Rating: 
Summary: Ava makes Madonna seem like Shwarzenneger
Review: Ava is a true femme fatale. She oozes pheromones as Pandora.
James Mason is mere flotsam in the throes of the whirlpool that is Pandora. Like any man, caught in the grip of this Charybdis, he is without hope. As is she, fated loves' victim.
See the movie for a glimpse of transcendental eros.
Then, whimper that your love life is truly as a pitiful shadow dancing on the walls of the cave, a flimsy whisp of the eternal as represented by these two lost souls. Then shuffle off, gloomily, as must have Leonard Maltin--pining for the Ava he can never conceive of having--in any sense of the term.
Rating:
Summary: Kino on Video Scores Again!
Review: Combine hot-blooded gypsies, passionate half-breed bullfighters, the Rubyiat of Omar Khayaam, and a worldly-wise and tweedy English narrator who talks to the camera, and you have the frame of the movie down pat. Over-the-top and unapologetic romanticism is the order of the day, and Albert Lewin's fantasy delivers plenty of it. Mason and Gardner are splendid as the lead couple. They underplay splendedly, keeping the whole thing from blowing up into a farce. Kino is to be commended for bringing this baby back where it belongs, to video. Even the opening advertisement for Kino is nothing short of breathtaking for a cinephile, as it consists of a beautiful montage of shots from their films, starting from the gunshot of THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY through the present. Clever editing juxtaposes Louise Brooks and Marlene Dietrich turning their heads to the right, and in those similar actions we see the differences in their screen personas eloquently manifested. Combine this with a wonderfully venomous trailer appearance by Hedda Hopper, and you'll have a delightful night of romantic cliches' galore. Oh, I almost forgot, there's a suicidal poet as well!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful escape from reality
Review: I highly recommend this movie. It's a great story, really romantic. Beautiful actress Ava Gardner, is just wonderful in it, and so is actor James Mason. They make a great on screen couple. It's a film definitly worth seeing. It definitly deserves all the stars it can get.
Rating:
Summary: A great romantic film!
Review: I highly recommend this movie. It's a great story, really romantic. Beautiful actress Ava Gardner, is just wonderful in it, and so is actor James Mason. They make a great on screen couple. It's a film definitly worth seeing. It definitly deserves all the stars it can get.
Rating: 
Summary: Remastered????????????
Review: I loved the original story and actors. This video technically is not what I expected. I would have thought a remastered video would have been easier viewing. It is far too dark. Even after playing with all the combinations on the vcr and tv for brightness and color it was not acceptable.
Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT OLD CLASSIC
Review: I was almost surprised to see this released in DVD, since it is old and seldom plays on TV. I had made a video copy years ago and have watched it many times. A fascinating story, not the best screenplay in the world, but with parts that are excellent, especially when James Mason is reciting the story of the Flying Dutchman. It may be dated, and the reproduction is not perfect, and the colors are a bit faded, but I am still glad I got my DVD copy while it was available.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT OLD CLASSIC
Review: I was almost surprised to see this released in DVD, since it is old and seldom plays on TV. I had made a video copy years ago and have watched it many times. A fascinating story, not the best screenplay in the world, but with parts that are excellent, especially when James Mason is reciting the story of the Flying Dutchman. It may be dated, and the reproduction is not perfect, and the colors are a bit faded, but I am still glad I got my DVD copy while it was available.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS FILM! Still do 50 years later. Even better
Review: than the first time I saw it. The new remastered DVD is awesomely clear, color crisp and Ava G as always beautiful.And Leonard Maltin, you said: "Sorry to say, a big Technicolor bore, one of writer-director Lewin's misfires, about a woman who destroys the lives of all the men around her; then mystical, otherworldly Mason materializes." ... aside from that did you like it? LOL. Not boring, yes about a selfish lady who finds a reason to not be selfish. geeeeee what a concept. Seriously, if you like mystical possibilities, beautiful women, and scenery... buy this, you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most hilariously wooden performances!!!
Review: The above performance I am referring to is that of Mario Cabre, Ava Gardner's toreador torch in real life at the time. In this film he gives what has got to be one of, if not the, most--albeit unintendedly--wooden performances in cinematic history! Gardner was involved with some of the most fascinating men ever in the entertainment industry--such as Rooney, Shaw, Sinatra, Duff, Taylor, and Scott--and it is unfortunate that she did not use her influence to get one of these proven talents in her films because in this one unfortunate exception with an unknown, even Cabre's good looks and lithe body can't save his appallingly bad acting (also debut, by the way). Not to be missed for this alone! He shoulda stuck to bullfighting instead to acting since he makes someone like Victor Mature or George Raft seem absolutely Shakespearan!!! With that rant over, I will move on. "Pandora" is an otherworldly romance about a centuries-ago sea captain who unjustly murdered his wife and as a result the gods have doomed him to a wretched, ghostly existence on the high seas, the only escape being if he can find a woman during his brief sojourns on earth who truly loves him and is willing to sacrifice her life, thus permitting him to finally die. James Mason gives his usual fine performance as the ghostly Dutchman, imbuing his character with vulnerability behind the cool surface. As for Ava Gardner--can one ever have enough words about her? Even if not for the painful acting of the aforementioned Cabre, this film would be worth it alone just to see the luscious Ava Gardner in sumptious technicolor. Surely one of the most beautiful women who ever existed, she is more than believable as Pandora, the restless and dissatisfied playgirl who is adored by many men and brings them ruin, but is never touched by love herself until she meets the Dutchman. A mystical romantic tale in the mold of the depthful and haunting "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with that other famous beauty of the screen, Gene Tierney, although "Pandora" is somewhat superficial and fluffy, I found it entertaining and it is worth it, as I mentioned earlier, if you want to see arguably the most horrible acting in movie history and inarguably one of the most gorgeous women in cinema!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most hilariously wooden performances!!!
Review: The above performance I am referring to is that of Mario Cabre, Ava Gardner's toreador torch in real life at the time. In this film he gives what has got to be one of, if not the, most--albeit unintendedly--wooden performances in cinematic history! Gardner was involved with some of the most fascinating men ever in the entertainment industry--such as Rooney, Shaw, Sinatra, Duff, Taylor, and Scott--and it is unfortunate that she did not use her influence to get one of these proven talents in her films because in this one unfortunate exception with an unknown, even Cabre's good looks and lithe body can't save his appallingly bad acting (also debut, by the way). Not to be missed for this alone! He shoulda stuck to bullfighting instead to acting since he makes someone like Victor Mature or George Raft seem absolutely Shakespearan!!! With that rant over, I will move on. "Pandora" is an otherworldly romance about a centuries-ago sea captain who unjustly murdered his wife and as a result the gods have doomed him to a wretched, ghostly existence on the high seas, the only escape being if he can find a woman during his brief sojourns on earth who truly loves him and is willing to sacrifice her life, thus permitting him to finally die. James Mason gives his usual fine performance as the ghostly Dutchman, imbuing his character with vulnerability behind the cool surface. As for Ava Gardner--can one ever have enough words about her? Even if not for the painful acting of the aforementioned Cabre, this film would be worth it alone just to see the luscious Ava Gardner in sumptious technicolor. Surely one of the most beautiful women who ever existed, she is more than believable as Pandora, the restless and dissatisfied playgirl who is adored by many men and brings them ruin, but is never touched by love herself until she meets the Dutchman. A mystical romantic tale in the mold of the depthful and haunting "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with that other famous beauty of the screen, Gene Tierney, although "Pandora" is somewhat superficial and fluffy, I found it entertaining and it is worth it, as I mentioned earlier, if you want to see arguably the most horrible acting in movie history and inarguably one of the most gorgeous women in cinema!
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