Customer Reviews:
Best of Tarkovsky?.......2008-03-12
This is a truely great film. Set in an apocalyptic future, the 'stalker' leads a 'writer' and 'scientist' through the zone, towards a room, that has the power to grant their deepest wishes.
The plot isn't the primary focus of the film but more a canvas for the ponderings of the characters. Tarkovsky gives each scene the time it needs to settle in your mind.
Others have commented that the film is 'slow' and thefore hard to watch. I've seen other Tarkovsky films which, to me did feel like they took an eternity to finish. Maybe its because I knew what to expect from a Tarkovsky film, or maybe it was because 'Stalker' resonated with me more than the others, but I found it engaging from start to finish.
The colours and images are spectacular. And the end is one of the best i've ever seen, opening up interpretations about the whole film and making you question what the film means and what Tarkovsky is tring to convey.
On the cover there is a quote from a monthly film bulletin calling stalker the most impressive of Tarkovskys films. This for me is definitely the best of his. Although 'The Sacrifice' comes a close second.
one question.......2008-02-25
Brilliant film for all the reasons given by others, by why does the Amazon listing mention everyone except Tarkovsky?!
Too close for comfort.......2007-12-30
As a film, Stalker would have made a great short story. Two and a half hours of unrelenting misery to encapsulate a few pages of brilliant speculation on the nature of the spiritual quest.
"Life is suffering" as the Buddha said and in the Soviet Union the suffering was no doubt hard to ignore. Perhaps Tarkovsky really was trying to discover beauty in the belly of the wasteland but it was always a demolished factory, a filthy evil mess. The irony is that Tarkovsky may have died as a result of cancer contracted from the toxic chemicals on the film set, a fate he shared with two of his actors.
A further irony is that only in an oppressive elitist totalitarian state could such a grossly self indulgent project have been realised. It is unlikely many Soviet citizens would have been enriched or enlightened by this film.
Better to wait for Godot.......2007-10-25
Tarkovsky's Solaris is one of my five favorite films. Stalker, although interesting, lacks the immediate visual and psychological power of Solaris. It reminds me most of Beckett's Waiting for Godot but it lacks the caliber of dialogue of that play.
If Solaris seems ten times slower than any film you've seen before, Stalker seems ten times slower than Solaris. It takes full attention to remain with this film: anything that happens around you while you are watching, whether someone walking by or sneezing or a bird flying by outside, will seem considerably more interesting than the screen if you're not making an effort to stay with this movie.
Some men in dark clothes on a dark day walk along a while, looking anguished. They pause and one says something perhaps profound like "Life can be difficult but we somehow survive". Closeup of another man looking down into some muddy water. Walk some more. Stop and one man says something equally profound, something like "Stalking is all I know. I have not been able to stop." Shot of a decripit factory. Walk some more. And so on.
That's not just how Stalker goes or what was said but its how it basically felt. After two viewings, The Stalker seems like an interesting experiment but a probably unnecessarily challenging one. I'd expect well under 5% of the public would find it worthwhile. Well-performed but minimalist action, minimalist script, depressing mood.
I prefer the ocean of Solaris over the Zone of the Stalker. Delusions don't collapse so easily.
HOW I DISCOVERED TARKOWSKY WORLD.......2007-04-16
Stalker has been a painful as well as a miraclous experience on discovering beauty in
a new and more profound way.
I left the place feeling i was in a process of becoming another person. Tarkowski 's
vision is moving in its unique way, i became dramatically more exigent after experiencing this film , after discovering such a director,
I am one among Tarkowsky fans .
You will experience with Stalker the Sublime!
Customer Reviews:
Best of Tarkovsky?.......2008-03-12
This is a truely great film. Set in an apocalyptic future, the 'stalker' leads a 'writer' and 'scientist' through the zone, towards a room, that has the power to grant their deepest wishes.
The plot isn't the primary focus of the film but more a canvas for the ponderings of the characters. Tarkovsky gives each scene the time it needs to settle in your mind.
Others have commented that the film is 'slow' and thefore hard to watch. I've seen other Tarkovsky films which, to me did feel like they took an eternity to finish. Maybe its because I knew what to expect from a Tarkovsky film, or maybe it was because 'Stalker' resonated with me more than the others, but I found it engaging from start to finish.
The colours and images are spectacular. And the end is one of the best i've ever seen, opening up interpretations about the whole film and making you question what the film means and what Tarkovsky is tring to convey.
On the cover there is a quote from a monthly film bulletin calling stalker the most impressive of Tarkovskys films. This for me is definitely the best of his. Although 'The Sacrifice' comes a close second.
one question.......2008-02-25
Brilliant film for all the reasons given by others, by why does the Amazon listing mention everyone except Tarkovsky?!
Too close for comfort.......2007-12-30
As a film, Stalker would have made a great short story. Two and a half hours of unrelenting misery to encapsulate a few pages of brilliant speculation on the nature of the spiritual quest.
"Life is suffering" as the Buddha said and in the Soviet Union the suffering was no doubt hard to ignore. Perhaps Tarkovsky really was trying to discover beauty in the belly of the wasteland but it was always a demolished factory, a filthy evil mess. The irony is that Tarkovsky may have died as a result of cancer contracted from the toxic chemicals on the film set, a fate he shared with two of his actors.
A further irony is that only in an oppressive elitist totalitarian state could such a grossly self indulgent project have been realised. It is unlikely many Soviet citizens would have been enriched or enlightened by this film.
Better to wait for Godot.......2007-10-25
Tarkovsky's Solaris is one of my five favorite films. Stalker, although interesting, lacks the immediate visual and psychological power of Solaris. It reminds me most of Beckett's Waiting for Godot but it lacks the caliber of dialogue of that play.
If Solaris seems ten times slower than any film you've seen before, Stalker seems ten times slower than Solaris. It takes full attention to remain with this film: anything that happens around you while you are watching, whether someone walking by or sneezing or a bird flying by outside, will seem considerably more interesting than the screen if you're not making an effort to stay with this movie.
Some men in dark clothes on a dark day walk along a while, looking anguished. They pause and one says something perhaps profound like "Life can be difficult but we somehow survive". Closeup of another man looking down into some muddy water. Walk some more. Stop and one man says something equally profound, something like "Stalking is all I know. I have not been able to stop." Shot of a decripit factory. Walk some more. And so on.
That's not just how Stalker goes or what was said but its how it basically felt. After two viewings, The Stalker seems like an interesting experiment but a probably unnecessarily challenging one. I'd expect well under 5% of the public would find it worthwhile. Well-performed but minimalist action, minimalist script, depressing mood.
I prefer the ocean of Solaris over the Zone of the Stalker. Delusions don't collapse so easily.
HOW I DISCOVERED TARKOWSKY WORLD.......2007-04-16
Stalker has been a painful as well as a miraclous experience on discovering beauty in
a new and more profound way.
I left the place feeling i was in a process of becoming another person. Tarkowski 's
vision is moving in its unique way, i became dramatically more exigent after experiencing this film , after discovering such a director,
I am one among Tarkowsky fans .
You will experience with Stalker the Sublime!
UK DVD:
- Stephen King's It [1990]
- Stephen King's The Stand [1994]
- Stigmata [2000]
- Supernatural : Complete Season 1 (6 Disc Box Set) [2006]
- Surrender, Dorothy [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Terry Jones' Personal Best (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Amityville Horror [2005]
- The Blair Witch Project [1999]
- The Cell [2000]
- The Company Of Wolves [1984]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
![Stalker [1979]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21GJ3JBFHVL.jpg)
All World Cinema
|
World Cinema
|
Categories
|
DVD
|
Video
![Mirror [1974]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000069JC8.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Solaris [1972]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005UCZL.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Nostalgia [1983]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00007KFMZ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Andrei Rublev [1973]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005UCZI.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Sacrifice [1986]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00006SKU4.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Stalker [1979]](http://www.bill88.com/buy.gif)
![Stalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31EFDF3ZMTL.jpg)
![Stalker [1979]](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
![Stalker [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31QA3Y8A11L.jpg)