Rating: 
Summary: Version mismatch
Review: Today's date August 1, 1999.This video IS again available because I was just given one as a gift. But be careful: the slipcase notes (c. 1999) claim the tape includes the unreleased 1945 cut supplemented by the new scenes that were incorporated into the 1946 release--the one we all know. It also promises the original theatrical trailer for the film. But inside the cellophane the tape contained the 1946 release only, with no trailer and no comparison of different scenes in the two versions. I don't believe this was done with fraudulent intent; I just think the reissue was handled by a production facility that didn't understand what they were supposed to put out. I have contacted MGM/UA but have not yet heard back from them. The film, of course, is a five star masterpiece regardless of which version you have. I just wanted cinemaphiles to know that they might not get what they thought they were ordering.
Rating: 
Summary: Inferior transfer quality
Review: This version has an unacceptable level of contrast that obliterates much of the sublety of the original. It actually compares unfavorably with my home-taped copy off TCM. I also think Amazon should CLEARLY identify this online as the 1945 version!
Rating:
Summary: Howard Hawks, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Review: This is a match made in heaven. The chemistry between Bogart and Bacall is out there for all to see. And Howard Hawks gave it the timing and wit that make this movie a classic. This is the 1945 version. Don't skip the changes shown at the end and do yourself a favor and buy the released version that came out in 1946. The changes are definitely worth the price of a second video.
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Summary: Quintessential Film Noir! The Dialogue is Incredible!!!
Review: Bogart and Becall heat up the screen in this film noir classic. The chemistry between the two is insatiable. William Faulkner's screenplay is one of the best ever. I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves film noir. Also check out French film noir Confidentially Yours (1983) directed by Francois Truffaut and starring Fanny Ardant, British film noir The Third Man (194-) starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Wells, and American masterpiece Out of the Past (1947) starring Robert Mitchum.
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Summary: Vickers Steals The Show
Review: Following the success of To Have and Have Not(1944), director Howard Hawks again teamed Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. This time the film was The Big Sleep. Bogart was cast as private eye Philip Marlowe; Bacall as wealthy, spoiled Vivian Sternwood. Marlowe is hired by wealthy, ailing General Sternwood to investigate the General's wild daughter, Carmen, and her involvement with a blackmailing pornographer named Arthur Gwynne Geiger. Before long, Marlowe learns that Cramen is involved in numerous sordid indiscretions. Martha Vickers' performance as Carmen, to quote Raymond Chandler, who wrote the novel from which the movie was adapted, "shattered Miss Bacall completely." When we first meet Carmen in the opening sequence, she makes an indelible impression on Marlowe and the viewer. Carmen is just one of several interesting women characters who make a pass at Marlowe: there are the Acme Bookstore proprietress, played by 20-year-old Dorothy Malone; the brash, quick talking cab driver, played by Joy Barlowe; the hostesses who work for gangster Eddie Mars; and, of course, Vivian, Carmen's sister, played by Bacall, whose attraction to Marlowe evolves during the course of the film. But it's Martha Vickers' Carmen who's the most strking and intiguing of them all. Sadly, Warner Bros. didn't capitalize of this gifted actress's potential: her career never went anywhere, and she died in 197l, at age 46.
Rating:
Summary: Another good entry f rom Bogie, Bacall and Hawks
Review: 3 1/2 stars. Entertaining with sharp dialogue. The plot is so convoluted that the scriptwriters didn't know themselves who committed one murder. The Big Sleep is impressive in many ways but I think that Murder, My Sweet is the best screen adaption of a Chandler work. Chandler thought so. too.
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Summary: Actually, this film invented film noir.
Review: This was the original film noir and still the best. Better listen up - the banter is machine gun fast and sharp as a knife. In my mind, one of the greatest films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: A noir masterpiece.
Review: The Big Sleep is, in my opinion, the finest detective noir film ever made. It is perfectly acted by Bogart, Bacall and the rest of the cast. Howard Hawks' direction is energetic and exciting. The plot, legendary for its impossible complexity, is actually better than the novel which inspired it! It's not as grim as many of its other noir counterparts, but it's an amazing ride.
Rating:
Summary: A fast-paced noir with great dialogue and chemistry.
Review: The Big Sleep is one of the best examples of classic film noir around. A gritty drama, it also features the snappiest dialogue between Bogie and Bacall ever shown on the big screen. Bogie once again plays the gritty detective against Bacall's femme fatale with a heart. Not to be missed- a must see for any noir junkie.
Rating:
Summary: Take my advice, BUY the DVD...
Review: This is one of the all-time classics featuring Bogie & Bacall. Technically not film noir, rather a witty, stylized and romanticized treatment of a rather hard-boiled detective story from Raymond Chandler. It's everything others here have so eloquently stated: the plot is a bit convoluted (but it's not the point), Bogie was never cooler, the dialog is simply a joy and just about every scene is a gem unto itself. And there is a beautiful dame lurking around every corner! I got this DVD as part of the Humphrey Bogart collection (which also included Casablanca, Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon). Imagine my surprise to find this DVD contained BOTH the pre-release and post-WWII versions on one disc! Also a good documentary comparing the two. I would highly recommend purchasing this movie on DVD if you appreciate great classic movies--or just great movies period. If like me you are a Bogart fan, get the collection. I'm hoping if more people buy these DVDs the studios will start to release some of the other great Bogart classics on DVD, like To Have And Have Not (Bogie/Bacall debut), Treasure of the Sierra Madre ("Badges?"), High Sierra, etc.
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