Rating: 
Summary: A divine thriller that uses real bullets
Review: This is by far the most purely entertaining of Hitchcock's movies, at least of the ones I've seen. "Psycho", while otherwise engrossing, gets bogged down mightily during its middle third. "Vertigo" is long and a touch ponderous. "The Birds" has flashes of kinetic energy, and then a lot of dreariness. "North by Northwest", however, is a complete thriller. Or rather, a Complete Thriller. It never makes any pretensions towards grand statements -- although there is a minor note spoken about the Cold War -- preferring to let its bullet-train of a plot lead the way.The opening credits are again done wonderfully by Saul Bass, underscored by Bernard Herrmann, whose music is the sheer definition of "Hitchcockian" -- melodramatic and menacing in all the right parts. And barely a minute after the credits end, Roger Thornhill is in up to his ears after a brilliant little bit of confusion. Forget about character development and motivation, Hitchcock seems to be saying, let's get this story going. And it never lets up until the glorious end, where it finishes up as quick and neatly as it started. It's a wonderful ride. All the actors are suitably fun in their parts. Eva Marie Sainte is great as the love interest. It's unfair to classify her as the prototype of the 'Bond girl'. She has too much of a head on her shoulders for that tag (although when talking of her sex appeal it's appropriate). James Mason uses that distinctive voice of his to bring both charm and menace to his role as the villain. And Cary Grant, as Thornhill, is just too cool for school! He delivers the tight, Ernest Lehman-penned script as if he always has a cocktail in one hand and a beautiful woman in the other. And the deeper into the Thornhill's mess he gets, the more fun he seems to be having. The scene where he calls for a valet to clean his suit is the clincher; it strikes me as Hitchcock having some devilish fun with us. For Grant, even after being sprayed by a crop-duster in a cornfield or scaling the faces on Mt. Rushmore, doesn't ever need his suit cleaned. He is never less than dapper and debonair. And that's part of the fun of the movie. It's a big cartoon with cartoon-sized settings, a cartoon-style plot, and cartoon characters running around and chasing each other. Fun!
Rating:
Summary: Movie that sounds and looks as if it were made today
Review: The North By NorthWest dvd edition is exceptional. Never have I seen an older film look and sound as good as this. The dolby digital 5.1 surround sound is very dynamic...your subwolfer will get a work out when the oil tanker explodes. Also, the crop duster scene has been greatly inhanced as well. Its about time we hear the plane fly over our heads. But what really shines in the film is its breath-taking music score. The music on the dvd is better than the actual cd soundtrack itself. A wonderful remaster. The orchestra sounds as if it were recorded today, as do the other sound elements on the disk. Picture quality is superb, not a single artifact...Ive seen films forty years newer than this movie that dont look as clean. The extras very informative, the commentary funny and interesting, the previews, hilarious. This is an excellent disk. Shot in Vistavision, and filmed in technicolor, image quality is painstakingly accurate and colorful. i can't imagine the film looking better, even on a theatre screen. If your a fan of the film, you must own this ultimate editon of the Alfred Hitchcock classic. A motivational speaker for the latter day bond films. HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!!
Rating:
Summary: One Of Hitch's Best
Review: This movie is quite simply one of Hitch's best, it ranks up there with 39 Steps, Vertigo, Rear Window (when is it coming to DVD?!), Psycho and The Birds. And the transfer is so good you wouldn't believe it is a forty-year-old movie (has it been that long?). The bonus materials is also quite good, the documentary is interesting (she still looks good, Eva Marie Saint) and it's always a treat to watch one of Hitch's trailers. Oh, and then there's the music-only track...wow.... This is a must-buy - they don't make 'em like this anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Another Hitchcock-Grant masterpiece
Review: Action and suspense are the two words that could never be described better than by the title "North by Northwest". Cary Grant(who had worked previously with Hitchcock in Suspicion,Notorious,and To Catch A Thief) heads off a cross counrty thriller that is not only exciting but witty and over-all well directed. Right up there with the other Hitchcock masterpieces and probably the best, next to Vertigo, this a must see.
Rating:
Summary: Jaw-Droppingly Good DVD
Review: If it weren't for this DVD, I still wouldn't have respected North By Northwest as much as I do now. Before, I had dismissed this film as entertaining Hitchcock fluff. But after watching this amazing DVD, in its glorious widescreen form (I originally bought the tape in regular old pan n' scan sans the documentary), I have a higher appriciation for this film. The DVD is well-packaged with plenty of goodies inside: A music-only track (which is devine heaven for Bernard Herrmann freaks like myself), a commentary by Ernest Lehman, as well as a documentary on the film, which is so-so at best. But seeing this film in DVD form is amazing. It gives the film a special quality that VHS can not. Reccomended for any Hitchcock fan, or Cary Grant fan, or the plain old North By Northwest fan. :)
Rating:
Summary: Perfect match of film and format
Review: The film needs no review from me. It's essential viewing for any film fan.The DVD offers a very nicely realized 5.1 digital soundtrack by combining the original stereo music tracks with the original foley tracks in a very effective mix. The benefit can be seen to it's best advantage in the cropduster scene. The plane flies around Roger Thornhill....AND me! The DVD also offers us the first issue of this film in it's proper aspect ratio. A former laserdisc "widescreen" release was formatted correctly in some scenes, and completely in errror with others. The color wasn't up to snuff, and only the opening credits were in stereo.Now these problems have been eliminated and we have a wonderful film watching experience in store. Buy it. Watch it many times.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch your feet!
Review: The "Making of" extra is fun, and the film looks and sounds great. Some complain of "faded" color - to me it just looks less garish and more realistic. Playing this transfer side-by-side with a "fullsceen" VHS tape reveals, however, that the producers have done what my mother always complains of in letterboxing: "They've chopped the top and bottom off!" Usually, of course, she is wrong: they have simply restored the sides of the picture to view. Here, they have indeed not only left the Vistavision off the sides but reduced the top and bottom as well, giving a completely false "widescreen" impression. So we're getting a better picture but one which is, as my mother often quite mistakenly complains, actually smaller in scope than the "fullscreen" image. Boo hiss to the transfer guys. Crispness and immediacy of the image will make up for the shaving, however: if shaved, at least it's shaved cleanly. But the actors need never have bothered to shine their shoes.
Rating:
Summary: Movies don't get any better than this!
Review: WOW! (now multiply that "WOW!" 982 more times and that sums up the movie and this DVD).
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE TEN BEST EVER MADE
Review: This great movie - certaily Hitchcock's GREATEST by far - should be included in any short list of the best movies ever made. I'll tell my own criterion for rating the great movie: if after the very first show I remember ALL single frames of it - and insist of telling to my friends all the action frame by frame, which is certainly futil and silly action - than this IS indeed a great movie. When after the show I hardly remember its title and the star's name ("you know, that stoopid guy, what's-his-name...)- it's the time waisted in vain. This movie I saw first in NYC in 1967 JUST ONCE and than for TWENTY long years I tried to re-tell its content to all my friends in the Soviet Union. And then - oh,glory! - I got back to States and bought this video the first thing! I watch it and watch it - never getting tired of it. That cool glittering elegance of Eva Marie Saint... Eat your hearts out, you - today's Hollywood anorexic, asexual, politically correct so-called "stars" - THEY DON'T MAKE WOMEN LIKE EVA MARIE ANY MORE! And Cary Grant's performance is beyond words... Just to see that look on his face when he tries to shave himself with the ladies' shaver blade, or playing an idiot at the auction, or when he's standing on that empty crossroad waiting for whatever - it worth millions! WHAT! You mean, you haven't seen "North by Northwest" ONCE! You gotta be out of your mind!
Rating:
Summary: "North by Northwest" finally gets the treatment it deserves
Review: Most critics and film fans refer to the Master's "Family Plot" as his "delicious souffle" or "delightful dessert" or some such metaphor. Actually, it is "North by Northwest" that deserves such a playful description, as IT is the film that much more successfully fulfills the idea of a cinematic fabulous treat. The folks behind the DVD apparently agree; they take the movie off its pedestal and have some fun with it. Running footsteps playfully appear on the menu screen, then the theme music kicks in as still shots from the famous scenes move before us behind the menu options. In other words, "North by Northwest" is about to begin and it's something to get excited about! A great film also deserves some great DVD extras, and in this department MGM nicely delivers. The documentary featuring Eva Marie Saint and writer Ernest Lehman is very well done, elegantly following the actual shooting script as we hear stories and anecdotes about the film's production. A minor quibble is that huge portions of Mr. Lehman's on-camera comments during the documentary are grafted onto his bonus commentary track, so you have to sit through many of his lengthy observations twice. But that minor flaw isn't a deal-breaker by any means. After all, if you're getting a crisp letterboxed version of "North by Northwest" (as you are here), then the extras can be made up of Brady Bunch reruns and no one would complain. A selection of rarely-seen trailers and TV ads for the movie round out the extras, effectively transporting you back to 1959 when the film originally opened, and really getting you in the mood to see the movie once again. Needless to say, this is one to buy and to keep close to the TV!
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