At War with the Army

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At War with the Army Review

This is a review of the Alpha Video edition of AT WAR WITH THE ARMY (which is listed in the Amazon database as WAR WITH THE ARMY):

From 1949 to 1956, the boisterous team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis starred in 16 feature-length comedies, which vary in quality from undeniably hilarious to absolutely forgettable. AT WAR WITH THE ARMY (1950) falls closer to the latter category. This lackluster effort was their first starring vehicle, released after MY FRIEND IRMA (1949) and MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST (1950), in which they had glorified supporting roles.

Though released by Paramount Pictures, AT WAR WITH THE ARMY was an independent production, and a threadbare one at that, which explains why, at times, it looks like Dean and Jerry are appearing in someone's home movie. Based on a stage play-and looking every bit like a dingy, cramped, photographed stage play-this alleged military farce weakens the impact of the nutty duo by continually separating them. The movie springs to life when they're allowed to sing, dance, and do imitations, but these opportunities are few, as the plot sticks rigidly on its course to Dullsville. There are enough good moments to satisfy their devoted fans (Jerry's pretty funny on the occasions where he's allowed to cut loose, and Dean has nice duet with Polly Bergen, "You and Your Beautiful Eyes"), but if you've never seen this pair in action, there are far better M&L comedies awaiting DVD release (LIVING IT UP, SAILOR BEWARE, ARTISTS AND MODELS, and SCARED STIFF, to name a few).

Alpha Video's copy of AT WAR WITH THE ARMY is one of the better editions available, although like the marginally superior Digiview release, it's missing the cast credits after the "End" title. Arguably, the best edition of this film available is the one on Madacy Entertainment's "Hollywood Classics Collection" label. Madacy's print isn't as sharp as the Digiview version, but it does have the end cast credits. Madacy also makes their edition more attractive to consumers by including two 1950s newsreels and outtakes from the Abbott and Costello films IT AIN'T HAY (1943), PARDON MY SARONG (1942), and THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (1945).

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The Right Stuff [VHS]

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The Right Stuff [VHS] Review

The fact that "The Right Stuff" lost the Oscar for best picture to "Terms Of Endearment" is beyond me; this movie should have won. The fact that it wasn't a hit at the box office back in 1983 is also beyond me. We are talking about what I think it's the best American epic in all the sense of the word.
It's strange that a Venezuelan-born like me should talk about a movie like this, but I feel that "The Right Stuff" should have been a classic -well, it is for me. The story of the "Mercury" astronauts is portrayed marvelously by Philip Kaufman's direction, showcased beautifully by Caleb Deschanel's stylish photography, and supported by an incredible cast including Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Sam Shepard, Pamela Reed, Kim Stanley, and Veronica Cartwright.
In fact, I remember when I was watching that movie at home, and my late father asked me if a man that appeared on the screen was astronaut John Glenn because he looked just like him. Of course I told him he was an actor who was playing his role. That said, it's incredible to see how Ed Harris is perfectly cast as Glenn.
And I don't want to forget one of the reasons why I love this movie, and that's Bill Conti's spectacular music score. Of course it may sound a little like Holst's "The Planets", but I usually weep every time I listen to the main theme.
I'm glad that a special edition DVD of "The Right Stuff" has been released, with fantastic extras that include new interviews with the cast and crew, deleted scenes, and an incredible documentary on John Glenn. I'm also glad about it because I think that this movie should be rightfully appreciated not only because it deals with historical events like the breaking of the sound barrier and the first American astronauts, but also because, as I said before, this is a classic.

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Creepshow - IMPORT

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Price: $367.99   

Product Description

Il papà di Billy, emancipato ragazzino americano, getta nella spazzatura un fumetto dell'orrore trovatogli in mano prima di addormentarsi. E' l'occasione introduttiva a quattro storie dell'horror. Nella prima un vecchio morto da sette anni, ammazzato dalla figlia, esce dalla tomba e si vendica di lei e degli altri componenti della buona famiglia. La seconda mette in scena la vendetta atroce d'un marito tradito, che condanna a lento affogamento la moglie fedifraga e l'amante incauto, vedendoseli dopo poco capitare in casa sotto le spoglie di zombi a vendicare la vendetta! Una misteriosa cassa datata un secolo prima e proveniente dalle regioni artiche suscita la curiosità d'un professore universitario e del suo migliore amico, che sono al centro della terza storia: il mostro famelico, liberato dalla cassa, viene sfruttato dall'amico del professore per liberarsi della moglie arrogante ed insopportabile. Il quarto episodio � costituito da un lungo monologo: un genio dell'ingegneria e dell'informatica domestica, maniaco dell'ordine e dell'igiene, viene assalito e divorato da un esercito di schifosi insetti neri. Rivediamo alla fine il vendicativo Billy, che con un ago trafigge una bambola voo doo che naturalmente! trasmette le punzecchiature all'incauto genitore del ragazzino che aveva osato gettare nel bidone della spazzatura l'albo orrifico "Creepy".

Creepshow - IMPORT Review

Being a fan of both Stephen King and George Romero, "Creepshow" has always been among my favorite horror flicks. Campy at times perhaps, but that's the whole point - to bring a comic book feel to film. And it offers a perfect balance of silly comic horror and genuine horror, making for a very enjoyable viewing experience if one remembers not to take it too seriously.

What you get is 5 mini stories, some of them better than others but all offering plenty of shocks and chills. It opens with "Father's Day," where a deceased victim of murder rises from the grave for a nice little Father's Day surprise. One of the better ones. "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" follows, where Stephen King takes on the lead role as a hillbilly who finds a meteor with a nasty habit of making green hair grow on, well, everything. This one is more funny than scary but still good. King does a great job as the clumsy and unintelligent-but-likeable Jordy Verrill. Next up is "Something to Tide You Over," where a vengeful man (Leslie Nielsen) gets even on his cheating wife and her lover (Ted Danson) by burying them both in the sand and letting the tide take care of the rest. This is my second favorite of the bunch. It's cool to see Nielsen take on the role of the "bad guy" for a change. Goes to show his versatility as an actor. Ted Danson is great too. What follows is "The Crate," in my opinion the best one. It's also the longest one. Hal Holbrook plays a loser whose nasty wife gets what she deserves when he finds a mysterious blood-thirsty creature locked away in an old crate. This is the darkest and creepiest of the stories. Pure fun, with top-notch acting from everyone. The final story, "They're Creeping Up On You," is the only one I've never liked. An eccentric millionare with a roach phobia just can't seem to get rid of his little crawling friends no matter what he does. Anyone who doesn't like roaches is advised to skip this one. The final scene will take away your appetite for at least a few days.

Now that I've talked about the movie itself (easily 5 stars), I have to comment on this sorry excuse for a DVD (0 stars). This has to be THE worst transfer ever put on DVD. I used to think it couldn't get any worse than the first edition single-disc transfer of "Scarface," but I was wrong. "Creepshow" was put on DVD just for the sake of putting it on DVD. NO CARE whatsoever was put into presentation. As another reviewer has mentioned, the movie literally "jumps" throughout the entire time. Grain and those annoying "hairs" appear on the screen almost every second. The VHS offers better picture quality; that says a lot. The only bonus feature of this DVD is the trailer, which I suppose is cool, but let's get real. Another slap in the face is the scene selections. The inside of the DVD case advertises 41 scene selections in the "Scene Index" card, but that's misleading, as the movie only has 21 actual scene selections. So if you want to watch one specific scene, 9 times out of 10 you will need to select the *closest* scene to the one you want and end up scanning forwards or backwards to get to the one you really want. Yet another example of a poorly thought-out DVD.

Bottom line: "Creepshow" is a great cult flick that deserves a MUCH better DVD. If you have the VHS stick with that. Only get this DVD if you no longer own a VCR or absolutely must own all of your movies on the DVD format. "Creepshow 2" recently got a new DVD edition that does it justice, so maybe there's some hope that "Creepshow" will eventually get the same treatment someday. Until then, we must settle for this lackluster DVD.

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The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France [VHS]

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The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France [VHS] Review

This is a brilliantly conceived movie-within-a-play-within-a-movie that showcases the genius of Laurence Olivier. Today's audiences are exposed mainly to Olivier the movie star. But if you want to see a purer form of acting, see Olivier the stage actor. This is possible by watching his Shakespeare plays on film. And these films are by Olivier the "auteur," long before the title was coined. Olivier's is the legacy to which Branaugh, the darling of the current generation, fancies himself the pretender.And lest you're expecting a camera pointed at a stage, don't worry. Olivier, who produced and directed most of his Shakespeare films, has actually used the film medium to enlarge his plays' visual scope, while maintaining the intimacy that is the essence of live theatre. Moreover, Olivier is mindful of how daunting the language of Shakespeare is for modern audiences and has modified much of the original script to be more comprehensible, while preserving the feel of Elizabethan English.Olivier's "Henry V" was to England what Eisentein's "Ivan the Terrible" was to Russia - a familiar history rendered as a national epic, for morale purposes, while audiences were fighting off the Germans during World War II. There are other parallels. For example, both use static, formalized composition, in Henry V's case, meant to resemble the images in medieval illuminated manuscripts and books of Hours. (In Ivan's case, according to Kael, like Japanese Kabuki.) Thus, a soundstage "exterior" backdrop becomes a tableau that serves to enhance, with its flat perspective and subjective scale, the view we have of that fabulous Age of Chivalry, for which the play's Battle of Agincourt was the closing act.I've always sneered at the extravagant accolades which show business gives its own. But after seeing this film, or the equally brilliant "Hamlet," I can understand why this man was so good that a knighthood wasn't enough, and why he was raised to the peerage.By the way, the Criterion DVD is beautiful. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?�Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment Comment

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Swiss Family Robinson

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Swiss Family Robinson Review

I strongly recommend! Originally released in 1960, the film returned to theatres 4 times in later years. This is absolutely one of the most fun family films the Walt Disney Studios ever made. There is truly something for everyone... comedy, action, adventure, drama, romance, and suspense. Even at 126 minutes in length, it does not feel too long. Starting in the aftermath of a shipwreck, the Swiss family rebuilds their life on an uncharted tropical island. They use the wealth of salvage in livestock, tools, guns, furniture, wood, and more to build a safe home in the trees, complete with running water and other conveniences. The mother and father begin an idealic exhistance with their 3 boys aged 9, 16, and 18. But one day the older boys decide to take a canoe and survey the rest of the island. They stumble across pirates that are attacking the crew of a ship, and rescue the captain's daughter, bringing the wrath of the pirates on them since they are discovered.

Directed by Ken Annakin, the movie was filmed on location on the caribbean island of Tobago. While the production went way over budget for a total cost of $4 million, Walt did not get upset with his production team at the time since the film was looking to be success when he reviewed clips from the set. As it turned out, with subsequent theatre releases, television, and video airing, the film has turned out to be one of the top-grossing films from Disney.

The tropical scenery is spectacular as they filmed all over the island; waterfalls, forests, grass plains, flowers, beaches, cliffs, mountains, oceans, streams, and much more. Contributing a tremendous amount to the exotic locale of the movie are animals, pirates, ships, and a tree house to beat all tree houses ever made. Similar to the role the submarine "Nautilus" filled in the earlier film "20,000 Leagues Below the Sea", the tree house becomes a star in it's own right. The wonderful and inventive home designed by the castaways and from the ships salvage is incredible to behold.

Featuring a wonderful cast and crew assembled by Walt himself, Mr. Disney liked to stick with actors he knew could relate to a broad audience. Most of the actors in this film appeared in other Disney movies over the years, many times with other actors from this film. Dorothy McGuire (Old Yeller, Summer Magic), John Mills (Did not appear in other Disney movies, but was Hayley Mills real life father), James MacArthur (Light in the Forest, Third Man on the Mountain, Kidnapped), Kevin Corcoran (A Tiger Walks, Savage Sam, Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Bon Voyage, Babes in Toyland, Toby Tyler, Pollyanna), Tommy Kirk (Probably the most proficient of all with Savage Sam, Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Moon Pilot, Bon Voayage, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, Misadventure of Merlin Jones, The Monkeys Uncle, Babes in Toyland), and Janet Munroe (Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Third Man on the Mountain). Most of these actors also appeared in movies for the Walt Disney television weekly anthology show as well.

VAULT DISNEY DVD VERSION
The 2 disc DVD treatment that Disney gave this film is perfect, starting with great packaging and case. It is in Widescreen, the first widescreen release outside of theatres for the film in fact. And what a difference it makes in the beautiful location island vistas of the film. The film has been cleaned up and remastered to its original brilliance with lush colors, great image and depth, it just sparkles. The DVD transfer itself is very well done, a high quality job. The audio is very clean and crisp.

DVD EXTRAS
The extras on this DVD are what really make the best version released of this film, and they are not all listed here at Amazon or even on the packaging. You have to hunt them down and get creative with your remote. So let me help by telling you what to look for if you buy this... For starters they have the original cartoon that was released with the movie, "Sea Salts" allowing you to see this with the kids the way that it is meant to be seen. There is a 2 minute "1960 Disney Studio Album", a montage of projects, attractions, shows, and films being made and released that year. There is an audio commentary as an alternate track that features comments from cast and crew.

Next we have 23 minutes from a vintage Walt Disney television "Wonderful World of Disney" episode titled "Escape to Paradise", that show the making of the film behind the scenes. Up next is the original 1960 movie theatre trailers for the film, and the 1960 televison spots to advertise the film. Then there are "Storyboard to Scene Comparisons"; a seperate "Storyboard Gallery"; and a 2 minute "Production Gallery" of photo stills from behind the scenes at location. Another gallery is full of production stills; Next is "Biographies" on 8 principle actors; and then "Concept Art" on the films pre-production design work.

As if that's not enough a featurette titled "Adventure in the Making" was made just for this set, and at 49:00 minutes long it is very complete and satisfying, with recent interviews of the original cast and crew. There is great behind the scenes original footage in this piece, and the folks regale us with funny stories of the filming days. Peter Elleshaw (matte artist), Ken Annakin (director), Danny Lee (special effects), and actors John Mills, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran are all here for modern interviews. ANOTHER short 4 minute featurette that was also made just for this set is "Swiss Family Treehouse", narrated by Hayley Mills (Pollyana, Parent Trap, That Darn Cat, Summer Magic, In Search of the Castaways, The Moon-Spinners), . It is the pre-opening footage and the actual Opening Ceremony of the "Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House" attraction (now gone, replaced with Tarzans Tree House) at the Disneyland Park. Walt Disney himself is there and it is evident he is really enjoying himself in this must-see footage.

Included on the set is a very nice 12 minute interview with James MacArthur, who appeared in this film and 3 others for Disney along with a TV movie. This features great video as well. There is a "Pirates" music video sing along featuring pirate themed clips from Disney films, TV shows, cartoons, and the theme park attraction "Pirates of the Caribbean", all set to the Disney tune of "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me". An unusual or unexpected extra is a featurette that has 20 minutes of excerpts from a 1940 non-Disney version of the story.

The dvd set has Audio Archives set to photos from the film, including 2 Interactive Sound Studios, 2 songs from the film, original 1960 radio spots. Another real treat is the complete LP soundtrack of the original "Storybook Album" of the movie released in 1960.

SUMMARY
I really enjoyed this DVD, and this film really got the best of treatment by Disney. They simply outdid themselves and I am one grateful viewer. I wish all the really good classic Disney films got at least some of this royal treatment. They have a reputation as the best studio about protecting their old source material, archives, etc, but they are not always generous in using it for their DVD's so I can really appreciate the effort here by the decision makers. Thank you Disney for this compilation that really honors this gem of a film the way it should be!!!! My highest recommendation if you are considering buying this DVD.

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