Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)

Product Description

"Good Night, And, Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.
Running Time: 93 min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Without force-feeding its timely message, Good Night, and Good Luck illuminates history to enlighten our present, when the need for a free and independent press is more important than ever. In 90 breathtaking minutes of efficient and intricate storytelling, writer-director George Clooney and cowriter Grant Heslov pay honorable tribute to the journalistic integrity of legendary CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow,

Director George Clooney

who confronted the virulent and overzealous anti-Communist witch-hunting of Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy in 1953-54, and emerged as a triumphant truth-seeker against the abuses of corporate and governmental power.

David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow

As played by David Strathairn, Murrow is a dogged realist, keenly aware of the smear tactics that will be employed against him; Clooney provides crucial backup as Murrow's "See It Now" producer and closest confidante Fred Friendly, forming a fierce but not entirely fearless triumvirate of broadcasting bravery with CBS chief William Paley (Frank Langella), who anxiously champions Murrow's cause under constant threat of reprisals. While using crisp black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Elswit) to vividly recreate the electrifying atmosphere of the CBS newsroom and the early years of television, Clooney (son of long-time Cincinnati newsman Nick Clooney) proves his directorial skill by juggling big themes and an esteemed ensemble cast, never stooping to simplification of ethically complex material. Good Night, and Good Luck is an instant classic, destined for all the accolades it so richly deserves. --Jeff Shannon

Learn More About Edward R. Murrow and Broadcast Journalism

George Clooney's Recommended Reading
George Clooney's Recommended Movies
The Edward R. Murrow Collection

Customer Reviews:

Good Night, and Good Luck.......2007-09-06

Good Night, and Good Luck is the story of veteran radio and TV journalist Edward R. Murrow's conflict with U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy over the Senator's anti-Communist actions among other things.

It's a bit politic heavy, but a very insightful, and emotionally charged movie. The movie sports a great cast, a great script, and great directoion. George Clonney, coming off of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind directs this completely different picture. I recommend this to everyone. It's a movie everyone can, and should see.

Highly recommended.

A waste of a good subject and great actors in addition to the viewer's time........2007-08-25

McCarthy was the devil himself quoting the scripture of patriotism, and Murrow went toe-to-toe with him--but you don't get that in the film.

Best Picture nominee? Must have been based on the trailer. This movie was badly done--well acted, but badly directed and badly shot. There was simply nothing to it other than the speech that it opens and closes with, and that was written by Edward R. Murrow. Though I have to say the part of McCarthy was very well played, by McCarthy.

The greatest flaw of this film is that you don't get the feel of the time and place it was set in, and the general feeling of the American public at the time is utterly absent.

There was also a rediculous amount of period footage used--from McCarthy's time on the program to the cigarette commercial. The film would have been far better recreating these scenes rather than jumping repeatedly between drama and documentary.

Shooting in black and white, and having everyone smoking and drinking constantly doesn't set the period. It looked very much like contemporary people smoking and drinking in their offices, and to a comical degree because nothing else placed you there. Even the smoking stopped halfway through the film, so the one prop they had was gone. It's not like people don't dress in suit and tie anymore, though news programs seem to aim for that paragon of insipidness--the Today Show.

OK, so Edward R. Murrow was a real news man, the likes of which we don't see today. We get that in the opening, and here and there when he's meeting with his boss about the bottom line. But that message is lost in the rest of the film--as if Murrow taught us nothing but that the news isn't entirely for entertainment. The film didn't do the man justice, nor the times, nor depict the threat that McCarthyism represented very well at all.

It seemed they didn't study the actual people they were portraying at all, nor the times they lived in.

Terrible.

To enjoy this movie, you have to have a pretty strong memory of the time and people it depicts--because the film generates nothing more than a catalyst for nostagia.

Excellent.......2007-08-22

I have a feeling for most people this is the kind of movie that you've either already seen or aren't interested in. But I'll go ahead and sing its praises anyway.

For fellow history buffs, this is a real treat. It mixes in Hollywood stars with lots of old archival footage to give a film that feels like a gripping drama and a documentary at the same time. Although websites like wikipedia draw attention to some of the accuracy gaps in the film, I still felt like I learend a lot.

And, although I'm far from the first person to mention this, its subject material couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. As you listen to discussions of civil liberties, secret military tribunals, the act of habeas corpus, and the rights of the accused to fair trial, you can't help but compare it to recent events.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I can't recommend it enough.

Maybe 4.5 stars..........2007-08-11

...but still the *true* winner of "Best Picture" for 2006. I think that GNGL is something of a revelation. It manages to create an inspired iconography without smacking the viewer's head with it. Clooney's direction is absolutely superb. The cinematography on display makes excellent use of B&W, and then almost eavesdropping-like quality of the shots is, for me at least, entertaining as hell. It is a very understated movie, but if you let it reveal itself to you, it is excellent, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the new century.

I noticed that some reviewers feel that the movie lacked some emotion. I can understand this to a certain degree, and I think it might have something to do with the script (which did become perhaps a bit too verbose for characters who probably did not talk like that), but it is certainly not reflective on the actors. Downey Jr., as always, does a fantastic job, and any potential faults of the other performances seem to disappear thanks to Clooney's direction.

As for the DVD, the extras are a bit skimpy. There is a nice commentary by Clooney and co-screenwriter Heslov, as well as a "companion piece" about the making of the film, in context of the guidance of relatives of those involved in the Murrow/McCarthy feud. I think that there could certainly be more stuff to throw out there, from archival footage not used in the film and perhaps the rise of McCarthyism.

Otherwise, this movie is great. Strathairn gives an awesome performance as Murrow, and the movie manages to flesh out the personalities, the triumphs, and the tragedies surrounding this time in US history within 90 minutes.

Very good.......2007-08-06

This film is a salutary lesson in the fact that the USA goes through regular fits of total barminess, such as the one currently being endured under the present theocracy. In the early 1950s, Wisconsin, a state famous for two reasons only, dairy products and the Green Bay Packers, acquired a dubious third, a junior Senator called Joseph McCarthy, who sought to make a name for himself by finding Reds under nearly every bed. It was an era when people could lose jobs because they were risks to national security, based on evidence they weren't allowed to see and when the media were relatively subdued for fear of being labelled as "unpatriotic" or even "treasonous". Sound familiar?

The story is of the confrontation between McCarthy and the distinguished CBS newsman Ed Murrow, famous for his broadcasts from London during the Blitz ("Goodnight, and good luck" was his London sign-off - after all, nobody knew whether there was a Luftwaffe bomb with your name on it - which he kept). On his CBS news show, Murrow calmly and methodically exposed McCarthy for the humbug that he was, and when McCarthy tried to smear him, equally calmly and methodically took him apart. It was the end of the road for McCarthyism (although the whole travesty of un-American activities, blacklisted Hollywood writers, etc., was to continue for some years).

The film is in black and white and features director George Clooney in a secondary role. Murrow is played by David Strathairn, who looks passably like Murrow, and he does a splendid job as the determined journalist. No actor plays McCarthy, he being played by himself, on old TV recordings. Another good role is CBS's long-suffering boss, forever on the verge of becoming a nervous wreck because of the fear of Murrow's crusading scaring away the sponsors. In the end, he tells Murrow that his type of reporting is no longer required and changes the nature of his show.

Which brings us to the beginning and the end of the film. The story is bookended by a speech that Murrow gave to a radio and TV association meeting, which was a litany of complaint of how television, a powerful force for enlightenment, was becoming a trivial medium, lacking serious meaning and squandering its potential. It wasn't popular, but how right it was...

All in all, a short film (less than 1½ hours) effectively executed and well worth seeing. The atmosphere and feel of the time (including endless cigarettes!) are beautifully captured.

Average customer rating:

Jackie Chan is this generations Buster Keaton. One of the best action films ever made
excellent purchase
The Legend of the Drunken Master
Just watch it
The ultimate "Wow" movie

The Legend of Drunken Master
Starring: Jackie Chan , Kwok Kuen Chan , Wai Yee Chan , Chi-Kwong Cheung , and Kar Lok Chin
Director: Jackie Chan
Manufacturer: Dimension
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000056VOK
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Description

Jackie Chan return becomes and is able to fend off numerous attacks and perform incredible stunts. Aided by his hilarious stepmother and friends, Hong faces the challenge of protecting valuable Chinese history and saving his family honor.s to the role that made him a star in 1979's "Drunken Master." Chinese folklore hero Wong Fei Hong discovers a smuggling ring, orchestrated by the British Government, to transport valuable Chinese artifacts out of the country. Hong must use his unique style of martial arts, "Drunken Boxing," to fight the conspirators and salvage the Chinese treasures before it

Customer Reviews:

Jackie Chan is this generations Buster Keaton. One of the best action films ever made.......2007-08-02

I say one of the best action films ever made because like Buster Keaton, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, Jackie Chan is actually doing this stuff himself. The Legend Of Drunken Master or Drunken Master 2 is a non stop action movie and a comedy along the same lines as Buster Keaton's classic The General.
The part where Jackie Chan falls into a pit of hot coals, that is all real, Jackie actually had that sequence filmed three times, on the third time burning his arms and still having those scars today. All that and he played this part at 40 yrs old, pulling off a role of a 20 yr old convincingly.
Another film i enjoyed that was influenced a great deal by Drunken Master 2 was Kung Fu Hustle (Widescreen Edition)even naming the gang in it the "axe gang".
The Legend of Drunken Master is a must for any fan of action movies. It made Entertainment Weekly's top 25 action movies list and also is on Time Magazine's top 100 movies of all time.

excellent purchase.......2007-07-03

arrived in a month, which is normal for me. And the dvd was in excellent conditions.

The Legend of the Drunken Master.......2007-06-15

This is Jackie Chan's best movie. It is full of nonstop action and drama. Jackie Chan explodes with action in this movie. Some great action scenes, sewn in with a beautiful story and great music make this a Jackie Chan hit. I can't stop watching the ending fight. It is a great scene, and the movie was very well done. This is a vital part of any Jackie Chan collection.

Just watch it.......2007-03-10

This movie has heart. Jackie Chan does his usual un usual stuff, and hits the target.
The story is touching and and action packed. A great buy for any one who likes Jackie Chan, and wants to see some of his earlier stuff. Which I think is better any way.

The ultimate "Wow" movie.......2007-02-05

This movie is a non-stop adventure in "how did he do that" and "can he top this". While movies like Crouching Tiger and Heroe were as notable for their special effects as the stunts, Legend of Drunken Master shows that physical grace, athletic prowess, and, yes, guts can create an eye-popping experience for modern movie goers. This movie builds on one great set piece after another but when Chan's character really starts drinking....WATCH OUT! The last fight scene in the factory will have you rewinding and laughing in delight....it's that good. Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

The Good Earth
The Good Earth - A great film.
History comes to life in this powerful film
A Flawed Classic But Still A Classic
A childhood memory!

The Good Earth
Starring: Paul Muni , Luise Rainer , Walter Connolly , Tilly Losch , and Charley Grapewin
Director: Gustav Machatý , Victor Fleming , and Sidney Franklin
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000BYA4HO
Release Date: 2006-01-31

Amazon.com

MGM's status as the "class" studio was fully engaged when production chief Irving Thalberg took on this expensive, serious adaptation of Pearl Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. A smooth entertainment with a stiff portion of this-is-good-for-you seriousness, The Good Earth epitomizes Thalberg's idea of Art, which was also the prevailing idea of the period he dominated in Hollywood. The story follows Wang Lung (Paul Muni), a humble farmer, who makes an arranged marriage to a slave, O-Lan (Luise Rainer). The couple's great struggle is to procure--and then, against withering odds, keep--a piece of land, ownership of which makes the difference between self-determination and near-slavery. The film's physical production is truly eye-filling, with location shooting in China providing exterior shots and backdrops (and blending seamlessly with the footage shot in the U.S.). No wonder the great cinematographer Karl Freund won an Oscar for the photography, which includes an awesomely staged locust plague.

Also copping an Oscar was Luise Rainer for best actress--her second consecutive award, after The Great Ziegfeld. Rainer's underplayed portrait of self-effacing stoicism is a contrast to Muni's broader performance, although in some odd way he's exactly right for his role. Caucasian actors play the main characters (Walter Connolly is the family's bothersome, and tiresome, know-it-all uncle), with Asian actors--including Keye Luke--filling out the supporting parts. The blend of sobriety and hokum is vintage Thalberg, and this is the one MGM movie with an onscreen dedication to the young dynamo; he died during production, age 37. --Robert Horton

Description

First came marriage, an arranged union of peasant farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) and kitchen slave O-Lan (Luise Rainer). Then, through poverty and wealth, family and betrayal, war and pestilence, came love. From Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Good Earth combines Wang and O-Lan's story with a sweeping saga of China in upheaval. Muni and Rainer had both won 1936 Academy Awards?,* and Rainer repeated here with another Best Actress Oscar?.* The film also won for Best Cinematography - with camerawork most powerfully on display in the astonishing locust-plague sequence. Producer Irving Thalberg, known for combining literary prestige with commercial success, died during the production, and the film is dedicated to him.

Customer Reviews:

The Good Earth.......2007-07-23

If you're looking for some kind of analysis on the plot and that kind of stuff, you're in the wrong place. Let's begin...

It's weird to watch a black & white movie with all the HDTV and special effects going on right now but sometimes it can be relaxing in a way too. I had just finished reading the book and loved it so much I had to have the movie as well. I was not disappointed. It is a great movie and I'm glad I purchased it.

The Good Earth - A great film........2007-04-15

Such a rare film of this era that follows the book so closely. A few variations but understandable. Top acting and delightful to watch. A real golden oldie.

History comes to life in this powerful film .......2007-03-30

I saw this film after I read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck so I was cynical. The book was so rich that I couldn't imagine a film that could capture the depth of the written story. Not so. This film is a gem. It documents the life of one family during the revolutionary changes in China during the beginning of the 20th century. It looks at the struggles and triumphs with a personal, sensitive eye while following the general, sweeping changes in China with honesty and detailed objectivity.

It is a great film but before you see it, get the book. Reading this book was like going back in time. It was fascinating, enlightening and grand.

Get them both if you can.

A Flawed Classic But Still A Classic.......2007-01-19

When I was in my early teens I first read the novel by Pearl S. Buck. At around the same time I discovered the movie on TV and was captivated. Just earlier this year I re-read the book and found it to be better than I had remembered. So I decided to watch the movie once again and see what I thought of that as well.

I think one of the most difficult things to keep in mind when viewing a classic from another era is to remember the limitations of that era. I'm sure 70 years from now the movies we consider "classics" will pale in comparison to what movie viewers consider a great movie. And it seems "The Good Earth" suffers from this as well, unfortunately.

One item that does come through the screen is the cinematography. Even though the film has been shot in black and white and is what is described as "postage stamp" (a square rather than wide screen), to get caught up in the landscape is easy. It is not difficult to imagine the squalor of the farmhouse that Wang Lung lives in and to compare that to the opulance of the fine house where O-lan has been a slave. When the Lung family is forced to move to the big city to survive, the viewer can truly feel the press of human bodies and the squalid living conditions. The filming of the locust attacking the farmer's fields is amazing. (A bit of trivia here: there actually was an attack during filming for the movie, so what is seen on the screen is truly real!)

So, what could possibly detract? Unfortunately, the actors themselves. At least for me. Casting Paul Muni and Luise Ranier into the leading roles just doesn't work for me. However, it did when I first saw this movie, so go figure! Both are capable actors, so it isn't that. But both are so overwhelmingly Western that there is no possible way they can pass for Asian. And Luise Ranier's German/Austrian accent is nowhere near anything that remotely sounds like anything from the Asian continent. Perhaps that is why she says very little in the movie? Even more distracting is the actor playing the role of the grandfather, whose voice is immediately recognizable as the grandfather in "The Grapes Of Wrath," and also as Uncle Henry in the "Wizard of Oz." What is distractingly funny is that all the children of the Lung household look very, very Asian. Now, I do understand that Paul Muni and Luise Ranier were established actors at the time. I do recognize that Irving Thalberg did want to cast all Chinese people into the roles, but there were not enough actors for the roles. And I do realize that, due to the Sino-Japanese War, China had stated refusal to allow filming if Japanese actors were used. (If they could do a world-wide search for Scarlett, why not find Asian actors?) But I feel it really does create a barrier in this movie that is otherwise well thought out and painstakingly presented.

What would be ideal is if this movie could somehow be re-made, sensitively, more in line with the book (the book is more about Wang Lung, whereas the movie centers on O-lan), and include a cast that is representative of Chinese people - or at least Asian.

Still, I do think this movie is a classic and has appeal. This movie also has a number of "firsts:" the first time an actress received back to back Oscars for Best Actress and the first (and only) time Irving Thalberg's name appeared onscreen in any movie (he died before this movie was completed). But this classic does have some flaws.

A childhood memory!.......2006-11-27

I saw this movie many times on TV because this was my Mom's favorite movie. She came from a farming village outside of Canton. This movie was a reflection of her life. Her marriage to my father was arranged. She had to flee from the Japanese during WWII. This was one of the few movies that really depicted life in a Chinese village. A timeless classic and great addition to any DVD collection.

By the way she never complainted that the major actors were white.

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw

Average customer rating:

All the old timers
kenny

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
Starring: Claude Akins , Tammy Amerson , Dion Anderson , Peter Antico , and Gene Barry
Director: Dick Lowry
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002VENTG
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Customer Reviews:

All the old timers.......2007-02-18

Though a long story, it was fun seeing so many of the TV western characters portrayed by the original cast members, namely Chuck Connors, Hugh O'Brien, Gene Barry, Jack Kelly, Doug McClure, to name a few.

kenny.......2007-01-11

I am not a Kenny Rogers fan but my husband is so I bought this one. He is a very good singer but not a good actor in my opinion. I gave him 2 stars for my husband.

Average customer rating:

"We all make mistakes, boss. That's why they put the rubber on the ends of pencils."
Dead End
A mess of a film...
Chiefly remembered for introducing the Dead End Kids to a delighted world...
fun old movie

Dead End
Starring: Sylvia Sidney , Joel McCrea , Humphrey Bogart , Wendy Barrie , and Claire Trevor
Director: William Wyler
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0006TPDZC
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Description

Humphrey Bogart is "outstanding" (Variety) as a vicious gangster on the run in this "masterful…gripping drama" (Motion Picture Daily) directed by William Wyler (Ben-Hur) and written by Lillian Hellman (The Little Foxes). Nominated* for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Dead End is powerful, entertaining and a true landmark in moviemaking. On the mean streets of New York's Lower East Side, Drina (Sylvia Sidney) hopes to save her brother from a life of crime. But notorious hoodlum Baby Face Martin (Bogart) has come back to his old haunts looking for trouble and threatening to drag the boy down with him. Drina turns to her childhood friend Dave (Joel McCrea) for help. But can he stop Martin without becoming just like him?

Customer Reviews:

"We all make mistakes, boss. That's why they put the rubber on the ends of pencils.".......2007-07-04

Dead End is a remarkable film because it is the first film starring the Dead End Kids who later became the East Side Kids and finally The Bowery Boys. Leading the gang is Billy Hallop, although later gang leader Leo Gorcey also appears. The boys are just used as culture for the background of a New York City slum where the famous Babyface Martin (Humphrey Bogart) grew up. He returns to see his old girl who he can't seem to forget, and to possibly see his mother. He finds both, but finds them as unfriendly and hostile as the city that raised him. Also starring are Sylvia Sydney and Joel McCrea as decent products of the slums.

This film is both social commentary and entertainment. It does a great job of balancing its artistic aspects and its cinematic potential. Nothing is harped on; it is simply presented. The actors do a fine job of illustrating their parts without becoming overbearing.

Surprisingly, the film was difficult to make. The Dead End Kids came fresh from New York's slums onto the Broadway stage to play their roles. From their success there, they came to Hollywood and took nothing seriously. The boys notoriously played pranks on an irritated Bogart. Their disregard for authority was famous, but their charisma onscreen helped each of the boys become favorites of movie audiences.

Dead End.......2007-06-20

Based on a stage play by Sidney Kingsley and scripted by playwright Lillian Hellman, Wyler's gritty, compelling fable of tenement life in the 1930s was touted in its day as a hard-hitting social drama about class tensions and the origins of crime. Bogart, in one of his first starring roles, is a ringer as the rotten Martin, though a key scene with his disapproving mother shows a vulnerable side, too. McCrea and Sidney carry their weight as the moral heart of Wyler's mean streets, and teen actor Halop plays ragamuffin gang leader Tommy with lots of heart.

A mess of a film..........2007-02-12

Bogie/Hellman/William Wyler/Dead End Kids/cops/gangsters/social consciousness/hookers/t.b./the East River/rich folks dancing the night away in high rise fortresses while the city below teems with resentment and crime/architecture/socialites/film noir shadow-images that didn't add to the film at all, just sort of tarted it up to be something it wasn't...it made my head hurt. It was such a mish-mash: "The Fountainhead" meets "Public Enemy Number One." The faux-city set, the maudlin plot lines, the cliches about the rich, the poor and the criminal...I couldn't believe that, when it was over, I had managed to digest the whole bloody thing. Ugh. The cutesy-bad bowery boys were particularly grating. I found their exaggerated New York accents affected. Bogie looked good - as usual - but was so obviously acting. This created a sense of total, disconnected unreality in every frame. Here's the worse part: thanks to the fact that it was originally a play, the claustrophobic set made what was supposed to be an exciting film stagnant and boring. My final comment: CORN-BALL! Skip it, unless you're doing research.

Chiefly remembered for introducing the Dead End Kids to a delighted world..........2006-12-25

"Dead End" turned out to be Bogart's most important film since "The Petrified Forest." It offers a vivid portrait of people caught up in a constant struggle to somehow fulfill themselves despite the oppressive environment that seemed to silence their every attempt...

Joel McCrea is a frustrated architect who dreams of tearing down the slums and Sylvia Sidney portrays a shopgirl striving for identity and meaning in her life, a life made even more complicated by having to look after her brother (Billy Halop). The boy idolizes the decadent Bogart, an adulation shared by the rest of the Dead End Kids, here recreating their original Broadway roles with noisy good humor...

Opposing these idealists is their real threat, Bogart, a killer named Baby Face Martin... Bogart is impolitely rejected by a mother (Marjorie Main) who detests him and an ex-girl friend (Claire Trevor) who leaves him bitter and disillusioned when he discovers that she has become a prostitute...

Rebuked by those he had been sentimental enough to want to visit, he quickly reverts to prefigure and plans a kidnapping in order to rescue something from the consumed affair...

"Dead End" remains one of Bogart's best films, where the actor proves that he is capable of handling difficult material with considerable skill...

fun old movie.......2006-11-17

This is a fun old movie to watch. From when movies were good

Average customer rating:

On the street the fools rule....!
Band Of The Hand
THIS MOVIE IS WAY TOO BIG
Finally, on DVD.
Great 80's time capsule even if it's not great

Band of the Hand
Starring: Stephen Lang , Michael Carmine (II) , Lauren Holly , John Cameron Mitchell , and Danny Quinn
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00007JMED
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Amazon.com

Band of the Hand was executive-produced by Miami Vice creator Michael Mann, but this violent relic of the '80s begs for a smarter script and Mann's directorial flair. Instead it's got TV's "Starsky"--Paul Michael Glaser--seemingly asleep at the wheel, barely controlling a rainbow coalition of bad actors as punky Florida jailbirds, given a second chance when they're dropped into the treacherous everglades and whipped into a crack unit of urban warriors by a gruff marine (Stephen Lang) who supervises their juvenile "reform." One of the reluctant recruits has a girlfriend (fresh-faced newcomer Lauren Holly) who's tied up with local drug lords (Larry Fishburne, James Remar), and the inevitable showdown offers guerilla warfare in pastel shades. Wretched dialogue and lackluster action don't stop this from being a Vice-like guilty pleasure, populated by garishly costumed stereotypes and ending like the pilot for a TV series that never happened. Even the DVD liner notes admit the movie is "infamous"; accepted on those terms, it's a hoot. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

On the street the fools rule....!.......2007-08-09

I first saw this film about 20 years ago and for several years it was my favorite movie. When I first saw this movie, I was a young leader in the military with people of similiar backgrounds (in general) as those portrayed in the movie; as a result, I've always been a fan of the long lost team building program like movies. Outside of all that though, this is a fun movie to watch. It's a classic 80's Miami Vice type movie complete with flashy clothes, fast cars and of course, lots of drugs. And Bob Dylan's title song; as do so many of his songs, stays with you forever. What sets this movie apart from so many similiar films of that era is that the characters eventually learn to battle across their cultural differences and prove that they're capable of learning and implementing the lessons of committment. "All for one and one for all." Bravo!

Band Of The Hand.......2007-05-27

Great movie for a Miami Vice fan. All the elements are there.
Hated that this copy was formated for the small screen, I'm a widescreen fan!!!

A MUST HAVE MOVIE!!!

THIS MOVIE IS WAY TOO BIG.......2004-03-24

I had only seen this movie as kid until I ordered the dvd, after watching the movie, all i have to say is joe the swamp indian is way too big and the fashion sense that carlos had at the age of seventeen, like i mean that green jacket, off the hook. Nestor is the man flaring chach and pulling power moves on a sixteen year old girl listening to shreikback. Michael Mann is on fire and Philip Michael Glaser was WAY TOO BIG!!!! Or Yay The Lover

Finally, on DVD........2004-02-21

One of the many movies I thought worthwhile, but unavailable on DVD.

Until now...

Glad to see "Band of the Hand" is finally out. Far from a perfect film, it captures a bit of those heady 1980s in a time capsule.

I saw this film when it originally came out - one of the few who did - and I've always refered it to friends as Miami Vice's "What I Did on Summer Vacation" movie.

Now, if we can only get the Miami Vice series out on DVD...

Great 80's time capsule even if it's not great.......2003-12-04

Band of the Hand is one of those movies that you can watch as a time capsule of teen-focused films of the 1980's. Rather than focus on the angst of upper middle class kids and their love lives, Band of the Hand looks at the criminal element of the era. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky and Hutch) and produced by Michael Mann (Miami Vice), this film is more visual than visceral. The premise is only slightly realistic (and only more recently so, as rehab programs vaguely similar have cropped up in the 90's), but it's fun to watch.
The characters are sinister bad boys, but not so much so that you can't love them. There's the drop dead handsome drug dealer, a new wave looking kid who committed patricide (but only because the guy beat his mother and sister), two gang members (one Puerto Rican and one black), and a rough uneducated car thief.
We see these boys commit their crimes and then get busted - all done in a very Miami Vice sort of way. They are all relegated to a new experimental rehab program that involves them surviving on their own in the everglades. If they graduate (which you know they will) they'll move into a really rough area of Miami and learn to live in the city.

Not only do these boys succeed, they do so with flying colors. Rehab is a wonderful thing! This is obviously a liberal conscience at work - none the less it is fun to watch.

I won't spoil the film (because I do enjoy the film even if it is trite and overly empathetic to the characters), but suffice it to say there is a lot of excitement and eventually - intrigue and action in this film.

My complaint is that the film is very uneven. It seems to be bits of several films stuck together. There's a sense of a three act play at work - and the third act is where the fun is.

The acting is good and the interaction of the young and older actors is believable, even if the script is silly.

Amazon.com

Justin Lin's well-received 2002 independent feature, Better Luck Tomorrow, is a strangely appealing story of the mysterious, somehow inexorable drift of an ultra-conscientious, Southern California high school senior, Ben (Parry Shen), toward a fateful interlude with crime. Though highly focused on impressing colleges with his thoughtful balance of excellent grades, energized volunteer work (as a translator), and varsity sports (warming the bench during basketball games), something about Ben appears to be unraveling. Perhaps it is an attraction to his out-of-reach lab partner (Karin Anna Cheung), or his growing attachment to hard cash, or simply the malaise that coats his every act of self-denial. In any case, he and a brood of fellow Asian American overachievers metamorphose into the local go-to gang of black-market thievery--all while keeping up their classes. Lin brings a fresh angle to the exhausted youth-crime genre, and clarifies, with no small wisdom, the distinction between building a future and living one's destiny. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

This is refreshing........2007-08-09

After decades of being type-casted by other films, its refreshing to see Asian American kids just doing normal American stuff. Lets leave all the stereo-types behind.

A microcosm deserves to be seen, with moral issues of certain school behaviors.......2007-06-30

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (2002) is a remarkable independent film, highly
realistic and original in the story that it tells. It brings forth,
as well, multicultural aspects as it has viewers mulling over that
and other moral and faith implications and foundations important to
each person. These too often are not taught, are forgotten or
dismissed as a pointless "overhead" needing eliminatation in the
final "profit analysis " in many people's lives.

Although the events occur in high school, the audience will surely
empathize with quite a bit of the storym as youngters build and
solify their character during those school years, from taking on new
life experiences.

In this tale, just as food cooks faster in a pressure cooker, and so
do the characters in this movie, aging faster than otherwise, by
taking on a large number of obligations, activities and social
interactions, beyond what many students do. The protagonists are
extraordinarily self-aware of what is needed in landing a
scholarship in the most expensive, brand name US universities, thus
ambitious objectives, in terms of a resume-building, such as
volunteerism, exam results, sports team membership, work experience.

A handful of school colleagues become friends, and thru exterior
influence, adopt small time scams, evolving to bigger ones, for
monetary profit, egomaniacal reasons (social status, self-worth) and
for the challenge. Examples shown include exam cheating, shoplifting
and simulating a return of merchandise, narco-trafficking, outright
theft of goods from their own school, etc.

A number of parallel issues, not edited out, are raised such as the
discomfort of affirmative action among those who are minorities who
obtained their jobs by merit. Another is the ghetto aspect to this
group of friends, all Asian yet all fully immersed in American
culture, well adjusted.

The flaw of this work, is that the moral aspects are brought out
into the open, in a clumsy, very vague, generalized manner, without
any familiarized notion of any organized existing religion or life
philosophy, irrealistically. The confusion, hesitance, remorse, pain
and self-doubt shown by the lead character, from a murder, sexual
excesses, simulated burglary, participation in the scams perhaps
could have been clarified, assisted by popular faiths. All students
are shown as atheistic or totally clueless about this, which seems
implausible, even unrealistic.

The picture is filmed with talent, very well edited, until the
cadence of action seems to flounder at the 75 minute mark, in the
plateau of the events, preparing the public for a relatively short
ending sequence. There's a sharp, clear DVD transfer, not quite a
widescreen. The soundtrack is original, and skillfully couples
various musical selections with the proper moods.

Undoubtedly, this work deserves to be seen, for the microcosm that
is laid out bare on screen, with events entirely realistic, and from
the action that maintains viewers attentions throughout as well as
from the aspects already mentioned (moral, multicultural) if not the
natural charisma of the actors.

Interesting Flick.......2007-02-21

Better Luck Tomorrow is an unusual little movie in that it is both a creation of Asian Americans and, most significantly, a film with Asian male characters who are not martial arts experts. In fact, it does not appear that any of the characters in this production are into martial arts at all.

The main characters are a group of Asian American students in Orange County who are generally academic standouts. After a fight with a white football jock who took exception to an Asian American tennis player wearing a letterman's jacket, the tennis player becomes studly in the eyes of the other students. The other Asian American male youths see adopting a violent pose as being the ticket to respect. Even so, they still must pay attention to their grades and the upcoming SAT's. Also, they are still unable to score any dates.

This latter point leads us to the true context that this movie needs to be seen in. Young Asian American males find it difficult to get dates. Many Asian American females seem to prefer white guys so much so that for every 1,000 married Asian American women, there are only 860 married Asian American males. Meanwhile, females of other racial groups seem to have little to no interest in Asian American male youth. Hence a great deal of frustration among many young Asian American males who cannot get dates.

This is a most interesting movie that hopefully presages more movies down the line pertaining to the Asian American experience that are made by Asian Americans.

A breakthrough for Asian American cinema........2007-01-14

Like many of you who have read the on-line reviews, "Better Luck Tomorrow" is a breakthrough film for Asian Americans. This is the film that helped put Justin Lin on the map, and I loved it for its respect in showing the pressures of high school life in the United States from the Asian American perspective. It is a groundbreaking film with a well-written script, and I commend it for the strong performances of its lead actors Parry Shen, Karin Anna Cheung, John Cho, and Sung Kang.

"Better Luck Tomorrow" is the first full-on Asian American feature film I have ever seen. Just imagine how I must have felt after years of watching my people portrayed as 1-dimensional stereotypical caricatures on screen for us to finally see a film that accurately portrays Asian Americans. Lin, arguably, understands the Asian American ethos better than any other Hollywood filmmaker out there. He's still a rising filmmaker in Hollywood who is making a name for himself in an extremely racist industry; I hope that in a few years, there will be more films by Lin and many other Asian American filmmakers that dispel a lot of the negative stereotypes perpetuated upon Asian Americans by mainstream American society for the past 150 years.

Most other Asian American filmmakers never got a shot at the brass ring, and I am sorry to hear that, but Lin did through his chance meeting with M.C. Hammer, who was impressed by the well-written quality of Lin's script for "Better Luck Tomorrow." This came at a time when Lin had no funding left for his independent film production company and was on the verge of shutting down. It was M.C. Hammer who helped fund Lin's film ($250,000 to produce "Better Luck Tomorrow"), and helped arrange Lin to meet with MTV executives to promote and distribute it through Paramount Pictures Studios. The only "luck" involved throughout the film's funding, production, and distribution was in its title. Lin put his heart and creative energy into this film like the way John G. Avildsen did with the original "Rocky."

I want Justin Lin to succeed in Hollywood, and his success allows more doors to be opened for Asian American filmmakers and Asian American actors who want to work in Hollywood. Lin got his foot in the gate, and he's prying it open. He has clearly shown to the American mainstream that Asian Americans can be portrayed as all-around human beings who can love, hate, think, feel like everyone else. At this point, Asian American filmmakers are still trying to find "a voice" in the Hollywood community. It's still in the "trials and tribulations" stage, and they have to take the lumps with the praises. We have to work with what we've got until that day arrives. It is good to know that we were able to establish that first breakthrough with "Better Luck Tomorrow."

As for martial arts, leave those films to Chuck Norris...

Better Luck Tomorrow.......2006-02-22

I love this movie, this is the movie I leave in the DVD player on REPEAT....haha.

Average customer rating:

Fair and believable
This film is a MUST SEE!!
unexpected yet academy material
Pure stubbornness
Rip Rips it and Tantoo tatoos it

Where the Rivers Flow North
Starring: Rip Torn , Tantoo Cardinal , Bill Raymond , Mark Margolis , and Michael J. Fox
Director: Jay Craven
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A2ZR5
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Amazon.com

Rip Torn was critically acclaimed for his commanding performance in this 1993 drama set in Virginia in 1927. Where the Rivers Flow North is about an old-time logger who defends his property against a pair of power-company executives (Michael J. Fox and Bill Raymond) seeking to build a dam on Torn's leased land. Native American actress Tantoo Cardinal is equally superb as Torn's longtime partner and ardent supporter, and the strength of their relationship is what gives this modestly budgeted, beautifully photographed independent feature most of its high-spirited appeal. The film, adapted from a novel by Howard Frank Mosher, was written and directed by Jay Craven, and would likely have earned Rip Torn an Oscar nomination had it been more widely seen at the time of its release. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Fair and believable.......2006-11-22

Rip Torn plays a gritty old logger who just wants to keep his forest and trout streams in tact but is suddenly pitted against Michael J. Fox and a corporation that wants to build a big dam that will take them all away. The movie is commendable for not making the dam-builders horrible monsters and Torn the epitome of moral righteousness: the former want to bring modern services to remote areas and the latter is not an example of political correctness. Tantoo Cardinal plays Torn's wife, and she is perhaps the biggest asset in the movie; she is a spunky and sensitive actress. The storyline is a strong one (it's set during the 1920s), and the photography is stunning. Made on a tight budget, the production makes up for cut corners with sincerity of purpose. Pretty good movie, all around.

This film is a MUST SEE!!.......2006-07-25

This film seems to be about as authentic as possible reflecting wilderness life near the turn of the century. Keeps you on the edge of your seat as the story developes with an ending that is unexpected.

unexpected yet academy material.......2006-03-11

This movie was filmed in Vermont by moderate to successful actors filming for a Vermont Film maker.

The story is totally believable, the charators are believeable and it is a wonderful movie to just sit and watch on a Sunday afternoon.

Pure stubbornness.......2005-02-19

Noel was an idealist. He wanted things to stay the way they were.

he leased the land he, and his live in indian squaw lived on, and distiled cedar oil for a living, and he didn't aim to give it up
for any amount of money, because it would destroy his livelyhood.
He absolutly couldn't be reasoned with, with even his best friend.
This story is full of adventure.and conflict.
It's one of the most underated films I can think of.
Rip Torn, and Tanto Cardinal were perfect in their depictions
of the characters they played. In fact if I'd had anything to do with it Tantoo Cardinal would have gotten an oscar for her performance. She was phenomenal!!

Rip Rips it and Tantoo tatoos it.......2004-01-24

If I could give this more stars I would...... The photography is beautiful and gives justice to the setting.... The music is perfect but the acting is just incredible. What a pair... Rip Torn as "Mister" became my favorite all time actor with this one. Tantoo Cardinal is perfect in her role.

Average customer rating:

Quite complex, well presented, you will be absorbed
Captivating
Not the best entry in the Brooksie Diary!
Throws itself terribly out of control...
A silent with no expiration date

Diary of a Lost Girl
Starring: Louise Brooks , Josef Rovenský , André Roanne , Fritz Rasp , and Vera Pawlowa
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst , and Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005QW58
Release Date: 2001-11-13

Amazon.com

The mystique and stunning beauty of Louise Brooks are on glorious display in Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), Brooks's second historic collaboration (after Pandora's Box) with director G.W. Pabst. In a restrained performance that a lesser actress would've taken over the top, Brooks strikes a resonant note of innocence, tenacity, and worldliness as Thymian, the idealistic daughter of an unscrupulous pharmacist, who is raped by her father's lecherous assistant. Forced to leave her child with a midwife, she escapes from a hellish reform school and is drawn into a brothel as if her fate were predetermined. Pabst tells her story (from Margurethe Bohme's novel) with lurid flourishes, especially in his encouragement of leering, grotesque performances from Thymian's ruthless exploiters. Mature even