|
| On the Waterfront (Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Elia Kazan
Actors: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy New: $9.83
You Save: $10.11 (51%)
New (60) Used (23) Collectible (3) from $8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  161 reviews
Sales Rank: 1832
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 108
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: COLD78409D
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: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A Film That Only Marlon Brando Can Exemplify August 9, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Call me crazy, but I think Marlon Brando playing Terry Maloy is his greatest role of all time. Yes, even better than him playing "The Godfather." He gets into the gut of the human soul, embodying the Terry Maloy in all of us. Not only that, but the story of the film itself is something to admire and cherish. Sadly, On The Waterfront might not get all the recognition that it deserves for future generations to come. Regardless, this film is a classic, and exemplifies Marlon Brando as a truly gut-wrenching, inspiring actor of every time.
 Not good May 30, 2006
2 out of 80 found this review helpful
There are 2 types of people who like black and white films: old people and clever clogs know-it-alls. Why watch this when you can buy Picture Perfect with the lovely Jennifer Aniston for the same price. The emperor's new clothes!
The mystery: What makes a great movie great May 10, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is on everyone's list as one of the great movies of all time. It is also the movie I have seen more than any other. I actually in my younger days went to see it eight or nine times.
Why? What was so great about it? Why did it seem so great to me then?
Clearly there is something in the picture of the hero who fights back with courage and by doing the right thing seems to win in the end. The famous closing scene in which the beaten bloody- faced Terry Malloy leads the union- workers against the will of the Mob back to work, is a powerful and moving one.
So too the picture of the hero Brando and the girl Eva Marie Saint, their love story. I did not even understand exactly what was going on in the scene in which he is trying to explain why he set up her brother without knowing that it was for the kill but rather just to 'rough him up a little'. That scene with the bleak sky and the train whistling and the two Terry Malloy and Edie still remains in my mind years later. The quiet restrained beauty of Eva Marie Saint .
Other great scenes, the most famous one of all Brando in the cab with his brother Charlie the Gent ( Rod Steiger) The ' I could have been a contender speech' which is replied to by the brother ' Just take the money kid , before you get to 437 River Street'.
The whole look of the picture. The black and white beauty.
Karl Malden in his great speech calling for the union- workers to break the silence .'Every time .... it's a crucifixion'.
That terrific fight between Johnny Friendly and Terry Malloy.
All the political dimension of the film regarding Kazan and 'singing' before the House Committee was unknown by me then. I think the film still makes complete sense without knowing any of it.
All this said, I still do not feel I understand why precisely this film spoke so much to me.
In any case, it's a great one. And I am sure you will enjoy it.
 It's a damn moth! May 9, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I knocked a star off the rating of this classic film because the quickie flip to DVD. I also have an old VHS copy(1984)where there's a moth(!)fluttering across the screen for several seconds. Some of it was cleaned up for this "Special Edition" DVD, but the editors obviously were dozing or had to get said product to market so you still inexplicitably see it fluttering around on the DVD version.
Honestly, they were probably too lazy to get the orignal masters from the vault & just transfered the VHS version through the computer cleaning up a few dropouts, but not really taking the time to release a professional standard.
That being said, the extra features are essential for film geeks. James Lipton gets almost teary-eyed talking about Brando's artistic choices & the famous scene in the cab has a great backstory.
Maybe a "definitive" version of this release is still a few years away. Perhaps there's an even better version in pre-production for HD DVD or Blu-ray. Until then, there's tons of VHS copies floating around for cheap or classic movie weekends on cable.
If rating this movie on its power as a story, then it's five star hands down. This is what Brando was capable of before becoming a victim of his own ego. The priest character played by Karl Malden is anything but preachy. He drinks & smokes w/the dockworkers & even throws a punch. Even though some reviewers on this forum don't get it, this is perhaps one of the best examples of the paschal mystery ever caught on film.
Absolute nonsense Hollywood style April 2, 2006
3 out of 50 found this review helpful
This is one of so many movies that is foolishly and blindly overrated. Citizen Kane is also on that list.
It has some drama to it, but the lack of realism turns it into a silly movie.
In the big finish, the great triumph of the Church and the little man, Brando simply gets up from a beating and walks on his own two feet to report to work. What idiocy. What can that solve. Absolutely nothing.
And yet the premise of the movie is that by walking to work, Brando is taking the corrupt union leadership down. Some idiot in the background makes it clear, just in case we didn't get the point, by saying "now we can run the union on the up and up". Haha, what a joke.
Brando's little walk at the end is purely symbolic and will do not a damn thing to change the union leadership. It's just a Hollywood happy ending, a triumph of good over evil, of non-violence over murder. Sure. Actually a triumph of Hollywood silliness over honest standards of truth and sense in movies.
As pure entertainment, it falls short too. There is just too much depression and futility. It's not worth the agita. And it is all wrapped up so nicely at the end, isn't it. If you have any sense at all you realize that the mob will kill Brando soon enough, so what difference does it make that he is allowed to work one day? None at all. He's dead meat. What kind of happy garbage are we being fed?
|
|
|
 Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
