Struz

I need some convincing to buy this dvd.
I've only seen it on TV years ago.

Is the Criterion version worth the $ ?

Where's the cheapest place to get it ?


Thanks.

Birdcell

Hmm, you might be asking too early! I just got mine Saturday, and I'm still getting through the movie let alone the special features...

While I've seen some full-length reviews about, here are my initial impressions:

Movie: It's a Hollywood epic, with all the advantages and disadvantages that description entails: gorgeous, sweeping shots, long takes, high on bombast, low on subtlety, and some supremely overdone acting. I'm beginning to think that Peter Ustinov won an Oscar just because his acting was on such an even keel compared to all the other overblown performances. (Half kidding -- he's good.)

Director Stanley Kubrick apparently loathed the screenplay, claiming it was full of ham-handed moralizing. Still, it's hard to criticize its morals: it's full of barely-disguised leftist sentiment at a time when you could be investigated just because you went to a house party that was attended by someone who's father may have been a Communist. All that and homoerotic subtext, too! (Except for Kirk Douglas, who'd probably portray Oscar Wilde as a he-man if he'd ever gotten the role.)

DVD: The transfer is beyond reproach, and the new stereo mix is sterling. (The original mix is present, ye purists.) I haven't even popped the extras disk from its mooring, so I can't say anything about it.

[Edited by Birdcell on 04-30-01 at 12:11 PM]

Struz

bump

Johnny Zhivago

If you really dig the film... Yes, absolutely worth it. Great commentary track from the LD days... Interesting extras, nice transfer, nice sound.

ckolchak

i'd bought it more because it was a slow weak, than that i had a burning desire to actually see it. i'd seen it shortly after the '91 restoration and it was mildly interesting but nothing i've missed not having the last 10 years. but it was loaded, and after BORK & LOA i was looking for another 'epic' to pick up. plus i was really interested in the blacklist material. thought this one would sit on the shelf for a long time, and then have to be watched in 4 or 5 sittings.
uh-uh.
popped it in to see how the transfer looked and ended up sitting there for 3 hrs, riveted the whole way thru. was very impressed with the picture. on my display it had a dimensionality that alot of alleged reference discs dont. it was gorgeous. plus the movie was more interesting to me now. maybe i was too young to appreciate it fully before. may not be as substantial as LOA or BORK, and it may not be Kubriks best, but its a damn good movie, nonetheless.

think i paid $28 from bluelight.com with a coupon. could've been $33...anyway still a bargin.

[Edited by ckolchak on 05-17-01 at 09:57 AM]

Liquid Death

I'm only 22, so I really didn't think I would enjoy the film as much as I did, but since I kept hearing great things about it, I figured I would check it out...

A good thing I did, since the movie is utterly AWESOME - it doesn't feel 40 years old at all - and I was riveted throughout the film. I couldn't watch it all the first night, but I definitely made time to finish it the second night. I would put Spartacus in my top 25 for sure

The DVD is fantastic as well - definitely check it out

movieguy65

This definitely is a great film. I bought this the day it came out. I found the extra material to be very interesting, too. I picked up on things I hadn't before, too. "Snails or oysters?" Call me slow, I guess. I think a good double feature would be Spartacus and Gladiator. There are so many parallels Gladiator could almost be a remake. Okay, not really, but it seems like they are very similar.

movieguy65