Rating: 
Summary: Tastefully Done or Digital Censorship?
Review: Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite David Lynch films (ok, all his films are favorites of mine) but why is there digital blurring in the film to cover up "adult" parts of the movie. The film was shot, edited and then shown in theaters "uncut." But for the DVD Lynch (or someone hovering above Lynch) has decided to digitally blur nudity in the film. Why shoot nudity in the first place? Why not edit it out of the film originally? To censor it now because the lead actresses are becoming big stars seems like a cop-out. If this movie and its actresses hadn't received attention or acclaim, if the movie had "flopped" and no one had gone to see it, would the film still be censored for its DVD release? Following this train of thought, why not blur out Isabella Rossellini's full frontal nude scenes for the upcoming Blue Velvet special edition DVD? Is it because she is no longer conisidered a "hot" actress of the moment? When push comes to shove, it appears commerce precedes art even on Mulholland Drive which is a big disappointment. I didn't see this movie for its glimpses of nudity, but to censor them out is an insult to viewers and the dvd buying public. (Never mind the fact that this single disc dvd with no extras costs more than many double-disc sets on the market.) This was a good movie but the dvd release is a slap in the face to fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Take A Trip To 'Mulholland Drive'
Review: As a movie reviewer for a newspaper, I get to see a lot of movies and review them, which is great because I have been a movie junkie since I was five. Every once in a blue moon, I see a movie that is on the level of 'Mulholland Drive', that level being simply astounding!
I find that David Lynch, my favorite living director, can't go wrong. This story only proves my point. It is surreal dream that involves two women: a bright eyed Canadian dreamer(Naomi Watts) and an amnesiac who has just survived a car accident on Mulholland Dr.(Laura Harring). The sub plots include a young filmmaker(Justin Theroux) and a feeling that hangs over the whole film, fear.
Watts, in her first lead role in an American film, is beyond brilliant and was more deserving of an Oscar nomination than Renee Zellweger. Harring and Theroux are equally excellent. Look out for Ann Miller in her first film role in almost forty five years.
Low and behold, David Lynch's soon-to-be classic is the best film of 2001 by a mile. -James R, Louison
Rating: 
Summary: 5 Stars for the Film, but the DVD has a Couple of Problems
Review: The film is great. Read the other reviews for testimonials. There were two things which disappointed me about this dvd: 1) there are no chapter stops. Not one. I understand the argument of how the movie should be viewed in its entirety and all, but, practically, it's very annoying. 2) one scene has been censored, resulting in some very obvious blurring. There are, of course, no extras besides the trailer, but I guess that's pretty standard for Lynch. We're just lucky it's on dvd.
Rating: 
Summary: We are strangers in David Lynch's strange land.
Review: Mulholland Drive starts out conventionally enough with a lovely woman about to be murdered, but saved at the last moment by drag racers who smash into the car she is riding in, killing her would be murderers. She is shaken, but seemingly othewise unharmed. She wanders away from the scene and hides in some bushes where she watches a woman packed and ready to take a vacation driving off in a cab. She slips into this woman's apartment and falls asleep. Later that day the niece of the departed woman has arrived from Canada and discovers our mystery woman in the shower. She has lost her memory and renames herself Rita, from a Rita Hayworth poster she sees in the apartment, and introduces herself in this way to the Canadian, whose name is Betty. Betty decides to help Rita find out who she is and the mystery begins. All this sounds conventional enough, and it is. But from this point on, nothing will be quite as it seems. New characters and plot lines are added that sometimes relate to the mystery of Rita and sometimes don't. Yet we always come back to Betty and Rita, who are the anchor on which the film is held. Viewers expecting to make sense of the various plot lines introduced in this story will be sorely disappointed. As in our dreams, sometimes the action seems perectly clear. At other times we are confused by what we experience in the dream. Finally, our dream may be a nightmare from which we wake in a cold sweat. In just such fashion Mulholland Drive seems clear, confusing, or frightening by turns. For most of the two hours and a half or so of the film we are entertained by the various dreamscapes we enter. Lynch takes us into his dream life and we are "strangers in a strange land." Like strangers we are often uncomfortable in our new surroundings, but rarely bored. Once on Mulholland Drive, there is no end and no way home. We end up back where we started, wake up from our movie dream, try to put it all together, and perhaps share the dream with someone else to see what sense they might make of it. When we are ready, we might return for another viewing of Mulholland Drive to see what we missed the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Lap it up, you sniveling muts!
Review: Allow one of the brain-dead (see "galleries" review - term review used very loosely here) to chime in on this film for a moment. Many of the scenes of Mulholland Drive create good atmosphere and have moments of bizarre comedy. I found it quite engrossing up to about the last half hour of the movie when it appears at first to just fall apart. I've since formed my own hypothesis which I fear uttering because I don't won't to seem stupid (he's saying it's just a movie and thus an illusion, right?). What really bothers me are the hoards of self righteous Lynch toadies who defensively condemn any person that may not find this to his or her likings. I see a great deal of movies and have been known to prefer arthouse and/or foreign film that don't get a large audience... and I can see very well how this movie can win the disdain of many a viewer. These viewers should have no shame and hold their heads high, for they are doing a greater service for the mission of this type of work than the little lapdogs who decide that because the story ultimately doesn't make much sense that it must be a work of astounding genius and thus beyond the average American mindset. Form your own opinion. Me - I liked most of Mulholland Drive but have to wonder what the hell it was all for... maybe I could rate it higher if it was enjoyable enough for me to want to sit through it a third or fourth time to figure it all out.
Rating:
Summary: why? why? WHY?
Review: I'm sure you've all read about the no chapter search on this disc. Okay, that's disappointing enough.. shame on Universal! Maybe Lynch wanted it that way for artistic reasons.. but all that got him was a lot of [angry]consumers who shelled out good money for a disc that lacks the most basic function! But here is my other beef that nobody else has mentioned.. did anyone notice that just before the love scene when Laura Harring gets into bed and she's standing there for a couple seconds.. they blurred out the lower nudity! Check again, that's not just low light and shadows.. they enhanced the darkness and blurred out her lower region. Anyway, you can bet they'll put out another version with chapters after enough consumer [complaints], and they'll get our money again. Wait.. how about a trade in plan for the version we should have gotten in the first place??? ...
Rating:
Summary: retraction, loved the dvd
Review: I wrote an earlier review right after I had seen the DVD for the first time. I had been astonished that there are no extras and no chapter breaks on the DVD, and was reluctant to recommend it because of that. After doing more research, however, I discovered that everything about ALL of David Lynch's DVD's are in place the way they are because that is the way Lynch wants it. None of his movies have commentary or chapter breaks. Admittedly, it would be difficult to imagine a commentary that didn't just give away the store on this mysterious movie. And if Lynch wants me to view the movie without chapter breaks, then who am I to question the maestro? So, sometime in the future, after Lynch is gone and the Criterion Collection picks up the rights to this masterpiece, we will get a thorough commentary. I still wish that there was a little more warning about the DVD's quirks on the outside case -- the absence of common DVD features will definitely confound the casual viewer.... But I must retract my earlier trashing of the DVD. The picture and sound are spectacular, and they are placed on the disc the way the creator intends them to be.
Rating:
Summary: Quite simply ... AN AMAZING MOVIE!
Review: Ever since I saw Eraserhead back in the early 80's I have been an avid Lynchian fanatic. I am always taken to another place when ever I see a Lynch film ... only Lynch knows that place and can give me the directions so clearly as if he owns a map of my mind. I am at this moment studying film at University here in the UK and there is no doubt about it, Lynch is my inspiration for where I am today. Here in England I recently saw Mulholland Drive at the cinema on a Monday night, Tuesday night and Thursday night in the same week. I WAS BLOWN AWAY! It has everything and was a ticket to 'that DREAM place'! If you are a Lynch fan you will be an extremely Happy Chappy ... even if you do not class Lynch as a Fav ... give this a go, its bloody great! As for the DVD (just got mine today) it fantastic! Lovely picture, and clean crisp sound pouring out of my 5 speakers ... you hear sounds you never heard at the cinema. As for the extras ... well I would have loved interviews with the cast, but to be quite honest no matter what, this movie is a treat. As for other reviewers here, they seem to keep mentioning the missing chapter search. Come on guys, is this such a problem? I quote from David Lynch himself on the inner sleave of the wonderful Straight Story
'It is my opinion that a film is not like a book - it should not be broken up. It is a continuum and should be seen as such'
So come on guys, love this DVD, just look at the picture, listen to the sound and most of all ENJOY THIS WONDERFUL MOVIE. Cheers
Rating:
Summary: A Movie Everyone Loves
Review: i don't know WHY everyone loves this movie. horrible. no plot, all lesbians. horrible. the only thing i liked was the director's reference to the 50s (cuz he loves 'em) and that song she sang and a couple of shots were really great. oh yeah, and when the lady said "something bit me hard!" but the rest [WAS BAD]. i was left feeling disturbed and confused. hated it. do not reccommend it. it's a movie that everyone says they like because they don't know what the hell is going on and don't want to admit it.
Rating:
Summary: My Long, Complicated History With David Lynch
Review: ...Which brings us to MULHOLLAND DRIVE, which I just watched for the second time in two days. For me personally this is Lynch's best flim since BLUE VELVET. It has more depth than LH, the acting is superb, and it's not filled with weird-for-the-sake-of-weird characters and scenes like FWWM or WAH. It's basically a mystery ala BLUE VELVET for the first 2 hours, and then when The Blue Box is opened we enter the world of LOST HIGHWAY again. The questions raised, the confusion suffered by viewers, is all part of the wonderful experience of watching a Lynch film. I do not think he's purposefully leaving out pieces of the puzzle to frustrate or anger viewers, but rather he makes movies that can be many things to many people. Theories abound, I have my own which I'm not going to share here, and for those who like a good mystery it's the most satisfying way to end a film, by basically not ending it. You cannot leave a Lynch film without thinking about it, how many other directors can you say that about these days? Kudos as always to Lynch. My official rating is 4 1/2 stars.
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