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The Sting

The Sting

List Price: $19.95
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: No Widescreen on DVD
Review: This is my first encounter with a DVD that is not available in Widescreen format. The VHS version is available in Widescreen. I can't give a DVD higher than 2 out of 5 when the VHS version is available in a higher quality format than the DVD. That being said this movie has a well deserved spot near the top of the AFI's 100 greatest movies list. I love it. But I will be watching it on VHS in Widescreen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just a Great Film
Review: Newman and Redford defined the "buddy movie" in Butch Cassidy, and this tale of big time heist is no different, proving the brilliance of their teaming. One of my favorite movies of all time, The Sting is a must see! Absolutely wonderful!!! No wonder it scored a best picture Oscar!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Newman & Redford
Review: After not thinking about this movie in over a decade, when I saw the DVD ... my roommate immediately bought it. We spent a great Saturday night enjoying the interplay between Redford and Newman. Robert Redford, the young street grifter, whose mentor gets killed by the mob, meets up with Paul Newman, the veteran, washed-up grifter, in what amounts to a scam above all scams. The movie sets up nicely, one complaint on the DVD we purchased was a full-screen version, and the wide-screen would have done the movie more justice.

...This is a great Saturday night DVD rental or purchase, I would recommend it to a family, or to a couple who can't seem to find anything good in the new releases...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best
Review: Films just do not get much better than, "The Sting", great story, a number of legendary actors, beautiful cinematography, and a sound track that resurrected an entire genre of music. There have been several pairings of actors and actresses that have produced films that will always remain favorites, Paul Newman and Robert Redford is certainly one of the best. This movie has both actors in top form when time had yet to make a mark on either actor. Paul Newman shares the screen with Tom Hanks in a new film, and while Hanks has already made his mark at the age of 46, Newman who now is closing in on 78 is still remarkable, but not as he was in this film nearly 30 years ago when still in his 40's. Robert Redford is all of 35 in this film, and the similarities to Brad Pitt are eerily familiar at times, just as in, "A River Runs Through It", that Redford directed and Pitt starred in.

This is a film about Irish grifters, and the Irish mob, yet it carries a PG rating that would probably be lowered to a G but for one scene of dancers wearing pasties larger than most swimsuits today. And that is one of the great beauties of this film. "The Sting", is as entertaining, of higher quality, and offers more talent that the majority of films today, and does so without the need for all the crutches that current weak films require. Gratuitous sex/nudity, drug use, profanity so constant it becomes meaningless, and scenes that use shock where talent is no where to be found. There are great films made today, but few that rely on the talent of the actors, quality direction and great film scores.

The fact has been, and remains that G, PG, and PG-13 films make more money than R, and NC-17 films. The top 100 box office films have only 19 R rated films, the highest ranked is number 27 from 1984. A more accurate list is the one that allows for the inflation of ticket prices. On this list R rated films number only 5. This explains the need to add PG-13 several years ago, and what some call, "ratings creep", films that manage a more gentle rating than they should. Some films cannot tell their story without an R rating, and there is nothing wrong with that. What is harder to understand is why studios continue to churn out so many R rated films that are garbage when they make less money than their counterparts.

"The Sting" easily makes the top 10 list of my favorite films. This DVD has one flaw, and for me it is huge. I don't know why a studio would release a film of this caliber on DVD and not offer a widescreen version. I want to see the film as the director intended it to be seen, not chopped off to fit the dimensions of a traditional television.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Where's the Wide Screen?
Review: This movie is one of my top five favorites. I purchased the DVD and then returned it unopened when I found it it is only in full screen version. I already have the widescreen VHS. Why should I buy a DVD that doesn't have this feature?

Hope the widescreen version comes out soon. Guess it's about time for the 30th anniversary collectors' edition anyway.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Champion...In the Light-weight Division
Review: This well-known classic was the winner of Oscar's Best Picture trophy in 1973, and though it lacks the artistic gravity of the victors that sandwiched it ("The Godfather," Parts I & II), "The Sting" remains a flighty, enjoyable flick, filled to the brim with neat period detail and fine performances all around. Robert Redford is a small-time hustler who hooks up with more experienced con man Paul Newman after an old buddy is murdered at the command of a big-city crime lord, played by Robert Shaw. Redford's naive street man wants revenge, and one of the film's many charms is its avoidance of a violent path to "heroism." Instead, the plot against the wise villain comes down to a brilliantly executed con, which allows "The Sting" plenty of laughs and big surprises. A must for film buffs, but worthy of anyone looking for a fun two hours.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Butch and Sundance do it again!
Review: Paul Newman and Robert Redford team up again as they did in the earlier film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and make for a very entertaining flick that just happened to win the best picture Oscar for 1973. For a film about Chicago racketeering during the Great Depression of the thirties, there is surprisingly little violence depicted here. You'll want to cheer on Newman and Redford as they swim with the sharks and beat them at their own games; all to a fine musical score that includes classics by Scott Joplin.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wait for the "whole" movie
Review: I'll chip in with another 1 star review of a 5 star movie. There is no excuse for releasing a classic movie such as this on a horrible pan and scan full screen DVD. Don't buy this until Universal releases the whole movie on DVD.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Do you want to see part of a movie?
Review: The laser disc version of "The Sting" was in the "full-screen" format, and this new DVD simply copies the laser disc. But the movie was meant to be seen in widescreen. You only see part of the action in this fullscreen version, and often the parts clipped out at the sides are essential to enjoying the film. It is a total disgrace that Hollywood released this cut version. I hope the widescreen version comes out if enough people make their protests heard.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: no thanks for "full" screen
Review: The studios have done it again: ruined a terrific film by releasing it in "full" screen only, as though they're doing us some kind of favor. Make no mistake: "full" screen is not "full" at all -- it's another pan and scan hack job. If you want to see the whole movie, you have to get the widescreen VHS version. The studio has not released it in widescreen DVD. It's inexcusable and it's a....


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