Customer Reviews:
The Best WW1 Air Movie.......2007-07-29
"Hell's Angel's" IS the ultimate World War 1 flying movie.
Careful observation of the film will allow you to follow the transition from a silent film (later dubbed in sound) through to a talkie.
The two-tone Technicolor ball sequence must have been astounding at the time of release (but the dress that Jean Harlow was almost wearing would still get her arrested in a lot of countries in the world today!)
For its time, the technical effects were brilliant. The bombing of the ammunition depot and the attack on the Zepplin are great (but both were copied in the 2006 movie "Flyboys").
"Hell's Angel's, "Dawn Patrol" and "Aces High" are arguably the three best WW1 flying movie ever made.
This is a must for any movie collector.
A Museum Piece.......2005-07-19
Following on the film "The Aviator" Universal has now presented the original "Hells Angels" all 2 and ahalf hours of it. The film has been brilliantly reconstructed with all the tinting and toning of the original print. The dog fights are gripping, but the acting is dated and, by present day standards, pure ham. The National Film Theatre showed a rather battered copy many years ago, Ben Lyon, one of the stars, said he was embarresed by his performance. It is still worth watching especially if you are interested in the history of the cinema. You will not forget Jean Harlow, wearing a very skimpy evening dress asking "Would you mind if I slipped into something more comfertable ?" and then appearing in a large dressing gown.
Amazon.co.uk Review
This likeable, feminist screwball comedy about several incidents of mistaken identity is remembered more as the film that made Madonna a movie star. She's flip, hip and energetic as Susan, the wild tramp with whom bored, suburban New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) becomes obsessed after reading of her sexual conquests in the personal ads. Of course, since Madonna essentially played herself, the role's hardly a stretch.
Director Susan Seidelmen presents a series of zany incidents too complicated to recount, but the result is that Roberta swaps lifestyles with her fixation to explore New Wave culture on New York's Lower East Side. It's territory Seidelmen knew well as her more offbeat, indie debut, Smithereens, revelled in the same setting. But where Smithereens took a more edgy approach to its characters, Susan is a fairy tale romantic comedy, and eventually becomes as conventional as the suburban characters it mocks by settling conflicts with predictable Hollywood formulae. Still, there's much to be enjoyed. The film's at its funniest when juxtaposing New York hip and New Jersey suburbia, like when Arquette's straight, suit-and-tie husband dances with Madonna in a punk club. The performances, too, are engaging, especially Arquette and Aidan Quinn, playing a romantic film projectionist who becomes her grubby Prince Charming. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video
Customer Reviews:
"Desperately seeking Susan. Meet me, four o'clock, Battery Park. Keep the faith. Love, Jim.", .......2008-03-13
Though the story line has been done so many times it's a great film. I'd seen this several times as a teenager and still think of it the same way. This movie really has less to do with Madonna and more to do with Rosanna Arquette.
It's hard to imagine anybody not coming across this film but if you haven't it starts out with Roseanna Arquette who plays Roberta Glass, a bored New Jersey housewife, who constantly follows the on-going relationship of Jim and Susan. One day, Roberta decides that she would really like to meet Susan, so she places an add in the paper, telling Susan to meet Roberta at Battery Park in New York City. Susan (played by Madonna) shows up, but is arrested because of cab fair. Roberta is being harassed by some lunatic. After a bump on the head and a bout of amnesia, turns Roberta into Susan. Susan's boyfriend Jim (played by Robert Joy) asks his best friend Dez (played by Aiden Quinn) finds Roberta, but thinks she is Susan. The two become lovers.
It's not all that great of a storyline, but the characters are charming enough and the music, of course, is '80's perfect. This film captures perhaps better than any other New York & general American pop culture of the early-to-mid-1980s. Madonna is at her best/(worst?) here, and we get a full helping of the clothes, hair, quirky characters, and great pop music of the era. The supporting actors are great, including Laurie Metcalf as Roberta's uptight sister-in-law and John Turturro as a sleazy night club host. The acting is understated and not over the top- including Madonna, who just seemed to be reading her lines very carefully, but to good effect. Susan Seidelman did an excellent job at directing, too bad she has not done much more! The settings are used to great effect as well, giving you a taste of the exciting East Village and it's suburban opposite Fort Lee, NJ.
This great 80's flick will include running audio commentary by the director as well as deleted scenes and an alternate ending, which to me wasn't all that great. Keep your expectations low and you'll have a good time with this one.
Madonna does what Madonna does best - 'Madonna!.......2000-11-15
A fun and kooky mid eighties yarn. Great music, great acting and likeable characters. It is easy to forget that Madonna is NOT the only actor in the film! Both Rosanna Arquette and Aidan Quinn are also excellent. Of course, this is an historic movie - it was released at the height of Madonnas fame, and is generally recognised as her best movie. (This is not necessarily the case - Evita, A League of Their Own) A fun film, and with the previousl yunheard of alternate ending, a must for old and new fans alike! So Get Into The Groove, and enjoy!
Madonna at her best.......2000-08-25
This film is an unrecognised classic. Madonnas' best acting ever. The film follows a under appreachiated and unfullfilled house wife who discovers a message in a paper which changes her life completey in a mixup of whos who where she ends up in a different situation, forgetting who she actually is. The suttle Madonna music and the nostalgic 1980's 'no big computer effects just great acting' just add a greater depth to this film, watch it, buy it, watch it again.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they're just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He's met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife--a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie's own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.
The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery--he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story's impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there's no denying Eugenio Zanetti's triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic. --Shannon Gee
Customer Reviews:
One word - Grim!.......2007-12-20
What a disappointing film. I nearly switched off but stayed in the faint hope it may improve. I shudder to think how it would make anyone, who has lost a loved one to suicide, feel.
It had it's moments, unfortunately though, they were over-shadowed. Probably the only film I have watched with one raised eye-brow and a curled lip all the way through! Writing this with cramped face!
Oh this film is soooo very bad.......2007-09-25
So very very very bad. Dreadful script, awful acting. If you told me this was the first effort of a twelve year old girl novelist wannabe I'd say you were doing a dis-service to twelve year old girl novelist wannabes. Oh it's bad. How bad is it? ..... very. You have been warned.
Time is the teller of all tales.......2007-08-30
This film swims in very deep waters, if you are privvy to new age concepts of the afterlife then this film reinforces such idea's. Of course the depiction may differ to you own thoughts but still a thought provoking drama. It is a very sad film, very dark, I would only recommend watching when you are feeling a little depression.
Robin Williams AKA Demi-god brings a lot to the table with this one, and the main female lead is a bit of beauty in my eyes, so it caters for both sexes, the wife or the girlfriend will be needing some tissues however.
At the end of the day this film is not for everyone, but there is an underlying message this film has, and it is very much a pertinant one given the state of the world today, watch it to find out why.
Not for everyone.......2007-01-07
I found this irritating and boring. I can appreciate the rich efects and sweeping visuals, but after a while it simply gets boring. I just could not swallow the Hollywood concept of a heaven with rules just waiting to be broken. The whole place seemed like hell to me. My recommended approach is to do what we did - watch the first 45 minutes to get the concept, then skip to the final scene. My wife still cried, even though we had skipped the majority of the action!
stunning.......2006-08-22
this is the kind of movies that makes you think about life and its essence. it is really great, the actors are superb. The idea of love, and how great it is in our lives, and how it goes on after death is just what makes you wonder. The visual side of the film is fantastic, vibrant at moments, dark and massively challenging at others. there are some depressing moments in the film,but still it is fab. this is one of the best movies I have seen lately, and Robin Williams is just excellent.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they're just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He's met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife--a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie's own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.
The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery--he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story's impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there's no denying Eugenio Zanetti's triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic. --Shannon Gee
Customer Reviews:
Thundering Pile of Horse-Apples.......2007-05-30
Saw this when it was the B picture to Mad Max 2 in the old Globe Cinema (a converted and crumbling Victorian Music-Hall) in Cardiff.
Quite simply it's the worst film ever made. The entire cast and crew should have been lined up against a wall and sprayed with machine-gun fire.
Looking forward to seeing it again when the disc arrives from Caiman.
UK DVD:
- Henry And June [1990]
- Hideous Kinky [1999]
- Higher Learning [1995]
- Histoires De Marie Et Julien [2003]
- Hitchcock DVD Collection - Dial M For Murder / I Confess / Stage Fright / The Wrong Man / Strangers On A Train / North By Northwest
- Hotel Du Lac [1986]
- In Love And War [1997]
- James Cagney - The Signature Collection : Angels With Dirty Faces / Public Enemy / Roaring Twenties / White Heat (4 Disc Box Set) [1931]
- Japon [2002]
- Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself [2005] (Region 1) (NTSC)
UK DVD List
UK DVD
All Drama
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Drama
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Video
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