bdots48

I rented this one - really surprised me - one of the best films from last year. No extras to speak of on the dvd,but the battle scenes and great performances (even Jewel was OK) and an unusual perspective/take on the civil war held my interest through the entire (2.5 hours) length of the film. Did get a little sappy at the end,but by then I was hooked.

Bobubott

I agree... I really liked this movie. I thought it got a little slow in the middle, but overall it was interesting and thought-provoking. I haven't seen the DVD yet, but I got to see it last year when the screenwriter came to my school to do an advanced screening and guest lecture.

Then again, maybe I was just enamored with the opportunity to see a film that was in color and widescreen. Most of the stuff we see in class is black and white and blurry as hell.

Tony Block

Great film. It was a war film that made you think, instead of being all action. The only comparison I can make is that what the Thin Red Line is to World War II films, Ride With the Devil is to Civil War films. Adios, Tony Block

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Tony Block

Jackskeleton

ooooooooh jewel..

Rand

I watched it the weekend for the first time.
I'd purchased the dvd because of the director, Ang Lee, I'll buy anything he directs. This was certainly one of the top
five films of the year, imho. Very well done
in all respects.

Chili Palmer

I agree with everyone here!! I watched this last week and was also stunned. A great film and it looked and sounded pretty good on dvd. This was one I wanted to catch in the theaters but they yanked it pretty quick. It cost like 35 million to make and it didn't even gross a million at the box office. The only other film I've seen that depicted the jayhawkers and the bushwackers was the Outlaw Josey Wales. Both from the bushwacker's point of view. Overall good acting, compelling story, and a finely writen film. Jeffery Wright and Toby Mcguire are two great actors in the game. Highly recommended!!

sfsdfd

I honestly don't know if I could accept Jewel as anyone other than Jewel. Every time she wandered onto the screen, I wouldn't think "hey, there's a cute girl from the 18th century." I'd think "hey, what's Jewel doing in colonial America?"

I liked Jewel when I first heard her music. But then I bought her next CD... whoa, she's bad. She's got this flower-girl-tripped-out-on-meth thing goin' on.

- David Stein

Jackskeleton

jewel is well w0rth it. \=^ )
hee hee.

ClayDVD

I really liked Ride w/the Devil. I thought Jewel was acceptable in her part, which was a larger part than I expected. I rented it but am considering a purchase, I believe this has repeat viewing potential. Wish it had a commentary, but I guess we get spoiled with those.
Any guesses as to why this tanked so badly at the box office? It seems the studios were afraid to promote it for some reason & gave it a very limited release. Could it be the Black guy fighting for the South, or that rebels were the "good guys"?

Bobubott

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ClayDVD:
Any guesses as to why this tanked so badly at the box office? It seems the studios were afraid to promote it for some reason & gave it a very limited release. Could it be the Black guy fighting for the South, or that rebels were the "good guys"?<HR>

I'm just as confused as you are as to why they never promoted this film that much. I think the box office sales tanked because no one knew this film even existed. I know the screenwriter/producer was fully aware that this was not a brainless popcorn movie, but I don't know why that means the studio couldn't give it a decent promotion. He said the plan was to give it a limited release in New York and L.A. around Thanksgiving (I think it actually came out closer to Christmas), and I guess then the plan was to gradually expand the release as word of mouth spread. Maybe word of mouth never spread? Maybe the initial release was too small? I know I never saw a single ad for it on TV or in the paper, and I never heard of any local theater showing it (maybe they did, and I just missed it). It's too bad... I really liked this movie, and I think it probably deserves more credit than it's gotten so far.

stevek

This movie was filmed in the Kansas City area back in the spring of 1998 and it received quite a bit of local press coverage because for KC it was big budget ($35 million), dealt with local history and had Ang Lee as the director.

From what I remember, the goal was to release it around Thanksgiving/Christmas of 1998, with the studio probably thinking it would have an Oscar caliber movie. It was then put off until spring of 1999 and initially debuted at Cannes and on the film festival circuit. It got mixed reviews and ultimately was released last summer. Obviously, the studio had a major loss of confidence in the movie and I'm not sure why. I thought it was quite good despite my bias for the local connection. It played briefly here on the arthouse circuit and disappeared fast.

The DVD is pretty bare bones, but from what I've read and heard, the original director's cut was about 4 hours long and was ultimately trimmed down to under 2 1/2. One of the big scenes cut was of the bushwackers raid of Lawrence, which originally ran about 30 minutes and was cut down to about 10 in the theatrical release. Alot people around here were hoping the deleted scenes would be restored on DVD (extras looking for themselves) but it doesn't look like it's ever going to get full blown SE treatment.



[This message has been edited by stevek (edited August 21, 2000).]

sfsdfd

The movie tanked theatrically because of the lame title. They should have just called it "The Jewel Movie" or something.

- David Stein


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"You face... The Tick!"
"No, I face a zebra. You face The Tick!"

David600

Liked it. A tad soft on a projection screen (though did not saw in 480p) but beautiful photography. Was crisper in the theater. Good DD 5.1. Right acting. rare movie indeed....