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Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin

List Price: $24.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good quality DVD
Review: Much has been written about Battleship Potemkin, and much better than I can explain, so I will discuss the quality of the DVD release only here.

This DVD is a good quality picture (I was surprised), that is all in true black and white (no tinting). The soundtrack is done well and complements the film. The score was recorded during the 1950s by a Russian composer and is a very appropriate musical score. It does not distract from the picture at all.

There isn't an audio commentary, which would have served well for new-comers to this landmark movie which made the "A-list" of most important films of all-time recently, and was reviewed by Roger Ebert.

There aren't any other significant extra features, although this film hardly needs them. This is a fine DVD and most everyone will be satisfied with its results.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth it for the still pictures alone.
Review: The Classic Film Scripts series is a must for any serious videophile. These books separate the video into its basic constituencies and allow one to understand what the subliminal shots are supposed to portray. Even the background sounds are described.

The contents include A history by Andrew Sinclair, An introduction by Sergei Eisenstein, credits, cast and the actual screenplay. There are plenty of still photos. The film is still available so you will want to read this first.

More than just a reference you will become intrigued as you are reading.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Benchmark in the realm of movie making!
Review: Sergei Eisenstein must be considered to be one of the greatest directors of all time and in this movie, i.e., Battleship Potemkin~VHS he shows his true mettle and ability in the art and craft of directing a classic. Even though Soviet Russia is gone now and communism turned out to be little more then a fad the message of the oppressed people's frustration over unfair living conditions is still as heartfelt as it was almost 80 years ago. Highly Recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Revolution-the soul of Russia past
Review: The film is worth watching for the understanding the Soviet mind of revolution. A definite see for the serious Russian student. I must admit some parts were humorous such as the opening scene of the way the two revolutionaries moved their arms around and the repeating of scenes such as the men climbing the smokestack. In closing, this is a serious film of the revolutionary spirit and worth seeing.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A horrible transfer
Review: I had great expectations about seeing Potemkin on DVD. The quality of the image in this version looks no better, in my opinion, than an old 16mm print, which is what this DVD resembles. There MUST be a more pristine version of this film somewhere. For those who haven't seen the movie, this one is so famous, as we all know, that it's a must. However, I caution anybody who enjoys a high quality DVD transfer--this is not it. I give this DVD two stars for its inferior visual quality. I give the movie 5 stars for its cemented place among the greatest films ever made, which advanced the language of the cinema thanks to Eisenstein's itellectual montages. This may be a DVD to "view" as, to my knowledge, there's no other compact disc version available, but I would wait and see if a better version surfaces some time in the near future. If not, Eisenstein must be cringing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Strange Mist Filled the Harbor...
Review: Okay, okay...we can fall all over ourselves doing film worship...but by this time, surely almost everything that could be said about this film has been said...and re-affirmed by numerous yea-sayers. So...maybe the next level is personal reaction. The parts that don't appeal to me so much are the drawn out interactions between the crew and the officers, as individuals and as groups. The shipboard scenes...especially the long segment dealing with the group of mutineers who are separated from their comrades, then put under the tarpaulin to await execution seems to go on a long time. What appeals to me most are the visuals...the scenes of the ships of Odessa sailing out to the battleship with their curved sails being raised and filled with the wind...the scenes dealing with the strange mist that fills the harbor...the sunlight reflected on the water which looks oily and lethargic...very moody...atmospheric...the Odessa steps themselves... the Orthodox priest looking on the confrontation and slowly thumping the hand-sized crucifix he is holding against the palm of his hand...as if waiting...waiting...waiting...the wild look in his eye...something about his looks which repels...meant to suggest something like a Rasputin? ... the body in the tent on the pier...and the crowds coming out to view it... seems to go on forever...so I guess personally I resist the propaganda aspects and react favorably to the director's brilliant eye for

visual imagery.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Welcome to Odessa
Review: Using advanced movie techniques of the 1920's, "Battleship Potemkin" combines historical facts of the U.S.S.R withrealistic perspectives. It is amazing to realize the differences between the rolling sound in the backround of the movie and the special effects that movies offer us today. For it's time, it is an excellent movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who is either studying the history of film or to anyone who is studying the history of Russia. Despite what you are studying, the movie will bring you an excellent perspective on both subjects.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Think About It...
Review: If this film would never have been made there would not have been Citizen Kane, Casablanca, or The Godfather.

The answer is in the "language".

Sergei Eisenstein created modern film language as we know of it today. That language was the daring juxtaposition of images as a series of montages to create narrative flow. Furthermore, for first time in the history of film, it created a feeling of intimacy for us the viewer to the characters and story on the screen. This intimacy was heightened for dramatic effect by Eisenstein's creation of closeups and varying camera angles on the subject matter.

We owe modern filmmaking to Sergei Eisenstein, who's ideas have stood the test of time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Unmissable piece of cinema history, truly one of the all-time best - I have seen it countless times and I don't believe it will ever lose it's freshness. Odessa Steps sequence is cinema folklore, but the death of the mutineer leader and the vision of the hung men are equally unforgettable; much of the films' holding power is owed to the mesmerising score that compliments it perfectly. No fan of the cinema can afford to miss this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Perhaps Eisenstein's Masterpiece
Review: In one violent but purposeful film, Sergei Eisenstein took the art of film out of the hands of sentimentalists like Griffith and pushed it, screaming, into the highest reaches of modern art. Eisenstein admitted that his film was given life by its bias; that, without bias there could be no "why" for a film. That he was rooting for the "dictatorship of the proletariat" is sometimes painfully obvious. Nonetheless, 'Potemkin' is one of those films without which so many later films would have been inconceivable. Grigori Kozintsev later admitted: "Perhaps of all that he achieved 'Potemkin' was the only completed work, and that because there was no time to spare, no time to reconsider the problems." Eisenstein's subsequent work has always seemed studied, exactly as if the film genius had had too much time to "reconsider the problems."


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