Rating: 
Summary: unknown and neglected masterpiece
Review: the day of the locust is a fascinating look at the people who go to hollywood and dont make it. it is brilliantly directed by the great john schlesinger ( midnight cowboy) but it was hated by the hollywood community itself for showing the seamy side of hollywood. when the acadamy awards presented the nominations that year this film was nominated for only one category (burgess merideth in a supporting actor role). the movie was clearly snubbed because it dared to show hollywood in this light and what a horrible light indeed. witness the disaster that takes place on a stage set that collapses because of shody materials or the incredible ending thats is one of the most night marish sequences ever filmed. richard atherton whom i thought would be a super star after this role is great as the new comer to hollywood who wants to be a set designer. he falls for a ditzy blond played very well by karen black whos carachter is so despicable and hatefull that we dont wether to be sorry for her or just hate her. donald sutherland is magnificent as the shy almost retarded rich man who holds in so much of his hate that your just waiting for it to explode ( of course it does). each scene unfolds so brilliantly under the direction of schlesinger that i would recommend it alone as a directors training guide on " how to direct a movie". why this film is not on dvd is beyond me. the film is a dark,brooding sad and powerfull story on human failure and dreams that can go wrong. it reminds me of something eric von stroheim would have done. in fact it is very much like his silent masterpiece GREED filmed in 1924. i have this movie on vhs but i cant wait for a dvd
Rating:
Summary: Before its time
Review: The Day of the Locust was made in the mid-seventies, a time where honesty and the nature of people was celebrated, unfortunately Hollywood did not want to celebrate this in itself--for I remember upon its release very little publicity and marketing. It was viewed as a major film but marketed under a "nostalgic entertainment" with a big glossy poster. In reality it is probably the best movie ever made of the Hollywood movie making machine, complete with extras never to be seen or heard from again, set design flaws that may result in injury yet ones that go unreported, the need for the studio bosses to socialize with the high life and the low life. All of it real, sad, exhilirating and ultimately tragic and incomprehensible. John Schlesigner's direction is superb, as is every performance. The pathetic "Revival" sequence will be unforgettable to those who remember them. So many gems onscreen, I hope it gets a rebirth on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, often-overlooked modern classic- but no DVD?
Review: This multi-faceted film is so rich with texture and characters, so effective in invoking Hollywood of the 1930's; but I'm shocked that Paramount hasn't spruced this up for a DVD release. The film itself gets "5 stars" from this avid viewer, while Paramount gets "1" for allowing this to languish in a faded, horrible pan 'n scan VHS version. This film deserves more than the "3 star average" Paramount bestows on it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie but 3 Stars for DVD Transfer
Review: Well, it is finally out! After years of habitual checking on-line and in the shops and repeated requests to the studio to release this on DVD, I picked up an advance copy of this DVD just yesterday (about 4 days before the official release). So, I figured that I should review it for those of you who will be purchasing it as soon as it is out. By the way, I ran into Donald Sutherland here in NY a few months back and told him about how this one of my all time favorite movies (he was taken aback that people remembered the movie and was glad to hear that a DVD release had been scheduled). Here it goes.... I will not repeat what I and other fans of the movie think of it (you can read some of the other reviews below, suffice it to say that it is a favorite of mine). I will concentrate on the DVD edition's quality and such. Firstly, the picture quality is very average (infact disappointing for DVD). Obviously this is a budget transfer not a high end digitally restored release. The picture is grainy. But then again, the are offering it for a pretty low price to start with (you get what you pay for). This release reminds me of the much anticipated (and more disappointing release of the movie 1984 - that release on DVD was in Mono, without the celebrated Eurythmics soundtrack even though the back cover credited them)! This DVD release fares a bit better than 1984. Atleast you get a choice of Dolby 5.1 and restored non-surround sound audio. However, I found the volume to be somewhat low - it seems I have to turn the volume up higher than on other DVDs. You have a few choices of subtitles and that's about it. Besides a basic scene selection menu you have nothing else. No mini documentary, no behind the scenes tid-bits, no original movie trailer. I have been pushing the folks at Criterion Collection to look into this move and think of doing one of their high quality releases but I don't know whether they have looked into it or not. Perhaps they were told by the studio to wait until after this budget release had come out and run its course before being given permission to do so. So this is my suggestion to those who have waited for this to come out on DVD. Buy it, it may not be perfect but atleast it is on a better format than VHS and I think it is fairly priced. Then go to Criterion Collection's website (www.criterionco.com) and lobby them for a release!
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