Rating: 
Summary: Masterful
Review: This is filmmaking on the edge. Hard to believe these guys never made a movie before. The images are haunting, the photograhy is very stylish, and acting is superlative (you really hate the private dective, he's such a sleazeball), the script is perfect, and the editing....That's where this film really grabs you. The audio editing is particularly good. The filmmakers succeed in avoiding just about every "genre" trap, and they keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. The story is basically about people's expectations and presumptions of the truth. WE know what really happened - who was killed and why - but everyone else in the movie thinks someone else did it, and the maze the filmmakers create through this misunderstanding is brilliant. Take the phone off the hook. You won't want to be interrupted. If you love great filmmaking, then this is a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: LOVE this movie!
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I like it for all the same reasons everyone else does but no one has mentioned what a great & surprising ending it has. You gotta see this movie and probably more than once to really appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer Genius
Review: The Coen's debut film is an astonishing film noir shot brilliantly by cinematographer Barry Sonnefield, with a tight screenplay, excellent acting from all the cast members and underscored by a haunting soundtrack. All these factors combine to make this film one of the Coen's best. Although many elements in this film were re-worked and done slightly better in their career high-point, Fargo, this still stands out as a bolt from the blue and keeps your attention throughout the grisly 90 minutes. The acting is tremendous, with the main roles played by John Getz, Frances McDormand and Dan Hedaya. Dan Hedaya plays Ray, a suspicious bar owner in Texas who hires a private eye to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand) and the suspected lover (John Getz). When the private eye (brilliantly played by M.Emmet Walsh) brings photographs back to his client of his wife and the lover rolling around in a motel bed, Ray becomes consumed by jealosy and disgust for the pair. From here on in, the film becomes a perfect thriller with the atmosphere becoming denser and more claustrophobic. It's climax is among cinema's greatest with only Frances McDormand left alive after a supremely blood-curdling finale.
Buy it now on video, forget the DVD, it's pointless and destroys the original look of it with grainy textures and off-putting colours.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Special Movie
Review: Props to all the people that gave this movie 4 or 5 stars. It deserves it.
Rating: 
Summary: "Oh dear, it's a sex scene"
Review: "Blood Simple" marks the first time I've bought a DVD based solely on the commentary track. I'm a Coen Brothers fan who's never managed to see their first film before, but I knew on faith that I'd enjoy the movie. What sent me scurrying to actually own the disc, however, was the presence of the phony film historian's commentary. I knew right away that, never mind the rest of the movie, this was going to be worth $... The movie is an extreme example of Coen Brother's black comedy and human tragedy later filtered into more mainstream films such as "Fargo", and you'll recognize a few early visual tricks here from that later film. The cast is, as always, superb, and makes it a pleasure to watch the film the two or three times you'll need to, to figure the whole thing out. For the first 45 minutes, the voice playing "Kenneth Loring" of "Forever Young" films delivers a side-splittingly funny commentary track. His technical insights into the production are marvelous, and I won't be surprised to see the "trivia" quickly turn up as documented fact on the Internet Movie Database. Actors upside-down in a car. Digitally-inserted flies. Actors silently mouthing their words while the camera films a playing jukebox. And even apart from that, the commentator's repeated "Urgh!"s interjecting a fight scene are, as the credit-card commercial says, priceless. By the end of the commentary, when Loring starts ranting about Swedish directors and Nick Nolte (this film, of course, has neither), you'll wish the voice would shut up so you could just focus on the movie. Which is, of course, the whole idea.
Rating:
Summary: ...not bad...
Review: ...i pride myself on being able to predict the plot and ending of most movies, but dammit, they got me with this one! actually made me sit down and follow what was goin on and not try to anticipate what was comin up next! the only flaw was the ending, but gettin there was entertaining...
Rating:
Summary: Clever and full of wit
Review: This starts out slow, but once it sucks you in, it does not let you go until it is through with you. Don't rely on anything you think because just as soon as you come up with something, it proves it wrong and laughs at you the whole time. Francis McDormand is amazing along with everyone else. This is a must have for anyone who loves a mystery. Just don't think that you are going to be more clever than the movie.....It's all just an act on it's part. That is how it nails you.
Rating:
Summary: The most enjoyable audio commentary ever
Review: First, there's the movie -- our introduction to the Coens' bent sensibility. But on this DVD, there's another sly pleasure: an audio commentary by "Kenneth Loring" of "Forever Young Films." It's a satire of all the *other* audio commentaries out there, devolving into a kaleidoscopic rant of epic proportions -- and all the while, BLOOD SIMPLE is happily playing out on the screen. Kudos to the Coens, to the unbilled audio performer, and to whomever had the idea in the first place. This commentary is worth the price alone -- and you get a great movie too!
Rating:
Summary: Stops a crowd cold.
Review: Years ago I was in a gritty biker bar in Akron, Ohio. Loud, dirty and wild. A TV over one end of the bar that had a movie playing that I'd never heard of. In only about 15 minutes, that place was stone quiet and EVERYone was staring at the TV watching this movie. Never seen that happen before or since. Unbelievable! I can't wait to see this on DVD! Could only be even better...
Rating:
Summary: BEFORE YOU LISTEN TO THE AUDIO COMMENTARY...
Review: If you have this DVD, or if you are about to purchase it. Before, listening to the DVD's audio commentary track,I suggest reading Vladimir Nabokov's book, PALE FIRE. Reading Pale Fire before listening to the audio commentary, will enhace the experience of enjoying the audio commentary.
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