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| On the Waterfront (Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Martin Balsam, Don Blackman, Rudy Bond, Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy New: $12.69
You Save: $7.25 (36%)
New (45) Used (14) Collectible (2) from $11.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  158 reviews
Sales Rank: 1075
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Chinese (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 107
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: 78409
ISBN: 0767804279
UPC: 043396784093
EAN: 9780767804271
ASIN: B00003CXBU
Theatrical Release Date: 1954
Release Date: October 23, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Ships Within 24 Hours - Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Richly Deserved Reputation January 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is truly one of the American cinema's greatest films. A splendid cast, anchored by the breathtaking performance of Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy, gives it their passionate best with results that deserve accolades all around. A word about the political context of the film, which is often not known by younger generations of viewers - Elia Kazan, who directed and wrote the original story, informed on people in Hollywood to the House Unamerican Activities Committee during the McCarthy Communist witchhunt era. Therefore, this film is seen by many as Kazan justifying his actions as an informant. When Kazan received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Oscars some years ago, many in the audience refused to stand to applaud him.
While this may be the true motivation behind the film, the film still deserves to be judged on its own merits. It is simply suberb, with a powerful script by Budd Schulberg, evocative photography of New York's waterfront and environs, a gripping story, and some of the finest performances ever given onscreen. These include Rod Steiger as Charlie Malloy, Eva Marie Saint as Edie, Lee J. Cobb as the waterfront mob boss, Karl Malden as the neighborhood priest, and a group of exceptional character actors as the oppressed longshoremen. The story centers on Brando's character, Terry Malloy, the younger brother of the waterfront mob boss's personal accountant, as Terry evolves from being one of the mob's beneficiaries to standing up to it, through his growing love for Edie, the sister of a longshoreman murdered by the mob for talking to investigators.
Brando's passionate, mesmerizing performance is one of two or three that his early reputation in Hollywood rested upon, and with good reason. It is astonishing that, with all the imitation and comical use of some of Brando's lines ("I could'a been SOMEBODY - I could'a been a CONTENDA"), when confronted with the actual performance, it is impossible to smile. The performance retains all its sorrowful beauty and its authenticity, and demands your respect. Brando may have been crazy, he may have made incomprehensible choices about his career later on, he may have appeared in absurd roles in absurd films, but that he was extraordinarily gifted is beyond doubt.
No review of this film is complete without reference to the haunting score by Leonard Bernstein, with its melancholy opening notes on brass, menacing percussion sections, and soaring love theme. Bernstein turned the score into an orchestral suite that often appears on recordings with the suite he created with the themes from "West Side Story". Both suites are of a quality worth listenting to on their own (and, indeed, they occasionally show up in the concert hall), and both are imbued with the uncanny power to evoke the streets of New York City, unmistakable to those of us who grew up there.
This film is a must-have for those who seek for and revere true artistic achievement - especially the variety where the effort to produce it is hidden, and all that shines through is the art itself.
ELIA KAZAN"S PROBLEM December 3, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Director Elia Kazan had a problem in 1954; this picture and "East of Eden". Either film was deserving of multiple Academy awards."On the Waterfront" prevailed, but has any director ever produced two finer films in one year? Shot on the Jersey side of New York harbor, this film completely brings out the flavor of a union gone rotten. It's an expose of how men lose their freedom, dignity, independence, and their lives through mob infiltration. Brando is superb in his best role as Terry Malloy, who,with encouragement from Saint and Malden, finally summons up the guts to turn on the "establishment". Some questions: How many remember the Polo Grounds? After "North by Northwest", did Saint live up to her promising introduction in film making? Am I the only person who thinks that Karl Malden spent a career over-acting? Finally, name a director who throughout his career was better able to slam pure,raw emotion at the viewer than Kazan? Let the debates begin.
None Better October 10, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is simply one of the five greatest motion pictures ever made, perhaps the best.
A little trivia August 7, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I hate to be trivial about such a great film, but has anyone else noticed a weird flying insect land on karl malden when he's talking to a beat up dugan?
Early Brando reveals full-blown genius June 26, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Superb performances by Marlon Brando and Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint in this raw, gritty classic of union corruption on the NYC waterfront, offers a study of Brando's profound ability to become the tormented "Terry" with every subtle change of expression a reflection of the inner man. The film is as fresh and gripping today as it was 50 years ago and bears watching again and again for anyone who claims to be a student of acting, cinemantography or just plain great films that don't need to rely on special effects for their impact. - A. Madsen, Baltimore
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