DVD.

For die-hard Bonanza fans only
The class act in classic TV westerns seems to be Have Gun Will Travel, which works on many levels and effectively engages the modern audience. Bonanza fans may appreciate the excellent DVD transfer, gorgeous settings and selection of episodes in this product. But the rest of us would be better advised to select something with vision and adult-level dialogue going for it.

Why not Season Box Sets?
This is a great compilation of classic episodes of one of the best shows in TV History.My only complaint is the lack of the deserved respect for such a show.Many classic shows from the 60s and 70s have been released in wonderful quality season box sets.Why not Bonanza?

A Western classic!
So,the waiting time is over.A beautiful DVD in Top Quality of the great Bonanza TV-Show.I am astonished about the remarkable Choice about the episodes.The Crucible and All about Walter,one dramatic and one funny,are truly some of the greatest from the complete Run.And the Orginal Sound and Opening Sequence let the heart jump.Bonanza Fans,this is the first real deal on DVD.Buy it and lets hope there will be more.And my wish is that there will be more classic shows like Branded,Man called Shenandoah,Lancer,High Chapparal,Bronco,Laramie or Gunsmoke.I think there is a big market for these treats.

great all around dvd
this is the best dvd yet and i would highly recommend. i too will be waiting for future editions from artisan. now if we can only get alias smith and jones by someone like "artisan"!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Grade F+
A cop's partner is killed, and poor Richard feels he has to go and take care of the bad guy that did it. Richard's wife has left him and he now is divorced, so Kim, who is a white slave of the bad guy, ads more reason for Richard to go after the bad guy. Besides, Kim was there when Richard's partner was done in.
THE GOOD
Not much, Kim Bassinger is pretty to look at, and that is about it.
THE BAD
Richard and Kim along with rest of the cast, seem to be going thru the motions of acting. Richard has the same blank stare that he has in most of his moves. Living close to New Orleans, they did not take advantage of the local landscape. This movie could have been filmed anywhere. They do not know how to eat Crawfish in the movie, a southern treat. The Final fight scene is poorly shot.
C.P.O.V
The F word is used alot, along with other foul language. Kim's breast are shown thru her wet shirt as she poors water down blouse to cool off. The killings are pretty bloodless, compared to today's standards. Not a lot of killings in this movie anyway.-EJW

This is a 5 star!
this is such an incredible movie. We get to see to Oscar winning performances here. Both great bodies strut their stuff and intensify the moments in the movie with the dramatic impersinations of the charactors. Don't miss it!

Gere, Bassinger Have That Chemistry That Heats Up The Screen
A film that went unoticed in the 80's is a tight well acted thriller starring the incomparable Richard Gere as tough brash Chicago Cop who's on a revenge misson to the bayous of New Orleans to find his partner's killer and gets involved with a mobster's illerate mistress. Standard Script with a few good action sequences thrown in along with Gere's exceptional talent to hold the viewer's attention throughtout the entire film. Even though the viewer has been through familar territory with this type of script it is still a great movie. Memorable scene was when Gere & Bassinger are treding through the swamps handcuffed together Mouthing off to one another. First of two film this duo has done together the other film was released 6 years later in another steamy thriller "Final Analysis"

Spicy Cajun Cuisine
This is a fantastic cop thriller and one of the best films of it's ilk made during the 80's. It could easily have been made this year and not in 1986 it holds up so well. Basinger shows why she was so sought after and why so many were relieved when L.A. Confidential finally came her way. Before Richard Gere slipped into the slick but empty films he would make later on, he gave a terrific performance in this one.

Director Richard Pearce gives this crime story a special atmosphere as it moves from Chicago to the hustle and bustle of New Orleans and finally to the marshy swamps of the Bayou. There is a good script from James Carabatsos that adds a gritty realism missing in many films of this kind. The chemistry between Gere and Bassinger is explored slowly while they are on the run and the romance is very credible because of it.

Eddie Jillette (Gere) and his best friend and partner Joe Collins (Gary Basaraba in a nice role) are undercover at a car wash and when they blow a drug bust by jumping the gun they get a chance to redeem themselves by pretending to be hitmen. All they know is someone from Louisiana wants to make a hit in Chicago and their contact is suppose to be a heartstopper. It turns out to be gorgeous beauty Basinger. She is the heartstopper with a blue parrot tattoo on her shoulder and a rich Loisiana lawyer looking to hire a killer.

The man they want killed is a Loisiana crime lord named Losado (creepily played by Jerome Krabbe) who runs Algiers and owns Basinger, literally. Her parents sold her to Losado when she was thirteen in a world Jillette can't understand but is about to find out about when both the lawyer and Eddie's best friend are brutally killed. Michel dissappears back to the Big Easy with Losado and Eddie goes after her to get to his partner's killer.

It's a whole 'nother world down there and in spite of warnings to leave from the cops he tracks Michel down through her pretty Creole friend Cara (Aleta Mitchell), who finds it is unwise to cross Losado. There is some true menace here and not the cartoon stereotype villian we find in some action flicks. As Eddie and Michel leave the Big Easy for the Bayou handcuffed together he begins to sympathize and care for the illiterate Michel and she finally begins to have a little hope in escaping.

When Eddie tries to get rid of her so she doesn't get killed while he seeks his revenge, things get complicated emotionally for both of them and there is a terrific love scene that has the ring of truth. The gritty atmosphere and involving story separates this film from the rest of the pack. The final confrontation as Eddie and Michel face down Losado in an attempt to survive together is well staged and exciting.

George Dzundza as Eddie's Captain is noteworthy but so is the whole cast. The story is solid and the atmosphere simply dripping with the juice from crawfish. You feel like you're really in the Bayou here and that atmosphere adds greatly to the tense climax and the epilog to wrap up a very special film.

If you've never seen this or you can't remember it it's one you'll want to go back and take a look at. It will be one of your favorites after you do. This one is a real winner....

Have Mercy
No Mercy is one of those films that is not really that bad, but it leaves you wondering how did they get big stars to do it. In the film Richard Gere plays a tough New York cop with a drinking habit, an ex-wife, and a bad rep. So what happens to him? Well his good natured partner (you know the one with the with the wife and kids and a good reputation a.k.a has everything to lose) gets murdered when Gere takes a tip from a local hood that a hit is about to go down. So the film turns into the rouge cop on the revenge trail story. This will bring him to New Oreans(that whole "fish-out-of-water" thing), and to Kim Basinger. Along the way Gere will encounter lots of bad guys, bullets, cops who don't like him, swamps, crawfish, and cajons(sp?) all to a hip 80's soundtrack.

This film was the first pairing of Richard Gere and Kim Basinger together and to it's credit it is better than there second film, Final Analysis. However there really isn't much going on here. The plot was as predictable as traffic at five o'clock. Neither Gere nor Basinger is very good which is Richard Pearce's(the director) fault because they fall in and out of their accents. I have to say though there is something about Richard Gere that even in his weaker films, like this one, he is still fun to watch. The same can be said for Basinger who is always delightful on the eyes even when she is hard on the ears.

This film has it's momments, but they are pretty sparse. Maybe Richard and Kim will get it right on the third try since they seem to like doing this type of film together. If you're out there looking for some steamy action you might want to look elsewhere. ... Read more