Rating: 
Summary: AFI top 100/ WB Classic now on digitally remastered DVD set!
Review: The American Film Institute's (AFI)1998 Top 100 American Movies in the first 100 years placed "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" at #30. This 1947 western classic was one of Warner Brothers (WB) Studios many Classic movies produced in the 1930's &40's. (ie, Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy to name a few). The WB had a stable of Stars like; Bogart, Cagney, Flynn, Bergman, Barrymore, Rains, Bacall, Greenstreet, Lorre & De Haviland to name a few which produced an abundance of classics in short order. Well for the first time WB has meticulously digitally remastered their classics of old under the DVD "Two Disc Special Edition" Series. These DVD's are outstanding and the Feature Film is worth the price of admission alone, but Warner Brothers has provided us a 2 DVD set with everything for us to escape to 1947 Hollywood and relive the movie theatre experience. DISC 1 - Provides us with a "Night at the Movies" (circa 1947) This is pure genius (hats off to the WB) and the viewer experiences a complete show (so get the popcorn ready, this is fun stuff!!!!) To begin Leonard Maltin gives us an introduction to this 1947 show followed by coming attractions, a newsreel, a cartoon, a short subject film and then the Feature film all back to back just like the movies. AWESOME. Also on Disc 1 are 12 Humphrey Bogart film trailers. Thats just the first disc!!! DISC 2 - Has a 2 hour documentary on the life of Director John Huston (2 Oscar's, Direction & Screen Play for "The Treasure of Sierra Madre"), Documentary on "Discovering the Treasure of.....", Classic Bugs Bunny Cartoon, Storyboards, Cast & Crew, Publicity Materials Gallery and a 1949 Radio broadcast starring Bogart & Walter Huston (Oscar winner for best supporting in Treasure (also John Hustons father)). Warner Brothers did a fabulous job digitally transferring (the picture & sound are perfect)this Full Screen Black & White feature to DVD and there's more classic movies to come. I can't wait. This a must have for your home theatre experience. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Worse Than VCR
Review: One of the greatest movies ever made. One of the worst DVD transfers of a major movie by a major studio. Parts of the movie have a crystal sharp picture than one would expect of a DVD. Others scenes are grainy beyond belief. I have all of Ed Wood's movies on DVD and the picture quality is overall superior. What kind of a world do we live in where Ed Wood movies are restored and John Huston movies are treated like a $ 20 mule? I saw a laser disk of this years ago that had reasonably good video. Wish Warner had borried it instead of whatever they used. Of course it's a great movie. The movie deserves 500 stars and the DVD zero. And to quote Bogie "Fred C. Dobbs don't say nothing he don't mean."
Rating:
Summary: This IS the original version
Review: Just wanted to qualify a reiviewer from Oct. 1--there is no widescreen version of this film. Like most films made before the mid-50s, the shape of the screen is nearly identical to the shape of a television screen. That's why TV screens are the shape that they are--they were orginally modeled on movie screens. Just so you know . . . Oh yeah, great movie too.
Rating: 
Summary: Stunning, But Visually Abbreviated
Review: Everything about this package is excellent. The only qualm, it's not a widescreen edition. Movies like this are made to be viewed in widescreen format with the complete director's framing (hence, only 4 stars out of 5). Still, it's one of the classics necessary to support a collection.
Rating:
Summary: Good DVD package
Review: I received it yesterday, and it's a nice set. There's nothing to complain about in terms of picture quality and sound, and the second disc contains a rather ordinary and predictable feature about making the movie, with the usual interesting asides and tidbits. The same comments also appear in the audio commentary, which is pretty good. The only objection about the side feature is that Leonard Maltin pops up frequently in it, and his opinions he can keep to himself, as far as I'm concerned. There's a Bugs Bunny cartoon that apparently was intended to accompany the picture, but it's not very good. It's too bad they didn't include more outakes, but maybe they didn't survive. Anyway, all the extra stuff in any of these sets is something you watch once and forget, so it's not all that important.
Rating:
Summary: GRIPPING DRAMA, WONDERFUL TRANSFER!
Review: "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" is a story of greed, deception, murder and adventure - and that's just for starters. It stars Humphrey Bogart as a man with nothing to lose, looking out for everything to gain as he tries to find hidden wealth but winds up instead running into danger along the way. John Huston directs and costars in this masterful, gritty and thrilling film!
TRANSFER: Warner's gives us a very nice looking transfer. There are a few problems worth noting, including the aliasing and shimmering of fine details that crops up now and then. There's also a bit of pixelization and some edge enhancement though none of these distract on (terribly, at least) from the gripping story. The gray scale has been nicely balanced. Fine details are beautifully rendered. You won't believe this film is over 60 years old! The audio is mono and well balanced.
EXTRAS: WOW! Documentaries, featurettes, audio commentaries, trailers and a stills gallery. Very handsomely mounted and very thoughtfully put together. My hat off to the good people at Warner Brothers!
BOTTOM LINE: This was the way this film was meant to be seen - so see it! An Absolute Must!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Politics of Treasure of Sierra Nevada
Review: I have little to add to the reviews posted here in terms of praise for this great film. I would point out, however, that there is an underlying structure of Left politics that is too often overlooked by reviewers. Such an oversight passes over a richness of intellect and of historical/biographical parameters which help us situate this film as a wotk of art. B. Traven was a member of the Communist Party and John Huston's politics were of a similar nature -- so much so, that he was forced to live abroad for a decade or more in order to escape the madness of McCarthite witch hunters. The radical left politics of the film are nowhere better seen than in Walter Huston's brillinat monologue in the Los Ossos flop house when he holds forth on the value of gold and why it is so dear. The minute of so of his monologue is the most compact, deepest and brilliant summary of Karl Marx's Labor Theory of value of which I know. There are even snippets of thie monologue taken verbatim from Marx's "Capital" and inserted into the old miner'speech. Ending, as I recall, with "I know what gold does to men's souls ..." the film is more than an a-historical fable of greed and tragedy. It is a story of what can happen to the proletariat (Dobb's) once it begins to accumulate and get its hands on "capital -- i.e., gold. If I am not mistaken, the politics of this film allow us to reinterpret many other motifs contained in the film. Of course whether this interpretation is correct or not makes little difference in the long run. As Left parable or as classical tragedy, the film deserves its ranking and reputation. One last interesting fact, I have been through Traven's book several times and cannot find Walter Houston's monologue. I suspect that is because John Houston inserted it into the script on his own as the film was being shot.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Version
Review: I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to watch this DVD and all I can say is, don't hesitate! Order it immediately! The transfer is beautiful and is almost completely free from film damage or other blemishes. The blacks are deep and consistent throughout the picture. A beautiful DVD transfer. Sound is presented in the film's original monaural track which has been cleaned up due to its age. There is no hiss or background screech or other noise to detract from your viewing of the movie. As for extras, Warner's presents the movie in its "Night at the Movies" format which simulates the experience of watching the film circa 1947 theatre style. That means you get to enjoy period newsreels, comedy shorts, cartoons, etc. before you watch the feature. Very enjoyable! Disc 2 of this set features a 2 hour documentary on director John Huston's career, hosted by Robert Mitchum. The doc features interviews, photos, private film footage and more and is a great tribute to this talented director. Excellent! Next is a 50 minute documentary on the making of the film. There are interviews with the cast and crew as well as film historians that make a great supplement to the film itself. Great! There is also a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, a "Treasure Trove" (tons of production photos, storyboards, publicity materials, etc.), and finally, a 1949 radio version of Treasure of the Sierra Madre performed by Bogart & Walter Huston. Warner again presents a truly great special edition of one of their classic library films. Don't be without it!
Rating:
Summary: All the trapings for a great movie
Review: One of the best movies I have seen. I rarely see a movie more than twice, but with Humphrey Bogart I can watch it over and over. His role and acting in this movie is top notch and wonder why this never got its dues when first released. The story line is great and all the supporting actors make this movie even stronger. Unless you understand Spanish, some of the lines spoken by the Mexican actors will escape you which really puts this movie in its true character. This is one movie you must see. I love it.....
Rating:
Summary: Don't need no stinkin' Bajjjes, but definitely this on DVD
Review: I'm giving it a five purely because of the film. I don't want to jump the gun and sing Holy Hosana on an unseen remastered special edition, but I can't wait to see this.
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