Shane

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Consciously crafted by director George Stevens as a piece of American mythmaking, Shane is on nearly everyone's shortlist of great movie Westerns. A buckskin knight, Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into the middle of a range war between farmers and cattlemen, quickly siding with the "sod-busters." While helping a kindly farmer (Van Heflin), Shane falls platonically in love with the man's wife (Jean Arthur, in the last screen performance of a marvelous career). Though the showdowns are exciting, and the story simple but involving, what most people will remember about this movie is the friendship between the stoical Shane and the young son of the farmers. The kid is played by Brandon De Wilde, who gives one of the most amazing child performances in the movies; his parting scene with Shane is guaranteed to draw tears from even the most stonyhearted moviegoer. And speaking of stony hearts, Jack Palance made a sensational impression as the evil gunslinger sent to clean house--he has fewer lines of dialogue than he has lines in his magnificently craggy face, but he makes them count. The photography, highlighting the landscape near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, won an Oscar. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Best Western ever.......2007-09-04

Whenever Shane comes on TV, my wife groans because she knows there is absolutely nothing she can do to prevent me from watching until after the climactic shoot-out at the very end. Fortunately we have 2 TV sets, so she can watch something else. I have a short list of 18 movies I never get tired of seeing. Shane is the only western on my list, though I've seen all the other obvious contenders for best western. But this one grabs me and never lets go. Some of the reviews below do a good job of explaining why.

Shane.......2007-09-02

You don't hear about one hit wonders in acting careers too much, but that could certainly be the case with Alan Ladd is Shane. The films fine pacing and direction is delivered by "multiple hit" director George Stevens and he is perhaps the reason why the film worked so well. Van Hefflin, Jack Palance, and Brandon De Wilde add their own signature elements which highlight the film along with the photography of sultery scenery.

One of the all-time great westerns.......2007-08-14

A true classic; everything works perfectly. An outstanding script & direction that gradually builds to the inevitable & gripping climax, magnificent scenery & cinematography, top-notch performances by all the actors and a stirring soundtrack. I read the book 1st & in it Shane is himself very much like the Jack Palance character but he makes a conscious effort to turn his life around & change his ways forever. Alan Ladd portrayed him as a good-guy gunfighter with Roy Rogers buckskins & pearl-handled nickel-plated pistol. But Ladd played the hell out of this role so it must be admitted that this was a change for the better. He played Shane as a noble, wise & world-weary knight-errant & this turned out to be an excellent choice for the movie version of the character. As noted above, all the performances are right on the money. My personal favorites are Jack Palance and Ben Johnson & even the ranchers are given redeeming qualities so everything is not so clearly defined as it might appear at 1st. The story itself is very simple but there are many underlying subtleties that enrich every scene. The attraction between Shane and Marion, Joey's hero-worship of Shane & Shane's desire to pass on the best qualities of his experience coupled with his aversion to inspiring the boy into following his example. These are just a couple instances - watch the movie from start to finish & you'll appreciate all the ingredients that went into this wonderful film. I fall for all the sentimentality each & every time I watch it. One of the best movie endings of all time - a true tear-jerker when a wounded Shane rides off into the mountains to die all alone while the boy calls after him to come back. Any western fan needs this in their film library - it will stand up to repeated viewings, believe me.

SHANE-THE WAY WESTERNS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MADE.......2007-08-13

Does not get much better than this; I can watch this movie over and over. Action, good versus bad, young kid and a side line love story. I can just imagine what the story lines would be for this movie if it were made today. The location for the movie is unbelievable, I wish I could have seen it on the big screen. The movie is shot in the Tetons, in Wyoming I believe. I could watch this movie over and over. If you like westerns and have never seen it, do you self a favor and watch it. A good old fashion western, great ending.

Shane Review.......2007-08-09

This is one of the greatest westerns of all time...right up there with Gary Cooper's "High Noon" and John Wayne's "The Searchers". I've seen Shane about a dozen times and have to subdue myself from advancing to the fight scene with character actor Ben Johnson. Top notch movie...top notch DVD.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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SWASHBUCKLING CLASSIC
It don't get no better.
Memo to Warner Brothers: Put this on the big screen for 70th
Most Loved Movie
review of robin hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Melville Cooper , Errol Flynn , Alan Hale , Ian Hunter , and Kenneth Hunter
Director: Curtiz, Michael
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JKEZ
Release Date: 2003-09-30

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Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Errol Flynn is eternally charming as Robin, defender of the poor, in this rousing family adventure that co-stars Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains. Year: 1938 Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Alan Hale

Customer Reviews:

SWASHBUCKLING CLASSIC.......2007-08-12

Want real movie magic and great old star power? This gorgeous classic has it all in spades. Errol Flynn exudes charisma and swaggering confidence as Robin, easily showing why he's simply one of the greatest movie stars of all time. And he's backed by a who's who of Warner's star roster, with Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains as the personification of ruling class reptillian villainy! And it's all in lucious technicolor with a rousing musical score. An all time classic, beautifully restored for DVD.

It don't get no better........2007-08-09

This is Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland at their best and frankly, in my opinion, Hollywood at its best. Just a great escape and a lot of fun -- well-acted and well-directed. Beautiful, opulent sets and clothing. A pure delight!

Memo to Warner Brothers: Put this on the big screen for 70th.......2007-07-20

One of the best movies ever made for all the reasons so well written by other reviewers. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see this film on the big screen in honor of its 70th anniversary? If it can be done for for "Dirty Dancing," why not for a film that is a part of American film history and a joy to watch? I think the studios (including Disney)are missing a great opportunity in not re-releasing films as they once did. I remember seeing GWTW in the late 60s, the first "Star Wars" trilogy and "Grease" in the late 90s. This film is wonderful on DVD, but it would honor all who made it and contemporary audiences to show it again in theaters. Think of all the horrible films in theaters between the Oscars and the summer blockbusters.
Some one at Warners- please!

Most Loved Movie.......2007-06-15

"The Adventures of Robin Hood" still comes across as fresh and entertaining almost 70 years after its release. It was nominated for Best Picture in 1938. Carl Jules Weyl won the Oscar for the film for Best Art Direction. The delightful look of the Nottingham Palace with the high stone walls creates the perfect period atmosphere. Ralph Dawson won the Oscar for Best Editing for the film. Some of the film sequences are astonishing. The scene where the whole hall breaks into sword fight has a continual clink of crashing swords as the camera shifts from duel to duel. Erich Wolfgang's score won the other Oscar for which the picture was nominated.

Errol Flynn's career is legendary as an action hero. He was never nominated for an Oscar. His personal life, particularly the statutory charges from 1942 that earned him the phrase "in like Flynn" could have wrecked a smaller star's career, but Flynn kept going. He's probably in his quintessential moment as Robin Hood, flashing smiles, romantic sparks flying with Maid Marian and his constant good humor. It's hard not to root for a hero like Robin.

I particularly like Patric Knowles as his sidekick Will Scarlet. From the costuming that places him in brilliant red to match his character name, Knowles flashes the smile, never stealing the spotlight, but always ready to fly to Robin's defense. Knowles had a long film career that included some gems like "Expensive Husbands" & "A Bill of Divorcement," but he shined brightly in this action adventure.

Olivia deHaviland plays Marian Fitzwalter, better known as Maid Marian. The costumer highlights her face in blues & lavenders. She radiates incredible charm & grace. The scene where she stands before Prince John and declares her disgust with his actions shows steel in her her feminine character. Olivia won two Oscars for "To Each His Own" in 1946 & "The Heiress" in 1949. Her role as Marian was believable. Her loving looks let you know that Robin was one lucky man.

Eugene Pallette plays Friar Tuck. This actor had an amazing career, acting in over 180 films! His resume lists some true classics like 1916's "Intolerance," the ghostly "Topper" from 1937, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in 1939 & "Heaven Can Wait" in 1943. As the portly Friar Tuck, his swordfight scene with Robin is both entertaining and hilarious. He had a voice that sounded like a gravel road, but he was one of the actors that flourished in both the silent and sound eras.

Alan Hale Sr. who played Little John also had an amazing film career spanning from 1912 to 1950. His films include silent era "The Prisoner of Zenda" from 1913 to "The Inspector General" in 1949. As Little John, his burly build and contagious good humor makes him an ideal fit for Robin's band of Merry Men.

Our two main villains are both played by notable actors. As Prince John, Claude Rains is an underhanded two-faced back-stabber. He was nominated four times as Best Supporting Actor including for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in 1939 & "Casablanca" in 1943.

Basil Rathbone who many associate as Sherlock Holmes plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne and vows to apprehend Robin Hood. The scene where Robin captures his entourage, takes his money & sends him back in rags is (for the audience) a joyful humiliation. Rathbone was nominated for Best Supporting actor in If I Were King, a film based on the stage play by Justin Huntly McCarthy. He had also been nominated for a similar award in 1936 for "Romeo & Juliet." Neither Raines nor Rathbone ever won an Oscar, as good as they both were.

Two other actors deserve special mention. Ian Hunter played Richard the Lionheart who returns home in the nick of time to reclaim his throne. Hunter won an Oscar in 1953 for Best Original Screenplay for "Roman Holiday." Una O'Connor plays Lady Marian's attending maid Bess. Her clever comic barbs made her screen time sparkle. O'Connor was in many other films including "The Bells of St. Mary's" from 1945 & "Random Harvest" in 1942. Some may also be interested to note that the palomino horse Olivia deHaviland rides in Sherwood Forest later would be seen as Roy Rogers' Trigger.

The theme of Saxons and Normans getting along despite differences, the treatment of women, fairness in taxation and care for the poor give the film a thematic backbone. As we near the 70th anniversary of this film, it deserves its place as one of the most watched & loved of the era's movies. Enjoy!

review of robin hood.......2007-06-12

This is the best family oriented swashbuckling adventure movie ever made! And this remastered two disc version with its superb picture and many extras is well worth the purchase price!

Wimbledon Classic Match: Federer vs Sampras

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Tremendous Match---Worthy of the Hype!!!
Changing of the guard
Federer vs Sampras
GrassCourtDrama
One dominant era ends as another one begins

Wimbledon Classic Match: Federer vs Sampras
Starring: Wimbledon Classic Match: Federer Vs. Sampras
Manufacturer: Standing Room Only
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Running Time: 233 minutes
Audio: Dolby 2.0
Region Code: 1

ASIN: B000ICLR98
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Product Description

In many ways Federer is much like the man he succeeded at the All England Club in 2001. Federer showed his former idol the door with a sensational performance. The fourth-round thriller ended Sampras' remarkable reign - at least for the moment.

Customer Reviews:

Tremendous Match---Worthy of the Hype!!!.......2007-09-03

Since this is the only time that Pete Sampras and Roger Federer ever laced up their shoes and battled in a truly competitive setting, this is a historic match. The play is outstanding; Sampras's serve is so fluid and Federer's nerves are truly of steel. Sampras's resolve wavers slightly and it is all over. This match truly lives up to the idea that the tight matches hinge on just a few points. Get this match now!!

Changing of the guard.......2007-08-08

What a fantastic match. It show an emerging Roger Federer and even though Pete is 29 - you can see why he has so great at Wimbledon. These are both players I truly admire and this match show cases both their talents.

Federer vs Sampras.......2007-08-05

Excellent value for tennis lovers. Tennis at it's best between two players performing at great levels. A must see game, and one to have!

GrassCourtDrama.......2007-07-05

Tennis drama doesn't get better than this, especially in light of what Federer has accomplished since that match in 2001.

One dominant era ends as another one begins.......2006-11-02

It is the classic tale of the changing of the guard as the seasoned veteran is taken down by the upstart heir apparent to the throne. Sampras owned Wimbledon since '93 and his only loss was to Krajicek in '96, but Federer at the 2001 Wimbledon showed the great potential that he has, but still wouldn't be fully realized until a year later when he won the 2002 Tennis Masters Championship and the rest is history. He has dominated tennis since like no player before him, including Sampras. Nadal has been the only player able to show that Federer is beatable, even if it's only on clay. Sampras was on his way out and would retire the next year at the U.S. Open and Federer was just getting going. Both were at the top of their games on that day during the 4th round of Wimbledon. It was a great match with the classic Sampras serve and volley with Federer showing great poise under pressure which has become his trademark. When you watch Federer or Sampras, you can't tell if they are down or up in the match, they just play with the killer blank face. Sampras has a record 14 Grand Slams with seven of those at Wimbledon and was ranked #1 6 straight years. Federer has 9 slams at 25, 4 straight Wimbledon titles and is the first man in the Open era to win at least 10 titles three straight years in a row. Get the DVD to see history as they will both go down at #1 and #2 in the history of men's tennis. Which order they go is up to you, but there is no debating they are the two greatest ever. Sorry Laver. Sorry Borg. If Agassi didn't lose so many finals to Sampras, he would have went down as #2 behind Federer.

Average customer rating:

Christopher Lambert
So bad it's bad...
Immortal cheese.
Highlander the movie was a work of art......... :)
The Original Highlander - Cult Classic

Highlander
Starring: Christopher Lambert , Roxanne Hart , Clancy Brown , Sean Connery , and Beatie Edney
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
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ASIN: B00005RYL2
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Amazon.com

This 1986 fantasy/action thriller has since spawned two sequels, a popular syndicated TV series, numerous comic-book spinoffs, and a loyal (if somewhat oddly obsessive) following of fans. Directed by music video veteran Russell Mulcahy (which explains the dizzying camera work), the original theatrical release made hash of an intriguing story about an "Immortal" from 16th-century Scotland (Christopher Lambert) who time-leaps to modern-day America with his archenemy (Clancy Brown) in hot pursuit. It becomes a battle to the death (yes, Immortals can die), and Lambert seeks survival training from an Immortal mentor played by Sean Connery. Dazzling, energetic, and altogether confusing in its original form, the film has since been released on video, laserdisc, and DVD in this revised widescreen "director's cut," with additional footage, director and producers' commentary, a photo and artwork archive, the original trailer, and an official time line of the film's evolution from script to screen. A must for Highlander fans ... and you know who you are! --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Christopher Lambert.......2007-09-03

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) can't live forever unless you cut his head off. Great movie about a group of immortals fighting for the ultimate prize.

Corey Cotta, Author of All of Yesterdays Tomorrows.

So bad it's bad..........2007-08-10

There are cult movies that have something special about them but are just not mainstream, and then there are cult movies that are utterly awful but that some group of people loves anyway. Highlander is the second type.

Highlander creates a great fantasy scenario. An unexplained, even among its members, group of immortals is born on Earth over the ages. They have to cut off each other's heads in attempt to be the last one standing, at which point the last one will receive some sort of great prize. Interesting issues of their (semi) immortality are touched upon, such as what it's like to be with a partner and watch them grow old and die without them.

Despite the interesting premise, the real problem is three-fold: 80's cheese dogging every inch of the film when they are in the "current" day period fighting, throw away acting, sloppy set-ups for action premises, particularly the last part of the film where a relationship starts out of nowhere. It just doesn't stand up as a good film, and as I watched it I either laughed at how bad it was or kept wondering if I should just shut off and stop the terrible waste of time.

Immortal cheese........2007-07-30

I loved this movie when I was younger, I haven't set through the whole thing in years ,I Know why. It is so cheesy and badly done I can see why it only appealed to me when I was younger.In the first fight sequence the guy who is fighting Nash backflips 25 times. My son and I who is 11 laughed our heads off. The sword fighting scenes were unbelievable, poorly choreographed, sparking like the blades were made out of flint. How exactly does a sword knock down a castle wall in the fight sequence of Remirez and the Kurgan. Also I never noticed all of the ghosts flying around after one of the Immortals died, which really looked silly. Overall I guess its ok for kids ,but be forewarned theres alot of language and some nudity so be quick to edit.

Highlander the movie was a work of art......... :).......2007-07-03

The film is a classic and I was happy to find it. It was in great shape, was delivered quickly, and without problems. Amazon makes it all easy.

The Original Highlander - Cult Classic.......2007-07-03

1986's "Highlander" is a good science fiction movie with an exceptionally intriguing concept for a storyline, that a race of immortals live among us and are battling to the last man for an unnamed prize. The concept fueled three big screen sequels and at least two TV series. This is the movie that started it all.

The movie proceeds along parallel story arcs. In one, an antique dealer named Nash, played by Christopher Lambert, battles a series of immortal opponents in modern day New York, while attracting the attention of a curious female police scientist named Brenda (played by Roxanne Hart).

In the second story arc, a Scots Highlander named Connor MacLeod (also played by Lambert) who, after being mortally wounded in battle in 1536, discovers that he is immortal. Connor is sought out by an even older immortal named Ramirez (perfectly played by Sean Connery) who teaches him how to fight and how to avoid losing his head to another immortal. Ramirez prepares Connor for the necessarily lonely life he will have, outliving the mortal humans around him. Ramirez also prepares him for an eventual rematch with Kurgan, the evil seven-foot giant immortal who first wounded Connor in battle.

The two story arcs will come together in New York City in the present. Nash, as Connor now calls himself, finds himself falling in love with Brenda just as his old nemesis Kurgan arrives for "the Gathering", the final battle of immortals. Connor and Kurgan (played by Clancy Brown) will maneuver for a final confrontation at swordpoint that only one of them can survive.

"Highlander" was apparently strapped by a small budget that limited production values and special effects, but the producers more than made up for this with beautiful location shooting in Western Scotland, a magnificent score by QUEEN, and some well-staged action sequences. The interaction between Macleod and Ramirez is priceless, as Ramirez imparts both fighting skill and friendship to the young Macleod.

This movie is highly recommended as an exceptionally entertaining experience to science fiction fans and to fans of the later versions of this storyline.

Average customer rating:

Chase Visa
Close Encounters Of The Deisel Kind
Duel
Less is more - let's have more like this please Steven!
Ultimate proof that Spielberg was born to make movies

Duel (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Dennis Weaver , Eddie Firestone , Gene Dynarski , Tim Herbert , and Charles Seel
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B000063UR5
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com essential video

This is the TV movie that put Steven Spielberg on the map, shortly before he made The Sugarland Express. Working from a script by Richard Matheson, the film stars Dennis Weaver as a mild-mannered traveling salesman who unintentionally angers the driver of a semi truck. Suddenly, the truck is not only riding his tail but trying to run him off the road. No matter what he does (pulling over, stopping at a diner, calling the cops), he can't get rid of it. Spielberg makes the wise decision of never showing the driver, even as he cranks the voltage on the film's suspense elements. As a result, the truck itself takes on an air of satanic menace--even a personality of sorts--as it seems to hunt its human prey. Spielberg made a lot out of a little, suggesting just how skilled a storyteller he would become. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Chase Visa.......2007-07-15

At first i thought Steven Speilberg's Duel was a simple story of a guy on the road who angers another man and that man is going to terrorize him, and it is. Then again never putting a face on the driver is a great move, it doesn't make the man and the truck human it's just this thing relentlessly chasing us, when you remember the movie you don't remember this specific guy chasing another you remember this thing coming after you. That truck could symbolize anything we've been pursued by or feel unable to escape from be it credit cards, secrets, guilt or anything else you could think of, and for David Mann it could be guilt. In an earlier phone conversation with his wife we learn that the night before David and his wife went to a party and another man was very disrespectful to his wife and David did nothing, which angered the wife and caused a fight. Now here is this truck that is terrorizing him and David tries and thinks of every way possible to avoid confrontation and tries to rationalize what he did even though this guy is trying to kill him, but unlike the man at the party and I'm sure other times in David's life he is being forced to face his problems and isn't allowed a way out.
For all we know maybe after that fight with his wife and feeling emasculated David could've gone to bed and we are witnessing his dream.
The movie is interactive i challenge anyone to watch this with a group of friends at their house preferably with drinking involved and not talk to the screen. We've all been in little altercations on the road and we all have an opinion on what David should do, i myself was annoyed with David many times.
Duel is also ranked 67th on Bravo channel's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments, which was a great show.
THE DVD: The transfer looked great and the DTS 5.1 soundtrack gave my Sonus Faber speakers a good work out.
Thanks for reading and share any thoughts you have.

Close Encounters Of The Deisel Kind.......2007-07-15

I first saw this movie as a 7 year old, and somehow retained some subconscious connection to it, for 35 years later, I still cannot stop watching it. The plot sounds like a 6 year old thought of the story, the pace is plodding, the dialogue is non existent, yet there is something primival about this movie that draws you in and holds you until the very end. My daughter is 7, and almost without fail, every Saturday night for the past 2 months, we curl up on the couch with some snacks and watch "Duel."

Duel.......2007-07-03

Spielberg's first full length film was for television, but never mind-it's still a grabber. Absent his later big Hollywood budgets, the director's special knack for building tension is still evident, resulting in a spare, ingenious thriller. Weaver is excellent as the rattled David. For God's sake, Dave- stay off the road!

Less is more - let's have more like this please Steven!.......2007-06-22

So here's an irony: Thirty-five years on, the movie audience which Spielberg's later work helped to capture - multiplex consumers of overblown CGI, gross-out, slapstick, and ever-greater explosions - may not "get" this one at all (e.g. see some of its other reviewers here). For anybody else - and this is most certainly not "art-house" either, don't be put off - here's an astounding, must-see thriller. OK, so it's a wannabe western, or Hitchcock (or Beowulf, or Alien, or High Noon) on wheels: None of that detracts from its great premise, which is delivered utterly without frills.

So many reasons to see this:

Spielberg is SO good at doing minimal (seriously, Steve, about time to get back to some of that?): Pared-down music, only natural-sound detail; no human baddie, just a perfectly cast truck as the anthropomorphised "killer". Even the shattering finale is captured on ordinary live film, albeit in one of the most awe-inspiring shots ever taken.

Great raw material: OK, so of course the script dates just a bit, with what dialogue there is sounding TV-ish and a wee bit cheesy to the modern ear; and kids now seeing this film might snigger at the personal styling details and plot's obvious reliance on predating mobile phones; but hey... We're right there for Mann (Dennis Weaver) from the very start, as it's vital that we have to be, because his story is so discreetly and elegantly constructed.

And as a piece of performance: Not just by Weaver, who's entirely credible as the put-upon everyman reluctantly forced to find his inner warrior. The film works because it sustains a gut-wrenching kinetic energy that few others ever reach (woeful comparison with, for example, the new Pirates III, which for all its frantic rushing about, quite fails to draw its audience into the action). DUEL is all the more impressive because the whole movie is shot "for real" - perhaps partly because the frantic pace of its actual production (see below) seems to rub off onto the screen. That it works at all is largely because it's propelled by uncannily perfect pacing of the long road sequences, which (as Spielberg acknowledges) only happens when you perfectly combine the ingredients: obsessive planning of sequences; unobtrusively brilliant stunt driving; then-new moving camera techniques (including a contribution from Bullitt's road unit); and laser-sharp editing. That's not to overlook the out-of-car scenes, which have a gloriously welcome fingernails-down-the-blackboard inner screech of Hitchcockian suspense - best of all in the diner scene ("which one is him?"), complete with some hilariously dark 'red herring' moments; the snake farm; and the old couple who (with pitch-perfect Buchan / Hitchock irony) mistake Mann for an attacker.

Visuals: It's clear from the first frame that, as Fats Waller put it, "the gods are in the house". Details are pin-sharp, not just as to focal clarity, but in their layering up the metaphorical landscape of the story, with every single shot both perfectly framed and constantly informing character and/or building pace; and that's a lot of shots, often complex and kinetic ones. And all set in a serenely beautiful landscape, mocking the petty anxieties and feuds of the men and machines scuttling across it. All the more surprising therefore to find in the bonus material that DUEL was made in less than a month: just 13 days' shooting, including the 3 days of (ultimately unused) "spare plate" shots insisted on by the studio.

This DVD edition is deeply satisfying both for the transfer quality of the movie itself and for a joyous Spielberg interview. Refreshingly modest and candid, the director reveals his debt to a quick-witted PA, to his production team and actors, and how great achievement springs from being young and hungry. It's amusing by-the-by to see Spielberg look back on this period of coming to terms with the public impact of his own virtuosity, coming to realise how a seemingly minor movie shot in 13 days can outgrow its origins to signal his big breakthrough. (Among all the fascinating stuff about how to get a 50-mph lorry to go at 100 mph, he also, touchingly, points out a couple of minor rookie mistakes you might not otherwise have noticed.) Musing on the cultural impact that his astonishing debut piece had, stumbling upon a global audience, he notes that what started as simply a domestic "TV ratings Titanic" became, internationally, a bigger but quite different phenomenon: "Here I was making a roadkill tribute to High Noon and Hitchcock, then the Europeans were reading in all this esoteric abstract symbolism about class warfare in America". It also, so he says, earned him the instant and lasting respect of Fellini (cue archive photo to prove this!).

Hey look, this film is basically an hour of a geeky guy in a little red car being chased up and down the mountain by one helluva scary truck. You can find much more if you want to look for it - Dostoevsky stuff about man and machines, or the 20th century post-feminist crisis of male identity, or the jurisprudential question of whether we need to be able to attribute a motive to evildoing, etc - but, for me, what nails the simple greatness of this piece is that WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS in the end. On that level alone, it won't disappoint.

Ultimate proof that Spielberg was born to make movies.......2007-06-10

Spielberg's DUEL is one of the best Hitchcock movies that Hitchcock did not actually make. And the best thing about it is that Spielberg doesn't overindulge in that massive pile-up of Hitchcock references that Brian DePalma employs - often to the point of parody. A great movie, affordably priced on DVD, and a wonderful warm-up for JAWS. Just when you thought it was safe to drive on the highway. . .

Yu-Gi-Oh, Season 5-Dawn of the Duel Vol. 2

Average customer rating:

The DVD Information

Yu-Gi-Oh, Season 5-Dawn of the Duel Vol. 2
Starring: Yu-Gi-Oh
Manufacturer: Funimation
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000OIOOX2
Release Date: 2007-09-13

Customer Reviews:

The DVD Information.......2007-05-11

I've Heard on the last episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! 4Kids cut the Jappense ending off of ours. I liked the Last Episode but the ending wasn't exciting!

Average customer rating:

"He's a devil Heinie" !!!!
Above the others!
Excellent
Excellent film
Great WWII movie

The Enemy Below
Starring: Robert Mitchum , Curd Jürgens , David Hedison , Theodore Bikel , and Russell Collins
Director: Dick Powell
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001NBMH6
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Amazon.com

In The Enemy Below Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens are respectively captains of a U.S. destroyer and a German U-boat whose vessels come into conflict in the South Atlantic. Both are good men with a job to do, the script noting Jurgens' distaste for Hitler and the Nazis and engaging our sympathy with the German sailors almost as much as the Americans. Made at the height of the cold war of the 1950s, the film delivers a liberal message of co-operation wrapped inside some spectacular action scenes and a story which builds to a tense and exciting, moving finale. --Gary S. Dalkin

Description

It's Mitchum vs. Jurgens as the commanders of an American destroyer and a German U-boat play a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Customer Reviews:

"He's a devil Heinie" !!!!.......2007-07-18

Tightly paced, this formulaic "cat and mouse" submarine film still works fifty years after it's release.Directed by former movie tenor Dick Powell and made during the Cold War, it features "rehabilitated" Nazis and carries a message of cooperation. Great performances by Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens and a good supporting cast allow you to overlook some of the cheesy special effects. A movie you can dust off and enjoy every few years.

Above the others!.......2007-07-15

I love war movies, and when they include subs what more can you ask? This one is a classic that no matter how many times I watch it I never get tired of it. It combimes suspence and action with award winning special effects for the time it was made.

Excellent.......2007-03-14

Para mi padre fue una pelicula memorable. Le recordó su epoca de gloria en la naval.

Excellent film.......2007-03-10

I found this film to be not only an excellent action film, with excellent strategizing and suspenseful decisions by both sides, but to be a wonderfully clear-headed depiction of real people in war. The Germans were not automatically shown as Nazi fanatics (in fact it was made very clear that the German U-boat captain was not a fan of Hitler) but as men just like the Americans.

I found the ending to be wonderfully uplifting and emotional.

Ausgezeichnet, meine Herren!

Great WWII movie.......2007-03-05

One of Robert Mitchum's best flicks. I bought this one along with several other WWII movies as a gift for my husband and because I remembered this one to be a great psychological war movie.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful
Pursuing what is unavailable
I would worship at The Temple of Ralph Fiennes
What the heck?
Beautiful story of unfullfilled love

Onegin
Starring: Ralph Fiennes , Toby Stephens , Liv Tyler , Lena Headey , and Martin Donovan (II)
Director: Martha Fiennes
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305906947
Release Date: 2000-07-04

Amazon.com

Given that for Russians, Pushkin's poem Eugene Onegin is sort of like Hamlet, Beowulf, and Lord Byron's Don Juan rolled into one melancholy tale of lost love and ennui among the gentry, it's surprising Russian filmmakers have balked at adapting the film. Having taken a stage production of Hamlet to Russia where it was rapturously received, self-confessed Slavophile actor Ralph Fiennes must have thought he was making reparation when he executive-produced and starred in this faithful adaptation of the film. With Martha Fiennes on board as director, it's something of a family affair with more than a little of the solemnity one often discovers in "personal projects". Pushkin's romanticism comes across amply, but little of his ferocious wit or, inevitably, the authorial voice that makes the poem so compelling, even in translation. Ralph Fiennes typecasts himself in the title role: his Onegin is yet another of the actor's wintry, haunted lovers in period dress (this time early 19th century). The character, a jaded roué from St. Petersburg, summers in the countryside where he inadvertently wins the heart of the impulsive Tatyana (Liv Tyler, the girl they book when Gwyneth Paltrow's busy). Onegin's casual attitude to her love leads to a tragic duel (magnificently tense and perfectly staged), and years later a chance meeting stirs up feelings of regret, triumph, and moral queasiness. Tears well in eyes, letters are sent and read, furs are ruffled in the snow. This is the highbrow end of costume drama: patrician in its literary purity, and rather admirable in its restraint and good taste, if a little dull. --Leslie Felperin

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2007-07-19

This movie stays with you for days. Beautiful cinematography, a haunting score and subtle, restrained performances make a it a must-see. The unresolved (or was it?) ending didn't bother me as it did others. I would definately watch this again. Very worthwhile.

Pursuing what is unavailable.......2007-05-27

A modern day psychologist would sum up Evgeny Onegin's problem very simply: he pursues someone only when they are unavailable and lives to regret it. ONEGIN is a rather fine and lush and particularly correct adaptation of the Russian verse EVGENY ONEGIN (On-YA-gin) by Aleksandr Pushkin. Philandering playboy Evgeny Onegin, a rather bored aristocrat of St.Petersburg high society (Ralph Fiennes), inherits his uncle's country estate. He is amused at the provincial ways of the country folk and befriends a neighbor,Vladimir Lenski (Toby Stepehens).Through Lenski, Onegin is introduced to the aristocracy of the manor born class.A sister to Lenski's fiancee,Tatyana, (Liv Tyler) becomes enamoured with Onegin and risks everything by expressing her deep love for him.Onegin dismisses Tatyana's profession of love as silliness and breaks her heart.Onegin meanwhile has set his sights on Lenski's fiancee.Lenski defends her honour and is killed in a duel with Evgeny.We are pushed forward six years where Tatyana, now married to a Hussard soldier and integrated into Petersburg society, is spied at a party by Evgeny. He now has become entranced with the unavailable Tatyana and professes his love and she sadly informs him that he is too late and that she will honour her marriage vows.

Martha Fiennes has done a rather admirable job at capturing the times and the attitudes of 18th-century aristocratic Russia.From the lavish parties to a magnificently staged duel,Ms. Fiennes uses wonderful technique in assembling a beautifully scripted,acted and filmed movie that is very pleasing to the senses and very true to the time. Attention is paid to minute details in fully realizing this Russian masterpiece.Frankly, I am glad that this screenplay was adapted and shortened for viewing. Having seen the staged opera by Tchaikowsky, I found Martha Fiennes' rendition very accesible and quite enjoyable. It cut far more to the quick without destroying the necessary.

I would worship at The Temple of Ralph Fiennes.......2007-05-22

Yes, yes...amazing. Anything which would feature Ralph Fiennes overacting and making such faces...at the skating rink, the dual, the dance and in the carriage. Let's give Martha only projects which feature her eldest bro giving it his all.

What the heck?.......2007-05-21

So when does a movie stop in the middle and leave you with no closure? When you watch Onegin! It's really slow at the get go and then when you think the movie it finally going to pick up and get good it stops! And stops with no real conclusion as to what's going to happen to all involved! I did not like this movie one bit! I was highly disappointed and would recommend that people see anything else.

Beautiful story of unfullfilled love.......2007-05-20

The acting was very good with Ralph Fiennes hiding his emotional needs from the other charcters as well as himself, thereby destroying his potential happiness. Great sets, and atmosphere of period Russia. I enjoyed it immensely.

Average customer rating:

Cool Quick, Delightful Dead!!!
a good movie. fun to watch
You'll Need A Bottle Of "MESCAL" To Get Through This One!
The gunfights are the highlight
"Our daddy's gonna kill you, preacher!"

The Quick and the Dead
Starring: Sharon Stone , Gene Hackman , Russell Crowe , Leonardo DiCaprio , and Tobin Bell
Director: Sam Raimi
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0767817710
Release Date: 1998-09-29

Amazon.com essential video

Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) tries gamely to recapture the exotic mysteries of spaghetti Westerns in this stylish but empty film, which stars Sharon Stone as a stranger who comes to the town of Redemption in time for an annual shooting contest. Her real motivations for being there are the stuff that might have found their way into a film by Sergio Leone--in fact, much of this film is a pastiche of Leone's greatest hits, including A Fistful of Dollars and Once upon a Time in America--but one can't quite believe Stone in the role. Gene Hackman gives a predictably solid performance as the town tyrant, and Leonardo DiCaprio is good as a lucky young gunslinger who gets to kiss the heroine. But not even the cast can help this failed project. Raimi brings a lot of razzle-dazzle to his camera work, but it doesn't make the film any more substantial. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Cool Quick, Delightful Dead!!!.......2007-06-30

Take one of the many martial arts contests to the death movies, transplant it to the Wild West, and you have the general idea what The Quick and the Dead is about. The head bad guy, Herod (played by Gene Hackman) sponsors a gunfight. First prize is enough money to choke a herd of horses. From all corners of the country they come, some nasty and some nice. There is Russell Crowe's character, a former outlaw who has renounced violence. There is Leonardo DiCaprio's character, only know as "the kid", who's fate is irrevocably intertwined with Herod's. Finally, there is the mysterious gun woman, played by Sharon Stone, who has her own agenda.

In theory, this movie should be a disaster. Not that many critics liked it, in some circles the nicest thing said about it was "ridiculous". This is regretful, because it is an excellent, exciting movie with precise, supercrisp camera work. The duels, while bloodless enough to avoid an "R" rating, nevertheless come across as rough, tough and nasty.

This is a must-see movie.

a good movie. fun to watch.......2007-06-05

not accurate, but it is fun. It is very easy to get into the story. Gene Hackman is awesome.

You'll Need A Bottle Of "MESCAL" To Get Through This One!.......2007-05-17

In THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995), Sharon Stone plays a cheroot-smoking, Clint Eastwood-mimicking 1800s gunslinger, and Gene Hackman plays Gene Hackman - think of a wood plank; you know, something just a little less rigid and a little more emotional than Clint Eastwood. For the intelligent reader, this is all the review that should be necessary. Sure, I could proceed point-by-point in illustrating what makes this movie such a putrid corpse (a real "Boot Hill" special), but frankly, it is not even worthy of a serious critique. THE QUICK AND THE DEAD - along with Jack Nicholson's THE SHOOTING (1967) and Jane Russell's THE OUTLAW (1943) - represents "The Dreck Of The West" on celluloid, and it is a good example of why I completely stopped going to the movies two decades ago. I was tired of paying money to have my intelligence insulted (as well as having Hollywood's immorality paraded before my eyes).

Although this movie is an empty-headed, overly-produced, ultra-dippy "cartoon" (the Biblical allusion was especially stupid and any Yosemite Sam cartoon would be funnier and equally believable), it did amply show me what I borrowed it from the library to see - namely, MESCAL.

MESCAL is a frontier town movie set where numerous Westerns have been filmed. It is located near Benson, Arizona, just three miles North of Interstate 10 (exit #297) and on "the other side of the tracks." (I've always wanted to say that!) My brother, Napoleon, my friend, Pooh, and I sneaked into MESCAL a number of years back (a REAL Outlaw Trio), but I have since longed to take the "official" $8.00, 45-minute guided tour, and on May 3rd that dream was finally realized. The tour begins in the large saloon built specifically for THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, and there are no phones, johns, or refreshments available. (No saltwater taffy here folks! This is the REAL West . . . uhm, built for moviemaking.) Some other FAR BETTER Westerns that have largely or partially utilized the MESCAL set include:

The great Monte Walsh (1970) featuring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance (will this film EVER be released on DVD?!) MESCAL represented both Harmony and Charleyville. It was Roy Bean's Langtry, Texas, in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), and Paul Newman's courthouse/saloon is still standing! It stood in for (if memory serves me) Hays, Kansas in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), where that old cigar-store Indian of an actor, Clint Eastwood, asked the Confederate soldiers, "Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?" And it played the part of Tombstone, Arizona in Val Kilmer's Tombstone (1993). On the MESCAL tour, you will walk into The Oriental saloon (now an empty shell of its former self) where Kurt Russell slapped around Billy Bob Thornton and where later, Ol' Doc Holliday matched Ol' Johnny Ringo's gun tricks with a fancy exhibition of silver cup-handling. (The MESCAL tour operates on a very limited schedule, so call ahead -- (520) 883-0100; press menu option #7.)

I watched THE QUICK AND THE DEAD - filmed entirely at MESCAL - solely to see the movie set. And if you haven't got any gardening to do; a house to clean; children to watch; a good book to read; quality music to hear; a dinner to cook; letters to write; bills to pay; windows to wash; a dentist to see; a room to paint; a leaky faucet to fix; a friend to visit; a car to repair; a play to attend; a wife (or husband) to love; a drawing to sketch; a good movie to view; an enemy to fight; a dog to walk; a cat to kick; a geriatric to help; a mouse to catch; a fly to swat; a walk to take; dishes to scrub; laundry to fold; prayers to pray; shopping to do; a bank to rob; a supermodel to stalk; a nap to sleep; a game of solitaire to play, or a Louisville Slugger-wielding friend to batter you into unconsciousness, then by all means, I recommend that you borrow THE QUICK AND THE DEAD from your local library.

But be forewarned, if you do borrow it and your trigger finger doesn't hit that "eject" button QUICK enough when the movie turns stupid (which it does very QUICKLY), then this movie might render you brain-DEAD. Of course, if you actually PURCHASE this movie, then you probably already are!

The gunfights are the highlight.......2007-04-22

'The Quick and The Dead' is a good example of an anti-western. Released in 1995 and directed by Sam Raimi, the film features a female gunfighter played by Sharon Stone and some campy, over-the-top gunfights. Critics and western purists haven't been kind to this movie over the past several years. For that reason, it is better remembered by most as an early film vehicle for Russell Crowe than for being a "classic" western. Crowe's career benefitted more from this movie than that of other stars who appeared in the film such as Stone, Gene Hackman or Leonardo DiCaprio. The plot is as simple as a plot can get. Hackman plays John Herod, a grizzled outlaw who "runs" the town of Redemption which is a generic western town with a bar, a gun shop and a haven for prostitutes. Herod hosts regular quickdraw competitions in Redemption as par